Episode 2- Elements of Disharmony Pt. 2
7 hours until sunrise
Upon hearing the prophecy being recapped to the group of creatures led by Joey Graceffa, everyone’s reactions range from being dazed in fear to openly scared or upset. Everyone except Joey, who has been through this exact same scenario four separate times.
“Let me get this right,” Scribbler says, “we basically have to work together on puzzles to save Equestria, but in turn have to compete against each other in challenges that could lead to the loser dying a horrible death?”
“That is precisely what I said,” Twilight replies.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lost exclaims, “did you know anything about this Joey?”
“Unfortunately yes,” Joey responds with hesitation, “I have dealt with this for years, I have seen so many lives lost, only a few have survived these circumstances, I wish there was something I could’ve done or something I could do now, but the fact of the matter is the only way to escape the night is to play by the rules.”
“And if we don’t...” Blank Check suggests.
Joey is holding back tears...
“Then we all die,” he says.
“And Equestria will be cursed with eternal night forever,” Twilight adds. The room falls back into a state of silence as the group tries to figure out what to do about this lose-lose scenario they’re in. After an uncomfortable minute of silence, Sawtooth Waves finally clears the air with his words.
“So...what do we do now?” He asks.
“Well, we only have to find two more of the pillars artifacts right?” Ashley H asks.
“Kind of,” Blueshade responds, “we have to find Mistmanes Flower and Rockhoof’s Shovel in order to cleanse Starswirl’s Journal.”
“Is this a bad time to ask about what we should do about the Pony of Shadows,” Dr. Wolf asks.
“Let me guess,” Sawtooth angrily responds, “you summoned him.”
“Hey, it’s not Docs fault,” Firebrand says, “we needed to help him and the others out of the dungeon.”
“Well we probably would have all been fine if you had just left them there,” Sawtooth retorts.
“You mean that you’d rather we just stay there and DIE?!” Lightning Bliss shouts. The idea that Sawtooth would rather leave Bliss, Wolf, Joey and Starswirl for dead in the dungeon not only didn’t sit well with Bliss, but with others in the group as well.
“Everyone cease your squabbling,” Starswirl intervenes, “we have a job to do.”
“So how do we go about this?” Disney Fanatic asks, “like, which artifact do we have to find first?”
“Hey guys, you might wanna take a look at this,” Scribbler calls the group over to the map. It appears to be glowing in two distinct areas, the Ponyville flower stand and the Everfree Forest. Above each area is a picture of the two artifacts, a flower above the flower stand and a shovel above the Everfree Forest.
“I guess we’re gonna have to split up,” Joey says. The group decides on which ponies will go to which area.
Sawtooth Waves, Dr. Wolf, Ashley H, Blank Check and Scribbler will go to the flower stand to look for Mistmanes Flower.
Meanwhile Firebrand, Disney Fanatic, Lightning Bliss, Lost and Joey will try to recover the shovel in the Everfree forest with Twilight Sparkle accompanying them. Blueshade volunteers to go with the other group, but she is stopped when Starswirl suggests they stay. Once the plans are settled, everyone bids each other the best of luck and goes their own way.
After bidding them farewell, Starswirl pulls Blueshade off to the side for a little chat. “I stopped you for a reason you know,” Starswirl says. Blueshade feels threatened by his words.
“How did you know?” she replies.
“I sense a darkness in you that only a real member of the Society Against Evil could detect,” Starswirl warns, “Be still, Joey will find out soon enough.” Blueshade puts on a seductive smile upon hearing the old gray stallions warnings.
“You’re quite astute,” Blueshade says before quickly pulling out a blade and thrusting it into Starswirl’s chest, penetrating his heart. As blood seeps out from his chest, Starswirl struggles to hold on to his last shreds of life as Blueshade pulls the blade out, leaving him dead on the floor.
“But I’m sure you didn’t see that coming,” Blueshade says with a devious grin on her face as she wipes the blood off of her blade and puts it back in its sheath.
“Now to dispose of the evidence,”
Group A: The Flower Stand
Everyone in the group arrives at their destination and start looking around the area for Mistmanes Flower. The first thing they notice when they arrive is a pedastal with a locked box on top of it, and a flower pot on the bottom. Dr. Wolf notices that there is a note on the flower stand that reads 'closed for maintenance.' The note is written in cursive on a piece of paper that is folded in half. When Wolf picks up the note he notices that there is writing on the inward portion of the note, which is also written in cursive.
"Hey everyone, come take a look at this," Dr. Wolf calls to the group and reads the letter he found...
Weary Traveler,
I was challenged, but I managed to do it before the prophecy began taking place.
My flower requires that you find the magic in order to summon it. I've extracted my magic from the flower and contained it in seeds that need what every plant needs in order to grow, water and sunlight. There should be a watering can inside of the flower stand that you found this note in, but in order for the magic to work you will need to recite Starswirl's sun spell.
However, the Pony of Shadows is dastardly. If the wind starts to change drastically as you go about your quest, it means he is present and if you are not hidden by the time he arrives he will capture you. He and his minions have hidden the seeds and the sun spell inside the box that you see before you, which has been locked with a combination lock. I'd tell you how to unlock it myself but I'm afraid my time is of the essence.
But I can tell you this, once the flower has been uncovered you will need the rest of your party to dig it up using Rockhoof's Shovel. Working in unison is the only way you can escape. Once you dig up the flower, you will uncover the next step to cleansing Starswirl's journal. The sun spell only has the power to last ten minutes, so be nimble.
Good luck weary traveler,
Mistmane
Group B: Everfree Forest
Everyone spots Rockhoof's shovel in the ground outside of Zecora's house within the Everfree Forest. They also happen to find Rockhoof himself standing next to it. Upon closer inspection, the group finds that he is confined to chains, rendering him immovable. They also came across three musical instruments that appear to have colors on them. There was a purple mbria, African drums with the colors white, red and yellow, and a harp that was the color pink.
Upon seeing Rockhoof in danger, Twilight Sparkle was worried for her friend. The rest of the group was worried to of course, despite most of them having not met him. Joey was definitely worried for Rockhoof, though he couldn't deny he was smitten by his good looks. From his strong stature to his commanding scottish accent, he definitely wouldn't mind getting 'ridden' by him. He did recently break up with his boyfriend Daniel after all. Though him being locked up in chains wasn't exactly his kink, despite what Liza Koshy once thought. Not to mention that it looked like he was in real danger.
"Aye!" Rockhoof exclaims, "I'm glad to see you've located me!"
"Oh my gosh Rockhoof, what happened?" Twilight asks out of worry.
"Don't touch me shovel," Rockhoof responds.
"Why not? We kinda need it," Lost retorts.
