My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Season X

by wariodude128

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 93892

Fan season of the show that took me six months to write. Posting it here so people can take a look at it.

A pony by the name of Black Cherry has created a game with the title Burrows and Bugbears. After creating it, he invited the mane six and Spike to come and try it out. The way the game is played is everypony closes their eyes and Black Cherry uses his magic to transport everypony into the game world through their imagination. In order to do something, a contraption appears where you put a die or two in, roll a gear on the side and then push a button on top down. there's a chute at the bottom of the contraption where the dice come and they land on a number. The number determines if the attempted action succeeds or fails. Will everypony win the game? You'll have to read it to find out.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-03-23 02:33:02 UTC

Episode 2: Burrows and Bugbears (Part 2)

We open up with a little vignette on what happened in the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We first see Twilight Sparkle open her eyes and she is now in an unfamiliar room. She asks:

“Where am I?”

The voice of Black Cherry says:

“You are in a tavern. By chance, you happen to all sit down at the same table.”

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash suddenly appear sitting at the table as well. Spike is sitting on the table. The voice of Black Cherry says:

“Right now, your characters have never met. As far as any of you are concerned, you are just random strangers.”

Pinkie Pie puts her hooves next to her face and has a shocked look on her face as she says:

“Strangers? You mean all these ponies who I've known for so long are going to my new best friends again?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Don't worry, they won't be strangers for long.”

Pinkie Pie puts her hooves down and says:

“Oh.”

She smiles and closes her eyes and says:

“Alright then.”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“One of the ponies working at the tavern comes up to your table and says:”

They all look at who appears to be Braeburn as he shows up and says:

“Here you go, a round of apple cahder. That will be two bits each.”

Applejack looks up at the ceiling and says:

“Black Cherry, whah does the waiter look and sound lahke mah cousin Braeburn?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“The game is just as much your imagination as it is mine. Whenever a non player character or npc appears, they will most often look and or sound like somepony one of you knows.”

Rarity looks up at the ceiling and asks:

“How does the game know who to pick?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“It's random. really. If one of you is thinking of somepony you haven't seen in awhile, they could easily show up. You should be excited to see who you might encounter.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Can we afford the two bits though?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“You each have a satchel containing fifty-two bits. Grab two out of your satchels to pay Braeburn with and you will have an even fifty.”

Everypony pulls out a satchel from the backpacks we suddenly see on them and they pull two bits out of it. They each put the money on Braeburn's plate. He puts the drinks in front of them and then says:

“Bah the way, there's a gahant talkin' bee outsahde who seems to want help with somethin. If you're lookin for somethin to do, Ah,d ask what it's problem is.”

Braeburn walks away and the six put the bags away in their backpacks. They start to drink the apple cider that was put in front of them. Spike asks:

“Why didn't I get any apple cider?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Because you're a baby dragon. You would rather have gems instead.”

Spike smiles and says:

“That is true.”

Black Cherry's voice now says:

“As you just heard, there is a giant bee outside who needs help. The question now is, will you go and help it out.”

Applejack chugs the rest of her cider and says:

“Ah can't sit here whahle a critter's in trouble. Ah'm seein what's up with that bee.”

Applejack gets up and heads for the door nearby. Pinkie Pie chugs her cider and says:

"Woo-hoo, a chance for adventure! Let's go!”

Pinkie Pie hops over to the door and goes out. Twilight Sparkle gets up and says:

“Well, I guess going to see what's wrong wouldn't be a bad idea.”

She walks towards the door and goes out. Rarity says:

“That poor dear must be in so much trouble if it's hanging around this kind of place.”

She gets up and heads for the door with Spike. Fluttershy says:

“I've never heard of a giant bee before. I should see what's wrong. I hope it understands me.”

She gets up and heads for the door. Rainbow Dash sees that she's now the only one left at the table and looks at the cider left in her mug. She says:

“Well, I don't want to be the only one left out. So I'm going too.”

She chugs her cider, chugs whatever was left of everypony else's drinks, and heads out the door. We move to the outside and see that it is a bright and sunny day. Black Cherry's voice says:

“Before we continue, please look up to the sky.”

Everypony looks up and they see what looks like a faint giant upper body of Black Cherry in the sky. This giant Black Cherry waves and smiles as it says:

“Hey everypony.”

Everypony gasps and moves back slightly in shock. Black Cherry shrugs his shoulders with an unamused look on his face as he says:

“Come on now. This can't be the weirdest thing you've ever seen.”

Twilight Sparkle Looks away and looks back up as she says:

“Well, it is pretty up there.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and hops up and down as she asks:

“Are you going to be playing with us too, Black Cherry? Huh? Huh? Are ya?”

Black Cherry says:

“As the Burrow Master, it's my job to guide you through the adventures you're going to have. I'm also here in case you have questions or if something goes wrong.”

Rarity asks:

“Where's the giant bee we heard about in the tavern?”

Black Cherry looks to the left and points his left hoof off somewhere and says:

“Look to your right.”

They all look right and see a pony sized bee floating above the ground by use of its wings. Rainbow Dash says:

“Doesn't look so giant to me. I bet I could take it in a fight.”

Black Cherry says:

“Considering the size of normal bees, it's a giant. Not to mention the giant stinger it has if you want to take it on.”

Rainbow Dash sees the giant stinger on the bee and puts a hoof behind her head as she says:

“Oh, right, I forgot about that.”

Applejack asks:

“So what do we do then?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, Braeburn did say that it was looking for help. Maybe one of you could ask what it wants.”

Fluttershy walks up to the bee and asks:

“Um, excuse me, but do you speak pony?”

The bee replies:

“Yes. Quite well, might I add.”

Twilight Sparkle starts to freak out as she says:

“The bee sounds like Princess Celestia! This can't be happening!”

Black Cherry says:

“Remember what I said. Non player characters might look and or sound like somepony one of you knows. Looks like this time somepony was thinking about the princess.”

Everypony looks at Twilight Sparkle as she looks around and fake laughs as she asks:

“I wonder who that was?”

Applejack looks to the bee and says:

“We heard insahde the tavern you were in need of some help.”

The bee says:

“Yes, I am.”

Pinkie Pie asks the bee:

“What do you need help with?”

The bee says:

“In the last couple of days, my hive has been attacked by a very hungry bugbear. Winter is coming, and I fear that if the bugbear keeps taking our honey, we won't have any left to survive until spring.”

Rarity opens her eyes wide and asks:

“A bugbear? You mean one of those dreadful creatures that's part bug and part bear?”

The bee says:

“The very same. If you were to stop this bugbear from raiding my hive, I would be ever so grateful.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“But we don't even know where this bugbear is.”

The bee suddenly has a map in one of its legs as it says:

“Take this map with you. It will direct you to where my hive is. Once you're there, the path to the bugbear should become obvious.”

Twilight Sparkle uses her magic to take the map from the bee and says:

“Thank you for that. With this, I should be able to find the bugbear in no time.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Don't you mean “we” should be able to find the bugbear in no time?”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I would, but I don't even know you. I have the map, so that's all I need.”

We see Black Cherry as he says:

“Very good, Twilight. You remembered that your characters don't know each other. Everypony else, try to convince her that you should tag along.”

Rarity says:

“But Darling, we simply must come with you. It could be dangerous going out there by yourself.”

Spike says:

“We need to stick together. We don't know what kind of enemies are out there.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down and says:

“And it's always nice have somepony watching your back.”

Applejack says:

“Ah got nothin better to do anyway, so we should trah sticking together.”

Fluttershy says:

“Without me, you wouldn't be able to talk to animals and learn valuable information from them.”

Everypony looks at Rainbow Dash, who sees them all look at her. She turns away and looks back as she says:

“And I guess if you let me come along, I'll swear to not steal the map and just fly the rest of the way.”

Twilight Sparkle puts a hoof to her chin as she looks around and says:

“Hmmmmmm...”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are all smiling at the screen, eagerly waiting to hear what Twilight will say. We get a side view of Twilight looking at them as she still seems unsure. She then puts her hoof down, smiles and says:

“Well, I guess we could go together. I'm only a paladin, so having extra help would make things easier for all of us.”

Everypony starts to celebrate at this announcement. Twilight Sparkle looks to Rainbow Dash and says:

“Just stick to your promise to not steal the map and we'll be golden.”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eye and says:

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

Twilight then asks:

“Is everypony ready to head out?”

Everypony nods. Twilight says:

“Alright then. Let's get going.”

We transition to some time later as everypony is walking along, except Rainbow Dash who is flying close to the ground as usual. Rarity has had a change of clothes. Twilight Sparkle says:

“According to this map, the beehive should be very close by.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Well, where is it?”

Applejack says:

“Ah really hope we didn't get turned around somehow.”

Pinkie Pie is looking at the map with Twilight as she says:

“I don't think so. It looks like it's about a pebble's throw away.”

Pinkie picks up a nearby pebble and says:

“Speaking of which.”

She throws the pebble and we hear it hit something. Spike has a slightly concerned look on his face as he asks:

“Uh, Black Cherry? What did she just hit?”

Black Cherry, who is still up in the sky and lording over them, says:

“I'm not sure. Let me see here.”

We see what look like six very large and very angry bunnies coming out of the tall grass and out onto the short grass. One of them rubbing its head from the pebble thrown. Rarity says:

“Well, I wasn't quite expecting to see rabbits as our first enemies.”

Black Cherry says:

“Actually Rarity they're hares. Bigger than rabbits and they don't live underground. Pinkie made them angry, but since she accidentally hit one, you all get initiative.”

Applejack asks:

“What does that mean?”

Black Cherry says:

“Usually, when you engage with enemies, both of you roll a die to determine who attacks first. Since one of you made a preemptive strike, even if it was unintentional, you move first.”

Everypony looks down and sees that the ground is now covered in squares. Applejack looks up and asks:

“Whah did these squares suddenly appear?”

Black Cherry says:

“You are now engaged in a combat situation. While in combat, you each have a certain amount of points that allow you to move. Once you use them all up, or you end your turn, you can't move anymore and your movement points reset.”

We now see that the angry hares are looking at everypony on squares as Black Cherry says:

“Your enemies have the same thing going for them too. When either of you attack, at least, in the beginning, that pretty much uses up all your points.”

Rarity asks:

“Does casting a spell cost any movement points?”

Black Cherry says:

“Only if you decided to move to another square before casting it. Casting a spell takes at least two turns to charge up, so be careful about getting too close to the enemy.”

Black Cherry looks to Spike and says:

“By the way, Spike, your flame breath counts as a natural weapon. So you don't need to charge it up before setting fire to something.”

Spike smiles and says:

“Huh. Good to know.”

Black Cherry says:

“Also, everypony who can fly gets double movement points while in the air because movement by flight takes less time than walking does.”

Rainbow Dash holds a hoof up and smiles as she says:

“Aw yeah!”

Black Cherry says:

“You also have the option to use either lethal or non-lethal damage on an enemy. Lethal means you intend to destroy the target and non-lethal means you want to bruise them enough so they're unable to fight anymore. They might not sound very different, but they are.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Girls, I say we use non-lethal damage against these hares. After all, we didn't mean to upset them.”

Everypony else and Spike nod in agreement. Black Cherry says:

“Now, who's going to do what first?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I'm going to move behind one of these hares and hit it with my dagger.”

Rainbow Dash moves along the squares until she's behind one of the hares. Black Cherry says:

“Roll to see if you hit. The hare's Thaco is eleven, so you need a nine or better in order to get a hit.”

A dice rolling contraption appears near Rainbow Dash. She moves the gear on it and then pushes the top part. The twenty sided die rolls out and we see it land on fifteen. The ten sided die lands on an eight. Rainbow Dash has a dagger in her mouth as she hits the hare with one side of the blade. It cries out in pain and falls to the ground. Fluttershy has a shocked look on her face as she says:

“Oh no! That poor hare!”

Black Cherry says:

“Don't worry Fluttershy, it's just unconscious. Rainbow Dash got a bonus with the backstab, so it's now out cold.”

Fluttershy says:

“Oh. I see.”

Pinkie Pie has a smile on her face as she says:

“I'm going to summon Gummy, then shoot him at one of the hares with my party cannon.”

Gummy the baby alligator appears and jumps into a party cannon with a targeting sight on top that has also appeared. She looks into the sight and we get a view of it. Inside we see it point directly at a hare. A dice rolling contraption appears next to Pinkie Pie. She rolls the gear and hits the top part. The two dice roll out and twenty sided one rolls a seven. Pinkie Pie shoots the party cannon with Gummy inside and it goes right towards a hare. It uses one of its paws to smack Gummy away and he lands a couple of feet away from Pinkie Pie. She has an angry look on her face as she says:

“Hey!”

Black Cherry says:

“If you roll under the enemy's thaco, you miss. Gummy should be fine though.”

Gummy is seen on his back. He rolls over onto his legs and casually walks back over to Pinkie Pie. She picks Gummy up and smiles as she hugs him. Rarity says:

“I'm going to use up a turn to charge up a fireball.”

We see Rarity's horn charging up with fire energy. Spike folds his arms and looks annoyed as he says:

“I guess I'll keep watch to make sure you're not interrupted.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I'm going to run up close to a hare, hit it, then get back to my starting position.”

Twilight Sparkle opens up her wings. Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he says:

“Are those alicorn wings?”

Twilight Sparkle looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“I guess so.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Amazing! Alicorn wings let you move three times as fast as walking, meaning you get triple movement points while in flight.”

Rainbow Dash has a surprised look on her face. She then rolls her eyes and says:

“You've gotta be kidding me.”

A dice rolling contraption appears, Twilight rolls the gear on the side and pushes down on the top when done. As the dice start to roll down the chute, Twilight picks herself up with her wings and starts to move towards one of the hares. The thaco die lands on a twenty and the ten sided die lands on a ten. We see Twilight Sparkle with a sword in her mouth as she hits a hare in the air. It takes the hit, closes its eyes and falls over to the ground. Black Cherry says:

“A critical hit!”

Twilight looks up and asks:

“A critical what now?”

Black Cherry says:

“When you roll a twenty on the thaco die, you get a critical hit. When that happens, you do either double or triple the amount of damage you would normally.”

Twilight moves back to her starting position. Applejack says:

“Ah'm gonna move over next the nearest hare to me and give it a good whoopin'.”

A contraption appears next to Applejack and she turns the gear on it. She hits the top part and the dice come rolling down. She runs off and the thaco die lands on a one. A hare closes its eyes, seemingly preparing itself for the worst. A crash is heard and it opens its eyes. We see that Applejack has seemingly tripped over herself and landed right in front of the hare. Applejack has a dazed look on her face as she asks:

“Black Cherry, what just happened?”

Black Cherry says:

“You rolled a one on your thaco die. That means not only did you miss, but you did so in a spectacular fashion.”

Applejack gets up, shakes her head and sits down. She looks angrily at the hare, who she's now next to, and says:

“Next turn, you're gonna get it.”

The hare has a scared look on its face and has its paws up in front of its face. Fluttershy says:

“I'm going to charge up a healing spell, in case somepony gets hurt.”

Black Cherry says:

“Good idea. With that, your turn is officially ended. Now it's time for me to see what the hares will do for their turn.”

We see Black Cherry pick up some dice with his magic and hear him place it in the contraption. We hear it rolling, the top being hit and the dice rolling out of the chute. Black Cherry starts to laugh. Rainbow Dash asks:

“What's so funny?”

Black Cherry looks down at everypony and says:

“From the dice results, it appears the hares have lost their will to fight. They will attempt to flee.”

Black Cherry asks:

“Will you let them run away, or will you block them from retreating?”

Applejack says:

“Well, ah was hopin' to bring the beatdown on this angry critter in front 'a me.”

The hare in front of Applejack folds its ears onto its head and covers its head with its paws. Applejack closes her eyes halfway and says:

“But if they don't feel lahke scrappin no more, ah don't see whah not.”

The hare opens one eye and looks at Applejack. She nods. Black Cherry asks:

“Will everypony let them go?

Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all nod. Rarity asks:

“What am I supposed to do with this fireball spell I have charged up?”

Black Cherry says:

“You can store it away for the next fight. When it starts, you can use the spell to burn your enemies without having to charge it up first.”

Rarity says:

“Oh. Well, in that case, they can go.”

Spike folds his arms and has an annoyed look on his face as he says:

“Can't believe I kept watch in case enemies attacked for nothing.”

One of the hares makes a sound saying they should get out of there. One of the other hares seemingly asks what they should do about their fallen comrades. The first hare shakes its head and waves for the remaining three to follow it. They all hop away. Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Do we get anything from that?”

Black Cherry says:

“You only get experience for completing the current mission you're on. The good news is that you do get fifty bits each for winning the fight.”

Fluttershy runs over to one of the unconscious hares and asks:

“Black Cherry, can I heal the hares back to full health?”

Black Cherry says:

“Of course. You are a druid after all. Your entire thing is keeping the balance within nature and being a friend to all living things. It shouldn't take long to nurse them back to health.”

A contraption appears next to Fluttershy and she turns the gear on the side. She pushes down on the top and two dice come rolling out. As they do, she closes her eyes and puts a hoof on both knocked out hares. The dice each land on a five as she whispers something and her hooves start to glow white. After a couple of seconds, the hares open their eyes and look around all confused. Fluttershy smiles, points her hoof towards the direction the other hares went and says:

“Your friends went that way. Make sure they don't leave you behind.”

The hares look at Fluttershy, nod and hop off to where the others were headed. Rainbow Dash asks:

“What did you do to them?”

Black Cherry says:

“She used a spell called Cure Light Wounds. It heals a creature that has taken damage by two eight sided dice.”

Rarity looks worried and says:

“I sure hope they don't come back for revenge later.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“I doubt it. Healing their friends might convince them that we really didn't mean to upset them.”

Pinkie Pie has been looking over some tall grass she's parted. She turns her head towards everypony with a big smile on her face and points a hoof towards the direction she was looking as she says:

“Hey, look at what I found!”

Spike hops onto Rarity's back and everypony runs over to see what Pinkie Pie has found. We now see that what Pinkie has found is a two legged fur-less creature wearing a black shirt, pants and shoes. The creature is sitting on a chair, looking very bored, with an accordion in front of it. A case is in front of the accordion with some bits in it. Applejack asks:

“What in Equestria is that supposed to be?”

Black Cherry says:

“Everypony, Spike, this is what I like to call a human. They don't have fur like we do, so they have to wear clothes in order to protect themselves from the elements.”

The human looks over and sees six ponies and a baby dragon in the tall grass. He says:

“Ho rigardu, poneoj kaj bebo drako.”

Twilight says:

“I did not understand a word of that.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down and says:

“Oh! Oh! I know what it said!”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“What did it say?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“It said: Oh Look, ponies and a baby dragon.”

Rarity asks:

“How do you know that?”

Pinkie says:

“I took a special talent that allows me to understand other languages. I also took another one that lets me speak the same languages too.”

Fluttershy asks:

“What is that in front of it?”

Black Cherry says:

“It's an accordion case with bits in it. Maybe if you throw a bit or two in there, the human will do something.”

Everypony walks cautiously over to the human, who hasn't changed his position at all. As they get closer, Spike says:

“It kind of looks like a monkey, only taller and without a tail.”

They get right in front of the human. It looks at them and asks:

“Kion vi volas?”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Alright girls, who's going to put bits in the case?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“If I had my way, I'd just take the bits that are in there and fly away as fast as possible. The human doesn't look like it can run very far.”

Fluttershy says:

“Now Rainbow, that wouldn't be very nice. And besides, it looks like the human needs those bits.”

Pinkie Pie pulls out her bit satchel and pulls out two bits. She throws them into the accordion case and the human smiles. It stands up, towering over everypony, and says:

“Dankon. Se ve scias la kanton, eble mi  povus ludi gin por vi.”

Pinkie Pie has put the bit satchel away and says:

“Ho, mi konas unu vi povus ludi!”

Pinkie Pie whispers in the human's ear and he listens to her. He picks up the accordion and smiles as he says:

“Kiu estas unu el miaj favoritos. Tie mi iras.”

The human starts to play the song known as the Parasprite Polka. Applejack asks:

“That song sounds familiar.”

Pinkie closes her eyes and says:

“Of course it does. This is my jam.”

Rarity says:

“We might as well dance while the human is playing that song.”

Spike hops off and starts to do a squat dance. As he does, everypony starts to dance in twos.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the human finishing the song Everypony stops dancing and they all clap. The human takes off his accordion and starts to bow to them. Twilight Sparkle says:

“Pinkie, we really need to find that bee hive. So please ask the human if it knows of a nearby beehive.”

Pinkie smiles and says:

“Sure thing, Twilight.”

She turns to the human and asks:

“Cu ekzistas abulejo ie proksime?”

The human stops bowing and opens his eyes with a look of surprise as he says:

“Abelo abelujo?”

The human points off in a direction and says:

“Estas super tiu maniero. Vi ne povas maltrafi ĝin.”

Applejack asks:

"What did it say?"

Pinkie Pie looks to Applejack and says:

"The human says we're close and that we can't miss it."

Twilight says:

“In that case, we're off to the beehive.”

Twilight has a surprised look on her face and we now see Rarity using measuring tape on the human's torso. The human has his arms up in the air while looking down with surprise. Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow and asks:

“What are you doing?”

Rarity continues to take measurements of the human as she says:

“I simply cannot let this creature wear such plain clothes. Give me a moment and this human will have the most stylish clothes around.”

As Rarity keeps measuring him, the human says:

“Mi havas malbonan senton pri kie ci iras.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“The human has a bad feeling about where this is going.”

Black Cherry says:

“Rarity, I'm about to make a fashion check to see if your attempt to make the human's clothes better succeeds. Taking your natural flair into account, you need a seven or better.”

Rarity uses her magic to make a translucent privacy screen appear in front of her and the human. Five seconds of the human making annoyed sounds later and the privacy screen gets pulled away. We now see the human looking down at his clothes and is surprised at what he sees. Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Natural twenty. It looks fabulous.”

Rarity closes her eyes and flicks her hair as she smiles and says:

“But of course, Darling.”

Applejack says:

“We maht think so, but we don't know how the human's gonna react to the sudden clothing adjustment.”

The human smiles and looks at Rarity. He says:

“Miaj vestos aspektas miriga! Mi amas gin!”

He picks up Rarity's forelegs and gives her a big hug while closing his eyes and smiling. Rarity has a shocked look on her face as he does this. She looks at the human and asks:

“Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie smiles and says:

“The human really loves it.”

Rarity tries to pull herself away from the human as she says:

“I would appreciate it if the human let go of me now.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Vi povas lasi iri de mia amiko nun.”

The human opens up his eyes and looks at Rarity, who has an annoyed look on her face. He lets go of her and has an embarrassed look on his face as he laughs and says:

“Pardonon.”

Pinkie says:

“The human is sorry.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Oh, it's fine Dear. It was just a bit of a shock is all.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“We really need to get going. Pinkie, tell the human we're off to see the bees so we can continue our quest.”

Rarity walks away from the human and Pinkie hops over to him. She says:

“Ni estas ekstere al vidi la abeloj. Adiau nun.”

The human shakes Pinkie's hood and says:

“Bone. Zorgi.”

The human stops shaking Pinkie's hoof and Pinkie walks away from the human they both wave at each other as Spike says:

“That took longer than I thought it would.”

Everypony walks through a thicket and come upon a gigantic bee hive on a huge tree. Everypony and Spike look up at it with amazement. Fluttershy says:

“I've seen large beehives before, but nothing like that.”

A voice from off-screen that sounds like Princess Luna asks:

“What creatures darest get so close to our hive?”

Everypony looks to where the voice came from and see a giant bee get close to them. Twilight says:

“Sorry for intruding, but we learned from your queen that you have a bugbear problem.”

The bee speaks with Princess Luna's voice as it says:

“It is as you have said. A bugbear hast been robbing us of our honey these past few days. Our queen didst go looking for brave adventurers to stop the plundering of our hive.”

Applejack asks:

“Just where does this bugbear live anyhow?”

The giant bee points towards a large hole about twenty feet from the tree where the hive is hanging. The bee says:

“That is where the insufferable creature resides. Tis a burrow that it dug for itself and has decided to live in.”

Rainbow Dash looks up and asks:

“A bugbear that lives in a burrow? Really?”

Black Cherry shrugs his shoulders and says:

“It is called Burrows and Bugbears. Putting the two together seemed like a good idea for your first adventure.”

Fluttershy asks:

“How long has it been since you were robbed of your honey?”

The bee says:

“The bugbear hast been disturbing us with its presence every eight hours or so. In fact, I do believe the time for it to come out is any minute now.”

We move over to the hole and suddenly see what looks like a bear with wings and a stinger come out of it. Fluttershy has a shocked look on her face as she says:

“Oh my gosh! That bugbear looks just like Harry!”

Black Cherry raises an eyebrow and asks:

“A bear friend of yours?”

Fluttershy looks up and smiles as she says:

“Oh yes. A very good friend of mine.”

Black Cherry says:

“Sorry to say, but this bugbear has no interest in making friends. Especially not with ponies.”

Twilight Sparkle has an angry look on her face as she says:

“In that case, we'll just have to use non-lethal violence on it until it admits defeat.”

Black Cherry says:

“I thought you might say that. Roll for initiative.”

A contraption appears in front of Twilight. She turns the gear on the side and hits down on the top when done. A die comes down the chute and lands on an eight. She looks up and asks:

“Now what?”

Black Cherry says:

“Now I check to see if either you attack first or if the bugbear does. If I roll a higher number, prepare to take some damage.”

A contraption appears in front of the bugbear. It turns the gear and punches down on the top part. The die rolls down the chute and lands on eleven. Rainbow Dash has a concerned look on her face as she says:

“Uh oh.”

Squares appear below everypony and the bugbear. Black Cherry says:

“The bugbear can fly, so it gets double the movement speed. It knows Fluttershy is a druid, so it will be going after her first.”

The bugbear moves along the squares towards Fluttershy. It flies next to Twilight Sparkle and Black Cherry says:

“The bugbear has considered attacking Twilight because she happened to be on the way over to Fluttershy's position. It will use its bear claws as a natural weapon.”

A contraption appears before the bugbear. It rolls the gear and punches down on the top part. Two twenty sided dice and two six sided dice come down from the chute. The twenty sided dice both land on an eleven and the six sided dice land on a two. The bugbear faces Twilight Sparkle, swipes at her with both claws and the swipes connect. Twilight Sparkle pulls back and says:

“Ow! That really hurt!”

Black Cherry says:

“Twilight, you took four damage. That's the end of the bugbear's turn."

Black Cherry looks over at Rarity and asks:

“Rarity, remember the fireball you charged up in the last fight?”

Rarity looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“Of course I do. I was annoyed I didn't have time to use it.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Well, now's your chance to fire it off. Not only that, but Spike can make it even better.”

Spike closes his fists and has a big smile on his face as he asks:

“I can?”

Black Cherry says:

“Your fire breath is a natural weapon. If you breathe fire on the fireball as it goes by you, you can make it stronger than it would be normally.”

Spike says:

“Awesome!”

A ball of fire appears out of Rarity's horn. It floats towards the bugbear and Spike breathes on it with his flame breath. The fireball expands to be twice as big and connects with the bugbear. The bugbear disappears and all we see is flames burning. The bugbear reappears as the flames go away and we see it's now covered in ash. It lies on its side and falls to the ground. Rainbow Dash flies up next to the bugbear and folds her forelegs. She asks:

“Do you give up, or do I have to beat you up too?”

The bugbear groans. It then raises and waves a little white flag while still lying burnt on the ground. Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“That's what I thought.”

We now transition to everypony and Spike standing in front of the giant queen bee as Twilight says:

“With the help of Fluttershy, we learned that the reason the bugbear was bothering you was because it was driven away from it's previous home. As such, it didn't have anything else to eat but the honey from your hive.”

The queen bee says:

“That does explain a lot.”

Fluttershy says:

“I also convinced everypony to bring the bugbear along and help it find a new home.”

We now see the bugbear, now back to normal. It waves at the queen bee. The bugbear then flies up to the queen bee and stops in front of her with a sad look on its face as Fluttershy says:

“He's really sorry. He's hoping you can forgive him.”

The queen bee says:

“Since I know the situation, you are forgiven.”

The bugbear looks at the queen bee, smiles and hugs her. The queen bee decides to hug back. Pinkie Pie is over near some tall grass as she says:

“Vi povas reveni nun!”

We hear from off-screen:

“Woo-hoo!”

We see the human appear running with his accordion case on one shoulder. He stops, puts down his case and opens it up. He picks up the accordion inside and says:

“Ni partio!”

He starts to play the Parasprite Polka. The bugbear looks over at the human and lets go of the queen bee. It flies over to near the human and starts to dance to the music. The other bees come out of the hive and start to dance as well. Everypony looks at each other, shrugs their shoulders and decide to dance as well. We see Black Cherry looking down at this entire scene and says:

“And so, you helped the bees with their bugbear problem. The human was allowed to entertain the bees once more and you all felt yourselves get a little stronger. Your next task is to help the bugbear find a home, but that can wait for later.”

Black Cherry clops his hooves together twice and a white flash of light appears. When the light disappears, we're back in Black Cherry's house. Everypony and Spike have their eyes closed and now open them. Black Cherry has a big smile on his face as he asks:

“Wasn't that fun?”

Everypony smiles and nods in agreement. Spike asks:

“Are we really going to help the bugbear find a new home?”

Black Cherry says:

“The next time you play, yes.”

Black Cherry looks at everypony and says:

“That is, if you do come back to play again.”

Applejack says:

“Seeing folks Ah know randomly pop up was something Ah was not expectin at all. Ah lahked it.”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and says:

“I knew that special talent that lets me understand and speak other languages would be useful.”

Rarity says:

“I was slightly surprised when you made me do a fashion check, but even I know that sometimes I have to throw something in the unfashionable bin.”

Fluttershy says:

“It's a good thing there was non-lethal damage. Otherwise, I would still feel bad about those hares and the bugbear.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“When I back stabbed that hare and knocked it out cold, I felt really awesome!”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I think what everypony's trying to say is that we'll definitely come and play Burrows and Bugbears again.”

Black Cherry says:

“Good to hear. I need to come up with a new scenario, so I'll be seeing all of you later.”

Twilight Sparkle opens the door and walks out. Everypony else and Spike walks out with her and Pinkie Pie walks out last. She waves at Black Cherry with a smile on her face and he waves back. She closes the door and hops off. Black Cherry raises a quill and starts writing down something on a piece of paper.

CUE CREDITS!

Episode 3: Of Bugs and Bears

The cold opening is a Previously on segment where we see the beginning part of the previous previously, while the rest of it is a short montage of what happened in the last episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open up on Everypony and Spike in Black Cherry's house again. He smiles at them and says:

“I'm glad everypony could  make it for the next session. We'll start up right where we left off.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Where was that again?”

Fluttershy says:

“We stopped a bugbear from taking honey from a beehive and we're now going to help it find a new home.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Oh yeah, I remember now.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“How hard could that be?”

Rarity says:

“Considering what we know about actual bugbears, I'm thinking it could take awhile.”

Spike says:

“Even if it's decided to play nice, the other characters in the game don't know that.”

Applejack says:

“If all else fails, we could always just build it a home if we had the raht tools.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Let's not waste any more time then.”

She looks at Black Cherry and asks:

“Black Cherry?”

He says:

“Right then. All of you close your eyes and leave the rest to me.”

Everypony and Spike closes their eyes and Black Cherry puts on the wizard hat. He closes his eyes as well and green flames come out of his eyes again as blackness comes out of his horn and fills the screen.

The blackness goes away and we see everypony with their gear and their eyes closed. They open their eyes now. Applejack looks up to the sky and asks:

“Black Cherry, where are we?”

We move up to the sky and see Black Cherry's giant transparent upper body there. He smiles and says:

“You are currently travelling away from the giant beehive with the bugbear.”

Rainbow Dash looks up to Black Cherry and asks:

“Are you sure we can trust it?”

Fluttershy is right next to the bugbear, who still looks like Harry the Bear. The bugbear is smiling while looking at her as she smiles at it and says:

“Oh, I don't think we have to worry about that.”

Rarity says:

“Just because we know it means no harm, that doesn't mean any npcs we come across will as well.”

Pinkie Pie scratches her head and says:

“Now that I think about it, I don't really know where bugbears like to live.”

Spike says:

“Then I guess we might as well be on our way.”

Twilight Sparkle looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“Before we go, is everypony at full health now?”

Black Cherry says:

“Yes. You also all gained a quarter of the experience needed to level up for completing your last quest.”

Applejack asks:

“What does that mean?”

Black Cherry says:

“When you level up, you get better stats than you had before. It means you can take more damage and deal out more in turn. In the case of spellcasters, it also means you can either cast more of the spells you know or learn new ones.”

Rarity asks:

“By how much?”

Black Cherry says:

“I'll figure that out. All you need to worry about now is finding your bugbear friend a home.”

Rainbow Dash looks suspiciously at him. She then folds her front hooves, closes her eyes and looks away from the bugbear as she says:

“Well, he's no friend of mine.”

Fluttershy says:

“Don't say that. You might hurt his feelings.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“I think he'll be fine. Especially since he has Gummy here to keep him company.”

She looks at Gummy and asks:

“Isn't that right, Gummy?”

We get a closeup of Gummy's face, seemingly not doing anything. We move out of the closeup and Pinkie closes her eyes and smiles as she says:

“Gummy agrees!”

Spike says:

“Well, the sooner we deal with this situation, the better. So long as he doesn't cause any trouble, we're on good terms.”

Twilight says:

“Alright everypony, time for us to strike out and find the ideal bugbear home.”

Everypony, the bugbear and Spike all nod in agreement.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL !

We come back from the commercial break and see everypony walking along somewhere. Applejack asks:

“So where are we going, exactly?”

Twilight looks to Applejack and smiles as she says:

“The bees were kind enough to give us another map to some locations where we might find what we're looking for.”

Gummy is hanging off of Pinkie Pie's mane as Twilight's voice says:

“With any luck, our bugbear should find itself a place to stay in no time.”

Suddenly, a sound is heard off to the right. Everypony looks in that direction and Applejack asks:

“What was that?”

Black Cherry says:

“I don't know, let me check.”

We hear the sound of the contraption being used. When we hear the sound of dice falling on the table, three rough looking ponies appear from where the noise came from. Black Cherry says:

“You now come face to face with thieves. They appear to want your bits.”

Rainbow Dash looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“Can't I talk to them since I'm a fellow thief?”

Black Cherry tilts his head and says:

“You can try. Roll for diplomacy.”

A contraption appears in front of Rainbow Dash and she rolls the gear on the side. She hits the top part when done and the d20 ends up on the floor. It lands on a 2. Rainbow Dash looks to the thieves and says:

“Hey there, partners in crime. I'm a thief, just like you. I would really appreciate it if you let us go by without any trouble.”

The middle thief says:

“Nice try, but you don't look like any thief I recognize. I think you should give us your bits before we have to hurt you.”

Spike shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Well, I guess we'll have to go with plan B.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“We have a plan B?”

Spike smiles and looks to Pinkie Pie as he says:

“Sure we do.”

He then looks over at the bugbear and says:

“Mister Bugbear, if you please.”

The bugbear and Fluttershy look at Spike with surprise, then they look at each other. The bugbear shrugs his shoulders and starts to move towards the thieves. They have surprised looks on their faces as the left one asks:

“Is that a bugbear?”

The right one says:

“Aw, I hate those things!”

The bugbear stops right in front of the thieves. He makes a little cough and then opens his mouth as he does his best growl and angry face at the thieves. As he does, the thieves all yell in terror. As the bugbear growls, some saliva gets on the thieves. The bugbears finishes growling and closes his mouth as the thieves continue to yell. They finish yelling and they still have terrified looks on their faces. The bugbear turns to look at Futtershy and he raises his hands while shrugging his shoulders. Fluttershy then walks up in front of the thieves next to the bugbear and says:

“Um, I think this is the part where you run away.”

A contraption appears in front of the thieves and the middle one rolls the gear on the side. He pushes down when he's done and the d20 comes out. It lands on a 1 and they all look up at the bugbear. They all let out a scream and drop everything they're carrying, running away from the group as fast as they can. Black Cherry starts to laugh. They all look up at him as he says:

“A critical failure, and on an intimidation check too. Could not have done that better myself.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“It appears there are some advantages to having a bugbear travel with us after all.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah couldn't agree more.”

Everypony and Spike start to cheer as the bugbear looks away and smiles, obviously embarrassed. Twilight Sparkle stops smiling and says:

“Wait a minute. Only one of the thieves rolled for the intimidation check. Only one of them should have been affected.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, since they were scared out of their minds at the time, I only needed to roll one die for all three of them. If each of them were at different levels of terror, I would have rolled individually. Rolling once for all three makes things easier for me, so that's why things went the way they did.”

Twilight looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“Huh. Good to know.”

Black Cherry then says:

“The thieves ran away screaming and dropped all of their stuff. Because of that, you get to take whatever you want from what they left behind.”

Rainbow Dash raises a hoof and says:

“I get first dibs!”

She then flies over to the spot where the thieves were and looks over what's on the ground. She looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“I don't really know if any of this stuff is valuable.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, maybe there was one among you who decided to take a special talent suited for just such a purpose.”

Everypony looks at Rarity. She rolls her eyes and says:

“Oh alright. I did give myself the Keen Eye special talent. Let me see what you have over there, Rainbow Dash.”

As she walks over to where Rainbow Dash is hovering, Pinkie Pie is next to Gummy and asks:

“What's that Gummy?”

She then smiles at Gummy and says:

“Oh, you want to grab onto the bugbear with your mouth! Here, let me help you with that.”

She picks up Gummy and throws him at the bugbear. The bugbear sees Gummy flying towards him and puts his claws in front of him while looking away and closing his eyes. A second later, the bugbear opens one eye to see what happened. He sees that Gummy has now clamped down on one of the bugbear's feet. He gets an annoyed look on his face as he tried to shake Gummy off of his foot. Fluttershy says:

“I don't think he likes having Gummy on his foot like that.”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes as she says:

“Relax. That's how Gummy says he likes you.”

The bugbear stops trying to shake Gummy off his foot and makes a questioning growl noise. Spike nods and says:

“It's true. I know from experience.”

The bugbear pulls Gummy off of his foot and holds him in front of his face. We get the bugbear's point of view as we get a closeup head shot of Gummy. The bugbear closes his eyes as he smiles and holds Gummy close to him. Fluttershy smiles and says:

“I think the bugbear likes him too.”

Applejack asks:

“Did you fahnd anythin' good over there?”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash look at Twilight. Rarity smiles and says while slightly singing:

“Yes we di-id!”

Rainbow Dash says:

“We got a couple of backpacks of holding, which can hold a whole bunch of stuff. Plus some other things too.”

Black Cherry says:

“That was a lot of dice rolling on my part, since I had to roll for every item that was on the ground. I'll give you all a minute to change into your new equipment.”

Rainbow Dash starts hoofing out the various pieces of equipment for everypony and they then start to take their clothes off.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony finishing changing into the clothes the thieves dropped. Applejack says:

“Ah still don't get whah a lower armour class number means we're better protected.”

Twilight says:

“Well, that's the way Black Cherry made it.”

Rarity looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“Wouldn't it make more sense if you were better protected the higher the number was?”

Black Cherry says:

“Not a bad idea. The game is still in the testing phase at the moment. If I get around to creating a finished version, that could be one of the first things I change.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down and says:

“I can't wait to find our bugbear friend a new home! I bet he's so excited!”

Fluttershy has a sad look on her face as she says:

“He's been with us for so long, I think I'll miss him when he's not with us.”

Spike says:

“Oh come on, Fluttershy. I'm sure wherever he ends up staying will let us keep in touch.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Yeah. Friends communicate with other friends even over long distances. No need to worry.”

Black Cherry says:

“By the way, before I forget, you all received twenty five bits from the loot the thieves dropped. You should all have seventy five bits to your name, except for Pinkie Pie who has seventy three.”

Pinkie Pie looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“Why do I have two less than everypony else?”

Black Cherry says:

“If you recall, you gave two bits to that human earlier so it would play a song.”

Pinkie Pie looks back down and says:

“Oh yeah, that was fun.”

Twilight has her map open now and says:

“Well everypony, it's time for us to stop wasting time and start trying to find our bugbear friend a home.”

Everypony, the bugbear and Spike all nod in agreement. The next thirty seconds are a montage of everypony appearing at the doors of various places. When a pony opens the door and sees the bugbear, they get a shocked look on their face and slam the door in everypony's faces. At the end of the montage everypony looks really tired from all that running around. They are now in a dark and creepy looking forest as Twilight says:

“There's only (pant pant) one more place (pant pant) left to check.”

She knocks on the door of a place that looks like it was originally a tree. The door opens and we see Zecora appear. She sees everything on her doorstep and says:

“A strange group coming from who knows where. Some ponies, a baby dragon and a bugbear.”

Applejack asks:

“Do you happen to be acquaintances of some gahant bees?”

Zecora smiles and says:

“Ah yes, I remember helping out some bees. I would like to know how you met them if you please.”

Rarity says:

“They were having a problem with a bugbear disturbing their hive and we dealt with it by having the bugbear come with us.”

Spike says:

“Yeah. We've been trying to find it a new place to live and haven't had any luck.”

Zecora says:

“I must be the last place the map did entail. If I don't help, your quest will be a fail.”

Black Cherry asks:

“Does she always talk like that?”

Pinkie Pie looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“Oh, Zecora always talks in rhyme. You get used to it after awhile.”

Black Cherry looks away and outs a hoof to his chin as he says:

“Constantly speaking in rhyme, you say?”

Black Cherry looks back to front and smiles as he says:

“That gives me an idea for an experiment later.”

Rainbow Dash now asks:

“So, can the bugbear come live with you or not?”

Zecora puts a hoof to her chin and has a thinking look on her face. Fluttershy and the bugbear look like they are really hoping she says yes. Zecora smiles and says:

“If he's willing to help out, he can stay for free.”

Everypony starts to cheer. Zecora then says:

“But first, you all need to do something for me.”

Everypony stops cheering and Fluttershy asks:

“What must we do?”

Zecora walks into her house as she says:

“Recently, I finished making an order to someone who lives far away from my border.”

Everypony starts to move into her place and sees all the mysterious things in her house. She says:

“I still have many things left to do yet.”

She looks back at everypony and says:

“A travelling group could be my best bet.”

Twilight says:

“If you give us the item and a map to get there, we'll be on our way soon and out of your hair.”

Twilight shakes her head and says:

“Oh no, she's got me doing it now!”

Zecora says:

“I do have a map to the place you must go. The place is quite far, I believe you should know.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“No problem. Going on long journeys is what we do.”

Zecora walks up to the bugbear and says:

“In that case, tonight you will have relaxation.”

Everypony starts to cheer again. Zecora then puts a hoof on the bugbear's chest as she quietly says to it:

“Also, while they're gone, you'll be on probation.”

The bugbear smiles and nods at Zecora. We move out from the scene as Black Cherry smiles and says:

“And so, with the bugbear finding a place to stay and a new mission to start in the morning, you all decide to stay at the local shamans' place for the night.”

Black Cherry claps his hooves together twice and a flash of light appears on screen. We then see everypony back at the table with their eyes closed. They open their eyes and look around. Twilight says:

“I think I'm starting to get used to that now.”

Black Cherry says:

“I was actually slightly surprised you didn't freak out when the shaman clearly looked and sounded like somepony one of you knows.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Well, you explained it to us before. So it didn't really shock us when it happened again.”

Applejack asks:

“Bah the way, whah did you ask if Zecora talked lahke that? Aren't you the one who speaks for the npcs?”

Black Cherry says:

“Yes and no. When it's a regular npc, I speak for them. When it's somepony one of you knows, whatever I have them say gets translated into the speech patterns and mannerisms of that particular pony.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down as she says:

“That sounds like fun! I can't wait to see who shows up next!”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“I guess we'll have to stay on our hooves when we go to a new place from now on.”

Rarity says:

“I'm just glad we don't have to travel with a bugbear anymore.”

Spike has an annoyed look on his face as he looks away and says:

“I'll say. That bear was really starting to bug me.”

Everypony looks at Spike with a surprised look their faces. They then all close their eyes and start to laugh. As they do, Spike looks around and asks:

“What? What'd I say?”

CUE CREDITS!

Episode 4: Bits and Pieces.

The cold opening shows the first bit of episode one, then some choice clips from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open up with Everypony back at Black Cherry's house. Black Cherry says to them all:

“When we last left off, you convinced the local shaman to let the bugbear travelling with you stay with her. You also gained a quarter of the experience needed to level up.”

Rarity asks:

“Black Cherry, darling, is there any chance we can get rid of the junk we picked up from those thieves?”

Rainbow dash says:

“Yeah, a bunch of their stuff wasn't any better than what we had already.”

Applejack says:

“Ah have to agree. Would be nahce if we could get better weapons too.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down while saying:

“Hey! Maybe I can get a stronger party cannon or a harder hitting helmet for Gummy!”

Fluttershy says:

“Now that you mention it, I could use some new items as well.”

Spike is on the table as he says:

“If Rarity could get me some gems for food, that would be something.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I could always use some books to have a better idea of how the world works.”

Everypony and Spike looks at Black Cherry with him having a surprised look on his face. He sighs and says:

“Well, if it's a shop you all want, then it's a shop you'll get.”

Everypony cheers at this. Black cherry smiles and says:

“It so happens I have just the place for you to sell your wares and buy new things. You'll have to get there first, so close your eyes and let's go.”

Everypony and Spike closes their eyes and Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat. He closes his eyes and green flames come out of them for a second before his horn makes the entire screen go black. Everypony opens their eyes and looks around. Black Cherry is lording over them again and says:

“At the moment, you are all leaving the shaman's house and on your way to deliver a package to a faraway place for her. In exchange, you are now free of the bugbear.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Aw, he wasn't that bad.”

Everypony looks at Rainbow Dash with a shocked look on their faces. Rainbow Dash sees them do this and shrugs her shoulders as she says:

“Well it's true. I didn't trust him, but he did help us avoid a fight.”

Fluttershy says:

“I kind of miss him already.”

Pinkie Pie holds Gummy up to her ear. She then looks at everypony and says:

“So does Gummy.”

Spike smiles and says:

“Ah, he'll be fine. If we want to talk to him, I'll just send a letter with my flame breath.”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“You can do that Spike?”

Spike looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“Yeah, all the time.”

Black Cherry says:

“Alright. Just for that, I hereby give you the ability to send letters to somepony with your flame breath. You will need to roll a d six to see if the letter gets to its intended destination.”

Rarity looks up and asks:

“How will that work?”

Black Cherry says:

“If the die lands on an even number, the letter gets there. If the die lands on an odd number, it ends up going somewhere else.”

Black Cherry looks away and puts a hoof to his chin as he says:

“Now that I think about it, that could be an adventure all by itself. Figuring out where the letter ended up if you get a bad roll.”

Applejack looks to Twilight Sparkle and asks:

“How far is the place we're heading, Twahlaht?”

Twilight pulls out a map and looks at it. She then looks to Applejack and says:

“It's not too far away, but we'll have to really move it if we want to get there before dark.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Then let's get going. We don't have any time to lose.”

Everypony and Spike nods and they start walking towards a direction with Twilight Sparkle leading the way.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that everypony is nearing what looks like a large building that has wheels on it. Black Cherry says:

“Because you asked for it, you will have it. A shop for you to sell some things and get some in return.”

Twilight sees the sign on the top of the shop that reads GOODNESS GRACIOUS TRAVELLING SWAP SHOP. She reads it out loud in a questioning manner:

“Goodness Gracious Travelling Swap Shop?”

Applejack has a frightened look on her face as she says:

“Oh no, not them.”

Pinkie Pie looks at Applejack and asks:

“What's wrong, Applejack?”

Applejack looks to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Well, with that kahnd a name, Ah have a bad feeling they couldn't be anypony but-”

A piano can be heard playing a simple tune that cuts off Applejack's sentence. Everypony looks at the shop and up from somewhere come Flim and Flam. Flim says:

“Goodness gracious oh my dear.”

Flam asks:

“Just what is it that we have here?”

Flim says:

“Some ponies are looking to sell.”

Flam says:

“And maybe buy things. We can tell.”

Applejack lowers her head and closes her eyes halfway as she sighs and says:

“It is.”

Flim says:

“Goodness here and Gracious there.”

Flam says:

“We will buy from you and be fair.”

Flim says:

“So that later you'll come and stop”

Flam says:

“At the Goodness Gracious Travelling Swap Shop.”

Fluttershy asks:

“At the what?”

Flim and Flam sing together:

“The Goodness Gracious Travelling Swap Shooooooooooop!”

As the piano finishes playing with Flim and Flam singing the last bit of their introduction, Rainbow Dash looks up at Black Cherry with an annoyed look on her face and says:

“Now I just know you're messing with us.”

Black Cherry has a grin on his face as he snickers and says:

“I cannot tell a lie, the idea for the name came from the Flim Flam brothers.”

Rarity rolls her eyes and says:

“Of all the things we didn't need, they were in the top five.”

Spike asks:

“Do we really have to buy and sell our stuff to these guys?”

Black Cherry says:

“Don't be like that. They might be ponies you recognize, but they're still bound to help you out as npcs. Sell your things and buy what you need.”

Twilight Sparkle looks at everypony and says:

“Well, I guess we could try.”

Flam says:

“Why Goodness, look at all the customers we have today. Six of them there are.”

Flim says:

“Quite right, Gracious my good fellow.”

Applejack asks:

“So how does your shop work, exactly?”

Flim says:

“I take care of the buying and giving bits in exchange for your goods.”

Flam says:

“While I'm in charge of showing you what we have on offer.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Do you have a helmet that lets Gummy do more damage when he hits an enemy after being fired out of my party cannon?”

Flam says:

“If you would be gracious enough to come this way, maybe we can find you something.”

Pinkie Pie bounces over while closing her eyes and smiling while saying:

“Woohoo! Gummy's getting an upgrade!”

Rarity has a suspicious look on her face as she says:

“I still don't trust them, so I'll come along and make sure he doesn't swindle you.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Count me in! I want some better armour and maybe a better dagger too.”

With Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash on one side of the shop with Flam, Flim turns to Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Applejack and asks:

“Now what can I do for you, my dears?”

Fluttershy says:

“Well, I think we have some backpacks of holding or something. We would like to get rid of what we don't need in them, if you don't mind.”

Flim says:

“Oh, it's no problem at all. Let me see what you have there.”

Flim uses his magic to move the backpacks Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle have onto the counter. He opens them and uses his magic to chuck what's in the backpack onto the counter. Loads of stuff comes out and Flim has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“Oh goodness me! There's so much in here! You must tell me where you got it.”

Spike, who just happened to be with the three at Flim's counter, looks back and scratches his head as he smiles and says:

“Well, it's kind of a long story.”

Flim smiles and says:

“No matter. I'll take a good look at each and every piece and see how much all of it is worth.”

We now see everypony chatting with Flim and Flam, who now have the names Goodness and Gracious as npcs in the game.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that everypony now has new gear on. They are walking away from the Goodness Gracious Travelling Swap Shop while waving at Flim and Flam. Applejack looks forward and smiles as she says:

“Ah only have twenty bits to mah name, but we sure did get some mahty fahne stuff for our troubles.”

Rainbow Dash looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“By the way, Black Cherry, how did you know about the Flim Flam Brothers?”

Black Cherry asks:

“Well, remember when they were trying to sell a miracle tonic that healed your body in amazing ways?”

Fluttershy looks back and smiles as she asks:

“How could we forget?”

Black Cherry says:

“They just so happened to come near our place one time and my sister was convinced it was the real deal. It was only after they left when we discovered it was a sham.”

Spike shrugs his shoulders as he says:

“Well, I guess that explains that.”

Rarity looks to Twilight Sparkle and asks:

“How much farther until we get to where we're going, Twilight?”

Twilight looks at her map and says:

“Well actually, we don't have too far to go. A little bit farther and we should be there.”

We now transition to everypony coming to what looks like a large blue rectangular box that has a door on one side. Outside of it is a bunch of random looking junk that looks like it might have been something at one point. Everypony sees this place and make ooh and ah sounds. Twilight looks at her map and says:

“Well, this is the place.”

Twilight walks up to the door and knocks on it. From the other side, a voice asks:

“Who is it?”

Applejack says:

“Package for ya from a shaman.”

The door opens slightly and we see Time Turner poke his head out. He gets a big smile on his face as he says:

“Finally, it's arrived!”

He swings the door fully open and says:

“Please, do come in. All of you.”

They all walk in and are surprised to discover that the blue box is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Time Turner says:

“I am the doctor around these parts, so I don't have the time to travel much.”

