Nightmares and Harmony

Chapters

Dusty Old Books
A Swish of a Welcome
An Apple a Day
My Coiffure?
Green, Gorgeous, and Gummy
You Call THIS a Party?
The Nightmare Begins
To Save the World
The Best Polisee
Shadow Bolts
Figmentation of Imagination
A Ravaging River
The Test
The Elements!
Quite Contrary
Epilouge

Dusty Old Books

Pinkiamenia Dawn Pie was a name known by many ponies. Unfortunately, it wasn't just because she was the personal student of Princess Celestia. Many ponies knew this pink ball of energy because of her extravaganzas. These were over-the-top parties full of everything one could imagine. Yes, even including the kitchen sink. These so-called-parties were so full of extreme games, decorations, and food that ponies who have attended such a party would label it a disaster.

Princess Celestia had taken on this filly as a protégé because her magic was impressive, but rumor had it the true reason behind this decision was to mitigate disater. Supposedly, Pinkie's magic was even more hazardous than the mare herself. The princess had recently cut back on Pinkie's party privileges, a decision with which the many nobles of Canterlot were undoubtedly pleased. Now a full-grown mare, Pinkie prefers to goes by her middle name, Dawn, because it seems more fit for a unicorn of her caliber. (And it definitely had nothing to do with Prince Flash Sentry at all.). Nowadays, she spends her time learning spells and simply planning extravaganzas.

On the day before the Summer Sun Celebration, Dawn searched her library for anything on "essential party elements." Even though Princess Celestia had given her this room and filled it with books several years ago, this was probably only the fifth or sixth times she actually used it. Books had never really been her thing, as she preferred to learn from experience. However, books were currently her only research material as the princess had denied her request to host a party once again. Dawn was sure that once she had planned the perfect party, Princess Celestia would let her throw it. After all, why else would the princess have gifted Dawn a book about party planning? If only this first chapter had explained exactly what the 6 essential party elements were. It would have made this search 1,000 times easier.
she was researching essential party elements with her assistant dragon, Gummy, when he came across a book titled, "Elements of Harmony."

"Hey Dawn!" Gummy, Dawn's assistant dragon, called across the room. He was standing on one of the shelves about 12 hooves high, waving a gold-trimmed leather book titled 'Elements of Harmony.' "This one looks interesting."

Dawn grabbed the book with her telekinesis and brought it over to a stand to read. Gummy climbed down from the shelves and made his way over to her. Glancing at the cover, Dawn commented, "Elements of Harmony....hmm, maybe it has something to do with singing? That would be a GREAT addition to our summer celebration."

"I didn't know Princess Celestia put you in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration." Gummy remarked as he watched Dawn flip through the book.

"She didn't. At least not yet." Dawn turned to look at her assistant. "But one of these days, she might give me the privilege and I'll be ready!" Dawn turned back to the book, which had landed on a page titled: 'Mare in the Moon.' This chapter probably contained some songs for Nightmare Night. Not one to pass up an opportunity to plan any kind of party, Dawn decided to read through the chapter. As she flipped the page to continue reading, dust floated in the air, causing Dawn to sneeze. Hopefully, the information she gained would be worth going through these dusty books.

Unfortunately, Elements of Harmony wasn't a book about singing, rather it appeared to be some kind of history book.
Normally Dawn would immediately throw this book on the floor for Gummy to put away, but something about what it contained made her keep reading. Her hooves tapped rhythmically on the ground, a side effect of her anxiousness. Deciding to start again from the top, Dawn flipped back to the first page and began reading aloud. "The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!" What had started as simple hoof-tapping grew into a dance. The party pony was both nervous and excited. She was nervouscited! "Oh foal, I got to tell the princess right away! Gummy! Where's the paper?"

"Wait? Right now?" Gummy questioned, "Maybe you should wait, the Princess is kind of working on the Summer Sun Celebration right now. Maybe you could tell her in a week?"

"That's just it, Gum! The thousandth year of the longest day is the Summer Sun Celebration! There's not a moment to spare."

"Okaaaay. Whatever. I'll write, you talk."

"My Dearest Teacher," Dawn started, "I write to inform you that we are on the precipice of disaster!"

"Prec-Precip....uh?" Gummy interrupted her, utterly confused.

"....Huh. I don't know." Dawn paused. Suprisingly, she didn't remember learning that word. Let alone how to spell it. "That word came out of nowhere. Brink. B-r-i-n-k. Brink. Use that instead."

Gummy nodded, scratching out the other word and inserting the new one.

Dawn continued. "For you see, while I was researching essential party elements, I discovered that the mythical Mare in the Moon is, in fact, Nightmare Moon. She's about to return to Equestria, and bring eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this awful prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Pinkiamenia Dawn Pie."

"...P-i-e. Pie." Gummy muttered. "All finished."

"Send it to the princess."

"Are you sure?"

"Gu---ummy. We already went over this."

"Fine." Gummy tossed the letter into the air and exhaled, shooting small green flames around the paper. Both flame and paper disappeared, only to reappear mere hooves from the Princess's face. It was the only bit of magic Gummy could do, as he was still technically a baby dragon. The pair had discovered this useful fact many years ago when Dawn was still a filly. She often used this to her advantage, playing a few pranks here and there. No matter what situation she was in at the moment, Princess Celestia would receive the letter mere seconds after it was sent. That led to some rather unpleasant situations for the monarch, and some rather long lectures for the student. Gummy prayed that she was alone in her room this time.

"There, you happy?" Gummy stated more than asked, rolling his eyes in the process.

"Very." Dawn replied, ignorant of Gummy's sarcastic tone. "I know the princess will want to take immediate action."

Seconds later, Gummy burped.

"See! I told you she'd want to do something about this." Dawn exclaimed, stomping her hoof for emphasis. This somehow triggered her magic, as Dawn soon began floating through the air haphazardly. "Whoo-hoo!" Dawn pumped her front hooves in the air, enjoying the random magic. "Hey Gummy, would you read it to me?"

Reluctantly the dragon unrolled the scroll to read. You know, sometimes he wished he had been hatched by that older mare, Cadenza. At least she was level-headed...and grounded. Clearing his throat, Gummy began to read. "Dear Dawn, You know that I admire your dedication to planning, and that I value your magical discoveries,"

Dawn cheered.

"-But when did you start reading dusty old books?"

Dawn crashed into a nearby bookshelf. She was on the ground in seconds, covered by a mountain of the aforementioned 'dusty old books'.

"What?" She gaped, completely taken aback. "I thought she'd be proud I read a book that wasn't about parties or planning or party planning."

A Swish of a Welcome

Although only an hour had passed since the pair had received the letter, Dawn and Gummy were in the air on "Celestia's Express" (as Dawn called it). Now Dawn would never go against her mentor and princess. No pony would ever believe such an accusation, in fact, it was quite appalling to suggest. However, by no means did that mean Dawn couldn't, nor wouldn't, spend the entire 40-minute flight complaining to Gummy and thoroughly explaining why there were exactly ninety-two-and-a-half other things she'd be better suited to do.

Before Dawn could explain why her last reason only counted as half a reason, Gummy suggested they review the letter once more before they landed, just in case they had missed something in their first read-through. The little drake could almost hear the twin sighs of relief from the two guards pulling the chariot when Dawn agreed to let him read it once again. Well, it could more accurately be described as Dawn visibly deflating and giving Gummy a non-commital 'Yeah, sure, whatever' as she leaned over the side of the carriage. Gummy grimaced as he unfurled the letter. Ever since Celestia had cut-off Dawn's privileges to throw parties, she had been getting more and more depressed. He couldn't even convince her to come to Saffron's party yesterday because she was so obsessed with finishing planning her 'perfect party' for Princess Celestia. Hopefully, she'd actually make some friends, like Celestia wanted her to.

"...My dear Dawn, there is more to a young pony's life than simply planning. So I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and the event itself, in this year's location: Ponyville. Also, I have an essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"

Dawn harrumphed.

"Oh, come on Dawnie. Look on the bright side. You'll be planning the best party of the year! Aaaaand the princess arranged for you to stay in an old cafe."

"Well, I guess that's cool. But it's not like I'm actually planning anything. Just overseeing." The unicorn pantomimed writing as she looked off in the distance. Slumping over the railing, Dawn recalled how Princess Celestia had seriously downgraded any soirees the young mare had tried to throw in recent years. She was no longer put in charge of anything that had even an air of importance to it. In fact, the Princess hadn't even let her throw a single party in months! Dawn had begun to wonder if she was worth anything at all. Party planning was her special talent, after all. Dawn had refused to let herself mope about Celestia's new rules, in fact, the situation had only pushed her harder into her studies and party planning. If Celestia wasn't happy with her parties, Dawn would finally plan, and throw, a party fit for a princess. Of course, that was what she had been working on when this whole fiasco had started. Dawn was so close to perfection, she could feel it! But now she was pulled away to do something boring called 'overseeing.'

"I bet if you do a good job, the princess will let you plan something else." Gummy singsonged, desperately trying to cheer up his best friend.

"You know what? You're right!" Dawn stomped defiantly on the carriage floor, causing the carriage to lurch as it came to a landing. The stallions pulling the carriage whinnied in opposition; it was uncomfortable for everyone when the carriage was rocked. As Dawn and Gummy stepped out of the carriage, the former apologized. "Sorry about that, good sirs. And thank you very much for the ride."

The pegasi, ever the silent type, simply bowed their heads in response before taking to the skies once again. They left quite quickly, leaving Dawn wondering if they didn't want to stick around Ponyville for some reason. Gummy, on the other hand, knew it was Dawn the guards weren't keen on sticking around.

Regardless, Dawn turned back towards her companion and continued, "I'm going to blow the princess out of the water with my amazing 'overseeical' skills so much so that she'll realize how capable I am of being put in charge of planning this celebration next year!"

With a relieved sigh, Gummy pulled out the checklist he had been given. Thank goodness Dawn's mood had turned around. Otherwise, it would have been a long day. "Well, let's see if anypony knows where the food is being taken care of." As if on cue, a purple pegasus with three gears for a cutie mark approached them. The pegasus had a windswept, indigo mane and tail, each with a hot pink strip down the side. Dawn opened her mouth to ask the pegasus, but was cut off by a resounding GASP as soon as said mare caught sight of Ms. Pie and made to jet off to the skies. Dawn reacted quickly, grabbing the pegasus with her magic and pulling her back to the ground. She was in no mood to deal with crazy today. She had to make sure everything was perfect for the princess.

"Before you fly off to who knows where again, could you please be a more polite pony and give me some directions?" Dawn asked, her voice dripping with all the distaste of a Canterlor noble pony.

The pegasus's eyes were wide as she realized she was no longer in mid-air. "I'm, er, sorry." She finally managed. "Where are you heading to?"

Dawn looked to Gummy who read off his checklist. "Banquet Preparations: Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sweet Apple Acres? Well, that rules out that area." The pegasus questioned, mumbling the second part to herself. She began to flap her wings, lifting her a few hooves off the ground. "Yeah, yeah, my friend lives there. It's that way." She pointed to the right, towards the edge of town. "There's a large red barn. You can't miss it."

"Thank you." The unicorn huffed. She was about to turn away when she realized she had forgotten some basic etiquette herself. "By the way, my name is Pinakamenia Dawn Pie, and I am in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration this year." Dawn struck a bit of a noble pose, hoping to get the pegasus to show some respect.

However, the pegasus seemed to do quite the opposite as she mimicked Dawn while hovering in the air. "Well, I'm Twilight Swish. Nice to meet you. See yaaaaa." She took off through the air again and dashed over the pink pony's head, apparently quite determined not to be magically caught once more. This 'Twilight Swish' was out of sight by the time Dawn turned her head to watch the pegasus leave.

"I feel like that mare would be in the Wonderbolts." The unicorn muttered under her breath, starting on the path to Sweet Apple Acres. "Although that attitude." She added absentmindedly. Gummy shook his head in disbelief. It seemed Dawn making friends was going to be a lot harder than he or the princess originally anticipated.

