Moonshine, the Solar Princess S1by PikachuSkittyChaptersJudging a Book By It's CoverA Royal ProblemPonies of the Dark WaterSpecial Event: The Mean SixThe Cutie MapInterlude: Folly of TwilightPillar of EquestriaJudging a Book By It's CoverIt's been a few weeks since the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the reunion between Celestia, Luna and Moonshine. Moonshine was very happy to have her long lost Aunt back in her life and Celestia was happy to have her sister back after 1,000 years. Now, Moonshine and Twilight were walking through Ponyville with Spike, Lycanroc and Rockruff. "So how's your Lycanroc doing?" Twilight asked. "He's great. Strong too." Moonshine praised, rubbing Lycanrocs' mane. "Lycanroc.." he said in a deep voice. Rockruff barked happily at his evolved sibling. "Hehehe, Rockruff wants to be big and strong like him." Moonshine chuckled. Twilight and Spike chuckled too and the group entered Ponyville... only to find it empty. There was nopony in the street. A tumbleweed rolled across the area. "Where is everypony?" Twilight wondered. "Psst... Twilight... Moonshine...!" the girls turned and they saw Pinkie waving at them from Sugarcube Corner, "Come on.. quickly!" Moonshine and Twilight looked at each other and shrugged. They walked towards Pinkie who grabbed them and yanked them inside. "Woah!" Moonshine yelped. "Pinkie, why are you in here in the dark alone?" Twilight asked. "I'm not in the dark alone." Pinkie said. Some lights came on and Twilight and Moonshine saw Applejack and the other girls inside along with Applebloom. "What are you all doing in here?" Moonshine asked. "We're hiding.." Applejack said. "Hiding?" Moonshine questioned. "From.. them...." Rainbow said, pointing outside. Twilight and Moonshine looked through he blinds and they could see two more creatures outside. One was a pony like creature but it wore a brown cloak with a hood, only showing her striped legs. One leg had golden rings on it. The other creature was about 26 feet long and had a 45 foot wingspan. It was black as night and had ear appendages on its head. It also had some tail fins on it.. but one was missing! The two creature turned and looked with yellow and black glowing eyes. The ponies gasped at the two of them turned around and looked. "Will you cut that out?" Twilight asked. "Just look at those stripes, so ghastly." Rarity said. Twilight rolled her eyes. "She's a zebra." "A what?!" Everypony exclaimed. "A zebra. And those stripes aren't a fashion choice, Rarity, they're what she was born with." Twilight explained and Rarity fainted. "Born where. I've never seen a pony or critter like that in these parks, except them." Applejack said with a shudder. "Well, they're probably not from around her and she's not a pony. My books says that zebra's come from a far away land." Twilight explained. " But I've never read anything about a dragon like that one." "I have." Moonshine said. "It's called a Night Fury.' "Night Fury?" Twilight echoed. Moonshine nodded and she explained, "Night Furys' are very strong and very intelligent dragons. They are part of the Strike Class of dragons, so they have blazing speed and are very powerful. They're called the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." "Lightning and death!" Rainbow stated. "Now that's creepy." Moonshine rolled her eyes, "But that one doesn't look menacing at all." Moonshine saw the Night Fury looking at its damaged tail with a depressing look. "What's wrong with it?" Fluttershy asked. "Without both of its tail flukes, it can't fly." Moonshine explained. The girls gasped softly, starting to feel bad for the dragon. Rainbow on the other hand, "Pfft, how bad can losing half of your tail be?" "How would you feel if you lost one of your wings, Rainbow?" Moonshine asked her with a raised eyebrow. "... Okay, fair point." Rainbow stated. "Where does she live anyway?" Twilight questioned. "That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest!" Applejack stated and Moonshine only gave her a deadpanned stare, "And...." she trailed on, "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow..." Applejack added. "Animals care for themselves..." Fluttershy added. "And the clouds move..." Rainbow stated. "All on their own!" they all said in unison and Rarity fainted again. Twilight and Moonshine rolled their eyes. "And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!" Rainbow Dash grumbled, "Here we go.." and Pinkie started singing her song, (Pinkie Pie) She's an evil enchantress She does evil dances And if you look deep in her eyes She'll put you in trances Then what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew Then she'll gobble you up In a big tasty stew Soooo... Watch out! The ponies just started at Pinkie while she was breathing haevily, "Wow. Catchy." Twilight said. Pinkie smiled, "It's a work in process." "This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?" "Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville. Then, she lurks by the stores. And then, she digs at the ground." Rarity explained. "Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?" Twilight suggested. "And what exatcly does the Night Fury do when it comes to Ponyville, exactly?" "Well... nothing much really." Rainbow stated. "Do you see the dragon every time you see Zecora?" Moonshine asked. "Actually, the dragon appeared before we began seeing Zecora." Fluttershy explained. "Wonder why?" "Well that destroyed tail fluke might have something to do with why it came here." Moonshine stated. Moonshine looked through the blinds again and she saw the dragon trying to fly but it kept falling down onto the ground with a dejected expression on its face. "Why are you so worried about that dragon anyway, Moonshine? It's bad news." Rainbow stated. Moonshine looked at Rainbow Dash, "Because, my books says a down dragon is a dead dragon." "Dead?!" The girls exclaimed. "If the dragon can't fly then it can't get away from predators or hunters." Moonshine answered. "The Night Fury won't survive unless it can fly again." "But how are you gonna help it fly again? Make it a new tail fluke." Rainbow suggested before she started laughing. "Exactly..!" Moonshine exclaimed, stopping Rainbows' laugh. "WHAT?!" All the ponies, except for Appleblooom exclaimed. "I can make him a new tail fin." Moonshine stated. "I've read about making prosthetic during my studies." "But Moonshine, what if it attacks you?" Fluttershy cooed in worry. "You can't judge someone based on how they look." Moonshine said, heading for the door, "Just watch." she was about to exit when she noticed a small filly missing, "Hey, where'd Applebloom go?" Applejack and the girls looked around and saw the filly no where to be seen, "The doors' already open!" Rainbow exclaimed. "And Zecora and that dragon critter are gone!" Applejack added. "Applebloom must have followed them!" "We've gotta get to her, fast!" Rainbow said and the girls rushed out of Sugarcube Corner. Moonshine, Lycanroc and Rockruff were the last ones to leave. "Ready to help a dragon, guys?" she asked them. "Lycanroc.." "Ruff..!" Moonshine smiled and three followed the six mares to the Everfree Forest. Inside the forest, Applebloom was following behind Zecora and the dragon creature. She gulped nervously until she heard Applejacks' voice, "Applebloom!" she gasped and turned to see Applejack and the others standing in a field of blue flowers. "There you are, Applebloom." Moonshine called as she and her pokemon came along. They were about to step into the blue flower field when the Night Fury gasped and bounded over and snatched Moonshine away from the flowers. "Woah!" the dragon got her away from the blue flowers and Zecora stated, "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" "Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?" Applejack called to her. Pinkie and the others called to her as well as Twilight rollied eyes. Zecora vanished into some fog calling, "Beware.. Beware..." Zecora stated. "Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!" Rainbow exclaimed. Applejack turned to Applebloom, "And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?" "I...I..." Applebloom stammered. "Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?" Applejack scolded. "You guys, there's no such thing as curses!" Twilight pointed out. "Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself." Rainbow scoffed. "My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale." Twilight explained. "Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true." Applejack stated. "Well I believe Twilight and you shouldn't have been so hard on Applebloom, Applejack." Moonshine stated. "What?" Applejack stated. "Applebloom just wanted to try and get to know Zecora before jumping to conclusions like somponies." Moonshine stated, eyeing the Mane 5. "What do you mean 'jumping to conclusions'?" Rainbow asked. "I mean you're making assumptions based on gossips and rumors which is not the way to get to know somepony or creature." Moonshine explained. "Oh yeah... prove it!" Rainbow challenged. The Night Fury dragon came over to Moonshine and warbled at her with a curious look on its face. "Hey there, big fella..." she cooed, reaching a hand out to it. The Night Fury purred and placed his snout onto Moonshine's hoof. "There we go..." The Night fury warbled at Moonshine and nuzzled her. Moonshine turned to the girls who were jaw dropped. "I arrest my case.." Moonshine smirked before she walked away with her pokemon and Night Fury in tow. Moonshine was walking back through town with the Night Fury in tow, "Don't worry boy. I'll make a new prosteic fin for you. Then, you'll be able to fly again. How does that sound?" The dragon roared in joy and playfully tackled Moonshine, licking her face. "Hahahaa...!" Moonshine laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it." The next morning, Moonshine was sleeping in her room with the Night fury, Lycanroc and Rockruff by her bedside when... "MOONSHINE!" "WAH!" Twilight's cry sent Moonshine jumping out of bed and scaring her pokemon and dragon friend awake. Twilight came into the room and Moonshine gasped, seeing her horn covered in blue spots and droopy, "What happened to your horn?" she asked. "I don't know but there’s something wrong with the girls too." Twilight stated. "Huh?" Twilight lead Moonshine downstairs where she saw a tiny Applejack, Rainbow's wings were upside down, Rarity’s fur and mane were completely tangled, Pinkie's tounge was out of her mouth, covered in blue spots too and Fluttershy.... seemed fine? "What's wrong with Fluttershy?" Moonshine asked. "I don't wanna talk about it." Fluttershy said in a deep male voice, much to her shock. Spike, on the other hand, was laughing. "This is Hilarious! Look at all of you! We got: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, and... uh... I got nothin'... Twilight Sparkle. I mean seriously, I can't even work with that." Twilight sarcastically laughed too, "This is no joke, Spike. Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!" "I think we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place!" Rainbow said, trying to flying with her upside-down wings. "It's not a curse!" Twilight dismissed. "I agree with Dash! We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex!" Applejack exclaimed. "It's not a hex either!" Twilight added. Moonshine and Applebloom, meanwhile, looked at each other. “Oh this is all my fault.” Applebloom said. “No it’s not, Applebloom.” Moonshine reassured. “You really think so?” Moonshine nodded, “I think it has something to do with that plant they all stepped into yesterday. But... I have to make sure.” Moonshine then quietly walked out of the library while the girls were arguing with each other. Lycanroc, Rockruff and her dragon noticed her leave and followed after her. In the Everfree Forest, Moonshine was walking with her pokemon and dragon in search of Zecora’s hut. Rockruff had picked up her scent from yesterday and tracked it to a large hut in the forest. “Woah...” the hut had some bottles hanging from some of its branches and it looked really big. Moonshine came and knocked on the door. The door opened and Zecora looked at Moonshine. “Ah, one of the other ponies from the day, Quite strange to see you in here I must say.” Zecora spoke. “Hi Zecora, I’m Moonshine and this is Lycanroc and Rockruff and I believe you already know the dragon.” The dragon warbled at Zecora. “Ah yes, the Night Fury; so strong and true And I see it has become good friends with you.” Moonshine nodded. “Yeah. Can we come in? I wanted to ask you something.” Zecora nodded an fallowed the group of four to come into her hut. Inside there were shelves filled with potions and bottles along with some masks as well as a small cauldron in the middle of the room. “Now what is the problem you have spoke of Perhaps your friends had caught a small cough?” Zecora asked. “It’s more than a cough. Zecora. They all seemed to have these weird happenings occurred to them. Applejack is tiny. Rainbows wings are upside down. Rarity’s fur is tangled. Pinkie’s tounge is large and blue spotted, Fluttershy’s voice turned deep and Twilight’s horn is covered in blue spots and droopy. I think this all has something to do with that plant they all stepped in yesterday.” “What you’ve concluded is right That plant known as Poison Joke Ponies think this plant causes much fright But it’s unlike Poison Oak, but it’s results are like a joke.” “Oh... so that plant just played a few tricks on them.” Moonshine realized. Zecora nodded. “Is there someway you could help them, Zecora?” Moonshine asked her. Zecora nodded and she went to her small bookshelf and she pulled out a book, “This holds the answer you seek, Go on and take a peek.” Moonshine flipped through the book and she found a remedy bath that would cure the effects of Poison Joke. “Thanks Zecora. Could you try and make the cure for my friends?” Moonshine asked. “Making the cure; that I will, But I am missing an herb from Ponyville.” Zecora said. “So that why you were digging your hooves into the ground yesterday?” Moonshine questioned, getting a nod from the zebra. “... And what about the dragon? My friends said that it came here before you arrived.” “The Night Fury was injured in a crash And it’s left tail fin was badly torn Without it he can fly no more Since then, his spirit has been worn.” Zecora explained, bringing a sad expression onto the Night Furys’ face. “Hey, don’t worry, boy. Remember I’ll make you a prosthetic fin.” Moonshine reminded. The Night Fury smiled and nodded at her. “Now about this herb in Ponyville. I believe I can help you with that.” Meanwhile, the girls were still arguing about what to do about Zecora whole Twilight was searching her books for a cure. “No no no no no! None of these books have a cure! Ugh! There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy?!” “A curse!