The Element of Hope

Moonshine was down in Twilight's basement lab, wearing a mask while she was wielding some pieces of metal together. When she stopped wielding, she pulled up the mask and wiped the sweat from her face, "Phew.. there... looks good." she commented. Then Spike and Twilight came downstairs, "Hey Moonshine, what are you working on?" Twilight asked.

"The prosthetic fin for Toothless." Moonshine replied. "And after a couple hours; its done and ready for testing." Spike and Twilight looked at the prosthetic fin. "Woah...." they gasped. It resembled Toothless' other tail fin. It had metal odds connected to the base and coated in a sheet of flexible paper. "I put a spell on it so its' fire, water and lightning proof." Moonshine added with pride.

"Moonshine, this is amazing." Twilight praised.

"Now time to give it a test run.." Moonshine smiled. "Oh Toothless~"

To say Toothless was excited to try on his new tail fin was an understatement. The Night Fury was bounding around Moonshine with a gummy smile. "Hehe, I know, I know..." Moonshine cooed. "You're excited, but calm down a little. Hehehe..." Toothless came to her side and laid his tail down. Moonshine attached the prosthetic to the tail and secured it. "There we go, Toothless." Toothless looked at the prosthetic and moved it up and down with his other tail fin simultaneously. "Perfect..now how about a test flight with it?"

Toothless nodded excitedly.

Soon the trio, Lycanroc and Rockruff were outside of the Golden Oak Library. "Okay Toothless, whenever you're ready." Moonshine called. The Night Fury nodded and spread his wings and he took to the sky and the he was flying perfectly. He looked at this tail fin as it held up greatly with glee as he flew higher into the air and performed dive in the air and pulled up with great speed. "Alright Moonshine, you did it!" Spike cheered.

"Woo-Hooo!" Moonshine cheered, seeing her prosthetic working like a charm. Toothless came down and hovered in front of the group with a gummy smile. "Hehehe, he loves it, Moonshine." Twilight smiled, hugging her friend.

Then Toothless heard something, "Lookout!" Toothless turned around to see a rainbow missle heading right for them. He gasped flew higher, avoiding it, but it slammed into Moonshine and into the library.

THUD!

"Ugh..." Moonshine groaned.

"Moonshine!" Twilight cried in worry. Moonshine sat up and saw books and paper littered all over the floor along with a familiar rainbow pegasus. "Rainbow Dash?" Moonshine called, getting the mares' attention. "Oh.... hehe... sorry about that Moonshine." Rainbow apologized with a sheepish smile.

"What are you doing?" Spike asked.

"I was practicing my new trick; the Corkscrew Flash, but I lost control." Rainbow answered as she shook off the dust from her fur. Moonshine stood up, "I see you got that dragon of yours in the air now."

"Yeah, her prosthetic fin is incredible!" Spike exclaimed. "She really knows engineering." Moonshine blushed at Spikes' comment. "Aw... Spike."

"Hey Moonshine, maybe you could help me with my new trick?" Rainbow asked the alicorn mare.

"Well, I don't have anything else to do today, so I guess its alright." Moonshine replied.

"Yes!" Rainbow cheered. "Come on!" Rainbow zipped off and Moonshine turned to Twilight and Spike, "Do you want my help to clean up, Twilight?" she offered.

"No, no Moonshine, it's alright. You go with Rainbow Dash." Twilight stated, picking up a few books in her magic, ready to put them back on the shelves.

"Okay, Come on Toothless." Moonshine called. The Night Fury warbled and flew into the air, "Lycanoc! Rockruff..!" The wolf and puppy pokemon leaped out of the balcony window and followed their trainer. They found Rainbow in a field standing on a cloud, "There you are."

"Hi Rainbow, so how's this trick of yours supposed to go?" Moonshine asked. Rainbow flew down to the ground and picked up a piece of paper that was being held down by a rock. "Here Moonshine." Moonshine took the paper in her magic.

The paper read: Corkscrew Flash; It had Rainbow flying high into the air and performing three circles in the air, climbing higher with each other, then it had her spinning in the air four times before she would dive towards the ground and come up at the last minute."

"Hmmm... I think you should replace the four spins you have here, Rainbow." Moonshine replied.

"Huh?" Rainbow asked confused.