"The damn Pony of Shadows has put a spell on it so that anyone who dares touch it gets injected with a deadly neurotoxin and dies immediately," Rockhoof explains, "There is a way to reverse the spell however, a counter-spell of sorts, Zecora had a list of flowers that might help you identify how to play those instruments in order to reverse the spell. Unfortunately I don't know how any of it works, but I must warn you that the Pony of Shadows signals his presence by drastically changing the wind's trajectory. You must hide once you either hear or feel the wind start to change suddenly."
"Okay, so I guess we should start looking for a list of flowers," Lightning Bliss says, "except I kind of thought that was the job of the other group."
"Maybe, they're tricking us," Disney Fanatic replies, "these creatures are probably evil enough that they would try pranking us."
"Well, let's take a look," Joey says. Everyone goes into Zecora's house only to find it in shambles. Zecora is nowhere to be found either, making it clear that she was trying to get away from these creatures as quickly as possible. 'This is gonna be difficult,' Joey thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Group A searches extensively for ways to figure out the combination to the box.
"I found another note guys," Sawtooth calls to the group from the fruit stand. Everyone assembles to where Sawtooth is and he reads the note aloud...
Reminders to self:
1. Call the Equestria food supply about our next delivery of banana's
2. Go visit Tater Root in the hospital to figure out when she can come back to work
3. Divvy up everyones pay equally by putting all of the bits collected into the bags given*
*figure out what to do with the remainders
"I think that's a hint," Blank Check says.
"Should we count up the bits?" Scribbler asks.
"I guess," Sawtooth says. While looking around the fruit stand he finds two bags that he assumed were for the bits. "There's a flower symbol marked on these bags."
"Wait a minute," Ashley H says running to the flower stand and grabbing three bags from underneath the stand, "so are these." Dr. Wolf goes to check out the box again and sees that this combination lock has five numbers they have to solve. Suddenly, he gets an idea.
"Sawtooth, Ashley," Dr. Wolf calls, "count up the bits and let me know what the remainders are, I and everyone else shall look for other bags marked with flowers." It sounded crazy to them at first, but they tried it anyway. Sawtooth manages to find 25 bits underneath the fruit stand and does the math in his head. If the pay was to be equal than he'd have to put 10 bits in both of the bags, leaving him with a remainder of 5. Just as he figures it out however, the wind changes drastically, which was the signal that the Pony of Shadows was near. Everyone picks a stand and hides. The Pony of Shadows arrives and looks around for someone to take captive, but gives up after five minutes of searching.
Everyone is safe for now...
Meanwhile, back in the Everfree Forest, Firebrand looks around for any clues when he eventually finds Zecora's list of flowers.
"I found it," Firebrand signals before reading the list out loud...
The Flowers needed for my complete healing potion:
- 2 Orchids
- 1 Pink Tulip
- 1 Rose
- 1 Sunflower
- 3 Purple Blossoms
There are check marks on all of the flowers, except for the pink tulip.
"Good find Firebrand," Lightning Bliss says.
"These are the colors that pertain to the colors on the instruments," Disney Fanatic says. Just as they're figuring it out however, they hear a disturbing sound.
"That's the wind," Twilight warns. Everyone struggles to try and hide, especially Disney. Everyone falls down to the ground in hopes that the Pony of Shadows will remain outside, but Disney Fanatic attempts to close the door, much to everyone's chagrin. As a result, she is captured by the Pony of Shadows in one fell swoop and taken away before he could spot the others. Everyone emerges from their hiding spots and they continue to try to solve the puzzle they've been given, though not without taking a few moments to wonder what became of their friend. The group heads outside to show Rockhoof what they found.
"I'm sorry 'bout your friend there," Rockhoof says.
"Thanks," Lightning Bliss says, "I just hope she's alright."
"We found this list that may have something to do with those musical instruments," Twilight points out.
"Ah yes, but what could it mean?" Rockhoof asks.
"Hmm...we know we have to play these instruments in order to break the spell," Joey says, "Is there a certain order we have to play them in?"
"Wait," Lightning Bliss says, "I remember seeing the flowers inside of Zecora's house, that might have something to do with the order."
"Maybe she left the receipts somewhere," Firebrand replies. Everyone goes back into Zecora's house to look for either the flowers or their receipts. They find both of them and upon closer inspection they find their next clue.
"Maybe the order depends on the days that they were bought," Lightning Bliss says. Her realization brings joy to the group as they finally have a clear way to solve the musical counter-spell. Everyone starts looking around for the receipts. Lost finds one while Joey finds the other three. They read the dates on the receipts...
- 3 Purple Blossoms- January 25th
- 1 Sunflower- February 1st
- 1 Rose- February 3rd
- 2 Orchids- March 11th
Group A: The Flower Stand
After the Pony of Shadows leaves the area, everyone gets back to solving the combination lock. Ashley H finds 30 bits and 3 bags underneath the flower stand, and after distributing the bits equally she finds that there is no remainder.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wolf searches the donut stand and finds a flower symbol engraved on a cart. He looks underneath the stand and finds 20 bits and 3 bags. He does the math and finds that he can equally distribute 6 bits among the three bags, leaving him with a remainder of 2.
Blank Check, after searching within two different stands, finally finds a flower symbol inside the stand that belonged to grand pear. He finds 50 bits and 7 bags meaning that he can evenly distrbute 9 bits into each bag, leaving him with a remainder of 1. He goes over to the box and tries to put it in the combination. Ashley meets up with him to tell him his situation.
"Hey Blank," says Ashley, "I evenly distributed my bits and I got no remainder."
"Maybe that means your number is zero," Blank replies. Sawtooth goes up to the two of them to inform them of his number, but right as he does, the wind changes. Everyone struggles, especially Blank, but most of them are able to get away. Blank Check however, gets captured by the Pony of Shadows, but not before putting his number into the combination lock. Everyone else is frazzled when they emerge from their hiding places.
"Does anyone know what Blank Check's number was?" Sawtooth Waves asks.
"One," Ashley H replies, "I saw him put it into the combination."
"Good, I got five," Sawtooth says.
"I got two," Dr. Wolf follows.
"I didn't get any remainder," Ashley reports.
"Did your stand have a flower symbol on it?" Scribbler asks. Ashley nods her head in response.
"Blank told me that it might be zero,"
"Let's hope he's right," Sawtooth responds. Everyone gets back to searching for stands with flower symbols, which leads to Scribbler eventually finding one at the lemonade stand. She finds 45 bits and 6 bags. After doing the math, she is left with a remainder of 3.
"I have my number," Scribbler proclaims. Everyone assembles back to the pedestal and try to put all their numbers in the combination lock.
"I think my number is probably the first," Sawtooth says.
"What makes you say that?" Dr. Wolf responds.
"Because that was the stand that had the note that helped us figure out we needed to do this in the first place," Sawtooth responds. It made sense to everyone else, though they still weren't sure what everything else meant. Blank had put his number down in the middle, which gave Scribbler an idea.