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I said a real reason. Something that points to something real.” Twilight deadpanned. Spike the found a green book, “How about this one?” "Supernaturals"? Spike, the word supernatural refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies, which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey!” “But what if you're wrong, Twilight? What if this really is a-“ Spike started but was cut when they heard Rainbow exclaims, “Zecora’s back!” “What?!” The girls exclaimed. “And she’s got Moonshine with her!” The girls all gasped and raced outside of the library and they indeed saw Zecora and Moonshine, her pokemon and dragon companion. The girls came up to the pair, “Moonshine! Get away from her!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Yeah, she put this horrid curse on us.” Rarity added, blowing some of her fur out of her face. “Zecora didn’t put a curse on you.” Moonshine replied. “Then how do you explain this?” Twilight asked, pointing to her horn. “It’s because of that plant you all steeped in yesterday. It’s call Poison Joke and it played jokes on you all which caused all of your problems.” Moonshine explained. “Huh?” The girls asked. Spike then came up with the same book from before, “She’s right. Twilight. The book you said was a load of hooey actually has the plant, the effects and the cure for it.” He showed Twilight and the girls the page and the girls realized they had been wrong all along. “I.. I’m so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time if only I bothered to look inside.” Twilight said in a disappointed tone. Zecora chuckled. “Maybe next time you should take a second look, And not judge the cover of the book.” Zecora advised the girls, who looked remorses for their actions. “Zecora’s gonna make you girls a remedy bath to help cure the poison Joke but she needs an herb from Ponyville.” Moonshine explained. “I think we can help with that.” Twilight grinned. Soon, the girls were at Ponyville Spa taking a drop in the remedy bath. Moonshine was relaxing with her pokemon and dragon friend. Dear Princess Celestia, My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week: Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your "cover" is; it's the "contents" of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle The remedy bath cured the girls of their Poison Joke effects and they all dried off before going over to Moonshine, “Moonshine, we’re sorry we didn’t believe you before.” Twilight apologized. The other girls gave their apologies too. “It’s okay, girls.” Moonshine smiled. The Night Fury nuzzled her, “So what are you gonna name this fella?” Applejack asked. “Hmm.. I haven’t really thought of a name.” Moonshine replied. The Night Fury then opens its mouth revealing pink gums, “Huh? No teeth?” Twilight stated. “So he’s toothless?” Rainbow added before teeth popped out from his gums. “Woah!” “Retractable teeth, amazing!” Fluttershy gasped. “Toothless.... that’s a good name for him. Toothless it is then.” Moonshine declared. Toothless warbled at her and nuzzled her with a smile on his face while the girls watched with smiles of their own. The Next Day..... Moonshine was down in Twilight's basement lab, wearing a mask while she was wielding some pieces of metal together. When she stopped wielding, she pulled up the mask and wiped the sweat from her face, "Phew.. there... looks good." she commented. Then Spike and Twilight came downstairs, "Hey Moonshine, what are you working on?" Twilight asked. "The prosthetic fin for Toothless." Moonshine replied. "And after a couple hours; its done and ready for testing." Spike and Twilight looked at the prosthetic fin. "Woah...." they gasped. It resembled Toothless' other tail fin. It had metal odds connected to the base and coated in a sheet of flexible paper. "I put a spell on it so its' fire, water and lightning proof." Moonshine added with pride. "Moonshine, this is amazing." Twilight praised. "Now time to give it a test run.." Moonshine smiled. "Oh Toothless~" To say Toothless was excited to try on his new tail fin was an understatement. The Night Fury was bounding around Moonshine with a gummy smile. "Hehe, I know, I know..." Moonshine cooed. "You're excited, but calm down a little. Hehehe..." Toothless came to her side and laid his tail down. Moonshine attached the prosthetic to the tail and secured it. "There we go, Toothless." Toothless looked at the prosthetic and moved it up and down with his other tail fin simultaneously. "Perfect....now how about a test flight with it?" Toothless nodded excitedly. Soon the trio, Lycanroc and Rockruff were outside of the Golden Oak Library. "Okay Toothless, whenever you're ready." Moonshine called. The Night Fury nodded and spread his wings and he took to the sky and the he was flying perfectly. He looked at this tail fin as it held up greatly with glee as he flew higher into the air and performed dive in the air and pulled up with great speed. “Alright Moonshine, you did it!" Spike cheered. "Woo-Hooo!" Moonshine cheered, seeing her prosthetic working like a charm. Toothless came down and hovered in front of the group with a gummy smile. "Hehehe, he loves it, Moonshine." Twilight smiled, hugging her friend. Then Toothless heard something, "Lookout!" Toothless turned around to see a rainbow missile heading right for them. He gasped flew higher, avoiding it, but it slammed into Moonshine and into the library. THUD! "Ugh..." Moonshine groaned. "Moonshine!" Twilight cried in worry. Moonshine sat up and saw books and paper littered all over the floor along with a familiar rainbow pegasus. "Rainbow Dash?" Moonshine called, getting the mares' attention. “Oh.... hehe... sorry about that Moonshine." Rainbow apologized with a sheepish smile. "What are you doing?" Spike asked. "I was practicing my new trick; the Corkscrew Flash, but I lost control." Rainbow answered as she shook off the dust from her fur. Moonshine stood up, "I see you got that dragon of yours in the air now." "Yeah, her prosthetic fin is incredible!" Spike exclaimed. "She really knows engineering." Moonshine blushed at Spikes' comment. "Aw... Spike." "Hey Moonshine, maybe you could help me with my new trick?" Rainbow asked the alicorn mare. "Well, I don't have anything else to do today, so I guess its alright." Moonshine replied. "Yes!" Rainbow cheered. "Come on!" Rainbow zipped off and Moonshine turned to Twilight and Spike, "Do you want my help to clean up, Twilight?" she offered. "No, no Moonshine, it's alright. You go with Rainbow Dash." Twilight stated, picking up a few books in her magic, ready to put them back on the shelves. "Okay, Come on Toothless." Moonshine called. The Night Fury warbled and flew into the air, "Lycanroc! Rockruff..!" The wolf and puppy pokemon leaped out of the balcony window and followed their trainer. They found Rainbow in a field standing on a cloud, "There you are." "Hi Rainbow, so how's this trick of yours supposed to go?" Moonshine asked. Rainbow flew down to the ground and picked up a piece of paper that was being held down by a rock. "Here Moonshine." Moonshine took the paper in her magic. The paper read: Corkscrew Flash; It had Rainbow flying high into the air and performing three circles in the air, climbing higher with each other, then it had her spinning in the air four times before she would dive towards the ground and come up at the last minute." "Hmmm... I think you should replace the four spins you have here, Rainbow." Moonshine replied. "Huh?" Rainbow asked confused. "If you spin four time after you do the corkscrew, you'll get dizzy and lose your balance which is probably why you crashed before." Moonshine explained. "Try replacing it with three flips in the air rather than spins." "Hmm... alright. I'll give it a try." Rainbow stated and she took off like a rocket into the sky and she went straight into performing the three circles, climbing higher into the air with each one, then she performed three flips in the air, helping her gain more altitude. Finally, she dove towards the ground at high speeds and she came up at the last second, leaving behind a rainbow steak. Rainbow stopped and she flew back down to Moonshine, "That was awesome!" she exclaimed. "The first time, I got so dizzy that I lost control of my flying, but this time it was completely different. Thanks Moonshine." Moonshine smiled at her friends, "Happy to help, Rainbow." She trotted back to Ponyville to check on its residence and maybe lend a helping hoof if need be. "Oh Moonshine darling~" Moonshine and her friends turned and saw Rarity trotting over to them, "Oh hey, Rarity. What is it?" "Moonshine darling, you'd you be a dear and help me gather some gems from the gem mines?" Rarity asked. "Okay Rarity." Moonshine stated. "Perfect!" Rarity exclaimed. Soon, the girls were at the gem mines, each hauling carts behind them, "So what are these gems for?" Moonshine couldn't help but ask. "Oh darling, these gems are for some of my clients. Turns out, ponies adore having colorful gems on their dresses and other clothing." Rarity said. "So I want to gather lots of gems just for the occasion." "Okay, Rarity." Moonshine smiled. "Good, now let's get to work." Rarity added. Two hours quickly passed, and the girls had gathered a lot of gems filling both carts and were on their way back to Ponyville, "Are you sure you can handle it, darling?" Rarity asked, turning back towards Moonshine who was struggling to pull the cart. "Ugh... I'm okay... ugh..." but the sweat coming down her face and the dirt on her front hooves from all the digging says otherwise. "Well were almost home darling." Rarity assured and within a few minutes they were at the front step of the Carousal Boutique. Moonshine let out a relieving sigh and detached herself from the cart. "You head on in and I'll take care of this." Rarity said grabbing some of the gems in her magic and bringing them in. Moonshine nodded before she walked away with her pokemon and Toothless. Moonshine was back at the Golden Oak Library resting in her bed with an ice pack on her back. "Ugh... man those carts are tough..." she groaned. Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless looked at each other, worried. Twilight then came into the room, "Hey Moonshine, how's your back?" "A little better." Moonshine stated. "Thanks for the ice pack by the way." Twilight smiled, "Of course.." suddenly, there was a loud crash, "MOONY!" "Pinkie Pie?!" The mares exclaimed in shock. "Lycanroc?!" "Rockruff?!" Pinkie Pie came bursting into Moonshines' room. "Moony, I need you for something important. Really, really, really, really, really important...!" Pinkie said quickly. Moonshine blinked at Pinkie in shock. "Umm.... okay..." Moonshine stated. "But Moonshine, what about your back?" Twilight inquired, worried about her friends' back problem. Moonshine got out of bed, "Ugh.. I think it'll be fine..." "YEAAAAHHH!" Pinkie cheered and she grabbed Moonshine and took her away. "WOAH!" Twilight sighed in dismay, "Lycanroc?" "Rockruff?" Toothless warbled in worry. "Keep an eye on her, you three, please?" Twilight asked them. "Rockruff!" "Lycan." Toothless nodded and the three went off to Sugarcube Corner. At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie lead Moonshine to her room where it was flooded with all sorts of sweets; cupcakes, cakes, muffins, cookies and more. So... many more. "Umm... so... what's so important Pinkie?" "Ah, so you brought her here, good." Applejack said, coming into the room. "Huh? Applejack?" Moonshine said. "What are you doing here? What's going on?" "Well Pinkie and I were talkin and she suggested that she can cook better sweets than I can." Applejack explained. "So we decided to have a little contest where we would have somepony taste test all of the sweets we made and judge which one of us is the better cook." "And... what does this have to do with me?" Moonshine asked. Pinkie Pie emerged from beside her, "Isn't it obvious, Moony. The judge will be you." Moonshine's eyes widened as she looked at the large, large amount of sweets. "Soo... what do you say?" at that moment, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless arrived and gawked at the amount of sweets that littered the room. "Umm..." Moonshine thought. As a filly, she really didn't eat sweets that much. Maybe only a cookie once in a while but she was nothing compared to her mother, who adored cakes and sweets and would try to eat one whenever she got the chance. Moonshine looked at her friends, who were waiting for an answer. ".... Okay..." "Yeah!" "Yee-Haw!" Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless looked at each other with worry. This wasn't gonna end well. Soon, Moonshine was sitting in front of the sweets that Applejack and Pinkie Pie made. Moonshine gulped nervously. "Come on, Moony, what are you waiting for?" Pinkie asked. "Oh.. um.. r-right.." Moonshine stated. Moonshine began eating the sweets that Pinkie and Applejack made for her. She ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. Finally, after about four hours, all of sweets wee gone and Moonshine was laying on the floor with her mouth coated in some frosting and her stomach bulging. Her stomach gurgled sickly and Moonshine placed her hoof on it, "Ugh..." she moaned quietly. She then saw Pinkie and Applejack standing over her. "So who won sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Whose the best cook out of the two of us?" Pinkie added. "Ugh... umm.... it's a.. ugh.. tie.." Moonshine said as she staggered to her feet. "Yeah!" Pinkie cheered. Moonshine slowly staggered over to Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless with her bulging stomach and a sick feeling in her throat. "Uh, Moonshine? You alright there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, noticing how unwell she looked. "I-I'm.. urp.. fine.." Moonshine replied, almost tuning green in the face. "I-I'm gonna go back home now..." Moonshine painfully walked down the stairs and exited Sugarcube Corner and she headed back to the library. The moon was full and out by the time she got back. She opened the door and she found Spike and Twilight. "Moonshine, there you-Woah! You don't look so good." Spike notified. Twilight went over and she felt her friends stomach, "Oooh!" Moonshine grunted. "You didn't eat a lot of sweets, did you, Moonshine?" Twilight questioned with a raised eyebrow. Moonshine nodded and Twilight groaned, "Moonshine, you can't eat a lot of sweets! You'll end up vomiting your guts out!" Moonshine just groaned, looking green in the face. "Come on, let's get you to bed and some medicine." Moonshine stiffly nodded and had Twilight lead her upstairs to her room. Moonshine was soon laying in bed, trying to get to sleep, but she couldn't cause of upset stomach and the constant vomiting she endured. "Ugh..." she moaned as her stomach gurgled sickly. It was gonna be a long night. Days later, Twilight and Spike were having breakfast when Moonshine came downstairs, followed by Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless. Her mane was a bit frazzled and she had bags under her eyes due to her lack of sleep, but her stomach was back to normal. "Hey Moonshine, feeling better?" Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded. "Think you can eat something?" Moonshine shook her head. Then there was a knock at the door and Rainbow Dash came into the room, "Hey Twilight, I need to borrow Moonshine, real fast thanks." she said as she quickly gabbed the Alicorn and zipped away. "Hey!" Twilight called but she was already gone. She groaned in annoyance, "Spike, watch the library." "Right." Spike saluted. "Lycanroc, Rockruff, Toothless, let's go." Twilight said as she teleported herself and the group away. Rainbow, meanwhile had taken Moonshine to Ghastly Gorge. "Why are we here?" Moonshine groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Angel Bunny, Fluttershy's pet, wandered in here and she wants us to go and get it cause she's too scared to get him herself." Rainbow said. "O-Okay..." Moonshine groaned. She spread her wings and she followed Rainbow Dash as they flew through the Gorge searching for Angel Bunny. Soon, Rainbow spotted him. "There!" she pointed, seeing the bunny near some large holes in the wall. "What are those holes for?" Moonshine asked, confused while Rainbow's eyes widened in horror. "Those are quarry eel nests!" she exclaimed. Moonshine gasped in horror as some of the quarry eels; large red and yellow eels with large eyes, came out of the holes and spotted the tiny bunny, who screeched in fear. "Angel!" Rainbow exclaimed as she and Moonshine dove towards the quarry eels. Rainbow distracted some of the eels while Moonshine flew in and grabbed Angel bunny. "Got him!" Moonshine called lethargically, but one of the eels bashed her in the side, "Ugh!" the impact sent her cashing into the wall and sending Angel into Rainbow's arms. "Moonshine!" Rainbow called to her downed friend. Moonshine groaned as she came to from the fall and she looked around. She heard rocks cracking from above her and she saw rocks beginning to fall. "Moonshine, get out of there!" Rainbow called, but Moonshine, with everything she's been through, was just too weak and tired to get out of the way in time. All she could do was brace herself as rocks filled her vision and she heard one final cry, "MOONSHINE!" Beep.... Beep... Beep.... Beep... That's what Moonshine heard when she came to and saw six blurry figures in front of her, "Is she gonna be okay?" the orange blur asked. "Oh, I'm so worried.." the yellow blur added. Moonshine's vision cleared and she saw that it was Twilight and the girls surrounding her bedside. "Moonshine..." Twilight called gently. Moonshine groaned as she looked around and saw her right front leg in a cast being held by a sling as well as her back left leg and her right wing in a cast and a bandage on her head. "W-What happened?" she groaned. "You got trapped in an avalanche in Ghastly Gorge, sugarcube." Applejack exclaimed. "Twilight and your critters dug you out and rushed you to Ponyville Hospital." "The doctor said the rocks broke your legs and wings, hence the slings and casts." Twilight added. "He said you'll make a full recovery in a few weeks." Moonshine nodded, "Moonshine, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into this." Rainbow apologized, hanging her head low. "I-It's alright... Rainbow..." Moonshine stammered. "Moonshine, it's not okay!" Twilight exclaimed. "You have to stop being so, and don't take this the wrong way, naive." Moonshine blinked at her best friend, "Naive?" "Ah, think what Twilight means to say.. is that you bein' easily tricked or bein' too kind for your own good." Applejack added. "But I'm just being who I am." Moonshine replied. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Moonshine questioned. "No, not at all darling, but sometimes being too nice can get you into a lot of trouble." Rarity explained, referring to her injuries. Moonshine looked sad at that moment, "I know you like helping ponies, Moonshine." Twilight added coming up to her, "But sometimes you have to know when you can't help somepony; friend or not." "But I was trying to be like mom. She always helps ponies when they need help." Moonshine replied. "Yes, but Celestia also knows when she has to decline helping somepony." Twilight added. "Twilight is right, honey." a motherly voice came and the ponies turned and saw Princess Celestia entering the room. "Princess, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "I'm here to check on my daughter. Spike wrote to me, informing me of what happened." Celestia replied. Celestia came to her daughters' bedside and rubbed her head, "And Twilight is right, Moonshine. Although, I help ponies whenever they need it, I also know when not to help somepony. Like when I'm not feeling well." Celestia nuzzled her daughter, "I'm proud of you, wanting to help the ponies, but perhaps you could learn when to say 'no' sometimes." Moonshine nodded at her mother, "Okay mom.... should I write a letter to you about it?" Celestia chuckled, "This time; no honey." "Okay Mom..." Moonshine stated before they heard scraping at the door, "Rockruff..! Rock!" "Rockruff?" Moonshine called. Rockruff managed to push the door open and he, Lycanroc and Toothless entered the room. Rockruff whimpered, see his trainer injured, "Rockruff?" "I'll be alright, Rockruff." Moonshine said, as Rockruff rubbed her uninjured leg. "Those three seemed awfully worried about ya, sugarcube." Applejack stated. Moonshine rubbed Lycanroc on his mane, making him smile, "Lycan.." Toothless warbled and nudged Moonshine's casts. "Aww, Toothless. Don't worry, I'll be fine.." Moonshine reassured, earning a small warble from the Night Fury. Then Nurse Redheart came into the room, "Alright everypony, Princess Moonshine needs her rest. You all have to come back tomorrow." she said. The Mane 6 left the room one by one but Rockruff, Toothless and Lycanroc weren't to keen on leaving. Rockruff whimpered and nuzzled Moonshines' leg, not wanting to go. Celestia rubbed the little puppy pokemon, "She'll be fine, Rockruff. Nurse Redheart will look after her." she reassured. "Now come on, you three. Your friend needs her rest." Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless nodded and they left the room, leaving mother and daughter in the room. Celestia kissed Moonshine on the head, "Love you, honey." "I love you too, mom." Moonshine said and Celestia left the room, leaving her daughter to recover. Moonshine yawned and she closed her eyes as Redheart closed the curtains to help her rest and Moonshine fell asleep and Redheart closed the door quietly. A Royal ProblemToday, Moonshine was packing her things in her room. She was going to Canterlot, to visit her mother and Auntie Luna for the week. She has been wanting to spend some quality time with them ever since Luna came back from being banished. Twilight and Spike couldn't be happier for her as they came up to the room, "Hey Moonshine, ready for some family time with Celestia and Luna?" Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded, "I can't wait! I know we're going to have the best time...!" she squealed in joy. Twilight and Spike smiled at her, "Have a good time, Moonshine." Spike praised. Moonshine nodded and the group heard whinnies coming from outside, "Well that's my ride, you guys. Are you sure I should leave Lycanroc and the others here?" "Don't worry, they'll be fine here for a week without you." Twilight reassured, pushing Moonshine towards the door, "Now you go and enjoy your family." "Hehe, right." Moonshine opened the door and carried her suitcase as she went over to the chariot pulled by two of her mothers' guards. Moonshine entered the chariot and waved to her friends as the guards flew into the air towards Canterlot. When she arrived at the Palace, she was escorted to the throne room where her mother and Auntie Luna stood. "Moonshine, dear." Celestia greeted. "It's wonderful to see you." "It's good to see you to mom, Auntie Luna." Moonshine said. "We'll have a grand time together, right sister?" Celestia asked, looking at Luna. "Yes, everything will be fun.. sister.." Luna said but she looked like she was pouting about something while Celestia looked happy. Moonshine looked confused. Something was up. Moonshine was escorted to her old room in the palace and she started to unpack her bags when... "Psst..." "Huh?" She looked around and she heard the 'Psst' again. Looking at the desk near her bedside, There was a small ballerina pony doll spinning around on a stand and the pony looked like.. "Twilight?" Moonshine went over, "Is that you? How are you here?" "I'm not. I'm still home. It's an easy spell. I'll show you later. Anyway, I wanted to check in on you not in a meddling kinda way but in a friendly hows it going kinda way, so hows it going?" Twilight asked quickly. "Kinda weird now. I think something's up with mom and Auntie Luna." Moonshine reported. "What makes you say that?" Twilight asked. "You know how someponies say and look like there's nothing wrong but you get the feeling that something is definitely going on?" Moonshine asked, earning a nod from Twilight. "Well I'm getting that vibe from mom and Luna." "Hmm..." Twilight thought. "Odd... see if you can find out anything more about this." Moonshine nodded, "Right." Then one of Celestia's Solar Guards came into the room, "Your mother has your breakfast ready, Princess." he said. "Okay." Moonshine replied and the guard closed the door. "Well, here I go." Moonshine said to Twilight as she exited the room. Moonshine entered the dining room where she found her mother placing a plate on the table. The plate had a stack of pancakes that was topped with blueberries and whipped cream. "Hehe, awww Mom. " Moonshine blushed. "You still make the faces on the pancakes. Just like when I was a foal..." "Hehe, of course darling." Celestia said as she sat down. "Just a way to show I care." Then the door opened and in came Luna. She had bags under her eyes and a frown on her face. "Good morning, sister." Celestia greeted. Luna looked at her with her frown. "Join us?" Celestia asked, levitating a stack of pancakes she made for Luna. "Too tired." Luna said and she levitated a pineapple in her magic before taking a bite out of it and walking passed Celestia, "Please excuse me." Celestia put down the plate and stuck a fork and knife into her stack, "Woah... last night must have been really hard on her." Moonshine said. "Oh no, honey.. she's like this.. every morning." Celestia said, looking sad before she put her stack of pancakes into a trash can before walking away. Back in her room, Moonshine reported what happened to Twilight, "I think Auntie Luna's hurting Moms' feelings without even realizing it." she stated. "Poor Celestia. That's so sweet that she makes her sister pancakes every morning." Twilight cooed with a smile. Moonshine gave her a deadpanned stare, "She's your mentor. I think you might be biased." "Fair enough." Twilight added. "So what are you gonna do?" "Nothing, yet. I have to get all the facts. I asked Luna if I could spend some time with her this evening. So I'll be able to see what's going with her." Moonshine explained. Then one of Luna's bat pony guards came into the room, "Princess Lunas' waiting for you, Princess." Moonshine nodded and she joined the guard in exiting the room. Moonshine entered the throne room as night was upon Canterlot. She saw Luna placing purple flowers onto the small balconies that lines the hallway. "Wow, Auntie Luna. You do this every night?" Moonshine asked as she came up to her. "Lavender's calming scent is known to aid dreamers in achieving a restorative sleep." Luna explained letting Moonshine smell the lavender flowers, "That's so thoughtful!" "I try my best to make sure the ponies in this castle sleep peacefully." Luna added. Then the throne rooms' door opened and out came Celestia and a few dignitary ponies, "And so, then I said, "Touring? More like 'boring'!" the pony said before laughing along with Celestia, "Oh, you really are a card!" As they walk by, Luna sighs, "But as always, my sister is too busy having fun with dignitary ponies to acknowledge anything I do. Hmph!" Luna huffed before walking away with the cart of lavender flowers. Moonshine looked in front and behind her, "I gotta tell Twilight." In the room, Moonshine paced back and forth in front of Twilight, "So Mom and Auntie Luna are hurting each other without realizing it. And instead of talking about it, they're just getting colder and more distant." "And they're Celestia and Luna. So it's not like you can just confront them." Twilight replied. "Actually, that's exactly what I was gonna do." Moonshine stated nonchalantly, earning a panicked response from Twilight, "What?! Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed before she regained her composure, "I mean, heh, you do whatever you think is best." "Thanks for the confidence." Moonshine deadpanned. "I do. But the last time the princesses fought, Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, and Princess Celestia had to banish her for a thousand years! That can't happen again!" Twilight informed. "Well, I can't do nothing." Moonshine replied. "Their my family and I have to help them rekindle their relationship they lost for 1,000 years." Twilight nodded, knowing how much Celestia and Luna meant to her. Then the girls noticed a small light coming from the door. "Huh? What's that light?" Twilight asked. "I don't know..." Moonshine opened the door and gasped, "My Element?!" Indeed, it was her Element of Hope, floating in front of the door before it magically floated onto her head and stopped glowing. "Woah... I've never seen your Element do that before." Twilight stated. "Me either.." Moonshine said. "Wonder why?" The next morning, Moonshine was greeted by another stack of pancakes, this time decorated with pineapples. "Wow. I almost feel bad eating this. It's adorable." "Like I said, I enjoy this part." Celestia said. "So you said you element suddenly appeared at your rooms' door?" "Yeah... have the Elements done this before when you controlled them?" Moonshine asked. "No, never." Celestia replied. "The Elements never acted on their own before." Then the door opened and in came Luna, looking the same way she did the other morning. "Hi Auntie Luna.." Moonshine greeted. "Hi Moonshine." Luna said sourly with a full mouth. She was about to walk away when Moonshine got out of her seat, "Auntie Luna, wait!" she called. Luna looked at her and Moonshine was a little taken back by her frown, but she proceeded. "I believe I've found a problem inside the palace." Moonshine informed. "You did, honey?" Celestia asked. "What is it?" "... You two.." Moonshine said, pointing at the two with a sheepish smile. "Excuse me/I beg your pardon." Celestia and Luna said in unison. "I think you're accidentally hurting each other's feelings without realizing it." Moonshine said. The Princesses looked away from each other, so Moonshine played negotiator. "Mom, does it bother you that Auntie Luna never notices the wonderful breakfasts that you prepare for her?" "Uh... Y-Yes. It does." her mother admitted. "Auntie Luna, tell Mom how you feel about the fact that she never acknowledges the work you put into lining the hallway with lavender every night." Moonshine encouraged. "I... Well, I... I-It's not the best feeling." Luna admitted before she tuned to Celestia. She gently pushed Moonshine away as she talked with her elder sister, "I'm sorry I never noticed that you make fruit faces on pancakes, but nights are long for me. You might be a morning pony, but I am half-asleep." "You think I don't get tired? I'm exhausted! Oh, I apologize for not noticing flowers in a wall sconce. But by the time I get to retire for the night, I can barely see straight! Even so, I still make an effort to smile!" Celestia said, smiling. "Like smiling is so hard." Luna dismissed, wiping the smile off of Celestias' face. "I-I-I'm sure that's not what Auntie Luna meant to say." Moonshine added quickly. "Is that what exhausts you? Smiling and being adored by everypony?" Luna asked her sister, annoyed. "And you have it so much worse, do you?! You've spent your evenings flitting around giving ponies lovely dreams! Oh, it sounds just awful!" Celestia retorted. Moonshine got in between her mother and Auntie before the tension between them escalated even more. "Okay! I feel like we should step back, take a deep breath..." but Luna dragged her away by her magic. "Don't presume to know what it is like to govern the dream realm!" she exclaimed at her sister. "And yet you know exactly what it's like to be me?! Oh, please!" Celestia exclaimed back. Then Luna broke into song, (Luna) I don't need to live all large You don't know the tasks I do To patrol the way I do for my subjects (Celestia) Oh sister, I wish you knew All the work I have to do Just to keep you in your duties and your mess (Luna) If you knew what I go through- (Celestia) If you (Both) Knew what I go through, walked a day in my own shoes, (Luna) Well the maybe you could see all the things my way (Celestia) Well then maybe you would See all of the reasons why I have long night As the two were singing, Moonshine's Element of Hope started to glow on its own, which was noticed by Moonshine but not by Celestia or Luna as they continued. (Luna) If you knew what I go through how I smile everyday. (Celestia) I'd love to be in school, have a night without a care. Then Moonshines' Element glowed brightly and it spread to the two sisters which they didn't notice but Moonshine could feel in heart that something was about to happen. (Both) How I wish you'd understand and see the world my way, For just one day, just one day, just one day Suddenly, the Element of Hope engulfed the two sisters, stopping their argument and switching their cutie marks as well! When they saw their switched cutie marks they were shocked! "Moonshine, what have you done?!" Celestia exclaimed. "I didn't do it! My Element did it! It did some spell on its own!" Moonshine replied frantically. "Well make it change our cutie marks back!" Luna stated. "I don't know what spell the Element performed to switch your cutie marks... but... Twilight!" Moonshine called and Twilight suddenly appeared, "You called me, Moonshine?" Celestia and Luna were caught off guard by her sudden appearance. "Yeah. My Element switched Mom and Auntie Luna's cutie marks." Twilight gasped, "It did?!" she exclaimed and looked at the sisters switched cutie marks. "Woah...." "Do you know what kind of spell that it might have used to do it?" Moonshine asked. "Hmm...." Twilight thought. "It might have been a '24 hours switch spell'. The spell lasts for 24 hours with whatever effect it had." she theorized. "So... what now?" "Maybe... this isn't such a bad thing." Moonshine said. "Huh?" Celestia and Luna asked. "You said it yourselves! Neither of you believes your sister knows how hard it is to be you. So this is your chance to prove it." Moonshine suggested to her mother and auntie who looked at each other, "Well, I could use an easy day followed by a good night's sleep." "You can try. I haven't had an easy day in, well, ever! But now, I get to sleep, and tonight will be a breeze. All right, honey. We will do this." Celestia stated. "O-Okay, mom." Moonshine stated. Soon, Luna was before the maid, servants and guards in the throne room. "As you can see, Celestia and I are switching places today." she announced to the ponies, who murmured in confusion until she raised her hoof, silencing them, "I assure you, I am more than capable of handling all of Celestia's, heh, duties. Dismissed." The servants, maids and guards exited the throne room. "So, what is first on my dear sister's to-do list?" Moonshine held a long list in her magic, "It says you have a few public appearances. Store openings, judging the royal rose contest... You know, that sort of thing." Luna chuckled, "Oh, I knew today would be easy, but I didn't think it would be that easy." and soon she was riding through Canterlot on a royal chariot, waving to the crowd with a big smile with Moonshine and Twilight behind her. At one of the store openings, Luna held a pair of scissors in her magic and tried to cut the rope... but the scissors didn't but so she just knocked the rope to the ground, earning cheers from the crowd. At the Royal Rose Contest, Luna went around sniffing flowers, holding the first place ribbon in her magic. She was about to give the medal away when a pony waved to her and she saw more flowers for her to smell. Luna put on a smile and continued with the contest. Later, she was in front of the School of Magic, standing with a foal who was having their picture taken with her. Luna struggled to keep up the smile while the photographer, made sure the camera was ready. Moonshine and Twilight were behind the photographer, encouraging Luna to keep smiling. Unfortunately, the moment Luna stopped smiling.. the pony took the picture. "'Princess Luna Unhappy with Student Fundraiser?' But I wasn't unhappy!" Luna said, looking at the newspaper while she, Moonshine and Luna were sitting at the table that afternoon. Moonshine took the paper in her magic and winced, "Um, you are scowling, Auntie." "Well, I-I didn't mean to! I've been smiling all day! My cheeks hurt! I stopped for one second! And that's when he took the picture!" Luna defended. "Guess smiling all day isn't as easy as you thought?" Twilight questioned. Luna took the newspaper back in her magic and read more of it, "It says here that, because of me, the school didn't raise enough funds to go on their field trip! I-I didn't mean for that to happen!" she slammed her head on the table in dismay. Moonshine flew over and lifted her auntie's head, "I know. But you can't dwell on that now. According to the list, some delegates are about to arrive for a luncheon. You need to dispel rumors of timberwolves in the White Tail Woods. The nearby towns have been in a state of panic for weeks." "B-B-But I have to fix this!" Luna stated as she got up and tried to head back to the school but Twilight stopped her, "You can't. You need to put on a brave face and help these ponies. It's what Celestia would do." Twilight opened the door and they saw a few delegate ponies. Luna took a deep breath and shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice, "Hello! Great news! There are no timberwolves!" That didn't do much to sooth the ponies nerves and they burst out of the room, "No, there are definitely timberwolves!" they all screamed in unison. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't stop thinking about those poor students. Normally, I have all the time in solitude I need to work through my problems at my own pace." Luna explained. "Well mom, doesn't have that luxury. She has to solve the problem when they come at her, even if she's dealing with alot. Like when she was caring for me when I was a foal. She had to deal with taking care of me and all the other duties and problems that she dealt with during the day." Moonshine explained. Luna looked at her thoughtfully. She never realized how much her sister does each day. Dealing with caring for a young foal with her support ever since she was banished.... she never took it into an account. The three ponies then heard some ponies voices coming from the other side of the door, "The princess will definitely side with me!" "Please see reason, Mayor Cream Cheese! I'm telling you, Baltimare..." "Ready for the town hall?" Twilight asked and Luna sighed. The trio entered the room and it was nighttime by the time they were done. "Glad that's settled." "And it only took three hours." "That got heated, didn't it?" "Still on for golf?" "Oh, absolutely." Luna, Twilight and Moonshine came behind the ponies and Luna looked very tired. "You made it to the end of the day. Yay?" Twilight said with a nervous smile. " Hmm? Oh. Yes, uh..." Luna yawned before handing Moonshine her list of duties, "I'm just going to turn in, then. Good shine, Moonlight and Twishine.." Luna stated before she headed off to bed. Then Princess Celestia came up to them, "Oh, hello, Moonshine, Twilight. I don't know about you, but I feel very well-rested. Where's Luna?" "Um, uh, she already turned in for the night, mom." Moonshine informed. "Did she now? It seems my duties were harder than my sister expected." Celestia smirked before heading off to perform Luna's duties. Soon, she was on the balcony, raising the moon into the night sky, "Moon raised! It's even easier than raising the sun." she chuckled, "What's next?" Celestia turned and saw Twilight and Moonshine curled up together asleep. "Of course.." Celestia said as she put the two of them to bed, "Everyponys' asleep at night. Heh. Luna works alone... Oh, but it's nothing I can't handle." she levitated Luna's list in her dark blue aura. "All I have to do is watch over Equestria, visit the dream realm, and protect ponies in their nightmares. My list was three times as long!" she chuckled, throwing the list away. On the balcony she could see the lights turning off, "All right. Everypony's asleep. You're talking to yourself, Celestia. Heh. But there's nopony else to talk to! Yet. I can talk to ponies in their dreams!" Using Luna's powers she entered the dream realm where she saw small bubbles that had everyponys' dreams, "Now, to save some ponies from their nightmares. Which aren't real, so it shouldn't be too hard, right? Right. Good call, Celestia!" and then she realized, "And I'm talking to myself again." Suddenly, she heard a scream and she saw a small bubble with Moonshine in it, "Huh? Moonshine?" Celestia asked as she flew over to the bubble. Inside, she could see Moonshine being chased by a black pony that looked to be made of shadows and darkness. The pony wore a purple and black suit "Leave me alone!" Moonshine cried as she desperately ran away from the pony. "Hahaha... there's no escape from me, Princess...!" the pony growled. Celestia gasped in horror. "What in Equestria is that?" she asked herself. "Grr.. no matter. Moonshine needs me." and without hesitation, she leaped into Moonshine's dream and she blasted the shadow pony. "Mommy!" Moonshine cried in joy, running over to her. "Moonshine, are you alright..?" Moonshine nodded and then whimpered when she heard the shadow ponys' growl. Celestia stood in front of her, "Leave my daughter alone, this instant." The shadow pony chuckled, "Why deal with me, Princess Celestia...? When you could deal with..." "Me!" another voice came and the two tuned and they saw Nightmare Moon once more. She laughed evily as she stood in front of the pair. "Don't worry honey. I know how to handle Nightmare Moon." Celestia stated. "Yes..." a new voice came. "But can you handle... me?!" and a new pony revealed herself. She was the same height as Celestia except her mane and tail were made of fire and she wore orange armor on he hooves, chest and on her head. Her wings looked to have armor on the edges as well. "This can't be!" Celestia gasped. "If Luna can turn into Nightmare Moon, you can absolutely turn into me — Daybreaker! The better, prettier, and