"If you spin four time after you do the corkscrew, you'll get dizzy and lose your balance which is probably why you crashed before." Moonshine explained. "Try replacing it with three flips in the air rather than spins."

"Hmm... alright. I'll give it a try." Rainbow stated and she took off like a rocket into the sky and she went straight into performing the three circles, climbing higher into the air with each one, then she performed three flips in the air, helping her gain more altitude. Finally, she dove towards the ground at high speeds and she came up at the last second, leaving behind a rainbow steak. Rainbow stopped and she flew back down to Moonshine, "That was awesome!" she exclaimed. "The first time, I got so dizzy that I lost control of my flying, but this time it was completely different. Thanks Moonshine."

Moonshine smiled at her friends, "Happy to help, Rainbow." She trotted back to Ponyville to check on its residence and maybe lend a helping hoof if need be. "Oh Moonshine darling~" Moonshine and her friends turned and saw Rarity trotting over to them, "Oh hey, Rarity. What is it?"

"Moonshine darling, you'd you be a dear and help me gather some gems from the gem mines?" Rarity asked.

"Okay Rarity." Moonshine stated.

"Perfect!" Rarity exclaimed. Soon, the girls were at the gem mines, each hauling carts behind them, "So what are these gems for?" Moonshine couldn't help but ask.

"Oh darling, these gems are for some of my clients. Turns out, ponies adore having colorful gems on their dresses and other clothing." Rarity said. "So I want to gather lots of gems just for the occasion."

"Okay, Rarity." Moonshine smiled.

"Good, now let's get to work." Rarity added. Two hours quickly passed, and the girls had gathered a lot of gems filling both carts and were on their way back to Ponyville, "Are you sure you can handle it, darling?" Rarity asked, turning back towards Moonshine who was struggling to pull the cart. "Ugh... I'm okay... ugh..." but the sweat coming down her face and the dirt on her front hooves from all the digging says otherwise.

"Well were almost home darling." Rarity assured and within a few minutes they were at the front step of the Carousal Boutique. Moonshine let out a relieving sigh and detached herself from the cart.

"You head on in and I'll take care of this." Rarity said grabbing some of the gems in her magic and bringing them in. Moonshine nodded before she walked away with her pokemon and Toothless.

Moonshine was back at the Golden Oak Library resting in her bed with an ice pack on her back. "Ugh... man those carts are tough..." she groaned. Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless looked at each other, worried. Twilight then came into the room, "Hey Moonshine, how's your back?"

"A little better." Moonshine stated. "Thanks for the ice pack by the way."

Twilight smiled, "Of course.." suddenly, there was a loud crash, "MOONY!"

"Pinkie Pie?!" The mares exclaimed in shock.

"Lycanroc?!"

"Rockruff?!"

Pinkie Pie came bursting into Moonshines' room. "Moony, I need you for something important. Really, really, really, really, really important...!" Pinkie said quickly. Moonshine blinked at Pinkie in shock. "Umm.... okay..." Moonshine stated.

"But Moonshine, what about your back?" Twilight inquired, worried about her friends' back problem. Moonshine got out of bed, "Ugh.. I think it'll be fine..."

"YEAAAAHHH!" Pinkie cheered and she grabbed Moonshine and took her away. "WOAH!"

Twilight sighed in dismay, "Lycanroc?"

"Rockruff?"

Toothless warbled in worry.

"Keep an eye on her, you three, please?" Twilight asked them.

"Rockruff!"

"Lycan."

Toothless nodded and the three went off to Sugarcube Corner.

At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie lead Moonshine to her room where it was flooded with all sorts of sweets; cupcakes, cakes, muffins, cookies and more. So... many more. "Umm... so... what's so important Pinkie?"

"Ah, so you brought her here, good." Applejack said, coming into the room. "Huh? Applejack?" Moonshine said. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"Well Pinkie and I were talkin and she suggested that she can cook better sweets than I can." Applejack explained. "So we decided to have a little contest where we would have somepony taste test all of the sweets we made and judge which one of us is the better cook."

"And... what does this have to do with me?" Moonshine asked. Pinkie Pie emerged from beside her, "Isn't it obvious, Moony. The judge will be you." Moonshine's eyes widened as she looked at the large, large amount of sweets. "Soo... what do you say?" at that moment, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless arrived and gawked at the amount of sweets that littered the room.