"Maybe for everything else we go in numerical order," she suggests. So they try exactly that...50123...nothing happens.
"We should try my number last," Ashley H suggests, "puzzles tend to be cheeky like that sometimes." They take her advice and try the combination again...51230...the box opens and everyone celebrates as they find the seeds and a piece of paper with the sun spell written on it. Ashley goes to get the watering can from the flower stand while Scribbler plants the five seeds into the soil. Ashley comes back with the watering can and waters the soil. Being a unicorn, she also volunteers to say the sun spell...
By the magic contained within these seeds, I speak the light of Celestia, princess of the sun, unto them. So they may become a lively plant.
And with that, everyone cheers as Mistmane’s flower appears out of the flower pot.
“Great,” Dr. Wolf says, “we got the flower, so now we just have to wait for the others.”
“Here’s hoping they can get here soon,” Sawtooth says, “we only have ten minutes.”
Group B: Everfree Forest
After Lightning Bliss is done reading the receipts, everyone has a clearer understanding of the order in which they need to play the musical instruments.
“Wait, but she never bought the pink tulip,” Lost points out.
“That means we should play the harp last,” Lightning Bliss responds. Everyone leaves Zecora’s house once more to see that Rockhoof is still chained up.
“How is it going lads and lasses?” He asks.
“Great actually,” Joey says, “we know what we need to do.” Everyone chooses which instruments they want to play and go off of the date of each receipt, the numbers on the list, and the numbers marked on the purple mbira. Joey plays the three notes on the mbira, Lightning plays one note, first on the yellow drum then on the red, and two notes on the white drum, and Lost strums the pink harp once. After the musical counter-spell is complete, Rockhoof’s Shovel flares up in a magical blue aura. If that’s any indication, the shovel has been cleansed of it’s neurotoxin.
“I shall volunteer myself,” Rockhoof says as he goes to pick up his shovel. When he does, he’s perfectly alive and well. “Aye! It worked!” Rockhoof proclaims joyously, “here ya are, you need it more than me.”
“Thank you so much,” Joey replies.
“Now you must go,” Rockhoof says, “and fast, if your friends have already summoned Mistmane’s flower it won’t be around for much longer at this time of night.”
“We shall,” Twilight says, “thanks again for the help.” Twilight ignites her horn, teleporting her and the group to the flower stand where everyone else is.
Everyone at the flower stand is anxiously awaiting the others when they appear right before their very eyes.
“Wow, nice work teleporting Twi,” Sawtooth says.
“Thanks,” Twilight replies.
“Hey, where’s Blank Check?” Lost asks.
“He got captured by the Pony of Shadows,” Dr. Wolf responds.
“Same thing happened to Disney Fanatic,” Lightning Bliss adds.
“Glad to see you guys have the shovel,” Scribbler says, “we need you to dig up the flower.” Firebrand volunteers to use Rockhoof’s Shovel to dig Mistmane’s Flower out of the flower pot. He is successful, and in doing so uncovers a box that was hidden within the dirt.
“ w h o g o e s t h e r e “
A disturbing voice calls out, and the pony it belongs to is the Pony of Shadows. The reunited group doesn’t immediately know where he is and they don’t stick around to find out as they start running back to the castle, the one place they know they’ll be safe.
Everyone arrives back at the castle to not only find Blueshade, but also Blank Check and Disney Fanatic there waiting for them. Blueshade was just fine, but Blank Check and Disney Fanatic were being held down on the ground by what looked like some of the Pony of Shadows’ powerfully wicked essence. Starswirl the Bearded is nowhere to be found.
“Oh my gosh,” Joey exclaims, “are you guys okay?”
“Your friends were taken here by the Pony of Shadows,” Blueshade says, “he confined them to the floor with his shadow-like substance. I can’t free them with my brute strength alone.”
“Let me try,” Joey responds. Ever since he came to Equestria he’s wanted to use his newly acquired unicorn magic. He gets to do just that when he uses his magic to free Blank Check and Disney Fanatic.
“Wow, you got the hang of your magic quickly Joey,” Twilight says. Joey was quite proud of himself over the fact that one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria complimented his magical abilities. Everyone takes a breath, either sitting on the couch or just standing up, until Joey notices something.
“Where’s Starswirl the Bearded?” He asks. His question signals Blueshade to present her lie to the group about what happened to Starswirl.
“I’m sorry, but after waiting so long he grew impatient and set out to find you in the Everfree Forest,” Blueshade says trying her best to sound trustworthy, “he hasn’t returned, which leads me to believe that he may be gone forever.” Her lie has most of the group somewhat convinced, if not hopeful that Starswirl will turn up again. But Joey is far from convinced.
“We were pretty visible in the Everfree Forest,” He says “I feel like we would have seen him if that was the case.”
“Hey, that’s a good point,” Lost replies, “you lying to us bitch?”
“I tell you what I am saying is true,” Blueshade responds with a more defensive stance.
“He might realize we left and come back,” Ashley H says, “at least I hope so.”
“Hey guys,” Firebrand alerts everyone’s attention towards himself, “I still got this box here.” The box he was holding was small and appeared to have been locked with a key-lock. “I also got this key from earlier that I think is supposed to unlock it,” Firebrand adds before sticking the key in the hole and turning. The box unlocks and reveals what’s inside. “I knew you were gonna come in handy,” Firebrand says to the key before kissing it and throwing off to the side, much to the amusement of his peers. Inside the box are two strange medallions that glow with a blue magical aura and a note. Firebrand takes out both the medallions and the note and shows them to the group. He then reads what the note says...
You have now acquired the last two artifacts to put on their pedestals. You now must focus your attention on cleansing Starswirl’s Journal of the Pony of Shadows’ dark magic.
To do this, two must be selected by vote to put on these two medallions which have enough of Starswirl’s magic to shield you from the Pony of Shadows’ attacks. The power of both combined will be enough to cleanse Starswirl’s Journal and banish the Pony of Shadows back to limbo.
Good luck, for the medallion that belongs to the loser will have it’s magic transferred to the winner’s medallion.
The loser shall reap the fatal consequences.
"GREAT!" Sawtooth Waves says in frustration, "so now we have to kill someone."
"This is bad, like very bad," Scribbler says.
"I mean, technically we're not directly killing anyone right?" Lightning Bliss asks nervously.
"We are if we vote for the loser," Sawtooth responds.
"Oh, and you're saying that you don't want my innocent blood on your hooves now?" Bliss retorts.
"I didn't...that wasn't..." Sawtooth struggles to come up with a rebuttal to Bliss's argument, until he directs his attention towards Joey. "You," he says as he approaches Joey with a piercing glare, "are you the cause of all this?"