Rarity looks at Time Turner and asks:

“The doctor? Doctor who?”

Time Turner says:

“A scientific doctor. I don't specialize in medicine, so I send for help from a shaman or someone close enough when either I or my assistant become unwell.”

Spike asks:

“Your assistant?”

Time Turner says:

“Yes. This way please.”

They all walk over to a room where Derpy is lying down in a bed. She looks really sick and is hacking and coughing. Time Turner says:

“This is what has become of my poor assistant.”

Fluttershy asks:

“What happened?”

Time Turner says:

“She was mixing some chemicals, just like I asked her to, when there was a gas explosion which ended up making her terribly ill.”

Derpy looks over at Time Turner and says:

“I just (cough cough) don't know what (cough cough) went wrong.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and sighs as she says:

“Yeah, it's a mystery.”

Twilight has pulled out the package and says:

“Here you go. Now maybe our bugbear will be able to stay at the shaman's for the next little while.”

Time Turner has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“A bugbear living with a shaman?”

He then smiles and furrows his eyebrows as he says:

“Most fascinating!”

Time Turner opens the jar of strange looking liquid and hoofs it to Derpy. She drinks some of it and then coughs up some gas that disappears into thin air. Applejack asks:

“How do you feel?”

Derpy smiles and says:

“Better. I guess the gas (cough) in my system is what's (cough) making me sick.”

Time Turner smiles and says:

“I will send word to the shaman that the package was delivered. If a bugbear is involved, I'm guessing my sending word will be beneficial for everypony.”

Suddenly, a large sound is heard from somewhere. Rarity asks:

“What was that?”

Time Turner shakes his head and says:

“It's that blasted dragon again.”

Spike asks:

“Dragon?”

Time Turner nods and says:

“Yes. It lives in cave a little ways from here. It was all fine until one day it started to yell and scream for one reason or another.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Have you gone to see what the matter is?”

Time Turner says:

“No. I have been busy as of late. Going to see an angry and probably violent dragon is not exactly on my list of priorities.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Maybe we could go and see what the problem is.”

Time Turner says:

“That would be marvelous!”

Derpy asks:

“Doctor, won't you ask them (cough) to stay for the night?”

Time Turner looks over at Derpy and says:

“Oh yes, of course.”

He looks back at everypony and says:

“You all must be dreadfully tired coming all this way. Please stay here for the night and you can see to my dragon problem in the morning.”

Everypony gets into a huddle and start to whisper to each other. After ten seconds, they come out of it and Twilight says:

“We've talked it over and have decided that we will take you up on your offer.”

Time Turner smiles and says:

“Perfect! I will starting arranging your beds right away!”

We zoom out of this picture as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, the package was successfully delivered to it's destination. After doing so, you agree to stay for the night.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clap together and a flash of white light appears onscreen. We now see everypony back at the table as they now open their eyes. Rarity says:

“I swear Black Cherry, it feels like you add in a last minute problem at the end of each quest so we always have just one more problem to deal with.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Well of course I do. Otherwise, you would have no reason to come back and play again.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“I actually kind of like that. It makes it seem like there's never a dull moment.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Yeah! Never resting, always moving! Except for when we stop somewhere for the night.”

Spike says:

“An upset dragon is never a good thing, so next time should be very interesting.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah have to admit, having Flim and Flam show up as npcs was mahty genius of you.”

Black Cherry says:

“If you all feel that way, then you will just have to come back next time to see what I have planned.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“I'm sure we will.”

Everypony nods at this.

CUE CREDITS!

Episode 7: To The Letter.

The cold opening shows the first bit of episode one, then some choice bits from the previous episode.

CUE OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Black Cherry, everypony and Spike sitting around the table again. Black Cherry says:

“As you all remember, the last time you were all together you got a level up. I took it upon myself to change your character sheets and make you all stronger.”

He then points a hoof at Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy as he says:

“I had to speak to Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy alone because they had some dice rolls and new spells to gain from the level up.”

Spike asks:

“Did I gain anything?”

Black Cherry looks to Spike and says:

“You did actually. Because Rarity levelled up, you gained a plus two to your fire breath attack.”

Spike has his fists in front of his face as he smiles and says:

“Alright!”

Fluttershy looks to Twilight and asks:

“So, Twilight, how was the solo session you had with Black Cherry?”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and looks away from everypony as she says:

“Well, I didn't end up doing all that much. It was mostly the character Black Cherry came up with who just so happened to look like Queen Chrysalis.”

Everypony gasps at this. Twilight then looks forward and says:

“...and ended up becoming really nice by the end of it.”

Everypony sighs in relief at this. Rarity closes her eyes halfway and asks:

“So, Twilight, did anything fun happen when you were here with Black Cherry?”

Twilight has a puzzled look on her face as she looks at Rarity and asks:

“What do you mean?”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“You know. You, him, alone, music playing, lights down low, that kind of thing.”

Everypony except Applejack is looking at Twilight and Black Cherry with big smiles on their faces while showing their teeth. They both sigh and say, with annoyed looks on their faces:

“Nothing happened!”

Everypony except Applejack has disappointed looks on their faces as they say:

“Aw!”

Rainbow Dash says:

“And I was so looking forward to hearing all the juicy details.”

Spike looks over at Applejack, who is still acting like she doesn't care. He asks her:

“Don't you want to know what happened, Applejack?”

Applejack looks over at Spike and says:

“Honestly, ah could care less.”

Twilight looks at Applejack with an angry look on her face and says:

“Applejack! You're supposed to say you couldn't care less! Saying you could care less means you do care, if only a bit!”

Applejack has a surprised look on her face at this. She then smiles and says:

“Sorry. Ah'll remember that.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Right. Before this gets any more awkward, I think we should get started. Close your eyes everypony.”

Everypony and Spike closes their eyes. Black Cherry puts on the wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for second before blackness fills up the screen. Everypony opens their eyes and they are now not too far away from the cave where Torch resides. Twilight Sparkle is visibly missing from the group. We see Black Cherry's upper body over the horizon. He says:

“After a week of rock and rolling all night and partying every day, you say farewell to your newfound friends and head off for more adventures. You also notice that one of your companions is nowhere to be seen.”

They all look around and see that Twilight's not there. Fluttershy asks:

“Um, where's Twilight?”

Rarity says:

“I swear I saw her leave around sunset on the first night and haven't seen her since.”

We now see Twilight Sparkle run up to them. They all look at her coming towards them with looks of surprise on their faces. Pinkie Pie asks:

“Where were you?”

Twilight stops in front of them and tries to catch her breath. She then says:

“I helped a (deep breath) being called the Loveless (deep breath) learn the meaning of (deep breath) Hearts and Hooves Day.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Too bad we weren't there.”

Twilight finally finishes catching her breath and looks to Spike. She says:

“Spike, I need you to send a letter to the princess. I have to tell her that the mission was a success.”

Spike has a confused look on his face as he looks to Twilight and asks:

“The princess is in this game?”

Twilight nods her head and says:

“Yes. I'm not sure which one, but I need to send her a letter immediately.”

Spike walks up to Twilight and asks:

“Do you have the letter written already?”

Twilight smiles and uses her magic to pull a sealed up letter out of one of her backpacks. As she does this, she says:

“Of course.”

Spike takes the letter and uses green flames to make the letter burn up. Black Cherry says:

“Spike, make a d6 roll.”

Spike looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“What? Why?”

Black Cherry says:

“In case you forgot, I made it a rule that you have to make a roll every time you send something somewhere with your green flame breath.”

A contraption appears in front of Spike. He rolls the gear on the side a few times and then hits down on the top of it. Down from the chute comes a six sided die. It lands on a one. Spike looks at it and says:

“Well, that can't be good.”

Black Cherry says:

“Spike, the rule was that if the die landed on an odd number, the letter would go somewhere it was not supposed to go.”

Applejack looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“So what do we do?”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Fortunately, Twilight received a crystal ball from the Loveless from her solo adventure. Since she didn't need it anymore, she gave it to her servant as a farewell gift.”

Twilight opens her backpack again and pulls out the crystal ball. Everypony looks and oohs at it. Fluttershy asks:

“How does it work?”

Black Cherry says:

“Somepony uses a spell known as scrying on the ball and it shows them the location of any pony, place or thing. Provided the pony knows what the subject they want to see looks like.”

Rarity says:

“Well come on then, Darling, let's see where that letter ended up.”

Twilight looks up and asks:

“Now, how did she make it do that again?”

She then looks forward at the crystal ball and says:

“Oh, right, I remember now.”

Twilight closes her eyes and uses her magic to make the crystal ball shake and something start to visualize on it. We zoom in as the image gets slightly less blurry.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that the image on the crystal ball is now only slightly blurry. Black Cherry says:

“That letter must have gone really far. It's been over two minutes already.”

Pinkie Pie is looking close at the ball as she says:

“Wait, I see something.”

They now finally see that the letter appears to be in some room. Rainbow Dash looks at what's on the crystal ball and says:

“That didn't help at all. We know what the place looks like, but not how to get there.”

Pinkie Pie puts a hoof up and says:

“I know! I know how!”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and spins around. When she stops spinning, she points a hoof off in a direction. She opens her eyes and says:

“It's that way!”

Applejack raises an eyebrow and asks:

“How do you know that?”

Pinkie Pie looks at Applejack and says:

“Ranger tracking ability plus Pinkie Sense.”

Pinkie closes her eyes and says:

“Special talent.”

Twilight shrugs and says:

“Well, it's the best lead we have. Let's get going.”

Everypony and Spike nods. We transition to some time later and we see everypony walking towards what looks like a very wide gap. There is also a very conspicuous and very large tree near the edge. They see that the other side is quite a ways away and Rarity asks:

“How are we going to get over there?”

Fluttershy says:

“Um, some of us can fly over. Still doesn't help you though.”

Applejack walks up to the tree with a thinking look on her face. Black Cherry says:

“Applejack, I know what you're thinking. Make a strength check.”

A contraption appears in front of Applejack. She turns the crank on the side and pushes down on the top of it. A die rolls out and lands on an eighteen. She then turns around, lifts up her back hooves and bucks the tree really hard. A visible split goes up the middle of the tree. Everypony watches as the tree falls straight down across the gap and evenly splits in two. With everypony else's mouths open in shock, Applejack has a big grin on her face as she says:

“Problem solved.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Applejack just demonstrated what gaining a level or two can do to your stats. She would have needed a nineteen or better before. Now she only needed seventeen or better.”

Rainbow Dash, who shakes her head, smiles and says:

“That. Was. So.”

She then does a backwards loop de loop and says:

“Awesome!”

Spike knocks on one of the split sides of the tree and says:

“Well, it seems safe to walk on.”

Everypony except Rainbow Dash, who continues to use her wings to fly, walks on and over the gap using the newly made split tree bridge. As they get to the end of it, they see that there appears to be a fairly large house with a high door. Everypony looks at it as Twilight says:

“What a strange looking building.”

Rarity looks to Pinkie Pie and asks:

“Does your tracking ability say it's in there?”

Pinkie Pie walks a little past the house, looks confused and then points at the house. She smiles and nods at Rarity. Twilight goes up to the tall door and knocks on it. From inside, a voice asks:

“Kiu estas?”

Pinkie Pie hops over to the door and says:

“Poneoj. Ses el ili.”

The voice asks:

“Ponies?”

The door opens inwards and we see in the doorway a black human woman with blonde hair. She looks around at everypony and smiles as she says:

“My my my, little ponies.”

Fluttershy asks:

“You speak pony?”

The woman says:

“Why yes. My housemates on the other hand only speak human.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Ok, weird question, but have you seen a rolled up and sealed letter anywhere in your house?”

The woman says:

“I'm not sure. I only just got back a minute ago, but I'm sure my housemates can tell you.”

A male voice asks:

“Kiu estas ce la pardo Julie?”

A white human man appears next to the woman, who we now know is named Julie. She turns to him and says:

“Iuj poneoj sercas leteron Mark.”

Another voice asks:

“Kial ili sercas gin ci tie?”

A white human woman appears on the other side of the doorway. Julie looks to the woman and says:

“Tion mi celas eltrovi, Emily.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Those are some really heavy accents you have. I almost didn't recognize it as human.”

Julie looks at Pinkie Pie and says:

“When enough humans live in separate places for long enough, they develop a slightly different accent from everyhuman else from another area.”

Applejack says:

“Sounds lahke us ponies.”

Mark looks over away from the doorway and says:

“Hej, mi vidas ion.”

Mark walks out of the doorway. A couple of seconds later, he shows up with the letter and asks:

“Estas ci kion vi sercis?”

Emily looks at the letter and says:

“Aspektas kiel letero al mi.”

Twilight smiles and says:

“That's it! That's the letter!”

Spike reaches up and says:

“Give it here, if you please.”

Mark pulls back slightly as he's surprised at the baby dragon talking at him. Julie looks at him and nods. Mark shrugs his shoulders and hands Spike the letter. Spike then says:

“Let's try this again.”

He takes a deep breath and makes the letter go up in green flames. A little contraption appears next to Spike. He turns the crank next to it and hits down on the button on the top. Down the chute comes a six sided die and it lands on a three. Spike looks up and says:

“Not again!”

Julie asks:

“Something wrong?”

Rarity says:

“The die landing on an odd number means the letter went somewhere it wasn't supposed to. That's how we ended up here.”

Julie looks to Mark and Emily, who appear to be curious as to what's going on, and she says:

“La die surteri is sur nepara nombro. i okazis antae kaj tial ili estas tie.

Mark and Emily raise their head and says:

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Fluttershy says:

“Looks like we're off again. It's nice to have met you.”

Julie smiles and says:

“Likewise.”

Julie, Mark and Emily pull out of the doorway and the door gets shut. Twilight pulls out the crystal ball and uses her magic on it again. We see a slightly blurry image on the ball and after a couple of seconds clearly see that the letter is lying on the ground next to some kind of billboard. Everypony looks at the image on the ball and Rainbow Dash says:

“That didn't take very long. It must be nearby.”

Pinkie closes her eyes and spins around again. She stops spinning and points off towards another direction. She opens her eyes and says:

“And I know just where we're going. So let's go!”

Everypony nods their heads and starts moving towards that direction. We transition over to everypony walking and coming across a very wide river. Twilight says:

“Well, it looks like we have another problem in front of us.”

Applejack looks around and says:

“And not a tree in saht.”

Rarity says:

“Well! I am not going to swim across this dreadful looking water and get all of my gear wet.”

Black Cherry says:

“Pinkie Pie, it's time to show off what you can do now.”

Pinkie Pie looks down at Gummy, who is standing at the edge of the water. Pinkie Pie runs over to him and asks:

“What's that Gummy? You're calling out for some help?”

Spike asks:

“What are you doing?”

Pinkie Pie looks to Spike and says:

“Gummy is asking for some assistance.”

Rainbow Dash has a slightly annoyed look on her face as she asks:

“Oh yeah? From who?”

Suddenly, some bubbles start to form near the edge of the river. The bubbles start to get bigger and everypony looks at the bubbles with concern on their faces.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that the bubbles in the water are getting bigger and bigger. Everypony and Spike have now backed away from the water, unsure as to what's under it. Gummy is still near the edge, watching the water. Finally, what comes out of the water is a fully grown, adult alligator. Everypony gasps at this in shock. Gummy turns towards everypony and looks at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Gummy says this alligator is here to help us across the river.”

Spike asks:

“Are you sure?”

Pinkie Pie sees Gummy walk up the adult alligator and walk up to the side of it. He raises one of his hands as the adult alligator does the same. We get a close up of them doing a fist bump. Pinkie closes her eyes and smiles as she says:

“Call it a hunch.”

Fluttershy says:

“Well, if Pinkie Pie says he's alright, then I guess we can trust it.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Well girls, it looks we're in for a wild ride.”

Everypony nods. We transition to the adult alligator moving across the surface of the river with everypony, Spike and Gummy sitting on top of its back. Rarity smiles and says:

“Of all the things I never thought I'd do, being transported by alligator is definitely one of them.”

Applejack says:

“Good thing Gummy has some big friends.”

The adult alligator finally gets to the other side of the river. He gets up onto the shore and moves his head as if to indicate that they should be getting off of him now. Everypony hops off the back of the alligator and Gummy faces it. The alligator turns around and goes back into the river. Rainbow Dash is up flying again as she says:

“Are we there yet?”

Spike has gone forward a bit and has a hand above his eyes, trying to see far away. He turns to the others and says:

“I think I see something.”

Everypony walks over to where Spike is and they now see that there's a town not too far away. Fluttershy says:

“Now we just need to find a billboard and we'll be all set.”

They all walk into the town and start looking in all directions. Twilight says:

“I found it!”

Everypony else looks to where Twilight is and see that there is indeed a billboard with the letter neatly sitting right at the base of it. Rarity says:

“Well Spike, do your thing.”

Spike picks up the letter and says:

“I hope it works this time.”

Spike uses green flames to burn the letter up into the air. A contraption appears and Spike rolls the crank on the side. When finished, he pushes down on the top and out comes the six sided die. It lands on a six. Spike rolls his eyes and says:

“Finally.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Hey Twilight, let's see where the letter is now!”

Twilight looks at Pinkie Pie and says:

“But we don't have to anymore.”

Applejack says:

“Well, ah would lahke to see this princess Twahlaht answers to.

Twilight rolls her eyes and pulls out the crystal ball again. She then uses her magic to make an image appear on it. Everypony looks close at the image as we now see Princess Cadance holding the letter up to her face with her magic. She opens it and reads it out loud:

“Dear Princess, the task you put before me in helping the Loveless learn the meaning of Hearts and Hooves day was not an easy one. However, by being her servant for a week, helping her steal love hearts and telling her that it might not be a material thing, she finally discovered it. She also ended up being a lot nicer and is now living with the lovers in Love Town. As you can tell, the mission was a success. I hope this letter gets to you at a convenient time. Yours Truly, A Very Tired Paladin.”

Cadance looks up and smiles. She then looks back down and reads out:

“P.S. Please, no more sending me to towns where a narrator constantly speaks in rhyme. It gave me a headache.”

Cadance now looks at the crystal ball screen with a confused look on her face. We zoom out and see everypony still looking at the crystal ball. Everypony proceeds to fall over themselves laughing at a confused Cadance. When they're done, Rainbow Dash looks up and asks:

“Does she know we're scrying on her?”

Black Cherry says:

“Not unless she cast a scry detection spell before you saw her there.”

Fluttershy is now looking up at the billboard. She turns to the others and says:

“Look what I found.”

Everypony looks at what Fluttershy found and see that there are two HELP WANTED ads on the billboard. Twilight reads them out:

“Help wanted. Dating advice. What to wear, how to act and anything else if you think it would help.”

Rarity asks:

“Should we help them?”

Spike says:

“Maybe later. For now, I want to take a nice long rest after all that travelling.”

Everypony smiles and nods their head. We zoom out as Black Cherry says:

“And so, with your accidental quest complete, you decide to stay in town for awhile.”

Black Cherry claps his hooves and a flash of white light appears on the screen. We now see everypony around the table with their eyes closed. They all open their eyes and look around. Applejack says:

“Ah didn't know goin' up a level could do so much.”

Black Cherry looks to Applejack and says:

“Well, it all depends on your character class. Some level up in different ways.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Yeah, like how I can now summon an adult alligator when I need one.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“My thieving skills went up, but I guess I'll have to wait for a chance to use them.”

Fluttershy asks:

“How are we going to deal with two help wanted ads?”

Rarity says:

“Well, we could split up into two groups and help each troubled pony independently.”

Twilight says:

“With the crystal ball, I can keep up to date on your progress and you can cast a scry detection spell so I can give you progress on ours.”

Spike says:

“I guess we'll have to figure out who's going to be in which group then.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, when you do, I hope you all come back so we can continue our little adventure next time.”

Everypony smiles and nods their head.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 8: Opposing Attraction.

The cold opening shows the first bit of episode one, then some choice bits from the previous episode.

CUE OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with everypony and Spike sitting at the table again. Black Cherry says:

“Glad to see you all back. If you don't quite remember, everypony was going to split up into two teams to deal with the two help wanted ads asking for dating advice.”

He then clops his hooves together and asks:

“Now, which pony is going to be in what team?”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I will be in team mare.”

Rarity says:

“I will of course be in team stallion.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“I'm going to be in team mare!

Applejack says:

“Ah'm gonna be in team stallion.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“You can count me in team mare!”

Fluttershy looks around and says:

“Well, I guess that leaves me in team stallion then.”

Black Cherry says:

“Spike, since you're Rarity's familiar, you're in team stallion too.”

Spike smiles and rolls his eyes as he says:

“That's gonna be hard to deal with.”

Black Cherry says:

“Right. Everypony close their eyes so we can get started with operation dating advice.”

Everypony and Spike closes their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and the screen gets covered in black. We now see that everypony is outside of a random tavern that they're standing outside of. They open their eyes and look around. Black Cherry says:

“After spending a night at the local tavern, you all get ready to start your mission of helping two ponies begging for dating advice.”

He looks to Rarity and says:

“By the way Rarity, I had Twilight use a duplication spell to create another crystal ball.”

Rarity looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“What for?”

Twilight says:

“While we were in the tavern, I taught you how to do the scrying and scry detection spells.”

She then pulls out two crystal balls and puts one in front of Rarity's face as she says:

“Black Cherry realized you wouldn't be able to hear me if I talked to you while scrying only after the last adventure. The duplicate will only last for a day, so we had better get going.”

Spike is holding one of the help wanted ads and says:

“So, we're supposed to look for somepony named Snow Flake.”

Fluttershy puts a hoof to her chin and asks:

“Why does that name sound familiar?”

Applejack says:

“We're supposed to look for a Leaf Blower.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“What kind of a name is that?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I don't know, but I'm liking her already!”

Twilight looks to everypony and says:

“Well, we might as well get going. Once Rarity and I cast scry detection spells on ourselves, we can go and help these two distressed ponies in their time of need.”

Everypony smiles and nods their head.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are now away from the bulletin board and are now somewhere else. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie are looking at Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash is looking down at the help wanted ad. She asks:

“So, is your name...”

She looks up at somepony off-screen as she finishes asking:

“Leaf Blower?”

The camera zooms out and we see that Rainbow Dash is in front of a pony best known as Tree Hugger. She smiles as she says:

“That's what my parents had the infinite wisdom to call me.”

Pinkie says:

“We saw your ad asking for dating advice and we came over to help.”

Tree Hugger says:

“I was hoping the powers that be would send some assistance my way. I'm lucky they sent three ponies instead of one.”

Twilight smiles and asks:

“When is the next date?”

Tree Hugger looks up and asks:

“At about sunset today.”

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all have shocked looks on their faces. They gasp and ask:

“Today???”

Rainbow Dash says:

“But that only gives us a couple of hours! We'll never give you all of our awesome advice in time!”

Pinkie Pie looks at Rainbow Dash and says:

“In that case, we'd better get started right away!”

Rainbow Dash looks to Tree Hugger and asks:

“What did you need help with first?”

Tree Hugger frowns and looks at what she's currently wearing and says:

“Well, my instincts tell me that my choice of clothes are less than excellent for going on a date.”

She then looks to the three in front of her and smiles as she says:

“So I was hoping you could give me some groovy advice on what to wear.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“We can help with that!”

Tree Hugger says:

“Outstanding, yo. I know a place that sells stuff, so maybe we could go there and you could help me pick out a dress or two.”

Twilight smiles and says:

“Give us a moment and we'll be on our way.”

Tree Hugger says:

“No worries.”

Tree Hugger walks off and Twilight brings out her crystal ball. She uses her magic to make an image appear on it. It appears blurry at first, but then it becomes the face of Rarity. She has a smile on her face, then she looks at the screen with a questioning look. She then pulls out her crystal ball and uses her magic on it. Twilight then looks around with a questioning look. In the crystal ball, Rarity asks:

“Is that you contacting me, darling?”

Twilight looks down at the crystal ball and smiles as she says:

“Yes, it's me. I had no idea how weird it would feel to know somepony was looking at me.”

Rarity says:

“Agreed. Anyway, we managed to find Snow Flake and we're off to find him something to wear to his date today.”

We now do a snap cut and see Rarity looking at her crystal ball, which has Twilight Sparkle looking down at her crystal ball on it. Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike are looking at the crystal ball as well as Twilight says:

“That's funny, Leaf Blower said she has a date today too.”

Spike looks up, folds one arm and puts his unfolded hand to his chin as he says:

“I wonder...?”

Rarity says:

“Well, I guess that means we're both racing against the clock then, so to speak. Ta-ta for now.”

The image on the crystal ball disappears and Rarity puts it back into her backpack. Applejack asks:

“Is it really that odd of a feeling?”

Rarity looks to Applejack and says:

“Oh yes. It's like knowing somepony is watching you, yet you can't see them at all.”

Fluttershy looks around with a nervous look on her face as she says:

“Oh, my.”

Applejack looks off-screen and says:

“Well Snow Flake, we're off to fahnd you somethin to wear.”

We now zoom out slightly and see Bulk Biceps. He walks up to them and yells:

“YEAH!!!”

Bulk Biceps yelling in their faces has Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity all close their eyes as their hair gets blasted back by the wind of the yell, with Spike being bowled over. Spike gets up and says:

“Maybe you could tone that down so it's not so loud when you're in public.”

Bulk Biceps then has a surprised look on his face. He then loudly says:

“Yeah!”

Applejack opens  her eyes and says:

“Just a bit more.”

Bulk Biceps then asks:

“Yeah?”

Fluttershy has her eyes open as she smiles and says:

“Much better.”

Bulk Biceps smiles as Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Spike are smiling while looking at him. We now transition to inside what looks like a store with Tree Hugger, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle in it. Tree Hugger is looking at the other three as they are searching around the store for something for her to wear. Pinkie Pie pulls out a really nice looking white dress with a veil and says:

“Ooh, look at this one!”

Rainbow Dash looks over and smiles as she says:

“I don't think they're quite there yet.”

Twilight Sparkle looks to Tree Hugger and asks:

“So, Leaf Blower, what's your coltfriend like?”

Tree Hugger smiles as she looks up and says:

“He's a loud one, there's no denying that.”

She then looks at Twilight and says:

“We first met when I was meditating in a sauna. He totally broke my concentration by yelling really loudly and I went outside to see what caused the disturbance.”

Pinkie Pie looks back from her searching and says:

“Let me guess. You poked your head out of the sauna, your eyes met, and it was a done deal.”

Tree Hugger looks to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Hey, yeah. How'd you know?”

Rainbow Dash looks back from her searching and says:

“It was kind of obvious where the story was going. Still a good one though.”

Twilight looks out the window of the store. She looks back at everypony and says:

“We should pick something soon. The sun is starting to come down.”

Pinkie pulls out another dress, which we don't see and asks:

“How about this one?”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash look over at Pinkie Pie and smile as they gasp. Tree Hugger says:

“It sounds to me like we have a winner.”

We hear Black Cherry's voice as he says:

“Stop right there. I'm going to rewind time a little bit and see how team stallion is doing.”

We suddenly zoom out of the store and see Black Cherry looming over the sky. He looks at the sun and makes his hooves move so it looks like he's making the sun move up closer towards the sky. We then zoom into another store not too far away. Inside, we see Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike with Bulk Biceps. Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity are all going through what are on the clothes racks trying to find something for him to wear. Spike is in the middle with Bulk Biceps and they are watching the other three try to find something. Applejack says:

“Even if we do fahnd somethin, there's no way it's gonna fit.”

Rarity says:

“It's a good thing I'm a professional seamstress. I'll make the alterations once we find it.”

Fluttershy looks away from her searching towards Bulk Biceps and Spike. She asks:

“So what kind of pony is your fillyfriend, if you don't mind me asking?”

Bulk Biceps looks up and says:

“Well, I'd describe her as really down to earth and one with the elements.”

He then looks at Fluttershy as he says:

“I still remember when we first met. I had just finished using a sauna and somepony asked me if I enjoyed using it. I really did, so I said.”

He takes a deep breath in. He then looks down with a surprised look on his face. We move down and see Spike with folded arms and a raised eyebrow. Bulk Biceps lets out the deep breath he took and smiles as he says:

“Well, you know.”

He then looks back at Fluttershy and says:

“Anyway, I was on my way out and just so happened to be walking past another sauna.”

Spike smiles and says:

“Let me guess. She poked her head out from that sauna, your eyes met and it was the start of something magical.”

Bulk Biceps looks down at Spike and smiles as he says:

“It's like you read my mind, little buddy.”

Applejack says:

“It was sort of obvious what was gonna happen next. Still a good story, though.”

Rarity looks out the window and sees that the sun is starting to set. She looks back at everypony and says:

“We'd better find something and soon. The sun is starting to come down.”

Fluttershy pulls something from the rack and says:

“Well, this is the best one I could find.”

Rarity and Applejack look over at where Fluttershy is and smile as they gasp. Bulk Biceps says:

“Not bad. I think it will look good on me.”

Spike looks down and asks:

“Why do I have the feeling we did this all before?”

Black Cherry says:

“Alright. Once the ponies put on the new clothes, it will be time for the date. Let's see how that goes.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and we see Black Cherry looming over the sky. We also see Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash with Tree Hugger in her amazing new dress. Team mare is looking up at Black Cherry as he looks down at them and says:

“Team mare, the date Leaf Blower is going on is taking place at a sauna that just so happens to be right next to a restaurant. As you bring her there, you will have the chance to give her some last minute advice before the sun sets.”

Black Cherry then moves over and we now see Rarity, Spike, Applejack and Fluttershy with Bulk Biceps in his quite stylish tuxedo. Team stallion are looking up at Black Cherry as he looks down at them and says:

“Team stallion, the date Snow Flake is going on happens to be at a sauna with a restaurant next to it. As your quest ends, be sure to give him any final words of advice before the time comes.”

We shift to team mare as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Tree Hugger start to walk to the left. Rainbow Dash flies next to Tree Hugger and says:

“Now, make sure to remember what I told you about always reminding him to be on his best behaviour when you're out in public together.”

We shift over to team stallion as Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps start walking to the right. Fluttershy is next to Bulk Biceps as she says:

“Don't forget that you should always listen to what she says and compliment her whenever you can.”

We shift to team mare as Pinkie bounces along next to Tree Hugger and says:

“You should always be willing to try something new, in case you find something you both enjoy!”

We shift to team stallion as Applejack walks next to Bulk Biceps and says:

“If you can fahnd somethin in common to talk about, lahke for instance you visit the sauna a whole lot, then you can have a conversation that maht last the entahre date.”

We shift to team mare with Twilight behind Tree Hugger as she says:

“But out of all the”

We shift to team stallion with Rarity and Spike behind Bulk Biceps as Rarity says:

“advice we all gave you,”

We shift back to Twilight as she says:

“the most important”

We shift to Rarity as she says:

“thing to remember”

We shift to Twilight as she says:

“is that”

We shift to Rarity as she says:

“you should”

We shift to Twilight as she says:

“just”

We shift to Rarity as she says:

“be”

We now get a zoomed out image of team mare and team stallion seeing each other, right in front of a building that appears to have a sauna on the left and a restaurant on the right. Team mare and stallion look surprised at seeing each other as Twilight and Rarity both ask:

“yourself?”

Spike looks up and shakes his head as he smiles and sighs while asking:

“Who didn't see this coming?”

Tree Hugger has a big smile on her face as she sees Bulk Biceps and says::

“Snow Flake!”

Bulk Biceps has a big smile on his face as he sees Tree Hugger and says:

“Leaf Blower!”

They walk up to each other and have a big hug. Rainbow Dash has an annoyed look on her face as she looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“Why did you never tell us the stallion and mare we were helping were going on the same date?”

Black Cherry shrugs his shoulders as he says:

“You never asked. Besides, I was sort of hoping one of you would figure it out.”

Fluttershy says:

“I just don't understand how they could be a couple.”

Tree Hugger and Bulk Biceps look at everypony and Tree Hugger says:

“Well, to tell the truth, he takes things seriously.”

Everypony and Spike have now formed a semi circle with Tree Hugger and Bulk Biceps in the middle of it. Bulk Biceps says:

“And she takes them light.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“With you so far.”

Tree Hugger says:

“He goes to bed early and I party all night.”

Bulk Biceps says:

“She moves slowly and I go fast.”

Applejack says:

“Go on.”

Tree Hugger says:

“I like it quiet.”

Bulk Biceps says:

“I like to shout.”

Tree Hugger and Bulk Biceps look at each other as Tree Hugger says:

“Then, we get together.”

Bulk Biceps says:

“It just all works out.”

Rarity has her head tilted slightly with a thinking look on her face. She then smiles and says:

“Well, they do make a cute couple.”

Twilight smiles and says:

“Another successful mission I think.”

Tree Hugger looks to Bulk Biceps and asks:

“So, want to relax for awhile and then get something to eat afterwards?”

Bulk Biceps looks to Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike. They smile and nod at him. He looks to Tree Hugger and says:

“Yeah.”

Tree Hugger says:

“Come on, say it like you mean it.”

Bulk Biceps looks up and shrugs his shoulders. He then looks at Tree Hugger and loudly yells:

“YEAH!!!”

Tree Hugger then says:

“Now that's the Snow Flake I know.”

They look at each other and smile as they go into the sauna. Everypony watches this with a smile on their face. Spike looks up and says:

“Yeah, I think we're done here.”

We start to zoom out from the scene as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the lovebirds off on their date, you all head back to the tavern for the next little while.”

We hear Black Cherry clap his hooves together and a flash of white light appears. We're now back in the room. Everypony and Spike have their eyes closed. They open them and look at Black Cherry. Rainbow Dash says:

“You know, now that I think about it, I should have suspected something sooner.”

Black Cherry then asks:

“By the way, who were those ponies that played the part of Leaf Blower and Snow Flake?”

Fluttershy says:

“Leaf Blower was my good friend Tree Hugger and Snow Flake was a pegasus we know named Bulk Biceps.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I have to say, seeing them together like that was quite the surprise.”

Applejack says:

“You know, it kahnd of makes me wonder.”

Twilight asks:

“Wonder what?”

Rarity says:

“I believe she's wondering if Tree Hugger and Bulk Biceps would actually consider dating.”

Spike looks up and asks:

“Would they though?”

Everypony and Spike looks up with thinking looks on their faces. As they do, in the window nearby, we just so happen to see Bulk Biceps walking along with Tree Hugger right beside him. As soon as they're gone, Everypony closes their eyes, shakes their head and smile while saying:

“Naaaaah.”

Everypony then open their eyes and looks at each other with a smile on their face.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 9: The Old Mare of the Mountain.

The cold opening shows the first bit of episode one, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

CUE OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Black Cherry in his house, setting up for the next session. The door opens and Black Cherry looks to see who it is. He's surprised to see that Applejack is there. He asks:

“Just you today?”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Yep, just me.”

She then frowns and asks:

“That a problem?”

Black Cherry shakes his head and says:

“Not at all. In fact, I actually have a solo mission made up. The one with Twilight was a success, so I made more just in case.”

Applejack smiles and asks:

“There won't be a narrator speaking constantly in rhahme this tahme, will there?”

Black Cherry says:

“Nope. As fun as it was, I am never doing that again.”

Applejack has now shut the door and walked over to the table. She sits down and asks:

“So what are we gonna do instead?”

Black Cherry says:

“Close your eyes and you'll find out.”

Applejack says:

“Well, alraht.”

Applejack closes her eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of his eyes for a second and black stuff comes out of his horn, filling up the screen. We now see that Applejack is inside a random room with her eyes closed. She opens them and looks around. Black Cherry's voice says:

“While everypony else was having a rest at the tavern, you got restless and checked to see what else was on the board. You found a package delivery request and you went to see what it was all about.”

Applejack looks forward and sees Applebloom sitting behind a table with Big Macintosh standing guard with armour on him. Applejack looks up and shrugs her shoulders. She then looks at Applebloom and asks:

“Did you need something delivered?”

Applebloom smiles and says:

“Ah sure did.”

She reaches down and brings up a strange looking box. Applebloom then says:

“Y'see, today's the birthday of somepony known as the Old Mare of the Mountain. If you can bring a present to her in tahme, you will be greatly rewarded.”

Applejack looks over at Big Macintosh and asks:

“Couldn't your guard over there do it instead?”

Big Macintosh shakes his head as he says:

“Nnnnope!”

Applebloom then says:

“Just go a ways outsahde of town and you'll meet a great storyteller who will gahde you to your destination.”

Applejack asks:

“How will Ah know what the storyteller looks lahke?”

Applebloom smiles and says:

“Well he trahs to tell stories to any passerbah, so you'll know when you've found him.”

Applejack pick up the box and looks closely at it. She then looks at Applebloom and asks:

“What's in here anyway?”

Applebloom closes her eyes and says:

“That is of none of your concern. The important thing is that it gets to the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

Applejack puts the box in her backpack and says:

“Well, if you say so. Ah guess Ah'll be off then.”

As Applejack starts to leave the building, we now see that her face is on a crystal ball. Black Cherry says:

“Meanwhile, somewhere far away, somepony has been scrying on you with great interest.”

Applejack looks at the crystal ball with a surprised look on her face. She then rolls her eyes and says:

“Not this crystal ball scrahin business again.”

Black Cherry says:

“Now now, this will become important later.”

Applejack looks up and asks:

“Well, what're they doin?”

We zoom out from the crystal ball and see Trixie Lulamoon looking at the crystal ball. She has a thinking look on her face as she has a hoof on her chin while saying:

“A present for the Old Mare of the Mountain. Anything meant for that old crone will certainly be valuable.”

She then raises her arms up and smiles as she says:

“Which is why it will be taken and the contents sold to the highest bidder by the Wild and Wonderful WWWWWendy!”

We zoom up to the sky as Applejack looks up and asks:

“Wendy?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Human name she heard once and liked it so much she changed her name to that.”

Applejack faces forward and closes her eyes as she shrugs her shoulders and says:

“Fair enough.”

We zoom out and Trixie looks over and says:

“Minions! The Wild and Wonderful WWWWWendy has need of your assistance!”

Snips and Snails appear and run up to Trixie. Snips says:

“We heard your summons, oh wild and wonderful one!”

Snails says:

“Tell us what it is you need.”

Trixie points a hoof at the crystal ball and says:

“That orange pony there is delivering a box containing a present for the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

Snips and Snails walk up to the crystal ball with Applejack's face on it and Trixie says:

“It will be your job to take the box from her and bring it back to the Wild and Wonderful WWWWendy as soon as possible.”

Snips looks away from the crystal ball and asks:

“Uh, are you sure we're qualified to do that?”

Snails says:

“Yeah. I mean, when you ask either of us to do something, we end up failing in a spectacular manner.”

Trixie says:

“Wendy is quite aware of this. Which is why she is sending the both of you to complete this task. Maybe by working together you will finally succeed at something.”

Snips and Snails salute Trixie as they say:

“We're on our way!”

They turn around and run off. A second later, they come walking back as Snips asks:

“Miss Wild and Wonderful Wendy? Could you give us directions on where she's going?”

Snails says:

“You told us to get the box from her, but never told us her location.”

Trixie rolls her eyes as she sighs in annoyance. We zoom into the crystal ball as Black Cherry's voice says:

“With that bit of story finished, you can start making your way out of town and towards the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

Applejack looks forward and says:

“Well, looks lahke Ah'm off then.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Applejack is now wandering around, following a beaten path that has conveniently been made. Applejack looks up and says:

“Black Cherry, Ah don't see no gahde and Ah don't know where this mare is either.”

Black Cherry, who we now see is looming over the horizon, looks down and smiles as he says:

“Just a little bit further. You should be meeting your guide any second now.”

Applejack looks forward and shrugs her shoulders. As she walks, we now see the being known as Discord with a long flowing cape leaning against a tree. He sees her and says:

“Good day, traveler. Stay awhile, and listen.”

Applejack doesn't look at him as she says:

“Not now Discord, Ah'm lookin' for a storyteller to gahde me to the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

Discord then says:

“Well in that case, maybe I could tell you about the time I knew her as the Young Filly of the Hill.”

Applejack then stops and looks at Discord with a smile as she says:

“Well, a story of days gone bah would be-”

She then has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Wait a second, Discord?”

Applejack looks up at Black Cherry with an annoyed look on her face as she asks:

“The storyteller who's supposed to be mah gahde is Discord? Really?”

Black Cherry shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Don't look at me. He's only here because of your-”

A knock of a door is heard. Black Cherry looks over at the sound and then says:

“Excuse me, somepony's at the door.”

Black Cherry's visage disappears and Applejack looks forward with a confused look on her face. We then hear Discord's voice say:

“Did somepony call for me?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Well, your name has been said three times. Though I think it was more from disbelief than a call for you to appear.”

Applejack looks up and to the left as Discord's voice asks:

“Hey, what's Applejack doing here with her eyes closed?”

Applejack looks to the right as Black Cherry says:

“She's playing a solo mission of my game Burrows and Bugbears. For some reason, you appeared as a character who is supposed to guide her somewhere.”

Applejack looks to the left again as Discord says:

“Sounds like fun. I think I'll join in, but only on three conditions.”

Applejack looks to the right as Black Cherry asks:

“What did you have in mind?”

Applejack looks forward with a confused look on her face as we hear loud whispering. Black Cherry's voice says:

“Some odd requests, but I think we can make them work. Close your eyes and I'll get you in.”

Applejack looks around and then suddenly another Discord appears in front of her. Applejack has an annoyed look on her face as she faces the new Discord and asks:

“What did you have him agree to?”

The new and real Discord smiles and closes his eyes as he says:

“They were very simple, really.”

He opens his eyes and uses his talon hand to raise one as he says:

“First, I asked that as long as I'm playing, there will be no princess in need of rescuing. Especially if her name is Shmarity.”

Applejack tilts her head and says:

“Ah don't know whah you asked for that and Ah don't wanna know.”

Discord raises another talon as he says:

“Second, I asked to fuse myself with your storyteller friend so we would be one being for the remainder of the mission.”

Applejack says:

“Ah don't lahke the sound of that.”

Black Cherry says:

“Before you do, make a roll to see if it's successful.”

A contraption appears in front of Discord and he turns the gear on the side. He punches down on the top and a twenty sided die lands on a ten. Discord looks up and asks:

“Will it work?”

Black Cherry is back looming over the sky again. He smiles as he says:

“Try it with the other Discord and find out.”

The real Discord walks up to the in game Discord and asks:

“Ready?”

The in game Discord says:

“Of course.”

The two Discords now stand on either side of each other as they do strange walk and hand movements. As they do, they both say:

“Fuuuuuuuuuu-sion!”

They have their hands connected by a talon and a paw finger as they both say:

“HAAAAAA!!!”

A tiny explosion happens and dust goes everywhere. When it settles, it reveals that there is now only one Discord. He looks down at himself and smiles as he says:

“Well, it looks like the fusion between myself and the storyteller was successful.”

Applejack has a concerned look on her face as she asks:

“But how do Ah know where the character ends and Discord begins?”

Discord and Black Cherry look at each other and smile. They look at Applejack as Black Cherry says:

“That's for us to know.”

Discord points a finger at the screen and says:

“And you to find out.”

Applejack looks up and shakes her head. She then looks at Discord and asks:

“What was the third thing you asked for?”

Discord smile and looks behind him as he says:

“The ability to, at any time, do this.”

He snaps his fingers and a pony bluegrass band appears behind him. They proceed to play the last bit of the original My Little Pony theme. When they're done, the bluegrass band leaves as quickly as they appeared. Discord looks forward and is surprised to see Applejack looking at him with a tilted head and a raised eyebrow. He shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Oh, come on. I wanted to have some entertainment on our journey together.”

Applejack stops tilting her head and asks:

“So, can you gahde me to the Old Mare of the Mountain or not?”

Discord gets up close to Applejack and puts an arm around her while saying:

“But of course! As I do, I'll tell you about the time I knew her as the young Filly of the Hill.”

Applejack says:

“Well, lead on then.”

Discord takes his arm off Applejack and starts walking in a direction. Applejack Follows behind him. Discord snaps his fingers and the bluegrass band shows up again. They play the last bit of the My Little Pony theme again and disappear once more. Applejack sees this and then looks forward as she says:

“Ah just know that's gonna be annoying.”

We transition to later with Applejack and Discord walking along a path. Discord is still leading the way as he says:

“...and that's not even getting into the time I convinced her to move from a hill to a mountain. Oh, what a fun time that was.”

Black Cherry says:

“Applejack, make another evasion check.”

A contraption with wheels on it appears in front of Applejack and she turns the gear on the side. She pushes down on the top and the die rolls out the bottom. It lands on a twelve. Snips appears and lunges at Applejack. She looks up from the contraption, which has now disappeared, and continues walking. Snips somehow misses her and falls right on his face. Black Cherry says:

“Applejack, again.”

The contraption appears again and she rolls the gear on the side. She pushes down and the die rolls out, landing on an eleven. The contraption disappears as Applejack walks along. Snails lunges at her and completely misses her, falling on his face. Applejack looks at Discord and says:

“Ah guess somethin is trahin to grab me and is utterly failing every tahme.”

Discord looks at Applejack and smiles as he says:

“Oh, that reminds me of the time I found myself in a cave of bats and had to dodge them all while trying to get out.”

Applejack notices that the cape Discord is wearing makes part of his body disappear every so often. Applejack asks:

“Whah does the cape you have on make part of you disappear every so often?”

Discord and Applejack stop walking. Discord looks at the cape that he's wearing and smiles. He takes it off and smiles at Applejack as he says:

“It's a cape of invisibility. If I ever get into a pinch, I can cover myself with it so I'm not seen by my pursuers. Now you see me.”

Discord crouches down and covers himself with the cape. He disappears from view as he says:

“Now you don't.”

Black Cherry says:

“Applejack, roll.”

A contraption shows up and Applejack turns the gear on the side. As she does, we hear Discord say:

“Now you see me.”

She pushes down on the top part and two dice come out. One lands on a fourteen and the other lands on a ten. As this happens, Discord says:

“Now you don't.”

Applejack sits down watching Discord do his cape trick as Snips and Snails suddenly appear and lunge themselves in front of her. They both completely miss her and fall into the bushes. She sees them cross in front of her as Discord says:

“Now you see me.”

She then stands up with an annoyed look on her face as Discord says:

“Now you don't.”

Applejack walks up to what appears to be nothing as she says:

“Ah think we should get going. Whoever's after me isn't giving up.”

Discord suddenly appears from under his cape as he says:

“They must be after the present you have for the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

Discord starts to walk in a direction again with Applejack following. She asks:

“Whah would they want that?”

Discord looks up and back as he shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Who knows?”

He then snaps his fingers and the bluegrass band appears behind them once more. They play the end bit of the original My Little Pony theme and then disappear again. Applejack shakes her head and sighs. We zoom out and see that the area Applejack is in is now on the surface of a crystal ball. Black Cherry says:

“Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location.”

We see Trixie in front of the crystal ball with her hooves covering her face. She takes them away and has an angry look on her face as she says:

“Those clumsy fools! The Wild and Wonderful WWWWendy was hoping by working together they could finally accomplish something.”

She then looks at what appears to be the exit of the place she's in as Trixie says:

“It looks as though the Wild and Wonderful Wendy will have to take care of things herself.”

We transition to later and see Discord and Applejack still walking along, with Discord recounting yet another story. Snips and Snails are following behind them with angry looks on their faces. Suddenly, Trixie appears in front of them. They halt with shocked looks on their faces. Snips says:

“Your Wild and Wonderfulness! What are you doing here?”

Trixie looks at them and says:

“Wendy has seen your constant failures. She has now come to help you get the box containing the gift for the Old Mare of the Mountain from that orange pony once and for all!”

Snails looks back and then looks at Trixie as he asks:

“But, uh, how are you going to do that?”

Trixie taps a hoof to her face as she looks over at Applejack and Discord. She then sees that as Applejack and Discord walk, they every so often separate. Trixie smiles and looks to Snips and Snails. She then says:

“The Wild and Wonderful Wendy requires an empty sack and a long piece of rope.”

We cut back to Applejack and Discord as Discord says:

“And you know, as I was helping her move from the hill to the mountain, she kept telling me how tiresome it would be to tell everypony she's no longer the Young Filly of the Hill.”

Applejack parts from Discord without Discord noticing and Discord says:

“I then told her that since she's living on a mountain, everypony could call her the Filly, the Mare, and then finally the Old Mare of the-”

Black Cherry says:

“Discord, make an evasion check.”

A contraption appears in front of Discord. He raises an eyebrow as he rolls the crank on the side. He pushes down on the top and the die rolls out. It lands on a two. Discord has a concerned look on his face as he asks:

“Oh my, is that bad?”

A sack suddenly appears and covers Discord's head. We zoom out slightly with Discord making muffled sounds of surprise and see that Snails was the one who did this. We also see Snips with a rope, which he uses to tie up Discord's hands. Trixie appears and says:

“Finally, you did something right. Now we just need to get in front of that orange pony so we can use our hostage here as leverage.”

We cut to Applejack walking forward with quite the unhappy look on her face. She says:

“Y'know Discord, Ah could really do without these stories you keep telling me as we go to see-”

Applejack notices that Discord is now nowhere to be seen. She then looks around and asks:

“Discord? Where'd you go?”

Trixie's voice is heard from way up ahead, which says:

“Yoo-hoo!”

Applejack looks far ahead and we now see that Trixie is standing over what looks like a mountain ledge. She waves at Applejack with a smile and says:

“If you want your storytelling friend, come and get him!”

Trixie then throws down a cloud of dust, which immediately disappears as we see her running up the mountain. Applejack has a surprised look on her face. She then has a determined look on her face as she runs off toward the mountain.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Applejack getting onto a flat part of the mountain. We also see that nearby is a fairly gigantic cave with a walkable slope next to it. She looks around and says:

“Alraht you blue troublemaker, stop hahding and show yourself!”

We hear Trixie's voice as she asks:

“Who's hiding?”

Applejack turns to see Trixie next to the ledge of the flat part of the mountain. Next to her are Snips and Snails, who are holding the tied up body of Discord with a sack over his head. Applejack sees Discord and starts to run towards him. Trixie holds up a hoof and says:

“Ah ah ah!”

Snips and Snails move Discord in such a motion as to make it look like they're about to throw him off the side of the mountain. Applejack stops and has an angry look on her face as she asks:

“What do you want?”

Trixie says:

“Oh, not much. Just the box you have that contains the present for the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

We hear Discord say something with the sack over his head. Trixie looks at him and asks:

“Sorry, the Wild and Wonderful Wendy couldn't quite hear that.”

She takes the sack off of Discord's head. He says:

“Don't do it Applejack! The present isn't yours to give!”

He then looks at his new surroundings and smiles as he says:

“Say, I recognize this place. Just a little further up and we'll be at the Old Mare of the Mountain.”

Discord has a scared look on his face as he says:

“That reminds me. We need to be very careful at this part. Otherwise, we could end up disturbing the-”

Trixie shoves the bundled up sack she took off of Discord's head into his mouth, stopping him from saying anything else. Trixie then asks:

“So how about it? A trade of the box for your friend?”

Applejack pulls out the box and looks at it. She looks at Discord, who is shaking his head. She then looks back at the box. She looks at Trixie and says:

“You win. Ah didn't really want it anyway.”

Applejack puts the box down and slowly walks back from it. Trixie runs over, picks it up and runs back to Snips and Snails. She says:

“At last! The birthday present for the Old Mare of the Mountain now belongs to the Wild and Wonderful WWWWWendy!”

She then looks at Snips and Snails and moves her head towards Applejack. They move Discord towards the opposite direction and throw him towards Applejack. She catches him and places him on the ground feet first. She pulls the sack out of his mouth and he has an angry look on his face as he asks:

“Why did you do that?”

Applejack starts to untie the rope around Discord's hands as she says:

“Ah didn't know what else to do.”

We move over to Trixie, Snips and Snails as they all look at the box. Snips asks:

“So, what's in the box?”

Trixie has an evil smile on her face as she says:

“Let's find out.”

She opens the lid of the box wide open and we see that the only thing in the box is the inside of it. Trixie now has a shocked look on her face as Snails says:

“It kinda looks like there's a whole lotta nothin' in there.”

Applejack has finished untying Discord and they both look over at them with shocked look on their faces while asking:

“What??”

Trixie's shocked face turns to one of anger. She closes the box up and says:

“All of that work, for nothing!”

She then tosses the box into the hole of the gigantic cave behind her. From the cave comes a loud growling sound. Applejack and Discord have scared looks on their faces as Discord takes his cape off and says:

“Applejack, listen to me carefully. Sit, crouch down and don't move.”

We move over to Trixie, Snips and Snails as they look at the gigantic hole and start to back away from it. We finally see an ursa minor bear step out of the cave, rubbing his nose. He's looking at the three ponies in front of him with an angry look on his face. Trixie has a fake smile on as she says:

“Not to worry. The Wild and Wonderful Wendy knows just what to do.”

