My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Chapters

Episode 1: The Crystalling - Part 1
Episode 2: The Crystalling - Part 2
Episode 3: The Gift of the Maud Pie
Episode 4: On Your Marks
Episode 5: Gauntlet of Fire
Episode 6: No Second Prances
Episode 7: Newbie Dash
Episode 8: A Hearth's Warming Tail
Apologies

Episode 1: The Crystalling - Part 1

Author's Note

This story is going to be based mostly on the show in season 6. I also thought about how readers would react when M.C. and Mutt lost their hearing to Flurry Heart's RCV cry. Hope you all like this.

Episode 1: The Crystalling - Part 1

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 1: The Crystalling - Part 1

Starlight Glimmer was wondering through the halls of the Castle of Friendship. She was looking all over the place, trying to get to know the place.

She was muttering to herself, "Okay. Library... Library... Where did they put the library?" She walked into one room, and saw Mutt dancing to the song, "You Should Be Dancing" by "The Bee Gees". She saw him dancing and smiled. "Wow. That little guy's a pretty good dancer."

Mutt turned his head towards Starlight and smiled. He then said, "Hey, dancing is what I do. To some people, my dancing skills makes others feel good. It's a part of who I am."

"Huh," said Starlight. "Guess I should've learned that instead of taking the marks of all of the ponies in that village."

"Hey, you live, you learn," said Mutt.

Then Starlight left the room, then headed off. She then went into another room, where Nyx and Joshua were both in their room, doing their homework. They got interrupted when Starlight came into the room.

"Oh, sorry, you two," said Starlight. "I'm... still getting used to this place."

"You're not the only one who got lost in this place the first time," said Joshua. "It's tricky trying to find a bathroom in this place."

"Yeah, I guess that's true, Joshua," said Starlight. But then she got confused. "Although, I was wondering, why are you named Joshua. It's not exactly a word here."

"Because Joshua wasn't born in this world," said Nyx. "He wasn't even a pony. He used to be human."

"Human?" asked Starlight. "I thought they were myths."

Joshua then levitated his locket from around his neck and opened it up. Then she showed the picture inside the locket. He then said, "That's me and my birth parents."

"Oh," said Starlight, looking at the picture. "You sure were a cute little guy. But, how did you become a pony?"

"King Sombra cursed him," said Nyx. "As long as Joshua is in this world, he can never be human again."

"Oh, dear," said Starlight. Then she turned her head, and said, "Well, I gotta keep searching for Twilight. I'll see you two later." She then left the room, letting Nyx and Joshua continue with their homework. Starlight then came out of a door, and looked left to right. She then sighed and said, "This castle looked a lot smaller from the outside." Starlight then walked to one door, and inside was Spike, standing on a stool, wearing a headband pulling back the spikes on his head, and his ears, and he had a towel wrapped around his waist.

He was brushing his teeth when Starlight opened the door. He looked towards the door with a mouth full of toothpaste and said, "Morning, Starlight."

Starlight then closed the door and said, "Sorry, Spike! I guess I'm still trying to find my way around. You don't happen to know where the library is, do you?"

Spike poked his head out of the door, still with a muffled voice, he said, "Next door on the left." Starlight then turned her head towards the door on the left.

She smiled embarrassed, and said, "Oh. Thanks!"

She then entered the room, seeing Twilight reading a checklist. "Acceptance, mm-hmm. Altruism, definitely." Twilight then notice Starlight coming in. "Starlight, good morning, come in!"

Starlight entered the room, saying, "Sorry I'm late. I got a little turned around. I still can't believe you're letting me stay here... as your pupil... after everything I did." She was feeling guilty for what she did.

Twilight gave her a sincere look. She then said, "Well, I'm not one to dwell on the past, and neither should you. The castle is your home now, and as far as being my pupil goes, I was just trying to figure out what your first friendship lesson should be!"

Starlight looked at the list and smiled. She then said, "Oh, well, it looks like you're really narrowing it down!"

"Oh, these are just the A's," said Twilight. She then looked over at a huge pile of papers, saying, "After this, I move onto the B's." She was grinning big towards Starlight. Starlight was nervous, until she gave a small smile, still nervous.

Twilight and Starlight were reading the list of friendship lessons, trying to figure out which one to start with. Then came the sound of whirling from outside the door. They looked over at the door and saw M.C. coming in with Guard Armor in a baby carrier that was strapped to M.C.

"Guard Armor?!" Twilight asked. She then looked up at M.C. and asked, "What is he doing here?"

"Princess Cadance wanted us to watch over Guard Armor while she and Shining are in the hospital in the Crystal Empire," said M.C. "She even sent you a note yesterday while you were working on all of that." M.C. pointed a finger at all of the Friendship Lessons she prepared for Starlight.

"I don't remember ever agreeing to that," Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chin.

"Let me remind you," said M.C. He then changed his voice to let them know who he was impersonating. "Hey, Twilight! A letter from Cadance came in. She and Shining wants us to watch over Guard Armor until she gets out of the hospital. Yeah, yeah. Okay, Spike. Just let me work on this."

That made Twilight's face go pale, and Starlight holding back her laughter and covering her mouth. Twilight then face hoofed and say, "I guess I did say that. Oh, boy. I was too busy with coming up with these friendship lessons that I haven't payed attention to what Spike was saying."

"Well, that's your problem," M.C. said. He then looked down at Guard Armor and asked, "Hey, Guard? You wanna see your favorite cousin, Joshua?"

"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah," Guard said, nodding his head rapidly.

"Well, then," said M.C. "Let's go." He then started walking down the hall to Nyx and Joshua's room.

Starlight continued looking at the lessons that Twilight prepared and said, " I know I'm just learning about friendship, but I didn't think there were this many lessons for anything. How do we choose?"

"Maybe I should pare things down a bit before we go through them," said Twilight, walking up to Starlight with a small list of lessons. Twilight then looked at what Starlight was reading, then took that in her own magic and then put a hoof towards Starlight's shoulder and said, "Why don't you join the others in the throne room? They're planning our trip to the Crystal Empire when Shining Armor and Princess Cadance have their baby!"

"Throne room! Got it!" said Starlight. Then she headed out of the library, but peeked her head back in and asked, "Um, which way is the throne room?" Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes.

In the Throne Room, Mutt and the rest of the Mane 6 were sitting in the thrones. Mutt decided to sit in Spike's throne because he didn't want to be sitting in Twilight's throne when she came in. Starlight then came in and saw the Mane 6 discussing something.

"Well, I think we should leave ASAP," said Rainbow Dash. "I don't want to miss the Crystalling!"

"But, um, shouldn't we wait for the invitation?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"Frankly, Ah'm not exactly clear on all the customs and traditions of the Crystal Empire," said Applejack, "especially when it comes to a Crystalling."

"What's a Crystalling?" asked Starlight.

"Well, that's just it, darling," said Rarity. "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's 2nd baby is due any day, and we're still not sure. The Crystal Empire was gone for a thousand years. A lot of their customs are a bit murky."

"Why didn't they do it with Guard Armor?" asked Mutt.

"Because they didn't know about the Crystalling until after Guard Armor was born," said Rainbow Dash.

"Anyway, we know it's got something to do with the new baby," said Applejack.

"And a party!" Pinkie Pie said, quickly, and getting between Applejack and Starlight.

"And the Crystal Heart," said Fluttershy.

Then Pinkie Pie came in from behind Fluttershy and said, "And a party!" That startled Fluttershy, covering the right side of her face with her wing.

"And some kinda cool energy," Rainbow Dash said, flapping up right behind Starlight.

Pinkie Pie then stepped onto the middle of the Cutie Map on her hind legs, and said, "And... A PARTY!" she then threw some confetti into the air. Everyone just deadpanned, except Starlight. She was still trying to understand Pinkie. Starlight looked at Rainbow Dash, who was raising her forelegs, indicating that she doesn't know how she does that either.

Then Spike came into the room with M.C., Nyx, Joshua and Guard Armor coming in. Spike then said, "It's not hard to understand. Most things in the Crystal Empire aren't." He then unrolled a piece of paper he had in his claws and it was a poster of him getting the Crystal Heart, and his left eye was a ruby. "Like how I'm a big hero there, for example!" He grinned confidently.

It could tell that Spike was hanging out with Rainbow Dash way too much, because she was giving a similar facial expression. Starlight was confused, Mutt and Applejack gave off a deadpanned expression, Rarity was trying to hold back her laughter to not let Spike know he was embarrassing himself, Fluttershy gave off a small smile, and Pinkie Pie came from bellow, giving a deadpanned expression.

"Eh... plus, I had to help Twilight do a lot of research on Crystallings," said Spike. M.C. then put a huge, purple and light blue vase on the Cutie Map, and the vase almost looked Greek. It even had a tale of what was happening or what is supposed to happen. "Whenever a baby is born in the Crystal Empire, the parents bring it before the Crystal Heart. They get the purest shard of crystal they can find, then pick a crystaller to present the baby to everypony who comes. Then they all share the light and joy they feel, feeding it into the crystal that joins with the Heart, and increases its power! And this is going to be a royal Crystalling, so pretty much the whole empire will show up. That hasn't happened in a millennia!"

"Because the Crystal Empire was gone for that long," said M.C. "Sheesh."

"I know, right?" Spike asked.

Starlight walked up to Spike and asked, "What do you mean it increases the Crystal Heart's power?"

"The energy it uses to protect the Crystal Empire, I guess," Spike said, motioning his arms in a "I don't know" expression.

"Protect it from what?" asked Starlight.

"I... didn't help Twilight with that part," said Spike. Then everypony in the room looked at M.C.

"Sorry," said M.C. "But that was the only vase that the Crystal Guards gave me when I was getting Guard."

Starlight reentered the library where Twilight was narrowing down the friendship lessons for Starlight.

"Hey, Twilight, can I ask you something about the Crystal Empire?" Starlight asked.

"Huh! Funny you should mention it," said Twilight, walking up to Starlight. "Because I just narrowed your first friendship lesson down to three options, and one of them is in the Crystal Empire!"

"Really?" Starlight asked with a big grin on her face.

"I found out that's where the first pony you ever cared about lives!" said Twilight.

"Sunburst?" Starlight asked.

"Of course, that's just one idea," said Twilight, "and I already met him. He thought that M.C., Mutt and Joshua were new species's, and that was when Joshua was still human at the time. Another option, we could go to griffon stone." Through the ears of Starlight, Twilight's voice was starting to fade and being replaced with a high-pitched ringing. Making friends with a griffon is a challenge all by itself! Or we could tag along with the CMC's the next time they try to help a pony figure out why they're special..." Twilight's voice was completely unheard to Starlight and replaced with nothing but that ringing. But all of that stopped when Twilight put a hoof to her left shoulder and asked, "Starlight? Is something wrong?"

Starlight got out of her stupor and said a strained look, "What? O-Oh, no, heh, those all sound great!"

"I know!" Twilight said, then she started walking off somewhere, saying, "I guess you were right – it is gonna be hard to choose one!"

Starlight chuckled nervously and said, "...Yeah." She then pouted.

Starlight walked down the halls of the castle, thinking about Sunburst. She then opened one door, but unknown to her knowledge, that room was a supply closet, and she got buried under all of it. She then used her magic, and put all of the supplies back into the closet. Then she walked over to another room, seeing Spike trying to be bigger and muscular in front of a mirror and standing on a stool. He stopped when he saw Starlight looking at him with a startled look.

She then sighed and said, "Ugh! I am never gonna find my way around this place!"

Spike ran up to catch up with Starlight and asked, "Gee, Starlight, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, Spike," said Starlight. "Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well... with one of them." She lowered her head when she said that last sentence.

"Which one?" Spike asked.

"Reuniting me with my first friend," said Starlight. That made Spike freeze up in confusion.

"What's so terrible about that?" asked Spike.

Starlight sighed. Then she started a flashback with her and her old friend. Young Starlight was trying to levitate a block while her friend was reading a book. "When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic." Young Starlight dropped the block, and she got upset. Then her friend levitated a book in front of Young Starlight. She read it, then looked at her friend confused, but he responded with a huge grin, and she smiled. Then she used her magic to levitate all four blocks. She was happy about it. Then it went to another moment in her time when Young Starlight spilled her drink during snack time. "He always knew just what to do." Young Starlight was upset, then her friend showed her something on a piece of paper while he was cleaning up the spilled drink on the floor, and then young Starlight used her magic, and accidentally covered the whole room in bubbles, and when the bubbles went away, everything was sparkling clean. "And he was always there to help me." Then it went to a later moment when a stack of books was about to fall on top of young Starlight, but her friend used his magic to catch the stack, but then the books surrounded him while he was floating in the air. Unintentionally, he put the books back on the bookshelves, and then his Cutie Mark appeared. Young Starlight was astonished, but her friend went past her, upsetting her, and her friend's parents were happy, along with the whole town. "I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and... went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left..."

Then Spike came into the picture, saying, "You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria." Young Starlight was changing her emotions during Spike's rant, like she was responding to what Spike was saying. Then the background behind Spike poofed, and went back to the castle, where Starlight was giving off the same last expression her younger counterpart was giving.

"Not really stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about," said Starlight. "I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and... I can't even find my way around Twilight's castle."

"Well, if Sunburst is that good at magic," said Spike, "maybe he'd appreciate your, uh..." he then cleared his throat. "exploits. You should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she'd want to hear what you have to say."

"I know," Starlight said. "But I don't want her to think I'm not ready to learn or that I'm not grateful for everything she's doing."

"Spike! Come quick!" came Twilight's voice. Spike and Starlight headed towards the balcony where Twilight and M.C. were looking out on the horizon. There was a snowflake heading right towards Twilight. Twilight caught it with her wing, and pulled it towards her. On that snowflake was a note.

"It's a Crystalling invitation!" said Spike.

"Well, at least they have another bundle of joy to take care of," said M.C. "And Guard Armor is now a big brother."

"Well, this settles it!" said Twilight, looking at Starlight. "Since we're going to the Crystal Empire, your first friendship lesson is going to be... reuniting with Sunburst!"

"Great..." Starlight said, nervously. She then looked left to right with her eyes, biting her lip.

It then went to a train to the Crystal Empire. Starlight Glimmer was looking out the window, nervous about reuniting with her friend. She looked around to see the Mane 6, Spike, Nyx, Joshua, M.C., Mutt and Guard Armor all over the train car. Pinkie Pie had a present sitting next to her as she was bored. Rarity was sewing a baby blanket. Fluttershy had a stuffed bunny toy that looks like Angel, but with a heart nose and hearts on its bottom paws. Twilight Sparkle was reading a babysitting book. M.C. was in a meditating position. Nyx and Joshua were napping on the way there, along with Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had something next to her, covered in a white sheet.

Rainbow Dash woke up and noticed it. She then asked, "Um, Applejack, what is that?"

"Oh, just a little somethin' for the young'un," said Applejack. She then uncovered it, and revealed a small, rocking baby bed with an apple theme.Made from genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple trees. We make 'em for all the Apples, and anypony related to Twilight is practically family."

Twilight smiled at what Applejack said. Then Rainbow Dash said, "Yeah, it's okay... But it's no Cloudsdale mobile! Bam!" She revealed a mobile with four rainbow, five clouds, and eight lightning bolts.

"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie and Rarity said in unison.

"Pretty!" Pinkie Pie said, touching one part of the mobile, which broke off. She then grinned nervously, and went back to her seat. Rainbow Dash deadpanned, and the others smiled at Pinkie's antics.

"Well, a mobile is real nice..." said Applejack, "as long as you have somethin' to lay in so you can look at it."

Rarity used her magic to take the comforter out of the baby bed, and replaced it with the blanket she sewed, saying, "And a fetching blanket to keep you warm." That made Applejack smirk at Rarity's antics.

"I'm sure Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will love all our gifts," said Twilight. "But I think they're more happy we'll be attending the baby's Crystalling."

" Ooh! I can't wait to see all that light and love make the Crystal Heart even more sparkly and shiny!" said Pinkie Pie, excitedly.

"Actually, Pinkie, the Crystal Heart is an ancient and powerful relic," said Twilight. "Without its magic, the Crystal Empire would be lost to the Frozen North."

"Wow, this Crystalling sounds pretty important," said Starlight. "I'd understand if you wanted to... you know... wait to do a different friendship lesson when we get back."

"Are you kidding? This trip is perfect!" Twilight said. "Not only do I get to see the baby and take part in the ceremony that helps maintain the magic of the Crystal Empire, but I'm starting my new pupil off with the most amazing friendship lesson ever! I can't wait!" Twilight pulled Starlight into a hug due to how excited she was.

"Right... Me neither..." said Starlight. She then saw Spike, motioning to her to take about her problem. "Actually, Twilight, I am a little worried about meeting Sunburst."

"Oh, trust me," said Twilight. "I know what it's like to see old friends."

"She was there at the restaurant, Twilight," said M.C. "Remember?"

"Oh, right!" said Twilight. She then chuckled nervously. Then she said, "But I'll be right there to help things along. I've broken the whole lesson down into a few easy steps to ensure this reunion goes off without a hitch!" She unrolled a list, which was really long.

Starlight then laughed nervously. She then looked over at M.C. and asked, "You knew that was me at the restaurant?"

"Let's just say I have a sixth sense to things around me and those who spy on me," said M.C. "Kinda like Pinkie's Pinkie Sense. I believe your spying Pinkie Sense was itchy neck?" Pinkie Pie poked her head up and nodded. Then her head went back down. "Anyway, we're getting close to the Crystal Empire. Let's prepare to leave."

"Hey! That's my line!" said the ticket pony of the train. M.C. smiled wide, and cheekily.

The train arrived at the train station at the Crystal Empire. The Mane 6, Starlight, Spike, Nyx, Joshua, M.C. and Mutt were getting off the train. Twilight was talking to Starlight, reading what was on her list.

"Step one, head to Sunburst's house and get you two started on the right hoof. Step two, get to the castle with enough time to visit the ba—" She was too busy reading the list, but failed to see her brother, who looked really exhausted. Twilight gasped and said, "Shining Armor!"

"Twilight!" Shining said, tiredly. Then the two of them hugged.

"I didn't know you were meeting us!" said Twilight.

Then M.C. walked up to the two of them and said, "Whoa. Was the new baby much worse than Guard Armor was?"

"What?!" Shining said, tired, yet nervously. "No. I'm fine. The new baby is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing. And confusing. And amazing. But surprising too, you know? I mean, not that you'd know. You wouldn't know, I know... You know?"

"By experience with fathers and their children," said M.C., "I'm guessing that your new baby has a lot of power coursing through it's body, and you haven't slept in days."

"Me or Cadance," Shining said, in defeat. "But it would be nice to take a break."

"Oh, of course! I don't know what I was thinking! You two probably need all kinds of help!" said Twilight, excitedly. She then turned her head towards Starlight and said, "I'm sorry, Starlight, but I guess combining your first lesson with this visit wasn't such a good idea."

"Oh, uh, don't be ridiculous!" said Starlight, starting to be relieved. "You're an aunt to another child. That's way more important than some friendship lesson."

"I just wish there was a way to do both," said Twilight.

Spike looked at the rolled up sheet of parchment and said, "Maybe there is! You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it!" That made Starlight facehoof herself.

"Spike, you're a genius!" Twilight said.

"Yeah..." Starlight said through a nervous laugh. Then through gritted teeth, she said, "...genius."

"I'll go with Spike and Starlight," said Mutt. "Someone has to help Spike with the list."

"Then it's settled!" said Twilight. "Shining Armor and I will head straight to the castle, and you three can head straight to Sunburst's!"

"Aye-aye, Princess!" said Spike, saluting.

"Uh-huh," Starlight said, nervously.

"Alright, big brother, let's go see this amazing baby pony!" said Twilight to her big brother. But he was sleeping standing up.

"Ahhh... the baby..." Shining said sleeping.

"H'oh boy," said M.C., rolling his eyes, and then smiling.

"I know you're a little worried about this reunion, but I'm sure Twilight's got everything covered," said Spike as the three of them were walking towards Sunburst's house.

"Everything except how I'd rather do absolutely anything else," said Starlight, a little frustrated.

"Oh, I bet she's taken that into account too," said Spike. "It's all part of the lesson. Trust the lesson."

"Right..." said Starlight, unamused. She then saw the statue of Spike and the Crystal Heart, got a devious look and asked, "Hey, i-is that you?"

"Oh, yep, it sure is!" said Spike, looking at the statue.

"Now, according to the list, Sunburst's house is—" Mutt said, but was cut off by Starlight.

"Why is there a statue of Spike in the Crystal Empire?" asked Starlight.

Then a clear, butter yellow pegasus with a pinkish-red mane with a headband came up to her and said, "Because Spike the Brave and Glorious saved all of us from King Sombra!"

Then a light purplish-bluish pony with a mane of two shades of light orange came up to her and said, "And then again during the Equestria Games!"

"Really?" asked Starlight.

"Really!" said an orange stallion with a mane with three shades of blue. He then shook Spike's claws with a hoof, saying, "Big fan."

"Um, when were you going to tell me about this?" Starlight asked.

"Nah, it's no big deal," Spike said, waving a claw, trying to remain humble.

"It most certainly is!" said a bunch of crystal ponies.

Starlight was curious about that. She then used that as an opportunity to stall, levitated a footstool over to him and put him on it and said, "That's it! We're not going anywhere until I get the whole story!" Then she levitated a bag of popcorn for her to eat. Mutt then face palmed, and groaned in irritation.

The Mane 6, M.C., Nyx, Joshua and Guard followed Shining Armor through the halls of the castle. He then turned around to look at the others and said, " Before we go in, I should probably tell you. Seeing the baby might be a bit of a shock."

"Come on, big brother," said Twilight. "I've met babies before. I expect meeting this one won't be any different." As Twilight and the others walked into the room, where not only Cadance was, but also Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They bowed their heads as Twilight headed for the small bed. The rest of the Mane 6, M.C., Nyx and Joshua headed for the bed and got a look at the baby.

"Aw..." said Nyx. "The baby is so cute."

"Boy or girl?" asked Joshua.

"It's a girl, Joshua," said Cadance. "But... she has been a hoof full these past couple days."

"What do you mean?" asked Nyx. "She's a cute, adorable baby unicorn."

M.C. had his golden eyes, then went wide-eyed and said, "Nyx. She ain't a unicorn."

Then the blanket surrounding the baby got pulled off, and there, underneath the baby's back were wings, making the baby an alicorn.

"The baby is an alicorn like Guard?!" Twilight asked surprisingly.

"It looks that way," said Cadance, tiredly. "But she's a lot more powerful then Guard ever was when he was born."

"But... But... But I thought Alicorn wings had to be earned by accomplishing some great, princess-worthy deed!" Rarity said. "I meant to ask that when I saw Guard Armor for the first time."

"Ah agree," said Applejack. "How can ya just be born with 'em?"

"The birth of an Alicorn is something Equestria has never seen!" said Princess Celestia.

"It is beyond even our understanding," said Princess Luna.

Fluttershy leaned towards Rarity, and in a hushed voice, said, "That's not very reassuring."

"Wow! A unicorn, and a Pegasus!" said Pinkie Pie. "So she could be a super-strong flyer and have crazy baby magic!"

" Well, I know all about super-strong flying!" said Rainbow Dash flying around the room.

"And I can help keep tabs on her magic!" said Twilight.

Then the baby princess was about to sneeze, when she did, she let out a huge burst of energy from her horn, straight up, leaving holes through the next four floors. One pony from two floors up poked her head through the floor. That pony had a coat of pale amaranth and her mane was two shades of moderate raspberry. She had a light green headband and the back of her mane was a little burnt.

M.C. looked up at that pony and said, "That was the new baby! Sorry! I can fix that!"

"I've never seen a baby with that powerful magic before," said the pony.

"We'll get right to it, Gloriosa," said Cadance.

"Who?" asked Nyx.

"Gloriosa Daisy," said Princess Cadance. "One of our gardeners. She also works with another pony named Wallflower Blush. Ponies barely notice her."

"Okay," said Nyx. Then everypony looked back at the baby, and she was rubbing her nose with a hoof. She then shut her eyes for a moment.

"It appears her magic is more powerful than that of a newborn unicorn!" said Princess Celestia.

Princess Luna looked out the window, seeing a bunch of ponies heading towards the palace. She then said, "The crowds have already started to gather."

Then from in front of her face, a green balloon came in and Pinkie Pie was hanging off of the string, saying, "This Crystalling is gonna be some party!" Then the balloon popped when it reached the ceiling, making Pinkie Pie fall onto the floor.

"Do you think we should call it off?" Cadance asked.

"Um, we've all faced a lot worse than baby magic," said Rainbow Dash.

"I can't imagine cancelling such a beautiful and important ceremony over something so potentially adorable!" said Rarity.

"Well, at least it's a good thing I wasn't born like a normal pony," said Nyx.

"That's true," said Joshua. "If you were born like this baby, you would've destroyed the library way before I came here."

Nyx nodded while tilting her head.

"In light of the little one's abilities, this Crystalling might be more important than ever," Princess Celestia said. Then she looked at Princess Cadance and said, "Perhaps you should address your subjects and remind them of that."

Cadance nodded, hummed, and then leaned down to kiss the baby on the forehead. Then the sound of snoring came in and all of the ponies and M.C. looked over at Shining Armor, who was resting his head and forelegs on the headboard of the baby's bed.

Twilight walked over to Shining Armor, woke him up, and said, "Shining Armor! Do you have everything you need for the ceremony?"

"Huh?" Shining asked tiredly. But then he went into a worried state. "Oh, no! I still have to interview the honor guards, choose the purity crystal, and pick a crystaller!" He then pouted in a shocked expression.

"Take it easy," Twilight said putting a hoof onto Shining's left shoulder. She then looked over at Pinkie and said, "Pinkie can stay here with me and keep an eye on the baby."

But Pinkie took that sentence way too seriously because the baby was hanging onto Pinkies eyes, with Pinkie showing no sign of pain and making the baby laugh.

"How is that possible?" asked M.C.

"Anyway," said Applejack. "We'll all help ya with everythin' else." Then the sound of snoring came back, and Shining was on the floor. He mumbled the word "...baby..." as he was snoring.

"That is, if you can stay awake long enough to tell us how," said Rarity.

Spike was telling the ponies of the Crystal Empire the tale of how he saved the Crystal Empire. He was just wrapping up.

"...and that's how we found the Crystal Heart, defeated King Sombra, and saved the Empire," he said, finishing the story.

The Crystal Ponies surrounding them were excited to hear Spike's tale.

"We love you, Spike!" said a pink, crystal filly.

"Yeah. Tell the one about the Equestria Games!" said a light butter yellow crystal filly.

"Well, as much as I love reliving my heroic deeds," Spike said, "Mutt, Starlight and I have an important lesson to do, by order of the Princess of Friendship!"

"Awww!" said the two crystal fillies.

"Aw, come on, Spike!" said Starlight, still trying to stall. "I want to hear about the Games too!"

Spike was signing an autograph and then Mutt said, "I know you're stalling, Starlight. You don't really want to go reunite with him and face your fear."

"That's actually on Twilight's list," said Spike. "Let's get to it."

Starlight groaned, threw away her popcorn and said, "Let's get this over with."

Then the three of them walked up to the door of where Sunburst was supposed to live. Mutt was reading the address and said, "According to this, this is where Sunburst lives now." He then was about to knock on the door.

"Wait!" said Spike.

"What is it?" Mutt asked.

"Knocking on the door isn't the next thing on the list!" said Spike. "Plus, it should be Starlight who does it!"

"Seriously?" Starlight and Mutt asked with a deadpanned expression.

"I know Twilight can be a little nitpicky," said Spike, "but this is your first lesson as her pupil, and it's important that we do it right!"

"Fine. What's the next thing on the list?" Starlight asked.

Spike then read the list he had, ""Before they see each other, be sure to highlight the importance of the meeting.""

"I'm pretty sure we can skip that," said Starlight.

"I don't know..." Spike said, unsure. "I mean if we skip it, the whole lesson could go south! And then you might end up taking a giant step backwards instead of forwards! Maybe you'll never be able to learn anything about friendship at all! It's almost like your whole future depends on this moment." Starlight got worried that Twilight would be disappointed in her. Spike then grabbed her cheeks, pulled her towards Spike, both of them touched noses, all when Spike was talking to her. Then Spike let go, and said, ""Highlight the importance of the meeting" – check! I can't believe you wanted to skip that!"