"Just shut up before I decide to vote for you," Joey replies. His threat to vote Sawtooth into the elimination challenge is enough to get him to back away with a nervous grin. "I suggest we all talk amongst ourselves, go from person to person, or pony to pony I should say."
"I'm with Joey on this one," Lightning Bliss says. Everyone is given ten minutes to talk amongst themselves. People from the opposite groups come together to give their thoughts on who they thought was a helpful asset to their team. Sawtooth shares with Firebrand and Joey that Blank Check was the weakest player of their group. Despite the fact he put his number into the combination at the last minute, he still let himself get captured by the Pony of Shadows and was generally unhelpful. He also pointed out the friction between him and Lightning Bliss and how he thought it wouldn't be beneficial to the group in the long run. This gave Firebrand and Joey two options to consider.
While Sawtooth Waves was complaining about his drama with Lightning Bliss, she was saying the exact same thing to Dr. Wolf and Disney Fanatic. Meanwhile, Firebrand shared with Lost and Scribbler that he thought Disney Fanatic was the weakest on their group, due to her mistake of running toward the danger as opposed to away from it.
"Alright," Blueshade calls everyone's attention to herself. In front of her is a table with ten tarot cards that each resembled the appearance of one member of the group, as well as having their occupation on the bottom of the card. Next to the cards was a box that everyone assumed would contain the votes. "It is time to vote, I advise you all come up one at a time to choose the pony you would like to vote into the final challenge." Everyone does as Blueshade advises, going up to the table and making the decision they all were dreading.
The nerve-wracking voting process results in three different ponies getting voted a certain number of times,
- Joey, Sawtooth, Scribbler and Ashley vote for Blank Check
- Firebrand and Lost vote for Disney Fanatic
- And Lightning Bliss, Blank Check, Disney Fanatic and Dr. Wolf vote for Sawtooth Waves
"I will now shuffle, and draw two," Blueshade says after everyone is done voting. She takes the selected cards out of the box and shuffles them for an uncomfortable amount of time. Once she's finished, she pulls out the first name to be cast into the death challenge. She reveals it to be Blank Check. Everyone's reactions range from a mix of surprise and dread to just sitting there, putting on their best poker face, especially the ones that voted him in.
This means that his opponent comes down to either Disney Fanatic or Sawtooth Waves. She takes all of Blank Check's cards out of the deck and re-shuffles them. After doing so she pulls out the final name, and reveals it to be...Sawtooth Waves. With the contestants decided on, Sawtooth and Blank stand up from their seats and each of them put on one of the medallions.
"Don't forget these," Twilight says as she lends Sawtooth Rockhoof's Shovel and Blank Mistmane's Flower.
"Come, I shall take you to your arena," Blueshade says as she walks out with the two stallions. Everyone wishes the best of luck to both of them as they walk out of the castle, knowing full well that this will be the last time they'll see one of them again.
Blueshade leads Sawtooth Waves and Blank Check to the dungeon where Joey, Dr. Wolf, Lightning Bliss and Starswirl were previously. The Pony of Shadows is standing on the center pedestal in his most threatening stance. Once Sawtooth and Blank enter the dungeon Blueshade closes the gate behind them, but doesn't lock it. Sawtooth places Rockhoof's Shovel on the appropriate pedestal, as does Blank Check with Mistmane's Flower. Once the last of the pillars artifacts are placed a magical beam connects them all and the front of each pedestal shifts so that each contains what appears to be a sliding puzzle, the kind that would have a perfect perimeter of twelve if there wasn't one square missing. There also happens to be a mini pedestal with a note on it. Sawtooth Waves and Blank Check meet at this pedestal to read the note together...
In order to cleanse Starswirl's journal you must complete three puzzles to prove you are worthy of the magic contained within your opponents medallion. You will start with the farthest puzzle and work your way to Starswirl's Journal. The first person to complete all of their puzzles must take off their medallion, place it in the center pages of the journal, close the journal and place it back onto the pedestal in order to cleanse the artifact and banish the Pony of Shadows back to limbo.
You are allowed to choose whichever side you want to start at, as the three puzzles will be the exact same for both of you. If you try to cheat however, with magic or otherwise, the magic contained within your medallion will automatically be transferred to your opponents. Good Luck to both of you.
" a r e y o u r e a d y m o r t a l s ? " the blood-curdling voice of the Pony of Shadows utters. Both ponies nod their heads in response. " t h e n G O ! "
With that, Sawtooth and Blank pick their sides and get to solving their puzzles. The first appears to be Starswirl's hat, or at least that's what it would look like if the squares weren't scrambled. Both Sawtooth and Blank use their horns to maneuver the puzzle pieces. After about two minutes Blank Check gets a head start on Sawtooth, who goes on for another two minutes before finally completing his puzzle. The next puzzle is what looks to be a picture of Starswirl's wand, which makes it so there needs to be a blank square in the bottom-right corner. It takes each of the stallions five minutes to complete this one, though Sawtooth was about one second ahead of Blank. This last puzzle was supposed to be a picture of Starswirl's Journal. Sawtooth had a slight advantage because the pedestal he was at was the one that had Starswirl's Journal on it. This gave him an advantage from a reference standpoint, as well as a leverage standpoint for if he won. Blank Check didn't let that demotivate him, even though it looked as if Sawtooth Waves was close to winning.
"DONE!" Sawtooth rejoices as he finishes his last puzzle after three minutes of struggling. Blank Check's heart sinks as he looks at Sawtooth's victory in devastation. He notices the aura leaving his medallion and the one on Sawtooth's glowing more than before. All he can do is slowly turn his head towards the Pony of Shadows as he doesn't cease to use one of his sharp tentacles to stab Blank Check clean through the throat. He leaves it there to watch Blank Check's life slowly slip away while Sawtooth hastily grabs Starswirl's Journal and opens it to the middle page before placing his medallion inside. The Pony of Shadows finally retracts his tentacle from Blank Check's bloody corpse as Sawtooth Waves places the journal back onto it pedestal, allowing it's magic to banish the Pony of Shadows back to limbo with a powerful blast. After the magic concludes the banishment, Sawtooth remembers that he and his acquaintances can only defeat Nightmare Moon if they have all of the artifact's they need to banish her.
As Sawtooth Waves sees Blueshade opening the gate in the distance, he grabs Starswirl's Journal and quickly leaves the dungeon, leaving behind the deceased body of Blank Check.
Everyone back at Twilight's castle anxiously await the return of one, or if possible both, of their friends. Everyone talks amongst themselves, except for Lightning Bliss and Dr. Wolf who are separate from the rest of the group.
"Thanks for having my back Doc," Lightning Bliss says, "I know it couldn't have been easy to vote someone into those kinds of circumstances, it was kinda hard for me too." Dr. Wolf knows that she's referring to the two of them voting for Sawtooth and he takes a moment before responding.
"It was, but I shall remain loyal to you no matter the cost." Dr. Wolf responds.