An Apple a Day

The path to Sweet Apple Acres was a decidedly long one, as Dawn was a sedentary pony, and the orchard sat just outside the opposite edge of town. She tried to focus on happy thoughts, like the cafe she was going to stay in, the nap she was going to take, and the preparations she was going to make. It didn't quite bring a smile to her face, but it sure made it easier to fake one. Finally, a big red barn came into view. Truly, it was impossible to miss. with head held high and a smile plastered, Dawn walked confidently into the farm.

Before she could open the gate, Dawn was distracted by a pair of mares racing across the field. In near unision, they bucked twin apple trees, causing the fruit to fall neatly into the prepared baskets below. The two mares began to bicker--perhaps about who was fastest or who collected the most apples. Whatever it was, Dawn could not, nor cared not, to decipher it. She opened the gate, alerting the farmers to her presence with its squeakiness. They quickly ceased their debate and trotted over.

With a deep breath, Dawn gave it the ol' college try and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Pinkamenia Dawn Pie--" Her greeting was cut short as she found herself vibrating from the strong hoofshakes both mares were giving her.

"Well howdy-do there, Miss Pinkamenia. It's a pleasure makin' your acquaintance. I'm Apple Jet, and this here's my sister." The orange pegasus greeted with a heavy accent. Dawn could tell she was more of a racer than a farmpony due to the way she kept her hair. Apple Jet let her blonde mane fall loose, quite ragged and wind blown. Even her tail, which she kept in a braid like her sister, was messy with loose strands everywhere. It looked like it hadn't been brushed and had been kept in formation for days with all the twigs sticking out.

"Name's Rainbow Dash," The blue earth pony introduced herself. She was dressed much more practically. Her hair was neatly tied up in a braid, and she wore a classic cowpony hat upon her head.

"It's Rainbow Zap." Apple Jet corrected, "No pony calls you Dash." Her face twisted in disgust at the second name. She turned towards her sister, her face a mix of anger, disappointment, and hurt. "You gotta stop callin' yourself that, Rainbow. You're an Apple, through and through."

Apple Jet turned back to the newbie, forcing a happy-go-lucky smile back to her face. Her emerald eyes still held some pain, but it was crystal clear that it would not be addressed. "We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making new friends!"

"Friends? Uh-". Dawn was cut off guard as Gummy forcefully stopped her shaking forehooves. It had been a full minute since the mares had let go, why was she still shaking?

"So what can we do for you?" Rainbow asked, taking control of the conversation.

"Well, I am here to supervise the Summer Sun Celebration." Dawn replied. She shook her head pushing herself to focus on the task at hoof. She had a mission and a (self-imposed) deadline to meet. "You are in charge of the food, correct?"

"We sure as sugar are! Would you care to sample?" The Apple Jet offered. Was it just Dawn, or was this pegasus going way over the top with her niceness?

Dawn nodded hesitantly. She really did not want to get involved in this family's drama. "As long as it's not too much trouble, though just seeing the variety should be adequate."

"Oh, you got to try the goods the family made." Rainbow insisted, grabbing Dawn and rushing her over to a nearby gazebo with a picnic table underneath it.

Meanwhile, Apple Jet called towards the house, ringing a triangle as she did so. "Soup's on everypony!"

More ponies then Dawn thought even lived in Ponyville, let alone one residence, rushed out of the house, barn, and in from the fields. Each pony carried a food item of some sort, and they eagerly gathered around the table (Although there was no way in Equestria they could all fit around it like a normal family).

There was suddenly an additional presence to Dawn's right. It soon became clear it was the pegasus as she asked, or more accurately stated, "Now, why don't I introduce y'all to the Apple family?"

"Thanks, but there's really no need to--". Dawn started before quickly being cut off by the many names of the Apple Family.

"This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp..." She stopped to take a breath. "Big McIntosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Up'n'attem, Granny Smith, we got guests."

The old green made wobbled out of her rocking chair. "Wha..? Soup's on? I'm up, here I come, ahm comin'."

'Wait. Rocking chair? When had that gotten there?'. Dawn thought nervously.

"Why, I'd say you're already part of the family!" Rainbow Zap exclaimed, throwing her hoof around the unicorn's neck in what seemed to be a friendly manner. However, the squeeze was a little too tight. Was it just her imagination, or was Rainbow Zap purposely pulling her farther away from Apple Jet? The tension in the area was thick, but nopony else seemed to notice it.

Dawn spit out the apple juice she hadn't quite realized she'd been drinking. When had that made it into her hoof? She shook the thought from her head as she promptly removed Rainbow's hoof with her magic. There were more important things to worry about. "Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled," She started, backing away from the table. Surely she could get out of this situation naturally. She had seen noble ponies do it a hundred times. "So we'll be on our way."

The small yellow filly, Dawn believed her name was Apple Blossom or something, looked up at the pink pony with big puppy dog eyes. "Aren't you gonna stay for brunch?"

Puppy dog eyes. Every grown pony's greatest weakness. "...But we have an awful lot to do..." Dawn tried to resist. She really did, but when the whole family let out a unanimous disappointed sigh, it was difficult. Mothers, Fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, distant cousins...and not one of them wanted to see her leave. Did they seriously consider her part of the family already? Could she really convince herself to give up on them like everypony had done to her. After all, with this many ponies in one place, with happy faces, decorated atmosphere, and so much food, it.....it was almost a party.

"...fine."

The whole Apple family cheered. Some quickly running back to the house to bring out even more delicious treats.

Dawn really hoped she wouldn't regret this.

My Coiffure?

An hour later Dawn was already regretting it.

"I think I ate too much piiiiiie." She moaned, holding her belly with one hoof. She felt like a home-made doll -- stuffed and bursting at the seams.

"Didn't know that was possible for you, Ms Pie." Gummy laughed, before turning back to the list in claw. He had been studying it for some time now. "Hmm, there's supposed to be a pegasus pony named--"

"Twilight Swish." Dawn deadpanned.

"-clearing the clouds." Gummy continued, "How'd you know that?"

Dawn pointed up with the hoof she had been using to cradle her stomach. Gummy followed her line of sight to see a certain purple pegasus rapidly busting some clouds. Dawn rolled her eyes at the mare, but then she paused. Did pegasi like clearing clouds? Would they consider that a fun party game? How exactly would that work? Would it be like a passive game they could join and leave whenever? Would...

Dawn's train of thought was dramatically cut off as an onslaught of water rained down on her. Neither she nor Gummy had noticed that they had stopped their walk under the only gray cloud in the sky. At least it didn't seem like Twilight had done it on purpose, as she was still swishing through the sky, clearing clouds and doing loop-de-loops. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you asked), one of the said loops had Twilight swooping right next to Dawn drying her off. However, her mane began to frizz out.

Dawn harrumphed. She could feel the difference in her mane, and she wasn't a fan. While it had been her preferred look when she was a filly, she had long outgrown the style. Not only was it a foalish look, but ponies were always quick to disregard her for it. Perhaps that was why Gummy's reaction hurt so much. Or perhaps it was because while Gummy had also been a victim of the fly-by rain-and-dry, he was completely unscathed. He had no hair or fur, so he didn't understand the difficulty of maintaining it either. Either way, Dawn was unimpressed. He was trying to stifle his laughter at least, but he was failing miserably. He soon gave up hiding it, tumbling on to the ground and rolling with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want." Dawn rolled her eyes before narrowing them. "Just you wait, I'll be the last one laughing."

The laughter stopped mid-chuckle. Gummy stared, wide-eyed at her as she donned a smirk. Dawn was a master of pranks, and that title didn't even touch her when her magic was involved. He had rarely been on the receiving end of her pranks, but he had seen them do some massive (although unprovable) psychological damage to ponies who were. He quickly straightened up and offered, "It's really not that bad once you get used to it." Hopefully that would be enough to dissuade her from launching a one-sided prank war at him.

Dawn's smirk did not fall, even as she turned and continued trotting to their next destination: Town Hall. Gummy, though still a bit stunned, followed after her. He would need to stay vigilant to make sure Dawn didn't get ticked off at him any further.

It took next to no time at all to arrive at Town Hall. Ponyville was quite a bit smaller than Canterlot, which gave Dawn a reason to smile. Since it took less time to get from place to place, it stood to reason that she'd have more time later to continue preparations. With a bit more pep in her step, Dawn opened the doors to the hall. The designer was already there, decorating away to her heart's content. The designer was a yellow unicorn with a styled pink mane and tail. Her cutiemark was a single pink parasol surrounded by blue sparkles. She was currently trying out a selection of ribbons as bows for one of the pillars in the room.

"Too sparkly, too short, too rough, too green..."

"Ahem." Dawn coughed to get the mare's attention. "Are you in charge of the decor--"

"Hold on, I'm in ze zone." The mare interjected, not even glancing back to see the newcomers. It took maybe 15 seconds before she found the "perfect" bow. She then turned to face Dawn, "How can I--" She cut herself off with a loud gasp as she took in the two newcomers.

Well, it was pretty clear that this unicorn was in charge of the decorations. Since Dawn had the mare's attention, she tried her spiel once again. "I'm Pinkamenia Dawn Pie, and I'm just here to check on the decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and then I'll be out of your hair!"

"My hair?" This seemed to rouse the mare from her stupor. "What about your hair?" She asked distressedly.

"My hair? Oh, it's nothing a brush and a curler won't fix." Dawn dismissed with a wave of her hoof.

"Don't tell me you're going to go back out in public like zat!"

"Um, okay. I won't tell you that."

Apparently that was the wrong answer, as the mare quickly seized Dawn in her telekinetic grip and rushed her off to a nearby boutique. Well, Dawn guessed that was what it was. It kind of looked like a carousel: something from old pony lore. Inside the building, there was a fair amount of pony mannequins, most of which were clothed in magnificent gowns of varying colors and styles. What grabbed her attention the most, however, was the catwalk in the dead center of the room. As luck would have it, that was exactly where the yellow mare decided to place Dawn.

Great. Just what she needed. Yet another stop.

The decorator proceeded to try varying mane styles and outfits on her like some kind of doll. "Go on dear, you were telling me where you were from?" She asked Dawn before using her mouth to tighten the strings on the corset. Wait, when had she put a corset on? And why wasn't the mare using her magic to do the tightening?

"I've... been sent... from Canterlot... to--" Dawn squeaked, her face contorting in pain. Why was this pony so obsessed with making sure Dawn looked like one of those stuck-up, insanely rich ponies? Could she please just go home already?

"Huh?" The still unnamed mare gasped, dropping the straps and falling backward. "Canterlot?!" She returned to face Dawn, her newest model. "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living zere! I can't wait to hear all about it! We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I..." She sighed dreamily before something caught her eye. "Topaz?! What was I zinking? Let me get you some sapphires!"

Yep, this pony would definitely fit in with Canterlot's "elite." Dawn had to stop herself from visibly gagging in front of the decorator.

The fashionista rushed out of the room, presumably to fetch sapphires, and Dawn jumped at the chance, literally. She leapt off the runway and grabbed Gummy in her telekinetic grasp. It was okay when she did it. Gummy was a dragon! "Quick!" She exclaimed, "Before she decides to de my coat a different color! I can't be Greenamena Dawn Pie."

Author's Note

4/7 of part one! Over half way to part two (Which I honestly think is better.) My next chapter will debut the last of the main 6, Rarity, and will be out on 9/16/17.

Green, Gorgeous, and Gummy

As Celestia's personal student and said student's assistant walked down the street, away from the carousel building, the former continued to lament about the possibility of being "Greenamenia."

"Besides, my grandmother is Greenamenia. We can't both be Greenamenia!"

Gummy rolled his eyes. "Relax Pinkie. We're pretty far away from that mare." He looked back towards the boutique, which was no longer in sight. "She can't even see us anymore. Just breathe already."

"Right." Dawn followed his advice and took a few deep breaths. Once she had ceased her hyperventilating, she queried, "What's next on the list?"

"Music. It's the last one!"

Both Gummy and Dawn sighed in relief. Neither of them wanted to deal with crazy ponies of Ponyville any longer. Although for the little dragon, it was more like he didn't want to have to deal with Dawn dealing with the 'crazy' ponies; they had all treated him fairly well so far, and they were better than the snooty unicorns back at Canterlot.