Starlight then started knocking on the door, getting no response from inside. Starlight looked back at Spike and Mutt, and they shrugged their shoulders. Starlight was about to leave until the door was starting to open.

Starlight turned back towards the door and asked, "Sunburst?"

"Yes? What can I do you for?" asked the stallion. Then he saw Spike and Mutt. "Hey, I remember you two. Sorry about that incident that one day."

"Hey, it's you!" said Mutt.

"Spike, Mutt, you met Sunburst already?" asked Starlight.

"The last time we saw him, he thought me, M.C. and Joshua were all new sets of species," said Mutt. "And that was when Joshua was still human."

"Again, sorry about that," said Sunburst. Then he got confused. "Wait, what do you mean "was still human"?"

"King Sombra kidnapped him and cursed him," said Spike. "As long as Joshua is in this world, he won't be able to go back to his human state."

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about that," said Mutt. "Do you remember when you gotten your Cutie Mark?"

"Oh, yeah," said Sunburst. "I was learning magic with a friend of mine from back then. A stack of books was about to fall on her. I used my magic to catch them and put them back on the shelves, and then I went out to tell my parents about it."

"Unknowingly that you hurt that friend of yours's feelings," said Mutt. "Anyway, this is her. Starlight Glimmer."

Starlight Glimmer smiled sheepishly, and Sunburst said nervously, "Oh, of course! S-Starlight! My goodness, it-it's been a long time! What, uh, what have you been up to?"

"Me? Oh! You know, some of this, some of that, different... stuff," said Starlight in the same nervous expression. "Right now, I'm sort of Twilight Sparkle's new pupil."

"The Princess of Friendship?" Sunburst asked surprised.

"Heh... yeah... that's actually kind of why I'm here," said Starlight. "I mean, I know you're probably very busy."

"What do you mean?" asked Sunburst.

"Well, I figured after magic school, you'd go on to do important wizard work, but..." Starlight said, trying to move from the conversation.

"Oh. No. Y-Yes!" Sunburst lied. "Uh, y-yes, that's me, yup. [nervous chuckle] Important wizard! Really busy with lots of, uh, wi-wizarding... stuff." He then paused for a bit and then said, "Right. Uh, well... good to see you." Then he closed the door.

Starlight looked back at Spike and Mutt as Spike was about to say, "Huh. Maybe we should have skipped highlighting the importance of the meeting after all."

"Well, I guess that's that!" said Starlight, starting to walk away.

"Starlight, come on!" said Spike, stopping her. "We have to at least explain what Twilight wants!" Starlight groaned after that and then Spike pushed her back towards the door. She knocked on the door and then Sunburst opened the door, and Starlight was grinning sheepishly.

In the front entry of the palace, Cadance, along with Celestia and Luna, were standing on a stage that looks like a heart. Behind the stage, a huge curtain was covering the area where the Crystal Heart is.

"Dearest citizens," Cadance announced, tiredly, "I am sure you are all just as thrilled and ready for this Crystalling as myself and Shining Armor."

The crowd cheered loudly. Behind the curtain, Shining Armor was freaking out and six guards were standing at the ready.

"I'm not ready!" said Shining Armor.

"Take it easy!" said Rainbow Dash carrying two helmets. "Just pick whoever looks the most like honor guard material."

"Right... right..." Shining said nervously. He then looked back at the guards, and just slammed the helmets onto their heads, but they were on backwards. The guards started walking away from Shining Armor since he was in a nervous breakdown. He then walked up to M.C., Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Nyx and Joshua. "I'm sorry. Fatherhood to two foals is way more stressful than I ever thought."

"I can only imagine," said Fluttershy.

Rarity levitated a box full of small crystals and said, "Now, I know choosing the crystal of purity is a very important decision. So I have gone through the trouble of arranging them in order from incredibly pure to outrageously pure."

"Um, Rarity, don't they all sort of look the same?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, well, to the untrained eye, perhaps," said Rarity. She then held up the case to Shining Armor and asked, "What do you think, Shining Armor?"

Shining Armor was freaking out and shouted, "I don't know!" He then laid on the ground, covering his face with his forehooves.

"I was just thinking that he's put under a lot pressure, and he should really take a deep breath," said M.C. "Since something like this didn't happen with Guard, he's really stressin' about this now."

Rarity then quietly said to Fluttershy, "I hope Twilight and Pinkie are having better luck with the baby!"

In the room where the baby was sleeping, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were trying to keep her under control.

Pinkie was hanging from the baby since she was a strong flyer, saying, "Well... at least she's having... fun!"

The baby was firing blasts all over the place, but Twilight was firing at those blasts before they hit something. Twilight was getting exhausted and said, "Pinkie, hold her still!"

"I'm tryiiiiiiing!" Pinkie said as she was being dragged by the baby as she was flying. The baby fired a blast at Twilight, but Twilight ducked so she wouldn't be hit by it. She was getting antsy on trying to keep the baby calm.

Back in Sunburst's home, Starlight was catching up with Sunburst. You could basically hear a cricket chirping in the background.

Sunburst then asked, "So... the Princess of Friendship wants you and I to be friends again?"

"Heh, I know," Starlight chuckled. "Weird, right?"

"Uh, I don't understand," said Sunburst, confusingly. "Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?"

"What?" Starlight asked before thumping the table. "No! I-I don't see what that has to do with anything. W-Why would you even ask that?" Starlight started pouring more tea into her teacup when she was talking nervously. I mean, did something happen to you after you left for magic school?"

"What?" Sunburst asked nervously. "Um, no. L-Like you said, I'm an..." he then cleared his throat. "...i-important wizard."

They then left silence. Spike and Mutt were hiding behind some books, and Spike was reading the checklist.

"I'm sure there's something on Twilight's list that can help here," said Spike.

"You know, maybe I should go check on things for the Crystalling," said Mutt. "Mostly to get away from this awkward conversation."

"Good call," said Spike. "Go on ahead."

Then Mutt went towards the door, but stopped when he saw a family picture when Sunburst was younger. In the picture were four ponies. Himself, his parents, and his older sister. But the sister was actually Sunset Shimmer. He then took a picture of that framed picture, and then headed out the door.

Underneath the palace, where the Crystal Heart was, Shining Armor was taking deep breaths as Rarity was fixing his mane. She already took care of the stubbles on Shining's chin. Then through a close door, came Celestia, Luna and Cadance.

Shining walked up to Cadance and said, "Okay. I chose the honor guard, picked the purity crystal, and I know exactly who I want to be our crystaller. So, all we need is..." He then forgot the last thing.

"The baby?" Cadance asked. That made Shining Armor's face freeze up in shock. That was until Twilight and Pinkie came in with the baby.

"We're here!" Twilight announced. Shining then put a hoof to his chest and exhaled in relief. Twilight had the baby, and Pinkie Pie in a barrier she was surrounding.

Then Mutt came in and said, "Hey, guys. Thought I would see how things are going."

"Hey, Mutt," said Twilight. "How's Starlight and Sunburst's reunion going?"

"Awkward," said Mutt, like how Rob Schneider said in the movie 'Grown Ups'. "Although, when I was there, I learned two things about him."

"And that is?" Twilight asked.

"One; Sunburst was that one stallion that picked up me, M.C. and Joshua, thinking we were knew creatures," said Mutt.

Twilight face hoofed and said, "Gah! I thought that colt looked familiar in Starlight's past!" She then breathed out and said, "Okay, what's the other thing?"

"Check out this family photo of his," said Mutt, showing the picture he took of Sunburst's family. One pony caught her eye. "Sunset Shimmer?"

"Yeah, that kinda makes sense," said M.C., looking at the picture.

Then Cadance grabbed the baby out of Twilight's force field, and Twilight put Pinkie down. Then the baby started whimpering, knowing that Pinkie Pie was taken away from her.

"That doesn't look good," said Nyx.

Then the baby let out a huge cry in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Everyone there was being caught off guard by the cry. M.C. and Mutt were covering their ears. Then when the crying stopped, the Crystal Heart started cracking up, and then it broke apart.

"That is definitely not good," said Joshua.

Then the baby flew down into her mother's left foreleg, and everyone was looking at the shards of the Crystal Heart.

"Ah'm guessin' that's gonna make it harder to do the Crystalling," said Applejack.

"It's worse than that," said Twilight, looking out the curtain. "Without the Heart, the Crystal Empire's about to be buried under a mountain of ice and snow!"

Then a huge storm was starting to cover up the Crystal Empire. Everyone was nervous, except for M.C. and Mutt, because they had their ears covered, trying to get rid of the ringing in their ears. All that was left was the baby giggling.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Episode 2: The Crystalling - Part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Episode 3: The Gift of the Maud Pie

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 3: The Gift of the Maud Pie

On a train from Ponyville to Manehattan, a bunch of ponies were waiting patiently. All except for Pinkie Pie, who gets excited over everything.

"We're going to Manehattan, we're going to Manehattan, we're going to Manehattan...!" Pinkie Pie sang all over the train car. She ended at the same booth where Rarity and Mutt were.

"Yes, yes, Manehattan, the height of sophistication, elegance, culture..." Rarity said. "Since my boutique in Canterlot has been doing so nicely, it only makes sense for me to open one there as well."

"We're almost there! Why doesn't your face look like this?!" Pinkie Pie finished stretching her smile, making Mutt laugh.

"Oh, Pinkie, dear, this is just a business trip for me," said Rarity. "I need to scour the city for the most perfect location for my new shop. And while it's lovely how excited you are, there's absolutely no chance of me getting swept into the–" She looked out the window and saw Equestria's version of the Statue of Liberty, then she said excitedly, energy, the beauty, the majesty of the greatest city in all of Equestria!"

"Okay," said Pinkie Pie. She then turned her head towards Mutt and said, "And why are you coming here, Mutt?"

"Ever since Mom went to Canterlot to get a job at the museum there," Mutt explained, "and M.C. helping Twilight with her royal duties, I thought I would get to see the sights around Equestria, besides Canterlot and the Crystal Empire."

"Well, you definitely chose a good place to start," said Rarity. "Manehattan is definitely a big tourist trap."

"And while I'm here, the Crusaders asked me to see how Twist is doing ever since she moved here," said Mutt. "They even wanted me to take pictures around Manehattan with her."

"Oh, that is good thinking!" said Rarity. "I know that Sweetie Belle would wonder how Twist would be doing."

Then the train came to a stop at the train station. Then the three of them headed out of the train station. When they got out the door, Rarity sighed and said, "This city's simply a-ma-zing! It's just... everything, ever!"

"And it's about to get everything ever-er!" said Pinkie Pie. "Because guess who I see!" She pointed a hoof at the bottom of the stairs, and standing there was Maud Pie, Pinkie's sister. Pinkie then bounced down the stairs saying, "M! A! U! D!" She stopped in front of Maud, saying, "You know what that spells?"

In a deadpanned way, which is the only way she talks all the time, she said, "It spells Maud."

Then Pinkie pulled out her party cannon, getting the attention of the ponies around her, and shouted, "Maud, Maud, Maud!" She pulled in Maud, Rarity and Mutt for a group hug and shouted, "Yay!" Rarity and Mutt gave off a nervous smile when Pinkie was giving off the biggest smile she could give.

Rarity, Mutt and the two Pie sisters were walking through the streets of Manehattan, looking at the sights. But they were talking at first.

"Oh, you Pie sisters have just about the sweetest family traditions!" said Rarity. "Every year, you set aside a special day to spend with each of your sisters?"

"Yep!" said Pinkie Pie. "I do separate trips with each one, and we make it super fun by picking a different location every year!" Then a colt on a skateboard represents a sequence shift, and the three mares and Mobian dog ended up at Times Square. "And since Maud's getting her rocktorate nearby, we figured this would be the perfect spot for PSSSD!"

Rarity leaned in and asked in a hushed voice, "Okay, what's the secret?"

"Huh?" Pinkie Pie asked confused.

"You just said 'pssst'," said Rarity.

"No, silly!" said Pinkie. "Not pssst, PSSSD! P-S-S-S-D! Pie Sisters Surprise Swap Day!" Then Pinkie Pie bumped into a brown, Earth Pony Stallion who was as bulk as Bulk Biceps. The stallion snorted, and Pinkie nervously giggled.

"Hey, where's Maud?" Mutt asked. Maud was indeed not with the group. They looked around and saw Maud, holding her pet rock Boulder, and looking at some postcards.

Maud looked back at the other three, saying, "Boulder promised his cousin a postcard."

Rarity then looked back at Pinkie Pie and said, "Well, I'll just leave you two to your PSSSD. And now, I am off to scout possible locations for my new boutique!"

Pinkie Pie then put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder and said, "Before you go, can I ask you a quick question?"

"Oh, of course," said Rarity with a small grin.

Pinkie then got onto the ground, holding onto Rarity's left foreleg, and shouted, "Will you please help me?!"

Mutt was rubbing the inside of his ears with his pinkie fingers, saying, "You didn't have to yell, you know."

Rarity bit her lip and nervously said, "Only if you let go of my leg and stand up... And also, Benjamin is right. You didn't have to yell."

"Every year, Maud's PSSSD gift always blows mine away!" said Pinkie Pie, stressed out. "But this year is going to be different!" She then started grabbing something out of her mane. "For the first time, I'm finally getting her a gift that's as good as the one she always gets me!" It was a flyer for pouches that Rarity and Mutt were seeing. "There's a specialty store here in Manehattan that sells nothing but rock pouches! A rock pouch would be perfect for Boulder, and I know Maud will love it!"

"Why, Pinkie, that really is the perfect gift for Maud!" said Rarity, happy for Pinkie.

"Yeah," said Mutt. "You planned a lot for this day."

"I know, right?" Pinkie asked. "Problem is..." Pinkie Pie pointed at Maud, who was still showing Boulder some postcards. "...I still need to buy one, and the store is downtown!"

"Hmm, and you want to get a pouch for Maud without ruining the surprise..." Rarity said, thinking of a plan. Then the got an idea. "Well, luckily for you, I know exactly what you should do! Why not sight-see on a path that leads right to the pouch store? That way Maud won't get suspicious! I'll come with you to distract Maud, so..."

"...I can sneak away to pick out a rock pouch!" Pinkie said, finishing up Rarity's plan. She then gasped and said, "And if you're coming with us, you can look at boutique locations along the way!" With an even louder voice, "It's the perfect plan!" What she just said echoed, and everypony around them looked straight at Pinkie. Pinkie then covered her mouth, embarrassed.

"Y-Yes, yes, yes, let's not get too excited until you actually get a pouch for Maud," said Rarity, trying to cool her friend's excitement.

"Of course. Got it. Absolutely," Pinkie said.

Then Maud came back, saying, "Nothing moved him."

Pinkie pulled in Rarity, Mutt and Maud for a hug, saying, "Maud! I'm giving you the greatest PSSSD gift in the history of ever!" Then Pinkie rushed off, grabbed her party cannon, and fired it.

"I thought I recognized that voithe!" came the voice of a filly. The three mares and Mobian dog looked towards the voice and saw, not just Twist, but Babs Seed as well. "Hey, Pinkie Pie! Hey, Rarity! Oh, and you're the prince's young friend, Ben Mutt-thki, right?"

"That's me," said Mutt. "Ben Muttski. AKA the Mutt." He tilted his hat towards her.

"So, this is one of the Mobians," said Babs Seed. "Pleasure to meet ya."

"So, you're the cousin of Applejack that came here for the Summer Harvest Parade," said Rarity. "But I heard from Sweetie Belle that you were acting like a bully so you wouldn't want to be bullied in Ponyville as you were here."

"Yeah," said Babs Seed. "But now, I don't have to deal with that anymore. So, what's going on here?"

"Well, my sister and I came here for our annual, Pie Sisters Surprise Swap Day!" Pinkie Pie said. "Maud and I came here to find a surprise gift for each other."

"And I'm here to find a place to put a new boutique here in Manehattan," said Rarity. "Since the one in Canterlot is doing so well."

"I'm actually lucky that you came to us," said Mutt. "The Crusaders in Ponyville wanted to know how you're doing so far here." Mutt took off his hat, pulled a camera from it, put his hat back on and said, "They also wanted me to get some pictures."

"Thure," said Twist. "I'd like to tell the others how I've been doin'."

"Want to see the sights as well?" asked Babs Seed.

"You know it," said Mutt. "Let's do this!"

It then sequenced to a map of Manehattan. Like the group was travelling by map. It then went to Manehattan Statue of Liberty. From the crown, the group, minus Pinkie, were looking at the city.

"Oh, what a spectacular view!" said Rarity. "You really can see everything from here!"

"Especially the glaciation of the sloping strata," said Maud. "It's breathtaking."

"But not half as breathtaking as the gift I'm giving you!" came Pinkie's voice from outside. She was hanging from a bunch of balloons, with her party cannon bellow, also being lifted by a bunch of balloons.

Twist pulled Mutt's arm and asked, "Are ya thure that those two are thisters? They don't really have the thame happy chime."

"Even I find it hard to believe," said Mutt, "but it's true. They're sisters. Although, they do have two more sisters. One that gets angry at the drop of a hat named Limestone, and another who's just as shy as Fluttershy named Marble. I don't know if it was because of the Sonic Rainboom that gave Pinkie that personality or something else, but it's creeping me out."

Rarity pulled in and said, "Believe me. We're all wondering about that as well."

Mutt smiled, then he pulled out his camera, and the group got into a picture. Pinkie was just in the background of the picture as it was taken. Then Pinkie grabbed the camera from somewhere, and then the group went to the window of the crown, and Pinkie took a picture of all five of them looking out from the crown. Rarity, Mutt, Twist and Babs Seed were giving off huge smile while Maud was giving off just a small smile.

Then they traveled by map to a possible location for Rarity's new boutique. Rarity, Pinkie and Maud were the only ones inside, but it was really cramped.

" I-It certainly is..." Rarity said, then grunted. "...cozy... but this simply won't do! Working in a space this small would make me lose my mind!"

"Just like Maud's gonna lose her mind when she sees the gift I'm giving her!" said Pinkie Pie. She somehow got her party cannon, and fired it off, getting the attention on everypony on that street.

Mutt, Twist and Babs Seed were outside. Mutt shook his head, saying, "I've seen a school's janitor's closet bigger than this place."

"Makes sense," said Babs Seed. "Somepony should've knocked this place down and replace it with a quality sandwich shop."

"Sounds good," said Mutt.

"It actually does," said Babs Seed.

Then they traveled by map to a place similar to Rockefeller Center. There were ponies ice skating. Mutt was taking off his shoes and replacing them with ice skates.

"You have ice thkates with you?" asked Twist.

"M.C. and I travel a lot to a lot of different places," said Mutt. "M.C. says to bring certain things for certain places. For example." He then pulled out a bag, and pulled out some pairs of different shoes. "Cleats for field sports. Bowling shoes. Basketball shoes. Even flip flops for a nice day at the beach or pool." The flip flops he wore were the same ones he wore in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books. Then he got up, and onto the ice, heading towards Rarity and Maud.

Rarity sighed, but then Pinkie Pie came up, covering both Rarity and Mutt in shaved ice and said, "Whatever you were about to say isn't nearly as good as the gift I'm giving Maud!" Then she pulled out her party cannon from the right, and fired it off, and the blast pushed the cannon off the ice. Pinkie was still there, grinning eagerly.

"You'll be pleased with yours too," Maud said before skating off. Rarity and Mutt shook off the ice on them, then the three of them saw Maud doing a single axle, making Rarity and Mutt go jaw dropped.

"Okay, she is freaking me out," said Mutt. "Is everyone in your family that skillful on the ice?"

"Nope!" said Pinkie. "Our rock farm doesn't have and ponds or ice skating rinks near by. Maud's a total natural."

Mutt then slapped his face, and groaned.

It then looked like they were traveling by map, but this time, a pink crayon was drawing the path the group went to. It stopped at a certain restaurant.

"Pinkie, put down that crayon!" said Rarity, a little irritated. "The Cantering Cook isn't that kind of restaurant!" Pinkie then spat the crayon at a random direction, making Rarity freak out. The group of six were sitting at a table at an open view restaurant at the top of one building. Then Rarity said, "Oh... A pony could get used to eating at places like this!"

"I know," said Maud. "It's the only restaurant in the city with nepheline syenite in their bathroom tiles."

"...Well, isn't that something!" Rarity stuttered.

"I've ate here before," said Twist. "The food ith really good."

"You must try the pasta," said Babs Seed. "It literally melts in your mouth from the taste."

"Sounds good," said Mutt. "I guess I'll try it."

Then Rarity held up a menu in her magic and deliberately said, "You know what, Pinkie Pie? Uh, maybe you could help me figure out what to order!"

Rarity and Pinkie covered themselves with the menu, and had a hushed conversation behind it.

"We're so close to the pouch store!" Pinkie whispered. "It's just a block away! I could practically smell it from here! If I knew what a pouch store smelled like."

Rarity looked over the table and saw Maud looking at Boulder, who was doing nothing. Mutt, Twist and Babs were having a conversation at the time. Then Rarity went back down to talk to Pinkie Pie and whispered, "Okay, remember the plan. I will stay here and distract Maud while you go get a pouch!"

"Gotcha!" Pinkie whispered.

Then Rarity put the menu down and spoke deliberately, "Oh, why, thank you for the kind assistance, Pinkie Pie. And now I know exactly what to order."

"You are very welcome, Rarity!" said Pinkie in the same deliberate tone. "Now pardon me whilst I go wash my hooves!" As she was backing up, and bumped into a short unicorn waiter, making Pinkie say to him, "Sorry!" Then she jumped into the air, her hind legs spinning like Sonic the Hedgehog or the Looney Tunes's Roadrunner, and just sped on out, and making a Pinkie shaped hole in the door.

Mutt and Babs were jaw dropped on how fast and strong Pinkie was.

"Did you... did she... how did she...?!" Babs tried asking, but couldn't find the words.

Mutt groaned, rubbed his forehead with his hands and said, "I think my brain just broke."

"You'll get used to it," said Twist. "Pinkie Pie... ith just thomepony that'th jutht unpredictable."

"I know that," said Maud.

"So, Maud..." said Rarity, trying to move topic. "...that Boulder of yours is such an interesting... ahem... character. You must tell me, how did the two of you first meet?"

"It was a dark and stormy night," said Maud. "Little did I know that my life was about to change forever." Rarity was forcing herself to smile during Maud's story.

Pinkie traveled by map alone to the pouch store she was heading to to get the pouch for Maud. She looked through a window at a certain pouch. She gasped at it and started pushing her face to the glass, her smile getting bigger.

She then said to herself, "Look at that hand-stitched ten-thousand-thread-count velvet-lined rock pouch! Maud will love it! I need it!" She then ran inside, or at least she tried to if the door wasn't locked. "Ungh! Huh, must be stuck!" She then saw a note on the door and read it. ""Took a sudden vacation to Canterlot with my grandniece. Back in a few moons." Oh, no. Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no-no! Well, maybe, just maybe, he's already back from vacation and just forgot to take the sign down!" She was unintentionally talking to some ponies walking by. But then she pounded on the door, shouting, " Hello, Mr. Pouch Store Owner! I'd like to hear all about your sudden vacation in Canterlot with your grandniece while buying a pouch for my sister please!"

Pinkie unintentionally got the attention of many ponies around, including a police mare. The police mare walked up to Pinkie Pie and said, "Miss, the store's clearly closed."

Pinkie Pie then started talking to the police mare, and getting in her face a little. "But it can't be. It just can't be! If I can't get that pouch... then not only am I not getting my sister the greatest present in the history of PSSSD, but now I have no PSSSD present for my sister at all!" Pinkie was worrying a lot, not knowing what she was supposed to do.

It went back to the Cantering Cook restaurant. Maud was still telling the story of how she and Boulder met, still in that deadpanned voice.

"...and Boulder's been by my side ever since."

"Wow. What a surprisingly suspenseful and compelling story," said Rarity in a deadpan voice. " I completely get what you see in him now." She didn't notice that Pinkie came back until she turned her head. She then gasped and said in a normal voice, Pinkie Pie, you're back!" She then spoke deliberately, "Oh, your hooves must be sparkling clean!"

"Huh?" Pinkie Pie asked confused, yet upset. Then she remembered, "Oh, right." Then she sighed.

Rarity got nervous and called out, "Garçon! One super-deluxe two-mile-high hot fudge sundae, stat!"

The waiter walked off and came back with a giant hot fudge sundae, and put it on the table.

"Whoa!" said Twist. "That is one huge thundae!"

"You think Rarity will mind if we take a bite?" asked Babs Seed.

"Only if you ask," said Mutt. "I would, but I'm allergic to chocolate."

Meanwhile, Rarity and Pinkie were talking, trying to make sure that Maud wasn't listening.

"What happened? Did you get a pouch for Maud? Tell me everything!" Rarity desperately asked.

Pinkie inhaled, and said very quickly, "The door to the rock pouch store is locked because the owner's on a sudden vacation to Canterlot with his grandniece for a few moons, and so there's no way I can get the perfect present for Maud, and now I don't have any present for her at all, so it'll be the worst Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day ever!" She inhaled again and slammed her face into the sundae, and Pinkie was sobbing from inside the sundae.

"You know, I don't think I want this anymore," said Babs, putting back the ice cream on her spoon. Twist nodded in agreement.

Rarity looked around the sundae, and saw Maud with her deadpanned expression, not knowing what emotion she was giving off. Heck, who could? She then used her magic, and pulled Pinkie's face out of the sundae and said in compassion, "Oh, not to worry, dear! I'll just have to help you find a new present for Maud. We have plenty of time before your gift exchange at sunset and all of Manehattan to explore. We're bound to find something Maud would like. Maybe even more than a rock pouch!"

Pinkie Pie started to smile and said, "You're right! Thanks, Rarity!"

It then went to a toy store. There was one earth pony stallion and a pegasus filly were playing the My Little Pony theme on a giant keyboard. Then Pinkie slid on the piano playing an upwards glissando, going under the stallion and filly, and knocking them over.

Rarity and Maud were looking at a life size toy giraffe, and Rarity asked, "Maud, I can't help but notice you're staring at that marvelous giraffe. I was just wondering, any chance you could see yourself with it?" She then gave of a nervous grin.

Maud looked at the giraffe, saying, "Only if I had a mirror."

It then went to a jewelry store. Rarity was wearing a black dress, a pearl necklace with a broach, and a crown that matched the broach's colors.

In a persuasive voice, she said, "Now, Maud, I know you're a big fan of rocks, so get your camera ready, because these are the most spectacular rocks in all of Manehattan! Surely there must be something here that catches your eye."

Maud held up Boulder like he was speaking to her. Pinkie came over covered in jewelry and gems in her mane and tail. Then Maud said in a hushed, yet deadpanned voice, "Boulder says they're all too... stuck-up."

The group of six went to a swap meet. Maud was looking at her pet rock, and then the sound of whistling made her look up and saw Rarity face to face. Then western-themed music started playing, and Rarity was giving her an angry look.

" All right. You and me, Maud, you and me," Rarity called out. She then started levitating random stuff like crazy, wanting to know if Maud like it. "What do you think about..." Rarity levitated a football and a basketball. "...this?" Then she levitated a block of Swiss cheese. "Or this?" Then a purple vase. "Or this?" Then she levitated things across Maud's vision from right to left. Asking "Or this?" many times. Four things were the Twilicane, a rubber shark, a stone book that was the spell, Inspiration Manifestation, and then a Smarty Pants doll. Then the things Rarity levitated didn't come into view when she was asking "This?" Then she finished with a lamp and a grappling hook.

"I like that," Maud said, pointing at something.

Then Rarity asked desperately, "What is it? You have to tell me! Was it this bike? This lamp? This grappling hook? What do you like?!"

Maud pointed at a crack in the ground and said, "I like that fissure in the sidewalk. It's an elegant example of thermal expansion and soil settlement." She then pulled out a camera and took a picture of it.

The sound of a tea kettle was going on when Rarity was getting really irritated as she mumbled, "Fissure in thhhhhhhe soil...? What?! But I...! All of this...! And she likes a crack?!"

Mutt, Twist and Babs walked up to the pile. Mutt pulled out the Smarty Pants doll and said, "Hey! Isn't this the doll that Twilight gave Nyx before Joshua came to Equestria?"

"Oh, yeah," said Twist. "It ith. Nyx was a little upset when it was destroyed along with the rest of the old library."