"Guys, Blueshade is back," Ashley says, alerting the group to Blueshade's presence as she walks into the room. Sawtooth Waves waits a few seconds before following after her and everyone gives a half-hearted celebration that is quickly overcome with realization and concern.
"So does this mean..." Scribbler says before her words fade.
"Unfortunately yes, Blank Check is dead," Sawtooth Waves replies. Everyone then takes a moment to mourn in silence as Sawtooth figures out a place to put Starswirl's Journal.
"Oh, you can just put that over there," Twilight says, directing Sawtooth to an empty bookshelf. "We'll put all of the cleansed artifacts in here," she adds. After Sawtooth places the journal in the bookshelf, standing it up like the book that it is, everyone's mourning is interrupted by a loud and familiar, yet disturbing sound...
DONG
DONG
Author's Note
Thanks for reading the first two chapters of my MLP x Escape the Night fan-fiction. Let me know what you thought in the comments.
Only eight more to go. But not right now, these first two tired me out, I need a break.
Before you ask, yes, I did do both the cover art and the intro sequence all by myself. Hope you like ‘em.
Thanks again for reading,
MCKeanG.
Episode 1- Elements of Disharmony Pt. 1
Author's Note
Before reading this, if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend you check out Escape the Night on YouTube. All of the episodes are free to watch right now.
Also, yes, all of the “contestants” listed in the description are YouTubers within the brony fandom, so go check them out too.
This is going to be a long one so get comfy!
Episode 1- Elements of Disharmony Pt. 1
“What happened?”
“I don’t know,”
“Joey didn’t come back with us!”
Everyone in the modern era questions the absence of their friend, who stayed in the 1940s for some unknown reason. This person was a feminine human male named Joey Graceffa. Joey was known back home as a popular YouTube Vlogger who always entertained his viewers with crazy challenges. The past few years however have been difficult for him as he had lost several of his friends, who were also popular YouTubers, to an evil that he couldn’t describe.
This time around he attempted to save his previously deceased friends from being kept in The Collector’s museum. He only succeeded in rescuing one of them, along with a stowaway that got roped into Joey’s drama. He had the opportunity to join his friends in escaping, but he didn’t take it. Instead, he turned back claiming that he had to take care of “one last thing.” Painful flashbacks of his friends getting killed off one by one for no real reason dance in Joey’s head as he traverses through The Collector’s museum to find what he was looking for.
He walks into a lounge that once held ten people, only now it held one. Joey finds a dark gold box that looked somewhat possessed and goes to pick it up. He places the box down on one of the pedestals and opens it without a moment of hesitation. Inside of the box is what appears to be an empty purple void that glowed with radiance. Purple clouds emerge from the box and engulf Joey as he hears distressing screeches come from out of nowhere. He looks around and starts panicking, scared of what was happening but at the same time not wanting to move from where he was. It was as if the box was speaking to him in whispers and screams, telling him to comply no matter what. Before long, the purple clouds disappear and so does Joey. The box closes, leaving the room empty and lifeless after the wicked spectacle.
“uhh... Wh-what happened?” Joey utters as he wakes up on the other side of where the box took him. Before he can take in the sight around him, he immediately notices that something is off. He looks down to find that his five-fingered hand had been replaced by a dark-green hoof. Joey jumps backwards upon seeing the abnormality of having a hoof where his hand once was. He lands on his back, giving him the perfect view of his new body. He had turned into some kind of small horse. He feels around his forehead out of curiosity and notices that there is some kind of horn in the middle of his forehead. That was when Joey realized that the box he just opened turned him into a majestic unicorn with a dark-green coat and blonde mane. He was a bit unnerved, if not a little eager. He had always fantasized about being a beautiful unicorn that could prance about the land like the pretty horse he was. He couldn’t wait to show his new body to his friends, all he had to do was find them.
Joey picks himself up on his four hooves, wobbling a little as he tries to get used to maneuvering his new body. He looks around the space he was in as he looked for his friends. It seemed as if the box took him to some odd architectural structure that looked like it was a thousand years old. It had collapsed and left only the walls and a few statues of other ponies. “Colleen... Bretman...” Joey shouts to his friends, but got no response. “Mat... Nikita... anybody?!” Once again, he calls for his companions only to be met with dead silence. There were a number of names he could call for in desperation, but pretty much all of them were no longer alive.
All of the sudden, Joey sees a bright light appear right above him. He tries to make out what it was, but to no avail. The only thing he saw was that whatever, or whoever, was above him was coming down fast. He leaps out of the way and the bright entity lands right behind him. Joey looks back and sees a tall milk-white mare that has a long and wavy multi-colored mane. The mare came equipped with both a horn and wings, making her an alicorn.
“Who a-are you?” Joey squeaks.
“I am Princess Celestia,” she answers.
“What do you want with me?” Joey asks, unsure of whether or not he could trust her.
“I will explain in a moment,” Celestia says, “Right now, you just have to come with me.” She ignites her horn, and in an instant both herself and Joey are gone.
Joey Graceffa finds himself in a different structure. This time he appears inside of a castle that looked far more elegant than the first. The floor was marble and resembled a black and white checkerboard. The walls were light-blue and were accompanied by glass windows that appeared to have other ponies on them. Right in front of Joey was Princess Celestia sitting on a maroon throne with a gold frame. Just below the throne was a maroon carpet that lead past Joey’s hooves and all the way to the front door of the castle. All the while guards were keeping watch of the perimeter.
“Where am I? How did I get Here?! What do you want with me?!” Joey demands.
“I and many others are asking for your assistance,” Celestia answers, “Equestria is in grave danger, and only you and your companions can save us.”
“Companions?” Joey asks. The only companions he could think of were either dead or in another dimension anxiously awaiting his return.
“Guards, send them in,” Celestia orders. The guards at the front entrance comply and open up the doors to let Joey’s ‘companions’ in. Joey gets a good look at who Celesta chose as his companions as they make their way in one by one...
The nine creatures that walk through the doors are...
- A changeling, who presented himself as a gray stallion with a brown mane, named Sawtooth Waves. He served as one of Ponyville’s DJ’s.
- A red stallion with a yellow mane named Firebrand who once served as a royal guard Commander.
- An orange mare with a brown mane named Disney Fanatic who served as a marriage counselor
- A wolf who went by the alias Dr. Wolf due to his occupation as Ponyville’s psychiatrist
- A gray female unicorn named Lost who was a sailor
- A white alicorn mare with a black and rainbow mane named Lightning Bliss who served as a magician
- A red unicorn stallion with a white mane named Blank Check who worked as an accountant
- A pink mare named Ashley H who was a musician
- And a black earthpony mare with a turquoise and pink mane named Obabscribbler who was a famous librarian
Joey Graceffa is in disbelief when he sees these creatures walk through the doors posing as his ‘companions.’ Who they actually were were contestants of a reality competition he wished he wasn’t a part of. He’s tempted to defend himself against them, simply due to the fact that they weren’t human. But he also felt angry because it felt as if these nine individuals were only joining him to be sent to their deaths. After a few seconds of silence, a silky smooth and calming voice echoed throughout the castle.