"Umm..." Moonshine thought. As a filly, she really didn't eat sweets that much. Maybe only a cookie once in a while but she was nothing compared to her mother, who adored cakes and sweets and would try to eat one whenever she got the chance. Moonshine looked at her friends, who were waiting for an answer. ".... Okay..."

"Yeah!"

"Yee-Haw!"

Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless looked at each other with worry. This wasn't gonna end well.

Soon, Moonshine was sitting in front of the sweets that Applejack and Pinkie Pie made. Moonshine gulped nervously. "Come on, Moony, what are you waiting for?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh.. um.. r-right.." Moonshine stated. Moonshine began eating the sweets that Pinkie and Applejack made for her. She ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. Finally, after about four hours, all of sweets wee gone and Moonshine was laying on the floor with her mouth coated in some frosting and her stomach bulging. Her stomach gurgled sickly and Moonshine placed her hoof on it, "Ugh..." she moaned quietly. She then saw Pinkie and Applejack standing over her. "So who won sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Whose the best cook out of the two of us?" Pinkie added.

"Ugh... umm.... it's a.. ugh.. tie.." Moonshine said as she staggered to her feet.

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered. Moonshine slowly staggered over to Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless with her bulging stomach and a sick feeling in her throat. "Uh, Moonshine? You alright there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, noticing how unwell she looked.

"I-I'm.. urp.. fine.." Moonshine replied, almost tuning green in the face. "I-I'm gonna go back home now..." Moonshine painfully walked down the stairs and exited Sugarcube Corner and she headed back to the library. The moon was full and out by the time she got back. She opened the door and she found Spike and Twilight. "Moonshine, there you-Woah! You don't look so good." Spike notified.

Twilight went over and she felt her friends stomach, "Oooh!" Moonshine grunted.

"You didn't eat a lot of sweets, did you, Moonshine?" Twilight questioned with a raised eyebrow. Moonshine nodded and Twilight groaned, "Moonshine, you can't eat a lot of sweets! You'll end up vomiting your guts out!" Moonshine just groaned, looking green in the face. "Come on, let's get you to bed and some medicine." Moonshine stiffly nodded and had Twilight lead her upstairs to her room.

Moonshine was soon laying in bed, trying to get to sleep, but she couldn't cause of upset stomach and the constant vomiting she endured. "Ugh..." she moaned as her stomach gurgled sickly. It was gonna be a long night.

Days later, Twilight and Spike wee having breakfast when Moonshine came downstairs, followed by Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless. Her mane was a bit frazzled and she had bags under her eyes due to her lack of sleep, but her stomach was back to normal. "Hey Moonshine, feeling better?" Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded.

"Think you can eat something?" Moonshine shook her head. Then there was a knock at the door and Rainbow Dash came into the room, "Hey Twilight, I need to borrow Moonshine, real fast thanks." she said as she quickly gabbed the Alicorn and zipped away. "Hey!" Twilight called but she was already gone. She groaned in annoyance, "Spike, watch the library."

"Right." Spike saluted.

"Lycanroc, Rockruff, Toothless, let's go." Twilight said as she teleported herself and the group away.

Rainbow, meanwhile had taken Moonshine to Ghastly Gorge. "Why are we here?" Moonshine groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"Angel Bunny, Fluttershy's pet, wandered in here and she wants us to go and get it cause she's too scared to get him herself." Rainbow said.

"O-Okay..." Moonshine groaned. She spread her wings and she followed Rainbow Dash as they flew through the Gorge searching for Angel Bunny. Soon, Rainbow spotted him. "There!" she pointed, seeing the bunny near some large holes in the wall. "What are those holes for?" Moonshine asked, confused while Rainbow's eyes widened in horror. "Those are quarry eel nests!" she exclaimed.

Moonshine gasped in horror as some of the quarry eels; large red and yellow eels with large eyes, came out of the holes and spotted the tiny bunny, who screeched in fear. "Angel!" Rainbow exclaimed as she and Moonshine dove towards the quarry eels. Rainbow distracted some of the eels while Moonshine flew in and grabbed Angel bunny. "Got him!" Moonshine called lethargically, but one of the eels bashed her in the side, "Ugh!" the impact sent her cashing into the wall and sending Angel into Rainbow's arms. "Moonshine!" Rainbow called to her downed friend.