"Perhaps I'll give it to Nyx when I get back to Ponyville," said Mutt. He then asked the stallion at the stall and asked, "How much for this?"

"That'll be 20 bits," said the stallion at the stall.

"20 bits?!" asked Mutt. "I only have 15. Sheesh, there goes the surprise gift to the daughter of the Princess of Friendship."

"Daughter of the Princess of Friendship?!" asked the stallion at the stall. "Did I say 20? I meant to say 5. 5 bits."

"Deal," said Mutt. He then handed the stallion 5 bits, and then put the doll into his hat.

Then Pinkie Pie came out of the pile of stuff and asked, "Did she like anything?"

In a hushed voice, Rarity responded with, "That sister of yours is simply impossible to shop for! There's nothing she needs or wants!"

Their attention got caught by Maud when she was calling out, "Boulder. Boulder. Where'd you run off to?" Then Maud turned to a stall that had some rocks with painted faces on them. "There you are. Sure wish I had something to carry you around in."

Pinkie Pie then got nervous, jumped up and out of the pile, saying, " A rock pouch was the perfect gift for Maud! Aw, and I know she would have loved the one I saw in the window! It had double stitching, a red drawstring..."

Rarity's focus was on something else, and then she finished Pinkie's sentence, "...and ocher-flecked velvet lining with reinforced triple-crosshatched seams?"

Depressed, Pinkie said, "Yep, that's the pouch." She sighed. Then she got a shocked face and then asked, "Wait, how'd you know?"

"Because I'm looking at one just like it!" said Rarity, pointing at something. She was pointing at a skinny stallion with a slick back mane, a pink polo shirt, a golden pocket watch and chain around his neck, the same kind of pouch Pinkie was trying to buy strapped to his belt, and his Cutie Mark saw of six bits. "Maybe if you can catch up with him, you could ask—" She didn't get a chance to finish that sentence because Pinkie already zoomed right towards that one pony.

Pinkie rushed over to that sleek pony, got in front of him and asked, " Excuse me, sir! I couldn't help but notice your nifty rock pouch! Is there any chance you'd be willing to part with it? I really need it. Like, really really really!"

"So lemme get this straight..." said the stallion. He then separated the pouch from his belt and asked, "You, uh, really really need this pouch, huh?"

"I believe I said really really really," Pinkie corrected.

"Well, you know, pouches like this are really hard to come by these days," said the stallion. "But I might be able to part with it for the right price." He then gave off a sneaky grin like some swindler.

Pinkie got excited and asked, "So you'll sell it to me? And I'll finally be able to give my sister the perfect Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day present? Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She bounced, brought out her party cannon, and fired it off.

The sleek pony was surprised by the party cannon, then he got a sinister idea. He hummed, then said, "That's one sweet party cannon you got there. Tell you what. I'd be more than happy to give you the pouch for the low, low price of... that cannon."

Pinkie Pie gasped, grasping her cannon and asked, "M-My... party cannon...?"

"Well, if you really wanna give that sister of yours the perfect present, then you'll have to give up your party cannon," said the pony. "So, what do you say? The pouch for the cannon." Then his gold tooth gleamed and dinged when he smiled like a swindler. Pinkie Pie bit her lower lip, trying to hold in her tears.

Maud and Rarity were checking out the crack in the ground as Mutt, Babs and Twist were looking from the sidelines. Mutt was shaking his head, indicating that what Maud was doing was boring.

"Do you see the exposed chalcedony in the fissure?" Maud asked Rarity.

"Probably?" Rarity asked, confused.

In a despondent expression, Pinkie Pie came back, asking, "What you guys lookin' at?"

Rarity got excited and said to Pinkie, "Oh, you're back!" Then Rarity turned to Maud, pulling out a camera saying, "Darling, I want to get one more picture of you with that astounding fissure in the sidewalk, and the inspiration just struck me for the perfect shot! Uh, be a dear and go stand behind it." Maud took a few steps back. "Okay, now just, uh, back up a little bit! Little more!" Maud was about a yard away from the crack. "And now just a little... uh... twenty yards more!" Maud moved back to the end of the swap meet row. "Perfect! Hold that pose! I think we found your new holiday card!" She then turned to Pinkie, asking in a hushed voice, "So, how did it go? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Well, I got the rock pouch for Maud, and... that's really the only thing that matters," Pinkie said, despondently.

"Oh, I am so glad to hear that!" said Rarity, pulling Pinkie in. "She's going to absolutely love it!"

Pinkie then turned to a stall in the Swap Meet and said in that same tone, "Yup."

""Yup"? That's it?" Rarity asked surprised. "You got your sister the greatest PSSSD present in the history of ever, and all you have to say is "yup"?"

"Yup," Pinkie said, despondently.

"But... you're Pinkie Pie," said Rarity, shocked. "You're supposed to be all..." Then Rarity started acting like how Pinkie Pie usually is. Even did the jumping and bouncing around like Pinkie Pie does. "Oh, I'm so excited I bought the rock pouch! And I know I say excited a lot when I'm actually just kind of excited, but this time I'm really excited about how excited I am about being this excited over the rock pouch!" Then she went back to her normal behavior, saying, "And then you fire off your party cannon. Say, where is your cannon?" Pinkie then looked back towards Rarity with a saddened look. That made Rarity gasp. She then grabbed Pinkie Pie, asking, "Did you lose it? Is your party cannon lost somewhere in the big city?!"

"Well... I wouldn't say it's lost," Pinkie said, despondently. "I mean, I know where it is. It's just..." She then sighed.

"I can clearly see that something's bothering you, and I want to help," Rarity said. "But I can't help you unless you tell me what the problem is."

"Oh, there's no problem," said Pinkie Pie, still despondent. "It just turns out that the going rate for a rock pouch in Manehattan is one party cannon. Who knew?"

"You gave away your cannon?!" asked Rarity, Mutt and Twist in unison.

"But, but that party cannon is your everything!" said Rarity. "You absolutely love that cannon! How could you possibly part with something that means so much to you?!"

"Well, I finally got Maud a gift that's just as good as the ones she always gets me, and that's all that really matters," Pinkie Pie said, ending it with a sad smile.

"Well, I guess I understand... maybe," said Rarity, unsure of the situation.

"Maud's going to be so excited," said Pinkie Pie, starting to get her moxy back. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees the pouch!"

"I know, the camera loves Boulder," said Maud, coming back.

Then the sound of Mutt, Twist and Babs snickering. Rarity then asked, "What's so funny, you three?" Mutt then held up his left glove, and a holographic footage of Rarity acting like Pinkie Pie showed. Rarity's face turned red in embarrassment, and then Mutt, Babs and Twist just fell onto the floor laughing.

Then it went to Manehattan's park. The group set up a picnic blanket by the stream, and all six of them were sitting on the blanket, waiting for the exchange to begin.

"After the day we've had, I'm probably looking forward to the swap part of the Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day even more than the two of you!" Rarity said. She then giggled, and looked back at Pinkie Pie. "And I'm not even a Pie sister! I can't wait one more second to see the wonderful gifts you've gotten each other!"

"Well, you're going to have to," said Pinkie to Rarity. "We don't just swap, silly. We always sing the Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day Song first! Ready, Maud?"

"As I'll ever be," said Maud.

Then Pinkie Pie started singing, "It's the Pie Sisters' Swap Day Sooooooong!"

"Hey," Maud sang, deadpanned.

"Okay, time to swap presents!" said Pinkie Pie, giving Maud her present as Maud gave the present she had for Pinkie. Pinkie hummed, then shook what was in the present Maud gave her. Rarity was smiling, then she looked over at Maud, looking at her present. She wasn't doing anything but looking at it. Then Rarity looked over at Pinkie Pie, and she was licking the present she had. Rarity was getting impatient and worried.

Rarity growled, then yelled, "Just open them already!"

Maud started opening her present, and pulled out the rock pouch that Pinkie got. She then said, "Thanks."

"I knew you'd love it! It was all worth it!" said Pinkie Pie. She then said to Rarity, "Look how happy she is! And I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you, Rarity." Then she and Rarity hugged. "Okay! Time to open your present to me!" She then opened up the present she got from Maud. "Oh! You did it again! You got me the best present in the history of PSSSD! This is perfect! This is amazing! This is incredible! I love it, I love it, I love it!" She then looked at Maud, and she saw something that not even Rarity, Mutt, Twist and Babs could see from Maud. "What is it?"

With her normal deadpanned voice, Maud responded with, "It's little pieces of cupcake-scented paper. You know, confetti. For your cannon."

"Maud..." Pinkie said, then sniffed. "You know me so well. You really are the most thoughtful gift-giver in the world! I'm gonna love it five-ever! That's even longer than for-ever." She then hugged Maud and sighed happily.

Rarity was happy for the two sisters.

Rarity and Maud were looking at a huge rock in the park.

"You're right, that is impressive," said Rarity in awe. "But it's no fissure in the sidewalk."

Maud then put her pet rock by the huge rock and said, "Play nice."

Maud rubbed her new rock pouch while Rarity said, "Oh, I'm so relieved to see that you like the pouch. Especially considering what Pinkie Pie had to give up for it." She then gasped, realizing what she just said.

"What?" Maud asked.

"I mean... forget I said that!" said Rarity, starting to get nervous. Mutt slapped his forehead and Babs and Twist were shaking their heads. "I'm, I-I-I'm glad to see that you like the pouch. You can remember that part. Just forget the second part. You know, the second part where I said that Pinkie Pie had to give something up—" She shrieked, then tried to stop talking. "Perhaps I should just stop talking now. Nothing!"

Then Pinkie came across, throwing confetti, saying, "Hee-hee, yay! I love my sister and my new confetti!"

Maud looked over at Rarity and asked, "Why isn't she using her party cannon?"

Rarity got nervous, unsure what to say. She then scuffed her hoof through some dirt and then said, "Ooh! Wow, look how filthy my hooves are! I really should go wash them!"

Rarity then started running off in a random direction, but Maud got in front of her in the direction she was going, facing straight into Rarity's face, and then asked, "Where's her cannon?"

Rarity tried looking away from Maud, like she was actually seeing what emotion Maud was using. She said, "No, no, stop, stop giving me that look!I can't take it!" Rarity tried holding it in, but she couldn't take it anymore and started to spill the beans. "Pinkie Pie feels bad that the gifts that she always gives you are never as good as the ones that you give her!"

"What?" Maud asked.

"That's why she was willing to give up the party cannon for the pouch!" Rarity explained, nervously.

Maud looked down at her pouch, then back to Rarity and asked, "She gave up her party cannon?" Then the two of them looked back at Pinkie Pie, who had a handful of confetti in her hoof and blew it off.

"Pinkie Pie! You might want to come over here for a second!" Rarity called out.

Pinkie Pie walked towards the other two mares, saying, "I think I know what this is about. You guys wanna ride the swans. Well, there are swan boats, but there are real swans here we can ri—"

Maud cut her off, asking, "You gave away your party cannon?"

Pinkie got stunned from what Maud just figured out. She then looked over at Rarity, who inhaled and responded with, "She broke me."

Pinkie looked back into the eyes of her sister, got nervous, then confessed, "Nnngh, it's just... It's just... It's just... You always give better gifts than me! That's why I had to get you the perfect gift!" Maud nodded, then headed off somewhere. Pinkie then asked, "Are your hooves dirty? Where're you going?!"

Maud turned her head back to Pinkie, and answered, "To get your cannon back." Maud continued walking away. Pinkie and Rarity looked at each other in confusion. Then Mutt, Twist and Babs came up to them.

"You think we should follow her?" Mutt asked.

"Yeah," said Babs. "It might be the best thing right now." Then the five of them started following Maud.

The group of six were searching the streets of Manehattan, looking for that one pony that Pinkie traded her Party Cannon for Maud's new rock pouch.

Maud looked to her right, pointed a forehoof, and said, "There."

"Yep! That sure is the pony I got the pouch from!" said Pinkie.

"That's amazing!" said Rarity in surprise. "How did you know where he'd be?"

"Maud Sense," said Maud. She then started walking towards the pony.

"Runs in the family!" said Pinkie.

"Now that makes sense," said Mutt.

The pony was walking with the party cannon until Maud tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see her. Maud then grabbed the pouch and said, "I'd like to return this pouch for my sister's party cannon, please."

"Sorry, missy, all sales are final," said that one pony. He then walked away with the cannon, but Maud speedily got in front of him, holding up the pouch.

"I'd like to return this pouch for my sister's party cannon, please," Maud said, slightly more forcefully.

The hustling pony was getting confused until Rarity came up to him and said, "Ooh, I've never seen her like this! Look at the fire in her eyes! You'd better do what she says!"

"Fire in her eyes?" asked the hustling pony.

"Oh! Did she just clench her jaw?! I think she clenched her jaw!" Rarity said, getting into that hustling pony's head.

"I didn't see," the hustling pony said, looking at Maud.

"Oh, no! When she clenches her jaw... you know what that means?!" Rarity asked, grabbing and shaking the pony.

"What? What's it mean?" asked the pony, starting to get scared.

"Trust me, you do not want to know!" Rarity said. Then the hustling pony started shivering in fear.

"I'd like to return this pouch," said Maud.

The hustling pony whimpered, pushed the party cannon towards Maud and said, "Here! Take it, take it, please! Just relax that jaw of yours and turn down that fire in your eyes!" Then he laid on the ground, whimpering some more. Then Pinkie, Mutt, Babs and Twist came up to them.

"Wow," said Mutt. "That was awesome."

"It actually was," said Babs.

Later, Maud going down the streets of Manehattan. Pinkie came rolling up to Maud, riding her party cannon.

"Maud! I'm so happy you got me my party cannon back! Yay!" Pinkie said, then firing the cannon with the new confetti. Then Pinkie remembered something. "Uh-oh. I just realized something. 'Cause you gave back the pouch for my cannon, this is now the second gift you've gotten me today! And it's something I really, really wanted! You did it again! Your gifts are always better than mine! Next year, I'm gonna have to really step it up and—"

Maud covered Pinkie's mouth with a hoof and said, "Pinkie, gift giving isn't a competition. It's an expression of love, and you always make sure to give your gifts with lots of love. That's why I'll always love them, and you, five-ever. That's even longer than for-ever." She then gave off a small smile.

"Awwww!" Pinkie said, then the two sisters hugged. Then Rarity came up to them and Pinkie said, "There you are! You've sure been washing your hooves for a long time! We've got a train to catch here!"

"I know, but there is one more sight you two simply must see before we leave," said Rarity.

They then traveled by map to another location. They went to a boarded up store. It was just Rarity, Pinkie, Mutt and Maud.

"Voila! Welcome to the future home of "Rarity For You"!" said Rarity. "What do you think of the place? Is this the right location? Did I pick a good spot?"

"No. You picked the perfect spot," said Maud.

"Hey, where are Babs and Twist?" Pinkie asked, not noticing the two fillies around.

"It just about sunset," said Mutt. "Where do you think they went?"

"Oh, that makes sense," said Rarity. "They're probably on their way home. Young foals should be getting home by this time of day."

"You know, I think this might be my favorite PSSSD ever!" said Pinkie. "But I can't wait 'til next year's PSSS-D-W-R!"

"Wait. PSSS-D-W-R? What's that?" Rarity asked, confused.

"P-S-S-S-D-W-R! It's a new tradition that Maud and I came up with!" said Pinkie. "Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day..."

"With Rarity," Maud said, finishing Pinkie's sentence.

"Oh! Ohhh! Why, that's the sweetest..." said Rarity, feeling touched. But then she started to panic. "Oh, no. Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no. I know how good you two are at giving gifts! I'm going to have to get you both something amazing, and I only have a year to do it!"

"Oh, Rarity! It doesn't matter what you get us!" Pinkie said, pulling Rarity in for a hug. "As long as you give your gift with love, it'll be perfect!" She then looked back at Maud, winking at her. Then Maud winked back, still with a deadpanned expression.

Rarity sighed, and said, "Why, thank you, Pinkie."

"Buuuut now that you mention it... I could use more confetti for my party cannon," Pinkie said, pulling in her party cannon. "You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff I go through in a day!"

She then fired off her party cannon. Mutt sighed, shook his head and said, "I'm pretty sure she's gonna use up all of the confetti in the world if she keeps that up."

"I know, right?" Maud asked, deadpanning. Then the two of them smiled at Pinkie's antics.

Episode 4: On Your Marks

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 4: On Your Marks

At the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse, all of the Crusaders in there, discussing what they were going to do today. Well, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were too busy, admiring their Cutie Marks.

Apple Bloom banged a gavel saying, " Hear ye, hear ye! The first post-cutie mark meetin' of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is now in session!" Nyx, Joshua and Dinky were listening, but Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren't listening. Not until Apple Bloom cleared her throat, getting the attention of the other two.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle apologized. "I was distracted by the radiance of my cutie mark... Did you say something?"

"I mean... it's pretty amazing how the colors just pop off your flank," Scootaloo walking towards Apple Bloom. "It's kinda hard to look aw—" She then bumped her head on the lectern. She looked up at Apple Bloom with a nervous smile, with her glaring back at Scootaloo.

"Look, Ah know our cutie marks are amazing, but is that all we're gonna do now?" said Apple Bloom. "Just spend our days starin' down at our own flanks? Ah mean, Nyx or Twist didn't do that all the time since they got their marks."

"She's right about that," said Nyx.

"I was human, and we didn't get Cutie Marks," said Joshua. "If we did, I'm sure we wouldn't have been looking at them all our lives."

"I guess that makes sense," said Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, that would be so boring," said Scootaloo.

"This is ridiculous! We need to go out and do somethin'!" said Apple Bloom.

"Wow, you're right!" said Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, we need to go try new stuff like we used to!" said Scootaloo.

"Exactly," said Apple Bloom.

"Like square dancing!" said Sweetie Belle. The rest of the Crusaders looked over at Sweetie Belle, and she was dressed in a sparkly cowgirl outfit.

"Or mountain climbing!" said Scootaloo. She was wearing lederhosen. Then she yodeled.

"Or square dancin' on the mountain we just climbed!" said Apple Bloom. She was wearing a combination of both outfits that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were wearing.

Nyx, Joshua and Dinky shook their heads and laughed a bit.

"And the more things we try, the more chances we'll have to finally get our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom said, heading towards the door. "Come on!"

"Hang on!" said Dinky, getting the attention of the others. "We already have our Cutie Marks, remember?"

Then she, Nyx and Joshua revealed their flanks with their Cutie Marks. Then Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo moved the clothing away from their flanks, showing their Cutie Marks. Then the three of them blushed embarrassed.

All six crusaders were looking at the list of stuff the Crusaders tried and failed at trying to get their Cutie Marks. They tried everything, and failed at it all.

"Wow... Did we really only ever do things just to get our cutie marks?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't know. Maybe?" said Sweetie Belle, confusedly.

"Aw, come on! We did lots of stuff that didn't have anything to do with getting a cutie mark," said Scootaloo.

"Even things before I came into existence," said Nyx. "Twilight told me about the things you all did. I even remember the things we did together."

Then they did a flashback of memories of the Crusaders doing things that didn't have to do with Cutie Marks. Like when the Crusaders tried to fix the table that they broke at Fluttershy's, Apple Bloom hang gliding, the Crusaders doing some scuba diving, the Crusaders sneaking into "Nightmare Moon's" castle, the Crusaders winning the flag carrying competition when Joshua was still human, having Dinky join the group at the sleepover, and ending with when they got Josh and Dinky under the mistletoe.

"Huh," said Sweetie Belle. "So now that we don't have to do stuff to get our cutie marks, what is it that the Cutie Mark Crusaders actually do?"

"We do exactly what we got our cutie marks in!" said Apple Bloom.

"Helping other ponies!" said all six of the young ponies.

"Ponies without cutie marks!" said Dinky.

"Or ponies who've forgotten their special purpose!" said Joshua.

"Exactly!" said Apple Bloom. Then she pulled in all of her friends in for a group hug. "We just have to find ponies who need our help! Come on!" Then they headed out of their clubhouse, trying to find somepony that has yet to get his or her mark, or trying to understand their marks.

Later at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac was loading some apples into a cart. Then Sweetie Belle popped her head out of the apples.

"But are you sure you feel content?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Eeyup," said Big Mac. He then put the bucket he had down, but then Scootaloo got on his head.

"Not even a tinge of dissatisfaction?" asked Scootaloo.

"Nnnope," said Big Mac, before moving away, having Scootaloo in the air, trying to flap her little wings, keeping her air for a little bit, but still fell anyway. She got back up, then she and Sweetie Belle ran up in front of Big Mac, standing by Apple Bloom.

"Not even the slightest naggin' sensation that you don't really know what your purpose is in life or why you have a big apple as a cutie mark?" asked Apple Bloom, as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were backing up. Then Apple Bloom tripped on something. Big Mac was surprised, and tried to stop himself from stepping on his youngest sibling. He succeeded, but the cart flipped all of the apples onto him, burying him.

He then came out of the pile of apples with a granny smith apple in his mouth, spat it out, and angrily said to the Crusaders, "Nnnope."

Then Nyx, Joshua and Dinky came over to them, and pulling them away from Big Mac before they get into more trouble. Nyx pulled Apple Bloom, Joshua pulled Sweetie Belle, and Dinky pulled Scootaloo.

Then it went to Sugarcube Corner. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were leaning in over something talking to somepony.

"The important thing to remember is that there is no rush," said Apple Bloom.

"Three of us tried for the longest time, but it just comes when it comes!" said Scootaloo.

"And it's totally normal to feel confused and maybe even a little lost," said Sweetie Belle. "But being a blank flank is nothing to be ashamed of."

"So if you're having even the slightest problem..." Scootaloo said.

"...or concerns or questions..." Sweetie Belle said.

"...we want you to know that we are here to help," Apple Bloom finished.

Then their attention got taken to Mrs. Cake, who said, "I... don't think they're too worried about it yet." They turned to who they were talking to, which were the Cake Twins. They were babbling like foals did. Then Joshua came up to the edge of the crib and played peek-a-boo with the babies, making them laugh.

Nyx and Dinky were smiling at Joshua for making the babies laugh.

The Crusaders were going all over town, looking for any ponies who hadn't had their cutie marks, or having trouble with them. So far, they found no problem. They eventually went to a hilltop, where Twilight, Spike, M.C. and Mutt were having a small picnic.

"Such a beautiful day for a picnic," said Twilight.

"Yeah," said M.C. "Nothing like getting some fresh air once in a while." Then the Crusaders came up to them. Some with upset faces. M.C. looked over at the kids, saying, "Hey kids. Why the long face?"

"Was that seriously a dad joke, M.C.?" Joshua asked.

"Wasn't trying to be," said M.C. "Look at my face. It's long, too."

"So, what's wrong, kids?" asked Twilight. "Is something up with you?"

"We were tryin' to find ponies who don't have their Cutie Marks or ponies who were having a hard time understandin' theirs," said Apple Bloom.

"Who knew there were so few ponies worried about their cutie marks?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Kinda makes you wonder why we made such a big deal out of it for so long," said Scootaloo. Everyone around her gave off a confused expression. "What?"

"The point is, helpin' ponies with cutie mark problems is what makes us special," said Apple Bloom.

"But if we can't find anypony with a problem..." Sweetie Belle said.

"...Maybe we're not special," said Scootaloo.

"Hey," said M.C. "Never say that about yourself. Doubt might come to you, but always know this. You're special in your own way."

"Sounds like something that should be in a friendship report back before Twilight became a princess," said Spike, chuckling to himself.

"That would be a good friendship report," said Twilight. "Too bad we're all past that. If only you two were here before the Smarty Pants incident." She pointed at M.C. and Mutt with her forehooves.

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," said Mutt. He then took off his hat and reached into it. "When Rarity, Pinkie and I went to Manehattan, we went through a Swap Meet, and look what I found in one booth." He then pulled out a Smarty Pants doll.

Twilight took it in her hooves and said, "A Smarty Pants doll?! How did you find one of these?!"

"Pinkie Pie and Maud do an annual present swapping day at a random location," said Mutt. "Pinkie found the perfect gift, the store wasn't open, Pinkie and Rarity tried finding a gift as good as that one gift, Pinkie saw that gift she was looking for, Pinkie was upset to trade her party cannon for it, Maud found out, Maud traded it back for Pinkie's cannon, and that's pretty much it."

"Wow," said Twilight. "And I'm guessing trying to find a gift was at that swap meet that you found the Smarty Pants Doll?"

"Actually, it was Rarity who found it," said Mutt. "Along with an ancient spell that said Inspiration Manifestation."

"Wait what?!" Spike shouted. "That was the spell that made Rarity go on a fabulous making spree."

"Whew," said Mutt. "Glad I didn't get that."

"Yeah," said Nyx. "Everywhere we looked, the sun reflecting the golden paths kept blinding me."

"Anyway, we don't know what ta do," said Apple Bloom.

"Tell you what," said M.C., "why don't you go make flyers about what you do, and then I'll post them all over Ponyville. Pretty soon, you'll have ponies in need of finding or understanding their Cutie Marks as soon as they can get to you."

"That's... actually not a bad idea," said Twilight.

"How do we know that there aren't any ponies who have a Cutie Mark problem?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah! I know exactly what you mean," came a voice. They all looked over, and saw Bulk Biceps walking by. "You can't find a cutie mark problem. I have a cutie mark problem. It's so confusing, and I feel like the solution is staring me right in the muzzle."

The whole group looked at each other, then the crusaders smiled in glee, and looked back at Bulk Biceps. M.C. then said, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Bulk Biceps got confused and then asked, "What?"

It then sequenced to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. Bulk Biceps was taking in about all the space.

"I see why you guys hang out here!" said Bulk Biceps. "It's cozy!" He was pinning the Crusaders to both sides of the clubhouse. To Bulk Biceps left, he pinned Apple Bloom, Nyx and Joshua. To his right, Sweetie Belle, Dinky and Scootaloo.

Scootaloo was trying to get enough room to get some air and said straining, "The Crusader Clubhouse is a safe place, Mr... um... Bulk."

"A place where we faced all kinds of cutie mark problems!" said Sweetie Belle.

"A place where we'll go on to solve even more! Startin' with yours!" said Apple Bloom.

"No matter how long it takes!" said Nyx.

"No matter how long it takes!" said Dinky.

"We'll solve it because that's what we do!" said Joshua.

As the six of them were talking to Bulk, they were trying to get closer to each other, but it was hard due to Bulk's body pinning them to the wall.

"Yeah!" said the six crusaders, trying to do a six way hoof bump, but they couldn't reach.

"Yeah!" shouted Bulk Biceps, how he usually says it.

"So... what's your Cutie Mark problem?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Oh, right," said Bulk in realization. He then turned to his right, and the Crusaders were getting out of the way. "Uh, well, my cutie mark is a dumbbell, but I've lifted every dumbbell in Ponyville!"

"Have you tried lifting other things?" Scootaloo asked, nervously. She was afraid that Bulk would fart on her since his rear was aimed at her face.

"Yeah!" said Sweetie Belle, followed by Apple Bloom.

"Yeah!" shouted Bulk Biceps, stepping on the floor, bringing the six crusaders to come into the air for a little bit, and then the floor under Bulk breaking, and him falling through. He then stuck his head through the hole in the floor and said, "I mean... no. I hadn't thought of that. You guys are awesome!" Then he fell again. Then he made another hole in the clubhouse floor, closer to the lectern. "But... what happens when I run out of other stuff?"

" ...I guess you could teach other ponies to lift things?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Yeah!" said Apple Bloom, followed by Scootaloo.

"Yeah!" said Bulk Biceps. "Wow, you all really have a knack for this!" He then got his head out of the floor.

"I think this conversation would've been better if we did this meeting outside," said Joshua.

"I agree," said Nyx. "He made two holes in the floor."

"Weight and room limit here?" asked Dinky.

"Deal," said all six Crusaders.

"Anyway, that was actually easy," said Sweetie Belle.

"Maybe too easy," said Apple Bloom.

"What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked, unsure what Apple Bloom was getting at.

"Well, it's lookin' like cutie mark problems are few and far between," said Apple Bloom.

"And..." Sweetie Belle asked.

"And what if we never find another one?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Well..." said Scootaloo.

"And even if we do, we could solve it so quick, it'll be like it never happened in the first place!" said Apple Bloom.

"So...?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"So... then the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't have any reason to exist!" said Apple Bloom. Then Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo started worrying together.