She then turns around, reels back and closes her eyes as she yells:

“RUN!!!”

Trixie, Snips and Snails now run as fast as they can towards the place Applejack came up from, the angered ursa minor bear chasing after them. We move back to the flat area that appears to be devoid of life. Suddenly, part of the area moves and we see Discord's head appear. He then moves the rest of his cape and reveals that he was huddled over Applejack, who is covering her head with her eyes closed. Discord stands up and puts his cape on as he says:

“Looks like the coast is clear.”

Applejack opens her eyes She stands up and looks around. She looks at Discord and smiles as she says:

“It also looks lahke that cape helped out in a pinch after all.”

Applejack and Discord laugh at this. We transition to what appears to be the top of a mountain. We see Applejack and Discord sitting in front of who appears to be Granny Smith sitting in a rocking chair. Applejack is holding the box that Trixie threw into the cave and says:

“So y'see, when that blue pony opened the box, revealing nothing insahde, Ah started to wonder what the point of it was.”

Discord is looking up and appears to have a thinking look on his face. He then appears to have figured something out. He then looks down at Applejack and says:

“Maybe what was in the box wasn't the birthday present at all. She said to deliver A present, but never specified it was in there.”

Applejack looks up at Discord and asks:

“Then what was the birthday present Ah was supposed to deliver?”

Applejack looks at Granny Smith as she says:

“Ah can answer that. Believe it or not, living up on this here mountain gets a little boring. So Ah told everypony in town that Ah would lahke somepony to come and tell me stories every once in awahle.”

Applejack has a surprised look on her face as she points a hoof at Discord and asks:

“Y'mean, he's the birthday present?”

Granny Smith nods her head and smiles as she says:

“You got it. The box was made to seem lahke the present in case any interested parties wanted to take mah present from me. Bah the tahme it got here and they opened it, the real present would be long gone.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah guess that makes sense.”

Discord says:

“Well, since I'm here, I might as well start telling you some exciting stories.”

Applejack puts the box away and says:

“Well, that's mah cue to go and report the mission a success.”

Granny smith and Discord look at Applejack with surprised looks on their faces. Applejack looks at both of them and then sits down as she says:

“Well, maybe one more for the road.”

We start to zoom out as Discord starts to recount a story. Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the storyteller recounting an adventure to somepony anxious for stories, you listen to one more before heading back to the tavern.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white flash appears on the screen. We then see Applejack and Discord with their eyes closed. They open them and look at each other with smiles on their faces. Black Cherry is there looking at them with a big smile on his face. Applejack looks at Black Cherry and asks:

“So how much was the npc and how much was Discord?”

Black Cherry says:

“About half and half. The requests actually made things a little more fun to work with.”

Discord then asks:

“By the way Applejack, was the band I had on call a little much?”

Applejack looks at Discord and smiles as she says:

“Nah. It was actually a nahce break in between stories you told.”

Discord raises his hands and says:

“Well, you know me. I always aim to please.”

Applejack, Black Cherry and Discord all laugh at this.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 10: The Goat, The Snake, and the Tiger.

The cold opening shows the first bit of the first episode, then some choice bits from the last one.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with everypony coming into Black Cherry's house. Black Cherry sees them all and smiles as he says:

“It's great to have you all here again. It's just not the same with only one of you.”

Everypony sits down and Rarity happens to be next to Applejack and she asks:

“By the way Applejack, what happened with the solo mission you had while we were away?”

Applejack looks to Rarity and smiles as she says:

“Well, Ah had to bring a present to an old mare on a mountain. Ah also had to deal with Discord decahdin' to show up and put himself in the game.”

Everypony gasps at this. Applejack says:

“It wasn't that bad, Ah'll give all the details later.”

Black Cherry pulls out a book from somewhere and gives it to Twilight Sparkle. As he does, he says:

“Thanks for letting me borrow this from the Friendship Castle Library, Twilight. It gave me ideas on what new creatures to add in future sessions.”

Twilight smiles and takes the book while saying:

“Glad I could help.”

Pinkie Pie smiles as she asks:

“So, Black Cherry, what do you have for us today?”

Black Cherry looks to Pinkie Pie and says:

“A marathon session. It's something I've been thinking of doing for awhile and it should be interesting to see how it turns out.”

Spike asks:

“How is that going to work?”

Black Cherry says:

“You'll see when you get in there. All I will say is that I hope you don't have anything else to do for the next hour and a half.”

Everypony has a thinking look on their face. Rainbow Dash looks at Black Cherry and says:

“I've got nothing else planned for the day.”

Fluttershy says:

“Me neither.”

Black Cherry then asks:

“Is that true for all of you?”

Everypony nods their head. Black Cherry has a big smile on his face as he says:

“Great! Close your eyes and we'll get started right away.”

Everypony closes their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of his eyes as black stuff fills the screen. We now see everypony is in a fairly large room and everypony opens their eyes. Rarity asks:

“Black Cherry, where are we?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“You all now stand in front of the three mayors of the town you have been staying in for the past couple of sessions.”

Spike looks ahead and asks:

“Why are there three mayors?”

He then has a surprised look on his face. He taps on Rarity's body and they all look forward. They all now have surprised looks on their faces. What we now see is what's known as a chimera. It has one head and the upper part of a tiger, another head and the lower part of a goat and the head and neck of a snake for a tail. It is currently lying down with the tiger legs seemingly gone and the goat legs in a sitting position. Black cherry's voice says:

“Everypony, meet the conjoined triplet mayors of Chimeraville: Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica.”

Applejack says:

“Ah was hoping Ah would never have to see that creature again.”

The tiger head says:

“Us mayors have heard of your many exploits.”

The goat head says:

“And it has come to our attention that you tend to get things done.”

The snake head says:

“And you completed both missionssss quite sssspectacularly.”

Twilight asks them:

“What do you want from us?”

The tiger head says:

“Quite simple, really. You need to get me a piece of fresh sirloin meat.”

The goat head says:

“And me a fairly large amount of goat cheese.”

The snake head says:

“While I would like an insssstrument that sssomepony can play musssssic on.”

Pinkie Pie has her head tilted slightly and asks:

“We heard there were three mayors, but which one is which?”

All three heads smile. The tiger head says:

“Of course, how silly of us. I am Gaia Germanica.”

The goat head says:

“I am Julia Germanica.”

The snake head says:

“I am Caesssara Germanica.”

Spike says:

“Well, that clears that up.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Suppose we get these things for you, what do we get in return?”

Gaia says:

“As a reward, you will get to ask for something from each of us.”

Julia says:

“Three favours for three things. A fair exchange we do believe.”

Caesara says:

“And when you bring it back, pleasssse be sure to tell ussss the sssstory of how you obtained it.”

Fluttershy says:

“I guess that means we should split up into three teams this time in order to get them all.”

Gaia says:

“We don't care how you get them, so long as you do.”

Julia says:

“To help you on your way, we shall provide directions on where each item can be found.”

Caesara asks:

“Which of you will take the directionssss to each of the itemssss?”

Twilight, Rarity and Applejack walk forward with determined smiles on their faces. Gaia says:

“Good. The ones who have stepped forward will receive directions to the items.”

Julia says:

“The ones who did not step forward will be asked to accompany them.”

Caesara says:

“Each of the directionssss will have our marksss of approval on them in casssse anypony doubtssss your causssse.”

Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica now all says:

“Whence you have them, begone!!!”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the large room again. Everypony is now walking back in and Black Cherry's voice says:

“Now, here's how this is going to work. Each team will show the item you picked up one at a time and recount the story of how you obtained it. Team Tiger will go first, then Team Snake and finally Team Goat.”

The Chimera sees everypony come in and Gaia asks:

“Do you come back with the items we requested?”

Twilight ruffles around in her backpack and pulls out what looks like a top quality piece of sirloin. Julia says:

“Excellent. That's one item we wanted.”

Caesara says:

“Now you musssst tell ussss how you got it.”

Twilight looks at Pinkie Pie with a smile, with Pinkie looking at her as well with a smile. They then both look at the chimera and Twilight says:

“Well, it went something like this.”

We transition to Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie walking towards what looks like a giant wooden mansion with really high doors. The doors appear to be split in half with the top part having a doorknob and the lower part having a doorknob at around Twilight and Pinkie Pie's height. We hear Pinkie Pie's voiceover say:

“We followed the directions very closely and we came upon this very tall and very wide looking building. It looked like a real mansion.”

They both stop in front of the door and Twilight pulls out a piece of paper. She looks down at it and says:

“Well, I guess this is the place.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down and says:

“Woohoo! Let's go in! Let's go let's go let's go!”

Twilight puts the piece of paper away and uses her unicorn magic to open the doorknob next to her. The door opens inwards and they walk inside. They are now in what looks like a foyer and see that there is a desk at about their height. Behind the desk appears to be some stairs leading up somewhere with a railing on the side of it. Twilight looks all around the room and Pinkie Pie sees that there's a little bell on the desk. Pinkie Pie hits the bell and it makes a resonating ringing sound. When nopony shows up after a couple of seconds, Pinkie hits it five more times in quick succession. Suddenly, Shining Armour appears and walks up to behind the desk. He smiles and asks:

“Can I help you?”

Twilight has a surprised look on her face as she says:

“Shining Armour!”

Pinkie Pie puts a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looks at her and Pinkie shakes her head. Shining Armour frowns and asks:

“I'm sorry?”

Twilight looks at Shining Armour and smiles as she says:

“My apologies. You just so happen to look like somepony I know.”

Shining Armour smiles and says:

“Don't worry about it. I get that a lot.”

He then asks:

“So what can I do for you?”

Pinkie Pie pulls the piece of paper out of Twilight's backpack and reads it as she says:

“We have reason to believe this establishment has fresh sirloin taken from a... An audumbla.”

Shining Armour has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“Audumbla?”

Pinkie Pie looks up from the paper and says:

“Yeah, we're not really sure what that is either.”

Shining Armour says:

“Oh, we do have some. I was just a little surprised to hear that word said by a pony.”

Shining Armour smiles and says:

“You see, meat from an audumbla is mostly reserved for only the most wealthy of patrons. If only because there are so few of them around. Even then, the only ones who ask for audumbla meat are humans.”

Twilight says:

“Normally, we wouldn't ask for meat. However, we have been given orders to bring a sirloin steak from an audumbla back with us.”

Shining Armour asks:

“By who?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“By the three mayors of Chimeraville. Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica.”

Shining Armour has a shocked look on his face as he asks:

“Germanica?!?”

He then says:

“This sounds like a situation the owner should be involved in. Excuse me a moment.”

He turns around and walks to the foot of the stairs. He looks up and says:

“Mister Cattlefarmer! We have customers here asking for audumbla meat!”

From upstairs, we hear a voice say:

“Deal with it yourself! I'm having some alone time with the Misses!”

Shining Armour says:

“But Sir! They come on the orders of Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica!”

The voice from upstairs asks:

“Germanica?!?”

We then hear some moving and shuffling from upstairs. A tall door that has a higher and lower knob on it swings open. A male human with short dark brown hair and a clean shaven face wearing black jeans, an open black leather jacket and a black shirt that has a human skull emblazoned on it steps out onto the top of the stairs landing. He has a serious look on his face as he looks down at Shining Armour and says:

“You should have said so earlier! This is definitely a matter of great importance!”

He starts to walk down the stairs, with a hand on the railing and sees Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie in front of the desk. Shining Armour moves away from the front of the stairs as this human gets to the bottom. He smiles at them and says:

“Good day to you, my little ponies. I am William Cattlefarmer, the owner of this place.”

The human, who we now know is named William, walks up to behind the desk as he says:

“I haven't heard the name Germanica in some time. If they want audumbla meat, I will take care of everything myself.”

He turns to Shining Armour and says:

“You are excused.”

Shining Armour nods his head and walks off somewhere. Twilight says:

“I didn't know humans had last names.”

William, says:

“Of course we do. It's just that most of us know each other by our first names.”

He then has a serious look as he asks:

“Now, do you have proof that they sent you here?”

Pinkie Pie looks down at the piece of paper she has. She looks up at William and says:

“Well, this note does have some strange markings at the bottom.”

William reaches out to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Let me see that.”

Pinkie gives him the paper and he starts to read it. We now see William's point of view as he gets to the bottom of the paper. It clearly shows a paw print, a hoof print and two holes surrounded by ink. We see him looking at it again and looks up at Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. He hands it back to Pinkie Pie and says:

“That's the Germanica signature alright. Audumbla sirloin is not easy to come by, so I had to be sure.”

Twilight asks:

“What is an audumbla anyway?”

William smiles and says:

“Well, it's basically a very large and very hairy cow. Wanting milk from one, is one thing. Wanting meat from one is something else entirely.”

Pinkie Pie puts the paper into Twilight's backpack and smiles as she asks:

“Where did you learn to speak pony?”

William says:

“A lot of humans can. The ones who don't live in areas where ponies don't visit much.”

We then see the head of Lyra Heartstrings, who is wearing a light brown baseball cap with the words GIV' ER written on the front poke out of the doorway from upstairs. She looks down at William and asks:

“Honey, why are you taking so long?”

William turns his head to look up at her and says:

“In the middle of important business, Dear. Go back to bed, I'll be up soon.”

Lyra has a smile on her face and nods. Her head then disappears and William turns back to Twilight and Pinkie Pie again. He smiles and asks:

“Now, where were we?”

They both have surprised looks on their faces and Twilight asks:

“A pony, and a human, together?”

William tilts his head and shrugs his shoulders as he says:

“It happens.”

Twilight and Pinkie Pie look at each other with unsure looks on their faces. They then look back at William and Pinkie Pie asks:

“So, can you get us a piece of audumbla sirloin or not?”

William says:

“It will take some doing, but I'll see it gets done.”

Twilight smiles and says:

“That's a relief.”

William then says:

“But first, if you would be so kind, I would like for you to do a little something for me.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and asks:

“What did you have in mind?

William rubs his hands together and has an evil look on his face as the camera zooms in.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and now see what looks like a sort of restaurant room. Inside are both ponies and humans sitting at tables and talking. A couple of tables have ponies and humans sitting together. One of the walls is instead what looks like a meter high stage with a closed red curtain on it. On the sides of the stage are stairs for going up and down. A man walks up one side of the stairs and stops in the middle of the curtains. He has a microphone in his hand and he speaks into it:

“Mares and gentlecolts. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask for your attention please.”

The talking and murmuring dies down and every pony and human looks over at the man on the stage. Once they're all looking at him, he says:

“I'm Maxwell Hert, your host for today. We have a special show for you and we hope you enjoy it.”

From behind the curtain, we see Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, seemingly in position. With them are Gummy and an adult alligator, also seemingly in position. Twilight has a nervous look on her face as she looks to Pinkie and says:

“I sure hope we pull this off.”

A contraption appears in front of Pinkie Pie and she turns the gear on the side. She pushes down on the top and a d20 rolls out, finally landing on a twenty. She turns to Twilight and closes her eyes while she smiles and says:

“We'll be fine.”

On the outside of the curtain, Maxwell says:

“Introducing, for one day only, the spectacular Pinkie Pie, her assistant Twilight Sparkle and their two alligator friends!”

The audience gives applause at this as Maxwell walks off the stage. The curtain opens and the show starts. Over the next two minutes, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Gummy and the adult alligator do some pretty amazing tricks and cool looking things, all accompanied by music. It ends with Pinkie and Twilight standing on their hind legs and striking a pose to signify that they're done. The ponies and humans are at first stunned, then smile and give a standing ovation. We zoom up to Twilight and Pinkie as Twilight looks at her and says:

“Well, it looks like they really enjoyed it.”

Pinkie Pie looks at her and says:

“And that sirloin is as good as ours.”

We fade from that to back in the room with the chimera and everypony there. Twilight says:

“And from that little adventure, we learned not only that a lot of humans speak pony, but some of them even have relationships with them as well.”

Pinkie Pie ruffles around in her back pack and pulls out what looks like a fairly large jar of milk. She smiles and says:

“According to Cattlefarmer, each order of audumbla sirloin comes with a complimentary litre of audumbla milk.”

Gaia says:

“Sounds delicious. I'll take the sirloin now and drink the milk later.”

Twilight throws the sirloin at Gaia and her paws appear and grab it out of the air. We now see her chowing down on it. Julia looks at the other four ponies and asks:

“Do any of you have the other items we asked for?”

Spike reaches into Rarity's backpack and pulls out what appears to be an accordion. Caesara says:

“Oh, what a wonderful looking insssstrument. You musssst tell ussss how you got it.”

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike all look at each other while smiling. Rarity looks up and says:

“Well, you see...”

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 11: Battle of the Hams.

The cold opening shows the first bit of the first episode, then some choice bits from the previous one. For the purposes of the episode, the last bit is the end of the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike walking in a direction. Off in the distance, they see a large building. As they get closer, Rarity's voice says:

“As per the directions we were given, we set off to the place there was most likely a musical instrument for us to obtain.”

They get up to the building and we can now clearly see that there's a sign on it that reads Merry Melody's Mansion of Magical Music. They all look up at it and Spike says:

“Huh. Merry Melody's Mansion of Magical Music.”

Rainbow Dash looks at Rarity and asks:

“You think we'll find what we need in here?”

Rarity smiles at Rainbow Dash and says:

“I do believe so. Let's go in and see what we find.”

There are some double doors below the sign and they walk in. Inside, they find a very large room with various musical instruments. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike all look around at these instruments with absolute wonder. Spike says:

“Looks like the only problem we have now is which one to choose.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Yeah, but how do we know which one would best please a talking snake head for a tail?”

Everypony looks over as a voice asks:

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance?”

We now move over and see a pony best known as Coco Pommel at what looks like a reception desk with a smile on her face. Rarity has a big smile on her face as she says:

“Coco!”

We see a clawed hand pat one of Rarity's forelegs. She looks down and Spike looks at her while shaking his head. Coco frowns and asks:

“Excuse me?”

Rarity looks back at Coco and says:

“Sorry, but you just so happen to look like somepony I know.”

Coco smiles and says:

“It's alright. That happens to me quite a bit.”

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike have now walked up to the reception desk and Coco says:

“By the way, my name is Merry Melody.”

Spike says:

“Miss Melody, we are currently looking for a musical instrument for a very important individual.”

Coco asks:

“Any instrument in particular?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Well, we're not really sure right now.”

Rarity asks:

“What would you recommend we should get for Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica?”

Coco has a shocked look on her face as she asks:

“Germanica?!?”

Spike pulls out a piece of paper from Rarity's backpack and claws it to Coco as he says:

“We were told to get a musical instrument from this location by them specifically.”

From Coco's point of view, we see the piece of paper. At the bottom of it we see that there is a paw print, a hoof print and two holes surrounded by ink. We now see Coco looking at the paper as she finishes reading it. She hoofs it back to Spike and says:

“There's no mistaking that signature.”

Spike puts the paper back in Rarity's backpack and asks:

“So, can you help us?”

Coco smiles and says:

“I would love to, especially ponies sent by Germanica.”

Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Except?”

Coco frowns and says:

“Well, it's just that for the last couple of days I've had a little problem.”

Rarity asks:

“What kind of problem?”

Coco opens her mouth, as if to answer Rarity's question, when suddenly a voice from behind her says:

“I don't care what you think of the humans I have in my show! They have a right to be on the stage as much as anypony!”

Coco looks behind her as another voice says:

“They always mess up the green room when they're done for the day and we go back in there! If they left it the way it was like we do, I wouldn't have such a problem with them!”

We now see two ponies walking out from behind Coco. One of them is Coloratura and the other is Mayor Mare. They are both looking at each other with angry looks on their faces. Coloratura says:

“Well maybe if you asked them nicely, they would be kind enough to clean up a little without you having to complain to me about it!”

Mayor Mare rolls her eyes and says:

“Well excuuuuuuuse me, Princess!”

They then turn their heads away from each other and close their eyes while saying:

“Hmph!!”

We cut back to Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike with surprised looks on their faces. Coco looks at the two ponies walking off with a concerned look on her face and says:

“That kind.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and everypony is looking at where Coloratura and Mayor Mare walked off to. Rarity looks at Rainbow Dash and asks:

“Wasn't that Coloratura and the mayor we just saw?”

Rainbow Dash looks at Rarity and says:

“I think so. Though considering we're not in Equestria, they must be some ponies that look like them.”

Spike asks:

“Who were those two?”

Coco looks at Spike and smiles as she says:

“Oh, those are Princess Royal and Fire Flyinghigh. One is front mare for Princess with the Royalty and the other is the singer for the band King.”

Rarity looks at Coco and says:

“So, her name really is Princess.”

Rainbow Dash looks at her as well and asks:

“What were they arguing about?”

Coco says:

“Well, Princess has some humans that play her music while she sings the song. When they're in the green room they like to party when they've done a practice over a job well done.”

Spike asks:

“Green room?”

Coco says:

“It's a room backstage that's often painted green, hence the name. It's also where everypony and everyhuman gets ready before they go on stage and perform.”

Rarity asks:

“There's a stage here?”

Coco says:

“Yes, in the very back of the store. Anypony can rent it and play their music there for practice. If more than one band wants to play, they have to take turns.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“So, just how messy are these humans?”

Coco says:

“Not very messy at all. It's just that Fire Flyinghigh is a neat freak and makes a huge fuss if things are not exactly where she thinks they should be.”

Spike says:

“Well, that explains a lot.”

Rarity asks:

“Do you think we could talk to them and try to sort this out?”

Coco says:

“You can try if you want. I haven't done anything so far because they keep paying me for practice time.”

Rainbow Dash looks to Rarity and asks:

“Alright, which one do you want to try and talk sense into?”

Spike says:

“I think we should go visit each of them together. The party is already split up as it is.”

Rarity says:

“Spike has a point. Since her humans seem to be the cause of this problem, let's go see Princess first.”

Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Spike all nod in agreement. We now transition to where Coloratura is. She is currently sitting down in a green room talking to six female humans who are also sitting down. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike all come into the room and see her with the humans. Rainbow Dash asks:

“Uh, Princess? Could we talk to you for a minute?”

Coloratura and the humans all look over at them. Coloratura smiles and says:

“Look girls, some fans have come to see me for an autograph.”

Rarity says:

“Actually, it's about the problem you're having with Fire Flyinghigh.”

Coloratura frowns and says:

“Oh, I see.”

Spike walks over to the humans and says:

“You know, I think if you didn't party so hard while back here, you could all be good friends.”

The humans all look at each other. One of them says:

“Well, I guess we don't really think about what happens in this room when we leave.”

Another one says:

“If she feels that strongly about it, we could remember to put stuff away when we're done in here.”

A third human says:

“Maybe if they went and played before us, she wouldn't be as freaked out at the mess we make.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“You mean you practice on the stage before they do?”

A fourth human says:

“Yes. Princess had first dibs and it's been that way ever since.”

A fifth human says:

“You know, I've actually been curious as to what King sounds like.”

The sixth human says:

“Hey I know! Let's let King practice on the stage before us, just this once, and be in the audience! That way, we can see what they're like!”

All the humans look at Coloratura with smiles on their faces. She looks at them with a surprised look on her face. She then rolls her eyes and says:

“Oh alright. If you think it might help, I guess we could go second.”

The humans all cheer at this. Rainbow Dash says:

“Well, now that we have her on board, we should go see Fire.”

Spike walks to one part of the room and a contraption appears in front of him. He rolls the gear on the side and hits down on the top. He reaches down and two d10s roll down the chute. One lands on a sixty and the other lands on a ninety. The contraption and the dice disappear as Spike picks up an accordion. As he does, Rarity asks:

“Spike, are you coming?”

Spike looks over and says:

“Actually, I'd like to learn how to play whatever this is.”

Coloratura says:

“You can leave him here with us while you talk with Miss Flyinghigh. My humans will help him figure out how to play it while you're gone.”

She looks at the six humans and asks:

“Right girls?”

The six humans look at each other and have determined smiles on their faces while nodding. Rainbow Dash and Rarity walk out of the room as Rainbow Dash says:

“Well, have a good time Spike.”

When they're gone, the humans all gang up on Spike. We transition to Mayor Mare with three other ponies. Rainbow Dash and Rarity appear and Rarity says:

“Miss Flyinghigh?”

Mayor Mare looks over and sees Rainbow Dash and Rarity looking at her. She says:

“Let me guess. You're here to try and convince me to stop fighting with Princess Royal.”

She then looks away from them and closes her eyes as she says:

“Well, I won't consider it. Until her humans do something about their untidiness, I don't want to think about it.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Actually, they said they would try putting stuff away after they party.”

Mayor Mare opens her eyes and looks at Rainbow Dash and Rarity with a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Are you serious?”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Yes. They even agreed to let you practice first next time.”

Mayor Mare says:

“The next practice is in fifteen minutes. If they mean what they say. We'll be onstage by then.”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity look at each other with smiles on their faces. We now transition to a stage with seats in front of it. Coloratura, the six humans, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike all go and sit in the seats, with Spike sitting on the shoulders of the human closest to Rarity. On the stage, we see Mayor Mare with the three other ponies we saw earlier. Mayor Mare has a keyboard in front of her. Two of the other ponies have guitars in their hooves and we see a unicorn is in the back holding drumsticks with her magic. Mayor Mare says:

“Alright everypony, let's go from the top.”

They play an upbeat song in the style of the band Queen. When they're done, Mayor Mare bows. She then has a surprised look on her face as clapping and cheering is coming from the audience area. We see that everypony and everyhuman is clapping and cheering. Mayor Mare then smirks and says:

“Alright Princess, your turn.”

We transition to Coloratura in her Countess costume now on stage with the six humans. Mayor Mare and three ponies are now in the audience. Coloratura looks at the humans and says:

“Let's do this.”

They now play an upbeat song that's in the style of the band Dead Or Alive. When they're done, they hear clapping and cheering from the audience. Mayor Mare gets up from her seat and walks up to near the front of the stage. As she does, she smiles and says:

“Princess, I really like how your music sounds.”

Coloratura jumps down from the stage and faces Mayor Mare with a smile as she says:

“I can say the same to you.”

Mayor Mare says:

“Maybe we could do a collaboration of some sort.”

Coloratura looks at her humans, who are still on stage and asks:

“What do you think?”

The humans all smile and nod. Coloratura and Mayor Mare look at the three other ponies who make up King, who are still in the audience. They smile and nod as well. Mayor Mare and Coloratura look at each other while smiling as Mayor Mare says:

“Well, I guess that settles it then.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Mayor Mare and Coloratura still in her Countess costume are now on stage. Behind them are the six female humans and the three ponies that make up King. Mayor Mare looks at Coloratura and asks:

“How should we credit the song we came up with?”

Coloratura looks to Mayor Mare and says:

“I vote for King and Princess with the Royalty.”

Mayor Mare says:

“Sounds good to me.”

Coloratura looks to the three ponies and the six humans behind them. She says:

“Everypony, everyhuman, let's make the magic happen.”

They all nod and start to play a song that sounds like a a mixing of styles between the bands Queen and Dead Or Alive, not unlike the song Under Pressure. When they're done, we see Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Spike and now Coco Pommel in the audience clapping and cheering. Coloratura smiles and says:

“Well, that was fun. We should do collaborations more often.”

Mayor Mare looks over at Coloratura and smiles as she says:

“You know, my name wasn't always Fire Flyinghigh.”

Coloratura asks:

“What was it before?”

Mayor Mare whispers into her ear. Coloratura looks at her with a confused look on her face and asks:

“File Cabinet?”

Mayor Mare holds a hoof up to her mouth with a look of concern on her face and says:

“Don't say it out loud! It's an embarrassing name!”

Coloratura smiles and says:

“Well I don't think so.”

Mayor Mare says:

“Look, if you don't tell anypony my real name I won't complain as much about your humans messing up the green room after partying so much.”

Coloratura says:

“But they already said they would be more mindful of putting things away.”

Mayor Mare raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Princess?”

Coloratura rolls her eyes and smiles as she says:

“Oh alright, you have a deal.”

They now put their hooves together and seem to shake on it. Mayor Mare looks out to the audience. We now see Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Coco with their eyes closed as they motion that their lips are sealed. We cut back to onstage as Coloratura looks behind her. The six humans close their eyes and also make a motion as if to say their lips are sealed. We then see Mayor Mare and Coloratura looking at each other and laughing. We transition back to the room with the chimera and everypony still there. Spike looks at the accordion he has and says:

“So because of that, I can now play an accordion. One song on it anyway.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Oh, also, do you mind not telling anypony Fire Flyinghigh's real name?”

Rarity says:

“We swore to secrecy, but we told you by recounting the story.”

Gaia is still gnawing away at the piece of sirloin. She looks up at them and says:

“Don't worry, we won't tell.”

She goes back to gnawing at the sirloin. Julia says:

“It matters little to any of us what a pony's actual name is.”

Caesara looks at Spike and says:

“Pleasssse, do play that insssstrument for me. I'm sure it ssssounds lovely.”

Spike shrugs his shoulders and starts to play a song on the accordion he's holding. As he does, Caesara's head swings back and forth in a rocking motion. When Spike is done playing, Caesara says:

“We are very pleassssed.”

We see Gaia gnawing on the sirloin and says:

“I'll take the milk now, I'm almost done with this.”

Pinkie Pie brings it over and we move over to Applejack and Fluttershy. Fluttershy pulls out a block of something wrapped up. She undoes the wrap and Julia has a big smile on her face. She says:

“Goat cheese! You must tell us how you got it!”

We zoom in on Applejack as she looks away and says:

“Well, you're not gonna believe this.”

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 12: To Really Get Your Goat.

The cold open shows the first bit of episode one, then some choice bits from the previous episode. With the last bit being the ending of the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Applejack and Fluttershy walking towards what looks like a house that has a large barn next to it. As they walk towards it, Applejack says:

“The directions we were given to fahnd the goat cheese we needed were very specific. We were able to locate it in no tahme and went about trahin' to get it.”

When they get to the door of the house, they stop and Applejack looks at Fluttershy as she says:

“It's funny how we ended up having to travel together again.”

Fluttershy looks at her and smiles as she says:

“Yes. It reminds of that time we went to Las Pegasus.”

Applejack look back and frowns as she says:

“Ugh, don't remahnd me.”

She looks back at Fluttershy and says:

“Helping Flim and Flam be friends again is not one of mah proudest moments.”

Fluttershy says:

“Well, I guess one of us should knock.”

Applejack knocks on the door of the house and asks:

“Hello? Anypony home?”

After a couple of seconds, the door opens. Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's little brother, comes out and smiles as he says:

“Good day there, strangers.”

Fluttershy has a shocked look on her face as she says:

“Zephyr!”

Applejack puts a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. Fluttershy looks at her and Applejack shakes her head at her. Zephyr frowns and raises an eyebrow as he asks:

“What did you call me?”

Fluttershy looks back at Zephyr and smile as she says:

“Oh, um, I beg your pardon. You just so happen to look like somepony close to me.”

Zephyr smiles and asks:

“You mean like a family member?”

Fluttershy says:

“Yes, exactly like that.”

Zephyr says:

“Well that's ok. When folk I've never met come by, they always leave our little home feeling like family.”

Applejack asks:

“Our little home?”

Zephyr nods his head and says:

“Yes. Me, my wife and a foal. She's sleeping right now.”

We hear a voice from not too far away say:

“Kelpie! I hear mare voices coming from over there!”

Zephyr looks over at where the voice came from and says:

“Not to worry Dear, they're just strangers who came by for a visit.”

Applejack and Fluttershy look over at where the voice came from and Applejack asks:

“Whose voice was that just now?”

Zephyr says:

“Oh, that's my wife. She's taking a swim in the river again.”

Zephyr steps out of the doorway and closes the door. He starts to walk away from the house as he looks to the both of them and says:

“Come on, I'll show you.”

We move over to a river about eighteen feet wide as Zephyr leads Applejack and Fluttershy to the edge. Applejack and Fluttershy look around as Applejack asks:

“So, where is this wahfe you spoke about?”

Suddenly, the upper body of Minuette pops up out of the river, startling Applejack and Fluttershy as they take a couple steps back. She smiles and says:

“That would be me.”

They both smile as Fluttershy says:

“Oh, uh, hello.”

Zephyr says:

“Strangers, meet my wife Undine. She's a naiad, a water being that takes on pony form when leaving the water.”

Applejack tips her hat and says:

“Howdy.”

Minuette looks at Zephyr and has an annoyed look on her face as she says:

“And since we're married, I keep reminding him of what happens if he went off with another mare.”

Zephyr looks around with a nervous smile as he says:

“Yes, yes, I never forget that.”

Zephyr now looks at Applejack and Fluttershy and asks:

“So, what brings a couple of strangers to a humble goat farm?”

Fluttershy pulls out a piece of paper and looks at it as she says:

“We were told to come here and get some goat cheese by Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica.”

Zephyr and Minuette have shocked looks on their faces as they both say:

“Germanica?!?!?!?!?!?”

Fluttershy holds out the paper to Zephyr as Applejack asks:

“That a problem?”

Zephyr takes the paper and looks at it as Minuette says:

“Not at all. They were the ones who helped us get married.”

We now see from Zephyr's point of view the piece of paper. At the bottom of it is a paw print, a hoof print and two holes surrounded by ink. He gives it back to Fluttershy and smiles as he says:

“Yep, that's them.”

Fluttershy asks:

“So, can we have the cheese?”

Zephyr and Minuette look at each other with sad looks on their faces. They both look at Applejack and Fluttershy as Minuette says:

“Normally, yes. However, we've had a problem with one of our goats for the last week or so.”

Zephyr says:

“Maybe it would be best if I showed you what she means.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Zephyr, Applejack and Fluttershy now in the barn we saw earlier and Zephyr is leading them to one part of it. When they get to one corner of the barn, we see that there is what looks like a very old and sickly goat on some very soft looking straw that has its eyes closed. Zephyr says:

“This here is our eldest goat. He doesn't have much time left.”

The goat opens its eyes and makes a baaing sound. Fluttershy looks at the goat with a sad look on her face and says:

“Oh my, even he knows.”

Applejack looks at Fluttershy and asks:

“What'd he say?”

Fluttershy looks at Applejack and says:

“He said 'The straw I'm lying on is terrible. One of us must go.'”

Zephyr has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“She understood that?”

Applejack looks at Zephyr and smiles as says:

“Druid. In tune with nature. Can understand animals.”

Zephyr smiles and says:

“Ah, I see.”

Fluttershy says:

“This can't be the only reason you're not able to give us cheese.”

Zephyr says:

“You're right. There's two other reasons.”

He looks over at another corner of the barn and says:

“The first is that a mother goat is about to give birth to a kid.”

We see a female goat, also on some very comfortable looking straw in another corner, who smiles and waves. Zephyr looks at Fluttershy and Applejack, and they look at him as he says:

“The second is that a creature known as a barghest has been pestering us for the past few nights.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Barghest?”

Zephyr frowns and says:

“I only know what it's called because Undine's friends told us about it. It's a large black dog creature with glowing red eyes. Ever since our eldest goat got like this, it comes to the opposite side of the river each night and stops at the edge, seemingly unable to cross.”

Fluttershy looks at the eldest goat and asks:

“It only comes out at night?”

Zephyr says:

“Yes. It makes a sound like rattling chains when it walks. I must be going crazy, because I swear I can hear rattling chains during the day without seeing it anywhere.”

Applejack looks at the old goat and says:

“Maybe there's a connection between them.”

Zephyr says:

“Well if there is, I haven't figured it out yet.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Can we stay for the night and try to figure out what's going on?”

Zephyr says:

“You can be my guest. You'll have to ask Undine though. She doesn't like mares coming by very often.”

We now see the outside of the barn with the sun shining down. A faint giant black hoof appears and seems to move the sky. As it does, the sun instantly comes down and the moon instantly goes up. We go back into the barn and we see Zephyr, Fluttershy and Applejack in there now surrounded by a bunch of goats that weren't there before. Applejack says:

“Wow, the naht came faster than Ah thought it would.”

Fluttershy asks:

“I wonder if the barghest has shown itself yet?”

From outside, we hear Minuette's voice say:

“Kelpie, come quick! It's back again!”

Zephyr looks at Applejack and Fluttershy and says:

“We need to go.”

Zephyr opens the barn door and they all run out of it. We now see them at the river with Minuette now out of it with a scared look on her face. Zephyr asks:

“Where is it?”

Minuette points out to the river and says:

“There!”

Everypony looks over at the other side of the river. We now see a giant black dog with glowing red eyes walking to the left at the edge of the river and then to the right. As it does, the sound of rattling chains can be heard. It stops and starts to bark loudly. Fluttershy has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Protect who?”

Applejack looks at Fluttershy and asks:

“What's it saying?”

Fluttershy looks to Applejack and says:

“It said 'Please let me cross. I have to protect them. I need to protect them until the time comes'.”

Applejack says:

“But that's ridiculous. There isn't anypony around here that needs protection except for the...”

Applejack has a look of realization on her face as she says:

“Oh.”

Minuette looks at Applejack and asks:

“What is it?”

Applejack looks at Minuette and Zephyr and says:

“Call me crazy, but Ah reckon the barghest wants to protect the eldest goat until he's passed on.”

The barghest barks loudly again, this time with a slightly more urgent sound in its bark. Fluttershy looks to the others and says:

“The barghest says that's who it wants to protect.”

Zephyr looks at Minuette and says:

“Undine, can you stop the flow of the river?”

Minuette looks at Zephyr and says:

“Only for a minute, and even then it will take all the strength I have.”

Zephyr says:

“Well, if it wants to protect one of our goats, I think you should give it a try.”

A contraption appears in front of Minuette. She turns the gear on the side and then pushes down on the top part. As it does, she runs over to the edge of the river. Two d20s rolls down the chute and both land on a fourteen. Minuette puts her hooves in the river and moves them opposite the direction the river is flowing. We see her close her eyes and seem to be using a lot of strength in what she's doing. Suddenly, the water in the river stops flowing and it stays still. Minuette pulls her hoofs out of the river and starts to breathe heavily. She falls on her back and Zephyr catches her in his forelegs. She says:

“I managed to stop the flow of the river, but not for long.”

The barghest sees the still water and backs up from the other side of the river. It then starts to run towards the edge and jumps right across, landing on the other side right next to the four startled ponies.

As it touches land, it runs off in the direction of the barn and everypony follows after it. When everypony gets to the door of the barn, they see that the barghest has now laid down in front of the barn doors. Zephyr slowly walks toward it, but stops when the barghest makes a low growling sound at him. Zephyr backs up and asks:

“How do we know when our eldest goat is no longer with us?”

From inside, the barn, we now hear the sound of the goats inside loudly bleating. Fluttershy has a sad look on her face as she says:

“I think it just happened.”

The barghest now gets up, raises its head up and lets out a howl. Suddenly, about twenty or so dogs appear and start to line up behind the barghest. Once they have, it starts to slowly walk away from the barn with the dogs who showed up following behind.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the last dog going past the barn door. We now hear the sound of one bleating goat. Applejack says:

“Ah don't recognize that goat sound from before.”

Zephyr has a look of realization on his face, runs up to the door and goes inside. A second later, his head pops out and he has a smile on his face. Applejack, Fluttershy and Minuette have all walked up to the barn doors as Zephyr says:

“The mother-to-be just gave birth! It's a buck!”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“I thought that sounded like a baby goat saying hello to the world.”

Minuette says smiles and says:

“I've only lived on this farm for three years, but even I know that sound when I hear it.”

We transition back to the room with everypony and the chimera. Fluttershy pushes the block of cheese up to Julia and smiles as she says:

“And when all was said and done, they were kind enough to make a block of goat cheese as thanks.”

We now see Gaia holding the jar of milk and lapping up the milk inside. She stops and looks at Fluttershy as she says:

“I haven't heard of a barghest sighting in a long time. That goat must have been very important to the herd.”

Julia starts to eat the block of goat cheese. She stops eating and says:

“This is very fresh. It must have been made today.”

Caesara says:

“Now that you brought all of ussss what we asssked for, we will now grant you any three requessssts you have.”

Everypony gets together in a huddle and start to whisper. After about five seconds, they break from the huddle and Rarity says:

“I request three missions' worth of experience, since we split into three groups and had some crazy adventures while getting those items.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“I request a solo mission tailored to my talents.”

Applejack says:

“Ah request an escort mission that allows us to get as far away from this town as possible.”

Gaia, Julia and Caesara all look at each other. They smile and look at everypony as they altogether say:

“Done!!!”

A second after they say that, a beam up light surrounds each pony for a couple of seconds. After the light subsides, Rainbow Dash says:

“Sweet, a level up!”

We now start to zoom out from the room, Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the items obtained and everypony well rewarded, you head back to the tavern for your final stay.”

We hear Black Cherry clap his hooves together and a flash of light fills the screen. We now see everypony in Black Cherry's house and they all open their eyes. Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Those were some smart requests you made. You told me what you wanted to see next and I can start creating two new  scenarios because of it.”

Twilight looks at Black Cherry and smiles as she says:

“It looks like that book on magical creatures was very useful.”

Black Cherry looks at Twilight and says:

“It sure was, and  you can bet there's more where that came from.”

Spike yawns and says:

“I don't know about any of you, but I think I'm going to take a break and just relax for awhile.”

Everypony smiles and nods their head.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 13: Between A Rock and a Soft Embrace.

The cold opening has the first bit of episode one, then some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Black Cherry looking like he's getting everything ready for the next session. There's a knock on the door and Black Cherry looks at it and smiles as he says:

“Hey Pinkie Pie, come on in.”

The door opens slightly and Pinkie's head pokes in. She has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“How did you know it was me?”

Black Cherry says:

“Because during the last session, you asked for a solo mission suited to your talents. So I figured the only one coming today would be you.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Well, you're half right.”

Black Cherry frowns and raises an eyebrow as he asks:

“How am I half right?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“While it's true that I'm the only one from the party here today, my sister Maud came by for a visit. She's outside with me right now.”

She then asks:

“You don't mind her watching us play a session do you?”

Black Cherry raises his forelegs up and smiles as he says:

“Of course not. Bring her in.”

Pinkie Pie opens the door wide and walks in. She then turns to the door and says:

“Hey Maud, he said you can come in and watch.”

We see Black cherry's face as he has a smile on it. We then see it turn to an astonished look. From Black Cherry's point of view, which now has an empty heart around it, we see Maud Pie walk through the doorway. She walks into the room and looks around. We cut to Pinkie Pie looking at Black Cherry, still with an astonished look on his face. With a look of confusion on her face, she waves a hoof in front of him. She then asks:

“Black Cherry? Are you alright?”

He looks at Pinkie Pie and closes his eyes as he shakes himself out of the trance he was in. He opens his eyes and looks at her with smile as he says:

“Oh, sorry. I was just caught off-guard by the beauty of your sister.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Never heard anypony say that about Maud before.”

Black Cherry then says:

“Well, have her come over so we can be introduced.”

She waves at Maud and says:

“Maud! Over here!”

Maud looks over at where Black Cherry and Pinkie Pie are and walks over. She looks at the Burrows and Bugbears game and says:

“So, this is what Pinkie's been doing with her free time lately. From what she says, it's a lot of fun.”

Black Cherry says to her:

“Well, I like to think so. I was going to have her play a solo session today. You can watch if you want.”

Maud looks at him and says:

“I would like that very much.”

Maud and Pinkie Pie sit down as Black Cherry has a serious look on his face and says:

“Right then. Maud, before we start we're going to need to hold hooves.”

Pinkie Pie has a surprised look on her face as she says:

“Black Cherry, I didn't know you were that serious!”

Black Cherry looks at Pinkie and smiles as he says:

“It's not like that.”

He then turns to Maud and says:

“You see, in order for you to watch the game, we'll need to be connected as we start. You'll see why soon.”

Maud then asks:

“By the way Black Cherry, what do you think of rocks?”

Black Cherry says:

“They're alright, though I'm more of a crystal pony myself. Literally, since I'm part crystal pony.”

He then closes his eyes halfway and air pokes Maud as he says:

“And if you know anything about crystals, you'd be aware that they're a kind of rock as well.”

We then get a closeup of Maud's face, which appears to be unchanged. We then see from her point of view Black Cherry with a crystal heart around him as he looks at the screen with his eyes fully open and says something. We then cut to Black Cherry as he asks:

“I said, are, you ready Maud?”

She opens her eyes slightly and then closes them as she shakes her head. She then opens her eyes and says:

“Sorry, I was lost in a train of thought for a second.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Yeah, she does that sometimes.”

Black Cherry then puts one of his hooves up against one of Maud's and says:

“We're now set to begin. Close your eyes so we can get started.”

Pinkie and Maud Pie both close their eyes. Black Cherry uses his other hoof to put his wizard hat on. He closes his eyes and green flames come out of them for a second. After that, blackness fills up the screen. The next thing we see is Pinkie Pie in front of what looks like a gate with her eyes closed. She opens them and looks around. She asks:

“Black Cherry, where's Maud?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Up here Pinkie, with me.”

Pinkie Pie looks up at the sky. We now see Black Cherry's upper body and Maud Pie's head hovering over everything. They are both looking down at her. Maud looks at Black Cherry and asks:

“So if our hooves were not connected, I'd be in the game too?”

Black Cherry looks at her and says:

“Yes. Since this is a solo mission, she needs to do it on her own.”

Pinkie Pie walks up to the gate and asks:

“So, what's my mission?”

Black Cherry looks down at her and says:

“As everypony else stayed at the tavern, the Germanica sisters gave you a task they thought would suit you. The task being to throw the ultimate rocking party for the Ultimate Party Rocker.”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and says:

“Oh, I can do that.”

She opens her eyes and knocks on the gate. A part of the gate swings outward and Limestone Pie's head appears. She loudly asks:

“WHADDAYA WANT???”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I've been given orders to see the Ultimate Party Rocker. It's so I can throw her the ultimate rocking party.”

Limestone shouts:

“WELL THAT'S TOO BAD!!! NOPONY SEES THE ULTIMATE PARTY ROCKER!!! NOT NOPONY, NOT NOHOW!!!”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“But how can she be the Ultimate Party Rocker if nopony gets to be at her parties?”

Limestone now loudly says:

“If you want to be at one of the parties she throws, that's one thing. However, visiting the Ultimate Party Rocker on her downtime is strictly forbidden without written permission.”

She then grabs the part that swung open and shouts:

“NOW GET LOST!!!

The open part slams shut. Pinkie Pie sits down and looks down with a sad look on her face. Maud is looking down and asks:

“Was that our sister Limestone we just saw?”

Black Cherry looks at her and says:

“Nope, that was an NPC who looked like her. It has to do with Pinkie Pie's imagination making the gatekeeper look like somepony she knows.”

Maud looks at Black Cherry and says:

“Oh, I see.”

Black Cherry then looks down and says:

“Pinkie, check your backpack. You should have something that will help you get past the gate.”

Pinkie Pie opens her backpack and pulls out a piece of paper. She looks at it and smiles as she says:

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

She closes her eyes and knocks on the gate again. A part of the gate swings open and Limestone shouts:

“WHAT NOW???”

Pinkie Pie opens her eyes and holds out the piece of paper while saying:

“I have permission to see the Ultimate Party Rocker from Gaia, Julia and Ceasara Germanica.”

Limestone takes the paper and looks at it as she asks:

“Germanica, huh?”

From Limestone's point of view, we now see the bottom of the paper. It has a paw print, a hoof print and two holes surrounded by ink. We see her now give the paper back to Pinkie as she says:

“Well, if they say it's fine, then I guess you can see her.”

After she puts the paper away, Pinkie Pie hops up and down as she says:

“Woohoo!”

Limestone then points a hoof at Pinkie as she closes one eye and says:

“But don't try anything funny when you're in here! I'll be watching you!”

She now closes the part of the gate that swung open and the gate opens. Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and trots right in. After she does, the gate slams shut.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Maud Pie lying down on a couch in a room with Marble Pie using a leaf fan to cool her down. Limestone Pie comes in and says:

“Miss Rocker, there's somepony here to see you.”

Maud looks over and says:

“I thought I told you I didn't want visitors during my downtime.”

Limestone says:

“I know, but this pony comes on the orders of Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica.”

Maud opens her eyes slightly and asks:

“Germanica?”

She turns to Marble and waves at her to stop using the leaf fan on her. Marble smiles and nods as she says:

“Mm-hm.”

She puts the leaf fan down and Maud gets up. She then says:

“In that case, send them in.”

Limestone now turns to where she came from and shouts:

“HEY!!! PINK PONY!!! SHE'S READY FOR YOU NOW!!!”

Pinkie Pie appears and hops in with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. She stops hopping and sees Maud. Pinkie then says:

“Greetings, oh Ultimate Party Rocker!”

Maud looks down at one of her hooves and says:

“Please, call me Miss Rocker. Everypony else does.”

Pinkie then says:

“Miss Rocker, I've been sent here so I could throw you the ultimate rocking party.”

Maud looks at Pinkie Pie and says:

“That's quite the tall order. The parties I throw are pretty rocking. That's how I got the name Ultimate Party Rocker.”

Marble says:

“Mm-hm.”

Pinkie looks back and says:

“I kind of figured as much.”

Maud then asks:

“Are you sure you can pull it off?”

Pinkie says:

“Of course! I specialize in throwing parties myself, so making the ultimate rocking one should be no problem.”

Maud says:

“In case you need help, my servant will provide you a list of party ponies you can visit to get all the supplies you need.”

Marble is now holding a piece of paper in her teeth and walks over to Pinkie Pie as she says:

“Mm-hm.”

Pinkie Pie takes the paper from Marble and reads down the list. She then looks at Maud and says:

“This will be very useful indeed.”

She then looks at Maud as she says:

“Now just lie down, relax, and leave everything to me.”

Maud then says:

“Well, I guess it will be nice not having to worry about throwing a rocking party for once.”

She then lies back down on the couch she was on earlier and says:

“When you think you're ready to begin the party, let me know so I can partake in it.”

Pinkie puts the paper away and salutes with her right hoof as she says:

“You got it!”

She closes her eyes and hops off. Maud looks at Marble and motions for her to start with the leaf fan again. Marble walks over to it and says:

“Mm-hm.”

She picks it up and starts waving it in front of Maud again. We move to outside and we see Black Cherry's upper body and Maud's head. Both are looking down and Pinkie hops out of the room she went in to see the Ultimate Party Rocker. Maud says:

“I'm surprised you didn't freak out at seeing me in the game, Pinkie.”

Pinkie stops and looks up at Maud. She smiles and says:

“Oh, I'm used to it by now.”

She then pulls out the paper that was given to her by Marble and starts to read it. She says:

“Now let's see. There's six names on here and each one is apparently somewhere in this enclosure.”

Black Cherry now says:

“Just so you know Pinkie, the Ultimate Party Rocker only got help from one of those ponies each time she threw a rocking party. If you convince two or more ponies to help you, it will count as the ultimate rocking party.”

Pinkie looks up from the paper and has a determined smile on her face as she says:

“Challenge accepted.”

Maud then looks at Black Cherry and says:

“Do you think there's some way we can be alone for a minute?”

Black Cherry looks at Maud with a surprised look on his face. He then says:

“There might be. I'm going to try something and we'll see if it works.”

Black Cherry then looks down and says:

“Pinkie, I'll be having a chat with Maud for a bit. If you need help, shout at me and I'll come back.”

Pinkie Pie looks up and waves as she says:

“Ok, have fun.”

Black Cherry taps Maud's head, then his right eye. We now cut to outside of the game where Maud opens her eyes and Black Cherry opens his right eye. Their hooves part and they look over at Pinkie Pie, who still has her eyes closed and has a smile on her face. They then look at each other and Black Cherry smiles as he asks:

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Maud says:

“You said earlier about how you knew about crystals being a kind of rock. I'd like to know what else you know about them.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, I know that crystals are often found near or around rocks most of the time. I also know that, considering how they're formed, rocks are crystals too.”

Maud says:

“That's quite the statement.”

Black Cherry says:

“It has to do with almost everything in nature being something known as a polycrystalline solid. Obviously, rocks and crystals look very different. However, on a microscopic level, they started out pretty much the same.”

Black Cherry then asks:

“How much do you know about crystals?”

Maud says:

“When I went to get my rocktorate, it was briefly mentioned that metals, ceramics and crystals form in the same way rocks do. Other than that, I don't know much about them at all.”

Black Cherry then says:

“From what I've read, I know that two thirds of rocks are actually made up of minerals like quartz, feldspar and biotite.”

Maud says:

“That's the mineral makeup of granite.”

Black Cherry closes his eye halfway and says:

“I know.”

Maud asks:

“Do you have a favourite mineral?”