Moonshine groaned as she came to from the fall and she looked around. She heard rocks cracking from above her and she saw rocks beginning to fall. "Moonshine, get out of there!" Rainbow called, but Moonshine, with everything she's been through, was just too weak and tired to get out of the way in time. All she could do was brace herself as rocks filled her vision and she heard one final cry, "MOONSHINE!"

Beep....

Beep...

Beep....

Beep...

That's what Moonshine heard when she came to and saw six blurry figures in front of her, "Is she gonna be okay?" the orange blur asked.

"Oh, I'm so worried.." the yellow blur added. Moonshine's vision cleared and she saw that it was Twilight and the girls surrounding her bedside. "Moonshine..." Twilight called gently. Moonshine groaned as she looked around and saw her right front leg in a cast being held by a sling as well as her back left leg and her right wing in a cast and a bandage on her head. "W-What happened?" she groaned.

"You got trapped in an avalanche in Ghastly Gorge, sugarcube." Applejack exclaimed. "Twilight and your critters dug you out and rushed you to Ponyville Hospital."

"The doctor said the rocks broke your legs and wings, hence the slings and casts." Twilight added. "He said you'll make a full recovery in a few weeks."

Moonshine nodded, "Moonshine, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into this." Rainbow apologized, hanging her head low.

"I-It's alright... Rainbow..." Moonshine stammered.

"Moonshine, it's not okay!" Twilight exclaimed. "You have to stop being so, and don't take this the wrong way, naive." Moonshine blinked at her best friend, "Naive?"

"Ah, think what Twilight means to say.. is that you bein' easily tricked or bein' too kind for your own good." Applejack added.

"But I'm just being who I am." Moonshine replied. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Moonshine questioned.

"No, not at all darling, but sometimes being too nice can get you into a lot of trouble." Rarity explained, referring to her injuries. Moonshine looked sad at that moment, "I know you like helping ponies, Moonshine." Twilight added coming up to her, "But sometimes you have to know when you can't help somepony; friend or not."

"But I was trying to be like mom. She always helps ponies when they need help." Moonshine replied.

"Yes, but Celestia also knows when she has to decline helping somepony." Twilight added.

"Twilight is right, honey." a motherly voice came and the ponies turned and saw Princess Celestia entering the room. "Princess, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"I'm here to check on my daughter. Spike wrote to me, informing me of what happened." Celestia replied. Celestia came to her daughters' bedside and rubbed her head, "And Twilight is right, Moonshine. Although, I help ponies whenever they need it, I also know when not to help somepony. Like when I'm not feeling well." Celestia nuzzled her daughter, "I'm proud of you, wanting to help the ponies, but perhaps you could learn when to say 'no' sometimes." Moonshine nodded at her mother, "Okay mom.... should I write a letter to you about it?"

Celestia chuckled, "This time; no honey."

"Okay Mom..." Moonshine stated before they heard scraping at the door, "Rockruff..! Rock!"

"Rockruff?" Moonshine called. Rockruff managed to push the door open and he, Lycanroc and Toothless entered the room. Rockruff whimpered, see his trainer injured, "Rockruff?"

"I'll be alright, Rockruff." Moonshine said, as Rockruff rubbed her uninjured leg.

"Those three seemed awfully worried about ya, sugarcube." Applejack stated. Moonshine rubbed Lycanroc on his mane, making him smile, "Lycan.."

Toothless warbled and nudged Moonshine's casts. "Aww, Toothless. Don't worry, I'll be fine.." Moonshine reassured, earning a small warble from the Night Fury. Then Nurse Redheart came into the room, "Alright everypony, Princess Moonshine needs her rest. You all have to come back tomorrow." she said.

The Mane 6 left the room one by one but Rockruff, Toothless and Lycanroc weren't to keen on leaving. Rockruff whimpered and nuzzled Moonshines' leg, not wanting to go. Celestia rubbed the little puppy pokemon, "She'll be fine, Rockruff. Nuse Redheart will look after her." she reassured. "Now come on, you three. Your friend needs her rest."

Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless nodded and they left the room, leaving mother and daughter in the room. Celestia kissed Moonshine on the head, "Love you, honey."

"I love you too, mom." Moonshine said and Celestia left the room, leaving her daughter to recover. Moonshine yawned and she closed her eyes as Redheart closed the curtains to help her rest and Moonshine fell asleep and Redheart closed the door quietly.