“Greetings mister,” Dr. Wolf says.
“Who are you people,” Joey anxiously asks, “why are you here? W-why am I here for that matter?!”
‘This guy seems to be overreacting’ Blank Check thought, speaking in his mind as if he was being interviewed.
“We just told you our names and occupations as we walked in,” Lightning Bliss replies.
“Are you the one who Celestia said was supposed to provide ‘experienced leadership?’” Firebrand asks Joey.
“Experienced? Leadership?” Joey exclaims. He suppresses the urge to faint upon hearing those last two words that came out of Firebrands mouth. ‘Damn right I’m experienced’ he thought. “What the hell is going on? Y-your majesty,” Joey asks, displeased but having regained control to pay respect to the royal princess.
“Our home, Equestria, is in grave danger,” Celestia says, “and only you and this group of creatures that I have summoned can save us.” Joey felt the urge to decline, especially considering that this mission could lead to the death of these innocent lives. But at the same time, he knew that this wasn’t his first rodeo. Not only was he ‘experienced’ in this sort of situation, but he also was roped into saving the town of Everlock through this same sort of charade. After having done that, Everlock was saved, so maybe it would be worth it to make the necessary sacrifice to save Equestria.
“Wait a minute, is this responsibility really falling onto me?” Joey asks, “why can’t I just go back home and leave these people to the saving of your home land?”
“Wait, you mean you’re not from here?” Obabscribbler asks.
“No, I’m not supposed to be here,” Joey replies, “I made a mistake, my friends are probably worried sick.”
“I can promise your return, but I’m afraid that there’s no other way to do so than to fulfill the prophecy,” Celestia says.
“Oh, so now there’s a prophecy?” Joey asks.
“So does that make you the chosen one? Like in The Matrix or something?” Sawtooth Waves jokes.
“My faithful servant Twilight Sparkle will explain once you get to her castle,” Celestia responds.
“And you can’t explain now for what reason?” Lost asks.
“I’m afraid that my responsibilities in this troubling time are overwhelming,” Celestia replies, “Twilight is the most academic pony I know, she will explain everything once you find her.”
“So that’s it?” Ashley asks, “we have to find Twilight Sparkle while doing Equestria-saving?”
“You were all chosen for a reason,” Celestia says, “I’m counting on you.” Joey takes a moment to comprehend the events taking place. He thinks back to his previous experiences as a leader of his troupe and channels as much of it as he can to rally his new companions.
“Alright, well I know we just met, and frankly I don’t want to be here,” Joey says honestly, “first off, hi my name is Joey Graceffa and I’m a YouTuber, if you’re not subscribed you should. And I’m sure whatever is out there is nothing we can’t handle.” Everybody lights up, except for Scribbler and Lost, when they hear Joey’s words.
“I must warn you, as soon as you step out those doors, you will be afflicted by an unspeakable evil,” Celestia says, “the best advice I can give you is this, be very sneaky. It will cause you to blend in, obstructing their view.” Everyone nods and they proceed to tentatively set out on their dangerous quest. The golden double doors open and Joey and his group step outside to find Equestria as it is on a typical night.
“It’s quiet,” says Disney Fanatic, “too quiet...” Everyone starts delicately trotting towards Twilight’s castle with Joey still getting used to walking on all fours.
“This is so hard,” Joey whispers.
“You mean you’ve never had hooves before?” Lost asks.
“Are you from the Equestria Girls universe?” Blank Check quietly exclaims.
“It’s a long story I’ll tell you later,” Joey responds, “Right now I’m just trying to sneak without making any-“
AAHH!
Joey lets out a loud screech as he trips and falls due to his foreign mobility. This brings forth the attention of disturbing creatures that resemble clouds of black smoke with four hooves and glowing white eyes. The horn on their foreheads made it so one of them could snatch Joey away as soon as they saw him. As they do so Lightning Bliss attempts to save him with her magic, struggling as the grip of the creature strengthens. Dr. Wolf tries to help his dearest friend, but to no avail. Bliss and Wolf both join Joey as he is taken captive by the creatures. Everyone else scatters to find somewhere to hide before they collectively decide to proceed to Twilights Castle at a much quicker pace, hoping that Twilight will provide a way to free the others.
“Oh, thank Celestia you made it,” Twilight Sparkle says as the group, minus Joey, Bliss, and Wolf, arrive at her castle. When they arrive however, Twilight isn’t alone. She is accompanied by a dark-blue Pegasus mare with a black mane, clothing, and lipstick. The mare has a mysterious-looking charm laced around her neck as well as a brown sack that probably contained something important.
“Who is this Twilight?” Sawtooth asks.
“My name is Blueshade,” the dark-blue Pegasus says, “it is a pleasure to meet you, especially now. Who’s in charge here?”
“Well some unicorn from another dimension was supposed to lead us but he doesn’t even know how to walk on his hooves,” Lost explains.
“He got captured along with two more of our friends,” Firebrand says.
“Those filthy creatures,” Blueshade says, stomping a hoof on the ground in anger, “we’ll have to split up this group in order to save them.”
“Right, some of you need to head over to the pillars,” Twilight says, “the creatures have used that part of town as a dungeon for any opposing ponies. You will have to work together in order to free them.
“Unfortunately unlocking the cage will require three of the pillars artifacts,” Blueshade says, “particularly Somnambula’s Blindfold, Meadowbrook’s Mask and Flash Magnus’ Shield.” Twilight pulls out a map that has several markings around several areas of Ponyville.
“The artifacts have been scattered throughout this surface area of Ponyville,” Twilight says pointing at the area in-between the castle and the dungeon, “right now, Somnambula’s Blindfold is located somewhere in the castle. Having that, as well as Meadowbrook’s Mask in your possession is the only way to ensure that you get past the shadow-creatures undetected.”
“So by definition, we need to find it before any of us can save our friends?” Scribbler asks.
“Precisely,” Blueshade replies. She opens up her sack with her wing and pulls out what appears to be a box with mysterious symbols on all six sides. One side of the box gives a mysterious glow with a purple aura. She gives it to Twilight, who takes it with her magic.
“This was as far as we could get,” Twilight says, “there’s no visible way to get it open.”
“Evil has a way of playing tricks with your mind,” Blueshade says bitterly, “this, unfortunately, is no exception.” Ashley uses her magic to take the box from Twilight’s grasp and examine it further.
“What do we do with this?”
“oof...ah...” Joey Graceffa is struggling to get himself free from the grasp of his shadowy adversaries, and so are Lightning Bliss and Dr. Wolf.