Black Cherry opens his eye and looks around, as if to make sure nopony else is listening. He then whispers into one of Maud's ears. After he does, Maud looks at him and says:

“Oh Black Cherry, you naughty colt.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Hey, it's not my fault the mineral takes its name from the town it was first found near.”

Maud puts a hoof behind her neck and looks back as she says:

“Actually, it's my favourite mineral too.”

Black Cherry laughs and says:

“I never thought I'd meet another pony who had the same favourite mineral I did.”

Maud looks at Black Cherry and says:

“Neither did I.”

Black Cherry then looks over at Pinkie Pie and says:

“Well, I think we should check in on Pinkie to see how she's doing.”

Black Cherry and Maud Pie connect hooves again and Maud says:

“I agree.”

Maud closes her eyes and Black Cherry closes the eye he had open. We now move back into the game and see Pinkie Pie walking forward with a determined smile on her face. She looks to the left and Cheese Sandwich appears walking next to her. She looks to the right and Party Favour appears walking next to her. She looks to the left and Vinyl Scratch appears walking next to Cheese Sandwich. She looks to the right and Octavia appears walking next to Party Favour. She looks to the left and Carrot Cake appears next to Vinyl Scratch. She looks to the right and Cup Cake appears next to Octavia. Pinkie Pie then looks forward and she finally gets to what looks like a large circular area with an opening on all four sides. Black Cherry's upper body and Maud's head appear and Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he says:

“I can't believe she convinced all of them to help her out!”

Maud looks down and says:

“Well you know Pinkie, always a real social pony. I would have been surprised if she hadn't convinced  them all to help her out yet.”

We see Pinkie Pie and her team get to the middle of the large circle area and then stop. She turns around, looks at them and says:

“Everypony, it's our job to make the ultimate rocking party. Let's get started.”

Cheese Sandwich, Party Favour, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Carrot Cake and Cup Cake all smile and nod their heads.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that everything has now been set up for a very large and very rocking party. Pinkie Pie looks around and smiles. Black Cherry and Maud are looking down and Black Cherry is smiling. He says:

“I've never seen anypony set up a large party like that, and so fast.”

Maud says:

“If there's one thing Pinkie gets serious about, it's throwing parties. You should see what happens when she uses her party cannon on a room. Instant party.”

Pinkie Pie then has an evil grin on her face as she rubs her hooves together. She says:

“Now to get this ultimate rocking party started.”

She looks to Vinyl Scratch and with a non evil smile says:

“DJ, hit it!”

Vinyl Scratch puts a record on, the needle comes down and some loud and upbeat music starts coming out of a sound system close by. As this happens, Vinyl Scratch nods her head to the beat of the music. We cut to four sides of the circle, that happen to have openings on them, and at each one we see various unnamed ponies see that a rocking party has started and run in. As the party gets well underway, Pinkie Pie walks around with a smile on her face. She then asks:

“I wonder if the Ultimate Party Rocker can hear the party going on here?”

Black Cherry says:

“I can answer that.”

Pinkie Pie looks up and sees Black Cherry and Maud in the sky. She says:

“Oh hi Black Cherry. Hey Maud.”

Maud says:

“Hi Pinkie.”

Pinkie asks:

“Did you have a good chat?”

Black Cherry looks at Maud's head and says:

“We sure did. Thanks for asking.”

He then looks back down and says:

“As I was saying: The music signalling a party in progress should get the Ultimate Party Rocker's attention. It won't be long before she shows herself.”

We now see in-game Maud, Limestone and Marble appear and walk through one of the openings of the circle. They look around as they get close to Pinkie and Maud says:

“This is a pretty rocking party you have here.”

They stop in front of Pinkie Pie and she smiles at them as she says:

“Thanks, I made it just for you.”

Limestone smiles as she says:

“This party is so rocking, I think even I might go and enjoy myself.”

She walks away from Maud and Marble looks at her. Maud nods and Marble smiles as she says:

“Mm-hm.”

As Marble walks off to enjoy the party, Pinkie asks Maud:

“Is this not the most rocking party you've ever seen?”

Maud looks around and sees the six ponies Pinkie gathered together, all in different spots. She then looks at Pinkie and says:

“As Ultimate Party Rocker, I must admit this is most definitely the ultimate rocking party.”

She then looks at Pinkie and says:

“So rocking in fact that I'm considering retiring and giving you the position of Ultimate Party Rocker.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Thanks, but no thanks. I still have adventures left to go on with my friends. If you want though, I could give you tips on making more rocking parties for next time.”

Maud then pulls an afro wig out of nowhere and says:

“I would like that very much.”

Pinkie Pie points at the afro and asks:

“Hey, what's that?”

Maud holds it out in front of Pinkie and says:

“This is my party rocking wig, the first item I got when I decided to be a party rocker. Since you threw me the ultimate rocking party, I think you should have it.”

Pinkie Pie takes it and looks at it as she says:

“Thanks. I'll treasure it always.”

Pinkie Pie puts the afro away and Maud smiles as she says:

“That's all I needed to hear.”

We zoom out as Black Cherry says:

“And so, having thrown the ultimate rocking party for the Ultimate Party Rocker, you decide to partake in the very party you threw as a reward for a job well done.”

Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light appears. We now move to the real world with Black Cherry, Pinkie Pie and Maud with their eyes closed. They now all open their eyes and Black Cherry looks at Maud as he smiles and asks:

“So, Maud, what'd you think?”

Maud looks to Black Cherry and smiles as she says:

“It looked like a lot of fun. I'm glad Pinkie had me come over.”

Her face then goes back to normal as she looks to Pinkie and says:

“I think I'll go back home now. See you later Pinkie.”

Maud gets up and walks out the door. Pinkie and Black Cherry watch her go out. Pinkie then turns to Black Cherry and smiles as she says:

“She must've really enjoyed herself. That's the first time I've seen Maud do a full on smile in awhile.”

Black Cherry says:

“Yeah, I noticed she doesn't really show how she's feeling much when we had our little chat. I know some ponies like that, so it didn't throw me off too much.”

Pinkie Pie then gets up and says:

“Well, I guess I'll be off then.”

She's about to walk towards the door when Black Cherry holds up a hoof and says:

“Oh, Pinkie, before you go.”

Pinkie turns around and smiles as she says:

“Yes, Black Cherry?”

Black Cherry asks:

“You and Maud are really close, right?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Like two peas in a pod.”

Black Cherry then looks away from Pinkie with an embarrassed look on his face as he says:

“Well, I really like her a lot and want her to feel the same.”

Black Cherry then looks at Pinkie and says:

“I was wondering if you had any ideas of how I could go about doing that.”

Pinkie Pie looks up with a thinking face and a hoof to her chin. She then appears to have a eureka moment and looks to Black Cherry as she says:

“I think I have an idea that just might work.”

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 14: The Ship Has Sailed.

The cold opening has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with everypony and Spike around the table with Black Cherry. They all have smiles on their faces. Black Cherry says:

“I hope you all found something else to do while I made good on giving Pinkie Pie a solo mission.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I actually managed to help Starlight complete another friendship lesson, so I didn't mind too much.”

Black Cherry looks over at Spike and asks:

“Who?”

He smiles and says:

“Starlight Glimmer. Long story, I'll tell you later.”

Rarity looks to Pinkie Pie and asks:

“By the way Dear, how was the solo mission?”

Pinkie turns to Rarity and says:

“It was great! Maud came by for a visit and watched me finish it.”

Black Cherry then looks to Pinkie and asks:

“That reminds me, is it ready yet?”

Pinkie Pie faces Black Cherry as she closes her eyes and says:

“Almost. I'll have it ready for next time.”

Pinkie Pie opens her eyes and Rainbow Dash looks to Black Cherry and asks:

“Have what ready?”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Something Pinkie said she'd write for me.”

Fluttershy says:

“Now now, there's no need to pry into other ponies' business.”

Black Cherry looks to Fluttershy and says:

“Thanks Fluttershy.”

He then says:

“Now, I have a couple of special treats for you today. One is a creature I will give a silly accent to and the other is a song that will be sung by the crew of a ship.”

Applejack says:

“Oh, Ah can't wait!”

Black Cherry says:

“Well then, close your eyes and we can get started right away.”

Everypony and Spike closes their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and blackness fills up the screen. We now see that everypony is on a dock with a ship in the port. Everypony opens their eyes and look around. Black Cherry's upper body appears in the sky and he says to them:

“You asked for a mission that gets you as far away from Chimeraville as possible. The triplet mayors have thus tasked you with accompanying their nephew home across the sea. That's him over there.”

Everypony and Spike look over and see a creature that has a snake head, a leopard body and deer legs. He is looking around with a serious look on his face. Twilight sighs and says:

“Well, let's hope he's at least a little bit friendly.”

They all walk over to this creature, who has not noticed them yet. They stop in front of it and Spike is holding a piece of paper. He looks at it and asks:

“Excuse me, but is your name Camelopardalis?”

The creature looks down at Spike and asks, in a thick Scottish accent:

“Who wants ta know?”

Spike turns the paper around and raises it up as Rarity says:

“We have been given instructions to accompany you back home by order of Gaia, Julia and Caesara Germanica.”

This creature lowers its head down and looks intently at the paper Spike is holding up. As he asks:

“Germanica you say?”

We see from this creature's point of view that the paper has a paw print, a hoof print and two holes surrounded by ink. We now see him look up from the paper at everypony as he says:

“That can only be their signature. Ye can't mistake it for anything else.”

Pinkie Pie then asks:

“So, do we have the right... whatever you are?”

He raises his head up and looks at all of them, still with a serious look on his face. Everypony and Spike looks at him nervously. We then see the creature smile and open his eyes in a real friendly manner and say:

“Of course ye do! You don't see many of my kind around here, so I can guarantee that you have found the right questing beast.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“I've never heard of a questing beast before.”

The creature says:

“Don't worry about it, lass. The name is Camelopardalis. But since ye pony lasses and the dragon lad will be with me for the next while, ye can call me Camo.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Um, nice to meet you Mister Camo.”

The creature, who we now known is named Camo, turns towards the ship and asks:

“Hey, Captain, are we ready to set sail now?”

We now see a minotaur known as Iron Will wearing a sea captain's hat and an open blue vest walk to the edge of the ship and smile as he says:

“Captain Steel and his crew is ready to set sail as soon as you give the word.”

Camo says:

“Great! As soon as me and my new friends come aboard, we'll be off with all haste.”

Iron Will nods and says:

“Very good sir. Please don't take too long.”

He walks off and Camo jumps onto the ship and waves at everypony on the dock as he says:

“Come aboard ye landlubbers! We're setting off for home and she won't wait any longer!”

Everypony and Spike now all have smiles on their faces as Applejack says:

“Well, it looks lahke our serious trip has now become a fun little adventure.”

They then all walk towards the ship Camo is standing on.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Everypony, Spike and Camo are now sitting on the ship we saw earlier. The ship itself is now out on what looks like the open sea while Iron Will steers the ship as the seven other minotaur crew members run around, seemingly always doing something. Camo now turns to the ponies and smiles as he says:

“Ya know, me being all serious out on the docks is not how I usually am. My dear aunts always tell me to take everything seriously, but I don't really think there's any fun in that.”

Applejack looks to Camo with a smile and says:

“Yeah, we sorta noticed.”

Rainbow Dash is looking around with a concerned look on her face as she says:

“I don't know why, but I don't feel so good.”

Camo looks at her and says:

“That's the seasickness lass. When you're not used to having the waves movin' ye back and forth, it's bound to make ye feel a wee bit off. But don't worry, ye'll get used to it.”

Twilight asks:

“By the way, Camo, what does lass and lad mean?”

Camo looks to her and says:

“Oh, that's the words we use for a female and a male where I'm from.”

Twilight raises her head up and lowers it back down as she smiles and says:

“I see.”

Pinkie Pie looks around and has a bored look on her face as she says:

“I never realized how boring a trip on a boat could be.”

Fluttershy has a smile on her face as she says:

“Oh, I don't know. I quite like the feel of the sea breeze on my face.”

Camo has his face up close to Pinkie and says:

“Ya know, ye could be right. What we need is a good song to help keep us entertained.”

Spike says:

“Well, it's worth a try.”

Rarity turns to Iron Will and asks:

“Captain, do you have any songs you could sing to us while we head towards Camo's home?”

Iron Will looks to Rarity and says:

“It's funny you should ask, Miss. Captain Steel was just about to have the lads come out and help me sing something known as Heave Ho.”

Camo has an excited look on his face as he has his hooves up like he's all giddy as he says:

“Oh, that's one of ma favourites!”

Iron Will closes his eyes as he shouts:

“HEAVE!!! HO!!!”

The seven other minotaurs all appear and say:

“Aye-aye, Captain!!!!!!!”

Iron Will opens his eyes and says:

“On Captain Steel's count. One, two, one, two, one, two, one, go.”

The minotaurs now start to all sing the song known as Heave Ho:

“Having the supplies we will need heave-ho. From the port we were stationed at heave-ho. Whence we are finished loading them heave-ho. We then get ready to set sail heave-ho. Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We zoom in on Iron Will as he sings the next verse:

“Follow all the captain's orders heave-ho. They have your best interests at heart heave-ho. Steering the ship out of danger heave-ho. So that we don't have to worry heave-ho.”

We zoom out from Iron Will as all eight minotaurs sing the chorus:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We zoom up to a minotaur standing next to a cannon as he sings:

“Be sure to stock up the cannons heave-ho. With the gunpowder and steel balls heave-ho. Cover your ears as they go off heave-ho. When they're pointing toward something heave-ho.”

We zoom out again as the crew sings:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We now move to a minotaur standing next to one of the sails as he looks up at it and sings:

Open the sails but before that heave-ho. Check the way the wind is blowing heave-ho. If it's not the way you wanted heave-ho. Take a paddle and start rowing heave-ho.”

We zoom out and the crew sings once more:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We now zoom in on a minotaur wearing a tall white hat as he sings:

“When you are hungry tell the cook heave-ho. Something will be fixed up for you heave-ho. After you have finished your meal heave-ho. Say thank you then get back to work heave-ho.”

We zoom out as the crew sings:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We zoom in on a minotaur near what looks like a trap door as he says:

“Night will be coming very soon heave-ho. Hope you're not afraid of the dark heave-ho. Back in your quarters take a rest heave-ho. Then wake up to the morning sun heave-ho.”

We zoom out once more as the crew sings:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

A minotaur happens to be near Rainbow Dash, who is facing out over the edge of the ship as he sings:

“When we have passengers on board heave-ho. Watch for them looking not too well heave-ho. Have them face out towards the sea heave-ho. Wait until they feel all better heave-ho.”

Rainbow Dash pulls her head back from the edge and sits back down as the crew sings:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We now see a minotaur who is up in a crow's nest looking around as he sings:

“When there is a storm that's coming heave-ho. We will prepare to endure it heave-ho. When the storm has passed us all by heave-ho. Then we will start sailing again heave-ho."

We zoom out just for fun as the crew sings:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We now see a minotaur holding a picture that's the headshot of a minotaur with pigtails as he sings:

“Thinking of families back at home heave-ho. Waiting for us all to return heave-ho. If we happen to be single heave-ho. We will do our best to change that heave-ho.”

We zoom out one more time as the crew sings:

“Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

We don't zoom in this time, but we now Everypony, Spike and Camo swinging their heads along to the rhythm of the song as the crew sings the final verse of the song:

“When we hit land we'll all get off heave-ho. Move all the cargo from the ship heave-ho. When we are ready to set sail heave-ho. We will go back on the water heave-ho. Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho. Heave, ho, sailing the sea. Heave, ho, feeling so free. Blue sky, ocean below. Onto our new destination heave-ho.”

Everypony, Spike and Camo now all clap and cheer at the end of the song. We now see a webbed hand appear on the side of the ship. Another hand appears and the upper body of a creature known as a kappa appears. Applejack looks over at it and points at it as she asks:

“What is that supposed to be?”

One of the minotaurs looks over and has a surprised look on his face as he says:

“Oh no, it's a kappa!”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“What's a kappa?”

Another minotaur says:

“They're creatures of the sea and they eat just about anything.”

Twilight looks at the kappa with a scared look on her face with the kappa now fully on the ship. It is slowly walking towards the ponies while licking its lips. She asks:

“Does that include ponies?”

Another minotaur says:

“Unfortunately, yes. Minotaurs too.”

The kappa moves closer and closer to the ponies with them looking very scared. Suddenly, a deer hoof stomps in front of the kappa and it looks up. What we see now is Camo with a very pissed off look on his face. He says:

“Listen here ugly and listen good. Ye can make a big sound, and ya can act all scary if ye want.”

Camo then brings his head down so he's face to face with the kappa as he says:

“But no one, and I mean no one, messes with my!”

We move in closer to Camo's face as he says:

“Little!”

We're now right up in Camo's face as he loudly says:

“Ponies!”

A contraption appears and without even looking away from the kappa, Camo turns the gear on the side. He pushes down on the top and a d20 comes down, landing on a twenty. He then opens his mouth and the barking sound of a giant pack of angry dogs comes out of it. Camo then pulls his head back as if he's going to swing it. We see the kappa standing on the ship deck one second, then we see Camo's head hit the kappa off the ship in the next second. We now see the figure of the kappa flying out over the horizon. As this happens, Camo raises his head up and uses a deer hoof above his eyes as if to watch how far it flew with a smile on his face. He then turns to everypony and asks:

“Is everypony alright?”

Everypony and Spike look at Camo with shocked looks on their faces. Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“That. Was. Amazing!”

Everypony surrounds Camo as they cheer at him being awesome. Camo puts a deer hoof on the back of his neck and smiles as he says:

“Ack, it was nothing really. My new friends were in danger, so I did the first thing I could think of.”

Fluttershy says:

“It was still pretty amazing though.”

Spike says:

“I think this calls for another round of Heave Ho.”

Rarity looks to Iron Will and asks:

“Oh Captain, could we have the crew sing that song again?”

Iron Will looks at them all and says:

“But Captain Steel just had them sing that five minutes ago.”

We then see everypony, Spike and Camo all looking all sad. Iron Will rolls his eyes and smiles as he says:

“Well alright, one more time.”

He closes his eyes and shouts:

“HEAVE!!! HO!!!”

The seven other minotaurs appear and say:

“Aye-aye, captain!”

Iron Will opens his eyes and says:

“On Captain Steel's count. One, two, one, two, one, two, one, go.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that the ship is now not too far away from another dock. The minotaur up in the crow's nest says:

“Land ho!”

The other six minotaurs run around, getting ready to land while Iron Will continues to stay at the wheel. He then says:

“Well, here we are. Captain Steel hopes you had a pleasant voyage. Even with that kappa appearing and almost making things ugly.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Oh, it was nothing. Besides, we had Camo here to give that creature what for before it did anything.”

Fluttershy then asks:

“By the way, what was that sound you made before you knocked it over the horizon?”

Camo smiles and says:

“It's a sound I've been able to make ever since I was but a wee lad. A giant pack of dogs, out on a quest for something or other. Don't know why I can make it, but there ye go.”

One of the minotaurs drops an anchor off the side of the ship and it finally stops next to the dock. Camo gets up as he says:

“Alright, everypony off.”

Everypony and Spike get up and they all step off the ship. Spike asks:

“So, what will you do now that you're home?”

Camo looks at Spike and says:

“I was thinking of taking a look around to see if any of my friends are glad to see me back.”

A female voice with a thick Scottish accent from off-screen asks:

“Ye weren't talking about little old me, were you Camo?”

They all look over and we now see another questing beast. This one appears to look a little more feminine than Camo, and she has a smile on her face. We cut back to Camo as he nods his head and says:

“Aye lass, of course I was. If there was any questing beast who would be glad to see me home, you'd be at the top of the list.”

They are now all walking forward as Rarity asks:

“And she would be...?”

Camo walks up to this female questing beast and then turns his body towards everypony. He then says:

“Everypony, meet my one and only belle, Morgause. I've known her ever since were questing cubs.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Hey, Camo's got a fillyfriend.”

The female questing beast, who we now know is named Morgause, looks to Camo and says:

“I was not expecting you to have ponies as company when you came back ye know.”

Camo looks at her and says:

“Yes, well, you know my aunts. Never letting me go off on me own and have fun by myself.”

Morgause now lowers her head down in front of Applejack, who has a look of slight surprise on her face. Morgause then sticks her snake tongue out towards Applejack, who takes a couple of steps back. Morgause now raises her head up and looks to Camo and smiles as she says:

“Well, at least they smell nice.”

Applejack has a confused look on her face as she asks:

“What does she mean smell nahce?”

Camo looks to Applejack and says:

“Since questing beasts have the head of a snake, we smell with our tongues don't ya know.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah see.”

Morgause says:

“By the way Camo, do ye think they would be willing to deliver the present while we remember old times?”

Camo says:

“Oh, right, I almost forgot.”

Twilight asks:

“Present?”

Camo looks to Twilight and says:

“Morgause reminded me that we have a wedding present for a merpeople couple who are set to be married in the next few hours.”

Morgause says:

“If it isn't too much trouble, we would very much appreciate you bringing it to them with love from us.”

Everypony and Spike look at each other. They then all look at Camo and Morgause as Twilight says:

“You can count on us.”

Camo smiles big and says:

“Perfect! It's not easy finding them so let us tell you how to get there and ye can be on your way.”

We zoom out from the scene of everypony, Spike and the two questing beasts as Black Cherry says:

“And so, with another job well done, you learn from Camo and Morgause the details of how to complete your next urgent mission.”

We now hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light appears. We're now back in Black Cherry's house and everypony has their eyes closed. They open their eyes now and Black Cherry says:

“Well, I hope you had fun. Talking in that accent and singing that sailing song was a lot of work you know.”

Rainbow Dash looks at Black Cherry and asks:

“By the way Black Cherry, what are merpeople?”

Black Cherry looks at her and says:

“Oh, it's an idea I came up with. It has the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Oh my, how strange and unusual.”

Black Cherry looks to Fluttershy and says:

“I know. I came up with it after reading about a similar creature in that book I borrowed from the Friendship Castle Library.”

Spike says:

“That song those minotaurs were singing is stuck in my head now. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight.”

Rarity says:

“I must admit, it was quite the catchy little tune.”

Black Cherry says:

“I have the lyrics. If you want, I can give them to you so you can try memorizing it.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Black Cherry, I would love it if you could talk in that silly accent just one more time.”

Black Cherry says:

“Nah, I think I'm done for the day. Besides, some ponies really do talk like that and I'm sure I butchered the accent enough as it is.”

Applejack says:

“Ah, come on. For old tahme's sake.”

Twilight smiles and asks:

“Pleeeeeease?”

Black Cherry sees them all looking at him. He then looks back and smiles as he says:

“Well, I guess saying one more thing couldn't hurt.”

He then looks forward and smiles as he says, in a thick Scottish accent:

“I do hope you all enjoyed yourselves, lassies. Be sure to come back next time for another adventure and a half.”

Everypony and Spike laughs at this final butchering of the Scottish accent.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 15: Playing With Matches

The cold opening has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with everypony in Black Cherry's house. He smiles at them as he says:

“Glad you could all make it again. I have a great scenario set up for you, so we can start right away.”

Pinkie Pie, who happens to be right next to Black Cherry at the moment, pulls out a piece of paper and gives it to him as she smiles and says:

“By the way Black Cherry, I finished the thing I was writing for you.”

Black Cherry takes it and says:

“Thanks Pinkie Pie. I've been waiting for it.”

Spike asks:

“What could've been so important that you had Pinkie write it?”

Black Cherry puts the paper away and says:

“Oh, it's nothing really. Just a list of similes I'm hoping to recite in the near future.”

Applejack has a confused look on her face and asks:

“What's a simile?”

Twilight smiles and says:

“It's when you make a sentence saying one thing is like something else. Be it a pony, a place, an item or even thoughts.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Yes, exactly.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Well whatever it's for Darling, I hope it goes well.”

Black Cherry says:

“You and me both.”

Fluttershy now asks:

“So, are we going to be meeting some merpeople today?”

Black Cherry looks to Fluttershy and says:

“You sure are. But first, you'll need some help from creatures I like to call seaponies.”

Rainbow Dash now asks:

“Are those your own creation or are they another creature you found in that book?”

Black Cherry looks to her and says:

“I'll never tell.”

He then winks at Rainbow Dash and she giggles at this. He then puts on his wizard hat as he says:

“With all of that out of the way, close your eyes and we can get started.”

Everypony nods their heads and closes their eyes. Black Cherry closes his eyes and green flames come out of them for a second. After which blackness fills the screen. We now see that everypony and Spike is standing near what looks like a large body of water with their eyes closed. Nearby is a sign that has writing on it too small for us to see. Everypony opens their eyes and looks around. Black Cherry says:

“You were given instructions by Camo on how to make your way down to the land of the merpeople. One of which was to stand roughly where you are now.”

Pinkie sees the sign and asks:

“Hey, what does that say?”

Spike walks up to it and reads it as he says:

“Call upon the seaponies when you're in distress. Helpful as can be ponies. Simply signal S-O-S.”

Applejack says:

“Ah guess that means we should do what Camo said when we got here.”

Spike pulls an accordion out of Rarity's backpack and plays a D note. He puts the accordion away and they all then sing a high D note while saying shoo. After which they altogether sing:

“Shoo, be-doo, shoo-shoo, be-doo!”

Nothing. They then try one more time:

“Shoo, be-doo, shoo-shoo, be-doo!”

Suddenly, three pony like heads appear up from the water. They all have smiles on their faces as one of them asks:

“You called?”

Everypony looks at the seaponies with shock on their faces. The second seapony frowns and asks:

“Something wrong?”

Twilight smiles and says:

“Apologies. None of us have seen seaponies before and we were told you could help us in some way.”

They all smile again and the third seapony asks:

“What do you need?”

Rarity says:

“We were told that some merpeople were going to be married in the next few hours. We were also told to personally give them a wedding present from Camo and Morgause.”

The first seapony says:

“Oh, hey, Camo and Morgause. He must have just gotten back from Chimeraville.”

Fluttershy smiles and asks:

“So, will you help us?”

The seaponies now all frown as they look at each other. They then say:

“We'll help you get down to the land of the merpeople. However, the couple you're supposed to give the wedding present to might not be getting married.”

Rainbow Dash raises and eyebrow and asks:

“Why not?”

The third seapony says:

“We'll explain on the way.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that the seaponies are circling around everypony and Spike as they appear to be standing still, almost like everypony is standing on a platform that the seaponies have created. After the seaponies have brought them down to the sea floor, Applejack says:

“Ah can't believe they refuse to see each other at all when their wedding is supposed to be in the next couple of hours.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“I can't believe there was a water breathing spell we weren't aware of.”

The first seapony says:

“You probably didn't need to go underwater before, so we're not surprised.”

Spike says:

“Maybe if we tried talking to them, they might change their mind.”

The second seapony says:

“Many have tried, believe us.”

Twilight says:

“Perhaps as outsiders, we might see something you all overlooked.”

The third seapony says:

“That is possible.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Well then show the way to one of them and we'll do the rest.”

Rainbow Dash, who is still using her wings to get around, looks up and says:

“Black Cherry, why do I feel like I'm moving slower than everypony else?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“The friction of your wings against the density of water makes it so you move half as fast as everypony else while in flight. It also means that while in a fight you have half the movement points of everypony on the ground. For alicorns in flight, it's a third.”

Rainbow Dash lands and looks up with an annoyed look on her face as she says:

“Fine, I guess I'll walk”

Fluttershy smiles at her and  says:

“It's not that bad, you know.”

We now move to what looks like a very nice room with everypony and Spike inside it. Also in the room is a merman with a shirt on lying down on a bed. He has an annoyed look on his face as he looks up and says:

“I don't care what they say, I have no intention of marrying someone just because a matchmaker told me to!”

Applejack says:

“But you don't even know what she looks lahke.”

The merman looks over at her and says:

“That's the point! We've never met! Not only that, but she was roped into this too. I have no idea if we would even like each other, let alone love each other.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Well maybe you could meet up and see if you get along.”

The merman gets up from the bed and says:

“It wouldn't even matter anyway. If for some reason we couldn't stand each other, we would get married and both be unhappy.”

He then sighs and moves over to a set of drawers. He opens the top one and pulls out what appears to be a picture that's been torn in half. We see that it has what looks like a young mermaid on it and the merman says:

“If only Plain Jane was here. She'd know what to do.”

Spike raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Plain Jane?”

The merman looks at Spike and smiles as he says:

“A very good friend of mine when I was younger. Her actual name was Jane Fin, but I called her Plain Jane just to annoy her. She didn't seem to mind it after awhile.”

Twilight then asks:

“What happened?”

The merman looks back at the picture and frowns as he says:

“A week after this photo was taken, she moved away. In order to have something to remember each other by, we tore the picture in half and I took the half that has her in it. She has the other half. It's been about one hundred and twenty moons, now.”

Pinkie Pie looks down and then looks at the merman as she asks:

“Isn't your bride-to-be also named Jane Fin?”

The merman looks at her and says:

“Yes. However, that doesn't really mean much. Jane Fin is a common name around here. So even if she was the one I'm supposed to marry, I'd have no way of knowing.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Isn't there some way we could find out?”

The merman looks at her and says:

“If I were you, I would ask the matchmaker. From what I've heard, he has a perfect memory of the matches he makes.”

Fluttershy says:

“I guess we could do that.”

Everypony and Spike nod their head in agreement. We make a quick transition to what looks like a large house with just as big of an open door opened outwards. Everypony and Spike are looking up at a purple sea serpent best know as Stephen Magnet, who has most of his body through the doorway. He's looking up with a frustrated look on his face as he raises his hands up and says:

“I just don't understand it! When I made the match, I was sure they would make the perfect couple!”

Applejack asks:

“Do you remember anything about them?”

Stephen looks down at Applejack and puts his hands down as he smiles and says:

“Of course. I remember all the matches I make. When I decide on one, I take a picture of the future couple and keep it in a special room in my house.”

Twilight asks:

“What do you remember about this particular match?”

Stephen clasps his hands together and brings them up to his head. He also looks up with a dreamlike expression on his face as he says:

“They were the cutest little scamps I had ever seen. I came up to them and asked their names. They said their names were John Fish and Jane Fin.”

Spike says:

“Let me guess. The name John Fish is a common name around here.”

Stephen Magnet looks over at Spike and says:

“Indeed it is.”

He then pulls his hands away from his face and says:

“Anyway, they really seemed to be the perfect match and I asked if they would like their picture taken. They agreed and their photo is now here at my house. I also told them that if they wanted a copy I could easily make them one. They asked for one three days later and tore it in half for some reason.”

Rarity says:

“Well, that doesn't help us very much.”

Stephen has his arms folded as he looks up. He then looks down at them and says:

“Oh, and when they left for home, they called each other what I guess were nicknames. She called him Jak-Jak and he called her Plain Jane.”

They all look shocked as Pinkie Pie asks:

“Did you just say Plain Jane?”

Stephen shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Yes, but I fail to see how that changes anything.”

They now look at each other with smiles on their faces. Rainbow Dash looks at Stephen and  says:

“Oh, I think it changes a lot.”

Fluttershy then says:

“More than you know.”

We now transition to another very nice looking room. We see a mermaid wearing a shirt, who looks like an older version of the mermaid we saw on the merman's torn picture earlier, and lying down on a bed with everypony and Spike looking at her. She's looking up as she says:

“One hundred and twenty long moons and my parents bring me back here only to marry me off to a merman I've never met. It's just not fair.”

Applejack says:

“Any chance the John Fish you're supposed to marry is one you know?”

The mermaid looks to Applejack and gets up as she says:

“Ridiculous! There were so many of them around here before and there are now probably many more. It's a thousand to one chance.”

Twilight smiles and says:

“Well, stranger things have happened.”

The mermaid sighs and moves over to a set of drawers. She opens up the top one and pulls out a picture that's been torn in half. She looks at it and says:

“If only Jak-Jak was here with me. He always had good advice when I had a problem.”

Everypony and Spike smiles and Spike says:

“Jak-Jak?”

The mermaid looks to Spike and says:

“Yes. His real name was John Fish and I called him that just to annoy him. I don't think he minded after awhile.”

We now see the picture, which appears to be a young version of the merman we saw earlier as she says:

“Not one week after this photo was taken, I moved away. We tore a copy of the picture in half so we would each have something to remember the other by.”

Rarity smiles and asks:

“Have you complained to the matchmaker about your sad state of events?”

The mermaid raises an eyebrow and says:

“The idea never crossed my mind.”

Pinkie Pie whispers to Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity for a couple of seconds. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Spike run off. As they do, Pinkie Pie looks at the mermaid with a determined smile on her face. She then says:

“Well, maybe you should consider giving this matchmaker a piece of your mind.”

The mermaid nods her head and says:

“You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Oh, and maybe take the piece of that picture you have there and tell them who you would much rather marry instead.”

The mermaid looks to Rainbow Dash and puts her hands on her hips as she says:

“I will do that. In fact, I think I'll go do that right now.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy look at each other as Fluttershy says:

“Don't let us stop you.”

We now transition to outside the matchmaker's house. The merman appears from one end with Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Spike following behind him. The mermaid appears from the other end with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy following behind her. They both have angry looks on their faces as they face the house and close their eyes as they yell:

“MATCHMAKER!!!”

The two then look at each other and have surprised looks on their faces. The door swings open and Stephen Magnet comes out and looks around as he asks:

“What is it? What do you want?”

The merman looks at the mermaid and asks:

“Plain Jane?”

The mermaid looks at the merman and asks:

“Jak-Jak?”

The merman says:

“But, it couldn't be.”

The mermaid says:

“Unless...”

They now both reach down and pull out half of a torn photo. Stephen watches as they bring the two pieces together and it makes a whole picture once again. Stephen sees the complete photo and smiles as he says:

“Oh, I remember that one so well. I thought you were the cutest couple one hundred and twenty moons ago and I still think so now.”

They now both look at him with surprise as the merman asks:

“You mean, you were our matchmaker?”

Stephen says:

“Well of course. I don't know of any other purple sea serpent living around here.”

They now look back at the picture again and the mermaid says:

“I should have known.”

They now both close their eyes and laugh. They then open their eyes and look at each other. The merman says:

“Hey, Plain Jane, don't we have a wedding to attend?”

The mermaid says:

“I do believe so. We shouldn't keep all the guests waiting.”

We now see everypony and Spike standing behind them, looking at each other with smiles on their faces.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the merman and the mermaid, who we know are John and Jane, at an altar dressed up in wedding attire. Behind them is a large blue dragon creature known as a tatsu with a full white beard and long body. John and Jane are looking at each other with smiles on their faces as the dragon says:

“...so with the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

The dragon turns to John and smiles as he says:

“You may now kiss the bride.”

John grabs Jane, spins around with her and ends it by lowering her down for a big damn kiss. Jane's tail straightens right out at this. We now cut to the audience, where we see in front row seats Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Pinkie Pie on one side of the aisle and Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash on the other. We also see Stephen Magnet at the back. They cheer along with everyone else present in the audience. We now cut back to John and Jane as They come out of the big damn kiss and move down through the aisle while waving to everyone in the audience. We now transition to a reception area where everypony and Spike are sitting at a table. Stephen Magnet happens to be slithering by and he's crying with a smile on his face. Twilight has a confused look on her face as she asks:

“Matchmaker, why are you crying?”

Stephen stops slithering and turns to Twilight while wiping away some tears. He says:

“It's just so beautiful. I didn't know they hadn't seen each other in one hundred and twenty moons. Reuniting old friends like that, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah know what you mean.”

We now see John and Jane show up at the table with smiles on their faces and John says:

“Thanks for getting us to accidentally find each other. If there's something we can do for you, just name it.”

Pinkie Pie is looking down with a thinking look on her face. She then seems to have a eureka moment as she looks to Twilight and whispers into her ear. Twilight opens her eyes wide and then reaches into her backpack. As she does, Pinkie Pie looks to the couple and says:

“In that case, please accept the wedding gift we were sent to deliver to you, which is the reason we came down here in the first place.”

Twilight pulls out what looks like a card and gives it to Jane. She opens it up and it folds out. We now see the final folded out form of the card. What we see is a picture of a pole with a heart at the top. Around the pole are what look like Camo and Morgause criss-crossing their necks twice and facing each other. Underneath them reads: [Congratulations to John and Jane. All the best, from your good friends Camo and Morgause.] Jane smiles and looks at everypony as she says:

“It's wonderful. We're going to be having a dance in a couple of minutes and we hope you'll participate.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Actually, we were thinking of heading back to the surface soon.”

John and Jane frown as John asks:

“You were?”

Spike says:

“Our work here is done, so we have no reason to stay.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Plus, I'd really like to be able to use my wings again without slowing everypony down.”

John and Jane both smile and Jane says:

“No problem. Ask the seaponies and they'll bring you back up to the surface.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Thank you very much.”

John and Jane look at each other and John says:

“Come on Plain Jane, we have a dance to set up.”

Jane says:

“Right there with you, Jak-Jak.”

They now go off arm in arm as everypony and Spike watches them go. Stephen smiles and says:

“They really do make a cute couple.”

We now zoom out from the reception party as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the wedding over and the present delivered, you get ready to head back to the surface as a reward for a job well done.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white flash covers the screen. We cut to the real world as everypony has their eyes closed. They now open their eyes and Black Cherry has a smile on his face as he says:

“Well, I hope you liked your first and so far only underwater adventure. I know I did.”

Twilight now looks to Black Cherry and says:

“Black Cherry, I won't be able to make it next time.”

Black Cherry frowns as he looks at her and asks:

“You won't?”

Applejack says:

“Actually, Ah have to help Granny get ready for zapapple season, so Ah'll be gone too.”

Black Cherry looks to Pinkie Pie and asks:

“Pinkie Pie?”

She says:

“Foalsitting the Cake twins again.”

Black Cherry looks out at them all and asks:

“Is there anypony who will be available for the next session?”

Rarity says:

“Well, I have nothing I need to do.”

Spike smiles and says:

“As her familiar, you can count me in.”

Black Cherry smiles at them and says:

“Great! I'll get started making a solo mission for the both of you right away.”

Rainbow Dash smiles as she asks:

“Black Cherry, can you never make us go underwater again?”

Black Cherry looks to Rainbow Dash and says:

“Don't worry Rainbow Dash. I know how much you were annoyed by being slowed down while in flight underwater, so I won't be pulling that stunt again.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Well, that's a relief.”

They all close their eyes and laugh. When they're done laughing, they open their eyes and look at each other.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 16: Diamonds Are For Never.

The cold opening has the first bit of episode one, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Black Cherry sitting at the table with Burrows and Bugbears on it. We see that he has the piece of paper Pinkie Pie gave him last episode and a book he has open. He's reading it with great concentration. We see that on the page he's reading is a picture of a rock. A knock on the door is heard and Black Cherry looks away from the book and over at the door with a look of surprise. He then closes the book and puts it and the piece of paper away. After which he looks over at the door and says:

“Come in.”

The door opens and we see Rarity's head poke through the door. Rarity has a smile on her face as she sings:

“We're he-re!”

Black Cherry smiles and asks:

“Who's we?”

Rarity walks through the door and we see Spike sitting on her back. He smiles and says:

“Us.”

Black Cherry raises his head and brings it down as he says:

“Ah, I see.”

Rarity says:

“We're not interrupting anything I hope.”

Black Cherry says:

“Not really. I was just doing some research on rocks before you came in.”

Spike says:

“Please, spare us the details.”

Black Cherry says:

“By the way: Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie gained a level last session. I was so caught up in the wedding reception I forgot all about it.”

Rarity asks:

“How do you plan on explaining that?”

Black Cherry says:

“Easy. Everypony was underwater at the time, so level up beams of light don't work under the sea.”

Spike says:

“It's good enough for me.”

Black Cherry now says:

“I have a special mission for you both. So come over here, close your eyes and we can get started.”

Spike hops off of Rarity's back. They now both sit down at the table and close their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and blackness fills the screen. We now see Rarity and Spike just outside of what looks like a cave with their eyes closed. They both open their eyes and see the cave. Rarity asks:

“What's the story this time?”

Black Cherry, who is now lording over them, looks down and says:

“After getting back to town from the underwater wedding, everypony went to the tavern. You heard about some diamond dogs asking for assistance from ponies that could use x-ray spells and you went to see what it was all about.”

Spike looks up and says:

“Aw, not them again.”

Rarity sees a bell nearby and taps on it, making it ring. A diamond dog comes out of the cave and sees Rarity. He smiles and says:

“Ah, another pony who has come to help us in our time of-”

He then notices Spike, who currently has a frown on his face. The diamond dog jumps back and has a scared look on his face as he says:

“Gah! A dragon!”

Rarity and Spike look at each other with a raised eyebrow. They now both look at the diamond dog and Rarity says:

“I do not understand.”

The diamond dog gets on his knees and bows in front of Spike as he says:

“Please excuse me sir dragon, I didn't know you brought a pony along to help us in our work.”

Rarity and Spike look at each other again. Spike shrugs his shoulders and they look back at the diamond dog as Spike says:

“You are excused. Now please tell us what's going on here.”

The diamond dog raises his head and says:

“Well you see, not too long ago, the dragon lord heard about how we diamond dogs are very good at digging up gems and the like. Since dragons eat gemstones, the dragon lord has now forced us to dig up as many gems as we can or else.”

Rarity asks:

“Or else what?”

The diamond dog uses one of his hands to air cut himself across his neck. Spike says:

“Well, that explains a lot.”

The diamond dog says:

“Anyway, one of us had the idea of getting ponies to help us find the gems with x-ray spells. That way, we wouldn't be digging blind and potentially compromise the structural integrity of the cave.”

Rarity smiles and asks:

“Could you say that last bit in simpler terms, Darling?”

The diamond dog says:

“In other words, dig in the wrong spot and cause a cave-in that traps everything inside.”

Spike says:

“If there are dragons inside the cave, then I think it would be wise if you took us to their lord.”

The diamond dog gets up and says:

“Yes sir, very good sir.”

The diamond dog motions for Rarity and Spike to follow him as he hurriedly walks into the cave. With unsure looks on their faces, Rarity and Spike follow him into the cave.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and the diamond dog from before walks through a hole with Rarity and Spike following behind him. Rarity looks around and says:

“I must say, it's quite hot in here.”

Spike looks at her and says:

“Yeah. Reminds me of when I went to that dragon summit.”

We then hear a voice from off-screen ask:

“Who dares come into the temporary lair of the dragon lord unannounced?”

We now see a whole bunch of dragons with a throne in the centre. Some of them are lying down, some are sitting, others are swimming around in a lava pool conveniently close by. On the throne is Princess Ember holding the Bloodstone Scepter. She has a serious look on her face. The diamond dog stops in front of her and bows. He then turns to Rarity and Spike as he says:

“Dragon, pony, meet the undisputed lord of all dragons, Queen Ashes.”

Ember now smiles and says:

“Oh, hey, another dragon. And he has a pony friend with him.”

She looks to the diamond dog and has a serious look on her face as she says:

“Beat it.”

The diamond dog nods and runs off. Rarity looks to Spike and says:

“Spike, ask her why she's here of all places.”

Spike says:

“Excuse me, Dragon Lord Queen Ashes.”

Ember looks to Spike and smiles as she says:

“Please, call me Ash. We're all dragons here.”

She looks at Rarity and says:

“Give or take a pony.”

Spike says:

“Ash, we were wondering why you made the diamond dogs dig up gemstones for you and your dragons.”

Ember gets up from the throne and says:

“I became dragon lord not that long ago. When I discovered the supply of gems in the dragon stash was running low, I set out to get more. I'm here with my merry band of dragons to make sure the diamond dogs do as I ask.”

Rarity then asks:

“But why here in particular?”

Ember walks up to her and says:

“Well, if you must know, there's a rumour I heard about a very large diamond out in the world. Apparently, it's supposed to be hidden somewhere in this cave.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“A very large diamond, you say?”

Ember turns around and starts to walk back to the throne as she says:

“Yes. I figured if I had this diamond I could prove my superiority over all dragonkind. Filling up the gemstone supply is a side bonus.”

Rarity now asks:

“By the way, Ash, are you related to a dragon we met in a mountain who claimed he was the former dragon lord?”

Ember turns around and says:

“Yes, he's my father. Dragon custom dictated he retire and let someone else be dragon lord instead. I proved my worth and here I am, lord of all dragons.”

She sits back down on the throne and asks:

“Why? Do you know him?”

Spike smiles and says:

“Know him? He taught me a dragon song as my friend here went to retrieve a sceptre that rolled out of his cave.”

Rarity says:

“It's true. Spike stayed with him as insurance while I went to look for it.”

Ember raises an eyebrow and asks:

“My father taught you a dragon song?”

Spike nods his head and says:

“He sure did.”

Ember raises her chin up and looks down at Spike as she says:

“Prove it.”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Spike, make a knowledge check.”

A contraption appears in front of Spike. He rolls the gear on the side and pushes down on the top when he's done. A d20 rolls out of the chute and it lands on a sixteen. He looks at it, then looks up at the ceiling as he asks:

“Did I make it?”

Black Cherry says:

“Get out your musical instrument and find out.”

Spike looks back down and says:

“Oh yeah. I forgot all about it.”

He walks over to Rarity's backpack and opens it up. He reaches inside and pulls out the accordion that was stuffed in there. He holds it in front of Ember and looks down at it as he says:

“Well, here goes.”

He plays a little intro on the accordion and then starts to sing:

“For dragons like us we don't put up a fuss when we go step in a lava pool.”

We now get a shot of some dragons looking over at Spike as he sings:

“It gives us no bother since it is like water which we learned while in dragon school.”

We now get a shot of the dragons swimming in lava stop swimming and looking over as Spike off-screen sings:

“We also do find that most animal kind would end up burning fast from the heat.”

The dragons in the lava now get up out of the lava as Spike continues:

“At our indiscretion we'd give them protection though doing so would be some feat.”

We now see Spike playing his accordion with dragons from every which way coming over and crowding around him as he sings:

“We all have so much fun when we see the day's done and we know just how we can relax. By trying to stay fit we all jump into it and glide through the stuff on our backs.”

The dragons have now come from all around and are swaying back and forth as Spike sings:

“If our scales were to break then the lava would make our poor bodies go up like a light. But since we do have them let's eat just one more gem then take a lava swim tonight.”

We cut to Rarity and Ember. They're both smiling and swaying with Ember singing along with Spike as he sings:

“We know every pig really does have a big love for rolling around in the mud. Since it's only dirt that decided to flirt with some water that came from a flood.”

Ember gets up from the throne and slowly swings her way off-screen while singing along as Spike continues:

“We will never try it for we like the dryness of heated liquid from the ground. So we take a swim and then create this hymn of where we will most likely be found.”

We cut to Spike surrounded by dragons, with Ember next to him, as they all sing:

“We all have so much when we see the day's done and we know just how we can relax. By trying to stay fit we all jump into it and glide through the stuff on our backs.”

We zoom in on Spike and Ember as they look at each other while all the dragons sing:

“If our scales were to break then the lava would make our poor bodies go up like a light. But since we do have them let's eat just one more gem then take a lava swim tonight.”

We now see Rarity swaying from side to side as the dragons sing:

“We don't give a puff about that water stuff though most animals like to get wet. In order to get clean they do not get the sheen from having dragon scales we bet.”

We cut to all the dragons swaying to the song. Ember looks over and makes a motion with her hand for someone off-screen to come join them as they sing:

“So keep the liquid that is home to a squid and hope water and lava don't meet.”

Rarity points to herself, looks up as she shakes her head and then runs off the screen as the dragons sing:

“For if ever they do it will create some new land mass we'll walk on with our feet.”

We now cut back to the dragons swaying from side to side, now with Rarity on Spike's left and ember on his right as they altogether sing:

“We all have so much fun when we see the day's done for we know just how we can relax. By trying to stay fit we all jump into it and glide through the stuff on our backs. If our scales were to break then the lava would make our poor bodies go up like a light.”

We zoom in on Rarity, Spike and Ember as the song slows down while everyone sings:

“But since we do have them let's eat just one more gem...”

We zoom back out as everyone in the room sings:

“Then... take a lava swim tonight.”

Spike makes an ending note on his accordion as all of the dragons hoot, holler, and cheer. Spike looks at Ember and smiles as he asks:

“Is that proof enough?”

Ember looks at him and smiles as she says:

“Definitely. That's his favourite.”

Rarity looks at Ember and smiles as she says:

“Well, since we're here, I think I'll help the diamond dogs with finding this very large diamond.”

Ember looks at Rarity and asks:

“Are you sure it's not just because you want it for yourself?”

Spike says:

“If it's as big as you say, we won't be able to take it with us. I think seeing the diamond will be enough.”

Ember then says:

“After getting my entire dragon fleet to join you in song, including me, there's no way I could refuse such a request.”

We now transition to Rarity and Spike with four diamond dogs behind them, including the one that first met them at the entrance. Rarity uses an x-ray spell and from it we see what looks a large patch of white. Rarity looks at it and asks:

“What is that?”

One of the diamond dogs says:

“We don't know. It's not a gem, so we never dug it up to check.”

Spike says:

“If you know what's good for you, I think you better do so this time.”

The diamond dogs all nod their heads as another one of them says:

“Right away, Sir Dragon.”

They start digging toward the white patch. Rarity looks at Spike and asks:

“Did you have to be so harsh to them?”

Spike shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Hey, I'm a dragon. Besides, it feels good after the real ones were so mean to me.”

Rarity looks back over at the dirt that's piling up as she says:

“Yes, I suppose so.”

The diamond dogs stop digging and say:

“We're at it now, but we still don't know what it is.”

Rarity pulls out what looks like a magnifying glass as she says:

“Here, let me have a look.”

Rarity walks up to the white patch and looks closely at it with her magnifying glass. After five seconds she pulls back and gasps. Spike asks:

“What is it, Rarity?”

Rarity looks to Spike and has an astonished look on her face as she says:

“It's... it's diamond! All of it!”

The diamond dogs all make murmurs of amazement. The one that hasn't spoken yet asks:

“Could it be the diamond the dragon lord has been looking for?”

Spike says:

“Well, there's only one way to find out.”

The diamond dogs all look at Spike and nod. Rarity steps back and they now all start furiously digging around the white patch, exposing more and more of it. Suddenly, a rumbling sound is heard from all around them. Rarity and Spike look around them as Spike asks:

“Is that sound what I think it is?”

Rarity says:

“I think we had best be leaving.”

The Diamond dogs stop digging. One of them says:

“I'll get the other dragons.”

That diamond dog runs off in one direction. The second diamond dog says:

“I'll go see if the other diamond dogs are getting out of here.”

That diamond dog runs off in another direction. The third diamond dog says:

“I'll tell the other ponies to get out of here.”

That diamond dog runs off in a third direction. The last remaining one looks to Rarity and Spike as he says:

“You two, follow me.”

The diamond dog runs in a fourth direction. Rarity and Spike look at each other and follow after him.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see a large group of ponies, dragons and diamond dogs outside of the entrance to the cave. The last of them finally comes out of the entrance and they all look at the cave. What we see now is that the cave is at the bottom of what looks like a fairly large mountain. The rumbling stops for a second. Then, the mountain appears to split open and fall away. When it's finished falling apart, what's left is a gigantic white diamond. Every pony, dragon and diamond dog look at it with amazement and say:

“Oooooooooh!!!!!!!!!”

Spike smiles and says:

“Now THAT is a large diamond.”

Ember, who happens to be right next to Rarity, looks to her and asks:

“So, do you want it now?”

Rarity looks at her and smiles as she says:

“No, I think you had better keep it. It is most definitely too large to take with us.”

Ember then reaches over somewhere and pulls up what looks like a light blue, egg-shaped gemstone. She hold it out in front of Rarity and says:

“In that case, please accept this other diamond instead. It was found not long after the diamond dogs started digging up gemstones.”

Spike raises an eyebrow and points at the bright blue, egg-shaped gemstone and asks:

“How is that a diamond?”

Ember looks to Spike and says:

“Diamonds come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Some in which you would never expect. I also tried biting into it, with no success, so I know it's a diamond for sure.”

Ember looks to Rarity and asks:

“So, how about it?”

Rarity looks at the legit diamond and takes it as she says:

“Yes, I think we will take this diamond after all.”

Spike looks at the diamond and licks it. He smiles and says:

“It might not be edible, but it sure is delicious.”

Suddenly, a beam appears around Rarity. As it disappears, Ember asks:

“What was that?”

Rarity looks at her and says:

“Level up. Abilities get better. That kind of thing.”

Spike says:

“It even makes me a better dragon too.”

Ember smiles and says:

“Hey, that sounds like fun.”

She then notices that there are ponies using their magic to show where gems are and diamond dogs are digging them up. As the diamond dogs do so, we also see dragons picking up the gemstones and putting them all in a pile. Ember has an angry look on her face as she says:

“HEY!!!”