"Girls," said Joshua. "Not everything will go as you want it. My old mommy and daddy told me that sometimes, patience always pays off. All we have to do is to wait patiently.

Later, M.C. was replacing the broken floorboards of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, with Big Mac giving him a lift up.

"What do ya think happened here?" Big Mac asked.

M.C. sniffed around and said, "By the smell of things, I say Bulk Biceps came into the Clubhouse, fell through a hole he made by the door. Then later, made another one by the back, and thanked the Crusaders for solving his problem." Big Mac snorted, and rolled his eyes while smiling. "Well, that oughta do it." He then got off of Big Mac, and as he was loading the tools into the toolbox, he said, "Thanks for lending me these tools and giving me a leg up."

"Eeyup," said Big Mac. Big Mac then took the tool box, and headed back to the barn, and M.C. left.

Meanwhile, inside, the Crusaders had a Venn Diagram of three different things. The one on top represents the ponies with a Cutie Mark Problem. The one on the bottom left represents the Crusaders. And the last one represented time in the form of a pocket watch.

Sweetie Belle was using a conductor's baton to point at the diagram, saying, "The problem boils down to this – we don't need to go out and do things anymore to get our cutie marks."

"Right! And—" Apple Bloom said, until Scootaloo jumped onto her back.

"Ponies with cutie mark problems are hard to find," Scootaloo said, pointing at the circle of ponies with Cutie Mark problems. She then jumped off of Apple Bloom.

"Exactly," said Apple Bloom. "But even when we find problems, we're so good at solvin' them that most of the time there's nothin' for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to do. So..." She said walking and then pointing at the diagram. She then rolled down a map of Equestria, clearly drawn by one of them. "I thought we should start figurin' out ways to search all of Equestria for cutie mark problems!"

"That kinda seems like a lot," said Scootaloo.

"I don't think Rarity would let me travel to the far reaches of Equestria looking for cutie mark problems," said Sweetie Belle.

"Mom would agree," said Nyx. "She would worry if me and Josh didn't come home without her knowledge."

"My mom would freak if I headed off somewhere without her permission," said Dinky.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll come across them in Ponyville," said Scootaloo. "And when we do, we'll totally solve them because we are so awesome at it!"

Then Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo high hoofed.

"But... what do we do until then?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Maybe whatever we want?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"What do you mean?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Well, we used to only do stuff to get our cutie marks or fulfill our destiny, but now we don't have to," said Sweetie Belle.

"She has a point," said Dinky.

"So... we can do things just for fun?" Apple Bloom asked. She then smiled, got down from the lectern and said, "Are you girls thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?!"

"Sure am!" said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"I got a feeling they don't," said Joshua.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all said three different things at the same time. "Makin' Potions!" "Scootering!" "Singing!" Then they all realized what they said, but none of them really compromised at the moment.

"You were right, Joshie," said Dinky.

"This is gonna be a long day," said Nyx.

An obstacle course was setup on Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was preparing to use it on her scooter with the other five Crusaders watching.

Scootaloo looked back at her friends and said, "Just remember – stomp, kick, and roll! After this, you all are gonna love scootering as much as me!"

"If you say so," said Apple Bloom while putting on her helmet.

Scootaloo then turned her head around to look at the obstacle course and said, "Ready?" Then she did a stomp on the ground, kicked off, and rolled down the course, saying, "Stomp, kick, and roll!" She was going down the course without skipping a trick. On the circle track of the course, she jumped off her scooter as it continued on the track, and landed back on it, and then went on a ramp that lead to an opening on the barn. She landed perfectly, saying, "Ta-da!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were watching at the beginning of the track with scooters of their own, but then Apple Bloom rolled back, fell over came back up with her face covered with leaves and grass. She nervously laughed and said, "Ah don't think Ah did it right."

Scootaloo crossed her forelegs, seeing her friends not wanting to try the course. Joshua then called out, "This track is a little too extreme. I used to have a scooter back on my world, but I don't think I'll be that good."

"Makes sense," said Nyx. "Scootaloo seemed to have years of practice on that scooter. It might take us years to be as good as her."

Scootaloo thought about it, then nodded and said, "Okay, I guess that makes sense. Let's try something else."

It then went to Carousel Boutique. In Rarity's Inspiration Room, Sweetie Belle set up some music stands for holding lists of musical notes. She had six of them set up for the others to sing along.

Sweetie Belle brought out a pitch pipe, blew on it, and sang, "Do... Mi... So..." Then she said, "It's just a simple harmony."

The rest of the group looked at all the notes on the paper. There were a lot of them.

"Harmony, huh?" Scootaloo asked.

"Is this a simple piece, or one of Beethoven's symphonies?" asked Joshua.

"Who's Beethoven?" asked Dinky.

"I think it's the name of a St. Bernard on one of the movies that Mutt showed us," said Scootaloo.

"Actually, Beethoven is the name of a famous classical music writer, who was deaf, and his music is remembered all over my world," said Joshua.

"Alright," said Sweetie Belle, tapping her music stand with a conductor's baton. "And a-one, and a-two, and a-one two three!"

Then Sweetie Belle sang on-key, "Do..." while Apple Bloom sang off-key, "So..." and Scootaloo sang really off key, "Mi!"

Then Scootaloo said, "Wow, that was simple."

Sweetie Belle got angry, and used her magic to snap the conductor's baton in half.

"Can we try something else?" asked Dinky.

Then it went to Zecora's hut. There, Apple Bloom was putting in some potion ingredients into a bowl of dirt with Zecora keeping an eye on the process. Then a small vine with an apple sprouted from the dirt.

"It's just a dash, and a drop, and a drip!" said Apple Bloom.

Nyx did hers perfectly, but the others got poofed, like they were affected by a small explosion. Scootaloo got mad, and dropped the vile she had in her mouth. Apple Bloom got sad, and Zecora was a little irritated.

"What else should we do?" asked Joshua.

"We didn't get a pick," said Dinky.

"Good idea," said Apple Bloom. "What do you three wanna try ta do?"

"Book reading," said Nyx.

"Bowling," said Joshua.

"Drawing," said Dinky.

The Crusaders went back to their clubhouse to cross off all the things they did for fun. All of the the things they did together didn't go so well, and Apple Bloom used a marker and crossed off every one of the things.

"...and even though Scootaloo thinks bungee jumping is the bee's knees..." Apple Bloom said before crossing off bungee jumping. "...Sweetie Belle would rather keep bees." She then cross off beekeeping. She then spat out the marker and said, "Of course, Ah'm allergic. Who'd've thought it'd be so hard to find somethin' for us all to do together?"

"Well, I know this might sound crazy, but what if we didn't?" asked Scootaloo.

"Didn't what?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Do things together," said Scootaloo. "Well, do everything together."

"But we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" said Apple Bloom.

"Apple Bloom," said Nyx. "I know that the Crusaders are the best of friends. But there are things we wanna try. Things that the rest of us probably aren't interested in."

"Even my old friends from Earth did things I wasn't interested in," said Joshua. "Art, karate, music... You know."

"We'll always be best friends," said Dinky. "How about we do the things we wanna do, and then come back here and talk about what we've done?"

"Great! Then we can meet back here and talk all about what we've done!" said Scootaloo.

"But Ah don't know what Ah'll do all by mahself," said Apple Bloom.

"You'll find something!" said Sweetie Belle, going out the door.

"Something awesome!" said Scootaloo, going out the door. Then Nyx, Joshua and Dinky left as well.

Apple Bloom then sighed, and said, "Well... I guess now I have to."

Apple Bloom walked over Ponyville, trying new things she didn't want to do alone. She then heard the muffled voice of somepony and turned her head towards the muffled voice.

"And one, two, three, four, two, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, two, two, three, four—"

Apple Bloom walked towards the building where the voice was coming from. She smiled, and walked into a dancing studio. A bunch of young ponies were there, listening to the lessons of the mare running the place. Until they were interrupted by Apple Bloom.

"Whatever kind of dancin' y'all are doin', you're doin' it together, and Ah want in!" Apple Bloom said. All of the other ponies in the room were shocked to see somepony knew joining the dance class. The mare running the class walked up to her, and Apple Bloom said, "Ah-Ah mean, uh..." she then cleared her throat. "Would it be okay if Ah enrolled in this dance class?"

"Well, let's see what you can do," said the mare. "We have a recital at town hall tonight, and a spot just opened up!" She then leaned in and whispered to Apple Bloom, "Tender Taps is a little too shy to perform." Then Apple Bloom looked over at the colt sitting in the corner of the room. Then the mare said, "But if you're ready to step into a partnered routine..."

"That sounds an awful lot like friendship!" said Apple Bloom, excitedly. "And Ah'm ready for anything Ah don't have to do by myself!"

"Well then! Dancing with partner will be perfect," said the mare. She then clapped her hooves, and then a green colt in the middle of the class was spinning around, and slow tango music was playing in the background.

Apple Bloom got excited, and walked up to the colt. The two of them started dancing together, then the colt started spinning Apple Bloom around, her crying out, "Whooooooa!" Apple Bloom stopped spinning, and recovered from her dizziness quickly. She was having fun. Then she got a strong grip on the colt's left foreleg, and he got nervous. The tango music got faster, and then they both started spinning. But they collided with the other students in the class, having them all piled up. "Whew! Ah feel like that went pretty good, but let's give it one more whirl, because it's important that Ah do a good job partnering with my new group of friends."

All of the ponies that were in the pile walked away from her, upset. They came behind the dance instructor, and then the instructor said, "Eh... Now I'm think of it, you might be better as soloist."

"What do ya mean?" asked Apple Bloom.

"How do I put this?" asked the instructor. "Uh, partnering is a little advanced for you. But there's still lots you can do on your own."

"Ah'm sorry," Apple Bloom apologized. "but doin' stuff on my own is exactly what Ah don't want." She then headed out the door, getting the attention of Tender Taps, who felt sorry for her.

Apple Bloom walked out of the dance studio, upset. Unknown to her, Tender Taps, out of his outfit, came out and walked up to her.

"Sorry it didn't work out," he said to Apple Bloom.

"Tryin' different things with my friends is always fun, even when we were terrible," said Apple Bloom. "Now it's justterrible."

"You weren't that bad," said Tender Taps. "You just need to learn a few things on your own. Being a soloist can be fun!" He then started a simple dance, which then turned into rapid tap dancing. He then jumped onto a lamppost, swung off of it, skidded on his knees. He then said, "Ha. Haha! You just have to do it with feeling!" Then he ran onto a wooden door, jumped off it and did the splits. Apple Bloom was surprised on how well he could dance.

Apple Bloom then sighed and said, "Thanks, but... without my friends, I don't think I'll ever feel again. Good luck at the recital."

"Oh, I'm not gonna do that," said Tender Taps, starting to get scared. "I mean, I want to. It's kind of all I think about. I bet some day my cutie mark will even be about performing! But I could never dance in front of an audience the way I do in class. That's t-t-t-t-terrifying!"

Apple Bloom was already walking away, still upset. And in a deadpanned voice, she said, "Yeah, okay. Nice meetin' ya."

"You, too," said Tender Taps.

Tender Taps then danced away. But, unbeknownst to both of them, M.C. was standing on a rooftop, looking at the both of them. He then said, "Wow. That's a weird coincidence. A pony who is too scared to dance in front of a lot of ponies on stage. That was just an example. I didn't even know that was gonna happen." He then rolled his eyes and said, "And now I'm talkin' to myself." He then vanished in a flash.

At the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, five of the Crusaders were heading back towards it. Sweetie Belle was wearing a poorly made scarf, Scootaloo had some bungee jumping equipment on, Dinky had on some paper glued to her body in certain places, and Nyx was carrying Joshua on her back as he was exhausted.

"What happened to you, Josh?" Scootaloo asked.

"You know how much Josh liked racing?" Nyx asked. "Well, he was doing a lot of running through White Tail Woods with Rainbow Dash. His hooves have been sore since then."

"That makes sense," said Scootaloo. "So, what have you been doing?"

"Practicing some magic," said Nyx. "There were some spells I didn't know existed."

"Maybe you did know them when you were... you know who," said Scootaloo. Nyx nodded in agreement.

"What about you, Dinky?" asked Nyx. "What did you do?"

"I did a little arts and crafts," said Dinky. "It was really fun to do."

"Well, you guys aren't going to believe this," said Scootaloo, "but I think I like bungee jumping even more than scootering!"

"Seriously?! That's amazing!" said Sweetie Belle, coming up. "Look what I did!" She showed the others the scarf she made.

The others were trying to hold in some mean things so they wouldn't break Sweetie Belle's feelings. Scootaloo then said, "Wow, uh, that's, um..."

"Horrible! But it was so much fun!" said Sweetie Belle, "Rarity showed me how, even though she says," she then imitated Rarity, ""Crochet is knitting's poorer cousin"," she then used her normal voice, "but I loved it!"

Then the five of them entered the clubhouse. Inside the clubhouse, the blinds were down, and there by the back wall, Apple Bloom was sitting in the dark.

"Oh, hello, everypony," said Apple Bloom, bitterly. "Have fun pursuing your own interests?"

"Apple Bloom? What are you doing sitting in the dark?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yeah, we thought you'd be out looking for things you like to do," said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom laughed sarcastically, and said, "Ah did. Ah looked all over town. Ah looked... and Ah looked... and Ah looked... and you know what Ah found?" The others looked at each other nervously and then Apple Bloom snapped at them, "Nothin'!"

Then the blinds on the windows opened, blinding the rest of them. When they recovered, there were a lot more things on the wall that were crossed off. Even on the ceiling and floor.

"You tried every one of these?" asked Nyx.

"And each one just made me feel more alone than the next!" Apple Bloom snapped. "Ah don't see how Ah'm supposed to be happy that we're not hanging out anymore!"

"Technically, we didn't say that," said Joshua.

"Yeah," said Dinky. "We don't have to do everything together. That's what was said."

"Like when there's something one of us wants to do that the others don't," said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom got surprised and said, "Oh." She then put a hoof to her chin and said, "Well, Ah guess that changes things."

"I can't believe you thought we didn't want to hang out anymore," said Scootaloo.

"I can't believe you tried all this stuff and didn't find one thing you liked!" said Sweetie Belle.

Well, I kind of liked dancin', mainly because it looked like somethin' you couldn't do alone," said Apple Bloom, "but... I wasn't very good at it."

"Well, you don't have to be good at something to have fun!" said Sweetie Belle.

"And being good doesn't always mean you will," said Scootaloo.

"Ah know..." said Apple Bloom. Then she got happy when talking about Tender Taps. "Ah met the best dancer in the world, but he was so shy, he couldn't bring himself to perform, even though he really, really wanted to."

"I saw him," came M.C.'s voice. The Crusaders looked towards the door and saw M.C. standing there.

"Hey, M.C.," said Nyx. "What's up?"

"I saw the dance skills of that colt," said M.C. "He's actually pretty good. And I believe that he said and I quote," he then started talking in the voice of Tender Taps "I bet some day my cutie mark will even be about performing!"

The Crusaders gasped. Then Apple Bloom said, "Oh, that's right! Ah totally forgot that he said that."

"And do you know what the weird thing is?" asked M.C. "That was the kind of example I gave you when all five of you got your marks."

Then all of the Crusaders thought about it, then they got on their backs and let out their laughter. Nyx then said, "He probably didn't know about Tender Taps when giving us that example."

"That's right, I didn't know," said M.C. "Now, you gonna go help him perform in the recital or not?"

Then the Crusaders got up, and then headed out the door to find Tender Taps.

At the Ponyville dance theater, there were two ponies performing the waltz. A bunch of ponies were watching, including Tender Taps in his practice outfit.

Then the main door opened, and Apple Bloom called out, "You're here!" Tender Taps turned around, seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders and M.C. standing there. Then one pony shushed them, then Tender Taps got annoyed.

Later, Tender Taps, along with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went backstage.

"What are you doing here?" Tender Taps asked.

"You told me that you wanted to perform more than anythin', but I was too caught up in myself to listen," said Apple Bloom. "You're the best dancer Ah've ever seen, and Ah'm here to convince you to get out on that stage!" There was piano music playing, and then Tender Taps looked at the dance students and the dance instructor.

He then looked back at the crusaders who had different expressions. He then asked, "Um, didn't I also tell you that dancing in front of other ponies is t-t-terrifying?!" He then went to the open curtain and said, "I don't know if you noticed, but that auditorium is full of other ponies!" He then came back and put his forelegs to his cheeks and said, "I can't go out there! What if I'm bad?!"

Apple Bloom walked up to him, put a foreleg on his shoulder and said, "We can go on together! No matter what, you'll look good dancin' next to me."

Tender Taps looked back at the crowd, and saw them applauding. He then looked back at the Crusaders, sighed and said, "All right, I'll do it." But then he told them things that he's not prepared for. "But I don't have my costume, and the backdrop is all wrong, and we don't have time to change it!"

"Leave everything to us," said Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle crocheted an outfit for both Apple Bloom and Tender Taps. Tender Tap's hat and sweater were blue while Apple Bloom's were purple.

Tender Taps then nervously said, "I don't know about this..."

"Don't worry, you'll be just fine!" said Sweetie Belle. She then signaled to Scootaloo, who was on a walkway above the stage, along with a bungee jumping instructor. Then piano music in the background stopped, and some ponies from the dance class came back from the stage.

"Here goes nothin'," said Apple Bloom.

Then Scootaloo jumped from the walkway, attached to a bungee cord, grabbed the bottom of the background on the stage, which was a flowery hill in the sun, and pulled it up, revealing a background of Manehattan. She then high hoofed the bungee umping instructor.

Then Apple Bloom came onto the left side of the stage from the right, and Tender Taps, nervously, walked onto the stage after Apple Bloom motioned him to come. Tender Taps looked nervously on stage. All of the ponies were looking at him. The sound of someone coughing could be heard. On the bleachers on the right of the entry, M.C., Nyx, Joshua and Dinky were watching.

"H'oh boy," said M.C.

"He'll be okay," said Joshua. "He just needs to believe in himself, and he'll gain the confidence."

"Let's hope he does," said M.C. "'Cause I don't know what'll happen if he doesn't."

Tender Taps gulped nervously. Then jazz-like music started playing. Apple Bloom then did a simple tap, then signaled Tender Taps to do so, but he did an awkward tap. Apple Bloom then looked at the audience, worrying. Then she looked over at Sweetie Belle, who gave her a sign that she did not know what to do. Apple Bloom then started tap dancing energetically, moving around the stage, but didn't realize she was about to dance off of the stage, and fell off. She landed on her face. She then got up, and about all of the ponies in the room were laughing.

M.C. chuckled and said, "That's gotta hurt."

"Is she okay?" Nyx asked.

Apple Bloom peeked her head up to the stage and said, "Can't be any worse than I was!"

Tender Taps was still nervous. Then he looked down at his hooves. He then tapped his hoof. Then he started tapping some more. He was getting more excited, and then he started tap dancing his heart out. The audience was in shock and awe. Apple Bloom smirked, knowing that it was working. Tender Taps kept dancing, then headed for the background, ran up it, flipped, landed on his knees, and slid towards the end of the stage. The crowd was awestruck, and then they started cheering.

Tender Taps looked around at the ponies cheering for him. He smiled at Apple Bloom, who was smiling back. Then there was a flash coming from his flank, and his Cutie Mark appeared. It was of a top hat in a spotlight. He got excited and then started dancing in joy.

Outside, Tender Taps was looking at his Cutie Mark with the Crusaders around him. He was proud to have earned his Cutie Mark.

"I can't believe it!" said Tender Taps. "It's just what I always imagined it would be! And if it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't even have it."

"No problem!" said Scootaloo.

"It's what we do," said Sweetie Belle.

"Ah only wish Ah'd realized what you needed right away instead of mopin' around for no reason..." said Apple Bloom.

"Well, either way, I hope you keep dancing," said Tender Taps, lifting Apple Bloom's chin with a hoof. Then he started dancing and gave Apple Bloom a cue, who responded with two hoof taps.

"You know, Ah just might!" said Apple Bloom. "It sure is a lot of fun, and Ah'm pretty confident Ah can only get better." Tender Taps smiled in response. Then Apple Bloom turned to her friends and said, "Ah'm sorry Ah was so silly about us all doin' our own things. If we hadn't, Ah might never even have tried dancin'!"

"Or find out I needed help!" said Tender Taps.

"With each of us going out and trying things on our own, we'll be six times as likely to find ponies to help!" said Sweetie Belle. Nyx, Joshua and Dinky nodded in agreement.

"And trying new stuff might even make us better at helping them, like how I used my bungee jumping to change the sets!" said Scootaloo.

"Or my crochet to make the costumes!" said Sweetie Belle.

"Who knows?" asked Joshua. "Maybe we'll be able to learn new things that might help other ponies understand or gain their Cutie Marks."

"Well, one thing is for sure," said Apple Bloom while Tender Taps was showing off his Cutie Mark to two random ponies walking by. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders will never be the same." The other Crusaders got confused by that, until Apple Bloom pulled all of them in for a group hug and said, "We'll be better!"

Then all six of them high hoofed, saying, "Yeah!"

On a roof top, M.C. was watching them. He then said, "Kids these days." He then vanished.

Episode 5: Gauntlet of Fire

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 5: Gauntlet of Fire

In a tunnel full of gems, Rarity and Spike were gathering gems, very quietly. Rarity and Spike looked up at the roof of the tunnel and saw a bunch of sleeping bats. Rarity was wearing a miner's helmet with small blue gems, and a bow that was similar to Apple Bloom's, only it was blue instead of pink. Rarity then levitated the gems into the basket that Spike was holding. Spike licked his lips, imagining eating them later.

"The last time I was here, I woke them and ended up with a mane full of bats!" whispered Rarity. She then sighed and said, "Thanks for being my basket holder, Spike."

"Basket holder?" Spike asked. "I thought I was your bodyguard."

"What?" Rarity asked in a hushed voice. "Oh, heh, yes, yes, that of course, too." Rarity then turned to pick up some more gems. She then said, "Oh, for once I wish unicorn magic wasn't so... luminescent!"

Then a light brighter than Rarity's magic started illuminating the tunnel.

"Spike! You'll wake the bats! Turn that off!" Rarity said in a hushed voice. Rarity turned towards Spike and saw that he was the one who was glowing brighter than Rarity's magic aura.

"Ugh, I can't!" said Spike, scratching himself and groaning. Rarity gasped at what was happening, but then the bats in the tunnel and flew towards her, flying as low as Rarity's head.

At Twilight's castle, Twilight, M.C., Nyx and Joshua were having tea and biscuits with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"I'm so glad you two could come!" said Twilight to the older two princesses.

"Of course," said Princess Luna. "We so rarely get a chance to relax and just visit."

"Hey, M.C.?" Nyx asked. "Did you do something like this back in your time?"

"Yeah, actually," said M.C. "But I was six the last time I was in a meeting like this."

"There's usually some crisis we have to deal with," said Princess Celestia. "Somepony always needs our help. But today—" She was cut off when someone called out.

"Help!" came the voice of Rarity through the door. Then Rarity came in, covered in dirt, carrying a glowing Spike. She then levitated Spike off of her and said, "Twilight! There's something wrong with Spike!" Rarity levitated the dishes of snacks out of the way and put Spike on the table. He was scratching himself like crazy.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked Spike.

Spike grunted and said, "I don't know! Nngh! All of a sudden, my scales just started glowing and... burning!"

"I've never seen a dragon do that before," said M.C.

"There were dragons back in your time?" asked Twilight.

"Mobian Dragons are very rare," said M.C. "Why do you think all the people of my time were looking at Spike with those shocked looks. Although, they were wondering why Spike didn't have wings."

"Little is known about dragon culture," said Princess Luna, "but this is a phenomenon we've seen before. It is the call of the Dragon Lord."

"Dragons glow whenever the Dragon Lord has need of them in the Dragon Lands," said Princess Celestia.

"Great..." Spike said, continuing to scratch himself. "H-How do I make it stop?!" He was starting to get irritated when the glowing was getting more uncomfortable.

The only way to end the summons is to answer it," said Princess Luna. "You must journey to the Dragon Lands and see what is expected of you."

"B-B-But the Dragon Lands are full of... dragons!" said Rarity, being worried for Spike. "And they're ghastly creatures!" That comment made Spike look at Rarity with a weird expression. "Oh, oh, not you, of course, Spikey-wikey. But remember that rotten Garble?"

"Who's Garble?" asked Nyx.

"Garble is a teenage dragon who thinks ponies are pathetic and tried making Spike do things that he doesn't really want to do," said Twilight.

Spike gulped and said, "How could I forget? He would have burnt us to a crisp if you weren't there. If I have to go to the Dragon Lands, would you three come with me?" He talked to Twilight, M.C. and Rarity.

"Ooh! Oh my goodness, I'd love to!" said Twilight. "We are sadly lacking any information on dragon culture and customs. I could research them – maybe even write an article! This could be my chance to make a great contribution to the knowledge of Equestria!" Everyone around her gave Twilight a deadpanned look. "And be there for Spike, heh, of course."

"H'oh boy," said M.C. "If dragons are like that, I'd have to be cautious. Especially by doing this." He then put his hand to the floor, and then his hand started turning into crystal, and it was going up his arm, and then his body was turned to Crystal. Then golden aura eyes opened where M.C.'s eyes usually go, but he had no mouth.

"Whoa!" said Spike, Nyx and Joshua.

"How are you doing that?!" asked Twilight.

"It's called Elemental Mimicry," said M.C. with his eyes glowing brighter when talking. "I can absorb and become any element as long as I'm touching it. It also allows me to see all over the world. As long as I'm in direct or indirect contact with is."

"Well, that makes sense," said Twilight.

"Be very careful," said Princess Celestia. "The Dragon Lands are particularly dangerous for ponies. It would be wise to be discreet."

"Ooh! I'm sure I still have the dragon costume we used the last time we snuck into the Dragon Lands!" Rarity said before giggling.

"I think we might want something a little more practical this time," said Twilight. "M.C., think you can help out with that?"

M.C. scoffed and said, "With my eye closed. Although, I'm gonna have to be fast about it if I'm gonna be helping out."

"Can we come, too?" asked Nyx.

"No way, Nyx," said Twilight. "This isn't like any place you've been before. This is the Dragon Lands."

"I agree," said Rarity. "All of the dragons there are ruthless, cruel, and have no respect for ponies."

"Not unless we move stealthily and quickly," said M.C. "Plus, I bet it's a good excuse for them to see Spike's old pet phoenix, Peewee."

"You saw the scrapbook, didn't you?" asked Spike.

"Yep," said M.C. "Let's get moving."

At the Dragon Lands, Spike was sitting on a rock, worrying about what the other dragons will say about him the last time he came to the Dragon Lands. But the rock had four sets of eye holes, all of them being used.

"Hmmm... Well, it may be practical, but this disguise isn't flattering in the slightest!" came Rarity's voice.

"It's not supposed to be flattering," said Twilight in a hushed voice. "It's supposed to blend in!" Then Spike shushed them as some dragons were coming around the area.

"Hey-hey, look!" came a voice that Spike knew too well, and he wish he would forget. It was Garble. "It's our old friend Sparkle-warkle."

"It's Spike," said Spike.

"Are you sure your pony friends didn't give you a pony name?" said Garble giving off an insultingly cute face.

It's nice to see you too, Garble," said Spike in an angry tone.

" I didn't say it was nice to see you," said Garble, getting close to Spike's face. "It's not." He then pushed Spike off of the rock that Twilight, Rarity, Nyx and Joshua were hiding in. He then sat on the rock and said, "I don't like you. Was I not clear about that?"

Twilight and Rarity grunted when Garble sat on the rock.

"Hey! That's my rock!" said Spike, pointing a finger.

"Oh, really?" Garble asked, "Then why aren't you sitting on it?" Then he and his teenage dragon friends started laughing.

Then M.C.'s golden aura eyes appeared on the rock out of the sight of the other dragons. Then a slope on the rock appeared, making Garble fall off.

"Whoa! Oof!" Garble said. He then looked around and said to Spike, "Hey! How did that happen?!"

Spike shrugged his shoulders. Then they were all covered by a huge shadow, and every dragon there looked up at the top of a small mountain throne, and there was a huge blue and orange dragon. Besides his head was a smaller blue dragon flying right beside him.

"Dragons of Equestria, hear me!" announced the huge dragon. "I have been Dragon Lord for longer than many of you can remember, and my reign has been extraordinary!" All of the dragons were watching until the Dragon Lord said, "Agree with me!"