As they neared a cottage on the edge of the town, the Canterlot duo heard a choir of birds vocalizing the Equestrian National Anthem, which was led by an amazing voice that could not possibly belong to a bird. Approaching slowly, Dawn and Gummy watched the rehearsal through some nearby bushes. Dawn could just make out that the leading voice belonged to a snow white mare with wavy purple hair. The earth pony had sapphire blue eyes and an equally blue cutiemark, which was an elegant butterfly on the end of a sixteenth note. Knowing that this pony was 'in ze zone', she opted to wait out the entire rehearsal before directly approaching the white mare. This would be a better way to ensure the music was in top shape before heading home for some well-deserved rest.

Directly after the last note was hit, the hidden duo revealed themselves (though Gummy was effectively hidden behind Dawn's fluffy tail) and applauded. Startled by the suddenness of the arrival, the birds scattered to the skies and the leading pony panicked. She looked frantically around for a place to hide but had to settle for behind her mane, which was a short one at that.

In either a spurt of sympathy or as an exchange for the initial lack of craziness, Dawn approached the startled mare as one would approach a frightened puppy. "Hello." The unicorn greeted. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful."

There was an awkward pause.

"I'm Pinkamenia Dawn Pie, and I'm in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration." Pause. "What's your name?"

"Um... I'm Rarity." The earth pony whispered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Dawn leaned in to hear the other mare better.

"um... my name is Rarity." The pale mare repeated, quieter than before.

"Didn't quite catch that."

Now a squeak, she repeated her name. "Rarity."

Giving up, Dawn noticed the return of the chorus. "Well, um, it looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!" She abruptly turned around and left the strange mare to her birds. At least this one wasn't as crazy or obsessive as the others.

It wasn't until Dawn had turned around to fully reveal Gummy that the singer came out of shy mode. She galloped over to the purple dragon and gushed over him. "A baby dragon!"

Gummy straightened an imaginary bow tie, and gave Dawn a look that said something along the lines of 'See?', 'Ha!', and 'I'm cooler than thou.' The latter of which may or may not have been improper grammar, and Dawn may or may not have lectured him on it later, but in his defense, it was only a look.

"Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's sooo cute!" The earth pony squealed.

"Well, well, well...!" Gummy hummed.

"Oh my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say!"

"Well, in that case, we'd better be going." Dawn butted in, magically putting Gummy on her back. She really didn't want her little brother to get a big head. Not to mention, this was starting to get a little weird.

"Wait, wait! What's his name?" The white mare stopped the pink one with her hoof.

"I'm Gummy." The dragon responded.

"Hi Gummy, I'm Rarity. Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?"

Welp, at least now they knew her name. Unlike that other mare.

"Well, what do you wanna know?"

"Absolutely everything."

And that was the day Dawn relived her entire life from Gummy's point of view. His recounting of today was by far the longest section, and Dawn so relieved when they reach the old café. Now to get rid of the animal lover.

"Oh wook." Dawn pointed out in a baby-like voice as she suddenly turned around to face the purple-maned follower. "Wook how sweepy the wittle dragon is."

"Wittle?" Gummy questioned.

Dawn knocked her assistant off of her rump. "Wook, he's so tired he wost his wittle bawance."

"Oh we should get him to bed!" Rarity swooped Gummy up with one of her fore hooves and rushed him inside. Dawn, who was not about to let a stranger inside her home, however temporary the home may be, rushed in after the earth pony and ushered her out, making up some excuse about rest.

Author's Note

Since this chapter is so short, I'll release another one later today or tomorrow. :pinkiehappy:

You Call THIS a Party?

Rarity swooped Gummy up with one of her forehooves and rushed him inside. Dawn, who was not about to let a stranger inside her home, however temporary it may be, rushed in after the earth pony and ushered her out, making up some excuse about rest. Speaking of, Dawn needed a little nap herself. She had just begun up the stairs to scout out a bedroom when she noticed just how dark it was. She illuminated her horn to reveal a large crowd of ponies occupying the entire downstairs of the café, including the five specific ponies she had encountered this morning.

"Surprise!" Everypony cheered, startling Dawn off the steps and consequently returning the room to utter blackness. All other unicorns lit their horns in response and replenished the light. A couple of the ponies nearest to her helped Dawn stand back up.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dawn demanded, stomping her hoof.

A pony came forward, supposedly the one in charge of this....extravaganza. She was a lavender pegasus, one of the five Dawn had encountered that day: Twilight Swish.

"Hi! I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?"

Dawn rolled her eyes in an unamused manner. "Obviously."

"Y'see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all 'hello' and I was all" Deep gasp. "remember? And then you were like 'Before you fly off to who knows where again, could you please be a more polite pony and give me some directions?' And I was like 'sorry' and 'where are you going?' And then you said 'Sweet Apple Acres' and then I pointed towards Apple Jet's home and flew off! Y'see I've never seen you before and if I've never seen you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!"

'Could this mare be any crazier?' Dawn thought.

"And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went" Another gasp. "I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!"

"That's your reason for throwing a...a..." The unicorn searched for the correct word but found none. "...a party? To make friends?"

"Well, yeah, that's what a party is for!" The purple mare replied.

"Ugh." Dawn sighed, leaving the crazy pegasus and wandering over to the counter, where an assortment of baked goods lay. She did not the energy to deal with that pony. 'Perhaps a little snack will boost my stamina.' She picked up a cupcake with strawberry sauce smothered on it and took a bite. Her head then seemed to burst into flames, her mane and tail included.

"Are you all right, Chéri?" The yellow mare from before asked.

With tears streaming down her face, the pink pony put on a burst of speed and raced up the stairs into the largest bedroom.

"Aww, she's so happy she's crying!" Twilight grinned, a mischievous look in her eye.

Gummy went over to the table his friend had eaten off of and examined the setting. "Hot Sauce Cupcakes. Ooh..." He read off a plaque in front of said cupcakes.

Rainbow Zap face-hoofed, shaking her head.

"What?" Twilight asked. "It's good!" To emphasize her point, she grabbed a nearby bottle of hot sauce and drizzled even more on one of the cupcakes and ate it in one bite.

Apple Jet rolled her eyes at the other pegasus.

Hours later, the downstairs party was still in full swing, and Dawn continued to lay on the bed with an upset stomach. She absolutely couldn't stand it. Parties were her life! She had returned back downstairs once the first stomach ache had subsided, but somehow she managed to digest the one thing to which she was allergic: pecans So far, every game that had been played was lackluster: bobbing for apples instead of bobbing for diamonds, freeze dancing without actual ice, and truth or dare instead of Dare or Double Dare. Not to mention, they hadn't even played pin-the-tail-on-the-pony. Surely they could get that one right.

Currently, Dawn was groaning and covering her ears with a pillow. The music was loud and far from pleasant. Besides, in her head it mixed with the sound of a ticking clock, signaling the lack of time left for the prophecy. Dawn didn't have any time to research it or anything, she was way too tired, and there was no getting past that crowd.

The student of Celestia was just giving up trying to keep the noise out when her number one assistant entered the room. The open door caused the annoying bass to rumble even louder in Dawn's ears, which she consequently flattened against her head.

"Hey Dawn! Twilight Swish is starting "pin the tail on the pony"! Wanna play?" Gummy asked.

The unicorn's ear automatically perked up, although she regretted it almost instantly as her headache worsened. "Which pony?"

"Princess Celestia."

"The princess? She's here? At the party? I can't imagine her wanting to even participate in the game, let alone be the pony."

"Heh, heh." The dragon scratched his neck in nervousness. "Actually, they don't play that way."

"The ponies in this town are Kuh-razy!" The magician exclaimed, throwing her hooves up in disgust. "They stay up all night, and can't even get a classic party game right!"

"It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun! You really should lighten up, Pinkie. It's a party!"

"You should lighten up Pinkie, it's a party." Dawn mockingly mimicked her assistant. "If you could even call this a party! Not to mention it's filled with ponies I don't know! Ugh." The pony rolled over and once more covered her ears with the pillow.

Gummy gave up with a shrug of his shoulders and retreated to the party. He shut the door behind him, giving Dawn enough relief from her headache to look out the window at the moon, which still held the likeness of a mare. Just like it had since her childhood.

"Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night. I hope you're right, Princess... I hope it really is just an old ponytale..."

The Nightmare Begins

Finally, the time for the celebration to begin was upon the ponies of Ponyville. Every pony, donkey, or griffon that had come to this chosen town was now gathered in the Town Hall for the grand unveiling of the Equestrian Princess. Unfortunately for Dawn, that meant the whole place was packed, and she was directly next to the subliminal party pony Twilight Swish. Currently, the Pegasus was reading off a list of all of her most exciting moments, the encounter of the unicorn being a close second to their current wait for the majestic ruler.

Ms. Pie also managed to pick out the other, much saner, ponies she had previously met. Ms. Zap was over by the treat table handing out goodies. Floating overhead was Ms. Jet; she tended to growl whenever a guard came nearby (Especially that one colt with the blue hooves who kept returning and trying to grab a chocolate treat.). Ms. Rarity was preparing her choir, though it appeared she wasn't going to sing herself. Pity. Ms. Shy (Gummy had mentioned her on the way to Town Hall, Fleur de Shy was the fashionista from the boutique) had just disappeared through a back door to the stage.

A fanfare drew the ponies' attention to the front. The mayor, whose name was Mayor Mare if the whispers were anything to go by, was currently making an appearance on stage.

"Greetings," The beige mare proclaimed. "Fillies and gentlecolts. As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Everypony cheered.

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, without further ado, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..."

The bird choir began to sing the national anthem.

"Princess Celestia!" The gray-haired mayor dramatically swept her front hoof upwards toward an elegantly carved balcony. A pair of curtains swooshed open with flair to reveal....

Nothing.

Murmurs flew through the crowd like a sonic rain-boom. Where was the princess? Below the balcony, Mayor Mare began to panic.

"Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" The indigo-eyed mare shouted, though her expression read otherwise.

"I love mysteries! Is she hiding?" Twilight guessed.

A brief moment of relief came to the mayor when a figure appeared on the balcony, but the moment was crushed when she saw it was only Fleur, who was wearing an equally panicked look.

"She's gone!" The yellow unicorn exclaimed from the balcony.

"Ooh, she's good." The purple pegasus complimented.

If the audience wasn't worried before, they sure were now.

"This can't be good," Dawn muttered. She was ready to power-up her horn in an attempt to cast a scrying spell when something else appeared on the balcony.

Mist, as black as night itself, swarmed around the area of unveiling. Then twinkling lights appeared within said mist. Next, the black turned to a ghoulish blue, and the mist began to take the form of something. It soon was very obvious what was taking the princess's place: a tall, midnight black mare with the night sky as a mane and tail stood before the gathering of Equestrians. She was a sleek alicorn with obsidian armor and a matching tiara decorated with a crescent moon emblem. This emblem was a remake of her cutiemark: a deep black splotch of paint underneath a crescent silver moon.

The alicorn spoke, her voice resounding off the walls. "Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces." She spat out the last words.

Apple Jet growled at the newcomer, leaping back into the air. "What did you do with our Princess?!" She was about to zoom head-first at the night mare, but luckily, her sister caught the blonde's tail.

Since the earth pony had to use her teeth, her next comment was rather muffled: "Whoa there, Nelly..."

"Why, am I not royal enough for you?" The unidentified mare chuckled with contempt. "Don't you know who I am?

"Ooh, ooh, another mystery!" Twilight exclaimed. "Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Nightwing! No! Black Snooty, Black Shooting--". A cupcake was stuffed into the ignorant mare's mouth, stopping her from any further comments.

"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" The alicorn continued angrily. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"

"I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!" Dawn proclaimed, making her realization known to all. She was not quite sure what had propelled her to speak, as the alicorn was quite frightening and probably lethal.

A large gasp went through the crowd.

Twilight, who had finished her cupcake, put a hoof on Dawn's shoulder reassuringly and whispered, "Don't worry. I got enough candy for the six of us."

Dawn raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, but her attention was returned to the villain, who was speaking once again.

"Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."

"You're here to... to..." Dawn gulped. She couldn't quite say it out loud, for that would make it all too real. That didn't matter though because the Mare-No-Longer-in-the-Moon had already made it so.

Nightmare Moon let out a maniacal laugh. "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!"

Author's Note

And that constitutes episode 1! If you'll be so kind as to notice that this is not completed and that the description for episode 2 is in the description, you will also be reassured that there will not be a hiatus between this episode and the next one.