They now all look at her with surprised looks on their faces. Ember smiles and says:

“We just escaped a cave-in and the diamond I was looking for is right here. I think you should take it easy for awhile.”

One of the ponies, who just so happens to look like Sweetie Belle, says:

“But all of the gemstones that got dug up are now buried under all that dirt. The dragons could go hungry.”

The diamond dog we first saw says:

“Yeah, and we're bored.”

A red dragon, who we know as Garble, says:

“And we like seeing others do stuff while we sit around and watch.”

Ember says:

“Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but I decree that you're all on break until further notice.”

All the ponies, diamond dogs and dragons look all sad as they look down and say:

“Awwwww!”

Ember looks over at Spike and smiles as she says:

“In the meantime, I think we should have another round of Take A Lava Swim Tonight.”

Rarity opens the backpack with her magic and pulls out the accordion. She brings it over to Spike and says:

“It's the dragon lord's orders.”

Spike grabs the accordion and smiles as he says:

“Alright, once more from the top.”

All the ponies, diamond dogs and dragons cheer and gather around Rarity, Ember and Spike. They start to sing:

“For dragons like us we don't put up a fuss when we go step in a lava pool.”

We zoom out from this as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, having helped out the diamond dogs and found the dragon lord her diamond, you get everyone to join you in another round of the former dragon lord's favourite dragon song.”

We then hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light appears. We now see the inside of Black Cherry's house. Black Cherry has eyes open and he's looking at Rarity and Spike with their eyes closed. They open their eyes and look at Black Cherry as Spike says:

“It was really something to see Ember again.”

Black Cherry says:

“Oh yeah. Twilight was telling me about somepony named Ember when she came over for her solo mission. Apparently she took over from her father as new dragon lord.”

Black Cherry asks:

“Was that her?”

Rarity says:

“Yes. It was Spike for about ten seconds before he gave the title to her.”

Black looks to Spike and asks:

“You gave up the title of dragon lord?”

Spike shrugs his shoulders and raises his hands as he says:

“What can I say? My place is here, not in dragon territory.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, you learn something new every day.”

Black Cherry now motions for them to leave as he says:

“Now get out of here so I can start working on your next mission, and be sure to bring the others with you.”

Rarity and Spike get up and smile as Rarity says:

“Alright then. Ta-ta for now.”

Spike hops onto Rarity's back and she walks over to the door. Rarity then walks through and the door and it slams shut. Black Cherry waits for a few seconds and then pulls out the piece of paper and book he was looking at earlier. He opens the book back to where he was earlier with the picture of a rock and has a serious look on his face as he proceeds to read it.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 17: A Winter's Brew.

The cold open has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We first see everypony coming in from outside wearing bundles of clothes. Rainbow Dash is walking in instead of flying like usual. With the door open, we can see that it is currently snowing outside and the snow is starting to pile up. Applejack is the last one in and she slams the door shut. She looks at the door and says:

“We're in for a long and cold winter bah the looks of it.”

Black Cherry is sitting at the table with the Burrows and Bugbears stuff on it. On the table are seven cups of what appear to be hot cocoa. He smiles at them as he says:

“Good thing I just so happened to make some hot cocoa for you all before you came in.”

Everypony and Spike smile at this and make happy sounds as they sit at the table and pick up the hot cocoa that's been set out for them. They start to drink it as Twilight says:

“By the way, I was thinking about the experience we all got last time and noticed that Applejack, Pinkie Pie and I got a level up without getting a beam of light around us while we were in the game.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Oh yeah, I noticed that too.”

Black Cherry says:

“You were all underwater at the time. Beams of light don't really work while submerged. Besides, you had other things to worry about. Like attending the reception of Plain Jane and Jak-Jak.”

Spike smiles and says:

“Yeah, he told us all about it when we came by for our solo mission.”

Fluttershy looks to Rarity and asks:

“By the way, how did that go?”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Oh, we had such a lovely time. We got to meet some diamond dogs, you remember them don't you, and Spike got to sing the dragon song he learned when he stayed with that retired dragon lord all those sessions ago.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“I really hope whatever we're doing next is just as fun!”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“The only way you're going to find out is if you close your eyes so we can get started.”

Everypony and Spike nod their head, put the cups of cocoa down and close their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come from out of them for a second and the screen gets filled with blackness. We now see that everypony is standing out in front of a place called The Great White North with their eyes closed. They all open their eyes and see this place they're now in front of. Black Cherry's upper body is faint against the sky as he smiles and says:

“Not long after Rarity and Spike got back to the Blue Whale from their diamond dog adventure, a large blizzard came in and covered everything in snow.”

Applejack looks up and asks:

“The Blue Whale?”

Black Cherry says:

“That's the tavern you were all staying at.”

Everypony suddenly notices that they're freezing and start to shiver. Twilight Sparkle looks up and asks:

“Black Cherry, is there any reason why we're freezing?”

Black Cherry says:

“Your armour doesn't keep you warm from cold weather. You need to go and get some new winter clothes for your characters.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“If our characters are cold, why do WE feel it?”

Black Cherry says:

“Because your imaginations tell you so. You would be surprised what you can feel if your mind believes it to be true.”

Spike says:

“I h-h-hope we f-f-find some n-n-new clothes s-s-soon.”

Fluttershy looks up at the building they're in front of and asks:

“Do you think we can find some in The Great White North?”

Rarity says:

“I sure hope so. This is ridiculous.”

Pinkie Pie opens the door and says:

“Then let's get in here before we all catch a cold!”

Everypony and Spike run into the building. Pinkie Pie gets in, looks around, then slams the door shut.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony and Spike walking into a store that has a bunch of warm looking winter clothes in it. Fluttershy looks up and asks:

“So, Black Cherry, who are we going to meet today?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“I've decided it's time you meet a couple of old friends of mine.”

Spike says:

“Well, this should be interesting.”

From off-screen, we hear a voice say:

“Good day, eh?”

Everypony looks over at where the voice came from. We now see two ponies standing behind a counter. One of them has what's known as a toque on with other warm clothes and the other is wearing earflaps and other warm clothes as well. Both of them are smiling at everypony. Rarity asks:

“And you are?”

The pony with the toque says:

“Well, I'm Back Bacon and this is my brother Beaver Tail.”

The pony with the earflaps, who now know is named Beaver Tail, says:

“How's it goin' eh?”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Are you the owners of The Great White North?”

Beaver Tail says:

“We sure are, eh? You got any questions about the clothes we got, you just ask one of us.”

We now see that Rainbow Dash is looking at a tag. She reads it out loud:

“Now guaranteed to keep you twenty percent warmer while out in the cold or your bits back.”

Back Bacon says:

“It's true, eh? We just got those in a week ago and we're eager to have ponies try them.”

Beaver Tail says:

“Yeah. We even got, like, some wing warmers for pegasus ponies.”

Back Bacon says:

“Also, if you don't have anything to do for awhile, maybe you could help us out with a problem.”

Beaver Tail turns to Back Bacon with an annoyed look on his face as he says:

“Hey, take off. They're customers, not volunteers.”

Pinkie looks over at them and asks:

“What kind of problem?”

Back Bacon looks at Pinkie Pie and says:

“Well, you see, we have a little brewing operation in the back of the store. We make something we like to call Fraoch's Favourite. It's a real beauty, especially at this time of year.”

Beaver Tail looks to her and says:

“Unfortunately, there was so much snow that came in suddenly our employees haven't been able to get through it. Without them we can't make Fraoch's Favourite at all.”

Everypony and Spike look at each other. They look at the two and smile as Applejack asks:

“How can we help?”

Back Bacon smiles and says:

“You could stand in for our regular brewsters and help us make a good two-four's worth of the stuff.”

Beaver Tail smiles and says:

“But, y'know, I think you had better get some decent clothes first. You're giving me the chills just by looking at you wearing nothing but armour.”

Everypony looks at each other and nods. They then look back at the clothes and start to inspect them very closely. We now transition to a room that has what looks like a brewing room. Back Bacon and Beaver Tail are in there and everypony else is too. They're all decked out in winter clothes and are standing at various spots in the brewing machine. Fluttershy looks down at what she's wearing and says:

“I never knew winter clothes could be so expensive.”

Spike, who is also decked out in winter gear, looks up and asks:

“What's up with that, anyway?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“You were practically swimming in bits. I had to find some way to relieve you of most of it and that was the best way to do it.”

Rarity is looking at what she's wearing and smiles as she says:

“My wallet feels much lighter, but these new threads are simply divine.

Back Bacon smiles and says:

“Worth it, eh?”

Twilight smiles and says:

“Well, I can safely say we probably won't be cold again once we go outside.”

Beaver Tail smiles and says:

“Beauty. Now, let's get to work on making Fraoch's Favourite.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Who is Fraoch, anyway?”

Back Bacon turns to her and says:

“He was a really handsome stallion. The story goes that he went out of his way to win the heart of the mare he loved.”

Beaver Tail says:

“It's too bad he ended up goin' out like a real hoser though.”

Pinkie Pie is looking over the equipment in the room and looks at them as she asks:

“How do we start this thing?”

Back Bacon says:

“First, you turn on the hot water over here. When it goes into the mash tun there, you take some germinated malt and pour it in with the water.”

Applejack raises her hoof and says:

“Ah'm on it!”

She walks over to the water tank and turns on the water tank. It makes a loud sound as we see steam coming from out of it. We now see that the water is in the mash tun. There's a sack with MALT written on the side. A contraption appears and Applejack rolls the gear on the side. She pushes down on the top and a d20 rolls out. It lands on a twelve. She now opens the sack and carefully pours the malt into the tun. We see inside that the hot water is mixing with the malt and the malt is being crushed by a hammer mill. Fluttershy then asks:

“Now what?”

Beaver Tail says:

“When that's finished, the result goes into this thing called a copper. It's at this point we put in some delicious tasting tree sap, a heap of pineapple extract and gruit.”

Spike has a confused look on his face as he says:

“Gruit?”

Back Bacon says:

“It's a mixture we use to make sure it's not overly sweet.”

Rarity asks:

“What's it made of?”

Beaver Tail says:

“It's a mixture of various bitter herbs, but we make it out of stuff we like. Ours is made from ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon all smashed together.”

There's a ding sound that's heard and Twilight says:

“Sounds delicious. I'll get the gathered tree sap and pineapple extract.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I'll get the gruit.”

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash grab what they said they would. A contraption appears in front of both of them. They roll the gears on the side and push down on the top when done. A d20 rolls out of each chute. They both land on an eleven. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash use their wings to fly up to the top of the copper and successfully put the tree sap, the pineapple extract and the gruit into the top of it. Once they come back down, Pinkie Pie asks:

“And now?”

Back Bacon says:

“It then gets sent to a settling tank where the liquid gets separated from the malt. It's at this point the liquid is called wort.”

Beaver Tail now says:

“The wort now goes through a heat exchanger and ends up in a fermentation cylinder vat.”

We see an open low cylinder as a ding sound is heard. Back Bacon walks over to it and grabs a nearby cup as he says:

“We always take a sample to make sure we're makin' a good batch.”

Beaver Tail grabs a cup and they both dive into the vat with their cups. They pull the cups out and we see the cups filled to the brim. Back Bacon and Beaver Tail raise an eyebrow as they look up and start to sip what's in their cups. They then look at each other with smiles on their faces and chug the rest of it. When they're done, Beaver Tail says:

“I can already tell, this'll be a good one. See what you think.”

He gives the cup to a nearby Applejack, who is slightly surprised at this. She takes the cup and dives it into the vat. She takes it out and sips it while looking up. She takes her mouth and away and looks down at it and smiles as she says:

“It ain't our apple cahder, but it'll do.”

Back Bacon says:

“Now that it's cooled down a bit, it's time to put some yeast into the vat.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“I'll do it.”

She takes a nearby sack with the label YEAST on it and pours it into the vat. With that done, Beaver Tail says:

“Now we wait for the fermentation process to finish. After which time we'll finally get to putting it into bottles.”

Spike asks:

“How long will that take?”

Back Bacon says:

“Oh, about five hours at least.”

Everypony looks surprised and Rarity asks:

“Five hours?”

Beaver Tail says:

“You gotta be patient with it. Good things come to those who wait y'know.”

Twilight says:

“I guess we'll just have to wait.”

Rainbow Dash now asks:

“What do you call the stuff made in this process?”

Back Bacon says:

“Well uh, we're not sure yet. I was thinking of alu while Beaver Tail was thinking of aloth. We'll probably come up with a compromise at some point.”

Beaver Tail says:

“For now though, we just call it Fraoch's Favourite. 'Specially since it's our favourite too.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Well, while we're waiting, maybe you could tell us the history of how you came up with this recipe.”

Back Bacon says:

“Well, it's a long one.”

Applejack says:

“We got fahve hours to waste. Tell us the whole thing.”

Back Bacon and Beaver Tail then sit down as Beaver Tail says:

“Then gather around everypony. This story starts about five odd years ago.”

Everypony and Spike smile and gather around Back Bacon and Beaver Tail. They all sit down and look eager to hear the story about to be told.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony still sitting in a circle listening to the story of how Back Bacon and Beaver Tail came up with the recipe for Fraoch's Favourite. We now hear Back Bacon say:

“... And when we tried making it again, it came out the same way. We thought others might want to have some, so we started selling it.”

We hear a ding sound and everypony looks over at the vat. Beaver Tail says:

“Looks like it's done fermenting.”

They all look back and Twilight Sparkle says:

“Back Bacon, while you were telling the story I was calculating how long fermentation would take. It should be roughly five days.”

Back Bacon says:

“You'd be right eh? But we're earth ponies. We've been making this stuff for five years now.”

Beaver Tail says:

“So, like, we've gotten so good at it that some parts of it take less time than they normally would.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“How much does a batch make?”

Back Bacon says:

“Oh, a couple of two-fours at least. If there's any we can't bottle, we drink it ourselves so it doesn't go to waste.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“What's a two-four?”

Beaver Tail says:

“It's a case of twenty four bottles of Fraoch's Favourite. That's why we call it a two-four.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“I like it.”

Back Bacon says:

“Before we go and bottle it, we have one more favour to ask of you.”

Beaver Tail says:

“We got a couple of customers who want this stuff delivered. If you made them, we'd pay you in bits for the trouble.”

Spike says:

“Oh, it's no trouble.”

Back Bacon says:

“Beauty. Thanks for the help, by the way.”

Suddenly, beams of light surround Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Back Bacon and Beaver Tail see this with surprise and when the beams of light go away, Beaver Tail asks:

“Was that a level up we just saw?”

Fluttershy says:

“Yes. By helping you make your drink, we gained enough experience to do so.”

Back Bacon smiles and says:

“Come back in an hour and you can get started on getting this stuff to its intended destinations.”

Beaver Tail smiles and says:

“We got a lot of bottlin' to do, and we don't want you all to be bored watching us do it.”

Everypony gets up and Applejack says:

“Ah think we'll do just that.”

We start to zoom out from this scene as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, after helping Back Bacon and Beaver Tail make Fraoch's Favourite, you go back to the Blue Whale and wait for them to call you about making some deliveries.”

We now hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white flash appears. We now see everypony and Spike with their eyes closed. Black Cherry is looking at them with a smile on his face. They all open their eyes and Black Cherry says:

“It's been too long since I've seen those two. Having you help them was a fun way for me to remember them.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and asks:

“Do you have any idea where they could be?”

Black Cherry says:

“Nope. For all I know, they could be long gone by now.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Black Cherry, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it for the next session.”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he looks to Pinkie Pie and asks:

“You won't?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Yeah, I also have something I need to do.”

Black Cherry looks down and starts to think for a second. He seems to have an idea and says:

“I've got it! While Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight are away,”

He looks over at Twilight. She smiles and nods. He looks back at everypony as he says:

“the other half of the party will make one of the two-four deliveries.”

Spike asks:

“Will the other half make the other delivery when they get back?”

Black Cherry says:

“Yes, exactly. Not only that, but since the party is split up, each half will get twice the experience from finishing the mission.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Ooh, I do like the sound of that.”

Black Cherry now says:

“Alright, here's the idea. Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Applejack will make one delivery next session since they'll be here.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“No problem.”

Black Cherry then says:

“Then, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash will come back the session after and do the other one.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Sounds lahke a plan.”

Black Cherry now says:

“Now that you know what I want to do, I think you should all take off so I can start making the next scenario.”

Everypony and Spike nod their head in agreement.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 18: A Troubling Encounter.

The cold open is the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Rarity, Spike, Applejack and Fluttershy having just walked into Black Cherry's house. Fluttershy closes the door gently and they all walk up to the gaming table, where Black Cherry is already sitting. They all sit down at the table and Black Cherry asks:

“Ready to bring a two-four of Fraoch's Favourite to a waiting customer?”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Oh yes.”

Spike smiles and says:

“If it's still cold in the game when we bring the two-four over, we can see how effective the clothes we got are for keeping us warm.”

Black Cherry says:

“You don't have to worry about that. You paid for them and you're going to get your money's worth.”

Applejack says:

“Ah sure hope so.”

Fluttershy asks:

“So how is this split party thing going to work?”

Black Cherry says:

“It's quite simple, really. During today's session you will bring the two-four over to a being I've named Winter Solstice. Along the way, you just might meet a pony who will be of help to you.”

Rarity asks:

“And the next session?”

Black Cherry says:

“While you go see Winter Solstice, I'll have the other half bring a two-four to the other customer at the same time. Kind of like when I had you split into three to get things for the Germanica sisters.”

Spike smiles and says:

“Yeah, that was fun.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah guess it's tahme we got started then.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Agreed. Black Cherry, if you please.”

Black Cherry says:

“Alright, close your eyes and we can get going.”

Everypony and Spike closes their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and then blackness fills the screen. We now see that everypony and Spike are outside in the snow, next to a house with a large door. Everypony opens their eyes and see the house. Rarity looks down at her clothes and says:

“I must say, these winter clothes really do keep us warm in the cold weather.”

Spike looks up and asks:

“Is this the place we're supposed to bring the two-four?”

Black Cherry's upper body appears and he smiles as he says:

“Nope. That's the house of the pony who can guide you there.”

From inside the house, we hear the sound of something crashing into something else. We then hear from inside:

“Pardon me.”

Applejack has a look of realization on her face as she says:

“Oh no, don't tell me it's him.”

Fluttershy looks to Applejack and asks:

“Who?”

Applejack says:

“You'll see, if Ah'm raht.”

Rarity knocks on the door and another crash sound is heard from inside. A voice right next to the door says:

“Sorry.”

The door then opens and from inside we see a pony known as Trouble Shoes. He pokes his head out and asks:

“Yes?”

Everypony and Spike look up at the giant pony and Applejack covers her face with one hoof. Rarity says:

“We have a delivery for one Winter Solstice. We were hoping you might know the whereabouts of this pony.”

Trouble Shoes has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“Did you say Winter Solstice?”

Spike says:

“Yes, she did.”

Trouble Shoes says:

“Ah wouldn't go that way if Ah were you. Strange things always seem to happen when Ah go anywhere near where she lives.”

Applejack takes her hoof away from her face and looks up as Fluttershy asks:

“So you know her location?”

Trouble Shoes says:

“Ah've never seen her mahself, but Ah've heard her voice many a tahme when walkin' in a certain direction. Always ran the other way when Ah did.”

Rarity says:

“This Winter Solstice wants a two-four of Fraoch's Favourite brought to her door, and we would very much appreciate it if you would help us find her.”

Trouble Shoes asks:

“Is it really that important?”

Spike says:

“It sure is. If we don't deliver it, we don't get paid.”

Trouble Shoes closes his eyes and sighs. He opens them and says:

“Alraht. Gimme a minute and Ah'll help you make your delivery. The name's Whoops A' Daisy, bah the way.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Please do hurry, Mister A' Daisy.”

Trouble Shoes nods his head and closes the door. From inside we hear another crash as a voice says:

“Beg your pardon.”

Applejack shakes her head and says:

“We're in for quahte the adventure, Ah can tell y'all that much.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Trouble Shoes in winter gear, with Trouble Shoes leading the way. As they go, Applejack asks:

“So, Whoops A' Daisy, Have you always run the other way when you hear Winter Solstice's voice?”

Trouble Shoes looks at her and says:

“Sure have. The first tahme Ah heard a mysterious voice, Ah asked who it was. Winter Solstice was what Ah got for an answer.”

He bumps a tree that has some snow on top. The snow starts to fall to the ground below and the group sidesteps it. Spike asks:

“Have you always had problems with causing accidents?”

Trouble Shoes says:

“Ever since Ah was a colt. If there's a chance somethin' could go wrong, it will with me around.”

Rarity says:

“I do hope we hear the voice of this Winter Solstice soon. At least then we'll know we're getting close.”

They all stop suddenly with looks of surprise when a loud and echoing voice asks:

“Who dares enter my domain?”

Fluttershy asks:

“What was that voice just now?”

Trouble Shoes gulps and says:

“That was the voice of Winter Solstice.”

Applejack says:

“Oh, fahnally. We've been walkin' for ages.”

Spike asks:

“Should we answer the voice?”

Rarity says:

“We might as well.”

Rarity looks to Fluttershy and says:

“Fluttershy, you say something to the voice.”

Fluttershy walks forward and says:

“Um, we have a delivery for a Winter Solstice.”

The voice now asks:

“What is the item that is to be delivered?”

Applejack says:

“A two-four of Fraoch's Favourite. From the Great Whate North.”

The voice now says:

“Of course, my request to have it delivered. You may proceed.”

Spike smiles and says:

“Well, that was nice of this Winter Solstice to invite us along.”

Trouble Shoes walks forward and says:

“Sorry to say, but Ah don't know where to go from here.”

Rarity asks:

“You don't?”

Trouble Shoes walks a little forward and says:

“Ah told you Ah always ran in the other direction when Ah heard her voice. That was the truth. From here on out Ah'm going in blah-”

Trouble Shoes stops talking as he trips on something and starts rolling down a sudden hill. As he rolls, he becomes a very large snowball. At the bottom of the hill, the snowball rolls along the ground and loudly crashes into something off-screen. Everypony runs over to him and we now see Trouble Shoes sitting down, covered in snow and dazed at the bottom of what looks like a tall wooden tower. We now see the top of the tower, which appears to have some kind of gem on top that's connected to a stick. It shakes a couple of times until it snaps and the gem falls down. We cut back to Trouble Shoes as he's no longer dazed and the gem hits him square on the head. Fluttershy asks:

“Are you alright?”

Trouble Shoes looks at the gem and and says:

“Mah prahde took quahte the hit there, but Ah'll survahve.”

Applejack looks at the gem and asks:

“What in tarnation is that thing?”

Spike picks up the broken stick with the gem attached and stares at it. Everypony and Spike look off-screen as the voice says:

“You fools! You have compromised one my precious magic transmitters!”

We now see what looks like a hologram of a rhinoceros that is also blue. Spike asks:

“What are you?”

The blue rhino hologram appears to say:

“I am the being known as Winter Solstice. By dealing a blow to my magic transmitter, you have annoyed me enough to make me show myself just to tell you how annoyed I am.”

Trouble Shoes gets up and says:

“Ah beg your pardon, Miss Solstice. Ah tripped and became a snowball. Ah didn't mean to, honest.”

Rarity asks:

“What is a magic transmitter, anyway?”

The rhino says:

“It allows me to use my magic at great distances. Since the magic transmitter tower has lost its magic gem, my power is now weakened in that area.”

Fluttershy says:

“We could try to repair it.”

The rhino says:

“No. Bring the gem along with the two-four so that I may deal with it. I also heard that you're unaware of my location. Not to worry, the weather will show you the way.”

The blue rhino hologram disappears. Applejack asks:

“What did she mean bah the weather will show us the way?”

Trouble Shoes says:

“Ah don't know. Where Winter Solstice is concerned, anything is possible.”

Spike starts to walk around as he says:

“If this Winter Solstice is so powerful, maybe she could try doing something about this...”

He looks down and sees that he's now standing in a small patch of green grass. He asks:

“Snow?”

Rarity says:

“That's it! When we walk in the right direction, the snow becomes grass. Like in the summer. The weather really will show us the way.”

Trouble Shoes says:

“Just mah luck she had to mean things literally.”

Fluttershy says:

“I think we should walk side by side. When the path changes, we'll know because the one who was walking on grass will then be walking on snow.”

Everypony and Spike nod their heads. There is now a couple of transitional scenes of everypony walking side by side. Fluttershy in the middle walking on the grass, Applejack with Trouble Shoes on one side and Rarity with Spike on the other side. When they notice that somepony other than Fluttershy is walking on grass, they all move so that Fluttershy is walking on grass again. They eventually come to a building that sort of looks like a school. Applejack says:

“This must be the place.”

Spike asks:

“How could we tell?”

There are double doors on the building. They open up as the voice of Winter Solstice says:

“You have made it with the gem and the two-four. You may now enter with all haste.”

Rarity says:

“I think we just got our answer.”

Trouble Shoes says:

“Ah hope she ain't too mad about the broken magic enhancer.”

They all start walking towards the double doors as Fluttershy says:

“I'm sure if you explain yourself, it will all work out.”

They all walk into the building and the double doors slam behind them.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Trouble Shoes walk into a very large room. It's a pink room full of preschool toys and large plush animals. They look around and then notice a blue rhinoceros. They all look at it and Fluttershy asks:

“Is this Winter Solstice?”

A non booming voice says:

“No, that would be me.”

They all look over and see  a cradle. In it appears to be the foal pony known as Flurry Heart. She waves at them with a smile on her face. They all walk over with very confused looks on their faces. Flurry Heart uses her magic to bring herself out of the cradle and she now opens her mouth. An adult voice comes out of it which says:

“I imagine you have many questions. Come, sit with me.”

Flurry Heart lowers herself down to the floor. Everypony and Spike sit down with her in a circle. She then says:

“Before our conversation begins, I think we should start by having some of Fraoch's Favourite.”

Applejack has a look of realization on her face. She then pulls the two-four of Fraoch's Favourite out of her backpack and puts it on the floor in the middle of the circle. Flurry Heart now uses her magic to pull six bottles out of the two-four, take the caps off and has each one go in front of each of the ponies and baby dragon in the circle. Everypony and Spike now have a taste of it. Applejack smiles as she looks at it and says:

“It tastes a little different from before, but Ah still lahke it.”

Flurry Heart now says:

“I'm sure you would like to know about the creature over there.”

Rarity says:

“Yes. We were wondering about that.”

Flurry Heart says:

“That is my puppet alter-ego. I saw one just like it many moons ago, but it wasn't blue. That was my idea.”

Spike is still holding the broken stick with the gem attached as he asks:

“And the magic enhancer gem?”

Flurry Heart looks to him and says:

“What I said before about it letting me use my magic across great distances was true. Not to worry though, it was only one of many. I will have it fixed in good time.”

Trouble Shoes smiles and says:

“So, you're not angry that Ah broke it?”

Flurry Heart looks to him and says:

“After the tumble you took, I would've been surprised if it didn't. Besides, it amused me.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“I do hope you send word to the Great White North we made the delivery.”

Flurry Heart looks at her and says:

“But of course. They deserve it, after making such a magnificent batch.”

Applejack says:

“Well, to be honest, we helped make this one.”

Flurry Heart looks to Applejack and asks:

“Did you now?”

Spike says:

“Yep. There's a lot of steps to making it and we helped wherever we could.”

Flurry Heart says:

“Well, maybe you could help me with something.”

Rarity says:

“We'll do our best.”

Flurry Heart frowns and looks down as she says:

“I have lived here for a very long time. My mind ages, yet my body does not.”

She looks at the others as she says:

“The one thing I desire now, more than anything else, is a companion. I would love so very much to have a visitor come by every day, even if it was only for an hour, and tell me stories of their adventures and anything exciting that might have happened in their day.”

Everypony and Spike look up with thinking looks on their faces. Everypony but Trouble Shoes now have looks on their faces as if they had an idea. They look to Trouble Shoes and smile. He sees them looking at him and asks:

“What are you starin' at me for?”

Fluttershy says:

“Whoops A' Daisy, I think you would be the perfect companion for Winter Solstice.”

Trouble Shoes asks:

“But whah me?”

Applejack says:

“You bump into stuff and cause a ruckus all the tahme. Ah'm sure you could recount at least a story or two every so often.”

Trouble Shoes smiles and says:

“You know, that doesn't sound lahke a bad ahdea.”

Spike looks to Flurry Heart and asks:

“What do you think, Miss Solstice?”

Flurry Heart looks at Trouble Shoes and smiles as she says:

“I think it's a wonderful idea. I'm glad I thought of it.”

Rarity says:

“Well then, it's all settled.”

Flurry Heart says:

“I concur. Now, let us drink to new friendships, whenever and wherever they may come from.”

Everypony nods their head and takes a nice big gulp from the bottle of Fraoch's Favourite they have in front of them. We zoom out from this room as everypony puts their bottles down. Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with Winter Solstice finding a new friend in Whoops A' Daisy, you continue to drink your bottle of Fraoch's Favourite until they're empty and you have to leave.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white flash appears on the screen. We now see everypony and Spike with their eyes closed. Black Cherry is looking at them and is smiling. They open their eyes and Fluttershy smiles as she says:

“That was quite the adventure.”

Black Cherry says:

“I was surprised to see a baby alicorn as winter Solstice. It makes me wonder who she really is.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Oh, that's Flurry Heart. She's the daughter of Princess Cadance and Shahning Armour.”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“Really?”

Spike says:

“It's true. She caused quite the commotion when we first met her.”

Rarity says:

“Yes. She almost caused the Crystal Empire to go into a deep freeze on the day of her crystalling.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“A crystalling! Why, that hasn't happened since...”

Black Cherry looks away from them as he says:

“Well, never mind.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Have you seen a crystalling before?”

Black Cherry looks at Fluttershy and says:

“Actually, no. I was told there was one that happened when I was a baby when my family lived in the Crystal Empire.”

Applejack looks down and then looks at Black Cherry as she says:

“That would've been over a thousand years ago.”

Black Cherry has an embarrassed smile on his face as he says:

“I know. It was apparently a cause for celebration, but I don't remember it very well.”

Spike says:

“It's interesting to know about a crystalling that happened before Flurry Heart's.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Well, enough about the past, let's talk about the future. I hope you all find something else to do when the other half of the party comes by for the next session.”

Rarity says:

“Oh, I think we'll manage.”

Everypony and Spike nod with smiles on their faces.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 19: Do You See What I See?

The cold open is the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits of the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie walking into Black Cherry's house, with Pinkie Pie closing the door behind her. Black Cherry is already sitting down at the table and is smiling at them. As he sees them come in, he asks:

“Did you find something else to do instead of this, Twilight?”

They all sit down at the table and Twilight smiles at him as she says:

“I sure did. I decided to visit the Crystal Empire and discovered a detective book series featuring a pony named Mystery Solved in the library.”

Black Cherry's eyes light up as he says:

“Oh, I love those! You must tell me what you thought of them later!”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“How do you know of a book series that was in the Crystal Empire Library?”

Black Cherry says:

“I used to live there. It's why I have a crystal pony for a step-sister.”

Pinkie Pie looks up with a thinking look on her face. She looks at Black Cherry and says:

“You know, I was wondering about that.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“So, Black Cherry, what kind of adventure are we off on today?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, as you know, you have been tasked with delivering a two-four of Fraoch's Favourite to a waiting customer. The name of which is Page Turner.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“I can't wait to see who that's going to look like.”

Black Cherry says:

“By the way, the winter clothes you bought will keep you warm out in the snow. The other half of the party said it was true, so I'm inclined to believe it.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Well, that's good to know.”

Black Cherry now says:

“Alright everypony, close your eyes and we can get started.”

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie close their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and blackness fills the screen. We now see a house that has an unusually large door. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are standing in front of it with their eyes closed. They now open their eyes and look around. As they do, Black Cherry's voice says:

“You got directions as to Page Turner's current whereabouts, which has led you to a strange looking house.”

They all look at each other and Twilight shrugs her shoulders. She walks up to the door and knocks on it. After a few seconds, the door opens and the head of Moon Dancer without her glasses pokes her head out. She asks:

“Can I help you?”

Everypony looks shocked at seeing Moon Dancer. After a couple of seconds, Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Page Turner?”

Moon Dancer says:

“Yes, that is my name.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Did you order a two-four of Fraoch's Favourite from the Great White North?”

Moon Dancer is looking at them all and says:

“Indeed. I have been waiting for it to be delivered ever since.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Well, we have it and we're delivering it right to your door!”

Pinkie Pie pulls out the two-four of Fraoch's Favourite and holds it out in front of her. Moon Dancer gets up close to the two-four and squints at it. She then looks up at everypony and says:

“Fraoch's Favourite. Right as I ran out. What luck. It's about the only luck I've had lately.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“What do you mean?”

Moon Dancer says:

“I lost my glasses a few days ago and all I can see now are blurry shapes. Even you three are just vague pony shapes to me.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Well, that does explain the squinting.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Why don't you go out and get another pair?”

Moon Dancer looks around. She then looks at everypony and says:

“If you would please come inside, I will explain everything.”

Moon Dancer opens the door wide and everypony walks in. Pinkie Pie is once more the last one to walk in and shuts the door behind her.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle in a room of a house that looks like everything is too big for them. With them is a glasses-less Moon Dancer. She has a bunch of books open on a nearby table as she says:

“When I was at a library some time ago, I took an interest in strange and unusual creatures. They had loads of information on all of them except for one. That creature is known as a yeti. All they had to say about it is that it lives in cold snowy areas and that it likes to eat fish.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“So then why are you here?”

Moon Dancer says:

“I felt as though the information on the yeti was woefully incomplete. So I packed up my things and went on an investigation to discover more about the creature.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Such as?”

Moon Dancer says:

“How it lives, how it interacts with others, how it looks for a mate, even what it looks like. When I asked locals about what the creature looked like, I received two very different descriptions. When I still had my glasses, I drew pictures of the two versions of what ponies around here said it looked like. You can see it over there.”

Everypony looks over at an open book and sees two very different pictures. One is a massive hulk of a creature and the other is much smaller, but still large by pony standards. Twilight looks over and asks:

“Have you any idea why there are conflicting descriptions of this yeti?”

Moon Dancer says:

“I have a theory that instead of either of them being wrong, they're both right.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“But how?”

Moondancer replies:

“My guess is that there are actually two yetis. One is a male and the other is a female.”

She looks up with a smile on her face as she says:

“Oh, how I wish I could get up close to one of them and get firsthoof experience of what they're like. Then I could write it down for the benefit of all.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“That's quite a noble endeavour.”

Twilight asks:

“I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you lose your glasses?”

Moon Dancer looks at her and frowns as she says:

“When I went out searching for the yeti one night, there was this very intense blizzard. I saw a house in the distance, this house, and made my way towards it. When I finally got to the doorstep, the wind pulled my glasses right off my face. I knocked on the door, hoping somepony would help me, and I saw two large white shapes appear as the door swung open. They invited me in from the storm, and I've been here ever since. That was a week ago now.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“And the reason you haven't gone to get new glasses is...?”

Moon Dancer looks at her and says:

“The creatures that live here speak pony in an odd way. From what I can see through my blurred vision, I have decided that they are humans. I have told them of my search for a yeti and they let me stay here while I try to decide what to do next.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“That still doesn't explain why you haven't gone to get new glasses.”

Moon Dancer looks to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Ever since I've lived here, my research tells me that I'm very close to finding at least one of the yetis. I don't want to stop now over such a petty thing like not having the clearest vision.”

Twilight says:

“You could be missing a major breakthrough without even realizing it with your blurred vision.”

Moon Dancer looks down at her notes and says:

“Unlikely. The humans have gone to get food for supper and they should be returning shortly.”

The sound of a door bursting open is heard and a voice from off-screen says:

“Page Turner, we home uh!”

Everypony looks over at the sound and voice as Moon Dancer says:

“Ah, that's them now.”

Another voice from off-screen asks:

“Are you in your room, uh?”

Moon Dancer calls out and says:

“Yes. Some ponies came and brought a delivery for me. They're with me right now.”

The first voice says:

“Have them come see us, uh.”

Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash look at each other and shrug their shoulders. They, along with Moon Dancer, walk out of the open door and into what appears to be a large hallway. We now see what appear to be a large monstrous creature with white fur, yellow pupil eyes and what appear to be a lot more teeth than there should be. Next to this creature is a smaller one with what looks like a large white blanket covering it. It also has white fur, but has completely black eyes and a much kinder face. Everypony is shocked at seeing these two creatures. Moon Dancer says:

“My kind deliverers, meet Yeto and Yeta.”

The smaller creature closes  its eyes and smiles as it says:

“Yeta is my name. Pleased to meet you, uh.”

Rainbow Dash leans into Twilight and Pinkie as she asks:

“Hey, don't they look like the pictures she showed us?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Almost exactly. They must be the yetis she's been looking for.”

Twilight says:

“I knew she would miss something without having her vision.”

Moon Dancer says:

“You can greet them yourselves. I am off to do more research.”

Moon Dancer unceremoniously turns around and walks away in the direction of her room. Everypony looks at her go and then looks back at the two yetis looking at them. They slowly walk up to the yetis as Rainbow Dash asks:

“So, do you get visitors often?”

The monstrous creature, who we know is named Yeto, shakes his head as he seems to smile and say:

“Nope! Yeto and Yeta not have many guests, uh. Must be the location, uh.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Do either of you know what a yeti is?”

Yeta says:

“No idea. All we know is Yeto is Yeto and Yeta is Yeta, uh.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Well, that explains one mystery.”

Yeto says:

“Oh, Yeto have something to show house guests. Wait a moment, uh.”

Yeto walks off to a direction of the house and everypony watches him go. Rainbow Dash looks at Yeta and asks:

“What's Yeto getting?”

Yeta says:

“Some days ago, when snow melt some, Yeto find strange object on ground near house, uh.”

Yeto comes back and now has in his hand a pair of thick black glasses that appear to be unbroken. He holds them out towards the ponies and says:

“Object has two glass pieces in it. When Yeto or Yeta look through one of them, things look funny, uh.”

Everypony smiles and Pinkie Pie asks:

“Could those be her missing glasses?”

Twilight says:

“There's only one way to find out.”

Yeta tilts her head with a confused look on her face as she tilts her head and asks:

“What you talk about, uh?”

Rainbow Dash looks in the direction of where Moon Dancer went and calls out:

“Hey, Page Turner. Come over her for a minute, and bring the book with the yeti pictures with you.”

A couple of seconds later, Moon Dancer appears holding the book we saw before with the pictures. She says:

“This had better be important. I was going over everything I had.”

Pinkie Pie turns to Yeto and says:

“Yeto, Page Turner hasn't seen how funny things look with that object yet. Maybe you should have her give it a try.”

Yeto says:

“Hey, you right, uh. Yeto forgot since Page Turner not talk to us much, uh.”

Yeto opens the glasses and places them on Moon Dancer's face. Yeta smiles and says:

“They fit your head perfectly, uh.”

Moon Dancer now squints through the thick black glasses that were just put on her face. She opens her eyes wide in surprise. She quickly brings the book she's holding up to her face and looks down at it. We now get Moon Dancer's point of view, which has a thick black outline. We once again see the pictures of the yeti descriptions. It then gets lowered as we see Yeto and Yeta, smiling. Moon Dancer now gasps in shock, drops the book and backs up to a wall. Yeto and Yeto now frown and Yeto asks:

“What wrong, uh?”

Moon Dancer points a hoof at them and says:

“Y-y-y-yeti! The creatures I've been searching for! Yetis, right in front of me!”

Yeto looks down and picks up the book as Yeta says:

“Yeta not get it, uh.”

Yeto points to one of the pages of the book and says:

“This look like Yeta, uh.”

Yeta looks at the page. She then looks at the other page and says:

“And that looks like Yeto, uh.”

Yeto says:

“Then Page Turner be looking for us, uh.”

Yeta says:

“Object with glass pieces help to see. Is why Page Turner not find us, uh.”

They now both look over at Moon Dancer. Moon Dancer is still up against the wall, with a look of shock on her face. Yeto and Yeta look back at each other. They close their eyes and both start to laugh. Moon Dancer relaxes a little as her look of shock turns to that of confusion. Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“I think an explanation is in order.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony, Yeto and Yeta sitting in what looks like the living room of the house. In the middle of the room is the two-four of Fraoch's Favourite with six bottles missing. We also see that Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Moon Dancer, Yeto and Yeta all have a bottle in front of them. They all appear to be drinking from the bottle every so often with smiles on their faces. Moon Dancer says:

“It all seems so impossible. But then, I have been living with two yetis I thought were humans.”

Yeto says:

“We not know we called Yeti before now, uh.”

Yeta says:

“Yeta wish we could do something, uh.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Well, with everything explained, maybe now Page Turner's research can continue.”

Moon Dancer looks over at Pinkie Pie and frowns as she asks:

“What do you mean?”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Well, you were looking for a yeti, hoping to learn everything you could about it and write down what you found.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Yeah, now you can get all the information you could ever want straight from the yeti's mouth.”

Moon Dancer looks at Yeto and Yeta as she says:

“Oh, I couldn't do that. It wouldn't be right.”

Yeto says:

“But Page Turner, we want to help, uh.”

Yeta says:

“Ask us what you need and we answer best we can, uh.”

Moon Dancer smiles and says:

“In that case, my research continues, and with newfound vigour at that.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Will you send word to the Great White North that you received the two-four of Fraoch's Favourite?”

Moon Dancer looks to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Oh, yes, of course. I must say, they made quite the batch this time around.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“We helped make it, so it's nice to know it tastes good.”

Moon Dancer looks to Twilight and says:

“That's amazing. I didn't know you knew how to make this.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“We didn't. They told us what to do and we did it as best we could.”

Yeto says:

“First thing first, you need make better picture of us, uh.”

Yeta says:

“Yes, pictures of Yeto and Yeta only sort of look like us, uh.”

Moon Dancer looks at them and says:

“Since you insist, a more detailed picture of yourselves will be the first order of business.”

Everypony, Yeto and Yeta all have a swig from a bottle of Fraoch's Favourite. As they do, we zoom out while Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the package delivered, you each have a bottle of Fraoch's Favourite until it's empty and you all have to leave.”

We now hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light fills the screen. We're now back in Black Cherry's house. Black Cherry has his eyes open and he's smiling while looking at Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash with their eyes closed. They open their eyes and smile as Pinkie Pie says:

“That was a really fun one.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I'd never even heard of a yeti before.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, that creature book continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“When do you think it'll stop giving?”

Black Cherry says:

“I don't know. When there aren't any more creatures I haven't shown off in a new session I guess.”

Pinkie Pie now asks:

“So, Black Cherry, what do you have for us next time?”

Black Cherry turns to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Actually I was hoping to have only Fluttershy be here for the next session.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Is it time for her solo mission already?”

Black Cherry says:

“That it is. I already have an idea of what I'll have her do, so please let Fluttershy know next time you see her.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Oh you won't have to worry about that.”

Everypony nods their head while smiling at Black cherry.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 21: Just Like Herding Cats.

The cold opening has the first bit of the first episode, plus choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash having just walked into Black cherry's house. Black Cherry himself is sitting at the table with the Burrows and Bugbears stuff on it. He smiles at them all and says:

“Glad to see you all again. Winter must have wrapped up early this year.”

They all sit around the table as Twilight smiles and says:

“With my help, it always wraps up early. I even have a little uniform I wear when I do it.”

Pinkie Pie, who is already smiling, turns to Fluttershy and asks:

“So, Fluttershy, what did Black Cherry have you do?”

Fluttershy looks to Pinkie Pie and smiles as she says:

“He had me go look for a raven while riding on top of a boar with a gold mane. It was actually quite fun.”

Rarity looks to Black Cherry and asks:

“So, Black Cherry, where in the world are we going today?”

Black Cherry throws his hooves up and says:

“I have decided you're all going into space.”

Spike asks:

“Into space? Really?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, not right away. Before you can do that, you'll have to help a slightly unhinged inventor who has made a ship which needs fuel to get up in the air.”

Applejack has a raised eyebrow as she asks:

“What kahnd of fuel does the ship need?”

Black Cherry says:

“Body heat, created by a new kind of creature I just made up lying down on a bed for hours at a time.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“I've always wanted to go to space. If I can do it with my imagination, I'm all for it.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well then, close your eyes and we can get started making your dream into a reality.”

Everypony and Spike now close their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and the screen gets filled with black. We now see Everypony and Spike are on a patch of grass next to what looks like a very long ramp with their eyes closed. They are now back in their normal equipment since the snow is all gone. They all open their eyes and look around. Black Cherry's voice says:

“You learned at the Blue Whale that a pony named Shampoo Conditioner is in need of some assistance with something. Having nothing better to do, you went to see what it was.”

Twilight Sparkle notices the ramp and asks:

“Is Shampoo Conditioner up this ramp?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“She is indeed.”

Pinkie Pie hops up and down as she says:

“Ooh! I can't wait to hear what our mission this time is!”

Fluttershy says:

“We might as well start going up this ramp then.”

Everypony starts to walk up the very long ramp and they see that the end of it appears to be on the side of a very large ship. When they get to about the halfway point, the head of the one known as the Mane-iac appears at the end of it. Everypony and Spike are shocked at seeing this. The Mane-iac shouts:

“AT LAST, SOME PONIES HAVE ANSWERED MY CALL!!! NOW I CAN GET THE HELP THAT I NEED!!!”

She then lets out a very loud and hearty laugh. Everypony keeps on walking towards the Mane-iac and Rarity asks:

“Are you Shampoo Conditioner?”

They finally get to the top of the ramp and onto the side of the ship. The Mane-iac says:

“Yes, that's right! I am an inventor of sorts and only three days ago I finished building this amazing ship that can take anypony to the sky beyond the sky!”

Spike asks:

“Really now?”

The Mane-iac says:

“Yes! Everything is in order! The crew is all set to go, we have all the food for our very long voyage and all of the calculations have been taken into account down to the very last detail!”

Applejack asks:

“Then what do you need us for?”

The Mane-iac looks to Applejack and says:

“I could tell you here, but I think it would be better if I showed you instead.”

She runs over to what appears to be some stairs to below deck and says:

“Come, you must see why I have need of your assistance! Somepony must see it!”

We hear her laughter as she laughs while running down the stairs. They all look over at the stairs the Mane-iac ran down with unsure looks on their faces. Rainbow Dash shrugs her shoulders and says:

“I guess we might as well follow her then.”

Everypony and Spike sigh and start walking down the stairs to the below deck area of the ship.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Everypony and Spike with the Mane-iac in what appears to be a large room with about sixty beds in it. There's thirty beds on each side and a meter in the middle that shows how much energy is being created. Everypony looks around and Spike asks:

“What is this?”

The Mane-iac, who seems to always have a smile on her face, says:

“This is a bed generator. It's my own invention. If I had enough ponies lie down on it, sixty would be preferred but thirty will do, the combined body heat that created would give the ship enough energy to launch the ship into the sky.”

Rarity looks to the Mane-iac and says:

“But there's only six of us, and a baby dragon.”

The Mane-iac looks to Rarity and says:

“I'm quite aware. That's why I need you to go and round up as many Felis ferus caballus creatures as you can.”

Twilight asks:

“Felis ferus caballus? You mean a cat pony?”

The Mane-iac looks to Twilight and says:

“Exactly!”

Applejack says:

“But we don't even know what they look lahke.”

The Mane-iac says:

“Not a problem. Come, look here.”

We now see a picture of what appears to be a pony with cat-like features. It's covered in fur, has eyes like a cat and appears to have paws instead of hooves. Also, the ears are up above its head like that of a cat instead of on the side like a normal pony. Everypony makes murmuring sounds of amazement. Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“That pony really looks like a cat!”

The Mane-iac looks to Pinkie and says:

“Yes, I know. I have seen them prowling around outside this ship and decided to put them to good use.”

Rainbow Dash is looking at the bed generators and says:

“I don't know why, but I feel like these beds are missing something. Especially if these cat ponies act like cats.”

The Mane-iac frowns and looks to Rainbow Dash as she asks:

“Missing? What could be missing?”

Fluttershy is looking at the bed generators and has a thinking look on her face. She says:

“Well, if these cat ponies are really like cats, then they would probably like boxes. If you put a box around each generator, I'm sure they would like it a lot.”

The Mane-iac looks over at the picture of a cat pony on the wall, then looks over at the bed generators. She smiles and shouts:

“WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA!!!”

She lets out a very loud laugh. She now says:

“Go out there and round up as many cat ponies as you can. Try to get at least thirty of them to come here. In the meantime, I will get to work turning these bed generators into bed generators in boxes.”

The Mane-iac now pushes everypony and Spike out of the door and says:

“Go! Shoo! I must get started and I can't guarantee your safety while I'm inventing something!”

We now transition to some time later with everypony and Spike walking around what looks like a forest with many a tree in it. Spike asks:

“Where are we supposed to find these cat ponies, anyway?”

Rarity says:

“Well, Shampoo Conditioner did say she's seen them prowling about. So they can't be too hard to find.”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Twilight, make an evasion check.”

A contraption appears in front of Twilight. They all stop and she turns the gear on the side. When she's done, she pushes the top part down and a d20 comes out. It lands on a sixteen. Twilight now sidesteps and a pony like figure with cat like fur appears from the sky and plants itself into the ground. Everypony and Spike are surprised at this. Twilight says:

“It's a cat pony!”

The body of the cat pony falls onto the ground and it now tries to pull its head out of the ground. Applejack says:

“It also seems to be stuck. Ah think we should help it.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I agree. It might help us find more of its kind if we do.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Good thinking. Let's do this.”

Everypony grabs onto the body of the cat pony and begins to pull on it. Spike, who is not trying to pull the cat pony out, has a contraption appear in front of him. He rolls the gear on the side and pushes down on the top when he's done. A d20 rolls out and it lands on a ten. We then see the cat pony's head come out of the ground and everypony falling onto their backs. We now get a good look at the cat pony, who is now slightly dazed, and see that it looks almost exactly like the picture we saw in Shampoo Conditioner's ship. Fluttershy walks up to the cat pony and asks:

“Are you alright?”

The cat pony shakes its head and looks to Fluttershy. It smiles and says:

“I am now. Your friend has good reflexes.”

Spike asks:

“What were you doing?”

The cat pony says:

“I was bored and saw some ponies walking by. I tried to pounce on one of them, and failed.”

Rarity now asks:

“Are there more cat ponies around these parts?”

The cat pony looks to Rarity and says:

“Yes, lots.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“We're on the search for as many as we can find. If you could guide us to some, that would be great.”

The cat pony says:

“Not a problem. Follow me.”

The cat pony goes off in a direction. Everypony and Spike follows after. We transition to a clearing where there are many cat ponies. Some are wandering around, others are lying down and others still appear to be fighting each other. One is sitting on what appears to be a wooden throne of sorts and is looking very bored. The cat pony we saw before appears and everypony is behind it. The cat pony says:

“Mother Boots, some ponies want to see you.”

The cat pony on the throne, who we now know is named Mother Boots, looks to the cat pony and says:

“Silly Socks, why have you brought ponies to me?”

The cat pony, who we now know is named Silly Socks, says:

“They saved me from having my head forever stuck in the ground. Also, they have need of us.”

Mother boots looks at everypony and Spike. She asks:

“Why do ponies such as you need cat ponies such as us?”

Applejack says:

“It's a long story, but basically we need a bunch of you to come with us and lah down all at once.”

Silly Socks says:

“I do like to lie down a lot.”

Mother Boots says:

“Is that all?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“The beds are supposed to create enough energy to power a ship that will bring it up to the sky beyond the sky.”

Mother Boots looks up at the sky and says:

“An interesting proposition.”

She then looks back at everypony and says:

“Though I highly doubt any cat pony would want to follow you on that alone.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“We haven't even told you about the boxes yet.”

Every cat pony in the clearing suddenly stops what they're doing and looks over at everypony and Spike. Silly Socks has a big smile on his face and asks:

“Did you say boxes?”

They're now surrounded by cat ponies, all with smiles on their faces. Fluttershy says:

“Well, we suggested to the creator of the bed generators to have boxes installed around them. If only because we know cats like boxes.”

Mother Boots says:

“This changes everything. If what you say is true, I will round up as many cat ponies as I can and you can lead the way.”

Everypony looks at each other and shrugs their shoulders. We now transition over to inside the ship where the Mane-iac is finishing up putting boxes around the bed generators. She finishes the last one and says:

“There, all done. Now I just have to wait for my assistants to give me a status report on their acquisition of cat ponies.”

We now hear the sound of rumbling from outside. She looks over at the exit of the room and says:

“Ah, that must be them now.”