Then all of the dragons started giving off noised of agreement, and some were chanting, "Torch! Torch! Torch! Torch!" Then Dragon Lord Torch motioned the dragons to stop.

"Who is that?" Spike asked, pointing up to where the Dragon Lord was.

"It's Dragon Lord Torch, dummy," said Garble.

"No, next to him," Spike corrected.

Garble saw who Spike was talking about. And it was the blue dragon next to Dragon Lord Torch. He then said, "That's his daughter, Princess Ember. I wouldn't even look at her if I were you, unless you want Torch to eat you!"

Spike got nervous and gulped. Inside, Twilight was getting fascinated, and said in a hushed voice, "This is fascinating! Dragons are notoriously reckless, but they do whatever the Dragon Lord says!"

Then M.C.'s golden aura eyes appeared on the inside of the rock, looked at Twilight and M.C. said, "I don't like how he leads his people. I know dragons are supposed to be tough, but that doesn't mean they should think that every creature should be beneath them."

"I sure am glad didn't turn out like them," Joshua whispered.

"Unfortunately, according to dragon law, it is time for me to step down," said Dragon Lord Torch. "Sad, I know." All of the dragons were being apathetic. Then the dragon lord said, "Be sad!" Then the dragons started crying on command. "This is why I have summoned you – to compete for the throne in the Gauntlet of Fire!" All of the dragons were cheering in excitement, but Spike was getting really nervous. He then held out a scepter for a smaller dragon to hold. "Whomever has the strength and fortitude to retrieve this bloodstone scepter from the heart of the flame-cano will be crowned Lord of the Dragons!" Then he sent the bloodstone scepter towards the flame-cano, and then an explosion went off, sending a crimson shockwave across the Dragon Lands, making the glowing on each glowing dragon stop.

Inside the rock, Twilight, Rarity, Nyx and Joshua were looking through the eye holes. Twilight was whispering, "When the scepter disappeared, the dragons stopped glowing! We are learning so much!" She then started writing it down on a notepad with her quill. Although, the quill was ticking Rarity's nose. She was getting ready to sneeze, and then she let it out, getting the attention of Spike, Garble and other dragons near the rock.

"Uh, excuse me!" Spike said, taking the credit.

Garble started walking away, saying, "Ugh, you even sneeze like a pony!"

Then the Dragon Lord made an announcement, "The Gauntlet is dangerous, for I designed it myself! Only dragons with my ferocity, strength, and determination will be able to finish. We will gather at the cliff when the sun is at its peak!"

That made the dragons cheer, but then Spike turned to the rock and said, "I don't want to be Dragon Lord or dragon toast, and I stopped glowing, so let's sneak out of here!" Then Spike started pushing the rock. But that didn't go unnoticed by Dragon Lord Torch.

"Ah! Where do you think you're going, little dragon?!" he asked, making all of the dragons around Spike stand away from him in a straight line.

Spike then said to the Dragon Lord, "Oh, uh, hi, your Lordship. Uh, I was just going home!"

"You don't get to leave unless I say you can!" said Dragon Lord Torch. Spike was getting nervous when the Dragon Lord's head was getting closer to him.

But then Princess Ember flew close to Spike and said, "Dad, look at him. He's just a runt." She then rubbed Spike's head. "Besides, he doesn't even wanna compete. Let him go."

"He is rather tiny," said Dragon Lord Torch, who then chuckled. "I could squish him with my pinky claw." He then chuckled again. Spike chuckled nervously, but then was cut off by the Dragon Lord. "That wasn't a joke. It was a fact. When I want you to laugh, I will say "be amused!""

"Of course, your Lordship!" said Spike. "I, uh, guess I don't understand dragon customs. Another reason why I shouldn't compete."

The Dragon Lord sighed, hummed and said, "Very well then, little dragon. I release you."

"Thank you!" said Spike. He then looked at Princess Ember, winked, and said, "And thank you." Princess Ember rolled her eyes, and flew off. Then Spike continued pushing the rock with Twilight, Rarity, Nyx, Joshua and M.C. in it.

Ember was flying towards the starting line, but was caught by her father.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Dragon Lord Torch.

"To prepare for the Gauntlet," said Ember.

"No, you're not," said Dragon Lord Torch. "You're not much bigger than that runt I just sent home!"

"But I'm smarter than most of these boulderheads and you know it!" said Ember, flapping her wings and pointing at her father.

"Being smart won't help you win this Gauntlet!" said Dragon Lord Torch. "It was designed for a big, strong dragon to win, because it takes a big, strong dragon to lead! Besides, I said no!"

Ember growled, flew away and said, "I hate when he does that!"

Then a bunch of dragons were getting prepared for the gauntlet. Talking about what they could do as Dragon Lord.

"Ha. When I become Dragon Lord, I will make burps an official greeting!" said a purple female dragon.

"Ha, you? Please!" said a brown male dragon, dismissing that. "When I win, I will pillage Equestria for all their pillows. Why should these ponies be comfortable while we sleep on rocks?"

Then Garble came in between the two dragons, pushed them aside and said, "That's nothing! When I'm in charge, the first thing I'll do is get revenge on those puny ponies! They'll regret they ever crossed Garble! We'll take whatever we want from Equestria and burn the rest!" He then walked away with the other two dragons following, passing the rock that Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua were hiding in.

"Oh, my gosh!" Twilight whispered.

"Ooh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope that burping dragon wins!" whispered Rarity.

"None of them can win!" said Spike. "Equestria's in big trouble if any of them are in charge!"

"Spike's right," said M.C. "If Garble wins, he'll start a war with Equestria. I learned this from a movie. A wise king does not seek out war, but must always be prepared for it."

"But what can we do?" asked Twilight.

"There's only one thing to do, and only I can do it!" said Spike with determination. "I have to win the Gauntlet of Fire!"

"H'oh boy," said M.C. "This might not be good." He then made the rock disappear into the ground.

What do you mean you have to win the Gauntlet?" Rarity asked.

"It's the only way to protect Equestria from the dragons," said Spike. "You heard them! They have horrible plans for ponies if they win! So somehow, I have to do it!"

There has to be another way," said Twilight. "It's too dangerous. Besides, if you win, you'd have to stay here!"

"I know, but there's no other way to keep my friends and family safe," said Spike. Nyx and Joshua looked at each other. They were sad to learn that if Spike wins, they might not see him again. They then walked up to him, and pulled them into a hug.

"Don't do it, Spike," said Nyx. "You're our brother."

"Family should always stick together, no matter what," said Joshua.

"I know," said Spike. "But I have to do this. Even if it means not seeing you two ever again."

"Well, if you're staying to compete, then we're staying to cheer you on!" said Twilight.

"Let's take cover," said M.C. "The Dragons might not like us being around them if they remember you guys sneaking in the last time you've been here." Then Twilight, M.C., Rarity, Nyx and Joshua went off in a random direction.

At a cliff side at the Dragon Lands, all of the dragons were there, ready to start the race. Most of the dragons competing were wearing some armor. But all of the dragons were surprised to see Spike return.

"I thought I released you, tiny one!" said Dragon Lord Torch.

"I decided to compete," said Spike. "I am a dragon, after all."

"Are you sure?" asked Garble, meanly. "You can't even fly!"

Then all of the dragons laughed. All except one, who was covered in armor and green paint from head to tail. But they stopped when Dragon Lord Torch started speaking, "All dragons are welcome to compete, but they do so at their own peril! Flying to Flame-cano Island is the first of many challenges you will face in your quest to find the bloodstone scepter!" He then roared releasing a tremendous fire breath, and all of the dragons took off. Except for Spike, since he doesn't have wings.

Garble held out his hand, and said, "Good luck!" Spike was about to shake it, but Garble pulled it away, and tripped Spike saying, "Just kidding. I hope you lose." Spike was falling down the cliff and into the water.

He came out of the water, gasped for air, and said up to Garble saying sarcastically, "Thanks, Garble! I was planning on swimming anyway!" Then a pile of seaweed came up towards Spike, and underneath was Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua.

"You can do it, Spike!" said Rarity.

"Good luck," said M.C. "And watch out for the giant sea worms."

"What giant sea worms?" asked Spike.

M.C. pointed towards the path, and then a bunch of sea worms came from under the water, spraying up water to hit the dragons. The dragons were trying to avoid the spraying sea worms. One hit Garble, and he was heading down, and he landed on the green dragon from before, and sent that dragon down, landing in the water in front of Spike, unconscious.

Spike saw the green dragon drowning, and said, "He's going down!" He then dove in, trying to save that dragon.

"Spike!" called out Twilight, Nyx and Joshua.

Then Spike came back up with the green dragon, and pulled the dragon to the island.

The dragon was coming to, to see Spike in sight.

"Hey, are you okay?" Spike asked the dragon. Spike then pulled off the helmet of the dragon's armor, revealing the dragon to be Princess Ember, who was coughing up water. Spike gasped and said, "Princess Ember!"

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Princess Ember.

"Only saving your ungrateful scales!" came Rarity's voice from the pile of seaweed behind Spike. Spike then stood in front of the seaweed with an embarrassed smile.

"Did that seaweed just talk?" Ember asked, approaching the pile. She then pulled off the seaweed, revealing Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua. "Ponies?! What are they doing here?!"

"They're my friends!" said Spike.

"Well, two of us are," said M.C. He then pointed at Twilight, Nyx and Joshua. "These three are like his family."

"Friends? Dragons don't do friends," said Ember.

Spike pointed his thumb at himself and said, "Well, this dragon does."

"Whatever," said Ember. "I don't care as long as none of you get in my way. I have a Gauntlet to win."

"But I thought your dad said that—" Spike said, but was cut off by Ember.

"I don't care what my dad said!" said Ember. "I'll show him and every dragon who thinks I'm just a little princess there are better things than being big and strong!" Then the sound of a dragon's grunt came. Garble came down from the bottom of a falling boulder. He was being flattened by the boulder.

Twilight used her magic to put the seaweed back on, covering herself, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua, and Ember put her helmet back on, making sure Garble doesn't recognize her. Garble noticed Spike and said, "Don't leave me here, Spike!" Spike felt bad for Garble, so he ran over to him, and pushed the boulder off of him, and Garble got up, laughed and said, "Knew you'd do it. Your pony friends made you soft." Then he kicked dirt, covering Spike.

"Uh-huh," Spike said, glaring at Garble. "You're welcome."

"For what? I didn't say thank you," said Garble, insulting Spike. He then smelt him and said, "Wow, you even smell like ponies." He sniffed some more and followed the scent, saying, "Or is it coming from over there?" He continued sniffing until reaching the seaweed. He sniffed the seaweed, making Twilight and Rarity really nervous, but then his snout was covered by Ember.

"Uh, that's just me," Ember said, using a gruff voice. "I, uh, robbed some ponies on my way over here."

"Huh, I like your style," said Garble. He then almost recognized Ember and said, "Have I met you before? You kind of look like—"

"My, uh, old neighbor!" said Spike, trying to cover for Ember. He looked around the area, trying to find a cover name. "Uh, Sandy... Rockbeach!"

Then the sound of boulders were being flung over. Garble then said, "Stupid slingtails knocked me down! But I've wasted enough time making small talk." He then rubbed Spike's head saying, "Get it? Ha-ha! Because you're too small to win this! I'm funny." He then flew back up.

Ember took off her helmet, looked at Spike and asked, "Why did you cover for me? You could've had one less competitor."

"I could ask you the same thing," said Spike. "You could've told Garble about my friends."

Then one dragon screamed when a boulder headed towards him and Garble gained ahead.

"Yikes... That looks rough," Ember said, wincing. "But that's what makes it a challenge."

"Are you kidding? Those boulders are huge!" Spike proclaimed. He was thinking, then he got an idea and said, "Hey, what if we worked together?" Ember gave Spike an angry look. "You fly me up there, and I'll help look out for boulders, like a second set of eyes!" Spike walked over to the seaweed, but when he touched it, it caved in.

"Pssst!" came Rarity's voice. Spike looked over at two small trees, one had the eyes of Twilight and Rarity while the other had the eyes of Nyx, Joshua and M.C.'s golden aura eyes. Spike walked over to it, Rarity came out of the top and whispered, "Spike! Are you sure it's a good idea to team up with Ember? You don't know her too well."

"I do know she could've told Garble about you, but she didn't," said Spike. "I think we can trust her."

"Her behavior does seem contradictory to everything I've noted about dragons so far," said Twilight, coming out of the same tree, above Rarity. Which didn't make sense since she was the one holding Rarity up.

Then M.C. came out of the tree he, Nyx and Joshua were hiding in and said, "Not all types of creatures act the same. Humans, Mobians, animals, they all have different ways of doing things."

"It's true," said Joshua. "Everyone has different ways of living. Not everyone is the same."

"Hey, you, little fella!" came Ember's voice. She walked over to Spike and said, "I've thought about it, and your plan makes sense. Let's do it."

"Really? Great! It's a deal!" said Spike, holding out a hand for Ember to shake. She shook it holding Spike's hand with two fingers.

"Just so you know, this doesn't mean we're gonna pick flowers or exchange necklaces or whatever pony friends do," said Ember.

Spike got really excited when Twilight called out, "Good luck. We'll meet you at the top." Spike waved goodbye to the others, and then got on Ember's back, then she took off, swerving past falling dragons and boulders.

Spike was keeping an eye out on Ember's tail side, seeing a slingtail about to launch a boulder. He called out, "Pull up! There's one on your tail!" Ember yelped, dodging the boulder, then he saw another upcoming boulder and said, "Go left!" She dodge the upcoming boulder.

Garble was up ahead, and saw that Ember and Spike were catching up. He flew into a cave of the flame-cano, and then Ember landed so Spike could get off.

"So what do we do now?" Spike asked.

"I think we go through there," said Ember, pointing a finger at the cave. Two dragons flew into the cave, but got hit by a huge burst of flames. Then the two dragons came out singed, and whimpering.

The sound of Rarity's yelp came to the ears of Spike and Ember. They looked over and saw the two trees, and Rarity saying, "Oh, that looks scary!" But Rarity remembered and said, "I mean, you can do it!"

"How did all of you get up here?" asked Ember.

M.C. came out from behind one tree and said, "Simple. I climbed all of us up there, with these harnesses." He held out the harness he had strapped to the two trees.

"Good thing M.C.'s a professional," said Nyx.

"Anyway," Ember said, "I wouldn't have made it this far without you. So I guess, if you want to, we could keep working together. I mean, just until we get through that tunnel."

"Okay," Spike said, giving a thumbs up.

After Spike and Ember ran into the cave, Twilight whispered, "We'll be right behind you!"

Spike and Ember ran into the cave, and inside, they were shocked to what hey saw. Crunching rocks, blocking their paths. They were going up and down like random. Spike and Ember looked at each other with determined looks, Spike got on Ember's back, and she took off, flying through the crunching rocks.

Garble was swerving through rocks, but then he got stuck between two rock spikes. He was straining and groaning to get himself free. He eventually got loose, and fell onto the floor. He got up, more determine, and raced on through.

Spike and Ember were going through another course, dodging crystal spires. They jumped and slid under them. Spike noticed one coming, gasped, and called out, "Look out!" before pushing Ember out of the way of one heading right towards her. Spike then helped Ember up, and headed away from there.

Garble climbed over one crystal spire, and when he thinks he's home free, another spire struck him, pushing him into a wall, leaving a Garble-shaped hole in the wall. He then climbed out, groaned, and then fainted.

Spike and Ember entered a chamber full of lava pools. They were then startled by the voice of Rarity.

"Oh, you made it! Oh, we were so worried!" said Rarity. Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua were disguised as lava rocks.

"About us?" asked Spike, scoffing. "That tunnel was cake!" he then groaned and fell.

"Wait," said Ember. "How did all of you get through?"

"You have your tricks, we have ours," said M.C.

Then the room started shaking, making Rarity move over to a cliff over lava. Rarity was screaming in fear.

"Rarity!" Spike called out, coming to her rescue. Luckily, he pulled Rarity out of the way of an upcoming geyser of lava. Rarity let out one last yelp when doing so.

Rarity panted, and said, "Oh, thanks, Spike!"

Spike sighed and said, "It was nothing."

"Nothing?" Ember asked. "You just risked everything to save her! And they're putting themselves in danger just to support you!"

"Well, that's just what friends do," said Spike. "Don't you have anyone who looks out for you?"

"Not really. Unless I count you," said Ember. Then she got a bit angry. "Which I don't! Because we were only helping each other get through the tunnel, and now we're through the tunnel, so that's it."

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Spike.

"Well, there's only one winner, one scepter, and one Dragon Lord," said Ember. "So I guess it's every dragon for themselves."

"Oh. So we aren't really friends?" Spike asked, upset.

"Maybe if we were in Ponyland, but like I said, dragons don't do friendship," said Ember. She then took off, leaving Spike behind. Spike lowered his head, feeling betrayed.

Later, Spike, Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua were going through the caverns as Spike was saying, "I can't believe Ember ditched me."

"Oh, you're better off," said Rarity in a muffled voice. "She was only looking out for herself. She's just like all the other dragons."

"She's not, though," said Spike, sticking up for Ember. "I know it. She saved me, even when she didn't have to. I don't care what she says. That makes us friends."

"Actually, I kinda see some hope coming from Ember," said M.C. "She seems to have some potential. Perhaps she is the one who should be Dragon Lord, and we can share each others cultures."

"Like a peace treaty?" asked Twilight.

"Exactly," said M.C. "Great kingdoms always have peace treaties so we can expand our horizons."

"I hope you're right, M.C.," said Twilight.

Later, the group went through, but kept passing through familiar crevasses.

"Is it just me, or have we seen this crevasse three times already?" asked Twilight.

"It's kinda hard to tell. They all look the same," said Spike. He then pointed at one crevasse and said, "Except for this one!" The group went into the crevasse, and saw the scepter. "Look! We made it! I can't believe I'm the only dragon to make it this far!"

"You're not!" came Garble's voice. They all looked towards the entry, and saw Garble standing there. "And I'm not losing to a puny pony-loving dragon like you!" Garble grabbed Spike by his spines, and held him over the rock pit.

Rarity yelped and said, "We have to do something!"

"Look!" said Twilight.

Then Ember came flying down, and tackled Garble, him dropping Spike and Garble landing over on the others. Spike was screaming down until Ember caught him. He then said, "Ember! I thought it was every dragon for themselves! Why did you save me?!"

"That's what friends do!" said Ember. "And I am. I mean, we are. I never should have left you back there. Agh, please don't make me talk about my feelings!"

Twilight, Rarity, Nyx and Joshua were recovering from being tackled by Garble. Until Garble made their discovery and said, "What the?!" He then started growling and trying to take them down. But then M.C. got in between them in battle position. "What... what are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," said M.C. "I won't allow a war starter to take over as Dragon Lord."

"Well, I have a right to start a war for what these ponies did to me any my posse!" said Garble, pointing at Twilight and Rarity.

"What did these two ponies do to you?" asked M.C.

"They prevented me and my friends from having fun and smashing phoenix eggs," said Garble.

"You threatened unhatched phoenixes?!" asked M.C. "You think life is just a game?! I've battled a villain who destroyed my kingdom on my seventh birthday, and he doesn't care for anything. And you're just like him. A villain!" Then M.C. started fighting Garble.

Spike and Ember were watching. Ember looked at Spike and said, "Spike! Get the scepter!" Ember then flew over and helped M.C. fight Garble. Ember then grabbed Garble, and pinned him to a nearby wall. Garble looked over and saw Spike getting closer to the scepter. He then started going after Spike to throw him back so he would be Dragon Lord. But he was grabbed by Ember. Garble then grabbed Ember, and pinned her to the ground behind Spike.

Spike turned around to see Ember being pinned. He didn't know what to do. Get the scepter, or help his new friend. So, he chose. He was determined to help Ember. Spike got on Garble's back, and pulled on Garble's ear. Garble then grabbed Spike and threw him towards the edge of the bridge, and he was hanging on for his life.

"I'm sick and tired of you two helping each other!" said Garble, pushing Ember. "Dragons don't do helping!"

"These dragons do!" said Ember. She then flipped over Garble, keeping her grip on Garble, and threw him farther back.

"Okay," said M.C. "That was awesome."

Twilight and Rarity clapped their hooves. Then they put their disguises back on. Spike was about to fall, but Ember grabbed him before he could. They smiled at each other, and then Spike went to the scepter, climbed up the crystals surrounding it, and then grabbed it.

He then held it to the open roof, and then is unleashed a huge red beam, making Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx, Joshua, and the other dragons in awe, and Ember was pleased. Garble was then about to attack Ember, but then Spike said, "Leave her alone!"

Garble looked over towards Spike, and saw him holding the scepter. He then said, "What? You?! You have the scepter?! But that means that you're..."

"The Dragon Lord," said Ember. "Dragon Lord Spike."

All of the dragons in the room bowed to Spike. Garble groaned, and reluctantly said, "Dragon... Lord... Spike..."

"That's right!" said Spike. "Uh... Now, go start your long journey home. And give every dragon you see on the way a hug." He then pointed his scepter at Garble and said, "Don't tell them why."

"Awww! But that'll be super embarrassing!" said Garble.

"I command you to do it!" said Spike, pointing the scepter again.

Garble let out an annoyed noise and said, "I can't believe this..." He walked up to a blue dragon, and hugged him. Then left. After he pulled and walked away, that blue dragon smiled.

"Dragon Lord Spike," said Ember as Spike was walking up to her. "Hm, has a nice ring to it."

Spike shook Ember's left hand and said, "Dragon Lord Ember sounds a lot better." He then gave her the scepter.

"What?" asked Ember. "No. You're the Dragon Lord now."

"The Dragon Lord is whoever brings the scepter back to your father!" said Spike, remembering the rules. "Besides, you'll make a great leader. I was just doing this to protect the ponies. But I know you'll protect them just as well as I would have."

"You sure about this?" asked Ember.

"Absolutely," said Spike. "My home is in Equestria with my friends."

"Well, you'll have at least one friend here too," said Ember. Spike then hugged Ember as she asked, "What are you doing?"

"It's called a hug!" said Spike.

"Oh. I don't know if I like it. But... okay," said Ember, getting into the hug.

Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Nyx and Joshua were happy for Spike giving up Dragon Lord to a dragon that is a way better candidate.

All of the dragons left the flame-cano with Ember with the scepter. When she flew up to her father, Dragon Lord Torch was surprised.

"Ember? You?!" asked Dragon Lord Torch.

"I know you didn't think I could do it, but I did," said Ember.

"I expressly told you not to do it, because you're not—!" Dragon Lord Torch said, but was cut off.

"I'm not big and strong," said Ember, finishing her father's sentence. "I know. But you know what? I won anyway. So maybe it takes more than just being big and strong to be a good Dragon Lord!" All of the dragons around them nodded in agreement.

"I was wrong, Ember," said Dragon Lord Torch. "You might not be big, but you are strong and smart, and perhaps that counts for more than I thought. And you will make an excellent leader."

"Thanks, dad," said Ember. She then looked at the dragons, and announced, "Agree with him!" Then all of the dragons there got confused. "Just kidding! That's not gonna be my thing."

Then Dragon Lord Torch laughed heartily and announced, "Dragons, hear me! I present to you our new Dragon Lord, Ember!" Then all of the dragons started cheering. Then Torch's nose got hugged by Garble and asked, "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I can't tell you!" said Garble. That made Ember laugh. She could agree on one thing. Spike had a great sense of humor.

Then later, Twilight, Rarity, M.C., Spike, Nyx and Joshua left the Dragon Lands.

"You did well, Spike," said Twilight. "With Ember as Dragon Lord, the ponies will be safe and you've gained us a powerful ally."

"And a new friend!" said Spike.

"Plus, Ember said I could write to her anytime I had questions about dragon culture!" said Twilight. "With this much information, I'll be able to write a whole book on dragons!"

"Is that all you think about, Sparkles?" asked M.C.

"Who do you think I got my smarts from?" asked Nyx.

"She basically lived in a library," said Joshua.

"Well, not all her life," said Spike. "Remember that tower? That was her home before the Summer Sun Celebration where she met her friends."

"And I gained tons of ideas for a new line of camouflage clothing!" said Rarity. "I think I'll call it "Camo-Maud"!" That made all of them laugh.

"On my world, that style would be for war," said Joshua.

"They did make camouflage clothing, but that style died years ago," said M.C.

"Hey," said Nyx. "Aren't we close to Peewee's family nest?"

"Hey, we are," said Spike. "How about we all see how he's doing?"

"Alright," said Twilight. "But it'll only be for 10 minutes. Then we're heading home." Then they headed to the forest, and went to see Peewee.

Episode 6: No Second Prances

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 6: No Second Prances

Twilight was coming into the dining room with a bunch of plates, silverware and napkins. Starlight Glimmer was also in the room as well, ready for her lesson from Twilight. She then used her mouth to put the plate in one spot.

Twilight looked over at Starlight and said, "First lesson of the day, we very carefully set the table without using magic, so that—" She saw some plates and silverware coming towards her head in Starlight's magic, and she ducked. Twilight then looked at Starlight, and she was using her magic to set the table. Starlight smiled when she finished. "Did you...?! How? When? What?!"

"What?" Starlight asked confused.

"I said no magic," said Twilight. "You were supposed to do it by hoof so I could work in a friendship lesson."

"Oh, I heard "set the table" and just kinda went for it," said Starlight, trying to brighten the mood.

"Well, if you hadn't used magic, you'd have heard me say, uh..." Twilight said, trying to find a flaw. "this plate represents your head, this spoon is your heart, and the knives... are sharp! Always be careful with knives." She then sighed in defeat and said, "The metaphors make more sense when you're actually setting the table."

"Should I... change it back?" asked Starlight.

"I just want to make sure you're ready for this dinner," said Twilight. "Princess Celestia will be joining us tomorrow night to see how the friendship lessons are going!"

" If it's just you, me, and Princess Celestia, why are there four seats?" asked Starlight.

"Well, the whole point is for you to bring a new friend," said Twilight. "That way, the princess will see for herself just how far you've come. And how good a teacher you have."

"Well, I can't choose," said Starlight. "I like all your friends."

"That's the best part!" said Twilight. "You have to make a new friend!" She then gave off a big, no tooth, smile.

"New friends?" asked Starlight. She then got an idea for a joke and said, "Hey, maybe I'll just force friendships by magically enslaving the entire population of Ponyville!" She then gave off a big, toothy grin.

"Starlight!" Twilight said, getting angry.

"Kidding," said Starlight, waving a hoof. She then laughed nervously.

Starlight Glimmer was looking all over Ponyville for a new friend to meet, but was unsure.

"Let's see," said Starlight, talking to herself. "Make new friends in Ponyville, the friendliest place in Equestria. Shouldn't be hard..."

Then Pinkie Pie popped in saying, "Need to make a new friend, huh?" She then pulled Starlight in so the two of them were touching cheeks. "I know just the pony for you!" Later, Pinkie led Starlight into Sugarcube Corner. She then said, "Miss Starlight Glimmer, meet Mrs. Cake!"

Mrs. Cake was too busy frosting a cake. She then put the frosting sprayer down and said, "How are you, dearie?"

"Are you baking? Can I help?" Starlight asked, offering to help. She then used her magic grabbing various items and made a cake, bakes and decorated, and tried showing it off to Mrs. Cake.

"Wow, Mrs. Cake!" said Pinkie, impressed at the cake. "Look what your new friend made you!"

Mrs. Cake chuckled and said, " New friend. I like the sound of–" She then gasped when she looked at the cake that was above her. "Howza-wowza!" She then looked at Starlight and said, "A-Are you trying to put me out of business with your fancy magical-thingy-whatsit cake?!"

Pinkie and Starlight bit their lower lips as Starlight stopped her magical glow. Which she should've kept on as the cake landed on Mrs. Cake head and Starlight said, "Sorry."

Pinkie Pie walked up to an angry Mrs. Cake, and licked some of the cake off of Mrs. Cake, and said, "In her defense, it is delicious!" She then took a bigger bite out of the cake. Starlight winced, then gave an embarrassed smile, and then left.

At Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac was doing some apple bucking as Applejack and Starlight were walking up to him.

"Ah think Ah have just the pony for you, Starlight," said Applejack. "Meet Big Mac!"

"Eeyup!" said Big Mac.