more powerful version of you!" Daybreaker stated, pointing at Celestia. "No! I'll never turn into you!" Celestia defended. "Deep inside, you know how powerful you are. You don't need Luna." Daybreaker said, pointing at Nightmare Moon, who growled at her, "That's not true! Even when we were apart, I knew I needed her!" Daybreaker laughed, "Oh, please! You don't need anypony! You can do whatever you want. And all you have to do is get rid of anypony who stands in your way!" she then sent a blast towards Nightmare Moon! Celestia and Moonshine dodged the attack. "I never should've banished you to the moon! I should've destroyed you!" Daybreaker growled as she lunged at Nightmare Moon. Then Nightmare Moon blasted Daybreaker, "You can't get rid of me so easily, sister! Unless you plan on smiling me to smithereens!" The two charged each other but Celestia came in between them, "Enough!" Daybreaker laughed once more, "I told you I was more powerful than you!" she mocked before sending a blast at her but Moonshine gasped and deflected it. "Leave my mommy alone!" Moonshine exclaimed. Daybeaker growled at Moonshine, "You tiny pest! Just wait until I'm through with you!" she charged Moonshine, much to the horror of Celestia, "Moonshine, No!" Moonshines' Element suddenly glowed and involuntarily fired at Darybreaker, "Ugh!" Daybreaker recovered and snarled, "Big Mistake!" She lunged at Moonshine again but Nightmare Moon blasted Moonshine! "You're not the only one who has a bone to pick with this more, sister.." she growled. Moonshine grunted as she fell down. "Moonshine!" Celestia gasped. The shadow pony laughed at the scene, "Yes... take out that Celestial pest! When she's out of way, my plan can commence." "What plan?" Celestia snapped. The shadow pony laughed, "That's for you to figure out on your own.. hahahah!" the shadow pony then disappeared. Celestia looked back and saw Moonshine struggling to defend against Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. Celestia knew there was only one pony who could help her. Luna. In Luna's dream, she was looking in the mirror, smiling when a dream foal came up to her and said, "That smile's too wide... It's obviously not real..." Then another dream foal came up, "Why don't you want us to go on our field trip?" "I don't...!" Luna stammered but then her teeth started to come out of he mouth and fall on the floor, "I mean, I do!" Then more foals came in singing, "That smile's too wide... It's obviously not real..." Then Celestia appeared through the mirror. " Celestia!" Luna cried and she hugged her sister, "I'm so glad you're...!" Celestia pulled her through the mirror and back into Moonshine's dream. Moonshine was struck with a magical blast and she was sent flying. "Ugh!" Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon laughed before they lunged at her once more, "I've seen a lot, but I haven't seen this before." Luna stated, having never seen Daybreaker before. "What happened, sister?" "There was shadow pony in Moonshines' dream trying to harm her." Celestia explained. "When I intervened Nightmare Moon appeared along with Daybreaker.... an evil side of me." Luna gasped. "They began to fight and Moonshine intervened and now they're both after her." Moonshine managed to stand up, covered in scratches and burn marks from their magic. "Hahaha, you can't stand up to me, pest!" Daybreaker mocked before she rammed Moonshine once more, "Ugh!" "You have to end this nightmare or else it will have a gave consequence on Moonshines' psyche." Luna informed her elder sister. "But my magic isn't powerful enough! I thought if we worked together...!" "I have your magic, remember? It doesn't work in the dream realm. It has to be you!" "Oh, Luna, I can't do this! I was wrong! Your job is so incredibly hard! You have to battle nightmares and work in the darkness and do it all alone! It takes such a brave, strong pony to do what you do!" Celestia admitted, surprising Luna who also had to admit, "And that pony is you. I walked a day in your shoes. I thought all you had to do was smile and be adored all the time, but I was wrong. There is so much more to it than that." "Gah!" Moonshine grunted as she crashed onto the ground and the realm changed into their throne room. Daybreaker landed on Celestias' throne laughing as fire filled the sides of the room. Nightmare Moon landed on the other side of her, both ready to strike Moonshine, "In order to protect Moonshine and defeat Daybreaker, you need only to trust in your strength as I do." Luna encouraged. Celestia smiled at her sister and she nodded at her. Nightmare Moon and Daybreake both fired at Moonshine, but Celestia got in between them and blocked the blasts with he wings, "You can't destroy me! I'm everything you want to be!" Daybreaker exclaimed. "No, you're not! You are not real, and you will never exist again!" Celestia exclaimed as she repelled both blasts, getting rid of Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. Moonshine looked up at her mother, "M-Mom?" "Moonshine, honey.." Celestia gasped, nuzzling her. "It's alight honey, everything's fine now." Moonshine nodded and Luna came over, "You did it!" "Only because you were here. I don't know how you do this alone." Celestia replied. "So, um, did you talk to yourself?" Luna asked. "Um, a little." Celestia admitted and the two sisters laughed. "Aghhh!" Just then, the same shadow pony appeared, "You ruined my plan!" "What do you want, shadow pony?" Celestia demanded, standing in front of Moonshine. "What does thou want with my niece?" Luna growled. "Like I told your sister, Princess Luna... that's for you to find out... we'll meet again... until then...!" the shadow pony disappeared and Celestia exited the dream realm along with the others. Celestia and Luna looked at each other and smiled. "This is serious sister.." Luna said. "Yes Luna, whatever this shadow pony wants with my daughter; your niece... can't be good." Celestia said. The duo heard Moonshine yawn as she awoke. "Mommy? Auntie?" Celestia levitated her out of the bed and Celestia and Luna hugged her, "Moonshine, are you alright?" Celestia asked. Moonshine nodded, "W-What does that pony want with me...?" "We don't know... but we're going to find out.." Celestia promised. Moonshine nodded and Luna tapped Celestia on the shoulder. "Sister, I finally understand what you go through everyday while I'm asleep. I never knew how hard it was to get everything right on the first try.... especially when you had to care for Moonshine all alone.." "Oh Luna..." Celestia hugged her sister, "It's alright. I thought all you did was give ponies lovely dreams but there's so much more to that. You protect ponies from their fears and anxieties in their dreams." Luna smiled at her sister, "And there's something else I wanted to tell you." Celestia added before she broke into song. (Skip to 1:30. Play until 2:12) (Celestia) Today and everyday, I will be here, I will love you I will put nothing above you 'Cause I love your messy mane And I love your grouchy glare As Celestia sang, Moonshine's Element of Hope began to glow once more. The way you dress and all your mess I love them through and through Whatever makes you happy, I want for you, I do I'm telling you, it's true 'Cause Luna, I love you for you! (Luna) And you know I love you for you! (Celestia) I love everything you do (Both) You know that I love you! Moonshine's Element then enveloped the sisters in its magic once more and it switched their cutie marks back to the way they were before. Celestia and Luna looked at their cutie marks, "They're back to normal!" Luna gasped, "... But.. how...?" "I think... my Element casted the spell to help you two see each others' lives." Moonshine said. "To help you both see how the other lives." "So... the Element acted on its own' to teach us a lesson...?" Luna asked skeptical. "That's what it looks like..." Moonshine replied. Luna could only blink, "That's one weird element." Celestia and Moonshine laughed together under the dawn sun. A week has passed and Moonshine enjoyed her quality time with her mother and Luna, despite the incident. Celestia and Moonshine shared a few sweets with each other while Luna and Moonshine played some music together. The week went by fast and it was time for Moonshine to return to Ponyville. "It's been a wonderful week, Moonshine." Celestia said. "Yeah Mom. Thank you. You too, Auntie Luna.." Moonshine thanked. "Your welcome." the two sisters said in unison. Moonshine smiled as she put her bag into the chariot, "Oh, and there's something that I wanted to give you Moonshine." "Huh? What is it Mom?" Moonshine asked. Celestia pulled out seven golden tickets. "Here, seven tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala; for you and your friends." Moonshines' eyes widened, seeing the tickets and she put on a small grin, "... Greeeat... hehehe..." she said nervously. Moonshines' chariot landed in front of the Golden Oak Library and Spike opened the door. "Moonshine, hey! How was your visit?" "It was... exciting. Hehe." Moonshine said nervously, not wanting to inform the baby dragon about the shadow pony. "Don't worry, Twilight already told me about the shadow pony." Spike said before he put a finger in front of his mouth, "Ssshhh..." Moonshine nodded, knowing the dragon would keep the secret. "Moonshine!" Twilight called as she spotted her best friends. Moonshine entered the library, "Are you alright?" she asked, looking her over. "Yeah.. I'm alright..." Moonshine replied with a small grin. "Hey, why are you still wearing your Element?" Twilight asked, noticing Moonshine's Element of Hope still on her head. "... About that..." Flashback Moonshine and her mother and auntie came up to the tower where the Elements of Harmony are kept safe. "Time to put you back where you belong." Moonshine said, taking her Element off of her head. Celestia performed the spell to open the door, revealing the chest that held the Elements of Harmony, but when Moonshine prepared to put the Element back into the chest... it levitated out of her hooves and back onto her head! "Huh?" Moonshine tried placing the Element back into the chest but it kept placing itself back on her head, "What's wrong with it?" "I believe the Element refused to leave your side." Luna suggested. Moonshine looked surprised but with the way her Element was acting.... she had to agree... Flashback Ends "So Luna and Celestia let you keep the Element with you?" Spike questioned, earning a nod from Moonshine. "Woah..." Twilight gasped and then she noticed the envelope. "Hey, what's in the envelope?" "Oh..." Moonshine grumbled before she took out the eight tickets. "Tickets... to the Grand Galloping Gala...yeah..." "Woah! Awesome!" Spike exclaimed, grabbing one while Twilight grabbed one in her magic. "This is amazing, Moonshine!" she exclaimed with a smile before noticing the frown on her face, "Moonshine...?" Moonshine sighed, "I don't think I'm gonna go to the Gala this year.." "Why not?" Spike asked. Moonshine gave Spike a knowing look. "Oh... right..." Since she was a filly, Moonshine was never a fan of the Grand Galloping Gala. Moonshine saw the Gala as just a boring party where ponies would just talk all day. "Come on, Moonshine, maybe it won't be that bad this year." Spike suggested. "Yeah, I've never been to the Gala before either." Twilight said. "Well Mom says its always awful." Moonshine grunted. "And I'd rather spend the night in here. Give the tickets to the others will you, Twilight?" Moonshine asked, handing the tickets to Twilight before heading upstairs, "Where are you going?" Twilight called. "To greet two pokemon and a dragon." Moonshine stated as she headed upstairs to her room. Up in her room, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless were napping when they all heard the door open. They opened their eyes and they saw Moonshine there, "Hi boys, miss me?" she teased. Rockuff barked happily and lunged at Moonshine's chest, nuzzling her hard, "Hahaha, hey..!" she laughed. Toothless and Lycanroc smiled, seeing their friend again. Rockuff stopped nuzzling and Moonshine placed him on the ground, "You boys were good for Twilight, right?" The pokemon and dragon nodded and Moonshine smiled, "Good." "Wanna go out and play?" Moonshine asked. Rockruff barked and wagged his tail. "Hehehe, alright. Come on." Moonshine, Lycanoc, Rockruff and Toothless headed outside and went out in a field outside of Ponyville. "Rockruff, Lycanroc, how about some training for you two?" "Rockruff..!" "Lycan." Lycanoc smiled. "Alright." Moonshine stated. Lycanroc and Rockruff soon stood on either side of the field with Toothless and Moonshine standing to the side, "Alright. Lycanroc use Stone Edge!" Lycanoc howled and punched the ground, creating a line of large, glowing rocks that ran towards Rockruff. Rockruff barked and leaped into the air, stepping onto the Stone Edge and ramming Lycanroc, but Lycanroc blocked the attack and deflected Rockruff away. "Roooo...!" Rockruff landed on the ground. "Now Rockruff, use Rock Throw!" Rockruff barked, "Rockruff...!" and unleashed Rock Throw at Lycanroc. Lycanroc blocked the attack with his arms and he charged forth towards Rockruff. Rockruff growled and he charged Lycanroc as well. "Rooo...!" the two of them collided with each other and Rockruffs' collar glowed white and it unleashed a close range Rock Throw! Lycanroc was sent skidding back a little but still has plenty of fight in him. Rockruff backed off and barked, "Ruff..!" "Great, Rockruff!" Moonshine praised. "Ruff...!" Rockruff then charged forth with a Bite attack ready to go, but Lycanoc moved to the side and dodged the attack before unleashing Rock Throw as well. Rockruff was struck and he was sent skidding back. "Roooo!" "Rockruff, are you okay?" Rockruff growled as he got back on his feet. "Rockruff..!" "That's the spirit!" Moonshine exclaimed, "Now use Tackle!" Rockruff charged forth with his Tackle attack when suddenly... mud came out of nowhere and splattered onto Rockruffs' face. "Rooo!" Rockuff tripped and fell on the ground. "Rockuff! Hey, who did that?" Moonshine called out. "Muudbraaaayyyy!" "What the-?" Moonshine, Lycanroc and Toothless looked at the side and saw a small donkey like pokemon. "What the- What pokemon are you?" Moonshine