The Mane-iac starts to walk up the stairs out. We cut to outside on the ship with everypony and Spike around the entrance to the stairs with smiles on their faces. The Mane-iac walks out and sees them and starts to ask:

“So, my assistants, how goes the rounding up of-”

The Mane-iac has a shocked look on her face as she says:

“Ca-ha-hat ponies!”

We zoom out from everypony and see that around them are a very large group of cat ponies. Spike says:

“Very well actually.”

The Mane-iac looks around at all the cat ponies and says:

“So many cat ponies! I don't know how you convinced them to come here.”

Rarity says:

“All we had to say was there were boxes and they wanted to follow us.”

Silly Socks asks:

“Are there boxes? Can we see the boxes? Are there a lot of boxes?”

The Mane-iac smiles and says:

“Yes! Boxes! I just finished installing them around each bed generator just like you asked!”

Twilight says:

“Well, that's good news. If you hadn't, these cat ponies would have been very disappointed.”

Mother Boots walks up to the Mane-iac and says:

“We came here to lie down on a bed surrounded by a box. I would appreciate it if we could see them.”

The Mane-iac says:

“Of course! We can get started right away! Follow me every cat pony!”

The Mane-iac starts to run down the stairs. Mother Boots, runs after her, followed by Silly Socks and the rest of the cat ponies. As they descend, Applejack says:

“Ah didn't realahze just how many cat ponies followed us.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“When they're all in, I want to see the box bed generators too. They sound like fun.”

The last of the cat ponies goes down the stairs. Everypony and Spike look down at the stairs and Rainbow Dash says:

“I have to admit, I'm curious about what they look like now.”

Fluttershy says:

“I guess that's it then. Back down the stairs we go.”

Everypony and Spike nod their heads. They then start to walk down the stairs into the ship.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the room of box covered bed generators now all filled to capacity with a cat pony lying down on each and every one of them. We see Mother Boots and Silly Socks happen to be lying next to each other. Everypony and Spike are in the room as well, looking at the cat ponies in the bed generators with smiles on their faces. We also see that the energy meter is close to full. Silly Socks looks at it and asks:

“I wonder what happens when that meter gets full?”

Mother Boots looks at it and says:

“I guess we'll find out any second now.”

A rumbling sound is now heard and the room suddenly starts to tilt until the whole room is tilted exactly halfway. Everypony and Spike look up with surprised looks on their faces. From outside, we hear the Mane-iac's voice shout:

“AT LAST, MY DREAM OF RETURNING TO THE STARS ABOVE IS BEING REALIZED!!!”

We hear her make a very loud laugh as the rumbling sound is still going. Applejack looks to the others and says:

“Maybe we should see what's going on out there.”

Everypony and Spike nod their head and start heading for the stairs out. We cut to a bit later and see the Mane-iac at what appears to be a ship wheel, her hooves seemingly holding it steady. She has quite the insane look on her face as she has a great big smile on it. Everypony and Spike appear, running up to her and stop when they reach the Mane-iac. Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Shampoo Conditioner, what's going on?”

Without looking at her, the Mane-iac shouts:

“THE ENERGY IS AT MAXIMUM!!! WE ARE ABOUT TO ENTER INTO TAKEOFF PROCEDURE!!!”

Spike looks around and then asks:

“Are you sure it's going to work?”

The Mane-iac then shouts:

“I HAVE NO IDEA!!!”

The Mane-iac then lets out a very loud laugh. Rarity frowns and says:

“I must say, that does not fill me with any amount of confidence.”

A robotic voice from somewhere says:

“Liftoff to commence. T minus five.”

We now see what appear to be two glass dome halves appear from either side of the ship. The robotic voice says:

“Four.”

The dome halves close in on the top of the ship as the voice says:

“Three.”

The halves close fully into a full dome over the ship as the voice says:

“Two.”

Everypony and Spike look up at the sky with nervous looks on their faces as the voice says:

“One.”

The sound of a jet starting up is heard as the robot voice says:

“Liftoff initiated.”

We now zoom out and see the entirety of the ship. There are what appear to be energy thrusters on the back of the ship and they light up with large fire. After a second, the ship takes off up into the sky. We zoom back inside as everypony and Spike have their mouths hanging open in astonishment at seeing this. The Mane-iac says:

“THE MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THIS SHIP IS IN PROGRESS!!! MY ASSISTANTS HAVE MY ETERNAL GRATITUDE!!!”

Not long after the Mane-iac says this, beams of light appear around everypony except Rainbow Dash. They all look down and Pinkie Pie smiles as she says:

“Hey, a level up!”

The beams of light disappear and Rainbow Dash has a look of disappointment on her face. Fluttershy puts a hoof on her shoulder and smiles as she says:

“Don't be sad. I'm sure you'll get one next time.”

Rainbow looks to Fluttershy and smiles as she says:

“Yeah, I know. I just wish I could have done so with the rest of you.”

The Mane-iac shouts:

“WHO KNOWS WHAT ADVENTURES WE WILL FIND??? I AM ONLY TOO EAGER TO FIND OUT!!!”

Everypony looks to the Mane-iac and smiles. They then look to the front of the ship as it soars into the sky and up into the stratosphere. Black Cherry's voice now says:

“And so, with Shampoo Conditioner's ship taking off into space, you look upward with cautious optimism in what you will find when you're there.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light appears. We now see everypony and Spike with their eyes closed. Black Cherry is looking at them with a smile on his face as they all open their eyes. He asks them:

“So, are you excited to see what comes next?”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah was unsure what was gonna happen, but now Ah really can't wait for more.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“I happened to do the math on the ship and it seems stable enough to take us wherever we're going.”

Spike smiles and says:

“That's good to know.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Agreed. My confidence has now been restored.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and asks:

“What did Shampoo Conditioner mean by returning to the stars above?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, it turns out she actually came to the land you were in on a space ship. There are much more simple and less annoying means of space travel, but she wanted to invent something new and use it.”

Fluttershy says:

“I had no idea she was a space native.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Well I for one think it's going to be one wild ride from here on out.”

Black Cherry says:

“Good to hear. With you all raring to go, I'm going to have to be quick in creating the next mission for you to go on..”

Everypony and Spike nod their heads in agreement.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 22: All The Hidden Changes.

The cold open has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with everypony and Spike sitting down at the table with Black Cherry. He smiles at all of them and says:

“Glad you could all make it. I have something very special planned for today.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Will we be meeting some humans this time?”

Black Cherry looks to Fluttershy and smiles as he says:

“Actually, yes. In fact, you'll be meeting quite the important human. A space human in fact.”

Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow and asks:

“What's a space human?”

Black Cherry turns to Rainbow Dash and says:

“Well, it's a human, but in space. So, you know, special, but not.”

Applejack rolls her eyes and smiles and says:

“Wow, how original.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Will Shampoo Conditioner be with us when we meet this space human?”

Black Cherry looks to Twilight Sparkle and says:

“Of course she will. They're old friends and go way back. A little bit before she ended up in the land you all had your previous adventures on, in fact.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“You know, that reminds me. We never did learn what the land we were adventuring in was named.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, it doesn't really matter. What does is that you had so many great adventures in it.”

Spike has his arms folded and asks:

“You never did came up with a name for it, did you?”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he turns to Spike. He has an embarrassed look on his face as he looks away from Spike and puts a hoof behind his head. Rarity happens to be right next to Black Cherry and she smiles at him as she says:

“Don't worry too much about it, Darling. We never really noticed until now.”

Black Cherry then looks at Rarity and smiles as he says:

“I'm feeling lazy today, so I'm going to call the land Notquestria. Now close your eyes so we can get started on your first adventure out of the land of Notquestria.”

Everypony and Spike chuckle at this and they all close their eyes. Black Cherry looks up and shakes his head. He then grabs the wizard hat, puts it on his head and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and blackness fills the screen. We now see everypony and Spike on the deck of the ship from the previous episode with their eyes closed. The glass cases that covered the ship are now gone and they appear to be docked at some sort of space dock. Everypony opens their eyes and looks around. Fluttershy says:

“We haven't been in the same place between sessions since we were all staying at the Blue Whale Tavern for awhile.”

Rainbow Dash looks at her and says:

“Well, technically. We might be on the same ship, but it appears to be somewhere else entirely.”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Quite right, Rainbow Dash. The ship you're on is now docked at a space station of sorts. The main point of interest is a castle not far from your location called Chungus Humongous.”

Applejack has a look of concern on her face as she asks:

“Whah do Ah have a bad feeling about this?”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“Shampoo Conditioner brought us here, so she must know the inhabitants. I'm sure we'll be fine.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“Speaking of which, I haven't seen her since we got here.”

We now suddenly see the Mane-iac appear running up the stairs from the lower deck. She has a big smile on her face and says:

“Land ho everypony! It's been too long since I've been to Chungus Humongous and I want you all to meet an old friend of mine!”

She jumps off the deck and onto the space dock. The Mane-iac turns to look at everypony and Spike as she says:

“Let's get going! I'm eager to meet a buddy from ages past so we can all become best friends!”

She then laughs after saying this. Spike says:

“Well I... guess we might as well do what she says.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“As far as I'm concerned, a friend of Shampoo Conditioner is a friend of ours.”

Everypony and Spike walk from the plank to the space dock and follow the Mane-iac as she seemingly jogs ahead of them with a great big smile on her face.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony, Spike and the Mane-iac walking into what looks like a throne room. On the throne is a fairly fat human man wearing a crown, looking very bored. In front of the ponies is an announcer pony who says:

“An adventuring party and one Shampoo Conditioner to see you, my lord.”

The Mane-iac's face lights up and she has a big smile on her face as she says:

“Chungo!”

The man on the throne smiles and says, in a British accent:

“If it isn't my old friend, Shampoo Conditioner. It has been many years since we last met.”

Applejack asks:

“Chungo? What kahnd of a name is that?”

The Mane-iac says:

“It's the name I used to call him when we were little. His real name is Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“How do you get that kind of name?”

The human man, who we now know is named Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh, says:

“Well, it all started when my very great grandfather, Chungus Chungus, decided to name his son Chungus Chunguson. Who then named his son Chungus McChunguson. He in turn named his son Chungus McChunguson Junior. After which he then named his son Chungus McChunguson the Third. Eight generations later, here I am.”

The Mane-iac looks back at them and says:

“That's why I always called him Chungo.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Your highness, is there something we can do now that we're here?”

Chungus looks at the party and says:

“Actually, yes. I've had a changeling become one of the residents of this castle and would like for you to figure out who it is.”

Spike asks:

“What kind of changeling?”

Chungus says:

“The kind who has all the love it needs and is doing their best to try and keep up the disguise for as long as possible.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Well, that's good to know.”

Fluttershy says:

“I guess we might as well get started then.”

Chungus says:

“Please do. I await your findings.”

Pinkie Pie does a salute and smiles as she says:

“You got it, your Chungusiness.”

Everypony, Spike and the Mane-iac start to walk out of the throne room as Chungus chuckles at this last statement. We transition now to an area in the castle that appears to be a foyer. Everypony is there and the Mane-iac has a look of suspicion on her face while looking back at where they just came from. Applejack asks:

“So, where should we look first?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I guess we should ask the staff if they've noticed anypony acting out of the ordinary lately.”

Twilight Sparkle notices the Mane-iac with a look of suspicion on her face and asks:

“Shampoo Conditioner, what's bothering you?”

The Mane-iac looks at Twilight and says:

“I'm  not sure if that's actually the Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh I know.”

Spike asks:

“How can you tell?”

The Mane-iac looks at Spike and says:

“The Chungo that I know would open his arms and call me Shamp at the first sight of me. This one didn't, which makes me question if that's really him.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“You called each other those names long ago. I'm sure Chungus decided that that was all in the past now.”

The Mane-iac says:

“Not my Chungo. I know it's been years, but it still makes me wonder what's up.”

Fluttershy says:

“Well, even if the Chungus we saw is a changeling, at least he was gracious enough to give us a free pass to look around.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I agree! Let the changeling hunt begin!”

The Mane-iac smiles and says:

“I concur!”

We now get a fairly long montage of everypony, Spike and the Mane-iac meeting with various staff members of the castle. Each time with the Mane-iac looking at the member with suspicion. Just for fun, each member of the staff is a pony we haven't seen yet this season. While this is going on, a song about being unsure if what they see is true or not could start up. Involving everypony, Spike, and maybe the Mane-iac if possible. At the end of this montage with a possible song, we see everypony, Spike and the Mane-iac back in the foyer they were in earlier. Applejack says:

“Ah just don't know.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“The only pony here who knows the staff is Shampoo Conditioner, and she was suspicious of everypony we met.”

The Mane-iac has an annoyed look on her face as she says:

“That's because they didn't recognize me until I told them who I was.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“And they would have if they were the real staff?”

The Mane-iac says:

“Yes, exactly.”

Spike asks:

“But then what do we tell Chungus? That everypony in the castle is a changeling because Shampoo said so?”

Rarity says:

“Yes, that does sound quite unbelievable.”

The Mane-iac now has an angry look on her face as she says:

“I know this castle inside and out! I tell you, Chungus Humongous is infested with changelings!”

Fluttershy says:

“Alright, alright, calm down. Let's go see what Chungus McChunguson has to say about this.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I hope he'll tell us if we're right or not.”

We now transition to everypony, Spike and the Mane-iac walking into the throne room again. Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh is still sitting on his throne. When he sees everypony come into the room, he sits up and smiles as he asks:

“So, have you figured out who the changeling is?”

Applejack says:

“Well, we're not sure.”

Chungus frowns and asks:

“What do you mean?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“After speaking to all the staff in the castle, we've come to two conclusions.”

Chungus asks:

“Which are?”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Either none of the staff in the castle is a changeling, or all of them are. Including you.”

Chungus asks:

“Are you sure about that?”

Spike says:

“Well actually, we're not. Shampoo Conditioner has been suspicious of everypony we've met, so we have to either agree or disagree with her.”

The Mane-iac has a really crazed look on her face as she says:

“Admit it, you no good changeling! You did something to the real Chungus and took his place!”

Chungus then smiles and laughs. He then says:

“Well, believe it or not, she's right. I am a changeling.”

The Mane-iac has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“I am?”

Rarity asks:

“She is?”

Chungus stands up and then suddenly transforms into the true form of Thorax after giving love. While on his hind legs, Thorax says:

“Surprise!”

Everypony and Spike all gasp with shocked looks on their faces. The Mane-iac points a hoof at Thorax and says:

“I knew it! I knew you weren't the real Chungus!”

Thorax puts his forelegs on the ground and says:

“You're the only one who suspected anything in a long time.”

Fluttershy asks:

“But, if you're a changeling, then what happened to the real Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh?”

a British accented voice from off somewhere says:

“Perhaps I can answer that.”

Everypony and Spike look over and we now see a man wearing a black suit, a red tie and black bowler hat. Behind him is all of the staff we previously saw. All of them appear to have bags and suitcases, as if to infer that they just got back from somewhere. The Mane-iac walks up in front of everypony and has an unsure look on her face as she asks:

“Chungo?”

The man, who is the real Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh, opens his arms wide and says:

“Shamp! It's good to see you again!”

The Mane-iac smiles. They now run up to each other and give a great big pony and human hug. After a couple of seconds, they look over at everypony and Spike, who now have looks of utter confusion on their faces. Chungus looks at the Mane-iac and says:

“It appears that I should explain what exactly is going on here.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the throne room  now filled with non-disguised changelings talking to the castle staff who just came back from somewhere. At the throne in the middle, Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh is sitting on the throne with Thorax standing next to it. Chungus is wearing the crown Thorax was wearing earlier and everypony is sitting down listening to a story. Chungus finally says:

“So you see, I didn't want to leave Chungus Humongous unattended while my staff and I went off for a long needed vacation.”

Thorax says:

“Us changelings have gotten to know the ponies and humans we're impersonating. So unless an old friend who we knew about but didn't know how to react to shows up, like Miss Conditioner, we could keep it up until they came back.”

The Mane-iac smiles and says:

“I had no idea. I guess I've been away for far longer than I thought.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“So, does this mean our quest to find the changeling is complete?”

Chungus looks to Pinkie Pie and says:

“Oh, yes, of course. You figured it out, even though you had outside help, so your quest is indeed done.”

We now see a beam of light appear around Rainbow Dash. Everypony and Spike look over at her and she looks down at the floor with a smile. The beam of light disappears and she says:

“Sweet! Level up time!”

The Mane-iac raises an eyebrow and asks:

“What was that just now?”

Fluttershy says:

“Level up. She just got better at doing things in a combat situation.”

The Mane-iac looks up and asks:

“Why did that look so familiar?”

Applejack smiles and says:

“When we were on your ship, all of us except her did the same thing.”

The Mane-iac looks back down and smiles as she says:

“That's right! I was busy steering the ship and I thought I saw beams of light appear from the corner of my eye!”

Chungus says:

“By the way, if you want something to do, I suggest taking a little ship at the space dock over to a place that has a cyclops as a resident not far from here.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“A cyclops? What's that?”

Chungus says:

“It's a horse that has only one eye where normally there would be two. Apparently, he has a bit of a sheep problem. I couldn't tell you any more.”

Rarity says:

“But we don't know how to drive a ship.”

The Mane-iac says:

“Not to worry. I shall input the coordinates of where this cyclops is in a little bit. For now, me and Chungo have a lot of catching up to do.”

Spike folds his arms and smiles as he says:

“I guess we'll talk to the real staff and changelings while we wait then.”

We zoom out from this as everypony and Spike now split up to talk to the changelings and the Chungus Humongous staff. As this happens, Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, having discovered the mystery of Chungus Humongous, you talk with the staff and the changelings until you can start on your next exciting adventure.”

We hear Black cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light appears. We now see Black Cherry's house as Black Cherry has his eyes open and is looking at everypony with their eyes closed with a smile on his face. They all now open their eyes and look at Black Cherry. Pinkie Pie asks:

“Where did you come up with all of these silly names?”

Black Cherry says:

“There's a book reviewer who shares a similar name. I like him quite a bit, so I made a tribute to him through today's session.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I never thought we would see changelings in the game.”

Fluttershy says:

“Yes, it was a little odd seeing Thorax appear all of a sudden like that.”

Black Cherry says:

“I knew about the changelings and them having a true form, but I didn't know you knew one of them personally.”

Applejack says:

“Yeah, well, Thorax is a special case.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“It's quite the story, if you would like to hear it.”

Black Cherry says:

“Actually, I would like to know what happened there.”

Rarity looks to spike and says:

“Spike, be a dear and tell Black Cherry how it happened.”

Spike gets up on the table and says:

“Well, it all started when we went to the Crystal Empire for a visit. Everypony was on edge when we got there because a starved changeling had been spotted near the castle.”

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 23: Timber!

The cold open has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with everypony and Spike already sitting at the table with smiles on their faces. Black Cherry is also there and he is smiling back at them. He says:

“I'm glad you all made it again. Today, I've decided this session is going to be very combat heavy.”

Pinkie Pie raises an eyebrow and frowns as she asks:

“Combat heavy?”

Black Cherry turns to her and says:

“Yes. None of you have been in a combat situation since our first session, so I think it's about time you had another one.”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes and says:

“Pfft, we'll mop the floor with whatever you throw at us. We've had, like, four level ups since then.”

Black Cherry turns to her and says:

“That may be, but you haven't been in a real fight for a long time. Your in-game skills might be a little rusty.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I paid attention to what improvements I made to my character, so I should be fine .”

Fluttershy says:

“I actually added a new special talent that could trigger in a combat situation, so I'll be interested to see if it happens.”

Rarity asks:

“What were we doing again?”

Black Cherry says:

“You were going to get on a ship that will bring you to a cyclops who is having some sort of sheep problem.”

Spike asks:

“Will we be at the place when we start?”

Black Cherry looks to Spike and says:

“Of course. Less fluff means getting to the good stuff quicker. Which is what these sessions have been all about.”

Applejack says:

“In that case, let's get 'er goin' then.”

Black Cherry says:

“Okay then, close your eyes and we'll get started immediately.”

Everypony and Spike close their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and the screen fills up with blackness. We now see everypony at a new space dock where there's a smaller ship in port. Everypony and Spike have their eyes closed and open them. They look around as Black Cherry's voice says:

“You took the smaller ship from Chungus Humongous to a place where you heard a cyclops was having trouble with his sheep.”

Pinkie Pie looks over and says:

“Hey, look, a cave! Let's go see what's in it!”

Pinkie Pie hops over to the cave that's now suddenly in view and everypony else follows her. When they get to the cave, a voice from it asks:

“Who's out there?”

Everypony and Spike have surprised looks on their faces at this sudden voice from the cave. Rainbow Dash says:

“Uh, we're here to see a cyclops about a sheep problem.”

Out from the cave now comes a full grown horse that has one large eye where there would normally be two. This horse says:

“I am that cyclops.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“What seems to be the problem?”

The cyclops says:

“I had a sheepdog named Sam who used to look after my sheep. He has now gone missing and my sheep as well. He used to guard them against timber wolves and now I fear for their safety.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Did you say timber wolves?”

The cyclops says:

“Yes. They pestered my sheep all the time, even when Sam was here.”

Rarity asks:

“Do you have any idea where they might be?”

The cyclops says:

“I believe they have gone in that direction over there.”

The cyclops looks over at a direction and points at it with one hoof. Everypony and Spike look over and we see that it appears to be a large open field. Spike looks up at the cyclops and says:

“All I see is a large open field.”

The cyclops looks down at Spike and says:

“It's also where the timber wolves appear when they want to scare the daylights out of my sheep.”

The cyclops closes his eye and starts to cry as it says:

“Please get them back! I don't know what I'll do without them!”

As the cyclops continues to cry, Applejack smiles and puts a hoof as far up as she can to his shoulder as she says:

“Don't you worry none. We'll get your sheep and come back with them in no tahme.”

The cyclops opens his eye and smiles as he says:

“Oh, thank you. I will wait for you to return with them. Please do hurry.”

We hear Black Cherry's voice as he says:

“You heard the cyclops. Start your journey towards the open field and see if you can find his lost sheep.”

Everypony and Spike look at each other. They shrug their shoulders and start moving off towards the open field that the cyclops says the timber wolves are located.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony and Spike walking to the outskirts of what looks like a forest, just as the moon rises signalling that it is now night. All of a sudden, there is a sound from somewhere that sounds like singing. Twilight Sparkle looks around and says:

“I could swear I hear singing from somewhere.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Who would be singing at this time of night?”

We see Pinkie Pie listening to the singing and she says:

“I don't know, but they sure sound good.”

We now see what looks like a rabbit with little antlers hopping around. It sees the party, shrieks, then quickly hops off towards a certain direction. Everypony and Spike see this and stop as Applejack says:

“Well if that ain't the strangest rabbit Ah ever did see. It had antlers on its head lahke a deer or something.”

Fluttershy says:

“That wasn't a rabbit, it was a jackalope. They don't normally travel alone.”

The singing suddenly stops. Everypony and Spike now have nervous looks on their faces as Spike asks:

“Could the one we saw be a scout for the rest of the herd?”

We now suddenly see a large group of sixteen jackalopes appear and hop towards the group with unfriendly looks on their faces. Rarity says:

“I do believe so.”

The jackalopes hop towards the party until they're about five feet away. They all stop and a green jackalope hops forward. It opens its mouth and says something. Twilight Sparkle asks:

“What did it say?”

Fluttershy says:

“He said his name is Jax and that he's the leader of this herd of jackalopes. He also asks what brings a party of ponies this far near their living grounds.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Well Jax, if that is your real name, we have come here looking for some missing sheep. Timber wolves were supposed to have taken them, so we're on a mission to get them back.”

The jackalope, who's name is Jax, has a surprised look on his face as he seems to say something in a questioning way. He then has an angry face and shakes his little paw as he says something else. Fluttershy says:

“He says that they hate timber wolves. Also, they will help us out if we get into a fight with them.”

Pinkie Pie looks up and asks:

“Hey, Black Cherry, do you still remember how the battle system works?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“I think so. You better start remembering too, because they're about to announce their presence to you.”

Applejack looks around and asks:

“How are they gonna do that?”

Everypony and Spike have surprised looks on their faces as a howling sound is heard, followed by a couple of other howls. Black Cherry's voice says:

“Like that.”

From seemingly out of nowhere, a large pack of timber wolves now show themselves and surround everypony, Spike and the jackalopes. Suddenly, hexagons now appear under everypony, Spike, the jackalopes and the timber wolves. Everypony and Spike look down and see that each of them, every jackalope and each timber wolf is now standing in their own individual hexagon. Spike looks up and asks:

“Black Cherry, what are these hexagons we're standing in for?”

Black Cherry says:

“Something I've decided to try out. Instead of only moving in four directions, like on a square, you can now move in six directions with these hexagons.”

Rarity is looking up and asks:

“Does this mean we're in combat now?”

Black Cherry says:

“It sure does. Before we start, I'd like to know if you want to do lethal or non-lethal damage to the enemy.”

Everypony and Spike look at each other. They nod and Twilight Sparkle smiles as she says:

“Lethal, all the way.”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Right then. Roll for initiative, all of you.”

A contraption now appears in front of Twilight Sparkle, Jax and one of the timber wolves. They all turn the gear on the side and push down when they think they're done. A d20 comes out of the chute of each one and rolls around a bit. The d20 that came out of the jackalope contraption lands on a sixteen, the d20 that came from Twilight's contraption lands on an eight and the timber wolf's d20 lands on a four. Black Cherry's voice says:

“The jackalopes rolled the highest number. They move first, then you, then the timber wolves.”

A contraption appears now in front of all the jackalopes and they turn the gear on the side of each one. They all push down on the top at the same time. What comes down each chute is a d20, a d12 and two d6s. We see them all get tens on d20s, 11 on the d12s and 5 on the d6s. After which the jackalopes now face a quarter of the timber wolves surrounding them and the party with angry looks on their faces. Jax moves across the hexagons first and uses his front teeth and paws to bite and scratch up one of the timber wolves. The other fifteen jackalopes follow suit and each one uses a bite and double scratch on one timber wolf. When they're done, a quarter of the timber wolves that were around them have now been destroyed. Black Cherry says:

“That was fun to see. Everypony, your turn.”

A contraption appears in front of Rainbow Dash. She rolls the gear on the side and pushes down when done. What comes down the chute is a d20, a d10 and two d6s. They land on a fifteen, an eight, a three and a six, respectively. Rainbow Dash flies over the hexagons and positions herself behind a timber wolf. She stabs it in the back with a dagger and what look like two knives. The timber wolf howls in pain and collapses, it's eyes going dark. Black Cherry says:

“I think you might be a little overpowered for this fight.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“You're just saying that because I took out that timber wolf in one turn.”

Pinkie Pie waves her hoof and says:

“Ooh! Me next! Me next!”

A contraption appears in front of Pinkie Pie and she turns the gear on the side. She pushes down on the top and a bunch of dice come down the chute. A d20, a d10 and four d12s. The d20 lands on a twenty, the d10 lands on a nine and the four d12s land on a twelve. A regular sized party cannon appears and Gummy, who is now wearing a helmet with large spikes on it, gets in. Four much larger party cannons suddenly appear next to the one Gummy's in. Applejack sees this and asks:

“What are the other party cannons for?”

All of a sudden, from the open space made by the previously destroyed timber wolves, four adult alligators appear and make their way into the four giant party cannons. Gummy's party cannon goes off and he smashes headfirst into a timber wolf, destroying it. A contraption now appears in front of Applejack and she starts to turn the gear on the side. As she does, we see in the background an adult alligator essentially doing a belly flop and taking out two timber wolves at once. She pushes down on the top and a d20, a d8 and two d6s roll out of the chute. As they land on a nineteen, seven, four and five, we see in the background another adult alligator destroying two more timber wolves with a belly flop. Applejack now pulls out a mace and with an angry look on her face runs towards a timber wolf while in the background another two timber wolves get destroyed by an alligator belly flop. Applejack now uses the mace now in her mouth to bash up a timber wolf until there's nothing of it left. When she's done, she wipes sweat from her brow and looks over at the final adult alligator belly flopping two timber wolves. Fluttershy has a smile on her face as she says:

“I think I'll wait until somepony gets hurt before I do anything.”

Spike says:

“Rarity, that's your cue to charge up a fireball spell.”

Rarity smiles and nods to Spike and then looks up as she raises her forelegs up into the air. She then looks at Twilight and says:

“This is going to take awhile to charge up, Darling. You can take it from here.”

Twilight Sparkle nods and a contraption appears in front of her. She rolls the gear on the side and pushes down when done. Down from the chute comes a d20, a d12 and two d6s. They land on an eighteen, an eleven, a four and a three, respectively. With that done, Twilight pulls out a sword from her backpack gets up into the air and flies across to a timber wolf across the hexagons. When she gets to it, she slashes at the strings that are holding the timber wolf together, cutting each one and basically destroying it. Black Cherry says:

“Right, it's now the timber wolves' turn to move.”

The timber wolves that are in the quarter of the circle that has most of its fellow timber wolves taken out now turn tail and run off. Rainbow Dash ask:

“Where did they go off to?”

Black Cherry says:

“If the fight goes on for long enough, you'll see.”

A contraption appears in front of a timber wolf and it turns the gear on the side. It pushes down on the top when done and a d20 as well as a d8 come down the chute. The d20 lands on an eleven and the d8 lands on a six. The timber wolf looks at a jackalope, walks over to it and bites at it. The jackalope squeaks in pain and the timber wolf stands next to it now, waiting to strike again. Fluttershy sees this and has a shocked look on her face. She then has an angry look on her face as she says:

“How dare you do that to a cute little jackalope! I won't stand for it!”

All of a sudden, Fluttershy's body appears to be transforming into something. Everypony else, Spike, the timber wolves and all the jackalopes watch this happen with surprise. We cut back to fluttershy, who has now transformed into an angry six foot tall yellow jackalope with pink antlers. Pinkie Pie says:

“Well, this could be bad.”

The angry yellow jackalope now faces the quarter of the timber wolves that the one who hurt the jackalope came from. Black Cherry says:

“Huh, never thought that special talent would ever come into use. Have fun watching what happens next, everypony.”

The yellow jackalope now takes a big leap over to the timber wolves and stomps on the nearest one. It then grabs a timber wolf, chews it to bits and throws the poor timber wolf away when it's done. It grabs another and continues to chew every timber wolf it can in quick succession. Applejack has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Ah wonder what the jackalopes think of this?”

We cut to the jackalopes together, now all eating pieces of cabbage from somewhere, seemingly enjoying the show. Spike smiles and says:

“Well, I guess that answers that question.”

Rarity says:

“Spike, the fireball is ready. Get prepared to make it better.”

Spike nods and faces Rarity with a determined look on his face. A large red ball of fire appears above Rarity's head and she throws it in the direction of one quarter of the timber wolves. As it passes over Spike, he breathes green flames at it, making the ball of fire even bigger. The red and green fireball now lands in the middle of the final quarter of the timber wolves and a fiery explosion happens, turning the timber wolves in that quarter into nothing but timber. Twilight Sparkle smiles as she says:

“A direct hit!”

The yellow jackalope finally finishes stomping and chewing up all the timber wolves that are left over. It then looks down and breathes in and out heavily. We cut to the jackalopes, who are now cheering at the end of this amazing feat of awesomeness. We cut back and see that the yellow jackalope has turned back into Fluttershy. We now hear a growling bark from somewhere and everypony looks over to see what looks like a sheepdog next to what appears to be a timber wolf with a red nose. Rainbow Dash asks:

“What the heck is going on there?”

Fluttershy walks over to the sheepdog and the red nose timber wolf and says:

“I'm a little tired, but I'll translate.”

The sheepdog speaks and Fluttershy says:

“I am Sam. My buddy here is named Ralph. We had a good thing going for awhile where he and his underlings would try to steal sheep and I would do my best to stop it.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Then what about the timber wolves that attacked us?”

The red nosed timber wolf, who we know is named Ralph, speaks as Fluttershy says:

“Sam and I decided to go on a vacation for awhile and I told my pack to not do anything until I got back. It seems they got bored waiting and took the sheep while I was away.”

Applejack asks:

“So, you know where the sheep are?”

Sam the sheepdog speaks as Fluttershy says:

“I have a pretty good idea. I guess I should have told my master where I was going first.”

Spike has a confused look on his face as he says:

“This is a little confusing. A sheepdog and a timber wolf being friends and all.”

Ralph speaks as Fluttershy says:

“After actually trying to steal the sheep from the cyclops, and Sam here stopping me every time, we finally came to an understanding and are now the best of friends.”

Rarity says:

“Well, I guess we should go and get the sheep now so the cyclops doesn't worry for too much longer.”

Sam and Ralph look at each other. Sam speaks, Ralph seems to reply and they now go their separate ways. Sam motions for everypony to follow him. As everypony does, Fluttershy says:

“In case anypony was wondering, Sam said goodnight and Ralph said see you tomorrow.”

Everypony, Spike and the jackalopes now follow Sam the sheepdog as Ralph the red nosed timber wolf walks off in another direction.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the cyclops outside of his cave, looking down with a sad look on his face. He then looks up and asks:

“Where, oh where have all of my sheep gone? Oh where, oh where could they be?”

Suddenly, we hear the sound of baaing coming from off-screen and the cyclops has a surprised look on his face. Rarity's voice from off-screen sings:

“They're he-re!”

The cyclops looks over and sees everypony and Spike there with a bunch of sheep, the jackalopes and Sam the sheepdog walking towards him. The cyclops smiles and says:

“Sam! My sheep! You found them! And you brought some jackalope friends with them!”

Spike says:

“Yeah, it's a long story. The important thing is that we found them.”

The cyclops runs up to the sheep, picks one up and closes his eye as he hugs it close. He then opens his eye and asks:

“How can I ever thank you?”

Applejack says:

“We don't really need anything, Mister Cahclops sir. We got a whole bunch of combat experience and that was enough.”

Fluttershy says:

“Though it would be nice if you could give us something for our trouble.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“By the way, do you know of any places nearby that's having some problems?”

The cyclops says:

“Not that I know of. There is a place I really wouldn't visit though.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Where's that?”

The cyclops has a scared look on his face as he says:

“There's a being in really deep space calling himself the King of Games. He boasts about causing every problem that happens in the universe and laughs at anypony thinking they can stop him.”

Everypony and Spike look at each other. They look at the cyclops and Pinkie Pie says:

“Well, I guess that's where we're headed next then.”

The cyclops smiles and says:

“Well, before you go, maybe you could stay with me and my sheep for the night. You all look pretty tired and it's been so long since I've had company over.”

Everypony and Spike look over at the jackalopes. We see them now in a huddle, seemingly talking amongst themselves. They break and Jax, the green jackalope, makes a little cough sound and then says something. Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Jax says they'll stay.”

Fluttershy then looks up at the cyclops and says:

“I think that goes for us too.”

Everypony and Spike nod. The cyclops smiles and says:

“Great! Let's get together and have some fun.”

Everypony, Spike, the jackalopes and the sheep follow the cyclops in to the cave as we zoom out. As we do, Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, having saved the sheep from the terrible timber wolves, you decide to let the cyclops throw a party for you and the jackalopes before you leave for your next adventure.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a flash of white light fills the screen. We are now back in Black Cherry's house as everypony and Spike have their eyes closed with Black Cherry looking at them with eyes open and smiling at them. They now all open their eyes and he asks:

“So, what did you think of that combat I had you go through?”

Rarity smiles and says:

“It was quite fun. Though I do think we were slightly overpowered for the enemies we were facing.”

Black Cherry says:

“Good to hear. I have a pretty good of idea what I'm going to have you do next. We're going to have to skip a session before we can continue this though.”

Spike asks:

“Why's that?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, I'm having company over at the time we would normally have a session, so I'm going to have to push everypony back a week.”

Applejack asks:

“But what about Rainbow Dash and her solo mission?”

Rainbow Dash nods her head as Fluttershy says:

“Yes, she's the only one out of all of us who hasn't had one yet.”

Black Cherry looks up and has a thinking look on his face as he says:

“Oh yeah, that's true.”

He then looks at Rainbow Dash and says:

“I think I might have an idea for a solo mission she can do.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Are you sure?”

Black Cherry says:

“Yes. She'll have to come over a bit early though so we can do the session before my company comes over.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“You can count on me, Black Cherry. I'll be there early no problem.”

He then turns to Pinkie Pie, who happens to be sitting next to him and says:

“By the way, Pinkie, be sure to tell you-know-who to take her time getting here.”

Everypony and Spike except Pinkie Pie smile and says:

“OoooooOOOoooooh!!!!!!”

Black Cherry looks side to the side with an embarrassed look on his face as he puts a hoof behind his head. Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“I'm sure I'll come up with something for her to do while you and Rainbow Dash have a solo session.”

Black Cherry says:

“Thanks Pinkie.”

He then looks at everypony and smiles as he says:

“If you all care that much, I'll be sure to tell you all the juicy details no matter how things go.”

Everypony says:

“We can't wait!”

Everypony and Spike now close their eyes as they all laugh at this.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 24: Something About A Bucket.

Cold open has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Black Cherry in his house. He's sitting at the table with the Burrows and Bugbears stuff on it and is looking around with a nervous look on his face. A knock on the door is heard and Black Cherry turns to it with a look of surprise. He asks:

“Who is it?”

The voice from the other side says:

“Rainbow Dash. I'm here for the solo mission.”

Black Cherry gets up, runs to the door and opens the door. As it opens, we see the face of a slightly annoyed Rainbow Dash. Black Cherry has a weak smile on as he says:

“Sorry, I'm  a little on edge right now. Please, come in.”

Rainbow Dash walks in and sits herself down at the table with the Burrows and Bugbears stuff on it. Black Cherry also sits at the table across from her. She asks:

“Is this pony coming over later that important to you?”

Black Cherry smiles and nods as he says:

“Yes. I've been preparing for months now and I have everything ready.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and raises an eyebrow as she asks:

“This wouldn't have anything to do with those similes Pinkie Pie gave you, would it?”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“How did you know?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Fluttershy thought she heard you saying something about pyrite and diamonds before doing her solo mission, so I figured that's what it was.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Truth be told, it has everything to do with those similes. If you want, you can wait a little bit for the lucky pony to show up and listen to me reciting them to her after the solo mission.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Sounds like fun. I just might do that.”

Black Cherry says:

“Enough about me though. Close your eyes and let's get this solo mission started.”

Rainbow Dash nods her head and closes her eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and blackness fills the screen. We now see Rainbow Dash in the inside of a tavern with her eyes closed. She opens them and looks around. There's a bunch of ponies paying her no heed as they drink and talk among themselves. Rainbow Dash looks up and asks:

“What am I doing here?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“You told the cyclops you were bored partying with everypony else, the sheep and the jackalopes. He told you about a group of thieves who were looking for a fourth member to pull off a heist of sorts.”

Rainbow Dash looks forward and smiles as she says:

“Now that's what I'm talking about.”

She looks around and then has a surprised look on her face. We now see Daring Do with an oversized pith helmet covering her eyes and a piece of wheat in her mouth, Gabriella and Soarin sitting at a table. Gabriella smiles and waves her over. Rainbow Dash walks over and asks:

“Are you the group that needs a fourth member?”

Daring Do, turns her head toward Rainbow Dash and says:

“That we are. The name's Kuragis. The griffin here is Josephine and the stallion is Hiyaku.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“What do you need me for?”

Gabriella frowns and says:

“We used to have another member, but she bailed on us after learning what our next heist is.”

Rainbow Dash walks over and sits down as she asks:

“What kind of mission would be so tough that somepony would bail on it?”

Soarin says:

“It's all because the item we're taking is also one we're supposed to place somewhere else without anypony being the wiser.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Sounds interesting. I'm in.”

Daring Do, Gabriella and Soarin all smile and cheer at this. Daring Do asks:

“Are you sure you're up for this?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“No question. I come from a long line of master thieves. This should be easy.”

Gabriella asks:

“Even if the item in question happens to be a bucket?”

Rainbow Dash has a surprised look on her face. It then turns into a look of confusion as she asks:

“Really? We're supposed to take a bucket and then place it somewhere? That's the mission?”

Soarin smiles and says:

“Maybe we should explain.”

We fade to black and then a title card appears with Rainbow Dash written in Japanese: レインボーダッシュ . Rainbow Dash punches a tiny hole near the top of the title card and then a recreation of the original 1971 opening of Lupin the Third plays out only with Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Gabriella and Soarin. During this, Rainbow Dash is singing a made up theme song. Possibly the same one only with Rainbow Dash singing “I'm Rainbow Dash” instead of “Lupin The Third”.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Rainbow Dash, Daring Do with an oversized pith helmet covering her eyes plus a piece of wheat in her mouth, Gabriella and Soarin walking towards the entrance of a palace during the day. Rainbow Dash is saying:

“So let me get this straight. The counties of Baloney and Muttona have been at odds with each other because seven hundred years ago they once had a battle. Baloney lost and Muttona stole a bucket from one of their wells, just to rub it in, which they've never returned.”

Daring Do says:

“That's about the size of it.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“Is there anything special about said bucket?”

Gabriella says:

“Not really. It's just a regular oak bucket.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“So then, where do we fit into that?”

Soarin says:

“You'll understand soon.”

They all now walk into a large room and see Quibble Pants sitting on a throne. He sees the four walk in and gets up as he smiles and says:

“Ah, you're here again. I also see you have a fourth member once more.”

Daring Do turns to Rainbow Dash and says:

“Thief, meet Count Inconsistent, the count of Muttona County.”

Gabriella asks:

“Is the bucket here?”

Quibble Pants points over and says:

“Yes, it's right over there.”

We cut to an oak bucket sitting on a table with what looks like a glass casing next to it. Soarin walks up to it and says:

“Sure looks the same as when we first came and looked at it, only without the casing on it.”

Rainbow Dash asks:

“And you haven't given it back yet why?”

Quibble Pants closes his eyes and says:

“Well, I can't just give it back to Baloney. If I did, Countess Speedster would then taunt me for giving in and returning what was rightfully her county's property.”

Daring Do says:

“However, if the bucket went missing from Muttona, and somehow made it's way back to Baloney without anypony noticing...”

Gabriella says:

“... then neither county would have any reason to not like each other anymore. It's our job to make that happen.”

Quibble Pants opens his eyes and says:

“The pony that was with them before quit when I told them that part. I'm hoping you won't do the same.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I'm still in. Returning something to its rightful place is just the challenge I've been looking for.”

Soarin is looking at the bucket and then turns away from it as he asks:

“Hey, why is the casing off of the bucket?”

Quibble Pants turns to Soarin and says:

“Once a month, we take the glass casing off to give it an airing. Otherwise, the bucket would rot away and we would have nothing left to keep or give back.”

Rainbow Dash is looking up with a thinking look on her face. She then looks forward and motions with her hooves as she says:

“Okay, here's the plan.”

Daring Do, Gabriella and Soarin all gather around Rainbow Dash as she says:

“Kuragis, you'll go volunteer to be a guard in Baloney. Hiyaku, you will deliver a note I'm about to have written. Josephine, You will go with him. Before that, write a note that says the following:”

We cut to later as we see Scootaloo holding a piece of paper in front of her with one hoof. She reads it out loud:

“Between the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon, the bucket that has been missing from Baloney will be removed from Muttona and returned to the well where it belongs. Signed: An Awesome Thief.”

We now zoom out as we see a well that appears to be missing a bucket. We also see Soarin in front of her with a smile on his face and Gabriella close by. Scootaloo turns to the side and asks:

“What do you make of this, Captain Crache-feu?”

We now see Spitfire as Scootaloo gives her the note. Spitfire reads it and says:

“I'm not sure, Countess Speedster. It's a long way from here to the bucket in Muttona. There's also not much time this thief has given themselves to pull this off. If they do, I'll be impressed.”

We now see Daring Do in a guard uniform with an oversized metal helmet covering her eyes, still with a piece of wheat in her mouth. She steps forward and says:

“We won't have to wait long to know if this thief can do it. It's almost sunset.”

Scootaloo looks to Daring Do and says:

“Thank you, new recruit. Let's see what happens.”

Everypony looks up and we see the sun slowly but surely setting. When we move away from the setting sun, it's now in the window of the palace in Muttona. We see Quibble Pants and Rainbow Dash in the palace and Quibble Pants has a nervous look on his face as he asks:

“Are you sure you can make it in time?”

A contraption appears in front of Rainbow Dash. She rolls the gear on the side and pushes down when done. A d20 rolls down the chute and it lands on a nineteen. She looks to Quibble Pants and smiles as she says:

“Sure I am. Watch this.”

We see the sun fully set and Rainbow Dash grabs the bucket and flies off with incredible speed as a rainbow trail follows behind her. Meanwhile, back in Baloney, Everypony has seen the sun set. Scootaloo turns to Spitfire and asks:

“When does the moon start to rise, Captain Crache-feu?”

Spitfire looks down at a watch she has on and says:

“It should be rising in five.”

We get a one second shot of Rainbow Dash zooming across the land with a rainbow trail behind her. We cut back to spitfire saying:

“Four.”

Cut back to Rainbow Dash zooming across the land. Cut back to Spitfire saying:

“Three.”

Cut to Rainbow Dash speeding past a sign that has BALONEY written on it. Cut back to Spitfire saying:

“Two.”

Cut to Rainbow Dash speeding towards the well where everypony is. The trail of rainbow goes through the empty well, leaving a bucket where there wasn't before. As this happens, Spitfire says:

“One.”

Spitfire then looks forward and then has a surprised look on her face as she says:

“Bucket!”

Everypony looks over at the well and clearly see the bucket now casually sitting in the well. Everypony has a shocked look on their face as Scootaloo asks:

“Is that bucket real?”

Soarin walks over to the well and pushes on the bucket. It jiggles a little from being pushed. Soarin looks over at Scootaloo and says:

“It sure feels real.”

Scootaloo sighs as she says:

“I don't know how this happened, but I think I might know somepony who does.”

She looks over at Gabriella and says:

“Hey, Griffin.”

Gabriella runs forward with a smile on her face and asks:

“Yes, Countess?”

Scootaloo says:

“Go over to the county of Muttona and bring Count Inconsistent over as fast as you can. I want to get to the bottom of this.”

Gabriella salutes Scootaloo and says:

“You got it.”

She flies off, seemingly in the direction of Muttona. Soarin says:

“I'm going with her.”

Soarin flies off in the same direction. We see Daring Do now having put her oversized pith helmet on as she says:

“And I quit.”

She rips off her guard armour, revealing the clothes she was wearing previously underneath, and takes off in the same direction. Scootaloo looks to Spitfire and asks:

“Crache-feu, what just happened here?”

Spitfire looks at the bucket suspiciously and says:

“I'm not sure, but I intend to find out.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see Scootaloo, Spitfire and some other ponies seemingly waiting around for something. Finally, Quibble Pants shows up in pajamas with Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Gabriella and Soarin following behind him. He has a slightly annoyed look on his face as he says:

“I was just about to go to bed when this griffin and these ponies pushed me all the way here to Baloney. Countess Speedster, I'd like to know what's going on here.”

Scootaloo says:

“As would I, Count Inconsistent.”

Scootaloo points with a hoof over at the well with the bucket and asks:

“Recognize that bucket?”

Quibble Pants looks at it and has a surprised look on his face as he says:

“Hey, that's the bucket we had in a display case in Muttona.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Maybe it was taken from there and brought back here by an awesome thief.”

Spitfire asks:

“And this is?”

Quibble Pants puts a leg around Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash has a surprised look on her face as he says:

“Oh, this is my assistant. She's new.”

Rainbow Dash looks at him with one raised eyebrow and Quibble Pants looks at her with a smile. She then looks forward and says:

“Yes, new assistant.”

Scootaloo looks over at the bucket and says:

“You know, that bucket isn't really anything special.”

Quibble Pants lets go of Rainbow Dash and walks over to Scootaloo. He says:

“Truth be told, I never really liked that bucket anyway. It looks better back where it was.”

Scootaloo smiles extends a hoof and asks:

“Friends?”

Quibble Pants looks over somewhere. We see Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Gabriella and Soarin all smile and nod. Quibble Pants looks at Scootaloo and smiles as he says:

“Friends.”

They shake on it and give each other a hug. As they do, everypony around starts to cheer. Spitfire walks up to the four on the side and has a suspicious look on her face as she says:

“I know you had something to do with this, but I can't prove it yet. When I can, Justice will be served.”

Spitfire walks away and the four look at each other and laugh. Gabriella asks:

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Well, I'd love to go on more heists with you, but there's another party who needs me.”

Soarin has a frown on his face as he asks:

“Will we ever see you again?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Maybe. In the meantime, maybe you could find your original fourth member. I'm sure whatever your next mission is will be more exciting than delivering a bucket.”

We now see Daring Do, still with the oversized pith helmet covering her eyes, get to the end of the piece of wheat and get to the actual grain of it. She takes the piece away from her mouth and says:

“It's not much, but maybe you could take this as thanks.”

She holds it out with her hoof. Rainbow Dash takes it and puts it away in her backpack as she says:

“Thanks. I'll treasure it always.”

We now zoom out from this scene, with Scootaloo and Quibble Pants seemingly talking to each other with smiles on their faces and everypony else celebrating as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the bucket that was kept in Muttona now back in Baloney where it belonged, you left knowing that this was the start of a beautiful friendship between the two counties.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white flash appears on the screen. We now see Black Cherry with his eyes open smiling at Rainbow Dash, who has her eyes closed. She opens them and Black Cherry asks:

“So, what did you think of that?”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“It was pretty fun actually. I never thought a bucket would end up being so important.”

She then asks:

“By the way, where did you come up with that theme song?”

Black Cherry says:

“It was a little idea I had and didn't know where else to put it. Plus, as an awesome thief, I thought it would be in character for you to boast about yourself.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Black Cherry, sometimes I think you know me too well.”

A voice from behind them asks:

“Does he know more about you, or rocks?”

They both turn and see Maud Pie sitting next to Rainbow Dash, with the same expressionless look on her face. Rainbow Dash and Black Cherry have surprised looks on their faces when they notice her there. Black Cherry says:

“Maud! I didn't hear you come in!”

Maud looks at Black Cherry and says:

“I heard you doing some silly voices, so I guessed you were doing another session. I quietly came in and watched as you finished Rainbow Dash's solo mission."

She looks away from them and puts a hoof on her neck as she says:

“I wish I could have seen what was going on. It sounded like a lot of fun.”

Rainbow Dash looks to Black Cherry and says:

“So, Maud was the lucky pony after all. That explains a lot.”

Maud looks to Rainbow Dash and asks:

“Explains what?”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“What Rainbow Dash means is that I have some similes I'd like to recite to you.”

Maud asks:

“When?”

Rainbow Dash gets up, gets behind Black Cherry and pushes him up towards Maud. Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as Rainbow Dash says:

“Right now, if he isn't too nervous.”

Maud says:

“Alright, let's hear them.”

Black Cherry looks from side to side with a nervous look on his face. Rainbow Dash nudges him and says:

“Come on, don't choke now.”

Black Cherry looks at Rainbow Dash, then at Maud. He then looks at Rainbow Dash and nods with a determined smile on his face. He then turns to Maud, closes his eyes and clears his throat. After which he says:

“When I first saw you, it felt like some sand was starting to come together in my heart. As we interacted, more and more sand appeared until it became the sandstone that is now my love for you.”

We get a closeup of Maud's face as she says:

“Oh my, how romantic.”

Rainbow Dash looks up, shakes her head and then gets up as Black Cherry says:

“If my love were like some fresh flowing magma, it would never solidify and cool down. Because my feelings burn too much for that to happen.”

Rainbow Dash starts to head for the door as Maud says:

“Please, tell me more.”

Rainbow Dash now gets to the door, opens it and leaves through it closing the door behind her. As she does so, Black Cherry says:

“Many adore the shine of diamonds, and I have to admit they are impressive. However, they do not share the same amount of layers of complexity that are the graphite of your personality.”

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 25: Duking It Out. (Part 1)

Cold open has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open with Black Cherry in his house walking around the room with a great big smile on his face, all the while humming a happy little tune. The door to his house opens and everypony walks in, seeing Black Cherry doing this. Applejack smiles and says:

“Black Cherry, you look as happy as a pig that took a mud bath after a long hot day.”

Black Cherry sees them coming in and has a look of surprise on his face. He smiles and says:

“Come on in and I'll tell you why.”

They gather around him and everypony and Spike sit down with Black Cherry in the middle. He asks:

“Remember how I had a list of similes Pinkie Pie made for me?”

Fluttershy says:

“Oh yes. You were very secretive about them for a long time.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, I finally got to recite them to Pinkie Pie's sister Maud after doing Rainbow Dash's solo session.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“It's true. I gotta admit, I only heard three of them, and I didn't quite understand all the things that were in there, but they sounded pretty good.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“Well, that does explain a lot.”