"He's not much of a talker," said Applejack, covering one side of her face so she can talk to Starlight.

"Nnope," said Big Mac.

"Oh, that's too bad," said Starlight. "I love a good conversation." Then Starlight got an idea, used her magic, and fired it at Big Mac, which lead into his mouth. Big Mac then shook his head, and went in wide-eyed shock. Starlight was confident while Applejack was worried.

Then Big Mac started talking with a motormouth. "Eeyup-yup-yup-yup-yup-yup-yup-yup-y-y-y-y-you did something! Whoa! What's happening? Ah feel really weird! Ah'm talkin' so much! And Ah'm so articulate! Enunciating with such precise pronunciation! Annie Apple awoke and accidentally ate an auburn azalea!" Then he screamed, and ran away saying, "Make it stop!"

Applejack looked at Starlight angrily and growled. Starlight defended herself by saying, "I can't be friends with somepony who doesn't talk." Applejack growled again, getting her head closer to Starlight's face. "...And I guess my first instinct shouldn't be to magically command ponies to act the way I want them to?" Then Applejack got even closer and growled, again. "Alright, I'll change him back!" She then started walking, trying to catch Big Mac.

At Carousel Boutique, Starlight was there talking to Rarity.

"The trick to finding a new friend is to render yourself radiant," Rarity said, levitating some fabric, and wrapped it around her neck like a scarf. "First impressions count a great deal, you know."

"I'm glad you all got past my first impression," Starlight said, thinking about how she and the mane 6 met.

"Well, everypony deserves a second chance," Rarity said as she levitated some measuring tape around Starlight, then pulled Starlight's hind leg, and then she got an idea. "Ooh! Now, I have a top-notch idea." She then levitated over some fabrics, saying, "I'm thinking pastel silk here and here with a crinoline underneath."

"You really think a new outfit will help me meet ponies?" Starlight asked.

"Oh, with the right outfit, you can do anything, darling!" said Rarity, walking past a curtain, and coming out with an outfit.

"When will it be ready?" Starlight asked.

"Three weeks," said Rarity.

"Dinner's tomorrow," Starlight said, sadly.

"Well then," Rarity said, getting a little nervous, "how about a hat from the..." she then cleared her throat. "...clearance bin?" Rarity motioned to one small bin full of hats. Starlight took one hat in her magic, and put it on. That hat wasn't clearly made for a unicorn as she tried to force it around her forehead, only for her horn to rip a hole right through.

Starlight embarrassingly smiled and said, "Maybe not." Rarity got annoyed by that note.

Later, Starlight was talking with Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was giving Starlight a speech about how she should get friends... the awesome way...

"Heh. Nopony's gonna make friends with you because of your outfit," said Rainbow Dash. "The only thing you want a new friend draped in is coolness."

"Like you?" asked Starlight.

"Yeah, but you already know me, so..." said Rainbow Dash, thinking of somepony. Then she gasped, got into Starlight's face, and spitting and saying, "Spitfire!" Starlight wiped Rainbow's spit, and Rainbow said, "Heh. Sorry."

"Who's that?" Starlight asked, making Rainbow gasp in shock.

"Only the Wonderbolt-iest pony in the Wonderbolts!" said Rainbow Dash. "Come on, I'll introduce you!" She then sped off, breaking the sound barrier by a nearby mountain, and Starlight was left there, awkwardly. Then Rainbow came back, asking, "You coming or what?"

"I guess my first question would be, "What's a Wonderbolt?"" Starlight asked, which made Rainbow Dash gasp loudly, like her heart was just ripped out.

"You've never heard of the Wonderbolts?!" Rainbow asked in shock. "Where have you been?!"

Starlight nervously responded with, "Enslaving villages, I guess..."

"Right..." Rainbow said, remembering where Starlight came from.

Starlight Glimmer was having a picnic with Fluttershy and her animal friends. Fluttershy walked off to get some more carrots. It appears that Starlight and Angel get along. Starlight was tickling Angel's stomach, making him laugh.

"You're adorable," said Starlight, before walking off, "but probably not what Twilight had in mind." When Starlight was leaving the picnic, Angel was giving off little hearts, indicating that he was in love with Starlight.

Fluttershy was coming back with the plate of carrots in her mouth. But when she noticed that Starlight was nowhere to be seen, after she put the plate down, she sighed, sadly.

Mutt was coming out of the schoolhouse talking with Cheerilee.

"Well, I'm happy you're joining the class," said Cheerilee. "It would be nice for a young one like you who would be interested learning here."

"Yeah," said Mutt. "But, I missed out on making friends back in the past. I would've done it in school, but I usually get visit from people who had meeting with Sir Charles. Usually, there's a 12% chance that I get a chance to meet someone my age."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to make some friends here," said Cheerilee. "I'm sure you'll get some school supplies before a week from Monday."

"I'll try," said Mutt. Then Cheerilee walked back into the schoolhouse, and Mutt said, "But I'm gonna have to go back in time to get some school supplies." Then he headed back down the path towards the Castle of Friendship. Starlight then walked up to him.

"Hey, Mutt," said Starlight. "Mind if I talk to you about something?"

"Shoot," said Mutt.

"Well, Twilight wants me to make a new friend by tomorrow before Princess Celestia arrives," said Starlight. "Wha do you think I should do?"

"Usually, I would want to make some friends at school," said Mutt. "I doubt you would want to go back to school to make new friends." Starlight smiled and then lit up her horn, and got the notice of Mutt. "No, no, no! No age spell. Twilight would think that's demeaning." Mutt then turned his head, looking away from Starlight. "Twilight would want you to make friends your own age, and not try to start your life over from childhood. You got that?" Mutt looked back up at Starlight, only for her not to be there. She then saw that Starlight was still in next to him, but as a filly. "Seriously?"

"What?" asked filly Starlight. "I thought things might go well if I went back to school as a filly."

"I just got registered, and I don't start classes until a week from Monday," said Mutt in a deadpanned voice.

Starlight got a deadpanned expression, used her magic, and went back to her normal age. She then said, "Great. I'll try to find a friend my own age then." She then walked off.

"I thought unicorns wouldn't be able to do age spells," said Mutt. He then remembered, "Oh, right. High level unicorn magic, right..."

Starlight walked through the center of Ponyville, stressing out. She was upset that she hasn't found a friend yet. She looked at her reflection in the pond.

"What is going on? This is Ponyville!" said Starlight. "If I can't make a friend here, there's gotta be something wrong with me!" She then sighed. "Okay, calm down. Nobody makes friends with a total stress case." She then looked around and saw groups of ponies playing with each other. Lyra and Bon Bon were two of those ponies. "Stop stressing." She then closed her eyes, bit her lips, and then shouted, "Stop stressing!" That got the attention of all of the ponies around her. She got embarrassed and ran off.

Starlight later was walking off somewhere, until she saw the Ponyville Spa. Bulk Biceps was waving goodbye to one customer. Starlight then saw M.C. walk up to him and said, "Hey, Bulk."

"Yeah!" Bulk Biceps shouted. "You ready for your monthly extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage?!"

"You have no idea," said M.C. "Since I'm the only one here who can take that massage without feeling so tender."

"Yeah!" Bulk Biceps shouted. He then pulled M.C. in, and Starlight smiled, thinking that a day at the spa would relieve her of her stress.

Inside the spa, M.C. was getting the extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage from Bulk Biceps. Usually, a normal pony would cry out in pain, but M.C., that's a horse of a different color.

"Oh yeah!" said M.C. as Bulk pulled out his right arm. "Keep it comin', keep it comin'!"

"Wow! You, sir, are a legendarily stressed out creature!" said Bulk, getting ready to push M.C.'s legs over his back and head. "How have you been this stressed and not gone to a spa before?!"

"Yaaaah! Oh, yeah, that feels good!" said M.C. "You think I haven't?! None of the guys there have even came close to what I've been keeping! The closest thing that came to breaking a little stress was the time I got hit by that wrecking ball!"

"Whoa! That looks painful!" came Starlight's voice, getting the attention of M.C. and Bulk. "Are you okay, M.C.?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" said M.C. "I have a healing factor! I survived worse than this!"

"M.C.," said Starlight. "May I talk to you?"

"Hang on a sec," said M.C. Then the sound of bones cracking came from M.C. when he was flipped and bent. "Oh, yeah! Loose as a goose!" He then got up and said, "Thanks, Bulk. Same time next month?"

"Yeah!" said Bulk.

M.C. then walked out of the room, and towards Starlight. He then asked, "What's going on, Starlight?"

"Well, Twilight wants me to make a friend before dinner tomorrow," said Starlight.

"Oh, right," said M.C. "Celestia's comin' down tomorrow to meetcha. Sparkles gave me the lowdown on the situation."

"Do you know what I should do to make a friend before then?" asked Starlight.

"Hoo boy," said M.C. "Well, perhaps you should meet someone that has similar interests as you. Someone you can relate with."

"I guess you're right," said Starlight. She then started stressing. "But what if I don't get a friend before then?! What if I embarrass myself in front of Princess Celestia, embarrassing Twilight, and not I might be kicked out of the castle?! What if I never make another friend again?!" Starlight grabbed M.C. and started shaking him.

"Aloe! Lotus! Stressed out mare!" M.C. called out. "Give her the royal treatment special! On me!"

Then Aloe and Lotus came in, grabbed Starlight, M.C. pulled out a bag of bits, forged and empty bag, and put in the exact amount, and gave that bag to Lotus, and then they took Starlight away.

Starlight was getting pampered by some spa ponies. After the day she went through, she needed this.

Starlight sighed and said, "This is just what I needed."

Another pony behind her sighed and said, "Tell me about it."

"You ever have one of those days?" Starlight asked that one pony.

"For me, they're all one of those days," said the other pony. That made Starlight giggle. "I'm gonna start coming here every time I visit Ponyville."

"I'm not from here either," said Starlight. "I've been trying to make friends, but it's not easy. They're not saying it, but I think everypony knows about my past. I may have been a tiny bit... completely and utterly evil?"

"Ponies judge me on my past too," said the other mare.

Starlight leaned forward, turned her head to the left to look at the pony behind her and said, "Finally, a pony I can relate to."

Then M.C. came up to them and said, "How's it going, Starlight?"

"Great, actually," said Starlight, looking at M.C. "Remember when you said I should find somepony who I can relate to? Well, I believe that I just found somepony."

"What's her name?" asked M.C. That made Starlight go wide-eyed.

"Oh," said Starlight. "I guess I haven't gotten her name yet."

"Oh, allow me," said the other mare. "I am... the Great and Powerful... Trrrrrixie!"

"Trixie? Trixie..." M.C. said. Then he remembered. "Oh, I heard of you. The traveling and boasting magician."

"Wait, you heard of me?" asked Trixie.

"Yep," said M.C. "The first time you came to Ponyville, you were boasting about how powerful your magic was, lied about beating an Ursa Major when you couldn't even beat an Ursa Minor, were asked by the Element Bearers to take Twilight's place to stop Nyx as Nightmare Moon, failed, and ran away, came back with a corrupting amulet, beating Twilight then banishing her and Nyx from Ponyville, and then were tricked by Twilight and her friends, then the last time you were seen, you gave information to Shining Armor when Joshua was captured by King Sombra."

"That's... wow," said Trixie. "You are spot on. You also left out..."

"That Twilight owes you one magic lesson as payment for taking her and her friends to Sombra's lair?" asked M.C., finishing Trixie's sentence. "H'oh boy. Twilight is going to be surprised."

Twilight was surprised to see Trixie when she was brought to the Castle of Friendship with M.C. and Starlight. Twilight watched as Trixie walked towards the dining table, looking at some silverware.

Twilight then walked up to her and asked, "So, um, what brings you to Ponyville?"

"The Grrrreat and Powerful Trrrrixie has come to perform a new stage show of grand illusion!" said Trixie. "I am calling it "The Humble and Penitent Trixie's Equestrian Apology Tour"!"

Starlight walked up to Trixie, and whispered into her ear, "That's kind of a mouthful."

"It's a working title," Trixie responded whispering. She then winked at her.

"Starlight? A moment? Over here?" Twilight called Starlight. Starlight looked over at Trixie and smiled embarrassed. Then she was pulled over in Twilight's magic. Then Twilight pulled Starlight closer to her with a foreleg and whispered, "I know I said make friends with anypony, but, well, with Trixie's past, and your past, I'm not sure she's the best... first friend."

"But whatever she did, you've forgiven her, right?" asked Starlight.

"Of course," said Twilight. "It's just... She wasn't the nicest pony."

Starlight then pulled herself away and said, "Well, you did say anypony, and I just assumed that you'd trust me to make my own friends the way Princess Celestia trusted you."

Twilight sighed in defeat and said, "You're right. I trust you. Just be back in time for the dinner." But she didn't see Starlight back at the door with Trixie following.

"Thanks, Twilight!" said Starlight, waving goodbye. "You won't regret it!"

Then the two of them left, and Trixie waving goodbye. Twilight then said, "I hope not." She then looked over at the table, and saw some silverware bent and put into a sculpture of Trixie, and there was a napkin used as a cape. She then groaned in frustration.

M.C. then walked up to Twilight and said, "You still think that Trixie can't be trusted, don't you?"

"I told you all about her, M.C.," said Twilight. "She's..."

"The one who led you and your friends to where Joshua was when King Sombra kidnapped him before Tirek destroyed the Golden Oaks Library?" M.C. asked. "And that you owe her one magic lesson?"

Twilight went wide eyed and then face hoofed. She groaned and said, "Oh, boy. I do kinda owe her, don't I?" She then went wide-eyed and said, "Wait a second. Where is Joshua? Along with Nyx?"

"At the swimming hole, supervised by Pinks and Dash at the moment," said M.C. "They're teaching Joshua how to swim as a pony."

"Good call," said Twilight. She then smiled and lied, "Maybe I should go check on them to see how they're doing."

"You're gonna try and find a replacement friend for Starlight before dinner tomorrow, aren't ya?" asked M.C.

"Whaaaaat?" Twilight asked. "Why would you assume that? I'm just..."

"You know I can smell lies," said M.C. "Don't even think about trying to find a replacement friend. Starlight really needs a friend she can relate with, and I believe that Trixie is that pony."

"I'm sure that I can find somepony," said Twilight.

"Like who? Sunset Shimmer?" M.C. asked. Then they thought about it. "You know what, I think Celestia would still be mad at her."

"Yeah, you might be right about that," said Twilight.

"Well, I'm gonna head out," said M.C. "Don't do anything to mess up Starlight and Trixie's friendship." He then headed out the door. Twilight was then looking away, feeling sad for herself that her student was befriending what she thought was a bad example.

In the park, Starlight and Trixie were setting up a performing stage.

"This magic show's gonna be the greatest thing Ponyville's ever seen!" said Trixie. Behind both them, there were ponies talking about bad things that Trixie has done, making Trixie feeling guilty. "Everypony always says they'll give you a second chance, but deep down, they never forget."

"That's what I'm worried about," said Starlight. That made Trixie sigh sadly. "What is it?"

"I heard what Twilight said about me, and she's right," said Trixie, remembering what she overheard earlier. "I wasn't very nice. So I'd understand if you didn't want to be friends."

"Are you kidding?" asked Starlight. "You're the first pony I've met who has any idea how I feel!"

Trixie then looked around her, making sure nopony was around to hear her tell Starlight something. "Can you keep a secret?"

"What are friends for?" asked Starlight.

"The things I've done? I did them because I was jealous of Twilight," Trixie whispered. "She's just the best at everything, and I wanted to beat her at something!"

Starlight walked up to Trixie and whispered, "Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks," said Trixie, feeling better. "Want to help me unpack my wagon?"

Starlight and Trixie were walking down a road of Ponyville, talking with each other.

" I spend a lot of time on the road with my wagon, so it might be a tad messy," said Trixie.

"Maybe I can help," said Starlight. "I'm pretty good at organizing stuff. Magic props, brainwashed crowds..." Then the both of them laughed. Then the sound of somepony going "Psssst," multiple times came to Starlight's ear. Starlight followed it to a bush, and inside, Twilight was there. Twilight shushed towards her then Starlight looked over at Trixie and said, "Uh, I'll catch up. I think there's something in my hoof."

"Sure. The wagon's right around the corner," Trixie replied as she was just turning a corner.

Angrily, Starlight looked at her mentor who asked in a hushed voice, "So, how's it going with your new friend?"

"Great," said Starlight, sarcastically. "Thanks for asking in a completely not creepy way."

Twilight then stuck her head out of the top of the bush and said, "Because you know, if it isn't working out for any reason, I could introduce you to my friend here." She pointed at another bush next to her bush. Starlight walked over to the bush, shaking the bottom of the bush.

"Nice to meet you," Starlight said, deadpanning.

"No, no!" said Twilight. She then moved the bush, saying, "You can come out now!" Then, from the bush, came DJ Pon-3, listening to her dubstep music. "You like music, right? DJ Pon-3'd be the perfect friend for tonight's incredibly important dinner with Celestia." DJ Pon-3 did nothing but look at Twilight and Starlight. "You know, if you decide to make a last-minute change. Heh."

"So back at your castle when you said "I trust you"," Starlight said, recalling what Twilight said, then she got angry, "you meant "I don't trust you"."

"Who can really say who said what? I know I can't!" Twilight said, nervously. She then looked at DJ Pon-3 and asked, "Can you?" DJ Pon-3 just walked away. Twilight then put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder and said, "Starlight, I'm just trying to look out for you."

Starlight sighed and said, "I appreciate it, but you're wrong about Trixie. She's just like me. We have a real connection."

"That's kind of what I'm afraid of," said Twilight. She then looked around, noticed somepony and said, "Oh! What about her?" That somepony was Derpy. She was waving to Twilight, but didn't notice the wooden bread store sign, and bumped her head and fell onto the ground.

"Please, Twilight!" said Starlight, a little angry. "I know you're trying to help, but I need to make friends on my own if I'm going to become a better pony."

"But do you really think Trixie's the one to help you with that?" Twilight asked, unsure of Starlight's decision.

"Wow. Trixie was right," said Starlight, losing interest in her mentor. "You're not really giving her a second chance. I wonder what that says about how you feel about me. And I'm sure you're not really wanting to teach her one spell after what she did for you and Joshua." She then ran off.

Twilight felt ashamed. She then looked to her left and saw Cranky Doodle Donkey sitting on a bench, and then a bird came down, taking his toupee. Twilight then said, "Oh! Now he'd be perfect!" Starlight heard her and groaned loudly.

Starlight was helping unload stuff from Trixie's wagon. She put a trunk down and opened it up while Trixie was dragging another trunk by the straps with her teeth.

"I was thinking," said Starlight, making Trixie let go of the trunk strap. "You said Twilight is better than you at everything, but that's not true. You're better at magic."

"Only when I'm wearing a soul-sucking evil amulet, so I don't think that counts," said Trixie. That made Starlight confused. "Funny story. Don't need to get into it."

"I meant stage magic," said Starlight, making sure that Trixie gets what she's saying.

"Well, of course!" Trixie said, opening a trunk, then pulling out some props for her show. "Great? Yes. Powerful? Obviously. But I'm not the best. As great and powerful as I am, there's one trick I've never been able to do – the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive!"

Trixie then told the story of the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive:

"Completely unharmed," Trixie said, waving a hoof and finishing the story.

"That sounds very..." Starlight said, until Trixie cut her off.

"Dangerous?" asked Trixie, guessing what she was going to say.

"I was gonna say cool!" said Starlight.

"I knew I liked you for a reason," said Trixie. "I don't know how he did it! If I tried it, I'd get chewed up and swallowed by that manticore." She then looked into that trunk again.

"Not if you could use real magic," said Starlight, suggesting an idea.

"Obviously. Way to rub it in," said Trixie, feeling a little irritated.

"No, I mean, I could help!" said Starlight. She started using her magic, and levitated Trixie, saying, "You could start the trick, and right before you got chewed up, I could use magic to save you..." She then used her magic to teleport Trixie, open a door on a black box, and Trixie appeared inside. "...and make you appear in the black box!" She then walked up to Trixie.

Trixie looked at herself to find herself in the box. She then said, "I guess that would work... But if you made one mistake, I'd be a goner."

"Hah. When it comes to magic, I don't make mistakes," said Starlight, releasing a chuckle. "Maybe I could be your... magic show helper pony!" Starlight had a hard time finding the right word.

"We call it "assistant" in the magician biz," said Trixie. "And... nopony's ever offered to help before." She felt unsure, yet happy that Starlight was offering to help.

"Well, I'd be honored," said Starlight.

"You may have just made my great and powerful magic show even better!" said Trixie. "Which I didn't think was possible! We're gonna blow them away tonight!"

Trixie then walked over to her wagon, used her magic to pull out a rolled up poster, and said, "You may have just made my great and powerful magic show even better! Which I didn't think was possible! We're gonna blow them away tonight!"

Starlight groaned and face hoofed, saying, "I can't! Tonight's this incredibly important dinner with Twilight."

"Oh," Trixie said, rolling up the poster, and feeling sad.

"Can I vent for a minute?" Starlight asked.

"What are friends for?" Trixie asked.

"Even after Twilight says she trusts me, she clearly doesn't trust me enough to choose my own friends," said Starlight, having more doubts about Twilight. She then sighed and said, "I guess you were right. No second chances." She then bowed her head sadly.

"Hmph, I wish I could say I was surprised," said Trixie. "Well, lucky for Princess Twilight, I have my magic show tonight. If you have to go to the dinner, I completely understand." She was walking away. Then she got dramatic. "I just hope I find a way to survive the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive without my new assistant!"

Right now, Starlight was having to think of something. Having to choose to help out her new friend, or attend the dinner with Princess Celestia.

Twilight and Celestia were waiting for Starlight to arrive. There wasn't much going on except for the sound of the ice sculpture melting and dripping. Princess Celestia was getting impatient.

"Starlight Glimmer should be here, heh, any minute, heh," Twilight nervously chuckled. " Any minute now..." Princess Celestia's attention then got to her reflection on a fork as Twilight forced herself to say, "How about I introduce everyone? Our friendship lessons are going so well! She made three new friends!" Across the table from them were three ponies. DJ Pon-3, Derpy and Cranky Doodle Donkey. And the bird on Cranky's head, who was wearing his toupee. "She has such great taste in friends. I don't know where she would've learned that!" She then laughed nervously.

"Starlight Glimmer?" Cranky Doodle Donkey asked. "I thought you said "nosehair trimmers"! What's going on? I'm hungry! And my nose is too hairy." He then snorted.

Princess Celestia got a deadpanned expression, and then Twilight laughed nervously and said, "Cranky Doodle! You're so funny! If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna check the kitchen. Maybe she got lost amongst the, uh... artichokes!" She then left.

Twilight went through the streets of Ponyville, looking for Starlight.

"Starlight? Has anyone seen Starlight Glimmer? I'm looking for her!" Twilight called out, hoping somepony would answer. She then saw the stage Trixie and Starlight set up. Twilight got a little angry and said, "Trixie."

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Applejack came closer to the stage.

"So this is the Humble and Penitent Trixie's Equestrian Apology Tour?" asked Pinkie.

"Ain't that a mouthful of molasses," Applejack commented.

Trixie then poked her head out of the curtain and said to her, "It's a working title!" She then poked her head back through the curtain and said to Starlight, "Oh, this is gonna be the greatest night of my life!" Then she remembered that Starlight was there. "Excuse me. Our lives."

Starlight sighed and said, "I'm so glad we're not at that boring dinner."

"Ahem?" came Twilight's voice at the door, making both Starlight and Trixie look towards her. "You just decided to skip our dinner without telling me? Are you aware that, at this very moment, Princess Celestia is waiting for you at a table with exquisite silverware placement?!"

"Yes, but..." Starlight tried explaining, but was cut off.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you to make friends with Trixie," said Twilight.

"A-ha! You still don't trust me!" Trixie said, gloating. "But guess what, princess? It doesn't matter if you want to give me a second chance or not. Starlight had to choose between you and me, and she chose me! Your pupil chose me, so ha! I win!"

"You win?" asked Starlight. "That sounds like you just made friends with me to beat Twilight."

"Exactly!" Trixie said, making Starlight gasp, feeling heartbroken. Trixie then realized what she just said, " Wait! I mean, no! I got caught up in the moment. I like you. Beating Twilight is just a bonus." She then gasped then facehoof. "Saying that didn't help, did it?"

Starlight had a lot of tears in her eyes. She then said, "I should've known. Nopony else in Ponyville wanted to be my friend. Why would you?" Starlight then ran out of the stage, crying.

Trixie came out of the stage door, saying, "Wait, it's not like that! I am your friend." She then groaned, upset.

"Well, you won," Twilight said, angrily, and coming out from the stage door. "I hope you're happy!"

Trixie sighed, sadly and said, "Looks like the Great and Powerful Trixie is back to a solo show."

Twilight was confused by that and asked, "Trixie?"

"...Which is exactly the way she likes it!" said Trixie, trying to fight her own emotions. "...Which is exactly the way she likes it!" She then started crying herself. "I definitely don't feel as if my heart is breaking into a million pieces!"

She then slammed the door, making Twilight feel guilty.

"What have you done, Sparkles?" came M.C.'s voice.

Twilight turned to the tree behind Trixie's stage and saw M.C. looking at her angrily. Twilight said, "M.C.? I... I didn't mean... what I was trying to do was..."

"Ruin a friendship that Starlight was trying to keep?" asked M.C. "Mission accomplished."

"M.C.," said Twilight. "I was trying to make sure that Starlight gained a friend she could trust."

"By your standards?" asked M.C. "I could tell that Trixie was trying her best to be a fantastic friend to Starlight. What kind of Princess of Friendship can you be without having faith in those you can trust."

Twilight thought about it. She bowed her head in shame and said, "You're right. I was a bad mentor. And when I told Starlight to make a friend, I was hoping she would make a friend that wasn't Trixie. But... now I'm seeing that the two of them do have a lot in common. They're good at magic, they made bad choices, and they're doing their best to be good ponies. I should've had more faith in Starlight."

"Yes," said M.C. "You should have." He then started walking away.

"Wait," said Twilight. That made M.C. stop and look back at Twilight.

"What?" asked M.C.

"I should apologize to Starlight and rekindle the flame of her friendship with Trixie," said Twilight. "But, I need to know where she is now."

M.C. thought about it, then sighed. He then said, "She's on the hilltop behind where the crowd will be watching. Try not to mess things up more than they already are."

Twilight nodded and ran off towards where Starlight went.

Trixie's show was about to begin. Everypony was getting ready to watch it, but on stage, Trixie was upset.

"Come one, come all," Trixie said, in an unenthusiastic tone. "Come and see the Pathetic and Friendless Trixie's "Way-To-Go-Dum-Dum-You-Really-Messed-It-Up-This-Time Repentance Tour"." The crowd got confused, making Trixie shout angrily, "It's a working title!" She then went back to her unenthusiastic mood. "Behold, your fears come true. A pony-eating manticore."

Coming from the left side of the stage, was a chained up manticore. It then roared loudly, making Fluttershy whimper and hug Applejack, tightly.

"Why isn't she confident?" asked Joshua. "She's usually so confident, isn't she?"

"You're right about that, Josh," said Nyx. "She wasn't afraid at first when I met her. And I was Nightmare Moon at the time."

M.C. then came up to them and said, "I know what's up." That made Nyx and Joshua look up at him. "Let's just say that Trixie and Starlight formed a bond of friendship, and your mom just ruined it for both of them. Twilight's now trying to fix it, starting with Starlight."

"For tonight, the Great and Powerful Trixie will be performing the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive," said Trixie, still with her unenthusiastic tone. That made the crowd gasp in awe. "Now, now, save your gasps for when I defy the beast's jaws of doom and appear inside that black box." She pointed at the black box that was coming up from the right side of the stage. Then Trixie got dramatic and said, "I was supposed to perform this trick with my great and powerful assistant, who was also my great and powerful friend!"

M.C. leaned towards Nyx and Joshua, saying, "Told ya."

Meanwhile, on the hilltop behind the audience, Starlight was watching, still crying a little bit. She was wiping her tears away, and Twilight came walking up to her.

"Starlight, when I first came to Ponyville, Princess Celestia gave me room to make my own decisions and my own friends," said Twilight, trying to apologize to Starlight. "I need to give you the same freedom. I shouldn't have tried to pick and choose your friends for you."