pulled out the pokemon book and she flipped through the pages, "Aha, Mudbray, the Donkey Pokemon. A ground type. It has a stubborn, individualistic disposition. Eating dirt, making mud, and playing in the mire all form part of its daily routine." The Mudbray was laughing at his little prank on Rockruff. "Mudbrayyy, Mud..." "Mudbray, that was not funny, that was mean." Moonshine scolded. "Lycanroc." Her Lycanroc agreed as Toothless helped Rockruff get the mud out of his eyes. Mudbray only laughed before it spit more mud, landing on Moonshine's face! "Hey!" she exclaimed. Lycanroc had enough and charged the little pokemon but Mudbray cried out and turned around, kicking Lycanroc twice, sending him flying back. "That was Double Kick!" Moonshine gasped. Not good. Double Kick was a fighting type move, super effective against Lycanroc, a rock type! Mudbray laughed again but Lycanroc recovered and growled, "Lycanroc, try Rock Throw!" Lycanroc howled and launched rocks at Mudbray which just stood there and took the attack head on. When the dust cleared, Lycanroc and Moonshine saw orange lights surrounding Mudbray, "What the-? What's that?" Moonshine asked herself. She looked at the Mudbray page once more and discovers, "Ability: Stamina, this pokemons' defense raises each time its attacked." "Oh pony feathers!" Moonshine exclaimed. That meant the more attacked Lycanroc threw, the less damage it would do it Mudbray. Mudbray scrapped the ground before charging forth with its front hooves glowing red, "That's Rock Smash! Lycanroc, lookout!" Lycanroc growled and leaped to the side to dodge the attack but Mudbray quickly changed direction and struck Lycanroc, "Mudbray!" "Roooo!" "Lycanroc!" Lycanroc crashed onto the ground with some catches on it while the Mudbray chuckled and began dancing around, "Mudbray, Mudbray, Mudbray~" "Hmmm... you're a tough little pokemon, aren't ya..?" Moonshine thought before she grinned and took out a pokeball, "If that's the case, then I'm gonna catch you, Mudbray." Mudbray stopped dancing and stared at her in shock, "Mudbray!" Lycanroc stood back up, "Lycan..." Mudbray recovered from its shock and actually smiled, "Mudbray...!" It charged Lycanroc once more with a Rock Smash attack. "Use Stone Edge!" Lycanoc howled and punched the ground using Stone Edge. Mudbray, using Rock Smash, used the move exactly what it was named for, smashing rocks! It smashed he Stone Edge! "Careful, here it comes!" Moonshine warned. Lycanroc nodded, "Lycanroc." Mudbray smashed through the final rock, "Now Rock Throw!" Lycanroc howled and launched rocks, catching Mudbray off guard! "Mud!" the attack struck hard and Mudbray was sent skidding back. "That's the way!" Moonshine praised. "Lycanroc." Lycanroc smiled. Mudbray got up and its Stamina kicked in once more, "Defense rose again!" Moonshine grunted. Lycanoc howled and charged straight in, "Lycanoc?" Moonshine called. Lycanroc howled before its tail glowed and turned to steel! "What?! Iron Tail!" Moonshine gasped. Mudbray gasped as well as Lycanroc smashed Mudbray with Iron Tail. "Mudbrayyyyyy!" The super effective steel type attack, sent Mudbay flying into the air and it crashed onto the ground. "Mud...." it groaned and it glowed red which meant, "Iron Tail, lowered it defense!" Moonshine gasped. She took out the pokeball, "Now's my chance! Pokeball, go!" Moonshine called as she threw the pokeball at Mudbray. it bounced off of Mudbray and it turned into red energy before going into the pokeball. The pokeball landed on the ground before shaking three times and clicking. "Alright..! I caught Mudbray!" Moonshine cheered. "Rockruff..!" "Lycanroc!" Moonshine then let Mudbray out, "Mudbray, come on out..!" Mudbray came out with a smile, "Mudbray!" "Mudbray, you're one tough cookie and its great you'll be joining us.." Moonshine smiled. "Lycanroc." Lycanroc smiled at Mudbray, earning it respect and Rockuff came bounding over, now free of mud and nuzzled Mudbray. "Mudbray." Mudbray smiled. Then, "Hey Moonshine!" The group turned and saw Twilight and the others coming towards them. "You okay? We heard some commotion." Applejack asked. "I'm fine." Moonshine said. "Hey whose the tiny donkey?" Rainbow asked, noticing Mudbray. "This is Mudbray, my new pokemon." Moonshine smiled. "You caught it?!" Twilight exclaimed, earning a nod from Moonshine, "And its' one tough cookie." "Oh really...?" Applejack questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Mudbray!" Mudbray exclaimed before stomping its hoof. "I think that's a yes, Applejack." Moonshine stated. Applejack looked at the tiny donkey which was a bit smaller than her, "I don't see it..." that annoyed Mudbray and it unleashed Rock Smash, on Applejack, sending her flying, "WAH!" "Aj!" Rainbow exclaimed before flying after her and catching her. She brought her back down to the others, "Okay... I take that back." she stated, now convinced about Mudbray being a tough cookie. "Anyway, Twilight says you don't wanna go to the Gala this year, darling." Rarity brought up. "Yeah.. don't really see it as exciting..." Moonshine stated. "But at least give it a try, this year, Moonshine." Applejack said. "It might be fun..." Moonshine sighed. "Please...?" Twilight asked her best friends. Moonshine looked at her and she could see that she wasn't going to give in so... "Alright... I'll give it a try this year..." The girls cheered happily while Moonshine sweat-dropped. "Looks like we're going to a gala in a few weeks, guys." Moonshine told her pokemon and Toothless. They all nodded at Moonshine while Mudbray chuckled. Ponies of the Dark WaterTwo weeks have passed and today, Moonshine and the Mane 6 were walking through the forest after her mother wanted the ponies help settle a situation in the Kingdom of Abyssinia. “Well we saved Equestria once again.” Twilight said. “Yep, cause we’re the best.” Rainbow gloated. “And the good news is this time they aren’t going to prosecute.” Applejack added. “The Kingdom of Abyssinia is strangely fabulous.” Rarity said. Then we heard some soothing sounds, “Was that a fwoosh?” Twilight asked. “I don;t remember there being any fwosohsing sounds around here.” Rarity said. Then we heard some gurgle too. “And gurgles! Those are definitely gurgles!” Rockruff barked and tracked the sounds, "Rockruff, wait up!" Moonshine called as she and the girls followed the Puppy Pokemon. Then they all came across a large lake with a waterfall filling it with water. A hot spring. And what is surely new!” Applejack exclaimed. Pinkie gasped, “It looks so pretty.” Rainbow was confused, on the other hand, “Huh? I just flew pass here last week. I know this spring wasn’t here.” Fluttershy was talking to some small creatures. “Oh thank you Mr. Gossamer. Mr. Gossamer says these hot springs have just appeared in a couple days, apparently they caused quite a commotion when they appeared.” “There are a number of underwater rivers running through here I suppose geothermal pressure cause one of them to erupt.” Twilight said, examining the lake. She stuck her hoof into the water. “Hmm.. it’s not quite as hot as I thought.” Then Pinkie pushed her into the water. “Surprise!” Ker-Splash! “Pinkie Pie!” Twilight exclaimed, soaking wet. “Why would you do that?!” “Comedy is a surprise! So it was funny” “Well it’s not funny.” “Actually it kinda was.” Rainbow chuckled. Pinkie I’m very upset-at least I would be if this wasn't so relaxing like a giant hot tub.” Pinkie and the other girls went into the water. “It’s like a natural spa. This water is lovely!" Rarity described. Applejack came up, “Maybe we should take some of it home. I bet my apples would really take to this water.” “I guess we deserve a reward after our adventure, don’t we?” Twilight asked, soaking herself in the lake too. "Moonshine, come on in." Twilight called. Moonshine nodded and was about to come in but, Lycanroc and Mudbray blocked her, "Lycanroc..." "Mudbray.." "Lycanroc, Mudbray, what is it?" Moonshine asked, confused. She noticed Toothless growling at the water for some reason while Rockruff stayed clear of it. Lycanroc, Mudbray and Rockruff were understandably, not fans of water because rock and ground type pokemon are weak to water-type attacks, but the fact that Toothless was growling at the water, made Moonshine think that something else was going on. Toothless usually loves water, but with his aggressive attitude, Moonshine knew something was wrong.. she just didn't know what. That Night The girls were sleeping in their beds, mumbling in their sleep. “All the books… all the knowledge.” Twilight mumbled. “The best apples in Equestria.” Applejack said. My friends.. I’ll keep you safe…” Fluttershy stated. “Flawless. NO one finer.” Rarity added. “I feel the need… the need for speed…” Rainbow smiled. “Heh, hehe, ha, ha, ha.” Pinkie laughed. Unknown by any of them, a shadow creeped into their rooms and into their chests and they grunted a little before they went back to sleep. Two pairs of eyes appeared in the shadows. “Perfect…” the figure hissed. The Next Morning Spike and Moonshine woke up and went downstairs. "Morning Spike." Moonshine greeted. "Morning Moonshine." Spike greeted. The pair went into the library but they noticed that Twilight wasn't there..." Where's Twilight?" Moonshine asked. "Huh? This is weird." Spike said, scratching his head. The pair then went outside and ran into Applebloom. “Applebloom, have you seen Twilight?” Spike asked. “She left before breakfast and-” Suddenly.. BOOM! “AHAHAHA!” There was a loud boom and sonic rainbow rings were seen in the sky. “What the heck?!” Moonshine exclaimed. exclaimed. “Out of my way! I’m on important business here.” Huh? What the-? Applejack? That when the three of them turned and saw Applejack but something was different. Her eyes were red instead of green and she was pushing ponies out of her way. “What’s wrong with Applejack?” Moonshine asked Applebloom. “I don’t know. She’s been acting like that ever since this morning.” Applebloom replied. Then she saw the cart of spilled apples. “What in the Gold Durned Ding Dang is this?!” she yelled. “One of those rainbooms knocked over the cart. I’m okay through.” Applebloom said. “I ain't worried about you!” Applejack exclaimed. Moonshine gasped, "Applejack, don't you care about your sister?" “I’m more worried about my apples do you know how many sales I’ve lost!” Jack stepped in front of Applebloom. “Farm chick, calm down. Don’t yell at the tiny brat.” “She’s my apprentice, My worst apprentice ever!” Applejack declared. “I’m not your apprentice. I’m your family.” Applebloom said. “There’s no room for family in business.” Applejack said as she walked off. “Okay that was very wrong.” Moonshine said. “Applejack always cares about her family but now she’s acting rude and uncaring.” “What’s gotten into her?” Spike asked. “I don’t know.” Applebloom said. Then a loud boom was heard and everyone turned towards the Golden Oak Library. “Attention everypony in Ponyville.” Twilight’s voice boomed across the town. The sky turned pink with white lightning bolts. “I, Twilight Sparkle have appointed myself as Empress of Ponyville. As the most intelligent pony in this town, or any other it is the only logical course of action. More announcements will follow about the new order but for now know I promise and harsh but fair rule!” “We have to check on the others.” Spike said. “Applejack is gonna fire me for this.” Applebloom said. “Don’t worry Applebloom, we’ll get her back to normal.” Moonshine reassured. “How dare she!” We turned and saw Rarity wearing a purple cloak and a silver mask over her eyes. “Rarity, what happened to you?” Moonshine asked. “Why are you wearing a mask? And a purple cloak?” “The arrogance of that pony, thinking she can rule Ponyville. When it should be me there’s no one finer than me.” Rarity growled. Spike approached her. “Um.. what’s with the mask?” “I couldn’t get my eyeliner perfect. I can’t have ponies seeing this face with any kind of flaw on it!” Then she walked away. “Sure that’s not overreacting at all.” Spike deadpanned. “Overreacting is Twilight thinking that her library fixation and that five year old hairstyle is in anyway entitled her to rule these ponies. I will correct her thinking as soon as I find the right outfit to do so.” Rarity declared and she walked away. “Let’s find the others.” Spike suggested. “Right.” Moonshine said and the three began running off, Moonshine whistled and Lycanroc, Rockruff, Mudbray and Toothless came by her side. “I’ll get the crusaders.” Applebloom said. Soon they all met up at the Crusaders' Clubhouse, “So none of us could find Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie?” Sweetie Belle asked. "No, and the others are acting totally different then how they usually act." Moonshine stated, “But what’s wrong with them? They were fine yesterday even when we took a break at these new hot springs.” I said. “New?” Scootaloo said. “Hot.” Sweetie added. “Springs?” Applebloom added. Moonshine blinked, feeling a bit stupid. “... When you put it like that it does sound kinda obvious.” she said bashfully. “Something in that water must have changed them.” Spike said. “If there was something in that water that would explain why Lycanroc and the others kept pushing me away from the water and not wanting me to get in there." Moonshine realized, "They must have sensed the evil in the water before anypony else did. “But how do we change them back?” Applebloom asked and Spike took out a letter. “I don’t know but there’s one pony who will. Princess Celestia!” Canterlot Celestia read the note Spike sent her. “Something has turn Twilight Sparkle and her friends to their darker sides.” “What kind of magic could do that sister?” Luna asked. “Spike says that they have their theories but I must send someone to investigate and resolve this.. I must send… you Luna.” “Me? Sister is that wise? My history is it’s own darkness.” Luna reminded. “Yes, whatever has happened here you will have your personal experience. Tragic it maybe but I couldn’t think of anypony better for this than you.” Celestia reassured. “I see your point.” Luna spread her wings and flew off. “I will get to Ponyville as fast as I can.” “Good luck, sister.” Celestia said. Back at the clubhouse, the Crusaders, Spike, Moonshine and the others were