Okay, I'm rambling.

Anyways the chapters will start to get longer after this and I hope you stick around.

To Save the World

The mayor (who peculiarly now had a brown sack next to her) shouted to the royal guard, "Seize her! Only she knows where the princess is!" She pointed to the black alicorn, as if they needed any guidance.

The pegasi guards flew to attack Nightmare Moon, but the mare was ready. Her mane engulfed the stallions, spitting them out moments later with crippled wings. Then the unicorns took their turn. They shot beams of magic at the night black evil. "You foals!" She shouted back with hatred, firing back her own, more powerful magic. The blue night magic overpowered the royal guards and knocked them unconscious. There, of course, was another pony type to try their luck against the tyrant: earth pony. Nightmare Moon noticed their ascent to the balcony through the back stairs and growled. She was fed up with these imbeciles. They would learn to love her and her night soon enough. With a final laugh to cover up her frustration, the mare no longer in the moon dissolved back into the mist, while the mist itself dissipated.

It was just at that moment that Apple Jet managed to wrangle free from her sister's grasp. (In later retellings, Rainbow lamented that she had simply let go because her sister was no longer in danger.). AJ was above the balcony in a second, but the nightmare was gone. It finally dawned on this farm pony what this meant. "Nighttime? Forever?"

The rainbow mare gasped. "No sun?" She gasped quietly. The lack of sunlight meant bad things for her family's enterprise. In her shocked state, however, something bright and pink managed to catch her eye as it bolted out of Town Hall. "What does she know?" The cyan mare wondered, thinking of how any knowledge at this point would be really helpful.

Dawn, said pink thing, was heading towards the nearest library. She wasn't an egghead, but Equestria has always been without Internet. Once there, the unicorn began searching the shelves. "Elements, Elements, or come on! It's got to be here somewhere!" She searched the historical, geological, and even the fantasy sections, but it was nowhere to be found.

Just as she began searching the 'holiday' shelves, five ponies rushed in through the door. "Told ya!" The purple one exclaimed. That's right. Rainbow Zap, Apple Jet, Rarity, Fleur de Shy, and Twilight Swish were in the library with Dawn; they had followed her.

"You!" Fleur pointed accusingly as her horn lit up. "How did you know? Are you affiliated wiz zat ruffian? Are you a spy?"

"Hold on Fleur." Rarity put a soothing hoof on the yellow pony, causing the latter's horn to defuse. "She's not a spy." The white earth pony turned toward Dawn. "But she sure knows what's going on, don't you Dawn?"

"Yes. I mean no. I mean maybe? Well, I read all about Nightmare Moon back at Canterlot, kind of by accident." Dawn confessed. "Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!"

"Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Twilight read off a title of a brown leather bound book with golden embellishments. On the front of this book were six sparkling gems, all a different color. She had apparently just pulled the book out of a section titled: "E," yet this section was literally the only alphabetical section. Dawn had a bone to pick with the librarian, but considering the situation, that would have to be at a later date.

"How the hay did you find it that fast?" Apple Jet questioned.

"I come to this library a lot. In fact, I often volunteer to assist whoever the mayor picks as a temporary librarian. Thus, I know quite a bit about how the books are arranged here. The last mare, Muffins, I think it was, thought that this system was the best idea." Twilight giggled. "Since nopony could ever find anything, I had to memorize the title of every book and where she kept it."

"That mare always was a little out there." The orange pegasus agreed.

Dawn snatched the Reference Guide from the pegasus and flipped it open, reading from the contents. "Oh. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the--"

"Everfree forest!" All six girls exclaimed as they stood in front of said forest.

"You girls really don't have to come with me." Dawn insisted.

"We aren't letting any friend of ours go in there on their own." Apple Jet protested.

Each of the four gave their affirmation as they passed the unicorn and pegasus, carrying what each of them considered essential for the Everfree trek. Rainbow Zap had a pack full of apples, Fleur de Shy had a scarf and floppy hat(it doubled as a hard hat; at least it was semi-practical), Twilight Swish had a party hat, Rarity brought camouflage, and Apple Jet brought a compass, lasso, and map. Since Dawn didn't bring anything to Ponyville in the first place, she had nothing to bring on the trip herself.

We aren't letting any friend of ours go in there on their own.

The idea of friendship brought a small smile to Dawn's face. It was rather sweet that they refused to leave her on her own in a dangerous place. The concept of danger in the Everfree was brought to life by Rainbow's elaboration about halfway in through the forest.

"Do you know why?"

"Rainbow..." Apple Jet warned.

Ms. Zap failed to heed her sister's warning. "Because no pony who goes in, ever comes out.

Apple just shook her head from side to side. "Tain't true, but there is one thing she's right about. This forest ain't natural."

"What do you mean?" Dawn inquired.

"Dear, it doesn't work like Equestria." Rarity explained. "It grows on its own,"

"And has its own weather," Twilight added.

"And zere iz absolutely no law or order!" Fleur de Shy exclaimed, glancing around at the surrounding forest with despise.

"Oh." Dawn nodded.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling, and the earth began to give way beneath them. The two pegasi: Apple Jet, who was already flying, and Twilight Swish, who instinctively took to the skies the moment the ground slid away, were unaffected by the lack of surface. They had to take a precious moment to start to save their friends.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Author's Note

Anyone know where I can find a gif of Nightmare Moon? I had one when I first wrote this, but it is no longer working.

Thanks to Comickook for Twilight's line about the library.

Also, the picture in this is really rough, because I wanted a picture, but I rushed it. None of them are even wearing their supplies so whatever.

Slowly you can tell the chapters are getting longer. Next chapter will reveal the first element!

I swear there was something else I was going to say... :rainbowhuh:

The Best Polisee

They were too late.

Apple Jet and Twilight Swish swooped down to save their friends. AJ managed to catch her sister before she hit the ground and Twilight Swish managed to save Rarity. Each of the unicorns managed to cushion their own fall just enough to prevent any serious injuries. Fleur, however, appeared to have twisted her front right ankle.

"Uff!"

"Everypony okay?" Apple Jet asked once she and her sister had safely landed. She quickly 'wooshed' to each pony's side, inspecting them in mere moments. Fleur was the last pony to be visited, and AJ was quick to spot the injury. "Fleur! Your ankle! Can you walk on it?"

"Oh, it's fine." Fleur waved her friend off as she properly lit her horn with light spell instead of with a simple telekinesis spell. "Happened all the time back in Cloudsdale." She pointed upward. "We do seem to have a problem though." The double-take appeared to have resulted in all six mares landing in a dark cave. The way they had fallen in had caved, so flying everypony back up was out of the question.

"I suppose we will have to explore the cave," Dawn said, her tone indicating that while she tried to stay optimistic, the truth of the situation was starting to get to her.

Fleur began to lead the way, having spotted a glimmer of light from one direction, when she went to place her hoof back down and immediately cringed with pain. After a second, she added, "I take zat back."

"Do you need me to carry you?" AJ asked.

"No. Zat will not be necessary. I am a model, we are used to walking with three hooves."

Most of the ponies gave her a questioning look, but since Dawn had already begun down the path Fleur had started towards, no pony took the time to actually question her about it. So they began their trek on hoof throughout the cavern. They didn't have to look far, however, for the glimmer of light turned out to be a clear exit not far from where they had landed.

"Aw yeah!" Rainbow Zap cheered, running as fast as she could towards there.

Fleur, however, was faster and by use of teleportation put herself right between the perceived exit and the dashing mare. "Stop!" She cried, bracing herself for impact.

Thankfully Rainbow stopped just inches from the yellow mare.

Dawn stepped forward to confront the pink-maned pony. "Why?"

Fleur didn't have time to respond; it was too late. They had been awakened. A large swarm of bats seemed to explode from the 'sunshine-and-rainbows' opening. Rarity yelped as a specific one got a little too close. The bats all had beady red eyes and sharp fangs. As soon as they realized it, Dawn and Twilight called out loudly, "Vamponies!" And began to try to escape the swarm with their friends.

Dawn blasted some of the bats with her magic, causing them to fall to the ground and de-transformed, but it only hindered their walk. The bats began to form a cyclone around the group, their flight path too swift and too wide to traverse through. It pushed smaller and smaller until the six ponies were tail to tail with each other. Suddenly in a smooth wave of darkness, the batts transformed into pony-like creatures--the only thing that kept them from being described as actual ponies were their blood-red snake-shaped eyes, their batty wings, and their menacing fangs. The color of their coats and hair had a large range, but their consistently dark shade only assisted in striking fear in the six visitors. Some of these vamponies hovered in the air where their bat forms had been, while others stood in a circle around the intruders. No pony dared moved; they were all thinking the same thing: we're toast.

Finally, one of the vamponies stepped forward. She was a mare with a royal blue coat and a fiery red hair. "Well, well, well, look what the mutt dragged in." Her voice was ruffled silk. "It's the rabid ponies that destroyed everything."

"I didn't drag them in, Calleen!" A hovering vampony interrupted.

"I wassn't talking about you, Theemudd." She exclaimed indignantly. "It's an expresssion!"

"Excuse me mademoiselle." Fleur interjected, "what exactly did we ruin?" She used her hoof to gestures to her fellow ponies.

"Our job, our lifesstyle, our freedom, that'ss what." Calleen answered, predatorily walking around the ponies. "It wassn't that bad at first, you poniess didn't sseem to mind our protection." She sneered. "But you jusst had to go and make up sscary sstoriess about uss vampss. SScare the foalss into fearing uss.

"Yess, they were jusst sstoriess like one could tell about a unicorn or a pegasuss, but the kidss believed them!" Enraged, the mare took to the air in a single flap. "It began small." She stopped hissing as her anger grew. "Teens throwing the occasional piece of garlic or a stone with a threatening message." She flew close to Twilight, whispering in her ear. "We never undersstood the garlic, we only avoided those because of the ssmell."

The purple pegasus jumped back in surprise at the closeness.

Calleen flew above the ponies. "But it grew until vamponies were openly mocked and physically hurt. Nopony did anything about it. Even our fellow royal guards laughed at us. We were forced to go into hiding, far away from the ponies, until our princess redeems us."

"Your princess doesn't happen to be a tall, dark alicorn with the night sky as a mane...does she?" Dawn asked, treading on eggshells.

"Yess." Calleen gave the pink pony a severe but questioning look. "How did you guesss?"

"Well, there is an evil alicorn attacking Equestria right now, and she's wearing very similar armor to yours." Dawn explained.

"Are you calling our Princesss evil?" Calleen asked as she landed on the ground. She got real up close and personal with the unicorn.

Dawn backed away. "Maybe?"

Calleen's extended wings began to glow a faint pinkish-red. The glow began to sparkle, and all six girls instantly recognized it as magic, similar to a unicorn's.

"First, you disown us, then you enter our house, now you are threatening our princess?" Her eyes flashed. "You asked for this." A blast of red magic flew out and zapped each individual mare. It instantly transported them to another room, where they sat completely alone.

Not long after, Calleen appeared in the room with Fleur.

"Guess who's the lucky mare to have the leader of the vamps herself as the torturer." The vampony laughed. Her wings glowed as she placed an illusion in front of the unicorn.

Fleur was in shock at what she saw. It was her birthday, the day she was born. The young filly was placed in a cloud basket, the nurse hadn't even bothered to notice the tiny horn on the filly's face. Suddenly, she was falling. No longer was it just a motion picture, Fleur could actually feel the wind in her mane, she could actually feel gravity's tug on her. She was actually falling. She could see the ground rushing up beneath her as she free fell. Being an earth-ground pony in a family of pegasi was a part of her life, but she had always had a fear of heights. During her foalhood, there was many a time when somepony would momentarily forget little Fleur de Shy was not a pegasus. Right now, the unicorn was living her fear.

However, despite the fear, Fleur was able to turn her attention back to the other mare in the room, although the butterscotch pony could see neither the vampony nor the housing. "Calleen, why are you doing zis?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The leader responded, her voice seeming to come from everywhere at once thanks to the illusion. "You forsake us, then barged into our home uninvited, and completely insulted our princess. I already told you this."

"Neither I, nor my friends, ever forsake you," Fleur replied back, canceling the scream caught in her throat.