Meanwhile, Trixie got herself loaded into a cannon, and changed her magician's hat into a helmet.

" Just like me, you have to make your own decisions and your own friends," Twilight finished.

"But... what if Trixie really was using me just to one-up you?" Starlight asked as Trixie's cannon was getting at the right angle to be fired.

"From what I've seen, she's the real thing," said Twilight, with both her and Starlight looking at Trixie. Trixie then used her magic to light the fuse. Twilight then said, "But it's not my place to judge. It's all up to you."

Back on the stage, the Manticore was roaring. In the cannon, Trixie was looking up at the stars, thinking to herself, "Starlight? If you're out there and you still want to be friends, let's be great and powerful together!" Then there was a slight echo of the next word she said, "Please?" The fuse reached the barrel, and then cannon fired, shooting Trixie towards the manticore. The Manticore roared, Trixie shrieked, and then Trixie got swallowed by the Manticore, and then it belched.

The crowd all gasped and Fluttershy fainted. Then a blue explosion came from inside the black box, then it fell apart, revealing Trixie, unharmed.

"Behold, the Peat and Growerful Triskie...!" Trixie said, woozily. She then fell over. Everyone was stunned. Including Fluttershy, who recovered. Then all of the ponies watching started cheering for the performance. Then Starlight came to the stage, helping Trixie up. Trixie looked over at who helped her up, and Starlight winked. Trixie felt happy that her real friend came back. Then she announced, "And now, I'm proud to introduce my great and powerful assistant!" She then used her normal voice. "And best friend." She then went back to announcing, "Starlight Glimmer!" Then the crowd applauded, then Trixie, Starlight and the Manticore all bowed.

"Okay," said M.C. "That was awesome."

"Looks like Mom got the friendship of Starlight and Trixie fixed," said Joshua.

"Good thing, too," said Nyx. "That was getting intense."

Backstage, behind the closed curtains, Trixie and Starlight hugged. Then Twilight came in.

"Trixie!" Twilight called out.

"What do you want?" asked Trixie, angrily.

"I was wrong," Twilight admitted. "I'm sorry. And I have to hand it to you. I could never have pulled off a trick like that."

Trixie got confused at that, looked over at Starlight, who was smiling, then she looked back at Twilight, took off her hat and said, "Thank you, princess."

Then Trixie and Starlight peeked their heads out of the curtains, and then Trixie used her magic and released some fireworks into the sky. Then M.C. came in backstage and said, "That was an amazing show, Miss Lulamoon. I have to say, I'm impressed."

"Thank you," said Trixie. Then she saw who was talking to her. "Hey, aren't you that creature that came in a few months ago?"

"Yep," said M.C. "Prince Michael Crayton."

"Say," said Trixie. "I saw that filly Nyx, but no sign of that human child of your, Princess. Where is he?"

"Did you see a blue colt next to Nyx?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah. Why?" Trixie asked.

"That colt was Joshua," said M.C. "Sombra kidnapped him, again, took him to his lair in the Frozen North, and turned him into a pony. He was cursed, that as long as he's in this world, he can never go back to being a human."

"Oh, man," said Trixie. "I should go find that Sombra and give him a piece of my mind."

"Too late," said M.C. "I already took him down. I held my ground against him, turned him to stone, with some help from Celestia and Luna, cut off his horn, and then buried him and his lair 1000 feet underground."

"Wow," said Trixie. "I can't think of a more fitting punishment."

"Yeah," said M.C. "For what Sombra did, it makes me sick to my stomach." He then put his hand to his stomach. "I don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna..." He then held his hands towards his mouth, and then he started throwing up playing cards, all over Twilight, Starlight and Trixie, making all of them laugh.

"The throwing up cards trick!" said Trixie, laughing. "I haven't seen one of those in a long, long time!"

M.C. stopped with the cards and said, "Classic trick." Then all four of them laughed.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, the ice sculpture was half melted, and Princess Celestia, Cranky Doodle Donkey, DJ Pon-3 and Derpy were still waiting for Twilight and Starlight.

Cranky Doodle Donkey then broke the silent, asking, "How do you get your hair to do that all the time?" Making Princess Celestia sigh.

Then coming into the dining room came Mutt. He was surprised to see all of them at the table.

"Uhhhhhh...." said Mutt.

"Hey! Who let a dog in here?!" asked Cranky Doodle Donkey.

"H'oh boy," said Mutt. He then rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well... this is gonna be hard for me to say..." He then chuckled nervously.

Episode 7: Newbie Dash

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 7: Newbie Dash

Over the streets of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was flying over. She was keeping a cool head until Scootaloo called her.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" called Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash looked down and saw Scootaloo waving to her. She flew down to her and said, "Hiya, Scootaloo! What's up?"

"The Rainbow Dash Fan Club just decided..." Scootaloo said. "...everypony's coming to see you when the Wonderbolts' new tour comes through Ponyville!"

"Well, it's great that you guys are going to the show, Scoot," said Rainbow Dash, with a sincere smile, "but I won't actually be performing in it. Reservists aren't in the show unless one of the real Wonderbolts can't fly." She then chuckled. "I'll probably be working crowd control or something."

Scootaloo then thought to herself, and then said, "You're still gonna be wearing a Wonderbolts uniform though, right?"

"A Reservist one, yeah," said Rainbow Dash.

"Hmm. That's good enough for me," said Scootaloo.

Then the sound of engines roaring met their ears. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo took to the skies and saw three Wonderbolts, coming down. Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts, looked down and saw Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo looking up at them. Spitfire then flew down, making Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo amazed, and did a superhero landing. Scootaloo was impressed by Spitfire's landing.

"Whoa!" said Scootaloo.

Spitfire walked up to them and said, "Rainbow Dash! Glad we found you. We need you in the show when we get to Ponyville. Flying." That made Rainbow Dash's face go in dull shock.

"But she's only in the Reserves!" said Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash did a slow gasp and asked, "You mean...?" Making Spitfire nod.

Scootaloo gasped, hugged Rainbow Dash and said, "Rainbow Dash!" She then let go, and started shouting excitedly. "You're finally a full-fledged Wonderbolt! Woo-hoo!" She laughed excitedly, punched the air, and shouted, "Yeah, Rainbow Dash! Whoo!"

"Heh. What she said," said Spitfire. Then Rainbow Dash started grinning very widely.

At Rainbow Dash's cloudominium, Rainbow Dash was rushing through the place, packing her bags so she can leave to head to Wonderbolts HQ, with Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike and M.C. watching her.

"Uh, anypony seen my wing balm?" Rainbow Dash asked. She then looked at her wings, and the tip of her feathers were starting to curl up. "I don't want to be stiff when I show up at Wonderbolt headquarters."

Spike checked the cloud couch cushions and then pulled something out, saying, "Got it!"

Then Rainbow Dash grabbed Spike and packed him and her wing balm into the suitcase, closing it shut.

"Do you have time to tell us what happened, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, yes, we must know every detail!" said Rarity as Spike got out of the case. But then Pinkie Pie jumped on the suitcase, closing it again with Spike still inside.

"Start from when you were a foal and you first knew your destiny was to become a Wonderbolt!" said Pinkie Pie, excitedly.

"Pinkie Pie!" said M.C. "Get off of Dash's suitcase so Spike can get out." He then grabbed Pinkie Pie, and then Spike came out of the suitcase, breathing for air.

Pinkie Pie giggled and said, "Sorry, Spike." She then bounced out of M.C.'s grasp.

"Heh. Well, not much to tell, really," said Rainbow Dash. "Spitfire told me the Wonderbolts need me to go on tour with them."

"That's really great," said Fluttershy. "I know how long you've been waiting for a spot to open up."

"Yeah," said Rainbow Dash. "Fire Streak decided to retire and teach full-time. Cloudsdale Flight School will probably be churning out Wonderbolts with him there. But guess who was at the top of the Reserve list."

"Ooh, ooh, I know! Pick me!" Pinkie Pie said, raising a forehoof.

"So what do you do now, Dashie?" Rarity asked.

"I have to report to Wonderbolts headquarters this afternoon," said Rainbow Dash. "It's only two days 'til tour starts, and I need to learn the routine." She was heading towards the door, opened it, and outside was Pinkie Pie.

"You're leaving already?!" Pinkie Pie asked before gasping. "But we barely started your congratulation party! I haven't even thought about your going-away party yet!" Pinkie was getting upset.

"Pinkie, I'm not leaving Ponyville," said Rainbow Dash. "I just have to train for this show."

The rest walked up to Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy said, " I hope everything goes well. Sounds like an awful lot of pressure having to learn everything so quickly." She then used her hoof to hand over Rainbow Dash's goggles. Rainbow took it with her wing.

"Yeah. Good luck, Dash," said Applejack.

"Luck? Heh. Save that for the rest of the team," said Rainbow Dash, using her wings to put on her goggles, and they snapped onto her head. "Now that my awesomeness has finally been recognized, the other Wonderbolts will have to keep up or eat my cloud trail!" She was flying when she said that last part.

"Everypony knows you're a great flyer, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight. "but so are the rest of the Wonderbolts. It might be more challenging than you think." Rainbow Dash moved the lenses of her goggles as Twilight was talking.

"Aw, you're right!" said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, do I show up wearing sunglasses or not? Sunglasses are automatically cool, but anypony can put them on. Maybe I'd stand out more if I didn't."

The others looked annoyed at Rainbow's comment. M.C. then said, "H'oh, boy. And earlier I was just thinking, about a man named Sir Francis Bacon inventing the scientific method. Clearly he wasn't ready for Pinkie Pie."

That made Pinkie giggle and said, "I guess you're right. Wait until you meet Cheese Sandwich."

That made the others roll their eyes at Pinkie's antics.

At Wonderbolts HQ, a bunch of Wonderbolts were practicing their basic flight patterns. By the landing pad, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash were walking.

"Team briefings are every morning at..." Spitfire started talking before Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"0720, because there were twenty ponies in the original E.U.P. Guard that became the Wonderbolts!" said Rainbow Dash, knowing her knowledge of the Wonderbolts.

"Right. And I know you've seen the academy bunks, but these are the official Wonderbolts barracks," said Spitfire. She then pointed a hoof towards the Wonderbolts barracks.

"Built by Admiral Fairweather himself!" said Rainbow Dash. She was about to cross the runway until her tail got stepped on by Spitfire. Spitfire then looked left to right to see if somepony was going to land. Then she crossed.

"Don't forget rule number one, newbie," said Spitfire. "Always check both ways before crossing the runway."

Then Rainbow Dash looked from left to right. She then said, "Uh, sure, but... nopony else is here."

"They will be, and most of the Wonderbolts like to make a flashy entrance, so stay alert," said Spitfire as Rainbow Dash was crossing the runway.

"Right, no problem!" said Rainbow Dash.

Inside the barracks, Rainbow Dash looked at something in the Wonderbolts Trophy Case. She was looking specifically at a bust with a cap on it.

'Whoa! Is that General Flash's cap?!" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

"And the original crest with the Wonderbolts motto on it," said Spitfire, walking up to Rainbow Dash.

Then they simultaneously said, ""Altius volantis! Soaring higher!""

"Wow!" Rainbow Dash said, doing a loop de-loop but then catching herself. "I mean, ha, cool."

"Okay, newbie, we've got a show in two days," said Spitfire, giving Rainbow Dash some instructions, "which means you gotta hustle your haunches to learn this routine. You got five minutes to get dressed and get outside to meet the rest of the team."

Rainbow Dash got excited. Then in a serious tone, she said, "Yes, ma'am! I'll have all of the moves down by the end of the day!"

"Let's hope so," said Spitfire. "We're all expecting you to make quite an impression." She then took off quickly. Then Rainbow Dash smirked.

Later, Rainbow Dash got into her official Wonderbolts outfit, and looked at herself in the mirror. "Lookin' good!" She then raised her goggles and said, "Okay, you're about to take your first flight as an actual Wonderbolt." She then sighed. "No pressure." She then did some stretching, groaning during the process. "Just gotta go out there and knock 'em off their hooves. Okay, Wonderbolts, get ready to meet your most awesome member ever!"

Later, Rainbow Dash came flying out of the barracks, and started crossing the runway without even looking.

Spitfire was talking with two Wonderbolts, Surprise and Silver Zoom, until she saw Rainbow Dash. She then looked up to see Soarin and Fleetfoot coming in for a landing. She then called out to Rainbow Dash, "Hey, look out!"

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash said, stopping in the middle of the runway, then she saw Soarin and Fleetfoot coming right towards her. She then jumped out of the way. "Whooaaa!" She then ended up in a trashcan, covered in trash. She was groaning unsteadily, and then Spitfire came up to her, shaking her head in disappointment.

Then some Wonderbolts walked up to Rainbow Dash, laughing.

"Whoa, most awesome entrance by a newbie ever," said a Wonderbolt known as Misty Fly.

"Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" asked Soarin.

"More like Rainbow Crash," said Fleetfoot. Then all of the Wonderbolts started laughing. Rainbow Dash started remembering a moment like that that happened to her before when she was a filly.

Flashback...

Young Rainbow Dash was getting some attention from her fellow flight camp campers and one instructor. One of the flight camp campers was Fluttershy when she was younger.

"Okay, flight school!" said young Rainbow Dash. "Get ready for Rainbow Dash!" She then did a loop de-loop, but then lost her balance. She then bumped her head on a hoop made of clouds, then bumped into some more clouds, and came rolling towards the other campers and instructor in a trashcan. Then one of the bullies from Rainbow's past, Hoops, came up to young Rainbow Dash, and laughed at her.

"More like Rainbow Crash!" said young Hoops.

That made the other campers laugh, except for Fluttershy. The instructor was trying to keep in some laughter herself, and then young Rainbow Dash felt sad that ponies around her were laughing at her.

Present time...

Rainbow Dash then got angry and glared at the other Wonderbolts.

"Hey! You guys buzzed me on purpose!" Rainbow Dash yelled at Fleetfoot and Soarin.

"Not quite," said Spitfire. "You forgot rule number one, newbie."

"Always check both ways before crossing the runway," said all the other Wonderbolts, starting to fly.

Rainbow Dash then tried coming up with an excuse and came out with, "Yeah, well, I was just... testing you guys!"

"Alright, nopony got hurt and we got a lot to do," said Spitfire, "so let's forget about this and get flying!" Then they started flying off, leaving Rainbow Dash. But Misty Fly stayed to say one more thing.

"Classic rookie move, Rainbow Crash," said Misty Fly, giving Rainbow Dash a hard time. "That was amazing."

Rainbow Dash was feeling embarrassed by her first impression as a full fledged Wonderbolt, then walked away in shame.

The Wonderbolts were doing their training, but Rainbow Dash was still trying to forget about her first impression, that she was slacking off on her training. The Wonderbolts were flying in a straight line, but Dash was falling behind. Spitfire noticed.

"Higher, Crash! You're breaking formation!" Spitfire said, through a megaphone.

Rainbow Dash looked down at Spitfire, then noticed and started catching up with the other Wonderbolts. Later, the Wonderbolts tried flying in a hexagonal pattern, until Soarin distracted Rainbow Dash.

"Check your nine, Crash!" came Soarin, almost crashing into Rainbow Dash. She paused in mid air as Soarin flew past her, and started flying back in formation.

Later, the Wonderbolts were getting ready to land, and then Surprise and a male Wonderbolt made a sharp turn, but Rainbow Dash came in, not as sharp. Spitfire noticed.

"Tighter, Crash, get in there!" said Spitfire into the megaphone.

Rainbow Dash growled, then yelled, "My name's not Crash!" She was flying close to Surprise and the male Wonderbolt. But she got too close to Surprise, then the two of them went off course, and crashed into a cloud. Surprise recovered quickly.

"Huh, could've fooled me," Surprise said, flying away. Embarrassed, Rainbow lifted her goggles, and looked away in shame.

Later in the Wonderbolts locker room, the Wonderbolts were cooling off from their day of training. Rainbow Dash came in, trying to forget about today. Then Fleetfoot came up to her.

"Hey, Crash," said Fleetfoot, attempting to encourage Rainbow Dash, "I know it was a tough day today, but don't worry. You'll get the hang of it."

"Tough day?" Rainbow Dash said, giving a nervous grin. "Please. If I can pull off a sonic rainboom, I can learn this routine." She came up to her new locker, and opened it up. "I'll have it down cold tomorrow. Probably even come up with a couple of improvements."

"Rainbow Dash, over here!" came Spitfire's voice. Rainbow looked over and saw Spitfire leaning on the entrance of the locker room, forelegs crossed.

Rainbow Dash flew up to her, saying, "Yes, ma'am!"

"I'm glad you're still here," said Spitfire.

"Oh, yeah?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Did you want some ideas on how to make the show extra-awesome?" Rainbow was getting her hopes up.

"Not quite," said Spitfire. "I know you've been a Reservist for a while, but the 'Bolts have a few of their own rules you might not know about." Rainbow Dash was getting nervous. Then she looked behind her and saw some Wonderbolts holding some cleaning supplies for Rainbow Dash to take. "Like worst flyer of the day has to clean up the whole compound. Better get to it, Crash." Then the Wonderbolts left Rainbow Dash alone in the locker room.

Rainbow Dash sighed, and said under her breath, "My name's not Crash." She was angry when she finished that sentence.

Rainbow Dash came back to her home late. She was still upset about what happened today. She then opened the door, only to be shot by Pinkie's party cannon, covering her face with confetti. She looked inside and saw her friends, M.C., Mutt, and all six of Ponyville's Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Surprise!" said all of them, except for M.C.

"What?" asked Rainbow Dash, walking in.

"Hooray, Rainbow Dash!" said the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Our favorite Wonderbolt!" Hanging over the stairs was a banner of a child drawn picture of Rainbow Dash dressed as a Wonderbolt, which Rainbow was looking at.

Twilight walked up to Rainbow Dash and said, "We know you're probably tired, Rainbow Dash, but Pinkie wanted to throw you a real party."

Then Pinkie Pie came in between them, saying, "Your best day..." She then brought up a megaphone, and pointed it at Rainbow Dash, shouting into it, "...ever party!"

Bashfully, Rainbow Dash walked away from them, gave a nervous laugh and said, "Yeah. It was somethin', all right."

"Well we can't wait to hear all about it!" said Applejack.

"eh. And I'd love to tell you, I really would, but I'm pretty beat," said Rainbow Dash, flying up the stairs. She then forced a yawn. "You know, from all the... excitement of my big day?"

All of Rainbow's friends looked up at her, worried for her. M.C. then said, "Judging by your tone, you wanting to get to bed already, and the smell of trash and cleaning supplies, I come to one conclusion... Rough day?"

"Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?" asked Fluttershy.

"What could be wrong?" Rainbow Dash lied. "I'm finally a Wonderbolt, which means everything has to be totally, perfectly awesome." She then sat at the top of the stairs.

"Basic denial," said M.C.

"Don't need to smell it to tell that she's having a bad day," said Mutt.

"What happened, darling?" asked Rarity.

" I told you, it's nothing!" Rainbow Dash lied. But then she started telling what the Wonderbolts called her. "I mean, maybe some of the Wonderbolts started calling me Rainbow Crash..."

"Oh, no!" said Fluttershy, being worried for Rainbow Dash. "Isn't that the same terrible nickname those bullies in flight school used to call you?"

All Rainbow Dash could do was whimper and nod sadly.

"Why would they call you that?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I kinda sorta fell into a garbage can," said Rainbow Dash before whimpering again.

All of Rainbow's friends were feeling sympathetic for her. Then Pinkie said, "Well, look at the bright side! At least they didn't call you Rainbow Trash!"

Applejack then put her hoof in Pinkie's mouth, and said, "So ya started off on the wrong hoof. Ah'll bet every new Wonderbolt has a tough first day."

"She has a point, Dash," said M.C. "You're not the only one who messes up something on their first day."

"Mmm-hmm!" Rarity said, agreeing. "What you need is to find a positive way to stand out. As soon as you're known for something else, that nasty old nickname will be forgotten."

Rainbow Dash was starting to cheer up. Then Twilight flew up to Rainbow Dash, saying, "Rarity's right. Why don't you think of the Wonderbolts like us? We're a team, but we all stand out in different ways." She pointed at the rest of Rainbow's friends.

"That's it!" Rainbow said, expanding her wings then flying down the stairs. "I'm gonna stand out in a different way, just like you guys!" She turned to look at her friends. "Goodbye, Rainbow Crash; hello, Captain Awesome!" She then flew off, making her friends worried.

"This isn't gonna end well," said M.C.

"What do you think is gonna happen?" asked Nyx.

"Something she'll regret, I can assume," said M.C.

In the morning at the Wonderbolts Barracks, Soarin was waking up, only to be surprised who was standing on his bed.

"Good morning, everypony!" said Rainbow Dash, imitating Pinkie Pie. She even had her mane similar to Pinkie's style. "Who's ready for a fantastic day of flying? I know I am! I just couldn't be more excited for the big show tomorrow. Are you guys excited? I'm excited! Actually, I'm always excited! Some ponies even call me "Dynamic Dash"! Because I'm so full of energy all the time!" She then started panting like a dog.

Fleetfoot walked up to her and said, "Uh, Wonderbolts don't get excited, Crash. You gotta keep a level head to fly the way we do." She then flew towards a sink, getting ready for the day.

Rainbow Dash got a bit angry, then she got an idea. She then flicked her mane back, making it the same style as Applejack's mane. Then she started talking like her. "Well, of course Ah know that! But the truth of the matter is, you should be excited! It's the dream of near every little Pegasus pony to grow up and fly with the Wonderbolts! And here you all are doin' it!" She was saying all of that, while Fleetfoot was brushing her teeth, leaning on Surprise's bed, and flapping her wings in the air.

"So are you," said Fleetfoot.

"True! Go ahead and call me "Forthright Filly" if you want," said Rainbow Dash, still imitating Applejack. "But shee-yucks, I like to tell it like it is, and I believe a pony oughta appreciate hard work payin' off like this, because bein' a Wonderbolt is somethin' special!"

"We know," came Misty Fly's voice, followed by the closing of a door. Rainbow Dash looked around and saw that the room was empty. She then flew towards the door with another idea on her mind.

Outside, the Wonderbolts were practicing for the upcoming show. Spitfire was holding a clipboard while talking to two male Wonderbolts. Then Rainbow Dash came up to them, wearing rectangular glasses with tape in the middle.

"You know, I was just reading about how dihedral wing angles can help increase stability in banking turns," Rainbow Dash said, imitating Twilight. "It made me think that pre-flight checklists could really help increase our efficiency, so I went ahead and made them for everypony!" She then handed a bunch of checklists to Spitfire, looking at them. Then she dropped them I'm always finding so much interesting information in books. In fact, a lot of ponies call me "Reading Rainboom"."

Then Spitfire grabbed a megaphone, pointed it at Rainbow Dash and shouted into it, "We all know how wings work, newbie! And we already have checklists! Now get off the runway!"

Rainbow Dash was frazzled. She then shook her head, got another idea, and had her mane similar to Fluttershy's mane. Then she started acting like Fluttershy, saying, "I'm so sorry. I was just trying to help because I care about all of the Wonderbolts oh-so much. Yessiree, just call me "Care Mare"." Spitfire was not amused by how Rainbow Dash was acting. "Um, but if you're busy now, I can just come back later..." Still not amused, Spitfire did a low growl at Rainbow Dash. "Or, you know, not at all..." She then sped away.

In the locker room, there were Soarin, Blaze and Fleetfoot. Blaze was giving Fleetfoot a shoulder massage while Soarin was looking in his locker for something. Rainbow Dash peeked her head in, then she went back out, and came up with another idea.

"Okay," Rainbow Dash said to herself. She then used her wings and styled her mane to be like Rarity's. Then she came into the room, walked up to Soarin, imitated Rarity and said, "I must tell you how much I just love these uniforms. Why, ever since I was a foal, I've admired the mixture of bold lines and classic contours. They don't call me "Rainbow Fash" for nothing."

"Uhhhh... huh...?" Soarin asked, confused.

"The "Fash" is for "Fashion"," said Rainbow Dash, still acting like Rarity.

"Crash!" yelled Spitfire from behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash's mane went back to her normal style. "I'm not sure why you're acting like this, but you need to stop."

Embarrassed, Rainbow Dash replied with, "I was just, you know, trying to show everypony all the awesome ways I can contribute to the 'Bolts."

"I know you're excited to find your place on the team, but just focus on the routine for now, okay?" Spitfire asked as calmly as she could be.

"Yes, ma'am," said Rainbow Dash, submissively.

"Maybe this will help motivate you," Spitfire said before elbowing a locker, which opened, and inside was a brown leather jacket, one for Rainbow Dash. Rainbow took it and looked at it, until she saw a patch on it. On the patch was Rainbow's Cutie Mark crashing into a stop sign.

"Crash?!" Rainbow said, upset. "Couldn't you just put my regular name on it?!"

"That's not how it works around here," said Spitfire. "We all have our nicknames on our jackets." She then looked over as Soarin and said, "Right, Clipper?"

"Clipper?" Rainbow asked, looking at Soarin.

"Right, boss!" said Soarin, before closing his locker.

"Now it's official," said Spitfire, leaving the locker room. "Welcome to the Wonderbolts, Crash!" She then laughed.

Rainbow was upset. She threw her jacket into her locker, groaned and said, "If I don't come up with something unforgettable to add to the routine, I'm gonna be Rainbow Crash for the rest of my life!" She then shut her locker.

In the sky by where the Wonderbolts show was going to be, Rainbow Dash was sneaking around. She went to a storm cloud and was moving it somewhere. Meanwhile, at the event's bleachers, the rest of the Mane 6, Spike, M.C., Mutt and the CMC were waiting for the show to start.

"This is gonna be so amazing!" said Scootaloo.

"I know! I'm almost as excited as Pinkie Pie!" said Spike.

"I can't wait to see Rainbow Dash's first performance as an honest-to-goodness Wonderbolt!" Pinkie Pie said coming in from under Spike. "I hope there's cotton candy!" She then started speeding away, taking Spike with her. The rest were amused by Pinkie's antics.

"We should all remember to be extra supportive for Rainbow Dash too," said Fluttershy.

"I agree," said M.C. "Rainbow needs all the confidence she needs."

"Excellent point," said Rarity. "It's simply dreadful that she's had such a rough start after finally achieving her dream."

"Rainbow Dash is a pretty resilient pony," said Twilight. "I'm sure she's shaken off her tough first day and turned it around by now!"

Applejack noticed who they were talking about and said, "Speakin' of... Hey, Dash!"

Rainbow Dash noticed her friends calling her, and she flew towards them. She then said, "Perfect! Hey, can I borrow Scootaloo?"

"Me? What for?" asked Scootaloo.

"Oh, heh, I just needed some help and figured the president of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club was the right pony for the job!" said Rainbow Dash, coming up with an excuse to get Scootaloo to help her with something.

"I thought the Wonderbolt Reserves were here to help," Twilight said.

"Oh, yeah, they're all busy doing, uh, official Reserve stuff," said Rainbow Dash, continuing her excuse. "But don't worry! With Scootaloo's help, everything's gonna be awesome. Better than awesome!" She then picked Scootaloo up.

"Does... Does that mean practice went well yesterday?" Rarity asked.

"Gotta go," said Rainbow Dash, taking Scootaloo with her somewhere.

"Well, this ain't gonna end well," said M.C.

"What do you mean?" asked Nyx.

"You saw how Rainbow was being dodgy there," said M.C. "I don't think it went well yesterday. She's gonna try to attempt to get rid of that mean nickname by doing something that'll probably lead to something worse."

"You think so?" asked Twilight.

"You'll see," said M.C.

Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo to a hill with a ramp set up by a tree over a small cliff. Scootaloo was confused about what Rainbow Dash was doing.

"What are we doing up here, Rainbow Dash?" asked Scootaloo.

"I just need a small favor from you that's really gonna make this show something special," Rainbow said, winking at Scootaloo. "Now, the Wonderbolts are gonna fly over this ridge right before the finale of the show." Rainbow pointed somewhere with a wing. She then flew behind a tree, bringing out a storm cloud. "I'll fly by last, and when I signal you, you zip up the ramp on your scooter and kick the storm cloud into my path!"

"What?" Scootaloo asked, unsure of what Rainbow was getting at.