They all move their heads in close to Black Cherry as Pinkie Pie asks:

“Aaaaand?”

Black Cherry says:

“When I finished reciting them, Maud said she finally understood how I felt. To my surprise, she told me she felt the same and that she wants to come visit me more often.”

Everypony and Spike cheer at this announcement. Spike then stops cheering and says:

“Wait a minute, we still have a session to do.”

Black Cherry says:

“Hey, you're right. It's actually a very special one too.”

Rarity asks:

“Why is this one so special?”

Black Cherry has now gotten up and walked over to the table with all of the Burrows and Bugbears stuff on it. He sits down at the table and says:

“Because this is the final mission of the campaign all your characters have been on. You finish this and you'll be champions of Burrows and Bugbears.”

Pinkie Pie gets up and says:

“Then what are we doing, just sitting around here? Let's get over there and start our final mission!”

Everypony and Spike nod and get up as well. They sit down at the table and Black Cherry says:

“Good, everypony's ready. Close your eyes and let's do this.”

Everypony and Spike close their eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and blackness fills up the screen. We now see everypony and Spike standing on a large grey platform where we can see the vastness of space everywhere around it. The little ship they used to travel to the cyclops is docked next to the platform and everypony and Spike have their eyes closed. They now open their eyes and look around this new location. As they do, Black Cherry's voice says:

“After Rainbow Dash came back from her bucket adventure, you all got on your little ship and decided to pay a visit to a being the cyclops called the King of Games.”

We now see a figure standing at the opposite end of the platform with a strange looking machine next to him. He turns around and reveals himself to be King Sombra. He sees everypony and Spike and smiles as he says, in a nasally voice:

“Ahahahah. Some adventurers who think they can defeat me with the power of friendship. I would love to see you try.”

He then lets out a laugh. Applejack looks up and asks:

“Really? Our fahnal mission is to deal with a character that sounds lahke that?”

King Sombra now has an unimpressed look on his face as he now speaks in Black Cherry's voice as he says:

“Alright, fine. Let me try another one.”

King Sombra now smiles and repeats what he said before, now in a deep growling voice:

AHAHAHAH! SOME ADVENTURERS WHO THINK THEY CAN DEFEAT ME WITH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU TRY!”

Everypony and Spike have shocked looks on their faces at this. Fluttershy says:

“The first voice you used will be fine.”

King Sombra now asks, now with a nasally voice again:

“Or did you happen to come here by chance?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Well, we did hear from a cyclops that you were in this direction. So we came to check out what was up. He was scared of us coming here though, and we didn't really know why.”

King Sombra says:

“Interesting. The cyclops was right to be afraid. For you see, as the undisputed King of Games, I have caused every problem the inhabitants of this universe had which you solved.”

Twilight Sparkle asks:

“Really? Each and every one?”

King Sombra says:

“Oh yes. Up to and including the timber wolves attacking the sheep when their leader went on vacation with that sheepdog.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“Does that mean you're responsible for the two bad rolls Spike made when trying to send a letter with his flame breath?”

King Sombra frowns at Spike and says:

“No, that was his own bad luck. It's the only thing I had no part in causing.”

Spike looks down with an angry look on his face as he says:

“Aw rats.”

King Sombra now walks over to a large machine that has six large horns attached to it. He says:

“This is called a friendship space horn device. You play a song on it and any friends you have made will be able to hear it. If enough of them appear in response and put their support behind you, the friendship meter on the side will fill up all the way. My time of defeat will be near and I will be powerless to stop you.”

Rarity asks:

“If that's true, then why are you telling us?”

King Sombra says:

“Because nopony before you has been able to get enough responses to fill up the meter all the way. Oh, and in order to get the space horns to work, you will need to insert an item you received in friendship into the space horn. I've been bored for the last little while, so I'd like to see what response you get.”

King Sombra moves a little away from the machine as Everypony and Spike walk up to the device with six horns on it. Black Cherry's voice says:

“An item received in friendship can mean something you got from completing a mission.”

Pinkie Pie reaches into her backpack and pulls out the afro wig she got from the Ultimate Party Rocker. She asks:

“You mean like this?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Yes.”

Everypony else reaches into their backpacks and pulls out an item. Twilight Sparkle pulls out the crystal ball given to her by the Loveless, Applejack pulls out the box given to her by the Old Mare of the Mountain, Fluttershy pulls out the horn given to her by Odin the Manticore and Rainbow Dash pulls out the piece of wheat given to her by Kuragis. They now all look at each other and shrug their shoulders. They now face the space horns and put the item they have into the large hole of each one. Everypony now walks to behind the machine and blow into it. As they blow into it, a familiar song comes out of it. We now see Queen Chrysalis dressed up in a much better breezy costume, having fun with the lovers of Love Town. She looks up toward the sky when the song is heard with surprise. We then see Discord and Granny Smith look up toward the sky. Then we see Maud Pie, with Marble and Limestone, look up toward the sky. We then see Princess Ember, with the diamond dogs and ponies, look up towards the sky. We next see Odin and Frigg the manticores look up to the sky. We finally see Daring Do with her oversized pith helmet, now with another piece of wheat sticking out of her mouth with Gabriella and Soarin. Upon hearing the song, they all look over toward a direction. We cut back to everypony taking their mouths off of the space horns and take a deep breath in and out. King Sombra says:

“It will take awhile for anypony who heard you to appear.”

We now see a table that has a whole bunch of food on it as he says:

“While we're waiting, let's have something to eat. It's been awhile since I had guests over for dinner.”

Everypony and Spike look at each other. They shrug their shoulders and sit down to eat.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony, Spike and King Sombra now finishing up eating the food that was on the table. King Sombra says:

“If there's anypony in that wide open space who counts you as a friend, they should be appearing any second now.”

They now all look over at what appears to be nothing but space. Suddenly, six giant ships appear seemingly out of nowhere. King Sombra smiles and says:

“Only six ships appeared in response. You must not be very well liked.”

Everypony and Spike now squint their eyes, trying to see who is on each ship. We zoom into the first one and we Queen Chrysalis there in her awesome love breezy costume. We see Twilight Sparkle with a surprised look on her face as she asks:

"The Loveless?"

Queen Chrysalis says:

“Paladin! As my former servant, I felt obliged to get here when I heard the space horn!”

Next to Chrysalis, we now see former dragon lord Torch sitting on the ship. He says:

“You got me my sceptre back that one time and helped me make human friends! I'm here with you!”

Next to him we see Time Turner as he smiles and says:

“Thanks to you, my assistant is now all better! We had to make it here just for you!”

Derpy is next to him as she says:

“Now I know exactly what went wrong!”

Next to them is Flim and Flam. Flim says:

“Goodness, Gracious, we traveled all the way here for this.”

Flam says:

“Well, Goodness, perhaps we can see if anypony here wants to swap some things when we're done here.”

We now see Zecora and the bugbear next to the Flim Flam Brothers as Zecora smiles and says:

“We're here because we heard a good song. I do pray we did not take too long.”

Next to them is two giant bees. One of them, who sounds like Princess Celestia says:

“We made it through the winter because of you.”

The bee that sounds like Princess Luna says:

“We could not stay where we were when you were a friend in need!”

We now see the friendship meter as it suddenly fills up one sixth of the way to being at full power. King Sombra sees this and has a look of surprise on his face. We now cut to another ship and zoom in to see Granny Smith and Discord on it. Applejack has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Storyteller and the Old Mare of the Mountain?”

Discord smiles and says:

“Warrior, when I heard the sound of the space horn, I knew getting here and helping you out would result in a great story to tell.”

Granny Smith says:

“Yer darn tootin it will.”

Next to them we see Tree Hugger and Bulk Biceps. Tree Hugger says:

“I felt your vibes coming from over here, so we came as fast as we could.”

Bulk Biceps shouts:

“YEAH!!!”

Next to them we see Princess Cadance as she smiles and says:

“You had quite the ordeal sending me that letter. I had to get here and see what you did next.”

We see the friendship meter as it now fills up to be two sixths full. King Sombra looks at it with a confused look on his face. We cut to the third ship and we see Maud Pie. Pinkie Pie has a surprised look on her face as she asks

“The Ultimate Party Rocker?"

Maud Pie now says:

“Ranger, I make no excuses for party rocking, so I felt you shouldn't either.”

Next to Maud we see Zephyr Breeze and Minuette. Zephyr says:

“Our goats are fine, so we thought we could help you out a bit.”

Minuette says:

“Just this once, I'm not jealous of my husband thinking of another mare.”

Next to them is Mayor Mare and Coloratura in her normal attire. Mayor Mare says:

“We've been making beautiful music together since you came along.”

Coloratura smiles and says:

“We had to get here, knowing you were all under pressure.”

Next to them we see William Cattlefarmer and Lyra Heartstrings. William says:

“The ponies that needed audumbla meat needed my help, so of course I'm here.”

Lyra smiles and says:

“We wouldn't miss this for anything.”

We now see the chimera standing next to them. Gaia the tiger head says:

“The meat and milk you gave us was quite delicious.”

Julia the goat head says:

“The cheese you brought to us was also very good.”

Ceasara the snake head says:

“You played for usssss a very moving sssssong.”

We now see the friendship meter suddenly fill up to be half full. King Sombra taps it to see if there's something wrong with it. We cut to the fourth ship and see Princess Ember on it. Spike and Rarity have surprised looks on their faces. Spike asks:

“Isn't that the dragon lord Queen Ashes?”

Rarity asks:

What's she doing all the way out here?”

Ember smiles and says:

“Wizard, a dragon that's pals with a pony needed me to be here, so here I am.”

Next to her are John the merman and Jane the mermaid in a large vat of water. John says:

“Plain Jane thought she heard the sound of a horn, so we got here when we could.”

Jane says:

“It was Jack-Jack's idea, but I went along with it anyway.”

Next to them we see Camo and Morgause the questing beasts. Camo says:

“If ye lasses and the wee lad need a bit of a boost in friendship, we'll be here ta help out.”

Morgause says:

“The best date I've ever been on, I can tell ya that.”

We cut to the friendship meter now filling up to be four sixths full. King Sombra looks at it nervously. We cut to the fifth ship as we see two manticores on it, both with black birds on their horns. One growls and the other makes a similar, yet slightly less menacing growl. Fluttershy has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Lord Odin and Lady Frigg? Why did they choose to come out here for their honeymoon?”

Next to them is Moon Dancer, Yeto and Yeta. Moon Dancer says:

“We decided to take a vacation, and this is where we ended up.”

Yeto says:

“We out in space, uh! Never been here before, uh!”

Yeta says:

“Let's make the most of our time out here, uh.”

Next to them is Flurry Heart and Trouble Shoes. Flurry Heart opens her mouth and says:

“My power is weak here, but I'm still good to go for anything.”

Trouble Shoes, who is sitting down, says:

“As long as Ah don't get up, Ah can help out bah giving mah support.”

Next to them is Back Bacon and Beaver Tail. Back Bacon asks:

“Do you need a new batch of Fraoch's Favourite? We got some more for ya, eh?”

Beaver Tail says:

“Once this is done, let's knock a couple back and eat donuts with 'em to celebrate.”

The friendship meter now fills up to be five sixths full. King Sombra looks out at the place where the ships are with a nervous look on his face and sweat trickling down his head. We cut to ship number six as we see Daring Do with an oversized pith helmet covering her eyes plus a piece of wheat, Gabriella and Soarin. Rainbow Dash asks:

“Kuragis, Josephine and Hiyaku?”

Daring Do says:

“Thief, we heard a sound and we came as soon as we could.”

Gabriella smiles and says:

“We could never be as fast as you.”

Soarin says:

“We didn't get our fourth member back, so we thought we might as well see what you're up to.”

Next to them is the cyclops with Sam the Sheepdog. The Cyclops says:

“The timber wolves are less annoying these days, so I came to help out.”

Sam says:

“Woof woof, woof woof woof.”

Next to the them we see Chungus McChunguson the Eleventh and Thorax. Chungus says:

“We got here when we heard the call of a horn from space of all places.”

Thorax says:

“If there's friendship you need, then I have no reason to hide it.”

Next to them is the Mane-iac with a cat pony. The Mane-iac says:

“I think after this, I'll invent a ship powered only by friendship!”

The cat pony, who we see looks like Mother Boots, says:

“Silly Socks didn't come, but he sends all of his regards. As do I.”

The friendship meter now fills up all the way. Once it does, it starts to shake a lot and make some crazy noises. Everypony, Spike and King Sombra look at the friendship meter next to the space horns go nuts and King Sombra says:

“In case you're wondering, I don't know what's happening. This is the first time it's done this.”

The friendship meter stops shaking and the top opens up. As it does, it shoots six lasers out of the top. We see the six lasers now hit the mane six and leave Spike out of it. The lasers lift them up into the air, with King Sombra and Spike watching in sheer disbelief. The lasers make the six ponies now come together and a white explosion happens. When it clears, what's left is a giant brown alicorn pony with a great big smile on her face. King Sombra asks:

“Just what are you?”

The brown alicorn says, with what sounds like six voices at once:

“Big adventure. Tons of fun. A beautiful heart. Faithful and strong. Sharing with kindness. Plus magic to make it all complete.”

The alicorn now points its horn directly at King Sombra and shoots a rainbow out of it. The rainbow hits King Sombra and he has a look of surprise on his face. Parts of his body appear to start becoming like shards of glass with a white outline around them as he yells:

“NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the rainbow that's being shot out of the brown alicorn's horn has caused the body of King Sombra to shard up with white outlines entirely. After a couple of seconds of this, his entire self appears to break apart and be consumed by the rainbow. As this happens, the brown alicorn stops shooting rainbow out of its horn and starts to breath heavily. We cut to the rainbow surrounding King Sombra and see it disappear. When it does, we see a less menacing and more normal looking unicorn pony who can still be recognized as King Sombra because he has the same face. He has his eyes closed and is lying on the ground, seemingly sleeping. We cut over to where the brown alicorn was and see everypony as themselves again. They all look around at everything, seemingly confused as to what happened. Spike has a giant grin on his face as he says:

“That was totally wicked!”

Rarity looks over at the new looking King Sombra and asks:

“What happened to him?”

They all look over at King Sombra, who is still sleeping, and walk over to him. When they have, Fluttershy nudges him a bit and says:

“Um, Mister King of Games Sir, you can wake up now.”

King Sombra wakes up with a kinder looking face than he did and gets up. As he sees everypony looking at him, he has a surprised look on his face. He then smiles and says:

“Finally, somepony did it.”

Applejack asks:

“Do what?”

King Sombra says:

“Get rid of the evil inside me.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I don't get it.”

King Sombra says:

“My name is Black Licorice. When I came to this part of the universe, I found the space horn over there and tried using it. When I did, I felt myself becoming mean and evil. In the hopes that one day somepony would get rid of the evil in me, I created the friendship meter on the side. As the King of Games, I caused so many problems in the universe because I was bored. With your help, I am now finally free.”

Pinkie Pie is looking up and then looks forward as she asks:

“So, does that mean we're the Princesses of Games now?”

King Sombra, who now has the name Black Licorice, smiles and says:

“If you want to be. I'm going to go visit that tavern on Notquestria with a human playing that odd instrument and a hive with giant bees close to it.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“If that's all you want to do, then I think I know how you can go about getting there.”

Black Licorice looks over at the area with the six ships still sitting out there. We get a close up of the two giant bees and they wave. Black Licorice looks back at everypony and Spike as he smiles and says:

“That will be just fine. Let me tell you how to run this great big universe and then I'll be on my way.”

Everypony and Spike smile and nod at him. Beams of light now surround everypony and they look down with surprised looks on their faces. They then look at each other and laugh. They all then look at Black Licorice and start to get into a conversation with him. We zoom out from this scene as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with the King of Games back to normal as Black Licorice, you talk to him about taking over his former position before he leaves and puts you all in charge of everything.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clops together and a white flash appears on the screen. We now see everypony back in Black Cherry's house with their eyes closed and Black Cherry is looking at them with a smile on his face. Everypony and Spike open their eyes and Black Cherry asks:

“So, what did you think of the last session in your campaign?”

Spike looks at Black Cherry and smiles as he says:

“It was awesome! I didn't get to take out the King of Games, but watching it happen was the next best thing.”

Rarity asks:

“Black Cherry Dear, why did we level up even though we only had half the experience needed before?”

Black Cherry says:

“You defeated the final boss. That counted for two missions worth of experience. You were all balanced out, thanks to Rainbow Dash doing her solo mission, so that's why you all had your final level up.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Ah, I see.”

Applejack says:

“There's just one thing Ah don't get. King Sombra was the stand in for the King of Games, but when we defeated him he changed into a much nahcer looking stallion named Black Licorice.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Yeah, that was actually bothering me too.”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face at this. He then looks around with a nervous look on his face as he puts a hoof behind his head and says:

“Well, uh, that's because King Sombra came from your imagination while Black Licorice came from my own.”

Pinkie Pie has a surprised look on her face as she says:

“But there's no way you could know about King Sombra in any other way than we did!”

Twilight Sparkle is looking up with a thinking look on her face as she says:

“Unless...”

She then looks forward at Black Cherry and says:

“No, it couldn't be. There's just no way.”

Black Cherry puts the hoof behind his head down and looks at them all with a sad look on his face as he says:

“Twilight, you've probably come up with a theory. I'll say it out loud now to confirm your suspicions.”

Black Cherry now closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in and out. He then opens his eyes and says:

“The pony you all know as King Sombra is my father.”

Everypony and Spike now have completely shocked looks on their faces at this revelation.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 26: Duking It Out. (Part 2)

Cold opening shows the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode. The last choice bit is the revelation that King Sombra is Black Cherry's father.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open up with everypony and Spike looking at Black Cherry, still with shocked looks on their faces. Rainbow Dash asks:

“How is that even possible?”

Spike says:

“Well, that does explain how you're so good at illusion spells.”

Rarity says:

“But, if you're King Sombra's son, then that means you're the rightful heir to the throne!”

Pinkie Pie says:

“That still doesn't explain how you have a crystal pony for a stepsister.”

Black Cherry says:

“If we could all join hooves and close our eyes one more time, maybe I could explain everything.”

Everypony and Spike now all look at each other. They shrug their shoulders and all join hooves and claws. They nod at Black Cherry and close their eyes. Black Cherry closes his eyes and green flames come out of them for a second. After which blackness fills the screen. What we see next is what appears to be the Crystal Empire. We move down and see what looks like the kinder King Sombra we saw in the last episode. Black Cherry starts to narrate:

[Before he was King Sombra, my father went by the name Black Licorice.]

We now see the kinder King Sombra, or Black Licorice, look over and see a red mare crystal pony. They smile at each other and Black Cherry narrates:

[He was next in line to the throne of the Crystal Empire. As the one and only prince, he was supposed to look for a suitable wife. He found it in my mother, Wild Cherry.]

We now see a very young red crystal filly pony without a cutie mark run up to Wild Cherry and get up close to her with an unsure expression on her face while looking at Black Licorice. Black Cherry narrates:

[My mother never talked much about Red Cherry's father. All I know is that when my mother met my father, she wasn't much older than forty eight moons old.]

We now transition to a place in front of the great palace and see that there is now a foal version of Black Cherry seemingly floating in mid air. On the ground is Black Licorice, Wild Cherry and Red Cherry looking up with smiles on their faces. We also see that they have an audience of crystal ponies who are watching Black Cherry with big smiles on their faces. Black Cherry says:

[Six months after they were married, the previous ruler of the Crystal Empire passed away. Six months after that, I was born. All the subjects who could make it came out to see my crystalling. Good times were had by all.]

We now see Black Cherry and Red Cherry start to age until they look like how we know them now. Black Cherry narrates:

[As the moons went by, we loved each other like family and the subjects of the Crystal Empire loved us back in return.]

We now suddenly see Black Licorice smiling. He then lowers his head and closes his eyes as Black Cherry narrates:

[Then one day, when I got to the age where I could start looking for my own wife...]

We move up close to Black Licorice's closed eyes as Black Cherry narrates:

[He suddenly changed.]

Black Licorice's eyes suddenly open and they now look like the eyes of the King Sombra we know. We zoom out and see Black Licorice now fully transformed into King Sombra and he starts to laugh. As he does, Black Cherry narrates:

[From seemingly out of nowhere, the father I always knew now called himself King Sombra. He no longer recognized us as family and cast us out of the castle.]

We now see the Crystal Empire covered in shadow with all the crystal ponies, including Red Cherry and Black Cherry in chains. Black Cherry narrates:

[He then kicked off the worst reign of misery and sadness the Crystal Empire had never known.]

We zoom up to Black Cherry in this scene as he narrates:

[I remember thinking to myself how I wished my father would go back to the way he was.]

We now see Black Cherry and everything around him disappear into snow. Black Cherry narrates:

[And then, all of a sudden, I blacked out.]

We see everything reappear with Black Cherry having his eyes closed. He opens them and looks around as he narrates:

[When I came to, everything seemed to be the way it was, except that King Sombra had disappeared.]

Black Cherry now sees Red Cherry seemingly out of it, as well as a bunch of other crystal ponies nearby. We see him have his eyes wide open as he tries to talk to them. As he does, we hear narration:

[When I asked around about what happened, nopony could remember anything. Not even who they were or what they were doing. I don't know how, but I was the only one who remembered everything.]

Black Cherry now turns to see Shining Armour and Princess Cadance appear and walk by him. He has a surprised look on his face as he narrates:

[Then, a couple of ponies appeared who I had never seen before.]

We now see Shining Armour and Cadance look up and see a black cloud appear. Cadance closes her eyes and uses her magic to create a dome around the empire. Black Cherry narrates:

[Whoever they were, one of them prevented my father from taking over again.]

We see Black Cherry putting on some very warm clothes and then head through the dome Cadance had created. Black Cherry narrates:

[I knew I had to get out of there and find out how much time had passed, so I left as soon as I could.]

We see Black Cherry, wearing warm clothes, get to the train tracks and get surprised when a train pulls into the station. He hides behind some rocks and looks out to see everypony and Spike getting off the train. He then narrates:

[When I got to the train station, I saw a train appear and you all getting off of it.]

We see everypony and Spike leaving the train. When they're all gone, Black Cherry gets into one of the cars. He narrates:

[I asked the conductor where the nearest town was, and he said Ponyville. Which is how I ended up here.]

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white flash appear. We're back in Black Cherry's house as everypony, Spike and Black Cherry open their eyes. Black Cherry then looks at them all as he says:

“I heard later about what happened to the Crystal Empire and how my father was ultimately defeated. I reached out to Red Cherry and she came here to live with me.”

He picks up a book and says:

“I decided to look for some books that I used to like when I was a colt, but couldn't find any. So I became an author.”

He puts the book down and says:

“I then decided to create a turn based game called Burrows and Bugbears and had my newfound friend Pinkie Pie get some ponies together to test it out. You all know the rest.”

Fluttershy says:

“I'm surprised you didn't come after us for revenge.”

Black Cherry says:

“If I wanted revenge, I would have taken it out on you long ago. Besides, King Sombra deserved what he got. As far as I was concerned, I no longer had a father.”

Applejack asks:

“Did you ever go back?”

Black Cherry looks at Applejack and says:

“Never. If I showed up now, they would recognize me and think I was there to take back the throne.”

Twilight Sparkle is looking at Black Cherry and asks:

“But you don't, right?”

Black Cherry looks to Twilight Sparkle and says:

“Of course not.”

Twilight Sparkle now smiles as she says:

“In that case, I think there's only one course of action we can take.”

Everypony and Spike get up and nod with smiles on their faces while Black Cherry looks around at them with a confused look on his face.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the train stopping at the station in the Crystal Empire. When it does, we see Everypony, Spike and Black Cherry stepping off one of the cars. Black cherry is looking around with a nervous looks on his face as he asks:

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Spike smiles and says:

“You'll be fine. It's not like you're here for revenge or anything.”

As they walk through the empire towards the palace, Black Cherry sees as the crystal ponies notice him, gasp in shock and have worried expressions on their faces as they speak to each other with hushed tones. Rarity sees Black Cherry, still with a nervous look on his face and she asks:

“What's the matter, Darling?”

Black Cherry looks to Rarity and says:

“Everypony still remembers me. They know who I am and think I'm up to no good.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Don't you worry none, Black Cherry. So long as you stick with us, you have nothin' to worry about.”

Fluttershy is looking around and sees the ponies continuing to look worryingly at them and speak in hushed tones. She frowns and says:

“I have to admit, I'm not fond of the reception we're getting either.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“We can't get to the palace soon enough.”

They finally get to the palace and walk into the throne room. When they get there, we see Shining Armour, Cadance, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna all there having some sort of discussion. Spike asks:

“What are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna doing here?”

Shining Armour looks over and has a surprised look on his face. He then smiles and says:

“Twily! What a surprise! You should have told us you were coming.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“Actually Shining Armour, there's something very important we need to discuss.”

Cadance raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Discuss what?”

Pinkie Pie smiles and pushes Black Cherry forward, who has a surprised look on his face, as she says:

“This is Black Cherry. He's the son of King Sombra and the rightful heir to the throne.”

Shining Armour, Cadance, Celestia and Luna all look over and gasp at this. Princess Celestia asks:

“Black Cherry? Is that really you?”

Black Cherry now has a nervous smile on his face as he waves and says:

“Uh, hi Princess Celestia. I haven't seen you or Princess Luna in ages.”

Princess Luna steps forward and has a matter-of-fact look on her face as she says:

“That's one way of putting it.”

Spike has a confused look on his face as he asks:

“Wait, you know each other?”

Black Cherry looks to Spike and says:

“Of course I know them. They used to come visit the Crystal Empire when my father was Black Licorice before...”

He then looks at Celestia and Luna as he says:

“Well, you know.”

Princess Celestia nods and says:

“Yes. When everypony helped free the empire from King Sombra, I always wondered what became of you and your sister.”

Shining Armour now asks:

“But why have you returned now?”

Rarity smiles as says:

“Well, after hearing how Black Cherry came to live in Ponyville, we thought it was high time to bring him here and sort this whole thing out.”

Sunburst now walks in using his magic to carry in a basket with Flurry Heart in it. He sees everypony there and says:

“Oh. I didn't know we had more visitors.”

Black Cherry smiles and walks over to where Sunburst and Flurry Heart are. He looks down at Flurry Heart and says:

“You must be Flurry Heart. The last time I saw you, your name was Winter Solstice and you spoke with the voice of a mare.”

Flurry Heart now has a confused look on her face and tilts her head while making a questioning baby sound. Black Cherry says:

“Don't worry about it. I'll tell you that story when you're old enough to understand me.”

Black Cherry now plays with Flurry Heart as Princess Cadance asks:

“So, you don't want to take back your rightful place as ruler of the Crystal Empire?”

Black Cherry is now playing with Flurry Heart, who is enjoying him doing so. He stops and looks over at Cadance and smiles at her as he says:

“Nah, I'm good. I'd rather spend my time writing books and fine tuning my game of Burrows and Bugbears. You want the Crystal Empire, you can keep it.”

Black Cherry turns back to Flurry Heart and continues to entertain her. Rarity says:

“Well there must be something to be done about this.”

Luna is now looking up with a thinking expression on her face. She then smiles and looks back at everypony as she says:

“Perhaps we can have a ceremony where Black Cherry gives up the throne to Shining Armour and Princess Cadance. He would officially abdicate the throne of the Crystal Empire to them and he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Abdi-what now?”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“It's when a king or queen puts somepony else in charge of their kingdom for one reason or another. Or an empire in this case.”

Rainbow Dash flies up to Black Cherry, who is still being silly to Flurry Heart as she asks:

“So that's it? You're just going to give up your birthright and act like it never happened?”

Black Cherry stops playing with Flurry Heart and has a surprised look on his face. He then looks up with a thinking look on his face now. He then looks over at Shining Armour and Cadance and smiles as he says:

“Well, there is one thing I would like, if it's not too much to ask.”

Twilight asks:

“What did you have in mind?”

Black Cherry says:

“Perhaps we can make the abdication ceremony double as a duke coronation ceremony as well.”

He then looks at Sunburst and asks:

“Are you the royal crystaller?”

Sunburst has a shocked look on his face at this question. He then smiles and pushes his glasses up on his face as he says:

“Um, yes. Sunburst is the name.”

Black Cherry says:

“Sunburst, I forget how duke coronation ceremonies work in the Crystal Empire. While I continue to entertain the little princess here, I would appreciate it if you could find a book which explains how such a ceremony is conducted.”

Sunburst nods and says:

“I'll do my best.”

Sunburst walks off and Black Cherry turns back to Flurry Heart. Pinkie Pie hops up and down as she smiles and says:

“Woohoo! One of my best friends is going to be a duke! This is great!”

She stops hopping and then says:

“I need to tell Maud! She's going to be so excited about this!”

Princess Celestia smiles and says:

“It's going to take some time to set everything up, so you should have all the time you need to contact the ponies you want to attend the ceremony.”

Princess Luna nods and says:

“If all goes well, this matter should be dealt with in no time.”

Shining Armour smiles and says:

“Flurry Heart seems to really like you. If you want, maybe you could stay here until the ceremony begins.”

Black Cherry looks over at Shining Armour and asks:

“Are you sure?”

Cadance smiles and says:

“Of course. There's a bunch of empty rooms in the castle and we wouldn't want to leave our duke to be out in the cold.”

Black Cherry says:

“In that case, I accept your offer.”

He then faces Flurry Heart and says:

“In the meantime, I'll try to keep myself busy somehow.”

He start to be silly to Flurry Heart and she responds with giggles and smiles as he does. Everypony in the room and Spike now all laugh at this.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that we are now in the throne room of the Crystal Empire. Near the thrones are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna on the side smiling, Black Cherry in the centre with two crowns and Shining Armour and Princess Cadance bowing to Black Cherry with their eyes closed. We also see that there is a large audience in the throne room as well, consisting of various crystal ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer and Maud Pie. Black Cherry is holding the two crowns up with his magic as he says:

“... and so, as Prince Black Cherry, son of Emperor Black Licorice, I hereby resign as ruler of the Crystal Empire and dub you Emperor Shining Armour and Empress Cadance.”

Black Cherry places the crowns on the heads of Shining Armour and Cadance. He then says:

“Stand up my dearest emperor and empress. You have earned it.”

Shining Armour and Cadance now open their eyes and get up from bowing. The audience now cheers at this turn of events. Sunburst appears with a crown and says:

“Here's the crown for the duke. There's also a crown for a duchess if you ever happen to get married.”

Black Cherry looks out at the audience and directly at Maud as he says:

“Oh, I think you should keep that one on standby, just in case.”

He then winks at the audience and a bunch of the mares make an ooh sound while clapping. Maud looks back and says:

“Maybe I should go visit the pairing rock later.”

Black Cherry now switches places with Shining Armour and Cadance. He closes his eyes and does a bow. Shining Armour takes the duke crown with his magic and says:

“With the power now invested in me as Emperor Shining Armour, I hereby dub you Duke Black Cherry of the Crystal Empire.”

Shining Armour now places the crown on Black Cherry's head. Cadance now says:

“Stand up, brave duke. You have surely earned it.”

Black Cherry opens his eyes and gets up from the bow. As he does so, the crowd cheers. He looks out at them all and says:

“Thank you all. As duke of the Crystal Empire, I will do my best to insure its continued prosperity as long as I am able.”

He then looks at Celestia and Luna as he says:

“As new duke, my first order of business is to decree...”

Celestia and Luna both smile and nod. He looks at Shining Armour and Cadance, who also smile and nod. He then faces back out at the audience as he says:

“A coronation party!”

He looks over at Pinkie Pie and motions for something to come over. Pinkie Pie smiles and pushes her party cannon over to Black Cherry, which rolls all the way over to him. He then faces the audience and says:

“The coronation party officially begins.”

He then pulls the front of the party cannon up into the air and shoots it as he says:

“Now!”

We now see the instant party that the party cannon made and everypony in the room now cheers and starts to partake in the party. There's music during the party and ponies dancing as well as other ponies randomly talking to each other. We focus in on Maud and Pinkie Pie next to each other and Maud looks around at the ongoing party and says:

“It's a good thing you told me about this, Pinkie. I would not have wanted to miss this.”

Pinkie Pie smiles at Maud and says:

“I told you so!”

Maud then looks at Pinkie Pie and says:

“By the way, it must have taken you some time to write all those similes for Black Cherry.”

Pinkie Pie has a shocked look on her face and then asks:

“You knew?”

Maud says:

“Of course. I recognized your writing style by the end of the third one and knew you wrote them for him to recite to me.”

Pinkie Pie looks back with a confused look on her face and then looks at Maud while asking:

“So then, why did you tell him how you want to come visit him more often?”

Maud says:

“After realizing you wrote the similes, I decided to try and catch Black Cherry off guard by asking him what the simile meant. I figured he wouldn't know and I'd blow your plan wide open.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“So what happened?”

Maud says:

“To my surprise, he gave the correct explanation on how every thing I asked him about worked. When he said “When his silver met my gold, it was clear they would come together. Thus forming the purest form of electrum the world will ever see”, he explained that in nature electrum is an alloy of gold and silver that often has traces of other metals like copper in it. So a pure form of electrum would only have gold and silver in it and nothing else.”

Maud looks over at Black Cherry, who is currently unaware of what's going on. Maud then says:

“Then when I asked him what he meant by “The protolith of his mind was expanded when he learned of my beauty. The slate it became is all thanks to me”, he explained that a protolith is the original form of a rock before becoming something else. The protolith was a shale before turning into a slate.”

Maud looks back at Pinkie Pie as she says:

“By the time he was done, I was so impressed by the amount of research he must have done to know all that. And that's why I told him I wanted to see him more often.”

She now looks away from Pinkie Pie and says:

"Also, truth be told, I already kind of had a thing for him before he recited those similes to me."

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“I had no idea he did that.”

Black Cherry is now walking over to Maud as she looks back at Pinkie as she says:

“Now that he's duke of the Crystal Empire, maybe now I can start-”

Black Cherry is now right next to Maud and has a smile on his face as he says:

“Come on Maud, the party's just getting started! We gotta show these ponies how to dance!”

Black Cherry grabs Maud's hoof and Maud looks back at Pinkie for a second and says:

“Sorry, gotta go.”

Maud now lets herself get pulled over to the dance floor by Black Cherry. Pinkie Pie smiles, looks up and shakes her head. We zoom out from this party as Pinkie Pie walks off somewhere to partake in the coronation party.

CUE CREDITS.

END OF SEASON X.

THANKS FOR READING.

Episode 1: Burrows and Bugbears. (Part 1)

   We open up to see Twilight Sparkle reading a book in the Friendship Castle Library. Pinkie Pie bursts through the door to the library, which startles Twilight.

“HEY TWILIGHT!!!”  Pinkie yells.

Twilight Sparkle looks at Pinkie and has an annoyed look on her face.

“What is it now, Pinkie?” Twilight asks.

“A new friend of mine wants to start playing a game he made and wants to have as many players in it as possible! The more players the better!” Pinkie Pie says.

“Why are you telling me this?” Twilight asks.

“Because I thought you might want to take a break from your reading for awhile.” Pinkie says.

“I'll think about it.” Twilight says.

“Great! Bye!” Pinkie Pie says.

Pinkie Pie slams the door closed and she's gone. Spike shows up as she leaves.

“What did Pinkie want?” Spike asks.

Twilight looks to Spike.

“She wants me to play a game with her that a friend came up with. I don't know if it's a good idea.” She says.

“Well, it would get you out of the castle. It seems like you haven't left in ages.” Spike says.

Twilight looks over at the door, then back to her books. She closes her eyes and sighs.

Opening My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic theme song animation.

  We next see Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike in a house, looking at Pinkie Pie. She is standing next to a black stallion unicorn with black fur, a red mane and dark brown eyes. He has a cutie mark that has a feather and a red inkwell next to it. Pinkie has her arm around this pony and smiles.

“Girls, let me introduce you to my new best friend: Black Cherry.” Pinkie says.

“Isn't everypony in Ponyville your best friend?” Rarity asks.

“Well, yeah, but Black Cherry became my new extra special best friend just recently. Ever since he started telling me about a game he came up with.” Pinkie says.

“What's the name of it?” Applejack asks.

“I call the game Burrows and Bugbears. Probably the first of it's kind in all of Equestria.” Black Cherry finally says.

Twilight brings a hoof up to her face and looks off to the side.

“Wait, Black Cherry. I know that name from somewhere.” She says.

Black Cherry smiles.

“Oh! You must have read some of the books I've written.” He says.

Twilight looks back and smiles.

“Of course! Your name has been on some mystery novels and adventure stories I've read! I always love reading them since it felt like I was really there!” She says.

“That was the idea. My specialty is making ponies see what I want them to see. So each book I write has a spell on it that makes you see in your mind what you're reading.” Black Cherry says.

“I must learn how you do that sometime.” Twilight says.

“So what kind of game is this anyway?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Glad you asked.” Black Cherry says.

He walks over to a table that has what looks like a map on it. There are six pony like figures on it.

“In this game, you play as a certain character class and go on quests for random strangers. Each quest can be completed in different ways.

When it's done, you get experience points and bits. You need experience to level up your character and get better stats than you did before. The bits are for getting better equipment and other things.” He says.

Fluttershy has a nervous look on her face.

“It sounds kind of dangerous...” Fluttershy says.

“Not at all. It's make believe and it's only limited by your imagination, as well as mine.” Black Cherry says.

“Ah don't get it.” Applejack says.

Black Cherry closes his eyes and his horn starts to emit black magic.

“Here, let me show you.” Black Cherry says.

Black Cherry start to sing a song all about the places they can go, the creatures they can see, the riches they can obtain and the perils they can encounter. Finishing off with how even if they don't win the day, they will still have fun through it all. When he's done, we're back in the house again.

“Well, what do you think?” Black Cherry asks.

Pinkie Pie hops up and down.

“I think we should all play together! It will be more fun that way, right?” Pinkie Pie says.

Black Cherry looks to Pinkie Pie.

“That's right. The minimum is one or two players and the absolute maximum is six. So if all of you decided to play, then it would be perfect.” Black Cherry says.

Spike has had a thinking look on his face for quite some time now and he looks up.

“But why the name Burrows and Bugbears?” Spike asks.

“I wanted to have a name that had a nice ring to it. I had to reject a lot of names before I came up with that one.” Black Cherry says.

“Such as?” Rarity asks.

“Let's see. There was Mazes and Monsters, Castles and Critters, Houses and Humans.” Black Cherry says.

“Humans?” Fluttershy asks.

“It's a new type of creature I came up with. You'll meet them later.” Black Cherry says.

“Any others?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Many more. The one I refused to ever use was Dungeons and Dragons.” Black Cherry says.

Spike has an angry look on his face.

“Hey! That would be an insult to dragons everywhere!” He says.

“That's exactly why I rejected it. I finally settled on the name Burrows and Bugbears.” Black Cherry says.

Black Cherry then has an evil smile on his face as he rubs his hooves together.

“So, are you all game?” He asks.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Black Cherry is still rubbing his hooves together with an evil grin on his face. Pinkie Pie is looking at him with a big smile on her face and the others are looking at him with unsure looks on their faces. Black Cherry asks:

“Well?”

Twilight shrugs her shoulders and says:

“Well, I guess so.”

Black Cherry stops rubbing his hooves together and has a big smile on his face as he says:

“Great! Come over to the table here and we can get started!”

The other five and Spike come over to the table. What they see on it is what looks like a map that's similar to the map of Equestria in the Friendship Castle, but quite different in many parts of it. Applejack asks:

“So how do we play this game?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well first, you need to create characters that you will be playing the role as. Then, you have your characters act out whatever you tell them to do. I call it a role playing game because of that.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“That's quite the fitting term, Darling.”

Black Cherry then says:

“Considering that you don't exactly know how to make characters yet, I went ahead and made some that I thought would be perfect for each of you.”

Fluttershy asks:

“You made characters based on us?”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I told him all about each of you, so that he had something to work with as he created them.”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes and says:

“My, how convenient.”

Spike asks:

“Are you sure you created characters for all of us?”

Black Cherry says:

“Sure did. I even have a way of getting you in there, in case you wanted to play along.”

Spike looks away and smiles as he says:

“Aw, gee, thanks.”

Black Cherry uses dark red unicorn magic to pull out six sheets of paper. He then says:

“Each character has a certain outlook on life, so I chose each one as best as I could figure it.”

One sheet goes in front of Applejack as Black Cherry's voice says:

“Applejack, you are a neutral good warrior. That means that to you, doing what's right is more important than what the laws of the land happen to be.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Yer gosh darned raht Ah do.”

The next sheet goes in front of Pinkie Pie as Black Cherry's voice says:

“Pinkie Pie, you are a chaotic good ranger. That means you're into doing things your way, but always for what you consider to be the best for everyone.”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and hops up and down as she says:

“Woo-hoo!”

Another sheet goes in front of Twilight Sparkle as Black Cherry's voice says:

“Twilight, you are a lawful good paladin. That means you believe in good and try to uphold the law as much as possible.”

Twilight Sparkle smiles and says:

“That sure sounds like me.”

A sheet goes in front of Rarity as Black cherry's voice says:

“Rarity, you are a lawful good wizard. The same as Twilight, and as a wizard you are allowed to dress yourself in any fashionable attire you please.”

Rarity flips her hair and smiles as she says:

“But of course, Darling.”

A sheet goes in front of Fluttershy and Black Cherry says:

“Fluttershy, you are true neutral druid. That means you try to keep the balance between good and evil. Also, you can summon some animal friends and even become them at times.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“I like the sound of that.”

The final sheet goes in front of Rainbow Dash and Black Cherry's voice says:

“Rainbow Dash, you are a chaotic neutral thief. That means you do whatever you feel like, which sometimes leads you into trouble.”

Rainbow Dash raises her hooves into the air and says:

“I'm feeling it already.”

Spike asks:

“What about me?”

We see Black Cherry as he looks at Spike and says:

“As a wizard, Rarity has the ability to have a familiar. Basically an animal companion to travel with.”

Spike folds his arms and looks away with an annoyed look on his face as he says:

“Way to have me contribute to the party. Not.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, it was the only way I could get you in there without creating another character sheet. And besides, as an animal that speaks pony, you could be the wild card that ends up saving the day.”

Twilight tilts her head and raises an eyebrow as she asks:

“Pony?”

Black Cherry looks to Twilight and says:

“It's the most used language in the game world. There are other languages as well, but for the most part every intelligent being you come across will speak it.”

Twilight smiles and says:

“I see.”

Rarity is looking closely at the map and says:

“Black Cherry, Darling, this map you have here is simply amazing. You must tell me how you made it.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, I didn't. I'm not very good at drawing things, so I had my sister Red Cherry do that for me.”

Black Cherry uses a hoof to point over somewhere and we move over to a red furred crystal mare with a black mane. She has a cutie mark that looks like three coffee beans. She smiles and waves at the screen. Rainbow Dash asks:

“That's your sister?”

Black Cherry says:

“Step sister, actually. Long story.”

Fluttershy asks:

“If we're all playing characters, how do we know what's going on?”

Black Cherry looks to Fluttershy and says:

“Good question. Since I created the game, and you need somepony to tell you what you're seeing, I will be what's called the Burrow Master. Or BM if you like.”

Rainbow Dash picks up a couple of dice next to a strange looking contraption and asks:

“What are these for?”

Black Cherry says:

“What you have there are dice. They are used to determine whether you succeeded or failed something you attempted to do. When attacking, they also determine how much damage you do.”

Black Cherry opens the top of the contraption and says:

“As for what this is, it's a dice roller. You put the dice in here, use the gear on the side to make the dice roll and then when you think they have rolled enough, you hit the button on top. At which point the dice come out of a chute at the bottom.”

Rainbow Dash looks at the dice in her hoof very intently. She then puts them in the device and closes the top. She turns the gear and the sound of dice rolling around can be heard. After a couple of seconds, she stops moving the gear and hits down on the button. At the bottom of the device, the dice roll down out of a chute onto the table. Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“Hey. Cool.”

Black Cherry says:

“Three more things before we start the game. One, each of you will have what I call special talents. It's basically an ability that you have which you got good at in your own time.”

He looks at Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and points to each of them as he says:

“Normally, flying would be a special talent. However, since Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash can already fly, that doesn't use up a special talent slot for them.”

Twilight asks:

“How many special talent slots do we have?”

Black Cherry says:

“To start off, you have six main special talents, two weapon special talents and two armour special talents. As you level up, you will get more.”

Pinkie Pie asks:

“But how do we know which special talents we have?”

Black Cherry pulls out a giant sheet of paper and says:

“I created a list of special talents that players could have. Look it over and write down what you think would be the best for you.”

Black Cherry uses magic to put a quill in front of everypony and Spike says:

“Well, I guess I'll wait over here then.”

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all now look closely at the paper.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see everypony seemingly finishing writing down their special talents on their character cards. Black Cherry looks away and puts a hoof behind his head as he says:

“Wow, this is taking a little longer than I expected.”

He looks forward and smiles as he says:

“It's a good thing, though. It means you care a lot about what your characters can do. You even came up with some special talents I hadn't thought of and had me approve them.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Well, it was actually a lot of fun. I was kind of surprised you let me have my ability to talk to animals be a natural special talent. Now I can use a slot for something else.”

Black Cherry says:

“Your natural special talents shouldn't take up a slot, as far as I'm concerned.”

Black Cherry rolls his eyes away and says:

“Of course, that just means your real special talents will have to be even better to make up for it.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“You mentioned there were two other things we should know about before we start.”

Black Cherry looks forward and says:

“Right! In this game, you have something called an Armour Class. When you don't have any armour on, the Armour Class is ten. As you put better armour on, it goes down until it gets to minus ten.”

Rarity asks:

“Why in the world did you do that instead of the other way around?”

Black Cherry says:

“Because this way, it makes things easier to use the Thaco system.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Thaco?”

Black Cherry says:

“Yes. It means to hit armour class zero. It's also the third thing you need to know about.”

Black Cherry picks up one of the dice, the one that has twenty sides on it, and says:

“You and your enemies have a Thaco number. When you want to hit your enemy, you subtract their Thaco number from yours. When you roll a die, you need to get that number or higher in order to score a hit. Getting a twenty is a guaranteed hit no matter what.”

He puts the die down on the table and says:

“There are also ways to change the number so it goes up or down, but for now that's all you need to know about how it works.”

Spike asks:

“Just how long is this game anyhow?”

Black Cherry looks at Spike and says:

“It can go for as quickly or as long as you like. As for how long a session is, I'm thinking each one should last for around fifteen to twenty minutes.”

Spike says:

“Well, I guess we can spare that much time for this.”

Black Cherry asks:

“Now, have you all decided on what your character backgrounds are yet?”

They all nod. Black Cherry says:

“Great. Let's hear them.”

Applejack says:

“Ah decahded Ah come from a farm with acres and acres of apples. At some point in tahme, Ah decahded to strahke out on mah own. Mostly because we needed more bits for new equipment and we plain couldn't afford it. Ah said goodbah to mah folks and here Ah am.”

Pinkie Pie next says:

“I was on a farm too! I spent my time shooting my party cannon at smaller and smaller rocks until one day I met a baby alligator. I named it Gummy and decided we should go on adventures together.”

Twilight Sparkle says:

“I was tasked with getting rid of as much evil in the world as possible by the princess. She has taught me much, but told me that from now on it's all up to me.”

Rarity says:

“My passion for fashion led me to leave the clothing shop where I worked. I carry many copies of our card, in case somepony wants to know where I got whatever new clothes I'm wearing. When I found out I could have a talking animal companion, I chose a baby dragon.”

Rarity turns to Spike and says:

“Spike, that's you.”

Spike raises his fists and sarcastically says:

“Yay, woohoo, I'm in the game finally.”

Fluttershy says:

“I come from a long line of animal doctors and decided to go out into the world to help as many as I can.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I got bored with my normal life and decided that trying to take things not belonging to me was a lot more exciting. Most of the time, I only take things that the owner could probably live without.”

Black Cherry says:

“Right. You're all ready to step into the game world. Close your eyes and let me work my magic.”

Everypony closes their eyes. Black Cherry looks over at what looks like a wizard hat and puts it on. He closes his eyes and green flames come out of the sides of his closed eyes for a second. Black light comes out his horn and fills up the entire screen in black.

CUE CREDITS.

Episode 5: Here Be A Dragon.

The cold opening shows the first bit of episode one, then some choice clips from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open up and see everypony once again at the table. Black Cherry is looking at everypony as he smiles and says:

“Well everypony, after gaining more experience from last time, you now only need to complete one more mission to level up.”

Applejack says:

“Ah still don't get what that does.”

Black cherry looks to Applejack and says:

“Well, say you wanted to hit harder when attacking or if you decided that you would like to use another special talent. When you level up, you can potentially do both those things and more.”

Applejack smiles and says:

“Ah think ah get it now. A little bit.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and asks:

“I wonder who the dragon we're going to meet today is going to be?”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Oh, that will be exciting.”

Black Cherry has a surprised look on his face as he asks:

“You mean you've encountered actual dragons before?”

Spike says:

“Yeah! Many times! I was even dragon lord for a bit.”

Twilight looks at him and smiles as she says:

“By a bit, you mean you made a dragon who was mean to you hug every dragon he saw and then gave the Bloodstone Sceptre to Ember.”

Spike looks to Twilight and raises his arms as he says:

“Hey, it might have been only thirty seconds, but it still counted.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“I had no idea you had been on so many adventures!”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says:

“You think that's amazing, I once kicked one in the face and got away with it.”

Rarity has an annoyed look on her face as she says:

“Well, it 's a good thing Fluttershy was there or you would have been in real trouble.”

Rainbow Dash puts a hoof behind her head and looks away as she blushes and lets out a fake laugh. Black Cherry says:

“Now I'm really interested to see what the dragon will look like. Everypony close your eyes and we can get started.”

Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and everypony closes their eyes. Green flames come out of Black Cherry's eyes for a second before black stuff comes from his horn and fills up the screen. Everypony opens their eyes and looks around themselves. They see that they're  outside of the rectangular blue box that they were in last time. Black Cherry's large imposing figure can be seen faintly as he says:

“After staying in the strange box the doctor lives in for the night, he uses it to bring you as close as he dares to where the dragon that has been making so much noise resides. It is now up to you to go the rest of the way.”

Twilight looks at Time Turner and asks:

“But how did you make it move so far in so little time?”

Time Turner closes his eyes and smiles as he puts a hood to his neck and says:

“Simple, my dear.”

He opens his eyes and puts hoof down as he says:

“Science!”

Rainbow Dash looks at the outside of the box and asks:

“Just how far can this box travel exactly?”

Time Turner looks at Rainbow Dash and says:

“Well, it's funny you should ask.”

Pinkie Pie raises a hoof and says:

“Ooh! Ooh! Maybe he can make it travel anywhere nearly instantly! Even forwards and backwards through time!”

Applejack puts a leg elbow on Pinkie Pie's neck and smiles as she says:

“Now Pinkie Pah, don't be silly. That would just be ridiculous.”

Time Turner starts to sweat as he looks around and pulls on his collar as he says:

“Indeed. I don't know where you got that idea.”

Rarity smiles and says:

“Well, anyway, thank you ever so much for bringing us all the way here. With any luck, we will have dealt with your noisy dragon whence your return.”

Time Turner smiles and says:

“I do hope so. I will tell my assistant that you left while she was asleep.”

He turns around and faces the open door of the blue box and says:

“Until then, allon-sy!”

He runs into the box and the door slams shut behind him. The box moves up from the ground and quickly takes off into the distance. Fluttershy looks away from where the box went off to and says:

“I guess now all we have to do is (gulp) deal with the dragon.”

We now see that there is a cave at the top of what looks like a long and somewhat steep incline. Everypony looks up at it and has a nervous look on their faces. Spike closes his eyes and smiles as he says:

“Relax, we've interacted with more dragons than most. I'm sure we'll be fine.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that everypony has made it up the incline. Rarity has an annoyed look on her face as she says:

“Those were the longest two minutes of my life!”

Twilight asks:

“Which one of us is going to see what's bothering the dragon?”

Rainbow Dash says:

“I'm gonna go in and show that nasty dragon what's what!”

She's about to rush into the cave opening, but Applejack grabs her tail and makes her crash to the ground. She looks up at Applejack as Applejack says:

“Now hold yer horses there Sugarcube. We don't even know who this dragon is. He could be one who doesn't listen to reason.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Then who do we have go in?”

Everypony looks at Spike. He notices everypony is looking at him. He rolls his eyes and sighs as he says:

“Alright, I'll go see what's going on.”