"Not you specifically, but the rest of you ponies-"

"Not to mention we didn't know zis was your house. The ground just gave way beneath us and zen trapped us in here."

"That's still no excuse for-"

"Also, have you ever stopped to zink about what happened to your princess? Why she never defended you?"

Calleen hesitated. "She left..." Noticing her mistake, the vampony quickly covered it up. "On a very important trip."

"Your princess was once ours too, a zousand years ago, but she was corrupted. For her transgressions, she was banished to ze moon. Now, she is back, and she is planning to rule ze land wiz an iron hoof, never letting the sun rise again."

Calleen was taken aback. She had never thought of that. In her surprise, she stopped her magic, momentarily freeing the unicorn from the illusion. "So?" The vampony asked, her voice wavering.

"Whezer you are nocturnal or not, ze lack of sun will mess wiz your sleep schedule. Many of the plants we eat will die wizout ze sun's light."

"And if I'm a carnivore?"

"The animals you eat will eventually die off from lack of their food." Fleur desperately tried not to picture Calleen eating innocent animals.

Calleen's facade dispersed as she fell to her knees. "No, no, Princess Luna would never do this." She whimpered.

Fleur walked over and placed a hoof on Calleen's shoulder. "The truth is sometimes hard to hear, but it needs to be told never-ze-less."

"You could've just taken it all back, apologized and asked for mercy. But you didn't. You risked your life. You've could've angered me further into doing something worse." Calleen listed, confused. "But you spoke what you believed to be the truth."

"As zey say in Prance, l'honnêteté est la meilleure politique."

Not understanding Prench, nor wanting to admit she didn't understand it, Calleen admitted something else. "I guess what you said earlier would explain why it's six a.m. without any sunlight." She stood up to flap her wings and shake off any dust. "I'll call of Theemudd and the others. I suppose your friends don't deserve to face their biggest fears." Her wings glowed for a minute before she transported herself and the unicorn back to the previous area, where the other five already were along with Theemudd.

"I apologize for the... inconvenience I cause you." Calleen ignored the grunt from Rainbow. "Although I can't say I completely trust you. That's why I'm sending Thermudd here to follow you."

Theemudd looked at his leader, surprised. "I..I am?"

Calleen growled.

"I mean, of course I am! And I will report any lies to Captain Calleen."

"Glad to see you've decided to address me properly, Private." Calleen's voice held a slightly sarcastic tone.

The stallion whimpered briefly before turning the attention off of his foul. "This way ladies, the official exit is over here."

They were escorted by the male vampony out of another tunnel. It was quite obvious from their vantage point on the side of a hill that they were closer than they had been before. The moment they were out of the tunnel, however, Theemudd shot up into the sky and seemed to vanish. Deciding to find out something else before investigating the supposed invisibility spell used by the vampony, Dawn asked her fellow ponies if they knew why they had been freed.

Fleur, after a little persuading, recounted what had happened when they had been taken to their individual rooms.

"I can't believe you did that," Dawn commented, surprised. "Honestly, I was on the verge of begging for mercy before we were saved."

"What was I supposed to do? Lie? Zat would've made matters worse in ze end."

Dawn had to agree with that thinking, and she kept to herself for a while, mulling things over.

Her thoughts were later interrupted when the fillies noticed a swish of what appeared to be lightning across the sky.

Author's Note

And the chapter size has practically doubled! Other than Dawn, I think Fleur is my favorite character. Well, maybe not as much as Rainbow Zap. RZ is 20% cooler than RD

Shadow Bolts

Later on, the fillies noticed a swish of what appeared to be lightning across the sky.

Then there was another one.

And another one.

They were coming faster now, much more rapidly. It reminded Dawn of shooting stars. Stars which tended to stay in the sky. One of these streaks, however, fell right into the mares' path. Whatever it actually was continued to burn brightly in front of them. Not wanting to get singed, they all stayed a good 10 hooves (5 ft.) away. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, expecting the flame to die out, or something. Once it had been established that the flame was not going to go out anytime soon, the group began to converse about how they were going to continue on the path. The fire blocked the entire path, and the forest on either side was grossly entangled. Rainbow volunteered to make a path, using the argument that she was a big, strong earth pony, but her sister quickly shot that idea down.

"My sister ain't going to be going through that there woods by herself."

"AaaaaJaaaay"

"There ain't nothing to it."

"So what are we going to do?" Twilight asked, gesturing to the flame.

Dawn gazed at the fire as the wheels in her mind began to turn. "Perhaps we should all try our own measures."

So, each pony attempted her best idea. Dawn magically summoned water and dumped it over the flames, but the fire resistant. The water just poured over the flames as if they were crystal and flowed to the surrounding flora, which soaked the water up in an instant and grew even stronger. Apple attempted to put out the fire with her wings, which Rainbow swore would work. Twilight took a similar approach, but also blew on it as if it were a gigantic birthday candle. Fleur, ever the one for the obvious route, simply tried to walk around it with a magical shield around her. However, the flames launched at her and tore through the shield, forcing her to run back to the safety of her friends.

While all this was going on, Rarity was able to make out a figure in the fire. It was that of a pegasus mare with spiky hair (a sure sign of a fast flyer). "Is that....a Wonderbolt?" She asked, squinting at the figure in front of her. Whoever it was, she was definitely wearing flight goggles.

"No...." A new female voice croaked, her throat full of smoke. The figure within the fire was speaking, or, well, trying to. She attempted to stand up, but had only been able to make it to her forelegs before quickly collapsing again on the ground.

Still the only one of the travelers to notice this figure, Rarity began to devise a plan to save her. By the time Rainbow began her complicated plan of using a combination of vines, trees, and other forest materials to launch themselves over the fire, Rarity had to go with her instinct. The white mare resorted to hitting the highest note she could muster. Everypony froze, then slowly turned to look at her in astonishment.

"Before you kill yourself," Rarity stated, bucking all of the cyan mare's supply into the woods. "Take notice of the fire itself."

The earth pony seemed to tug on a string on her camouflage before pointing at filly inside. "There is a mare in there, and she needs help." As an afterthought, she added, "Also, if you'd care to notice, there's no smoke coming out, so the fire is obviously magical."

Wearing her now slightly shinier camouflage, Rarity cantered right into and out of the fire, carrying a night-sky blue pegasus on her back on the way out. The flyer's hair was a royal blue and she wore a full body suit that was midnight black with a single white lightning bolt on her flank. She was coughing up a storm as she was set down away from the fire.

"You poor thing! Are you alright?" The purple-maned mare asked as she began to perform various tasks to help the wounded flyer. She even started singing a soft tune to soothe the pegasus, which was surprising to the Ponyvillians, since Rarity never sang in front of anypony. As the other mares stood shocked, Dawn nearly face-hoofed. Of course, she should've noticed the magical properties of the fire. She was the Princess's special student after all.

A few moment's later, Rainbow pointed out, "Look, up there! It's the Wonderbolts!" Sure enough, there were other flyers in the sky who had the same coat and mane colors as the fire-filly and wore the same outfit. The flying group descended slowly in a circle formation around the wounded one. One of the stallions in the group spoke up, breaking formation to help tend to his fellow team member. "Lightning Dust! Are you okay?" He touched her wing, and she winced in pain.

"I'm, I'm alright." Lightning Dust pushed the stallion away and tried to flap her wings. It caused her extreme pain, and while she did not confess, one could see how much it hurt. "I guess I can't fly."

"That would be correct. You should stay off that wing for a few days. Let it heal." Rarity intervened, looking sternly at the injured pegasus. She looked at the other, similar pegasi. "Are you darlings her friends?"

"They're my team. The ShadowBolts." Lightning interjected.

"The ShadowBolts?" Rainbow muttered.

Rarity raised her eyebrows at Lightning, but let it slide. She turned to the stallion, "You guys will have to make sure she stays grounded. She could get seriously hurt if she tries to fly."

"Like this isn't serious?" The stallion in the middle asked, angerly gesturing to his leader.

The earth pony turned her gaze to stone hard at the stallion. "If you think this is serious, you haven't seen anything yet."

The stallion stood straighter and saluted, intimated by the camouflaged mare. The rest of the troop followed his example, even Lightning Dust gave a small salute. Rarity nodded her head and got out of their way. The grounded pegasus was then lifted away into the air by her team. As they flew higher in the air, a few commands from Ms. Dust could be heard.

"Take note of this fillies and gentlecolts, this could work for a new formation. The name? Shining Star."

Rarity then trotted along through where the fire had dissipated, leading her own group of friends as they continued their journey. A few minutes later, Dawn trotted alongside the sapphire-eyed mare and questioned her. "How'd you get out safe? Your clothes could've caught on a fire, and fire protection is like a level 8 1/2 spell! Only the very top of the class at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns could perform that spell. I didn't know a unicorn, let alone an earth pony, seamstress could perform such a spell."

"The camouflage wasn't enchanted." Rarity confessed. "It was enforced with a fire resistant material."

"But even fire resistant material would get a little singed."

Rarity shrugged. "What really matters is that Lighting Dust is safe."

Dawn fell to the back of the group as she contemplated this new development. This mare was willing to risk her life for somepony she never even met. All this thinking and pondering and understanding was starting to hurt the pink pony's head, but whether she was glad or not about being interrupted was something no one would ever know.

Help!

Author's Note

Hehe. I guess we won't have any 'learn to be aggressive' episodes for Rarity's counterpart. :duck:

Figmentation of Imagination

Help!

"Did you hear that?" Twilight asked, frantically looking back and forth to locate the caller.

"Hear what, darling?" Rarity questioned, having not heard the cry.

Help me!

"I heard it too!" AJ exclaimed, taking a defensive stance. "Ah can't make out what they're saying though." She rotated her ears in all directions, trying to make out what was being said and which direction it came from.

Please! Please hurry!

"It came from zat direction!" Fleur called, pointing with her hoof before taking off to find whatever had made the plea. All of the others followed her quickly, Dawn, however, was a little reluctant.

"Really?" She said, far enough behind the group that no one heard her. "We're going completely out of our way here to help something that might not even need our help? We know nothing about this creature, and we are on a mission to save Equestria!" She paused in her trek and dialogue. "Well, I guess I don't really need to follow them, I could just wait for them. Or I could go on without them." She looked at the trail in front of her and then in the direction everypony else had galloped. Once. Twice. Three times. Then she sighed.

" ...Buuuuut they stuck by me through everything else. I guess it's my turn." She galloped at full speed ahead, following the mares who had so bravely stuck by her so far.

She was shocked to find AJ and Rainbow arguing fiercely. Sure, she had seen them get into a few disagreements, but it had never been this bad.

"You ain't even mah sister!" Apple Jet yelled at the earth pony. "What makes you think you'll get the farm?"

"Yeah? Well, you don't even have an apple on your flank! How can you call yourself an apple?" Rainbow Zap shot back, tears streaming down her face. "What, do you expect to get the farm for yourself? You? A Pegasus? At least I can work the farm!"

"Oh, and Ah can't?" The orange filly was really riled up now. Her wings flew out from her sides, almost slapping Pinkiamenia in the face. "I could do twice the amount of work you could."

"Girls, girls, break it up," Dawn said, stepping between them. "We have more important things to attend to."

Suddenly, the angry fire of words was turned toward the unicorn.

"Oh look who it is." Snorted the pegasus, her voice sounding unnaturally sinister. "The precious pink student of Princess Celestia. Ah bet you think you're all that, huh. You think you're just so high and mighty, you can just tell us what to do, is that right?"

Dawn was shocked. What had caused AJ to start acting like this? "No!" She replied, indignant. "I didn't want you guys to come along in the first place!" Despite Dawn's shock at the change of attitude, the words the pegasus was speaking really hit home for the unicorn, and a tear rolled down her face. Even though she hadn't been able to stop that tear, she refused to be any more visually affected by it.

"Oh is the wittle unicorn cwying?" The blonde mare taunted, circling around Dawn. "You think you can stop Nightmare Moon huh? The Princess herself didn't even believe you could, she tried to steer you clear of that."