"That kick will shoot off a lightning bolt right behind me, making me look totally awesome!" Rainbow continued her plan. "And then I'll do some incredible Rainbow Dash flying with it to create the coolest, show-stoppingest, lightning-tastic light show anypony has ever seen!" She then widened her eyes in excitement.

"Are you sure about this?" Scootaloo asked.

Rainbow then handed Scootaloo her scooter and said, "Uh-huh! It's gonna be so awesome! And nopony will ever call me "Rainbow Crash" after this!" Then the Wonderbolts flew past where they were. "Oh, gotta go! Be ready for me, okay, Scootaloo?" Rainbow then put her goggles over her eyes.

"Um... okay...?" Scootaloo asked, confused.

Back at the performance, everypony was getting excited.

"Mares and gentlecolts, fillies and foals of all ages!" came an announcer through a PA system. "Look to the skies and prepare to be awestruck by the incredible flying prowess of... the Wonderbolts!"

The Wonderbolts came flying in towards the crowd, and they even flew past the main characters, forcing Fluttershy to lean into Twilight's lap.

Fluttershy recovered and said, "I hope Spike and Pinkie Pie are done getting their snacks, or they're gonna miss Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh, don't worry, Fluttershy," said Rarity. "Nothing would keep Pinkie Pie from missing this!"

"Heh. Except maybe cotton candy," chuckled Applejack.

"Is that why Pinkie's mane smells like Cotton Candy?" asked Mutt.

"Y'all have no idea," said Applejack.

Meanwhile, Spike noticed the Wonderbolts flying when he and Pinkie Pie were by the Cotton Candy Stand.

"Come on, Pinkie, the show's starting!" Spike said, trying to get Pinkie to go faster.

"One second!" said Pinkie Pie as the stallion selling cotton candy came out. "Just a little bit bigger please, but hurry!" The stallion took the stick of cotton candy back, and brought out more cotton candy on the stick. "Bigger!" She separated her forelegs to indicate how big she wants it.

Back during the show, the Wonderbolts were flying in formation. They were flying upwards in a steady climb, making the ponies went in awe. Then the Wonderbolts went down, flying towards the ground, making the crowd worry. Then they pulled up right before they could make contact with the ground.

"That was amazing!" said Twilight. "She's doing great!"

Back with Pinkie Pie and Spike, Pinkie Pie was anxious to get as much Cotton Candy from the stand.

"Bigger!" she shouted. But it was too big for the Cotton Candy to come out of the stand, making Spike sigh, wanting to watch the show. Then a body of dirt came up in the shape of M.C. with glowing gold eyes came out of the ground, surprising both of them.

"You two better hurry," said the M.C. elemental clone. "You're missing the show."

"Gah!" said Spike. "We better hurry!"

"Don't worry," said Pinkie Pie. "We'll make it."

The Elemental M.C. clone rubbed where the eyes should be, sighed and said, "She should've done this sooner." Spike nodded in agreement.

Back during the performance, Spitfire and Fleetfoot were flying right towards each other. Then they swerve past each other, then Soarin and Misty Fly did the same. Then they were about to finish their performance until Rainbow Dash held back to signal Scootaloo. Scootaloo was worried and said, "I hope this works." She then started rolling down the ramp on her scooter, jumped off the ramp, and kicked the storm cloud.

The Wonderbolts started returning to the ground, but Rainbow Dash broke formation. The rest of the Wonderbolts landed and the crowd was cheering. Then Soarin tapped Spitfire's flank and pointed towards Rainbow Dash, who was flying right towards the storm cloud. She yelped in shock, and just missed it, but she didn't see the tree, spooking some birds out of it.

The Wonderbolts were surprised, along with the crowd. Rarity was trying to cover Sweetie Belle's eyes. M.C. said, "I knew something like that was going to happen."

Rainbow Dash was getting attacked by angry birds, no pun intended. She was trying to get away from them, but got hooked on a band of flags, launching her like a slingshot, and crashing into the tree where Scootaloo was near, but then she was catapulted, screaming all the way. She tried correcting herself until she got caught into the storm cloud, electrocuting her, and falling out of the sky.

"Hope I'm not too late," said Pinkie Pie as she and Spike were heading back to the stands with Spike on her back, holding the cotton candy, which was a lot. She then scoffed and said, "I dunno what took that pony so long."

The pony at the cotton candy stand was exhausted, making a mare and her daughter concerned for him.

Back at the show, the ponies were watching Rainbow Dash in fear right before she crashed into Pinkie's cotton candy. Rainbow Dash just laid there, covered in Cotton Candy.

Pinkie Pie came in from behind her, shouting, "That was amazing!"

Then Spitfire came up to Rainbow Dash, seething with anger. She then said, "Way to go, Rainbow Crash." Rainbow Dash was nervous, but then she got covered with more cotton candy.

At a first aid tent, Nurse Sweetheart helped Rainbow Dash out. She had wraps around her forehead and three of her legs. The Wonderbolts walked up to her.

"You gonna tell us what just happened, newbie?" Spitfire asked, angrily.

Rainbow sighed and said, "I'm so sorry."

"I should hope so," said Spitfire. "You changed the routine without consulting me and put other ponies at risk. I've drummed flyers out of the 'Bolts for less."

"I know, and I'm ready for whatever punishment you want," said Rainbow in shame. "You guys were right to call me "Rainbow Crash". I've always been a standout flyer, but since I joined the Wonderbolts, I've only stood out for making mistakes." She sighed again. "It's been my dream my whole life, but... I guess maybe I'm not Wonderbolt material after all."

"Are you serious?!" Soarin asked, bumping her with a wing. "You're the most talented flyer we've ever had!"

"And you've saved all of Equestria like, a dozen times," said Fleetfoot.

"Uh, I—" Rainbow said, confused.

"Of course you're supposed to be a Wonderbolt," said Spitfire. "We've been waiting for a spot to open up ever since you joined the Reserves!"

"But... you guys all called me Rainbow Crash," said Rainbow, still trying to live it down.

"Yeah, so?" asked Soarin. "My nickname's "Clipper". You know why they call me that?"

"Uh... 'cause you're as fast as a ship?" Rainbow guessed.

"Because I clipped my wing on a flagpole as I was landing on my first day. Heh," Soarin explained.

"Huh," said Rainbow Dash.

""Flatfoot". My first day, I misjudged my landing and came down right on Spitfire's hoof," Fleetfoot explained.

""Dizzy"." said Misty Fly.

""Slowpoke"," said Surprise.

""Hoof-in-Mouth"," said High Winds.

"You don't wanna know what they call me," said Spitfire. She then whispered what she was called into Rainbow's mouth.

"Whoa! That is so much worse than Crash," said Rainbow.

"Right?" asked Spitfire, rolling her eyes, and making Rainbow Dash feeling better.

"So does this mean I'm... still on the team?" asked Rainbow.

"Do you think you can be part of this team and not constantly try to showboat?" asked Spitfire.

"I promise!" said Rainbow Dash. "I spent my whole life trying to be a standout flyer, but now that I'm a Wonderbolt, it's time to be okay with fitting in!"

"Good, because I really didn't want to miss the chance to tease you for years about this catastrophe!" said Spitfire. "I mean, that crash was epic!" Then all of the Wonderbolts, except for Rainbow Dash, started laughing. Then Spitfire got serious. "But you're on probation for a month. Got a problem with that?!"

"No, ma'am," Rainbow said, quickly. Then Spitfire handed Rainbow's goggles to her with a wing. But, Rainbow was still happy that she was still a part of the Wonderbolts.

Later at night, Rainbow Dash was cleaning up the mess she made until her friends came to her.

"Hey. Rainbow Dash," said Twilight, calling out to her. "We just wanted to check on you. Are you doing okay?"

"I'm doing great, thanks!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Sure you don't need any help?" Scootaloo asked.

"Nah. This mess is my responsibility, and I've gotta clean it up myself," said Rainbow Dash. "And after this, Spitfire's got me cleaning the Wonderbolts' compound for the next month."

"So why are you in such a good mood?" asked Scootaloo, confusingly.

"Duh! Because I'm a Wonderbolt!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Let me guess," said M.C. "You're not the only one who messed up on your first day as a Wonderbolt."

"Nope," said Rainbow Dash. "Turns out, there were some nicknames the Wonderbolts got that are a lot worse than Rainbow Crash."

"Wow," said Mutt. "Who got the worse of it all?"

"Spitfire," said Rainbow Dash.

"Well," said M.C., "at least you're happy." Then M.C. looked at the moon. "Well, I believe it's time for the kids to get home. It's late."

"Yeah, yeah," said Rainbow Dash. "Go on. I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Sure," said M.C. "See ya, "Crash". Heh heh."

Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes, and continued sweeping as the others walked away.

Episode 8: A Hearth's Warming Tail

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]

Episode 8: A Hearth's Warming Tail

Ponyville was getting ready for that time of the year again. Hearth's Warming:

In one room, there was a projector being set up at the top of the room, being set up by Alex Lynol, hanging by a grappling arrow attached to his belt.

"Okay," said Alex. "That should do it." He then pushed a button on his belt, and he started coming down.

"You sure this'll work?" Mutt asked as he and M.C. walked up to him.

"Positive," said Alex. "Remember, I see all possible futures, remember? By the way, Mutt. I see your Mom coming. She'll be here in 10 minutes. Better prepare."

"Sweet," said Mutt. He then rushed out.

"Thanks for coming here," said M.C.

"No problem," said Alex. "I was hoping to see the future, but I guess it's not as tech related as everyone expected." He then pulled out something that was wrapped up and handed it to M.C. "By the way, Merry Christmas."

M.C. took it, and unwrapped it. He was surprised and said, "Is this our version of a Christmas Carol?"

"Yep," said Alex. "Shadow the Hedgehog as Ebeneezer Scrooge, you as Bob Cratchit, Sonic as Fred Holywell, Blaze the Cat as the Ghost of Christmas Past, me as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Silver as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Tails as Tiny Tim, Manic as the Ghost of Jacob Marley, and Sonia as Emily Cratchit."

[Does not really exist]

"I hope that the young ponies here will enjoy it," said M.C.

"Oh, they will," said Alex. "I've seen their reaction already. Even some of the grown ups enjoyed it. Well, I gotta get back to my time. My dad and I have to head across the country."

"What about Maria?" asked M.C.

"She'll be spending Christmas with Shadow," said Alex. "Plus, she signed up to do college classes. She wants to be a teacher."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be a good teacher," said M.C. "We seen how Maria was good with kids. Especially when she was watching the kids on the beach by the campsite in Disney World."

"Yeah," said Alex. "I'm sure she'll get in. She really wants this."

"Tell her that I wish her luck," said M.C.

"I will," said Alex. He then headed out. M.C. then chuckled.

Meanwhile, back in the opening room of the castle, Starlight Glimmer was looking down at all of the ponies celebrating the holiday. Then Twilight and Spike walked towards her.

"Hey, Starlight!" said Twilight. "Ready to celebrate your first Hearth's Warming Eve here in Ponyville?"

"I was thinking I might just skip it," said Starlight. That made Twilight and Spike gasp, and the contents in the present Spike was holding coming out of the bottom, and all that was in there was a single candy cane.

"Skip Hearth's Warming Eve?!" Spike shouted.

"I just find it all a little silly. It's mostly a day dedicated to presents and candy, isn't it?" Starlight said confused, and walking away.

Spike walked up to her and asked, "And why would you deny yourself presents and candy? That's crazy talk!" He was then grabbed in Twilight's magic, and was moved away from Starlight.

Twilight walked up to her and said, "I think what Spike means to say is Hearth's Warming is about more than presents and candy. It's a time to spend with friends and family when we celebrate a very important day in Equestria's history."

"I think to most ponies, it's just an excuse for silly songs and fun, not a day to remember some old story," said Starlight, trying to avoid this conversation. Twilight was thinking of something, then she got an idea, and then teleported in front of Starlight.

"Maybe you just haven't heard the right Hearth's Warming Eve story yet!" Twilight said.

"Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns sing songs around a hearth to fight back an eternal winter caused by the mythical windigos?" Starlight asked before scoffing. "Ha! Every foal and filly knows that story."

"Not that one," said Twilight. "My favorite holiday story, "A Hearth's Warming Tale"!"

"Oh, I love that one!" said Spike.

Later in the library, Twilight used her magic to pull a book from one of the bookshelves.

"This is the story of a powerful unicorn named Snowfall Frost, who hated Hearth's Warming Eve," said Twilight. She then started reading. "It all began many moons ago in Canterlot..."

It then sequenced to a Canterlot that looked like 19th Century London, and all of the ponies there looked like ponies from Ponyville. Doctor Hooves, Spoiled Rich, Diamond Tiara, Octavia, Bon Bon, and so many more. And in the background, Twilight was still narrating.

"Every home in Canterlot was filled with holiday spirit. Every home... except one. It was said of Snowfall that she was almost as studied as Star Swirl the Bearded. Almost, since everypony knows that Star Swirl was an expert at everything from transfiguration, dimensional calibration, teleportation—"

Inside, the mare, Snowfall Frost, who was a copy of Starlight Glimmer, was holding a piece of coal and reading a book. Then the image froze when Spike's voice came in, saying, "We get it. Star Swirl's awesome."

"Right." Then the picture started moving again. "The point is, Snowfall was also a powerful unicorn. She wanted to be perfect. Anything that got in the way of that was a waste of time." Snowfall Frost gave a confident smirk after reading, and then approached a cauldron. She then used her magic to turn the piece of coal into gold. But then she was startled by the sound of bells, and dropped the piece of coal.

She then looked out a window to see a bunch of bit collectors ringing bells through the streets. Snowfall Frost then said, "Well, that batch is ruined. Snowdash!"

"Snowdash was Snowfall's loyal assistant." Then a mare with a groomed mane came in. And that mare looked like Rainbow Dash.

"What do you need?" asked Snowdash.

Snowfall Frost levitated in a broom and handed it to Snowdash, saying, "Get this mess cleaned up. Those foolish ponies were ringing those blasted bells outside the window and I lost my concentration!"

Snowdash then started sweeping the floor while flying and said under her breath, "Whoa, ponies actually enjoying Hearth's Warming Eve. Where did they get that crazy idea?"

Snowfall Frost walked towards the window and said, "Today is nothing to celebrate. Hearth's Warming Eve is a menace. A dangerous day for all of Equestria."

Snowdash was in disbelief and said, "Dangerous?! It's awesome! It's the day we remember how unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies came together in friendship to defeat the windigos!"

"That silly legend is the problem!" said Snowfall Frost in anger. "Telling everypony that "singing songs and being nice" will solve anything? I've spent years studying magic, and that's not how it works."

"I think you might be missing the point," said Snowdash before she got pushed down when Snowfall Frost teleported to her.

"Work hard, learn, and use your skills to better Equestria," said Snowfall Frost, before heading back to her working table. "That's a worthy goal for any pony." She then said to Snowdash in a sarcastic tone, "But, by all means, if you want to go home early, ignore all of the work you have, and spend the rest—"

Snowdash was sweeping up the mess in the dustpan as Snowfall was talking sarcastically, but then she flew up, saying, "Sweet!" Then she flew out of there, making Snowfall Frost roll her eyes and groan. She then looked out the window and saw Snowdash zipping through the streets.

Snowfall Frost turned around and angrily said, "I hate Hearth's Warming Eve! All of Equestria would be better off if we just skipped the day altogether." She then broke into song.

Later, Snowfall Frost was continuing her spell making.

"Once the spell is cast, all of Equestria will be better off, and they'll have me to thank for it!" Snowfall Frost said when turning around. Then the image froze.

"Wait a minute!" came Starlight's voice. It then sequenced back to the real world. Starlight then asked, "Snowfall doesn't like Hearth's Warming Eve so she decides to cast a spell to get rid of it altogether? That seems a little extreme."

"Says the pony who tried to make everypony the same by replacing their cutie marks with equal signs," Spike muttered before taking a sip of his hot cocoa. Then Twilight covered Spike with her right wing.

"I think what Spike is trying to say is that everypony has their reasons for doing things," Twilight said. "Even Snowfall. And if I could continue the story, we might just find out what they are."

"Proceed," Spike said when Twilight folded up her right wing.

"Snowfall was all set to cast her spell that would erase Hearth's Warming Eve for all time..." Twilight said as it was sequencing back to the story. "...when a voice from the hearth caught her attention."

"You sure you wanna go through with this?" came a voice, getting the attention of Snowfall Frost.

"Huh?! Who's there?!" asked Snowfall Frost, looking all over the room. Then the liquid in the cauldron started bubbling, getting the attention of Snowfall Frost. Coming from the liquid was the spirit of a pony that looked like Applejack, wearing a fancy dress with snowflake patterns and a fancy hat.

"The Spirit of Hearth's Warmin' Past, that's who," said the spirit. "And you and me have got to have us a little chat."

"A spirit?!" asked Snowfall Frost. Then she got suspicious. "I didn't cast any spirit summoning spell. What are you doing here?"

"You don't think a spell like that would get by without some powerful forces noticin'?" said the spirit, walking through Snowfall Frost. "You've got our attention, Snowfall Frost, and we've got some pretty strong opinions on this spell of yours."

""We"?" asked Snowfall Frost, confused.

"They'll be along in a bit," said the spirit. "For now, it's just you and me. Let's get a move on. We got a ton to see and barely any time to see it."

Then a purple top hat landed on Snowfall Frost's head. She looked at in, and said, "I'm not going anywhere." She then turned towards the cauldron and said, "I've got a spell to cast, and I don't need a history lesson about Hearth's Warming Eve."

"We aren't goin' to the past to learn about the holiday," said the spirit before pulling out a lasso. "We're goin' to learn about you." She then spun the lasso, and wrapped it behind Snowfall, and she took Snowfall for a ride.

In Snowfall's past, she was happily setting up some Hearth's Warming decorations. She started with a star ornament and she hung it on something. But it was the class professor, Professor Flintheart, and he was not happy.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Snowfall?" asked Professor Flintheart.

"Decorating the classroom for Hearth's Warming Eve, Professor Flintheart!" young Snowfall answered.

"You said you wanted to learn to be a powerful unicorn, did you not?" asked Professor Flintheart, unamused.

"I do!" said young Snowfall.

"And what is the way that one becomes a powerful unicorn?" asked Professor Flintheart.

Young Snowfall cleared her throat and said, "Work hard, learn, and use your skills to better Equestria." She then grinned widely. Watching them were the present Snowfall and the spirit. Snowfall grinned embarrassed while the spirit was smirking at her.

Professor Flintheart sneered and asked, "And how do these help you to learn magic?"

"I want to be strong enough to stop windigos and help ponies!" said young Snowfall.

"That's just a story we tell little ponies," said Professor Flintheart. "Real magic takes time to learn." He then crushed the ornament in his magic right in front of her. Young Snowfall was sad to see her ornament broken in front of her. " It's your choice. Spend your time learning to become a powerful unicorn or play with your toys and make nothing of yourself." He then kicked the box towards young Snowfall sad.

Snowfall Frost found herself standing in front of her cauldron in her present time. She then gasped and then asked, "Spirit? What am I supposed to—" She didn't see the spirit when she faced away from the cauldron. Then she turned her head to her left, seeing a giant present box.

Then the top of the present ripped open, revealing a black figure. But then the figure came into the light, and the figure looks like Pinkie Pie, and she said, "Snowfall Frost! It is I, the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents!"

"Um, don't you mean "Present", like the time?" asked Snowfall Frost to the spirit.

"No!" said the spirit coming in from behind Snowfall. She was then going all over the place, handing Snowfall Frost some gifts. "Toys, Hearth's Warming doll... Here, want a cupcake?"

"Fine, "Presents"," said Snowfall Frost. She then turned towards the trash can, and she put all the things she was handed into it. "All of the pointless things ponies waste their time on."

The spirit then grabbed the stuff out of the trash can and said, "Oh, Snowfall, it's not what the gift is that matters, it's what the gift means!"

Snowfall facehoofed and said, "It doesn't mean anything. It's just stuff!"

"Exactly!" said the spirit before lifting up a cupcake. "Sometimes a cupcake means "I love you!"" She then held up a toy. "Or a toy means "Hi, how're you doing?"" Then she grabbed a book and said, "Sometimes a book means "Your mane looks amazing!"" She dropped if before she said that last quote. And then she grabbed the scarf, wrapped it around her neck and said, "And sometimes a scarf means... Well, a scarf usually means you look cold. That one's easy."

"I don't understand anything you're saying," Snowfall said, deadpanned.

And just like Pinkie Pie's senses, she reacted. Her eyes were fluttering, her tail was twitching, and then she convulsed, all saying, "Whoa! Whoa!" She then stopped.

"What's happening to you?!" asked Snowfall, worried.

"My Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents Sense is going off!" said the spirit. "That means a song is coming on!" Then she pulled down the fourth wall.

The confetti sequenced to where Twilight was reading the book. She then did a sing-song voice, imitating Pinkie Pie, saying, "And the reason is to be with your friends!" She then saw Starlight's expression, got confused and asked in her normal voice, "What?"

"You know you're doing your Pinkie Pie voice, right?" Starlight asked, with an amused smirk.

"I was not!" Twilight complained embarrassed before hiding her face behind the book. Spike was laughing.

"You totally were!" said Spike. "You did it almost as good as M.C. does."

"Oh," said Twilight. "Well, I don't know, but I think I can do way better than M.C. on impersonating somepony."

"Is that so?" came Pinkie Pie's voice, when Twilight had her eyes closed.

"Perfect," said Twilight. "Pinkie's in the room. I bet she can judge on who can do a better job."

"Uhhh... That wasn't Pinkie Pie," said Starlight. Twilight then opened her eyes and saw M.C. standing at the door.

"Too easy," said M.C. "Anyway, Sparkles, your family have all arrived. And they're watching the movie I put in with a bunch of other ponies."

"What's the name of that movie?" asked Spike.

"It's actually similar to that story you're reading," said M.C. "A Christmas Carol. Me and some heroes from my time did some acting."

"Wow," said Twilight. "I would like to see that, sometime."

"I'll play it again tomorrow," said M.C. Then his glove started beeping and said, "Oh, shoot. I got some cookies in the oven. Gotta pull them out." He then rushed out of the room.

"So, what happens next?" Starlight asked.

Twilight responded with, "Well, the party was—" Then she was interrupted by Spike.

"Wait! Can we take a quick break? I need to refill my cocoa." That made Twilight groan. Spike then ran out of the room towards the kitchen.

Twilight peeked her head out the door and said to Spike, "But hurry up! We're almost to the best part!"

Spike came back with a refilled cup of hot cocoa.

He blew on it and said, "Okay, I'm ready."

Twilight then gave Spike "the look" and then continued with the story, ""The party was in full swing.""

It then sequenced back into the story. At a party, Snowdash was looking around for somepony. Then she heard a voice.

"Snowdash!" came a pony's voice. The voice of that pony was of a pony that looks like Rarity. Her name was Merry. Standing next to her was a mare that looked like Fluttershy. That mare was Flutterholly.

"Hey, Merry," said Snowdash, a little sad.

"Why, whatever is the matter, darling?" asked Merry.

"Was it the eggnog?" asked Flutterholly. "Oh, I knew I put in too much cinnamon!"

" Oh, no, the eggnog was awesome, Flutterholly," said Snowdash, "I'm just mad at somepony who was complaining about how awful Hearth's Warming Eve is."

"I don't suppose that pony's name starts with "Snow"?" asked Merry.

"And ends with "Frost"?" asked Flutterholly.

"She said Hearth's Warming Eve is just an excuse to party," Snowdash said, getting the attention of the ponies around her, "and we would all be better off spending time working to make Equestria a better place." That made all of the other ponies booed. Outside, Snowfall and the spirit were watching the commotion from outside. The spirit winked at Snowfall, and then Snowfall got worried.

"What does Snowfall think a better Equestria looks like?" asked Merry.

Snowdash then made her mane look like Snowfall's and put on some small spectacles, and impersonated Snowfall, saying, "Ponies working hard, learning, and using their abilities for the benefit of Equestria." That made Merry and Flutterholly giggle.

Snowfall was feeling ashamed for a moment. That was quickly interrupted when a snowball almost hit her. She turned around to see three young foals playing with a snowpony. She gave a stern look until she heard Merry's voice.

"It looks like we've got everything on Snowfall's list right here," said Merry with her voice muffled due to the glass.

"I think a perfect Equestria looks a lot like a Hearth's Warming Eve party," said Flutterholly, her voice also muffled. Then the curtains closed.

"Me too!" said the spirit, startling Snowfall. "Too bad it's going to be the last one ever! Ever! Ever! Ever!" She was walking backwards into an incoming fog, and her voice echoing while she was fading away.

"Spirit? What do you mean?" Snowfall Frost asked confused. "What's going to happen?!" She was then covered up in the fog. She had no idea what was going on. She walked backwards until a chilling wind blew around her. She then saw a hug shadow in front of her in the form of a really tall unicorn pony. She then asked it, "Who are you?"

"I am the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come," the spirit responded before revealing wings, making the spirit an alicorn.

Snowfall Frost was covering her eyes so no snow would fly into her eyes. She then asked, "Are you here to show me what future Hearth's Warming Eves are like?"

"No, for there are no more Hearth's Warming Eves for me to show," said the spirit.

"Why not?" asked Snowfall Frost, confused.

"You will succeed in erasing the holiday, as you wished," said the spirit, revealing her face. It was the face of Princess Luna.

"And what happens?" asked Snowfall Frost.

Snowfall Frost saw Windigos fly past her into the sky behind her. She then said, "Windigos?! They aren't real! It's just a little filly's story!"

"They are all too real, Snowfall, and your actions will allow them to return," said the spirit. "The future of Equestria shall be bathed in a blanket of eternal snow!" The spirit then started fading away.

"No!" said Snowfall when the Windigos started circling her. "I never meant for this to happen! I didn't understand! I didn't see how important Hearth's Warming Eve was! Please, spirit! I haven't cast the spell yet! Is there still time?! I'm sorry!" The last words echoed as she covered her face.

She waited a while until the wind stopped. She uncovered her face and saw that she was back in her study and she was wearing that top hat she got from the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past. She then walked over to the window and saw all of the ponies outside ringing bells and getting ready to sing.

"There's still time!" said Snowfall Frost.

Back at the party that the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Present showed earlier, a bunch of ponies were talking to each other. But then there was a knocking at the door. Merry and Flutterholly walked towards the door. They opened the door and were surprised to see who was at the door.

"Oh, my," said Merry.

"Snowfall... Frost?" asked Flutterholly.

"I was hoping I wasn't too late for the party?" said Snowfall Frost. "I brought gifts." She levitated a bunch of gifts. Then the sound of a record scratching came in when Snowdash was flying over drinking something. She then did a spit-take.

"Boss?!" asked Snowdash.

"I was wrong earlier, about Hearth's Warming Eve," Snowfall Frost said, coming in. "It's not all about singing and presents. The singing and presents are all about celebrating the ponies in our lives. The ponies we should listen to more often: our friends." She then handed out gifts.

Snowfall handed Snowdash her gift, she took it and unwrapped it. She was confused about what was in it and asked, "Dragon toenail? Uh... thanks?"

"I was in a hurry," said Snowfall. "I'll do better next time."

"Ha. You kidding?" asked Snowdash. "No one's ever given me dragon toenail before! It's awesome! Now come get some eggnog!"

As Snowfall was enjoying the party with the others, Twilight was narrating again. "And from then on, it was always said of all the Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations, Snowfall's was the Hearth's Warmingest." It then sequenced to back in the real world. "The end." She then closed the book. She then got up and said, "Well, that's it! Thanks for letting me read you the story." She then put the book back on the shelf. "Guess you can call it a night. Spike and I are heading downstairs, and if you wanted to, you'd be welcome to join us." Then she and Spike headed out of the library.

Starlight thought about it. She was deciding whether to head to bed, or go celebrate Hearth's Warming.

Starlight then came over the balcony of the main room of the castle, and saw all of Ponyville talking to each other. Some ponies were talking to M.C. about the movie they watched. Then Twilight noticed Starlight looking over the balcony.

"Welcome to the party!" said Twilight. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Starlight."

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Twilight," Starlight responded.

M.C. chuckled and Mutt walked up to him. M.C. then said, "Don'tcha just love the magic of the holidays?" Mutt nodded in response. Then the two of them joined in on the fun.

Apologies

Sorry everyone. I'm afraid that I have to cancel this series. I have been having trouble with this. Thank you for reading my stories and liking them.