Spike starts to creep towards the opening of the cave and then looks back. Everypony waves back. He looks forward and continues to creep towards the entrance. Suddenly, a loud yelling and thrashing sound can be heard coming from the cave. Spike stops as the sound makes the entire area rumble. He moves farther into the cave until he finally makes it in. What he sees is a gigantic pile of gold, random treasures and gemstones on a cave floor. On top of which is a dragon he recognizes as Torch, former king of all dragons. Also known as Ember's dad. He is looking down at his huge pile of loot and appears to have been crying. He's still sniffing as Spike shrugs his shoulders and asks:

“Um, excuse me, Mister Dragon Sir?”

Torch looks up and sees Spike. He rolls his eyes and says:

“Just what I needed, Another dragon.”

He then looks at Spike and yells:

“What do you want???”

Spike smiles and says:

“Well, I was just passing by and I wanted to know why you're so upset.”

Torch sits up and asks:

“Do you really want to know?”

Spike says:

“Of course. Dragons should help each other out, you know?”

Torch then says:

“Well, if you do care that much, I guess...”

He then sniffs the air. He then moves up close to Spike and sniffs him too. Torch says:

“I smell ponies nearby.”

Spike does a fake laugh and smiles as he says:

“That's crazy. There's no way ponies would be up here.”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“Spike, make a bluff check.”

A contraption shows up and Spike turns the gear on the side. He then pushes down on the top and a die rolls out. It lands on a five. Spike looks at it and says:

“Uh oh.”

Torch grabs Spike and picks him up. He holds Spike close and says:

“I know they're here. I have no quarrel with ponies at the moment, so if they want to come in they can be my guest.”

Spike has a scared look on his face as he calls out:

“Uh, guys? You might want to come in here!”

Everypony cautiously walks in and they see Torch holding Spike while sitting on a huge pile of treasure. Torch sees them enter and everypony gasps at the sight of him. Rarity says:

“Oh my! I was not expecting the dragon to be Ember's father!”

Applejack looks at Rarity and asks:

“Who?”

Twilight says:

“We saw him when Spike was summoned to see the dragon lord.”

Torch lets go of Spike and he falls to the ground. Torch says:

“No wonder there was such a strong pony scent. There's six of you.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Mister Dragon, why are you so upset?”

As Spike gets up, Torch says:

“Well, it's all very simple. You see, ever since I retired from being the dragon lord, I gathered together a stash of treasure and gold for me to sleep on.”

Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow and asks:

“And the problem is...?”

Torch says:

“I keep track of every piece of treasure in my collection. I awoke one morning and found my favourite sceptre was missing. All I could do was thrash about and cry about my missing treasure.”

Rarity has a concerned look on her face as she asks:

“Do you have any idea what could have happened to it?”

Torch looks around and says:

“Now that you mention it, on the day it disappeared I thought I could smell humans close by.”

Everypony gasps and asks:

“Humans??????”

Torch looks at everypony and says:

“Yes. One of them must have sneaked in here, grabbed the sceptre and ran off with it while I was sleeping.”

Spike asks:

“Do you happen to have another one that looks just like it?”

Torch puts a hand into his treasure pile and rummages around for a couple of seconds before pulling out a gold cane that has a caricature of Twilight's smiling face on it. Everypony looks surprised at this and Twilight face hoofs at the sight of it. Torch says:

“It looks something like this. Only longer, made of wood and has two prongs instead of one.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says:

“Hey, maybe we could find your missing treasure and bring it back!”

Torch smiles and says:

“If you ponies could do that for me, I would be very grateful.”

Everypony huddles and whispers for a couple of seconds. They break and Twilight says:

“We have decided to search for your missing sceptre on one condition. You need to stop making such loud noises in the meantime. You're scaring the locals and I think they should have a bit of peace and quiet.”

Torch puts a clawed hand to his chin and appears to be thinking about the offer. He then looks at Twilight and says:

“Alright, you have a deal.”

He grabs Spike again and says:

“But while you're on the search, he stays with me.”

Everypony looks at Spike and he shrugs his shoulders. Twilight says:

“It's settled then.”

Torch grabs Twilight's hoof and they shake on it. Everypony starts to leave. As they do, Pinkie Pie says:

“Bye Spike! See you soon!”

When everypony is gone, Torch lets Spike go and he walks around the cave. He then looks at Torch and asks:

“So, know any good dragon songs?”

Torch looks surprised at Spike. He then looks away from him and smiles as he looks back and says:

“Well...”

We transition to outside where everypony is walking around. Fluttershy says:

“I do hope we find those humans soon. I'm starting to worry about Spike.”

Rarity says:

“Oh, I'm sure he can take care of himself.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“For all we know, the humans that took the sceptre could be days away from here by now.”

Black Cherry says:

“Give me a second and I'll see how close they are to you.”

We hear Black Cherry using the contraption and a die rolling down the chute. Pinkie Pie looks up at Black Cherry and asks:

“What do the dice foretell, Black Cherry?”

Black Cherry says:

“According to this, they should be right in front of you.”

Everypony looks forward and are shocked to see that there are indeed six humans standing about five feet away from them. They all turn around and we see that they each look like one of the ponies in human form. Everypony and the humans have shocked looks on their faces while looking at each other. Applejack says:

“Humans. They look just lahke us.”

The human that looks like Applejack says:

“Poneoj. Ili aspektas kiel ni.”

Twilight looks slightly at Pinkie Pie and says:

“Pinkie, ask them if any of them speak pony.”

Pinkie walks forward and the one that looks like Twilight walks forward from the human side. Pinkie asks:

“u iu el vi parolas poneo?”

The Twilight human smiles and says:

“I do. That's why I came forward when you did.”

Everypony is shocked to hear a human speaking pony. Rarity says:

“Who are all of you?”

The human Twilight points at herself and says:

“Tara.”

She turns to look at the other five humans. The one that looks like Pinkie Pie says:

“Andrea.”

The one that looks like Applejack says:

“Ashley”

The one that looks like Rarity says:

“Tabitha.”

The one that looks like Rainbow Dash says:

“Natasha.”

The one that looks like Fluttershy looks to either side and says:

“Ma... Madelaine.”

Rainbow Dash tilts her head and says:

“You humans have the strangest names.”

Tara says:

“I could say the same about pony names.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Do one of you happen to have a wooden sceptre?”

Tara taps a finger to her chin as she looks up and says:

“I think Natasha might.”

She looks back and looks at Natasha as she asks:

“Natasha,  ligno sceptron?”

Natasha opens a bag and says:

“Mi vidu.”

She puts a hand in and searches around for a second. She then pulls out the stick that Starlight Glimmer used in the Equality Village. She asks:

“Estas  tio?”

Tara looks to everypony and asks:

“Is that it?”

Applejack says:

“Must be.”

Twilight says to Pinkie:

“Pinkie, ask where Natasha found it.”

Pinkie looks to Natasha and asks:

“Natasha, kie vi trovis sin?”

Natasha walks around as she says:

“Mi promenis kune, nur atentanta mian propran negocon, kiam tiu bastono tie venis el nenie kaj batis min sur la kapon. Kiam mi suprenrigardis, mi vidis kavernon alte sur monteto. Mi opiniis, ke venis de tie, do mi iris al la kaverno por meti ?in reen. Kiam mi alvenis proksime al la kaverno, la?ta sono venis el ?i. Mi ne sciis, kio estas en tie kaj mi forkuris antaux mi eltrovis.”

Pinkie Pie and  Tara say:

“Mi vidas.”

Rarity asks:

“What did you learn?”

Pinkie looks at everypony and smiles as she says:

“I think if we all go to see the dragon, humans included, we can get this whole thing sorted out.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and we're now inside the cave, where Torch and Spike are now singing the last part of a song:

“If our scales were to break then the lava would make our poor bodies go up like a light."

They then slow down the next bit as they sing:

"But since we do have them let's eat just one more gem..."

They then sing the last bit of the song normally:

"then... take a lava swim tonight.”

They both laugh at this. Torch says:

“If your friends don't find my sceptre, I won't mind too much. Having company was better than I expected.”

Spike says:

“Knowing them, they found it already and are on their way.”

From off-screen, we hear Rainbow Dash says:

“On the contrary, Spike. We're already here.”

Spike and Torch look over and see everypony with their human counterparts standing behind them. Torch has an angry look on his face as he says:

“Humans!”

Fluttershy says:

“Wait, they have something for you.”

Torch raises an eyebrow and asks:

“Oh?”

Fluttershy looks at Natasha and nods. Natasha opens her bag and pulls out the wood sceptre. She holds it up to Torch and smiles. He has an overjoyed look on his face as he says:

“My sceptre! You brought it back!”

Torch grabs it and starts to kiss it all over. He then looks at the humans and says:

“I never thought I'd see it again.”

Twilight says:

“Tara, tell the dragon what happened.”

Tara raises her hands up and says:

“Well, it's like this:

We now see the outside of the cave. We then see the inside of the cave with Torch sleeping on his huge pile of treasure. On the edge of the pile is the wooden sceptre. Torch rolls over while sleeping and hits the wall. The sceptre starts rolling out of the cave. We move outside where Natasha just happens to be walking by. The sceptre hits her on the head and she says:

“Ow!”

She sees the wooden sceptre now on the ground and picks it up. She looks up and sees the cave way up on a hill. We see the inside of the cave as Torch wakes up and looks down at his treasure. He notices that the sceptre is missing and looks around for it. Outside, we see Natasha has walked up the incline and is almost at the entrance to the cave. She gets shocked as a loud thrashing and crying sound suddenly comes out of the cave entrance. After hearing this, Natasha runs in the complete opposite direction of the cave entrance. We come back and Tara says:

“...and now we're here, giving it back.”

Torch says:

“A likely story.”

Applejack says:

“Well if it wasn't true, then you wouldn't be holding it raht now.”

Torch looks at the sceptre and says:

“Hm. Good point.”

Rarity asks:

“So, are we all friends now?”

Torch smiles and says:

“I'm just so grateful, I'll make friends with anything.”

He then puts his arms around everypony and the humans and then brings them together into a big hug with them all caught in the middle of it. Madelaine says:

“Ne... spiri.”

Tabitha says:

“Savu... min.”

Spike looks up and says:

“I don't think they can breathe like that.”

Torch looks down at the ponies and humans in his arms who are visibly suffocating. He puts them all down and says:

“Sorry.”

Suddenly, a circle of light engulfs each pony and they're all surprised at this. Rainbow Dash asks:

“Black Cherry? What's happening?”

Black Cherry says:

“Your quest is complete, which means you have enough to level up. You are now getting stronger as a result.”

The circles of light fade away and Pinkie Pie says:

“Huh. I don't feel any different.”

Andrea smiles and asks:

“Partio tempo?”

Fluttershy asks:

“What?”

Tara smiles and says:

“Andrea wants to know if it's party time yet.”

Torch raises his arms up and yells:

“PARTY!!!”

Music starts to play as every pony, every human, Spike and Torch start to dance in the cave. Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with another mission complete, you now decide to party with all of your new found friends.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clap together and a white light flashes on the screen. We come back to the table and everypony and Spike opens their eyes. Twilight smiles and says:

“Well, that was quite the experience.”

Applejack says:

“Black Cherry, Ah have a previous engagement that will keep me from being here next tahme.”

Rainbow Dash says:

“Yeah, Wonderbolt practice is starting up soon and I don't want to miss it.”

Pinkie Pie says:

“I have to foalsit the Cakes too.

Black Cherry looks away from everypony and puts a hoof to his chin. He then looks forward and says:

“If only one of you can make it, it will give me a chance to try out an experiment I have cooked up.”

Spike asks:

“An experiment?”

Black Cherry says:

“Yes. It will be me and just one player. I'm anxious to see if it will work.”

Fluttershy says:

“I think Twilight's the only one who won't be busy.”

Black Cherry looks to Twilight and she nods at him. He smiles and says:

“Perfect! When you all leave for the day, I'll get started setting up right away!”

Rarity smiles and says:

“You do that, Darling.”

Everypony and Spike smiles as they close their eyes.

CUE CREDITS

Episode 6: Love For the Loveless.

The cold opening shows the first bit of episode one, plus some choice clips from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION

We open up with only Black Cherry and Twilight Sparkle sitting at the table. Black Cherry has a confused look on his face as he asks:

“Twilight, where's Spike?”

Twilight smiles and says:

“It turns out he had some things to attend to as well.”

She then says:

“That reminds me. After the last session, I sent a package of pillows to Ember with a note saying that it's for the dragon who wanted to sleep on pillows if he became dragon lord.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Well, no matter. That just means we can both experience a solo session together.”

Twilight asks:

“What do you have in mind?”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, remember how I once said that I would do something with the concept of speaking in constant rhyme?”

Twilight looks up and back as she says:

“Sort of.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well, in this solo session I will be narrating everything that happens, give or take a couple of times when you  interact with me, while rhyming the entire time.”

Twilight frowns and says:

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

Black Cherry shrugs his shoulders and says:

“Not really. I've been practicing a bit and I think we can get started right away.”

Twilight says:

“Well, I guess we can see how this works.”

Black Cherry has a big smile on his face as he says:

“Great! Close your eyes and we can get started right away.”

Twilight closes her eyes and Black Cherry puts on the wizard hat. He closes his eyes and green flames come out of his eyes for a second. After which blackness comes from his horn and fills up the screen. The next thing we see is a giant pink heart. We now hear Black Cherry narrate what we see:

[On Hearts and Hooves day, within every heart, if you look close enough a story will start. Each story ends up being in its own way showing the true meaning of Hearts and Hooves day.]

We zoom in on one part of the giant pink heart and see what looks like a little town that is covered from head to hoof in hearts and loving things. We then hear Black Cherry narrate:

[The ponies who lived here could never be down. For they were all lovers living in Love Town.]

We see ponies out and about doing various things and interacting with one another, all with smiles on their faces. Black Cherry says:

[The lovers are friendly and hope you are too. They'll do their best to help if you're feeling blue.]

We then see the ponies all gather into a circle and start to sing. As they do, a giant heart starts to form and rise up towards the sky. As this happens, Black Cherry narrates:

[On Hearts and Hooves Day they all gather around the village centre and then make a big sound]

The giant heart fades apart and the ponies get their cutie marks replaced with a big pink heart. As this happens, Black Cherry says:

[Just for one day, their hearts are as one. When this does happen they then have some fun.]

We then see the ponies with presents in their hooves as they seem to exchange them for another one. As this happens, Black Cherry narrates:

[Exchanging of gifts is something they find good and might do it every day if they all could.]

We zoom out a little bit as Black Cherry narrates:

[Each lover loved Hearts and Hooves Day, big and small.]

We then slowly move down below the surface of Love Town as Black Cherry says:

[That is, save one who had no love at all.]

We move more and more below until we see what looks like an open cave area with what looks like a black pony. Black Cherry says:

[Right below Love Town, not far from the surface was a being known far and wide as the Loveless.]

We zoom right up to the being known as the Loveless and see that it just so happens to look like Queen Chrysalis. She is looking up at the ceiling of the cave and has an angry look on her face. As she looks angrily up at the ceiling, Black Cherry says:

[No lover in Love Town knew where she came from or why when it came to love she was so dumb.]

Chrysalis starts to laugh as Black Cherry narrates:

[It could be because every time that she laughed]

As she laughs, a rumbling sound is heard. Chrysalis stops laughing and looks up and over at what looks like a passage up. As she does, Black Cherry narrates:

[a deep rumbling sound went up and down the shaft.]

Chrysalis starts to walk away from the passage as Black Cherry narrates:

[The shaft was abandoned a long time ago, nopony would visit, the Loveless did know.]

Chrysalis looks down at what looks like a crystal ball and she uses her magic on it. On the ball we see the ponies in Love Town going about their business. As this happens, Black Cherry narrates:

[It could also be that she refused to mingle and in doing so, well, she ended up single.]

The crystal ball stops showing the ponies in Love Town and Chrysalis sighs. As she does, Black Cherry narrates:

[But perhaps the most likely cause of it all is her heart was simply two sizes too small.]

We hear Twilight's voice as she says:

“Really?”

Black Cherry says:

“See for yourself. You're very close by, so cast an x-ray spell on her body.”

A beam of light comes from off-screen and it hits Chrysalis' body. It lights up and we see that her heart actually is much smaller than the size it should be. Twilight says:

“Wait, I'm close by? This can't be good.”

Chrysalis looks up and then turns her head back with an angry look on her face.

“My servant! [she yelled with a voice so insistent] I demand that you come over here this instant!”

Black Cherry then says:

“Twilight, that's your cue to appear.”

Twilight Sparkle appears and she has quite the unhappy look on her face. She asks:

“How did I end up in this situation again?”

Black Cherry narrates:

[It could not have been more than one week ago when a poor purple pony descended below. A princess said with her help the Loveless may discover the meaning of Hearts and Hooves Day.]

Twilight says:

“I... guess that explains why I'm here.”

Black Cherry says:

“The Loveless wants you to go over, so see what she wants.”

Twilight walks right up to Chrysalis and says:

“Miss Loveless I am here, your words I did heed. Tell your servant what it is that you need.”

Chrysalis looks at Twilight and says:

“Now that you've been here for at least a week you might as well know what assistance I seek.”

She looks at the crystal ball and uses her magic to turn it on again. Chrysalis closes her eyes halfway and says:

“These lovers in Love Town have driven me nuts.”

Twilight walks over to the crystal ball and sees the ponies going about their day in Love Town as Chrysalis says:

“All being so cheerful, living in their huts.”

She then looks at Twilight and says:

“Hearts and Hooves Day makes them act like buffoons.”

She sits down and raises her hooves up as she opens her eyes all the way and says:

“Every year in four hundred ninety nine moons!”

She looks at Twilight and says:

“I think that this year I have had just enough. One more and I might just explode in a huff.”

She gets up and says:

“I'm going to go sulk, so report to me”

Chysalis walks off and says:

“when something interesting happens that you see.”

Twilight watches Chrysalis walk off and then looks closely at the crystal ball. Black Cherry narrates:

[The servant did as the Loveless told her to because there was not really much else to do.]

We see the crystal ball as it centres on a filly and stallion walking together with big smiles on their faces. They just happen to be Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich. As it does, Black Cherry says:

[She watched until suddenly things took a turn and listened for what she was about to learn.]

Diamond Tiara looks up at Filthy Rich and asks:

“Will the Loveless come celebrate with us this year?”

Filthy Rich has a visibly shocked look on his face as she asks this. He then looks down at Diamond Tiara and smiles as he says:

“Even if we asked, she wouldn't, I fear.”

Diamond Tiara looks down and frowns as she says:

“I just think the Loveless should have some love too.”

Filthy Rich puts his front hoof around Diamond Tiara and says:

“She'd have it if she came up.”

Diamond Tiara looks up at Filthy Rich. He closes his eyes and says:

“It's what we do.”

Diamond Tiara closes her eyes and smiles. They then both open their eyes and continue walking. As they do, Twilight has her mouth open at this sudden revelation. Black Cherry narrates:

[The servant could not believe what just took place.]

Twilight smiles and turns towards where Chrysalis walked off to. Black Cherry narrates:

[She seeked the Loveless with a smile on her face.]

Twilight gets up and starts to run towards where Chrysalis went. She says:

“Miss Loveless! Just hear what I did witness! Your presence is something the lovers do miss!”

Meanwhile, Chrysalis is sitting elsewhere looking all miserable. Twilight shows up behind her, next to what looks like a closet and frowns as she asks:

“Did you hear me?” [asked the servant in haste]

Chrysalis looks back at Twilight and says:

“Of course. What you told me was not to my taste.”

Chrysalis looks back towards where she was looking before and Twilight sits down. She sighs as Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless tried to figure something out. It was then she said what it was about.]

Chrysalis says:

“I think Hearts and Hooves Day should go take a break. I'm trying to think of a way I could make the whole thing go away, but I can't right now.”

Chrysalis closes her eyes and says:

“I want Hearts and Hooves Day to not come.”

She then hits a wall next to her as she yells:

“But how???”

There's a rumbling in the cave and the closet door starts to shake. Black Cherry says:

[The servant happened to be next to a closet. The door would open and then on her deposit.]

Black Cherry then says:

“Twilight, make an evasion check.”

A contraption appears and Twilight looks down at it. She then starts to turn the crank on the side.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that Twilight is still rolling the crank on the side. She pushes down on the top and the die rolls down the chute. It lands on a three. Twilight looks up at the closet with a worried look on her face. The door opens and the contents of it fall onto her, covering Twilight in a bunch of stuff. Black Cherry narrates:

[The closet did open and on her did fall some baubles and costumes and things for a ball.]

Chrysalis looks over at where the closet opened, with a look as if to ask what just happened. Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless looked over and saw with surprise]

We see Twilight get up out of the stuff that fell out of the closet. She now has what look like two long pieces of curled up metal on her head. Black Cherry narrates:

[when her servant, transformed, appeared before her eyes.]

Twilight looks up and sees the curled metal and then looks at Chrysalis. Black Cherry says:

[The servant now looked at the Loveless with fear]

We see Chrysalis as her face goes from normal to a very big and very evil smile. As this happens, Black Cherry narrates:

[As she saw an awful smile start to appear.]

Chrysalis now gets up and says:

“Servant, I think now that because of you I know exactly what it is I will do.”

She uses her magic to pull the curled up metal off her head as she says:

“The next Hearts and Hooves Day will be tomorrow, and I have just the plan to fill them with sorrow.”

Chrysalis puts the curled up metal on her head as she says:

“The lovers have a figure called the love breezy.”

She then goes over to the mess the closet made and says:

“So making myself look like it will be easy.”

Twilight has a raised eyebrow as she looks off-screen while Chrysalis says:

“Before the day comes somepony does dress up like the love breezy, then ponies confess to that pony they hope somepony will say: Be my special somepony this Hearts and Hooves Day.”

We move away from Twilight and see that Chrysalis has done her best to dress herself up like a breezy. Black Cherry narrates:

[It was on short notice and on a whim too, but for her purposes it would have to do.]

Twilight has a look of caution on her face as Black Cherry narrates:

[The servant was slightly confused, though she bet with all of this the Loveless was not done yet.]

Chrysalis says:

“A hot air balloon we now need to make and all before the night can manage to break. For all the nice presents and Hearts and Hooves fun will be taken by us. Leaving them with none.”

Chrysalis moves over towards the way out of the cave as she says:

“That should make the lovers all so sad and numb. When we are done, Hearts and Hooves Day will not come!”

Chrysalis closes her eyes and lets out a laugh. The cave makes a rumbling noise. She opens her eyes and stops laughing with a look of surprise on her face. Twilight says:

“We'll have to work fast if at night we're departed.”

Chrysalis looks back at Twilight and says:

“In that case I guess we had better get started.”

Twilight looks up and asks:

“Black Cherry, how much do I know about building hot air balloons?”

Black Cherry's non-narrating voice says:

“If you can roll a twelve or better, you'll know all the info you need.”

A contraption appears in front of Twilight and she rolls the gear on the side. She pushes down on the top and a die rolls out, landing on a sixteen. Twilight sees it, then looks up at Chrysalis with a fake smile. There is now a short montage of Twilight and Chrysalis working on making a giant hot air balloon. As they do, Black Cherry narrates:

[For the next few hours they worked and they slaved. The purpose for making it was so depraved.]

We now see the giant hot air balloon all finished with Chrysalis and Twilight looking like they are out of breath and sweating. Black Cherry narrates:

[Finally finished, they then came to rest in the hot air balloon which they both gave their best.]

Chrysalis uses her magic to bring the crystal ball from where it sat in the cave into the hot air balloon. She looks in it and sees that it just becoming nighttime. Black Cherry narrates:

[When she saw it was nightfall, the Loveless did say:]

Chrysalis looks to Twilight and says:

“We're off, and we'll try to be back before day!”

Chrysalis puts the crystal ball back where it was. The hot air balloon then gets up and rushes towards the cave exit. As it does, Black Cherry narrates:

[They moved to the exit with no time to waste and flew up towards the village with all haste.]

We transition to the village of Love Town as we see the hot air balloon appear and land in the centre of the whole place. Black Cherry narrates:

[With the hot air balloon put in just the right place]

We zoom in and see Chrysalis and Twilight Sparkle getting out of the hot air balloon as Black Cherry narrates:

[the Loveless stepped out with a smile on her face.]

Twilight takes a giant nail and hammers it into the ground. She then ties a rope to it, preventing the hot air balloon from taking off. Black Cherry narrates:

[As the servant secured the balloon to the ground she heard the Loveless make a chuckling sound.]

Twilight hears Chrysalis make a chuckling sound and turns to her. Chrysalis covers her eyes with one hoof and starts moving her other hoof around. She says:

“I don't know where we will begin in this joint. I will now choose at random our starting point.”

Chrysalis moves her hoof around and then points at a house. She takes her other hoof off of her eyes and smiles. She looks at Twilight and nods. Black Cherry narrates:

[With a nod to her servant the Loveless moved on to the house which will have it's Hearts and Hooves stuff gone.]

We move to the inside of a house. The focus is on the door as Chrysalis quietly opens it. She looks around and sneaks in with Twilight behind her. Black Cherry narrates:

[Being quiet the Loveless did begin to open the door and then sneak right on in.]

Chrysalis and Twilight stop for a moment as they are amazed when they see that in the living room of this house is Hearts and Hooves stuff everywhere. In the middle, the centrepiece, is a large heart thing with what looks like a breezy on it. It has little white lights on it and it's giving off a massive amount of light, lighting up the entire room. Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless stopped only once. When she did see the large lit up heart that had on it a breezy.]

Chrysalis shakes her head and looks to Twilight. She nods and they get to work gathering up all the Hearts and Hooves related stuff surrounding the heart. Black Cherry narrates:

[Her and her servant went right to their task while in the love breezy's light they both did bask.]

They both use their magic to move the stuff and the gifts out of the house towards the hot air balloon. Chrysalis then looks directly at the lit up heart and has an evil smile on her face as Black Cherry narrates:

[When everything else had been put near the mast, the Loveless set her sights on the best for last.]

Chrysalis picks up the lit up heart and starts to leave. Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless was leaving, her servant did feel]

Twilight sees that all of the food in the kitchen part of the house was left alone. She has a puzzled look on her face as Black Cherry narrates:

[it strange she did not take the Hearts and Hooves meal.]

Twilight looks at Chrysalis and asks:

“We're not taking food? Not even one part?”

Chrysalis stops and looks at Twilight. She smiles and says:

“Having no love doesn't mean I have no heart.”

Twilight shrugs her shoulders and her and Chrysalis start to head for the door. Black Cherry narrates:

[As both of them were almost right at the door,]

We hear a creaking sound that stops them dead in their tracks. Black Cherry narrates:

[they heard a walking sound coming from the floor.]

Chrysalis and Twilight look behind them and they both see Diamond Tiara with a very tired look on her face. Black Cherry narrates:

[The filly was now doing her best to keep her eyes from closing and right there fall asleep.]

Tiara asks:

“Love Breezy?”[The filly did finally say] “Why are you taking our love heart away?”

Chrysalis looks to Twilight and Twilight puts a hoof to her chin as Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless was hoping her servant was slick to make up a lie and to make up one quick.]

We then see Twilight whisper in Chrysalis' ear. Chrysalis looks to Diamond Tiara, who is still trying to stay awake, and smiles as she says:

“My servant saw that there was a broken light on your love heart and we thought that was not right.”

Chrysalis looks to Twilight and winks. Twilight nods and breaks one of the lights on the love heart, which makes a tiny tinkle sound. Chrysalis shows the broken light to Tiara as she says:

“So I will take it and put in a new one, and then bring it back before the night is done.”

Black Cherry says:

“Twilight, make a bluff check.”

Twilight looks down and a contraption appears in front of her. She turns the crank on the side and pushes down on the top. The die rolls out and lands on a twenty. Black Cherry then narrates:

[The filly was tired and with blurry sight could only nod her head and then say:] “Alright.”

Chrysalis and Twilight start to leave again, with Twilight waving at Tiara as she waves back. Black Cherry narrates:

[With the filly's inquiry now satisfied, they continued on while the servant goodbyed.]

Chrysalis has gone through the door with the love heart and Twilight slowly and quietly closes the door behind her. We move to outside as Chrysalis puts the love heart in the hot air balloon. Black Cherry narrates:

[Their heist now successful, the Loveless decided all the work between them would now be divided.]

Chrysalis turns to Twilight and says:

“You take the left side and I'll take the right.”

She looks forward at the next house and says:

“That way, we'll be done before it gets light.”

We now see Twilight going to the left side and Chrysalis going to the right. They're opening doors and using their magic to move the Hearts and Hooves stuff out of the houses and into the hot air balloon, including the love hearts. While this is happening, Black Cherry narrates:

[They got to work taking the Hearts and Hooves loot, and if something broke, they did not give a hoot.]

Chrysalis and Twilight close the doors of the last house on the left and right side of the village, having taken all the Hearts and Hooves stuff from every house. They both climb into the hot air balloon and Twilight pulls out the nail that was keeping it stuck to the ground. Black Cherry narrates:

[With their task over and with time to spare, they headed for home back in the night air.]

The hot air balloon reaches the hole that's the entrance to the cave they came out of. Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless turned back to the town and then said:]

Chrysalis turns towards the town and smiles as she says:

“Happy Hearts and Hooves Day. So sorry, it fled.”

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see that the hot air balloon is now in the cave. The hot air in the balloon has been deflated and part of it is sitting precariously over a steep and very deep looking incline down. Black Cherry narrates:

[Back in the cave with the hot air balloon, the Loveless knew that morning was coming soon.]

We zoom up to Chrysalis with a very evil smile on her face and Twilight next to her with a frown on her face. Chrysalis uses her magic to make the crystal ball show what's happening in Love Town again. Black Cherry narrates:

[She turned on the ball and waited to see just how sad and crushed all the lovers would be.]

We see Chrysalis looking evilly into the crystal ball as we can see it becoming lighter and lighter on the outside. Black Cherry narrates:

[There was nothing, and then came a very strange thing.]

We hear from the crystal ball what sounds like singing and Chrysalis has a confused look on her face as Black Cherry narrates:

[The lovers, the Loveless heard, started to sing.]

We see on the crystal ball the ponies coming out of their houses and getting into the centre of town while singing. Once they're all in a circle, a giant heart forms and floats up towards the sky. We then see Chrysalis with a shocked look on her face. Black Cherry narrates:

[Despite her best effort, Hearts and Hooves Day came. The Loveless saw that it had come just the same.]

Chrysalis turns to Twilight with an angry look on her face as she asks:

“How is this possible? How is it true?”

She looks back at the crystal ball. She looks back at Twilight and says:

“The lovers are happy and not at all blue!”

Chrysalis looks at the crystal ball. She looks at Twilight and says:

“Their love hearts are gone and we took every gift!”

She looks back at the crystal heart. She looks back at Twilight and says:

“I was hoping there would be some kind of shift! Instead they act as if it gives them no bother! It's like they only think of having each other!”

Chrysalis looks back at the crystal ball all angry and confused. She has a hoof to her chin, trying to figure out what happened. Black Cherry narrates:

[As the loveless pondered just what she had missed]

Twilight is looking down with a hoof to her chin as Black Cherry narrates:

[the servant came up with a possible list.]

Twilight looks up at Chrysalis and says:

“Maybe it isn't what comes in a box. Getting some chocolates or getting new socks. Love hearts are nice, but I'm sure that it's easy to figure out why they don't need a love breezy. Maybe something else is the source of the cause.”

We see Chrysalis now seem to have a look of realization on her face as Black Cherry narrates:

[At this the Loveless now had given great pause. She then thought of something she hadn't before.]

Chrysalis says:

“Perhaps Hearts and Hooves Day could mean something more.”

Chrysalis closes her eyes and smiles as she lets out a loud and hearty laugh. Black Cherry narrates:

[With that revelation, the Loveless then laughed. Not a care of the rumblings it caused in the shaft.]

We move over to the deflated hot air balloon with all the gifts and Hearts and Hooves stuff in it. As the rumbling continues, it starts to move closer and closer to sliding down the incline. Black Cherry narrates:

[This time the rumbling came with great might.]

Chrysalis looks over at the hot air balloon and stops laughing and has a look of shock on her face as she sees the balloon getting closer and closer to the edge of the incline. Black Cherry narrates:

[And what she saw next made her shout with a fright:]

Chrysalis looks to Twilight and shouts:

“My servant! The presents! They're going to fall!”

Twilight looks to Chrysalis, still with a frown on her face as she says:

“I thought you did not care about them at all.”

Chrysalis then says:

“I didn't, but now I've had a change of heart! And saving them will be a great way to start!”

She then waves her hoof forward towards the deflated hot air balloon as she says:

“Come on!”

Chrysalis runs towards the hot air balloon. Twilight shrugs her shoulders and runs after her. Black Cherry narrates:

[Following orders, the servant obeyed]

The hot air balloon finally tips over and starts to slide down the incline. Chrysalis gets to it just in time and starts to use her magic to pull it back up. The balloon stops sliding down the incline and now very slowly starts to inch its way back up. Twilight gets there and uses her magic to grab onto the hot air balloon and pull it back up with Chrysalis' magic. Black Cherry narrates:

[and helped save the gifts with her magical aid.]

Black Cherry then says:

“Twilight, cast the x-ray spell again on her body.”

Twilight looks up at the ceiling of the cave and asks:

“What? Why?”

Black Cherry's voice says:

“You'll see in a second.”

Twilight stops pulling up on the balloon for a second and we see on Chrysalis' face that she is now pulling up more weight than before. Twilight uses her horn to make Chrysalis' body transparent. She then goes back and uses her magic to help Chrysalis pull the balloon up. As this happens, Black Cherry narrates:

[Twas then every lover in Love Town they say]

We then see the heart of Chrysalis quickly grow until it gets slightly bigger than it should be. Black Cherry narrates:

[heard the heart of the Loveless grow three times that day.]

We see the face of chrysalis as she suddenly has a look of shock on it. She then has an angry look on her face as she closes her eyes. We see the balloon suddenly move up the incline at lightning speed. Twilight sees the balloon quickly coming up towards her and has a look of shock on her face. She moves out of the way right as the balloon whizzes up the incline and lands on the floor of the cave. Chrysalis breathes a sigh of relief as Black Cherry narrates:

[She said when the gift saving venture was through:]

She looks at Twilight and smiles as she says:

“I think I know just what it is we will do.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow at this declaration. We transition to outside as the ponies are still singing their Hearts and Hooves songs. Black Cherry narrates:

[The lovers sung until they heard something queer.]

A sound of something large off-screen is heard and everypony stops singing. They look with surprise off to where the sound is coming from. We now see the hot air balloon, once more fully inflated floating through the sky. Black Cherry narrates:

[Then saw the Loveless hot air balloon appear.]

The balloon moves to the middle of where the ponies are standing and they back up to make room for it to land. It lands in the middle as Black Cherry narrates:

[As it landed before them, the Loveless did shout:]

We see Chrysalis appear and yell:

“Lovers! I have all your gifts which I'll hoof out!”

We then see Starlight Glimmer walk up to the hot air balloon with Sunburst. Black Cherry narrates:

[The Love Town leader went and asked the Loveless:]

Starlight asks:

“What do you mean? What have you to confess?”

Chrysalis hops out of the hot air balloon and looks down with a sad look on her face as she says:

“I thought Hearts and Hooves Day was just a big fad and took the presents just to make you all sad.”

She looks up at Starlight and Sunburst as she says:

“I brought them all back, and though it's not my station I want to now join you in your celebration.”

Starlight and Sunburst both look at each other as Black Cherry narrates:

[The leader couple first were stunned, then they knew]

They smile at each other now and nod as Black Cherry narrates:

[Exactly what they now should probably do.]

They both look at Chrysalis and Sunburst says:

“If you mean what you say, then stay up here with us. We'll take you in and not make a fuss.”

Chrysalis has a surprised look on her face she looks to Twilight, who is in the hot air balloon. Twilight has a smile on her face now as she nods her head in approval. Chrysalis uses her magic to move all the presents and stuff out of the hot air balloon and onto the ground. She then looks to Starlight and Sunburst as Black Cherry narrates:

[The Loveless now said with relief in her voice:]

Chrysalis smiles and says:

“I agree, and I'm now glad that I made this choice.”

She closes her eyes and laughs. Instead of causing a rumbling sound, the laugh instead creates a loud echoing sound that quickly fades away into the air. Chrysalis open her eyes and watches the sound disappear. Everypony around the hot air balloon have stunned look on their faces for a second. They then smile and cheer. They run up to the presents and things as Twilight now gets out of the hot air balloon. As she walks up next to Chrysalis Black Cherry narrates:

[She then told her servant in a quiet hiss:]

Chrysalis turns down towards Twilight and quietly says:

“You know, I believe I could get used to this.”

We zoom out from this scene as Black Cherry finishes narrating:

[Every lover then knew, both the big and the small that the Loveless no longer had no love at all.]

We hear two hooves being clopped together and a white light flashes on the screen. We're back at the table and Twilight has her eyes closed. She opens them and then smiles as she looks to Black Cherry and says:

“Promise me there won't be any more rhyming for awhile.”

Black Cherry smiles and says:

“Don't worry, I'm all rhymed out. We'll go back to a normal session next time.”

A letter suddenly appears in front of Twilight. She opens the letter and reads it out loud:

“Dear Twilight: The dragon who wanted to sleep on pillows tried it for a couple of nights. He couldn't get comfortable on them, so he asked for them to be sent back to Ponyville. Use them how you like. Your friend and dragon lord, Ember.”

Twilight looks to Black Cherry and smiles as she says:

“Looks like I'm going to be stuck with a whole bunch of unneeded pillows for the next little while.”

Twilight and Black Cherry close their eyes and laugh for a couple of seconds. They stop laughing and open their eyes while looking at each other.

CUE CREDITS

Episode 20: A Mind is a Wandering Thing.

The cold open has the first bit of the first episode, plus some choice bits from the previous episode.

OPENING CREDITS ANIMATION!

We open with Black Cherry in his house sitting at the table with the Burrows and Bugbears stuff on it. He has a piece of paper on the table and he has his eyes covered with one of his hooves. He says:

“The very thought of you makes me believe pyrite is really gold. Even with knowing I'm a fool for doing so. My heart was as hard as diamond before you came along. Now, it is as soft as any talc you would find out in the wild.”

We now hear a knock at the door. Black Cherry pulls his hoof away from his eyes and looks over at the door with a surprised look on his face. He puts the piece of paper away and then looks at the door with a smile on his face as he says:

“Come in!”

The door opens and Fluttershy nervously walks in. She asks:

“You wanted to see me?”

Black Cherry says:

“Ah, yes, of course. Please, come in Fluttershy. We have much to do.”

Fluttershy closes the door behind her and walks over to the table. She sits down and smiles as Black Cherry says:

“Now, you should be aware that as of now you and Rainbow Dash are the only two left who haven't been on a solo mission yet.”

Fluttershy nods her head and says:

“Yes, I was told you wanted to see me about that.”

Black Cherry says:

“Indeed I did. I have a mission that's suited just for you.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Can you give me a clue as to what it's about?”

Black Cherry says:

“The only hint I'll give you is that it involves finding and escorting a certain animal back to where it aught to be.”

Fluttershy says:

“I like it already.”

Black Cherry says:

“Well then, close your eyes and we can get started.”

Fluttershy closes her eyes. Black Cherry puts on his wizard hat and he closes his eyes. Green flames come out of them for a second and the screen gets filled with black. We now see Fluttershy outside of a tavern with her eyes closed. The ground is now dotted with patches of grass and snow. Fluttershy opens her eyes and looks around at the ground. She says:

“It's not that cold anymore. Spring must be here.”

We see the visage of Black Cherry's upper body up in the sky. He looks down and smiles as he says:

“Indeed it is. It also looks like you have a visitor.”

Fluttershy looks over and sees a brown squirrel running quickly up to her. It stops in front of her and looks like it's in a hurry. It opens its mouth and speaks in pony. It says:

“Please, good druid, you must come quick! You are needed right away!”

Fluttershy has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“I'm needed for something?”

The squirrel looks around and says:

“Yes. You must follow me. It is very important.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Could you at least tell me your name first?”

The squirrel looks at Fluttershy with a surprised look on its face and says:

“Oh, how careless of me.”

The squirrel bows and says:

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ratataskr. I am a messenger of Odin, king of the animals in this region.”

Fluttershy asks:

“What does he want with me?”

The squirrel, who we now know is named Ratataskr, looks up at Fluttershy and says:

“No time to explain. Please, come with me and he will tell you everything.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Alright then. Lead the way.”

Ratataskr nods his head and starts to run off towards the direction he came from. Fluttershy starts to walk after him. Black Cherry asks:

“Is this how you always hear animals when they talk to you? Like ponies, but not?”

Fluttershy looks up at Black Cherry and says:

“Oh yes, it's always like that. Since it's only me right now, you must be able to understand them too.”

Black Cherry nods his head and says:

“That's probably it. You should hurry it up. You're starting to lose sight of your squirrel friend.”

Fluttershy looks over at where Ratataskr was heading and has a look of surprise as she sees that Black Cherry was telling the truth. She now runs in the direction Ratataskr was running.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see a manticore sitting on what looks like a throne with one raven perched on its left horn. It has a very serious look on its face as it appears to be looking around at the other animals in the area. Ratataskr runs in and stops in front of the manticore. He catches his breath as Fluttershy catches up to him. Ratataskr looks up and says:

“Lord Odin, the druid you were looking for, I have found her.”

The manticore, who we have reason to believe is named Odin, looks at Fluttershy and raises an eyebrow. Fluttershy smiles nervously and says:

“Um, hello.”

Odin looks to Ratataskr and, in a deep voice, says:

“You have done well, Ratataskr. You are now allowed to continue your regular duties.”

Ratataskr smiles and says:

“Thank you your highness. I will do so at once.”

Ratataskr runs out of the area as Odin and Fluttershy watch him go. Fluttershy looks back at him and asks:

“So, Lord Odin, what do you need of me?”

Odin looks to Fluttershy and says:

“Normally, I have two ravens resting on each of my horns. They leave and fly all around the world in the morning and come back at night to tell me what they have seen and heard. It's how I know of you and your merry band of pony adventurers.”

Fluttershy asks:

“If that's true, then where is the other one?”

The raven on Odin's left horn says:

“That's just it. We haven't seen hide nor feather of Munin since the evening of two days ago.”

Fluttershy asks:

“Oh my, that is a problem.”

Odin says:

“Ever since his disappearance, I have forbade Hugin from flying off in the morning until Munin is found. I worry about what could have happened to that raven and would like for you to search for him.”

Fluttershy says:

“But I have no idea where to start.”

Odin looks over at somewhere and says:

“No problem. I have an animal here who might be able to help you on your way.”

He closes his eyes and says:

“Hey! Pig! Get over here!”

Out from seemingly nowhere a boar with a glistening golden mane runs up and says:

“Wella-hey-wella-hey-wella-hey now you know very well that I'm a boar.”

Odin says:

“Gullinbursti, you have a pretty good idea of Munin's usual route. Have this pony ride on your back as she searches for Munin.”

The boar, whose name is Gullinbursti, runs up in front of Fluttershy and says:

“You'ra-not-you'ra-not-you'ra-not very heavy to carry around, are you?”

Fluttershy has a surprised look on her face at this question. She smiles and says:

“Well, I am a pegasus. I'm pretty light since I can fly.”

Odin says:

“Enough of this foolishness. Every hour that goes by, I worry for Munin's well-being. Be off at once, the both of you. There is no time to lose.”

Fluttershy gets up onto Gullibursti's back and seems to salute Odin as he says:

“We'lla-do-we'lla-do-we'lla-do our best in finding him, Sire.”

Gullinbursti reels back and Fluttershy holds onto his back. Gullinbursti now runs off in a direction at seemingly lightning speed. Odin and Hugin watch them go. Odin looks up at Hugin and says:

“I do hope they return soon. I am getting impatient with not knowing the goings-on in the world.”

Hugin looks down at Odin and smiles as he says:

“Not to worry my lord. I've heard many a thing about that pony. If I'm right, they'll find him in no time.”

Odin slumps into his throne and says:

“I can only hope that you are. Right that is.”

We transition over to see Gullenbursti now running very quickly over grass, snow, ice and even what looks like some very still water. Fluttershy says:

“I'm amazed at how you can run over water.”

Gullenbursti says:

“It'sa-no-it'sa-no-it'sa-no problem at all.”

As they go, they happen to see another manticore with its paws on the trunk of a tree. It is looking up at the tree with an annoyed look on its face. Gullenbursti stops in front of the manticore suddenly and Fluttershy falls down onto his mane. Gullenbursti asks:

“Heya-what-heya-what-heya-what in the world is going on here?”

The manticore looks at Gullenbursti and Fluttershy as it says:

“There is a good for nothing raven up there pestering my magpies. I've been trying to get them to come down, but they just won't listen to me.”

Fluttershy gets up and asks:

“Did you say a good for nothing raven?”

Fluttershy and Gullenbursti look up at the tree. We get a quick cut to up on a tree branch with a raven and two magpies next to each other. The raven looks like he thinks he's pretty awesome and the magpies are looking at him with smiles on their faces. The raven says:

“I'm pretty important where I'm from, you know. I gather information and bring it back to my lord at night, and I often have many a story to tell.”

The magpies both say:

“OooOOOoooooh.”

The raven, who is actually Munin, says:

“My lord has this large golden boar as a servant too. He has a golden mane that glitters in the sun when he runs at top speed.”

One of the magpies looks down from the branch. It then motions down with one wing and asks:

“Is that the boar you speak of?”

Munin has a surprised look on his face as he looks down. He asks:

“Gullenbursti? What are you doing here?”

We cut down to the ground where Gullenbursti has an annoyed look on his face as he says:

“Lookingall-lookingall-lookingall over for you, bird brain.”

Fluttershy says:

“Please Munin, come home. Hugin and Odin are ever so worried about you.”

Munin motions his wings over at the magpies and says:

“But what am I going to tell Volla and Freyja?”

The other magpie says:

“We might be able to convince our mistress to follow you back home.”

Munin looks up and sighs. We cut back down to Fluttershy and Gullenbursti as Munin suddenly flies down and sits on Fluttershy's head. He says:

“If he sent you to look for me, I must have been gone for longer than I thought.”

He looks over at the manticore and says:

“Hey, manticore, if you're looking for a mate I think I know where you can find one.”

The magpies fly down from out of the tree and each one perches on one horn of the manticore. It takes its paws off of the tree and looks up at them as it asks:

“Is what that raven says true?”

The magpie on the left horn says:

“We have been listening to Munin boast about many things, Lady Frigg. A manticore lord happened to be one of them.”

The other magpie says:

“If we follow them back, you are bound to find his lord.”

The manticore, who we now know is named Frigg, says:

“Yes, that is possible.”

She looks at Gullenbursti and Fluttershy as she asks:

“Will you let us follow you back to your master?”

Gullenbursti looks at Frigg and says:

“I'lla-try-I'lla-try-I'lla-try to slow down as much as possible so you can keep up.”

Fluttershy says:

“If it's any less fast than the speed it took to get here, that will be quite the surprise.”

Munin says:

“Don't worry. When he has to slow down, Gullenbursti will do his very best.”

Gullenbursti reels back for a second and Fluttershy holds onto him again, with Munin unaffacted since he's still on Fluttershy's head. He lands back down and takes off at a slightly slower speed than he had gone before. Fluttershy makes sure to hold on as he does so. Frigg watches this farce go and says:

“I guess I better follow after them then.”

One of the magpies says:

“A mate for our mistress. We never thought we'd see the day.”

The other magpie says:

“You had better get going. We might not be able to see that boar for much longer.”

With that, Lady Frigg runs off after Gullenbursti, seemingly hoping to find a mate she's been looking so long for.

CUT TO COMMERCIAL!

We come back and see the manticore named Odin sitting on the throne with the raven Hugin sitting on his left horn. He looks bored as he asks:

“I wonder if Gullenbursti and that druid are having any luck finding Munin?”

Hugin says:

“Not to worry, my lord, he is very close now. I can feel it.”

Suddenly, we see Gullenbursti with Fluttershy on his back and Munin on top of her head run over in front of him. He stops in front of the throne Odin is sitting on suddenly and Fluttershy falls onto his back again. As this happens, Munin flies off of Fluttershy's head and lands himself on top of Odin's right horn. Odin looks up at Munin and smiles as he says:

“Munin! You're back! I've been so worried!”

Munin looks down at Odin and says:

“Sorry for being away for so long, my lord. I got distracted and was trying to impress a couple of magpies.”

Hugin looks over at Munin and asks:

“Magpies?”

Fluttershy gets up and is now sitting on Gullenbursti's back as he says:

“Here-athey-here-athey-here-athey come right now.”

We now see the other manticore from earlier, known as Frigg, run onto the scene with a magpie on each of her horns. She stops and catches her breath. After she does, Frigg looks over and sees Odin sitting on the throne, not noticing her yet. She has a surprised look on her face as she asks:

“Do my eyes deceive me? Is that another manticore I see?”

Odin looks over and has a surprised look on his face as he says:

“If your eyes are playing tricks on you, then so are mine.”

One of the magpies turns to the other and says:

“Hey Freyja, looks like Munin has a friend.”

The other magpie, who we now know is named Freyja, says:

“We should wait to see what their lord and our mistress does before we do anything, Volla.”

We cut over to Hugin and Munin as Hugin asks:

“Are those the magpies that had you distracted, Munin?”

Munin smiles and says:

“That they are, Hugin. I don't think you can blame me either.”

Frigg walks right up to Odin and says:

“You must be the only manticore I've seen in a very long time. I am Lady Frigg. Please, tell me your name.”

Odin smiles and says:

“Good day to you, Lady Frigg. I am Odin, king of this area. It appears Munin got distracted from his duties. To be fair to him, I have been pretty lonely without a queen to share this kingdom with.”

We see Volla and Freyja look at each other with smiles on their faces as Frigg's voice asks:

“So, you will let me be your one and only mate?”

We now cut to Hugin and Munin looking at each other with smiles on their faces as Odin's voice says:

“You have come from very far away. I think it would be quite the insult if I didn't.”

We now see Fluttershy hopping off of Gullenbursti's back. She says:

“Now that Munin is back where he belongs, I had best be going.”

Odin looks over at Fluttershy and says:

“Not so fast. I have something to give you as thanks.”

Fluttershy turns to Odin and asks:

“What is it?”

Odin looks at Gullenbursti and motions for him to come over with a paw. Gullenbursti walks over to Odin. He now grabs Gullenbursti by the snout with one paw and uses the other paw to break off one of his tusks. Fluttershy has a concerned look on her face as she says:

“Oh my, that looked painful.”

Odin lets go of Gullenbursti and he looks to Fluttershy as he smiles and says:

“There'sa-no-there'sa-no-there'sa- no need to worry. It'll-grow-it'll-grow-it'll-grow back in about half a day, and it didn't hurt at all.”

Fluttershy smiles and says:

“Well, that's good to hear.”

Odin is now holding the broken off tusk and smiles as he says:

“Take this boar tusk as thanks for returning my silly raven back to me.”

He looks to Frigg and says:

“Now, we make preparations for the coming wedding that will take place.”

Frigg has a big smile on her face and says:

“Oh, I'm so excited!”

We now zoom out from this scene as Black Cherry's voice says:

“And so, with Munin back with Odin and a manticore wedding drawing near, you take the boar tusk with you as a reward back to the tavern for a job well done.”

We hear Black Cherry's hooves clop together and a white light flashes on the screen. We're now back in Black Cherry's house with Black Cherry looking at Fluttershy, who has her eyes closed. She opens them and looks at Black Cherry as she smiles and says:

“I didn't know there were two manticores in the game world.”

Black Cherry says:

“There wasn't. I made another one just so that Munin would have a reason to not go back to Odin for awhile.”

Fluttershy says:

“I would never have thought I would get a boar tusk as a thank you gift.”

Black cherry says:

“Well, they are animals. They didn't have much else to give you, so you got that.”

Black Cherry then says:

“Now get out of here and tell the others to come back for the next session. I have something very special planned and I want you all to be there for it.”

Fluttershy gets up and says:

“I think I'll do just that.”

Fluttershy walks over to the door of Black Cherry's house. She opens it, goes through and closes the door behind her. When she's gone, Black Cherry reaches down and puts the piece of paper we saw earlier on the table. He covers his eyes with one hoof and says:

“When you smile, it is so beautiful. Like a fissure vent opening up without warning. If we were to grow old together, my love for you would never be weathered.”

Black Cherry now starts to take his hoof off his eyes as he starts to look over at the piece of paper while he asks:

“As well, the copper we share will never be tarnished?”

He now looks close at the piece of paper and reads it. After a couple of seconds, he closes his eyes and smiles as he says:

“Yes! Another bit memorized!”

Black Cherry now opens his eyes and says:

“Alright, moving onto the next bit.”

CUE CREDITS.