“Hey, no touchy,” Lightning Bliss exclaims. The shadow-creatures throw Joey, Bliss, and Wolf into their dungeon. Inside is what appears to be six pillars, one of which contains a book that looks thousands of years old. On the other side of the dungeon is a gray unicorn stallion with a white mane and beard wearing wizard’s clothing.
“Starswirl the Bearded?” Dr. Wolf exclaims.
“Are you ponies all right?” Starswirl asks. It takes him a while but Joey eventually lays his eyes on a charm laced around Starswirl’s neck that had a shape that Joey was familiar with.
“You’re a part of the Society Against Evil,” Joey says with a hopeful tone in his feminine voice. He was relieved to find someone in this universe who was a member of the same organization he was a part of back home. But just how did this pony know about it?
“I had been in contact with the Society Against Evil ever since the prophecy was nearing its genesis,” Starswirl says, “I imagine that you’re the inter-dimensional pony that is meant to lead the group.”
“Uh yeah, I guess I am,” Joey replies, “I’m a member of the Society too.”
“This was also predicted,” Starswirl adds.
“Umm I hate to spoil the party but we’re trapped in a dungeon with no way of escaping,” Bliss says.
“Not entirely true,” Starswirl replies, “there is a way to escape this wretched prison, but it will require our strengths to be combined.”
“How would we do that exactly?” Dr. Wolf asks.
“Flash Magnus’ Shield is meant to be in plain sight, but the shadow-creatures have obstructed it from our view,” Starswirl says, “they have given me no clue other than this riddle engraved on Flash’s pillar.” Starswirl points out the riddle to Joey, Bliss and Wolf as they closely examine it.
As this shields you from our vision, so have we shielded it from yours. And as you’d break it with a sword, so shall you with your mind. Open your eyes to the pony of shadows, and he shall appear.
“This makes no sense at all,” says Disney.
The rest of the the group is in the castle’s library. On one side of the room is a glass case containing Meadowbrook’s mask. It is locked with four different locks with seemingly no way to unlock them. There’s no keyhole and they cannot be unlocked by hoof. In the center of the room is a pedestal visible underneath one spotlight. Twilight has her nose in a book to research what this could mean, as it was typical for her to do so. Meanwhile, Blueshade keeps pacing the room, specific ponies from the group, which included Blank Check and Sawtooth Waves, are looking all around the library for clues and the rest, including Disney, were still trying to figure out the box. All of the sudden, an idea sparks inside of the mind of Firebrand.
“Try putting the box on the pedestal,” Firebrand says. Disney Fanatic does as Firebrand suggests, placing the box on the pedestal with the glowing side facing upwards. To Firebrands dissatisfaction, nothing happens. “Huh, I thought for sure that would work.”
“Maybe try turning it over so the glowing purple side is facing down,” Lost suggests. Disney does exactly that, and soon after writing appears on wall above the box in which Meadowbrook’s Mask was contained. It has the same sort of glow as the box did and it garners the attention of everyone else in the room. The writing on the wall says...
She was a beauty to behold, never skin-deep. For when she gave it up, her skin shriveled like dying petals.
The writing only appeared for a few seconds before disappearing, but the words stuck out in everypony’s minds.
“It sounds like they’re talking about Mistmane,” Sawtooth says, “what with the beauty and the dying petals.”
“Oh! oh!” Ashley exclaims, “I think I know what we need to do.” She directs everyone’s attention to the box, particularly a side of the box that had the shape of a flower on it. “We have to have whatever symbol the writing alludes to laid face-down on the pedestal, like here, this symbol looks like Twilight’s cutie mark, this must be Starswirl’s symbol.” The same idea clicks in everyone’s heads as Ashley lays the side with the flower down on the pedestal. Suddenly, one of the locks on the glass case unlocks and another clue is written on the wall...
To find his place, he had to do some digging.
This was referencing Rockhoof and his shovel, so Ashley found the symbol on the box that looked like a shovel and laid it face-down. This unlocked another lock on the case and revealed more writing on the wall...
He was defender of the skies.
This was obviously Flash Magnus, so Ashley laid down the side that had a picture of his shield on it, thus unlocking lock number three. There was one more lock left and the writing on the wall gave the ponies their next clue...
She put on this mask to save the sickly.
This was of course referring to the artifact that was in the case in front of everyone. This one is trickier for Ashley to figure out however. There are two more sides on the box that are yet to be laid down. The two symbols are of an eye and what looks like a jar of honey. Lost points out to Ashley that Meadowbrook cured the ponies sick with swamp fever with an elixir that was made using the honey of flash bee’s.
“Wow, these monsters sure love their Equestrian folklore,” Ashley says before lay the honey symbol face down on the pedestal, thus unlocking the last lock. Firebrand goes to open the case and grab the mask and when he does he finds a key.
“Might want to hold on to this key for now,” Firebrand says. Suddenly, another clue is written on the wall...
It was out of sight, like it served its purpose. Now it shall be unveiled when you lift up the box.
Everyone was confused for a moment, but Ashley eventually figured out that she had to lay the last side of the box face-down on the pedestal. Once she did, nothing happened.
“Okay, now what?” Scribbler asks.
“Well the message said ‘it shall be unveiled when you lift up the box’ so I presume that we lift the box,” Disney Fanatic says. Ashley agrees with a nod and proceeds to lift up the box. As soon as she does, Somnambula’s Blindfold is sitting right there. Ashley looks inside the box to find that it is hollow.
“Great,” Ashley cheers, “now we have two of the artifacts.”
“This is good,” Blueshade adds, “Flash Magnus’ Shield should be somewhere in the dungeon that your friends are in, I shall accompany whichever two volunteers are willing to wear the mask and blindfold.”
“I volunteer,” Firebrand says, “those are my friends in there.” This statement confuses the other ponies that are in the room with him. “I mean, I’ve worked with them the most often, you guys are cool too it’s just- look can I go with you or not?”
“You are welcome to,” Blueshade replies.
“Me too?” Ashley says, “I did figure out the puzzle all on my own.”
“Except you needed MY help with the last clue,” Lost points out.
“Okay, you go then,” Ashley fires back.
“Are you daring me right now?” Lost defensively asks.
“I don’t know, maybe,”
“Well in that case, I’m gonna go with Firebrand, you stay right here,” Lost says pointing a hoof at Ashley.
“It is settled then,” Blueshade responds, “the two of you come with me.” Firebrand puts on the mask while Lost puts on the blindfold and the two ponies follow Blueshade to where the dungeon is.
“What does this riddle mean?” Lightning Bliss asks still trapped with Joey, Dr. Wolf and Starswirl in the dungeon.
Dr. Wolf ponders, “Hmm, ‘open your eyes and the pony of shadows will appear.’”