As Apple Jet continued taunting her, Dawn felt each jeer like a stake through her heart. Slowly, her resolve gave way as the tears began pouring of their own free will. There was nothing to rebuke AJ with, it was all true! Princess Celestia had to have known Nightmare Moon was coming! Dawn wasn't competent enough. Everypony had always told her that.
She hid her face under her hoofs as she collapsed on the ground. She no longer had the strength to stay standing. The same thing had happened to Rainbow Zap, although she would later be the last to admit it.

The insults kept raining down on the unicorn, but the voice that carried them seemed to change. Celestia, Maud, and even Gummy. Suddenly, through all that teasing, insulting and crying, Dawn's ears picked up the last thing she would even think of hearing right now: Laughter. Removing her hooves from her eyes, Dawn hoisted her self up into a sitting position and looked in the direction the sound was coming from. To her right, she found it was Twilight Swish, who was laughing at a slightly familiar white unicorn. Dawn did not have time to recognize said unicorn, because he or she vanished into thin air in a puff of pinkish-purple colored smoke.

"Wha-". Dawn gasped, rubbing the tears from her eyes so she could see clearly.

"Everything has a logical explanation!" Twilight giddily replied~~--~~As if such a response could answer the given question.

"If the situation wasn't so crazy, I might have been convinced she was normal," Dawn muttered.

"Better get used to it," Rainbow whispered back, her voice still trembling from the cry. "She's also an egg-head..."

Twilight had, by then, zoomed over to to the rainbow-maned mare and pushed her towards the menacing AppleJet, who Rainbow had been inching away from. "Laugh." The accurately named twilight mare whispered. "Trust me."

"Ha?" Although Rainbow Zap's wasn't much of a laugh, the orange pegasus still vanished in a puff of smoke. "Whoa! What happened to 'Jet? I know she was mean, but-". She was cut off by the purple pony who turned her around so she could view the real Apple Jet. The real AJ was being taunted by a Rainbow Zap look-alike.

The indigo-maned pegasus gestured towards the other pegasus with her left hoof. "Go on," She spoke to Rainbow, "Help her to laugh. Your look-a-like's gotta have some funny faces going on."

Rainbow, a bit reluctant, headed toward her sister. The cyan mare came up from behind and put a steady hoof on her sister's shoulder. "Who knew I looked so weird when I was angry?" The earth pony asked, causing the pegasus to look up at the face of the Rainbow-look-a-like. The apparition was snorting, with visible smoke coming out of her nostrils. Her hair was more ragged than normal, and her normally ruby eyes seemed to glow as a red as a fire. The look-a-like's tail, swished back and forth as she crouched in a position that made her look like she was watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce on her prey. Which, in a sense, she was.

AJ let out a snort. "Why, you look like a bull trapped in a lion." She laughed as the look-a-like attempted a snarl. With all the laughing, it was reduced to a high pitched squeal as it disappeared in a 'poof.'

The lavender pegasus, meanwhile, had gone over to Fleur to help her with a green pegasus with a swirly pink mane. She surveyed the stallion until she spotted his cutiemark, a storm cloud. With all the laughter, however, it was beginning to change color and from the angle Fleur sat at...

"Hey Flower!" Twilight called for the butterscotch mare's attention. "This stallion has a cotton candy cloud for a cutiemark. How absurd!"

Fleur de Shy giggled daintily once she took notice of that. It was kind of funny. Although she would have to come back to the pegasus about calling her Flower. The butterscotch mare then went over to share the laughter with Rarity. She whispered something in the white mare's ear, that caused her to burst out laughing. This caused the small white unicorn filly that had been yelling at the earth pony to diessapitate.

"Now you got it!" Twilight laughed gaily as she delighted in the sharing of smiles.

Dawn was now the last pony with an apparition taunting her. Twilight sat down next to her and motioned the apparition forward. It was currently an all gray mare with straight as can be hair. "Challenge this gal to a staring competition, I bet she can't take it." Twilight sing-songed.The pink pony's resolve melted away not too long after that, thinking of the time her sister had stared at a rock for five hours straight, and Dawn let out a big ol' chortle at the kooky. And just like that, the last figmentation of their imagination disappeared.

Twilight cheered.

As they continued to go along laughing, Twilight began to sing, which only made the group laugh louder. (Don't worry, they weren't laughing at her. Twi was laughing too.)

The laughter was brought to an abrupt halt as the group came across a ravaging river. The waves were high and easily splashed any object within 20 hooves (10 ft.). Because of this, Fleur, who was just a smidgen ahead of the others, ended up soaked.

"Why I never." The yellow mare declared.

Author's Note

I just got back from fall break!! Whooo! does it feel great to actually have a break from school. Unfortunately it's over, but hey! you get a new chapter. Plus, a bonus picture:

A Ravaging River

The laughter was brought to an abrupt halt when the group came to a large, violent river. The waves were colossal and sailed into the air and onto the shore. Anypony within twenty hooves was going to get soaked. Fleur, who was at the front of the group at this time, was within that distance and was the beginning cause of the ceasing laughter.

"Why I never." The butterscotch mare muttered. Why was it always the fashionable mares that got their appearances ruined? She was no student of the princess, but she had magical reflexes to boot, so when the next wave came, she was out of the way before it hit.

Dawn paid no heed to Fleur, as she had to control her urge to jump in one of the puddles. She was very jealous when she saw Twilight do it, but they were on a mission to save Equestria, and that came first. Still, a little step in the water couldn't hurt, right? As the pink pony carefully placed a hoof in a shallow puddle, she posed the question they were all wondering: "What's causing this?"

The question was directed at nopony in particular, but some~~pony~~one did answer. "It's my stomach I'm afraid." A mighty and magnificent beast rose out of the ravaging river. His amethyst scales gleamed as the water and moonlight combined their effects. His topaz coiffure did a majestic hair-flip as he brushed his hair out of his face. Dawn identified it as a sea-serpent, the kind of sea-monster that enjoyed parties the most. "I was just minding my own business when suddenly, out of the blue, this awful blue smoke came charging at me. It entered my mouth and exited my tail, as though I was nothing! My stomach started rumbling, and hasn't stopped aching since!"

'Make that an over-dramatic sea-serpent.' Dawn thought as said creature did a dramatic faint into the waves of the sea. This cause the next set of waves to go an extra ten hooves (five feet) and soaked the rest of the group.

"Not again." Fleur moaned, twisting her hair to get the water out.

Dawn surveyed the surrounding greenery. Since they were by a water source, the flora flourished. The pink unicorn noted some blueberry bushes and banana trees. She also caught sight of the flying fish, commonly referred to as pegafish, jumping through the water. Whether this water-beast was a herbivore, carnivore, or an omnivore, there was plenty food for him to eat. Dawn scoffed. "There's plenty of foo-"

She was cut off by a certain rainbow-maned earth pony who hadn't had her time to shine yet. "Oh, come on Pinkie, this fine co- serpent knows where it's at." Rainbow stumbled over her words, remembering she wasn't dealing with an ordinary customer. This was a dragon. How awesome was that? Unlatching her spare saddle bag, she accidentally dropped it on the ground where everypony could see. It was filled with several shiny red apples. The cyan mare seemed to be a little embarrassed over dropping them, but quickly changed her expression. She pushed them back into the saddle bag and offered it to the serpent.

"Rainbow, your Red Deliciouses..." AppleJet trailed off. The orange pegasus knew how hard her sister worked to get the cream of the crop from every harvest. This year's harvest had even been the best they had ever had.

"Hey, I can always get more back home. They're just apples, right?" Rainbow brushed it off like it was nothing, but her sister knew better.

"So could he." Dawn muttered, though no one heard her, or at least bothered to acknowledge her.

"Here you go, good sir, pleasure doing business with you." Rainbow dumped the contents of her saddle bag into the serpent's paw. What once seemed like a bushel of apples, now were like crumbs in the dragon's hand. They were eaten in one bite and swallowed.

"Is zere any way zat could have worked?" Fleur asked, confuzzled when the waves stopped, and the river was normal again.

Dawn was elated, however when she found they could cross the river. Without all the waves, the estuary was shallow enough to walk through. It was like one giant puddle that Dawn got to splash through! Halfway across already, Dawn was surprised when the serpent rose beneath her and gave her a little jumping bridge to help her cross. She was a little disappointed, but at least Fleur wasn't going to be fussing over everypony's muddy hooves again.

The other five were lifted on to the makeshift bridge and they began to hop their way across. The ground on the others side was soft, dry, and grassy. It was as if it hadn't even been affected by the storm of a mess the sea dragon's stomach had apparently caused.

"I guess the grass is greener on the other side." Dawn commented.

Thus their trek continued.

It wasn't long before the castle was in sight. Giddy with excitement, Dawn started galloping towards it. What she didn't notice, however, was that around the castle was something that once had been a paragon in all castles: a wide, deep moat.

And Dawn was heading straight for it.

Author's Note

AGH! I had no idea this was going to be so short! If you want more to read though, I have an AU One-shot that I just put out. Not the same AU, but these two may or may not get a crossover in the future. :unsuresweetie: Never know.

The Test

It wasn't long before the castle was in sight. It stood tall and menacing, but something seemed...off about it. The structure of the building was firm, but the top part-if the light touched it just right- it was almost see through. Twilight frowned as she looked on. She could have sworn this building hadn't been here the last time she did a fly over.

Giddy with excitement, Dawn started galloping towards it. Unfortunately, there was still something that had once been a moat in front of them. The pink pony almost ran right off the side of the cliff before her fellow ponies stopped her.

"Great. Another obstacle!" Dawn pouted, going so far as to sit down and cross her font legs grumpily. "How are we supposed to get past this one?"

"Uh, hello." Twilight waved her hoof to get everypony's attention. Once all eyes were on her, she pointed to her back, where she extended her wings. "Wings. AJ and I can just fly over there and tie the bridge." The purple pegasus pointed to the bridge Dawn had almost fallen over.

"Right." The magician returned to a normal sitting position.

"Race ya!" Apple Jet declared, leaping into the inky skies.

"No fair!" Twilight Swish called, following her friend through the air. "You got a head start!"

One would think that a flight over a bridge would span no time at all, yet for some reason, the flight took a few minutes. Clouds began to conceal the vision of the castle and bridge until all Apple Jet could see were the clouds. She couldn't even spot Twilight, who had, despite AJ's head start, been right beside the orange pegasus up until a couple seconds ago. Apple Jet pressed on, sure that her friend wasn't far behind. Or that far ahead, which was equally possible. Everypony knew Apple Jet was the fastest flier in all of Equestria, but Twilight was the smartest. Whenever they would race each other, they could never tell who reached the finish line first. Not even Photo Finish's photo finish could determine who won.

So Apple Jet didn't have any reason to worry about her friend.

Right?

Before AJ even had any time to truly consider being worried, there was a break in the clouds. Well. that's what it looked like at first, at least. A few moments longer and she could see that the clouds had rearranged themselves to resemble a face. The face had a long horn and a crown upon its head, andApple wasn't sure, but it looked likewings that were spread out majestically behind it. This was definitely an alicorn, so probably a princess. She wasn't the likes of anypony AJ had seen before, but there had been a bushel-load of surprises one this trip already, so the pegaus wasn't too surprised.

"Apple Jet" The alicorn spoke, her voice filled with authority despite the sweetness, like a cinnamon kick in a sweet apple pie. "You have a decision to make."

"Ah--I do?" The orange pegasus stuttered, her country twang making an appearance. Sure, the shape hadn't surprised her all that much, but since when could clouds talk? Next thing you know, they'll turn pink and rain chocolate milk! Well, actually, apple juice would be a better choice. But still.

"Yes." Came the response. A response to a question had to mean it was real, right? Well, at least it wasn't some automated transmission like those 'films' Twilight was always rambling about. "You must choose between your past," Clouds made way on AJ's right to show a golden rope hanging on the cliff edge. She immediately identified it as the lasso her mother had given her before...that last trip. The one she had brought on this trip. It must've fallen out of her saddlebag.

"Or your friend." To blonde's left, she could make out another pegasus through the clouds, hanging on for dear life on a cliff. One of her wings were obviously broken, and she didn't have nearly enough strength to hold on much longer, let alone pull herself up.

"Twilight...." Her green eyes lit up in recognition.

"You must choose Apple Jet." Was it just her, or did that alicorn appear to be crying? "Your future depends on it." The alicorn's voice and figure faded away back into the clouds as quickly as she had appeared.