discussing the problem, “I think Twi is the immediate threat!” Scootaloo said. “Really Rarity seems pretty mad at me.” Sweetie said. “No I think the worst will be either Pinkie or Fluttershy.” Sweetie Belle said. “And exactly what evil can Pinkie do?” Spike asked. Suddenly the tree started to shake. “Huh? What the-?” They all ran outside to see Applejack bucking the tree. “Get out, you brats!” she called. “Yikes.” Spike said. “Let’s get out of here!” We all ran out of the treehouse with Applejack chasing them, “Gone from my treehouse and my farm! Y'all are going to pay your debt off. You’ll be indented until you’re in dentures!” “Umm… we better leave.” Moonshine said. They all dashed out of the treehouse and through the orchard with Applejack chasing us. “She’s gone nuts!” Spike cried. “I don’t remember signing a contract!” Scootaloo cried. “It’s an implied oral agreement.” Applejack replied. “Is it just me or is she making less and less sense?” Spike asked. Suddenly, blue smoke clouds began to roll in. “What’s with the clouds?” Scootaloo asked. “Don’t care, Applejack’s getting faster. Hoof it!” Applebloom cried. “No matter how foggy it is, I know these acres like the back of my hoof. No one can hide from me?” Applejack gloated. Suddenly, Applejack saw a silhouette in the fog. “I’m not hiding!” a voice said and revealed to be..... Luna! “Princess Luna hides from no one!” Applejack gulped at the sight of her. “... You know maybe we can call it even.” Applejack tried to run away but Luna grabbed her in her magic, “No, I think we need to have a discussion.” She brought Applejack close to her, “I sense dark magic within you Applejack and it is clouding your vision.” “What they hay are you talking about?” Applejack exclaimed. “I’m seeing things clearly! Like your her on my property. You stay much longer maybe I should charge you rent or an admission fee.” “What’s wrong with my sister. This isn’t like her.” Applebloom said to Luna. “I cannot tell at least not yet. There is definitely something wrong. Powerful magic. But it’s unfocused. It’s the cause of your sisters’ personality. It’s warping her nature and disorienting her like a flawed mirror. Perhaps I can extract it.” But before Luna could, Applejack broke free from her magic! “Whatever magic the water placed on them, it’s making her more powerful. The Applejack I know wouldn’t be able to shatter my magic.” Luna said, looking down on Applejack. “I’m not the Applejack you know. I’m better.” Applejack hissed and she turned and ran away. “She’s getting away.” Applebloom cried. “Let her go.” Luna said. “Anyway, I couldn’t hold her anyway. Now tell me how all this happened leave out no detail.” “We were all walking through a forest near Ponyville where we came across these new hot springs. The girls took a dip but Toothless and the others didn't let me in. The next morning they were like this.” Moonshine explained. “Applejack started being greedy and crazy!” Applebloom said. “Twilight said she was the Empress of Ponyville.” Sweetie added. “Rarity is focus on perfection.” Moonshine said. “We have no word about Flutters and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash-” Scootaloo started. BOOM! Another sonic rainboom was heard behind them. “... Well that.” “Whatever magic was in those springs had corrupted your friends and I may not be able to change them back. I tried with Applejack and you all saw what happened. We need a different plan.” Luna said. “Hahaha! You can try!” a familiar voice came and we turned and saw a shadow pony standing there chuckling. The CMC’s hid behind Moonshine and Luna in fear. Luna and Moonshine growled, "You again! You're the pony who invaded my nieces dream!" Luna exclaimed. "Yes... and I see you've watched my latest plan unfold." the shadow pony smirked. "Who are you?" Spike questioned. The shadow pony chuckled, "I'm not gonna let you find that out that easily." “Wait… you used your dark magic on the water and turned Twilight and the others to their darker selves didn’t you, Void?” Moonshine guessed. The shadow pony chuckled, “Haha, you’re very smart, Moonshine. Though I expected nothing more from Celestia's daughter.” "How do you know about me?" Moonshine chuckled. "Haha... I've been watching you, Moonshine and that's all you need to know. Now with them on my side, there will be nothing you can do to stop me!” “You won’t get away with this, creep!” Spike exclaimed. “Yeah, we’re gonna stop you.” Applebloom added. "... Somehow..." The shadow pony chuckled, "You may try.." he hissed before he disappeared into the shadows. “Applebloom, you and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders will go into the Everfree Forest and find Zecora. Where my magic had failed, perhaps her knowledge in potions will help.” Luna suggested. “Cutie Mark Crusaders are on their way!” Applebloom said. “Take Toothless with you, girls. Who knows what is in that forest.” Moonshine suggested. “Right. Come on Toothless.” Applebloom said. Toothless purred and went with the Crusaders as they went off into the Everfree forest. In the forest the Crusaders and Toothless were walking until they were confronted by an army of animals and Fluttershy who was wrapped in a green vine with red flowers on it. “What do we have here… INTRUDERS!” she cried. Yesterday Twilight was going through some books in Sarah’s Castle. “No, No NO! It’s not enough!” She sat herself at a table. “All these books and all this knowledge and I can’t learn fast enough. I need more! Knowledge is precious and I need much of it if I’m going to lead wisely.” She walked out on the balcony, overlooking Ponyville. “I know I’m the smartest pony her already. I need to be the smartest pony ever. So I can rule these poor, uneducated, uniformed ponies to show them the many errors they’ve made… my ponies.” “Wait my ponies won’t need to think, will they? I’ll do the thinking for them, making sure they make the right choices.” Twilight added. “And if they don’t need to think they can spare a little bit of their brain power, can they?” She went back into the library where on a black chalkboard had a picture of a mind helmet. “Why they’ll hardly even miss it. And then I’ll be the smartest ruler… smartest pony in Equestria!” Having finished her machine she went outside and found two stallions talking. She placed the helmet on one of them. F-zap. And she did to two more ponies. “I can feel my I.Q increasing but there is still more intellect out there to confiscate.” Twilight hissed as she walked off. Now Toothless was carrying the Crusaders on his back as they were being chased by Fluttershys' animal army. "Okay, I take it back, Fluttershy can be a threat!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Less talking! Toothless, more flying!" Applebloom cried and Toothless flew faster through the forest. Now back in Ponyville Ponies were in the streets and there were purple present boxes on the ground. “What are all these present doing here?” a pony asked. Suddenly, the box exploded with this stuff shooting out of them. Everypony screamed and ran for cover. Cheerlie called them over to a theater. “Everypony in here!” Everypony rushed in and panted in relief. Suddenly the lights went out and Pinkie Pie came on stage. She was wearing blue and purple clothing with clown make up on her face. “Welcome back my friends, to a show that never ends. Come inside.” she hissed. “Showtime!” She came out on stage wearing a purple clown costume and makeup. “Hey everypony welcome to my one pony show. Don't try to leave and even if you could. I locked the door and I put glue on your seats.” she said. “What a good looking captive audience we have tonight. I just hope you love it. I’m Pinkie Pie.” Then she started to do some stand up comedy that was, to the crowds’ eyes, horrible. Meanwhile, Rarity was running through the streets. “Twilight Sparkle cannot be allowed to rule Ponyville why her fashion choices alone disqualify her as a leader and -Gasp! What? This cannot stand!” she in front of a shoulder pads store.”Shoulder pads?! Those atrocities will never come back into style. Not if I have anything to say about it. She blasted the store, sending the glass flying. “What’s next High Waist? Bell Bottoms? Are we savages?! “Luna, she’s over here!” Spike called. Rarity looked at me with a face of fury. “Spike, are you responsible for this fashion crime?” she asked. She was about to blast Spike when Luna came in and protected him with her magic. “I’ve been around for a thousand years. Fashion is cyclical.” “Another reason I need to be in charge!” Rarity said. Moonshine and her pokemon came up, "Rarity stop! This isn't you!" she called, trying to snap her back but it was no use. “I know who I am. A pony who fights any crime to fashion, which includes you!” Rarity fried a blast of magic at them but Luna countered with her shield. “You and your sister will be in the Donation bun, Luna.” “That’s Princess Luna.” Luna said Meanwhile, Toothless arrived at Zecora’s and he flew into the hut, shutting the door with his tail and shocking Zecora, who wasn't pleased with the sudden entrance. “Have you gone mad!” Zecora exclaimed upset. Sweetie closed the door quickly, “Zecora, some strange water made our friends turn evil and we need your help to change them back. Sweetie Belle said. “Also Fluttershy is leading an army of animals against us because Snowflake accidently stepped on her bunny friend.” Applebloom added. “Your story is quite troubling and the chaos seems to be doubling. We must return ourselves to town and investigate how everything went down.” Zecora said. “We’ll have to get past Fluttershy’s animal army first.” Carrie whimpered. “Open the door and we will escape. We four.” Zecora said. Applebloom opened the door and the animals came in, “That’s a lot of angry foes, complete with an intimidating pose.” Toothless roared at them. Then Zecora walked in, “Zeocra, are you protecting these criminals? They harmed one of my creatures.” Fluttershy growled. “Since when are the animals of the forest exclusively your goods? Now Applebloom-!” Zeocra called. Applebloom tossed some blue dust on the ground and made a large cloud of dust and it allowed them to escape. Back in Ponyville, the fight between Evil Rarity and Princess Luna continued. The fighting wrecked the theaters! Rarity struck Luna down on the ground, "Auntie!" Moonshine cried out before Mudbray charged in with Double Kick and kicked Rarity away from Luna. "Agh, you horrid donkey!" Rarity growled. "Mudbray...!" Mudbray cried before striking her again with Double Kick. That’s when the Crusaders and Toothless came up to us with Zecora “We got Zecora!” Applebloom called. “Thank goodness. At least something was not broken on our way.” Luna said. “Other than the theater. Man, I had tickets to see that Celestia Rap Musical next week, too.” Spike said. “Now is not the time, Spike.” Moonshine deadpanned. “Zecora do you have any insight into how we can rectify this situation?” Luna asked. “I must learn what occurred Before we can understand why our friends morals become blurred Moonshine, you say there was something evil in the springs That made our friends into these evil things?” Zecora rhymed. "Yes, there was this shadow pony that Luna and I encountered before. He used his dark magic to infect the water which then affected my friends." Moonshine said. "Problem is, we don't know how to change them back." Suddenly, Twilight’s voice was heard again. “There shall be no fighting in my kingdom! Stop this disturbance! Stop this fighting!” I think we all shuddered at that announcement except for Rarity, who ran off towards the castle. “I’ve suffered your arrogance long enough, Sparkle. You are not fit to rule, Rarity is!” Suddenly, we all heard.. Drums. “Where are those drums coming from?” Spike asked. Moonshine flew into the air and she could see Fluttershy and an army of animals outside of Ponyville. "Oh no! Fluttershy and her animal army are about to enter Ponyville!" “WHAT?!” Spike and Luna exclaimed. “Believe it she chased us through the Everfree with those critters.” Appleebloom sad. “We’ve gotta change them back to normal!” Suddenly, Pinkie appeared holding a water balloon in her hooves. “Pinkie Pie?!” Kaede exclaimed. “Splash Splash, let’s make a bash!” Pinkie said and she started throwing the balloons. Lucario used it’s aura to scan the balloons “Watch it they have the same water that turned them evil!” Applebloom exclaimed. “Run!” We all ran away while dodging the evil water balloons. “Run! Flee! Scram!” Some of the water balloons hit some of the ponies and they turned evil as well. “Here's a little for you and for you!” Pinkie said. Scootaloo ducked and avoid a water balloon but.. "Princess Luna...!" The balloon struck Luna in the face! “Luna got hit!” Moonshine exclaimed in horror! Luna’s eyes suddenly turned red and her eye pupils were slits and she turned into… “Nightmare Moon has returned!” Nightmare Moon bellowed. “AHAHAHAH!” Everyone stared in horror at the mare of darkness. “And just when things couldn’t get any worse.” Applebloom whimpered. “Free again! No longer am I trapped in that pathetic shell of Luna.” Nightmare Moon said. “Oooh, this has gone much better than I thought it would.” Pinkie hissed. “What are you waiting for? You’re Nightmare Moon Evilly awesome and feared by many. Start making the world burn!” Nightmare Moon turned to Pinkie. “You…” “Oops.” Pinkie said. Nightmare Moon started firing at Pinkie. “My attempt to introduce chaos has returned in an unpredictable way. How ironic!” Pinkie exclaimed. “My reign will be absolute and orderly and dark! There is no room for brightness in it!” Nightmare Moon declared. “Watch out!” Moonshine cried and we scattered to dodged the blasts. “No worries. I'm clearly not that bright!” Pinkie cried out. Zecora and the rest of them ran away. “Under the cart! That’s where we’ll start!” Zecora and Spike hid underneath a cart while the rest of us watched. “Things are going from worse to worser!” Applebloom whimpered. “Tell me about it.” Moonshine stated. “From six bad ponies to seven. We’re heading in the wrong direction.” Sweetie Belle added. “Plus Fluttershy’s animal army.” Pinkie kept dodging Nightmare Moon’s blasts. “Stay still so I can incinerate you!” “I’m crazy-” Pinkie said then she zipped and hid behind a barrel, “But not that crazy.” “Maybe you need glasses.” Pinkie said, holding a paper with different sized letters like the kind you look at when you go to the eye doctor. “Try reading the third line down.” Nightmare Moon kept blasting. “How do I keep missing?” “Because it's funny.” Pinkie said. Finally, Nightmare Moon blasted Pinkie and she crashed to the ground, “Pinkie!” Sweetie Belle cried. “Ooof, that’s not funny. How?" Pinkie groaned. “I aimed from where you weren’t!” Nightmare Moon said. “That’s one less menace In my way. Now to take care of the three in the library.” and Nightmare Moon flew off. We raced over to Pinkie just as Zecora and Spike came out. “We got it!” Spike declared. “The Bellwether dust has turned blue. We can return them to their forms true.” Zecora said. Zecora came over and rubbed the blue water on Pinkie Pie. “Is she alright?