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!”