Apple Jet had to make a quick decision. She took off to her left and flew as fast as she could to save Twilight. She carried the lavender pegasus to the other side and dropped her off. Then, in an attempt to save her past as well, she shot off to where she had seen the lasso. Maybe she could still retrieve the rope. She came to the cliff's edge and looked all around. It was gone. She quickly checked her saddlebag. Her lasso wasn't there either. The orange filly turned toward her friend and sighed. As she looked at Twilight who was safe and sound, AJ knew she had made the right decision. A piece of rope wasn't worth her friend's life, no matter how much sentimental value it had. That didn't mean, however, that the hurt wasn't still there though.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the sad thoughts, the blonde went to help the indigo-maned pegasus in tying up the bridge. By now, the clouds had cleared away, and the four other mares could easily be seen on the other side. Once the bridge was fixed, they came galloping over. Rainbow Zap was the first one across, and she tackled her sister to the ground.

"Are you okay? You scared me! What took you long!?"

The rainbow-maned's sister laughed as she got up. "No worries, sis, we're all fine."

"Yeah! She even saved me from falling!" Twilight exclaimed happily, not visibly shaken from her near-death experience.

The sky blue earth pony just hurumphed in response. She still was not okay with her sister being so reckless all the time.

"Look girls!" Dawn exclaimed, pointing straight ahead of them. "The castle! We made it!"

And just like that, all six mares took to galloping for the castle entrance.

Author's Note

Only one more chapter before the finale!

The Elements!

They all galloped at high speeds to the castle. In the first room they entered, there was a intricately carved pattern on the floor. Ms. Pie noticed it and began to trace her hoof across the nearest line. Rainbow came sliding to a behind her, trying not to knock in the the unicorn. Everypony else followed suit, but none of them stopped in time to avoid sliding into Rainbow Zap. Meanwhile, Dawn's hoof stopped briefly over a circle near the center of the room and both her hoof and ground beneath it sank slightly into the floor. The room began to shake violently as the floor opened up and gave way beneath them. The ponies stepped backwards as quickly as they could to avoid falling through the gap or getting hit by the statue that was rising from beneath. Dawn did a double check. Was there really it something rising up from beneath the surface? There was, and it was a tall pillar with stone arms breaching out from it. At the end of each extension there was a stone orb, and etched into each orb was the shape of a diamond.

"One, two, three, four,...". Twilight counted, pointing with her hoof so she wouldn't loose track. "There's only five."

"Well isn't that just marvelous." Rarity deadpanned, scratching at the ground.

"Five, five, five... Didn't the book say something about that?" Pinkamenia mused, rubbing her hoof under her chin as she sat on the floor.

"When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed." The purple pegasus recited from memory.

"Told ya. Egghead." Rainbow commented, only loud enough for her pink neighbor to hear.

Dawn dismissed the comment and levitated the five stones to the ground. She lowered her self so that her horn would be close to the elements and parallel to the ground. She began to charge her horn with magic in hopes of creating the necessary spark.

"Come on now, y'all. She needs to concentrate." AJ began to place her other friends in a defensive positions around their friend to stop anything from disturbing Pinkie, even themselves. They mostly faced outwards, towards the windows, expecting Nightmare Moon, or yet another obstacle, to come at them from outside.

What the defending ponies failed to notice was the sparkling blue magic that swirled around the elements, faster and faster. It picked up speeds until the elements themselves were picked up in the swift magic. At first, Dawn thought she finally had gotten them to work, but then she realized it was a darker blue than her personal magic. The dark magic was at a full whirlwind now. Sensing that it was about to zap, the pink pony jumped into the wind that did whirl.

It had all disappeared--magic, elements, and pony--by the time the other five managed to turn around. Fleur immediately activated her horn to trace the magic, as that was the only explanation for such a quiet and quick disappearance. All the non-unicorns were confused when a green light began to outline the shape of a tornado where their friend had been. The shape then condensed to a ball of brightly condensed light about the same size as the missing stone orbs. The ball then began to move quickly out of the room leaving behind a thin trail of light which attached itself to Fleur's horn.

After a few moments of the group standing in awe at the remaining unicorn's use of magic, said mare retorted, "Well are you just going to stand there? Follow that orb!"

And follow it they did. The trail led them out of their current room, into the old gardens behind the castle, around the side, and to the tallest tower in the vicinity.

"What if she's not up there? We should split up to find her faster!" Rainbow exclaimed anxiously. She never had been one to trust magic, after all it was one of the many reasons her and her sister had thought up about why she was left on the doorstep. Why should she trust it now, when it was likely a life or death situation?

"But what if she is?" AJ countered. "Rainbow, we all want to find her as much as you do. Have a little faith in Fleur. Besides, Dawn could be in some kind of trouble and need all of us to help. If we split up, we won't be able to help her as well as we could." Her sister always knew what to say to get her to think straight, but that didn't keep Rainbow from being anxiously jumpy.

"I'm sorry Fleur," the cyan mare apologized. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that what if, what if whatever took her is misleading us?" She sighed. "But AJ's right. We're better help as a group."

They were at the base of the tower now, searching for a door.

"Don't be frowny Zappy!" Twilight exclaimed, apparently looking for a pegasus door as she was feeling the stone a full pony's height above the ground. Aaaaaand she was doing it standing on her hind legs. "We can call her name just in case!" And with that, the purple pegasus began to call out a hoof full of different nicknames she had already come up with in the short day(and night) she had known the unicorn.

"Pinkie!"

"Dawn!" Fleur joined in.

"Dahling!" Rarity called.

"Sugarcube!" AJ added.

"Dawn!" Rainbow yelled.

"Key Lime Pie!"

Everypony promptly turned to look at Twilight, who was looking at the stone. Why in Equestria would the pegasus call their missing friend that? Slowly, the stone the lavender pony had been staring at began to move to reveal a passage way. Although four mouths were hung open in shock, the only sound that could be heard was the crunching of stone against stone while the door was revealed from top down.

Fleur was the first to find her voice. "Twilight dear, how did you do that?"

"There's an answer for everything! Even a dessert loving, locked door in need of a password!" The crazy mare then disappeared into the tunnel, and continued to call several other names. "Pinkie! Pinkam! Meana! Minie! PinkiMini! Pinkimiki! Dawn Pie! Sugar coated strudel!"

The other mares shook their heads and followed the pegasus. Why were they still be surprised? Following the crazy mare, the other four called out for Dawn.

Their yelling increased as did their pace when they herd a maniacal laugh and felt the ground shake beneath their hooves. The sound of something breaking echoed in their ears, urging them on even faster.

At the top of the tower, Dawn, who was about to loose hope, heard their cries, and something clicked. The spark, it wasn't magical in the ordinary way. It was something else.

"You think you destroyed the elements?" Dawn laughed, causing the night-time tyrant to take a defensive stance in confusion. "The Spirits of the Elements are right here."

In a blast of dazzling television magic, all six mares were shown in front of Nightmare to be strong, confident, and together. It almost reminded her of the picture of her and her sister, thousands of years ago. Almost. The nightmare within her swatted the image away, back into the abyss from which it had come.

The broken crystals at the alicorn's feet began to rise up, each piece illuminating a different color.

"Fleur, for speaking the truth in the face of danger and not backing down, represents the Element of Honesty!" Shards covered in the pink hue zoom to the named unicorn and float around her.

"Rarity, who saw past her own problems and helped somepony in need, represents the Element of Kindness!" Crystals surrounded in alternately light blue and deep purple magic floated to the earth pony.

"Twilight, who turned our frowns upside down when faced with an illogical problem, represents the Element of Laughter!" Indigo shards flew over to the injured pegasus, who bounced and squealed in joy.

"Rainbow Zap, who gave the best of the best when she could've given her worst, or nothing at all, represents the Element of Generosity!" A rainbow of shards dashed to the earth pony, with a larger amount of them being blue than the other colors.

"Apple Jet, who, when faced with making a choice between her friend and her lasso, chose her friend, represents the Element of Loyalty!"

The nightmare within the night mare shook. Desperately looking for a chance at salvation, she noticed something. "You are still missing the sixth element!" The next part was spoken somewhat victoriously. "The spark didn't work!" She stomped her hoof in triumph.

"On the contrary." Dawn smiled her trademark mischievous grin. "The spark did work. But it was a different kind of spark." The pink pony turned to her friends, seemingly oblivious to target her back made. "When I heard you guys calling my many, many names." She looked directly at Twilight on the second many. The purple pony only smiled wider in response. "I realized something. I realized I had made friends with you, and vice versa, even if it's only been a day." Dawn gave them a wide smile. "And tha---" The unicorn didn't get to finish her "little speech" for a lightning bolt was shot right at her back.

Author's Note

And you thought this was going to be the last chatper! :trollestia:

Haha, it could've been with the next chapter acting as an epilogue if I had rearranged the layout, but I'm a sucker for cliffhangers.

I wasn't lying though, I said one more chapter before the finale. Here's that last chapter before the finale! I promise, with the exception of a potential epilogue dedicated to one of my readers, next Saturday you'll get the last chapter. Just in time for Thanksgiving for all you Americans out there!

Quite Contrary

Dawn didn't get to finish her "little speech" because she was shot right in the back with a lightning bolt. The thunder alone was enough to knock most ponies off their hooves. After the electrical shock, the pink pony pulsed, her mane went flat, and she collapsed on the floor, seemingly dead.

"Sorry about that." Nightmare Moon 'apologized,' her voice sounding victorious and snotty. "It was getting kind of long, boring, and, let's face it, sappy." She grinned laying before laughing maniacally at all the mares' shocked faces. It was such sweet success to already have a few of them on their knees.

Her laughter was cut short, however, when a simple earth pony placed herself between the fallen pink mare and the tall black one. "You can't think you just won like that." The cyan mare spoke.

Nightmare took an involuntary step backwards. Did this earth-bound mare just speak back to her? And without a single trace of fear? At least there wasn’t an element of bravery...

"When the Elements are ignited by the spark..." The lavender pegasus placed herself next to Rainbow, continuing the thought. Twilight couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen this sooner.

"The spark that resides in the heart of us all..." Rarity added, standing beside Twilight.

"It creates the Sixth Element." Apple Jet stated, catching on.

"Ze Element of..." Fleur joined them.

"Magic!" They all spoke in unison.

And with that word, the group was lifted into the air as the magical crystals flew around them faster and faster. The light the crystals created had a blinding effect. The mare f darkness had to shield herself with her wing and hoof. Lu-Nightmare has not seen this many different colors in several lifetimes. Not since that fateful day. Nightmare Moon tried to peek through her feathers, and found that she could no longer see the individual crystals. They now blurred together in a whirlwind of color until they came together in a necklace shape. Suddenly, each necklace glowed even brighter, each with its own color of the rainbow. Rainbow had red, Apple had orange, Fleur had green, Rairty had blue, Twilight had purple, and Dawn had yellow. The lights organized themselves into colored beams in the shape of a rainbow. The rainbow then began to grow, circling itself around the six young mares.

‘Huh.’ Twilight Swish had the gall to think. ‘Dawn’s crystals can’t form her necklace. I wonder what they—oooooh.’

The magic emanating from the crystals, and from the five ponies themselves, lifted the pink pony back to her hooves. On her once again poofy pink mane, there now resided a sparkling crown with her own yellow gem in it. As she opened her eyes, a bright white light shone from them. The rainbow that was swirling around the group decided to address the tyrant in the room and took a shot at her. It raised itself high and then dashed at the alicorn, hitting her horn dead on. It spiraled out from her horn and around her body until it fully enveloped her. Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupted.

Moments later, seven fillies laid on the floor. Twilight was the first one to get up. With a flap of wings she was in the air. "Omybooksomybooksomybooks!" The indigo-maned pony exclaimed. "My wing isn't broken! I can fly!"

Apple Jet chuckled at the filly's excitement. "Is everypony okay?"

A chorus of "yeahs" met her ears.

Rairty pointed to Twilight's necklace. "It looks just like your cutiemark." Her words were true, for the purple gem on her necklace was in the shape of a gear.

"So is yours!" Twilight returned, pointing to the blue butterfly-note.

"It sure is divi-ine." Fleur added, looking at her green colored, parasol shaped gem.