“Do you think we’re going to have to summon this ‘pony of shadows’” Joey exclaims. As everyone including Starswirl thinks the riddle over, Lightning Bliss looks around the dungeon and notices a bush that looked like it was flooded with dandelions. She looks inside the dandelion bush and finds something that doesn't look or feel anything like a dandelion.
"UGGH..." Bliss cringes as she pulls out what appeared to be a pony's eyeball on a stick.
"What, what's wrong?" Joey asks.
"I found an eyeball," Bliss whines as Starswirl and Wolf examine it closer. Suddenly and idea pops into Joey's head.
"Wait, I think I know what we have to do," Joey says excitedly, "'open your eyes to the pony of shadows...' we have to find more eyeballs." If Bliss was honest, she'd rather not find anything else as grotesque as what she was holding with her horn.
"Hey guys, I found some numbers," Wolf alerts everyone to the center pedestal, most notably what was engraved around the bottom half of it. There were seven numbers that were each inside of two distinct shapes. The numbers 2, 9, and 0 were inside of squares, and the numbers 5, 7, 1, and 6 were inside of triangles. Everyone could only guess that these numbers were combinations for something with a combination lock.
Everyone starts looking around for any boxes inside the dungeon, but they find nothing. Joey, however, does find a loose brick on Flash's pedestal and pulls it out to reveal a compartment, which is labeled 'eyes,' telling them that it is for whatever eyeballs they find. Lightning Bliss find the compartment and tosses the eyeball inside. Meanwhile, Lost, Firebrand, and Blueshade find their way to the dungeon and when they arrive they see two pedestals tucked away in the dark with boxes that looked as if they had combination locks on them.
"At last we found you," Blueshade says cheerfully. When Joey turns to find them, he immediately takes notice of Blueshade's Society Against Evil charm around her neck. Everyone goes up to the barred doors to regroup with the ponies that found them.
"Doc! Bliss! Thank Celestia you're alright," Firebrand says relieved.
"And to you as well Firebrand and Lost," Dr. Wolf replies.
“Is there any way you can get us out of here?” Joey asks.
“Well we’re wearing these two artifacts and supposedly we need Flash Magnus’ Shield in order to get you out,” Lost says.
“We’re looking for that right now,” Starswirl replies.
“But supposedly we need to find eyeballs in order to do so,” Lightning Bliss adds, “we also found numbers in shapes, we think it might mean something.” Firebrand looks around and relocates the two boxes they found on the pedestals.
“Okay, this mask is doing something because right now I’m seeing glowing triangles on one of these boxes,” Firebrand says as his attention is directed towards a box on one of the pedestals that he saw had glowing yellow triangles on it.
“I don’t see triangles on that one, but I do see squares on the one next to it,” Lost replies.
“Wait a minute, I think I got it,” Joey says, “the numbers on this pedestal are inside of squares and triangles, Lost is there a combination lock on your box.”
“Yes there is,”
“Same here,” Firebrand alerts.
“Great, so the numbers are for both of the combination locks,” Dr. Wolf says, “you’re pretty observant Joey.”
“Well, I’ve been doing it for years,” Joey replies. He reads out the numbers for Lost’s lock first...290...It doesn’t work in that arrangement, so Lost tries to do it in numerical order...029...That arrangement doesn’t work either so she tries reversing the order...920...it works this time and Lost acquires another pony’s eyeball which she hands off to Dr. Wolf, who puts it in the compartment. Joey then reads out the numbers for Firebrands lock and he tries it in the same order that worked for Lost...7651...it works and he does the same with his eyeball as Lost did. Once the eyeballs are put inside of the compartment, a light flickers above them and Flash Magnus’ Shield falls from the sky onto the center pedestal.
“Great work guys,” Lightning Bliss says as she grabs the shield and places it on Flash’s pedestal. Firebrand and Lost take Meadowbrook’s Mask and Somnambula’s Blindfold off of their faces and hand them off to Joey and Bliss to place on their appropriate pedestals. Once that is done, the cell doors open and Joey, Bliss, Wolf and Starswirl are free. They cheer and embrace each other, safe from harms way once more.
CRASH
Suddenly, black clouds start to emerge on the center pedestal as if thunder was forming. It looks like it’s forming into a pony, much like the other shadow-creatures, but bigger.
“Y o u s h o u l d n o t h a v e d o n e t h a t...” a voice echos from the black figure taking its final form. Suddenly Joey realizes...’open your eyes to the pony of shadows and he shall appear...’ His assumption was correct. They found the eyeballs and the shield, but it came with the cost of summoning the pony of shadows. He could only recall that last part of the riddle in his head with dread, but what came out of his mouth was brief and alarming.
“RUUNN!!!” Joey yells as he gallops as fast as a Wonderbolt away from the master of the shadows. Everyone else follows after him, clearly terrified of the threat that they themselves had just conjured up.
Everyone finally regroups back at Twilight’s castle so she could finally explain what was going on. They settle inside the library, which contains a soft leather couch and a few chairs for everyone to sit on. Twilight had moved the map from the map room into the library so that they could identify when a new threat presented itself quickly. Joey also knew in the back of his mind that this was where everypony would vote each other into deadly challenges. The thought of the resurgence of betrayal and anguish teases Joey’s brain as Twilight gets everyone prepared for her explanation.
“You’re probably wondering why you all were summoned via either invitation or inter-dimensional travel,” Twilight says, “well, I have all the information I need to tell you what is and what is going to occur throughout this very important mission.”
“Alright, you like books, cool,” Lost jokes as Twilight begins relaying said information to the group.
“Now that everyone is quiet,” Twilight says, “long ago, there was a prophecy told by Blueshade that one day all evil that was once unleashed on Equestria would be summoned all at the same time via a breach of space and time. Thus an evil force would present itself and inflict doom on Equestria and it’s helpless citizens.” Joey grew more nervous as the princess continued. He was always a big animal person back home, so the thought of these poor defenseless ponies being preyed on by an unspeakable evil weighed on him immensely.
“Every artifact that was ever associated with each evil would provide a gateway for Nightmare Moon, the pony who once ruled alongside Celestia would be summoned to bring eternal night on Equestria. Luckily, the being who crosses into our reality would be an experienced leader who would lead nine other ponies on a quest to find and cleanse eight ancient artifacts from Equestria past, in order to banish all evil back to Tartarus through a ritual that is said to foil Nightmare Moon’s plans. However, once each artifact is cleansed, a new evil will ravage Equestria until that one is cleansed. Unfortunately, victory over this wickedness will require voting on two to undertake a dark challenge in which only one will survive...” Twilight hesitates before finishing.
“...it will not be easy, but it is the only way for the Savant Joey Graceffa to save Equestria and return to his home before Nightmare Moon is released at the hour of sunrise. For if that comes to pass, our home will remain in a state of nightfall, forever!”