Apple and Rainbow let out an simultaneous "Aw yeah!" At the sight of their gems. The orange gem was a lightning bolt, and the red gem was an apple.

Dawn looked up at her crown, which she couldn't see very well because of her poofy mane, and admired the center gem. Despite the mass of hair, she could tell that it was a yellow balloon connected to a swish of blue.

The six mares looked around at each other, sharing an equal 'what now?' look. Their unspoken question was answered after another, large, blinding light filled the room. It came from an old window, where, if someone could see with all that light, one would witness the sun finally rising.

The overwhelming brightness of the light was banished, and the ponies saw their princess. The yellow alicorn stood tall and regal. Her wings were out at her sides in their full length, and her fiery mane waved in the invisible breeze that was Alicorn Magic. Although the ponies were astonished at the Princess's different appearance, they all hurried into a bow. Dawn's bow was a quick one, before she went to hug her mentor.

"Pinkamenia Dawn Pie," the alicorn affectionately addressed her student. "I knew you had it in you."

The confused pony took a step back. "But you told me it was an old pony's tale." Dawn looked at her princess for answers.

"I told you to make some friends, nothing more." The yellow princess smiled, looking at each of Dawn's new friends in turn. "I also saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return. I knew you were just the party pony to defeat her. You had the magic, but these five ponies you have met also did. Together, the magic of true friendship vanquished the evil nightmare forces." She turned towards the front of the room, where the Nightmare has been standing only a few moments prior.

Meanwhile, the alicorn princess's coat had slowly faded to a more white color, her mane of sunrises faded to sparkling morning hues. The mercies of a new morning were shown, not only in her coat, but also in her speech. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." Princess Celestia Sol addressed the seventh filly—an alicorn with a light blue coat and darker hair. The filly cowered at the sight of the regal alicorn. The filly turned her head away in shame, but the now white mare used her hoof to gently turn the filly to look at her. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, older sister."

"Wait, huh? Wha?" Dawn babbled, expressing what everyone else was thinking.

The older, though smaller, alicorn looked away for a moment, eyes closed, before rushing up to the taller, younger princess. "I missed you too, Tia!" The filly burst out into tears before sharing a hug with her sister.

Later that day, Dawn was granted the extreme privilege of planning the 'Welcome Back Princess Luna!' party. However, Twilight Swish was also granted a position in the actual throwing of the party. Originally, the pink pony was against this, but after seeing the pegasus's amazing party hat at work, well, it was hard to turn down a friend. No matter how increasingly frustrating ‘normal’ party planning was.

The actual ~~party~~—ceremony started when the royal sisters flew in on a royal chariot pulled by four royal guards, two of which were the vamponies Calleen and Theemudd. Everypony Bower before the royals as they stepped out of the carriage. Next, since Princess Luna was still saddened by all she had done, Ms. Swish had arranged for two small pegasi fillies to award the blue princess wth a beautiful flower wreath. Just as the purple Pegasus had predicted, it cheered the princess right up.

The student of Princess Celestia, on the other hand, was saddened despite her reunion with Gummy. The Princess of the Day noticed this and, already knowing the answer, asked a trick question. "Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you may return to Canterlot and studies?"

"Quite the contrary, Princess." The pink pony answered. "Just when I've began to understand the power of friendship, I have to leave the friends I've made."

With a small chuckle, Princess Celestia addressed the nearby dragon. "Gummy, take a note please." The drake did as asked, pulling out parchment and a quill. "I, Princess Celestia Sol." She dictated. "Hereby decree that the unicorn Pinkamenia Diane Pie shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings, from her new home in Ponyville." With each word, the six best new friends grew in their excitement.

"Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!" Dawn shouted in delight. She had never studied anything hard, other than parties, so this promise was a big deal. “In fact, in the spirit of friendship, let’s bring this party over to Sugar Cube Corner!”

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited cause I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I went". Twilight gasped loudly. "But I mean really-"

"Twilight! Stop bothering the readers and get over here!" Pinkie called. "You can't miss out on the biggest party of the century!"

Author's Note

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I have. I’m planning another book in the universe, but I’m not all to certain on when it’ll be out. Not to worry though! There is still an epilogue coming, and it actually takes place at that one divider..

Epilouge

Dedicated to Comickook
Who gave me feedback on every chapter and gave some good dialogue suggestions

The Party Planner

"You know what this calls for?" Twilight asked, once all the tears had disappeared. The four that had lived in the same town as her for years sighed in unison.

"A party?" Dawn ventured since she had been about to say the same thing. Although, she would like to note, she would have said it in a more sophisticated way.

"A par--" Twilight stopped, realizing that, for once, her question hadn't gone unanswered. "That's right! How did you know?"

"I'm the resident party pony in Canterlot, it's kind of my thing."

"Oh." The purple pony remembered how Dawn had reacted to her party ~~earlier that night~~ yesterday.

"I mean, all things considered, a good celebration IS in order."

"Well," Twilight's mood brightened a little bit. "Since I'm the resident part pony in Ponyville we should team up to make the best party anypony has ever seen! No less than the best for the two reigning royal sisters!"

Dawn's smile cracked. "Er, um, I tend to work better alone."

Twilight's face fell once more. She really wanted to work on what would likely be the party of the century, but she wasn't about to lose a friend over a silly matter like that. "Oh, okay. Well, if you need any help..."

Whether Twilight was going to finish that sentence or not is something the world will never know, for Princess Celestia walked over and addressed the two conversing ponies.

"Hello, Dawn, Twilight."

"Princess," The two non-alicorn ponies bowed before their ruler.

Celestia chuckled. Was she ever going to get her ponies to stop bowing everytime she approached them? "There is no need to bow, my little ponies, you did just save all of Equestria, after all." Once they had returned to a standing position, the princess addressed the reason she had approached them. "What were you discussing just now?"

"The welcome back party that Princess...." Oh drat, what was her name again? "...Luna deserves." Dawn replied.

"And the 'Congratulations on Not Getting Destroyed by the Sun' party for you!" Twilight added, earning a disapproving/bewildered look from her fellow party-planner.

"Ah, I see." There wasn't that much more that could be said about a party like that. At least her student was starting to realize just how ridiculous certain parties were. "I assume you two have already decided to work together? I cannot imagine a better party than one put on by the two greatest party planners in all of Equestria." Celestia smiled that trademarked princess smile at them, knowing full well that had not been the two's plan up until now.

"Um, er, we were just talking about that, Princess, but, um, we hadn't quite decided whether to team up or not." She paused as she saw Twilight's face light up like a Christmas tree; her smile was a little too big. Look away! Look away! "There's also the matter of whether you were going to let me plan you a party or not. You haven't let me in years."

"Of course you may. I look forward to attending the party you two put on together." At least there were some perks to being a beloved princess. Since ponies would bend over backward to make her happy, she might as well use it to their advantage.

Later that day, on the ground floor of Sugar Cube Corner....

"Oh come on! That is not how you play pin the tail on the pony! Everypony knows that!" Dawn yelled, yanking off the paper drawing from the wall.

Twilight had tried to maintain her composure, she really had. That was the fourth game Dawn had ripped off the wall, table, or floor, and the fifth game that she had shot down. Twilight had understood when Dawn explained that Charades was hard for an Alicorn Princess. She had nodded her head when Dawn revealed how easy Pictionary was for unicorns, and had bit her tongue when the unicorn threw the paper and quills into the trash. She had laughed when Dawn showed her how she played Sorry, the pies in the face had been amusing. Unfortunately, Dawn refused to play the game the harmless way and blamed Twilight for being the reason that party game was off the table. (Ignoring the fact that Dawn had literally swiped the board off the table.) Twister had been a disaster, who in their right mind used actual twisters to play that sort of game? But Pin the Tail on the ACTUAL PONY? That was one step too far.

Her wings and temper flared as her voice rose with every word. "How dare you." It started out small and quiet, demanding attention from her companion. For a pony such as Twilight to have a low, even voice, it could command attention. "How dare you. Do you have any idea how ridiculous your ideas are?" As she spoke, the pegasus slowly advanced on Dawn. The pink pony's tail immediately went between her legs as she began to back away from the angry pony. Eyes wide in initial fear, the unicorn didn't make a peep, just giving the occasional glance back to make sure she wasn't going to be...oh no. Dawn was hooves away from the sugar cube corner.

"You have officially ruined my FAVORITE GAME." Was....were those tears pooling in the pegasus's eyes? "Do you have any idea how many times I've been ridiculed for my party planning? How many times I've double checked myself, trying to make sure its the best party these ponies have ever seen? Trying to make sure--make sure that no pony thinks I'm some--some stupid ol' pegasus who doesn't--doesn't stand a chance in the sky." Those were definitely tears, and they were coming down fast now. Twilight's eyes squeezed shut as she stopped her advance. Dawn was stuffed in the corner, Twilight's muzzle inches from her own. Slowly, Twilight backed up, turned around and began to walk off. Her hoofsteps were heavy and her wings now laid limp at her sides, she hadn't even bothered to tuck them in again. Her head hung low, and Dawn's ear began to pick up a few quiet sobs. And then... "Pin the Tail on the Pony was the one game....the one game I always got right."

Dawn sat down, dumb-founded. "I...I..."

"Didn't know." A small chuckle escaped the lips of the pegasus. "Nopony does. Nopony knows...why I'm so cheerful all the time, why I strive to make everypony smile, why I learn as much as I can about everypony and everything."

"I'm sorry. " Dawn finished, struggling to return to her hooves. That outburst may have been solely emotional, but there were definitely magical consequences. " I--I didn't mean to--" She paused before taking a step forward. "Do--do you want to talk about it?"

Twilight by now had sat down. Once Dawn had reached the pegasus, she outstretched her hoof, placing it gently on Twilight's shoulder. The pink pony could see by now how fast the tears were coming down. Twilight sniffled, using her right hoof to wipe away some of the tears, not that it did her much good.

"You know, I didn't get my cutiemark for partying." Twilight started, gesturing vaguely towards her flank. "I got it for building and creating. For sharing my love of flight with my parents."

"Were, were they not pegasi?"

Twilight shook her head slowly. "No, no they weren't. Unicorns, both of them. I suppose it took them by surprise when they found out I had a pair of wings."

They shared a small laugh at that.

"It's not quite the same, but my parents weren't unicorns like me. My sisters weren't either. Some of our extended family members still shun our family to this day, something about interbreedin' or something like that." Dawn shook her head.
"I'm not sure we actually have any unicorn blood in our veins."

Twilight giggled. "I guess we have that in common then, sort of." She sighed. "Everypony I ever met thought it was ridiculous how I tried to build flying contraptions. 'You're a pegasus' they said, 'you should know how to fly.' I never really had the guts to tell them it was for my parents. Thank Celestia that Apple Jet was there with me at flight school. I don't know why she chose to defend me from the bullies, but I'm glad she did."

There was a pause.

"Honestly," Twilight resumed, "When I realized why certain ponies were bullying me, I kind of felt bad for them. One of them never saw his parents. He never got a birthday party, and he really only ever had one friend. So I decided to do something nice for him. I threw him a birthday party, themed it after everything he liked." Twilight's tears were few and far between now. She looked up at Dawn, a small smile on her face. "I wish you could have seen the way his face lit up when he saw it. He couldn't believe I was the one who threw it for him. Heh. That was the end of his bullying career."

The two sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the other's company. Finally, Dawn spoke.

"I suppose you have a file on the Princess?"

Twilight nodded, then paused, and then shook her head. "Princess Celestia, yes. Princess Luna, no."

"Well how about we look at that file then, and maybe get some of our friends to help us compose a party file on Princess Luna."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, looking over at her friend.

"Postive. You can make sure it's fun for the guests of honor, and everypony in Ponyville, in essence, take care of the details. While I myself will work on the larger aspects of the planning. Like who to order the flowers from, or the baked goods, or decorations. We both have different assets, different connections. We might as well bring our strong suits to the table, instead of our weaknesses. Or, well, my weaknesses."

Twilight wiped away the last of the tears. "I...I can see that. I mean I do know a lot about the ponies in Ponyville. And if you can get us the best of the best...

Dawn smiled the widest smile she had smiled all day. "You read my mind."

Author's Note

I have never been prouder to reread my own work. I hope you enjoy it.