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Pinkie Pie isn’t hurt, she will be alright , especially if the cure removes all her spite.” Zecora said as she rubbed Pinkie’s head with the cure. Pinkie came to and her eyes were normal again. “W-What happened?” “That hot springs you and the other bathed in turned you evil.” Moonshine stated. “It was part of a shadow ponys' plot.” “It was horrible. It was like I wasn't in control and not in the good way. Every thought that crossed my mind became action. There was no filter. Horrible. Horrible!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Twilight and Rarity are trying to take over Equestria. Applejack has become an apple baron. Fluttershy is the Lady of Flies and Rainbow-” BOOM! We saw Rainbow smacking about Sonic Rainboom. “And Rainbow Dash is making sonic rainboom and causing destruction!” Spike finished. “But now we know how to make the cure. We can return them to their forms most pure.” Zecora said. “Well I don’t know why the others are, but I’m pretty sure where my sister will be.” Applebloom said. “Where?” Moonshine asked. “This way.” Applebloom lead us to a telegraph shop and we could hear her arguing with another pony, “Don't they know how to read your dots n’ dashes or do you not know how to type? I’m trying to take over Appaloosa hostile-like and make it a subsidiary of Sweet Apple Acres and I can’t do that if you ain’t doing this right!” Applejack yelled. “I’ve got it. I’ve got it. They’re responding now.” the telegraph pony replied. “They say your terms are insane. You’re trying to crash the mark.” “You mean market?!” “No they said ‘Mark’ and nothing else. Odd.” Applejack came out angry, “Assuming this ain't operator error and that’s a big assumption, Maybe -What?” Applejack saw Applebloom, “My own flesh and blood! Bringing down my trading down from the inside! I’d be proud if I weren’t so angry! And chased after her through the streets on Ponyville. She led Applejack right towards Lycanroc who threw the water balloon and she was soaking wet… and back to normal. “Woah.. did I have too much cider? What’s going on here?”. It was so weird taking care of the apples.It became all I cared about. Nothing but apple, apples, apples. “Your love of the farm got twisted and taken over by a bad shadow pony. More on that later. But you’re back on our side now.” I smiled. Then we started hearing drums… What? “What’s with the drums?” Applejack asked. “Those are Fluttershy’s drums of war! If we don’t stop her, then we’re done for!” Spike exclaimed. We could see the animal army from Ponyville. “We’re surrounded by Fluttershy’s adorably cute animal army!” Sweetie said. “She's become an expansionist power.” Scootaloo said. “Worse, those animals will never let us through their lines to cure Fluttershy.” Applebloom sad. “No they won’t! But I know who can get to her. Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said. “But she's still evil.” Scootlaoo reminded. “She loves showing off so much that the water twisted her love too!” “Yes but listening to you and Pinkie. I think I can use her evilness against her.” Applejack said. Soon, the Cursaders set up a target on a tree branch and soon Rainbow Dash was seen flying in. She was aiming for the target and when she hit it, the cure soaked her and she was back to normal, “Eh, I”m soaked and why was I so concerned about showing off?” “No time, Rainbow." Moonshine said. "Fluttershy is about to invade Ponyville with an army of animals." “I got this.” Rainbow took a few baskets of the cure and put it into the clouds and it rained the cure of Flutters, making her normal once more. Thank goodness. “My goodness. What have I done. I’m so embarrassed.” “The antidote rain is soaking the whole town.” Scootaloo said. “Anypony who Pinkie might have turned bad now be back to normal as well as our friends.” Sweetie Belle said. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard and we saw the library covered in a large amount of magic. “Oh no! The Library!” Applebloom exclaimed. “The plan we tried didn’t account for those inside.” Zeocra said. Moonshine spread her wings and she flew off towards the library, "Moonshine!" Spike exclaimed. "NO!" Inside the library, Twilight and Rarity were arguing with one another, “I offer the world order, Rarity. What can you possibly offer?” Twilight exclaimed. “Style! Your world will be dull, gray and uniform where fashion and color should be.” Rarity said. “I will fashion a new world, one that had evolved past such superficial concerns and yes there will be uniforms!” Twilight growled. Both of the mares horns were lit. “You monster!” Rarity stated. Suddenly, Nightmare Moon burst through the ground, “No do I have your attention?” she asked, “You’ve been on the dark side of life for mere days but I had a thousands years and I have learned some things in that time. Like to be patient and wait to let your enemies tire themselves out. And that Equestria is a big place. And so its big enough for all of us. We could fight each other that way you have been, do some damage, only one of us surviving weakened… and capable of being defeated by my sister. So I propose we agree or disagree. Let’s divided into thirds. I’ll take Canterlot so I can deal with my sister.” “Give me Manhattan and Ponies East. The coast is the place for me, where I can really show off my style.” Rarity said. “That gives me Ponyville and the countryside. Fine by me. These simple folk in flyover country will benefit most from my leadership.” Twilight said. “What?!” Nightmare Moon growled. “Why would we ever listen to you?” “Because I’m more powerful than either of you and I can offer you everything you want.” Twilight said. Suddenly, Moonshine burst into the library, "Not on my watch!" she exclaimed. The three growled at the sight of her, "What do you want?!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed. Moonshine's Element of Hope glowed brightly, "I'm getting my family back!" Moonshine exclaimed and her Element of Hope sent out a rainbow beam at the three and created a large explosion inside the library. Just then, Spike and the others came in and found Luna, Twilight and Rarity... all back to normal. "Twilight..!" Spike exclaimed as he hugged Twilight. "Auntie!" Moonshine raced over and hugged her aunt who hugged her back. "Thank you, Moonshine." "What? But I though of everything. Everything! Every-- Oh no! What have I done!" Twilight gasped. "Fortunately, you got smarter not funnier. And comedy is surprise." Pinkie Pie reassured. Twilight looked very ashamed as Luna came over to her, "I thought I was so intelligent and so full of myself. I thought I deserved to rule." "Your confidence and intelligence are your strengths, Twilight that the shadow pony twisted." Luna stated. "We all know how you're feeling, Twilight." Rainbow said. "We were all turned into the worst versions of ourselves." "Our best qualities become our sinister assets." Luna continued, "Comfort yourself knowing that it was just the shadow pony that turned you and not your own jealousy and arrogance. That is very hard to live with. “Now my question is are you still super smart.” Spike said and he opened the door, Smart enough to returned everyponys’ intelligence?” Twilight nodded and placed a high tech helmet on her head, “Even though I never expected to use it, I was clever enough to build this with a reserve switch.” she liked it and the helmet lit up and everypony’s intelligence was returned. Soon, Twilight and the others fixed what they did wrong in Ponyville. “I think that’s the last of it. Everything as normal as we can make it..” Sootlaloo said. “Do you wonder what it would have been like if we would have turned evil? We have still have been friends?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Oh there, would have been a place for all of you in my kingdom.” Applebloom said. Mayor Mare was talking with Twilight. “We now you all weren't acting of your own accord. Those waters and that shadow pony affected you. And you’ve fixed everything you could.” “No we still have one more thing.” Twilight said. Then they all went back to the hot springs with Zecora and Luna. “I can feel the dark magic coming from these waters. Its Effervescent.” “I feel the darkness too. Evil in these waters too.” Zecora said. Equestria has been home to all sorts of magic spells. I fear those energies may have corrupted these walls. A type of mystical pollution, but I have a solution.” She put her long spear in the water, “The proper potion will remove all this negative emotion. The right spell and all will be well and this cursed spring will no longer be a thing.” the water glowed for a moment before it stopped. “Did that do it?” Rarity asked. Twilight looked at it and Pinkie pushed her in. Ker-Splash! “Seriously! Again?!” Twilight said annoyed. “How are you feeling? Evil?” Spike asked. Twilight shook her head and then used her magic to pull Pinkie in. “Did you do that because you’re evil?” Spike asked. “No I did it because it as funny.” Twilight smirked. “I believe I will take my leave of you. You’ve all been through so much, but I believe your friendship will carry you through.” Luna said. “A friendship which fortunately wasn’t disturbed by the evil water.” “Fortunately Princess? Why do you say that?” Flutters asked. “Because if you six had stayed evil and worked together.” Luna spread her wings and flew into the air. “I have no doubt you’d have been unstoppable.” she finished as she went back to Canterlot. "So what's about this Shadow Pony, Moonshine?" Applejack asked. Twilight and Moonshine looked at each other, "Girls.... we have a new threat to Equestria..." Twilight said to the girls. "The Shadow Pony wants to do something with Moonshine that we don't know yet." "Well is this creep wants to get her, he'll have to get passed us first!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Yeah!" the girls cheered. Special Event: The Mean SixIn the Everfree Forest, near the Castle of the Two Sisters, the shadow pony from Moonshine's dream was surrounded by six trees, chuckling to himself. "With this new spell I've mastered, I'll be able to take care of that meddling princess and started to execute my plan..." the shadow pony replied, removing his hood to reveal his midnight black coat with his greyish mane and a scar over his left eye. "With this new spell, I can make a copy of anypony I choose... and I know just the ponies who can takedown that meddling princess.." he held up six photos in his magic.... and they were of Twilight and the Mane 5! The shadow pony placed the pictures on each of the six trees and used his magic to engrave each of their cutie marks underneath the pictures. "This spell will allow my clones to come to life and do my bidding. And once the other phases are in place, I'll force that princess into my grasp where she'll meet her doom..! Hahaha...!" he laughed and he activated the spell and it struck all the trees, making them split open and allowed the copies to be created. The copies all looked like the Mane 6 but they were duller in color by little. The six clones exited the trees and stood before the shadow pony. "Hahaha....! Alright you six... here's what I want you to do..." Meanwhile, high above the sky, Moonshine was flying through the fluffy white clouds with Toothless. Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff were smiling happily from the back of Toothless. The Night Fury was excited to be flying on his own like before. Toothless gave a loud roar in happiness and Moonshine smiled at him, "Having fun, huh bud?" Moonshine asked, earning a happy coo from Toothless. "Hahaha." Moonshine chuckled. The group all flew down through the clouds and they glided into the center of Ponyville. "That was our best flight yet!" Moonshine cheered happily. Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff agreed happily. They were unaware that the Mean Six were watching them. "Ugh, spying on some lame alicorn, this is the worst day ever." Mean Pinkie grumbled before Mean Fluttershy kicked dirt in her face, "No. Now it's the worst day ever hahaha..!" she laughed. "That Element on her head is mine!" Mean Rarity claimed. "Quiet, you imbeciles.." Mean Twilight snapped at them. "She'll hear us..." "Ugh... why should I care.." Mean Rainbow grumbled, laying on her back, uninterested in this. "Because once we get the power of her Element along with the others and that alicorn, no creature, not even "our Master" can tell us what to do. Just follow my lead. Got it?" Mean Twilight stated to others who smiled evily and chuckled. Then Mean Twilight walked out into the open. "Oh, hi Twilight." Moonshine greeted. "Hello Moonshine..." Mean Twilight said. "How are you doing today?" "I'm doing great. I just finished flying with my friends." Moonshine smiled before she looked confused for a moment. "Is there a problem?" Mean Twilight asked. "Are you okay? You look duller than usual..?" Moonshine asked, noticing how duller Twilight looked than normal. "I'm fine, Moonshine. Don't you worry. I was wondering if you tell me something." "Okay, what is it..?" Moonshine asked as Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff looked at 'Twilight'. "I was wondering if you could tell me where the Elements of Harmony are...?" Twilight asked her with a narrowed look. Moonshine gave her a confused look, "Don't you already know, Twilight? They're locked inside one of the Canterlot Towers." "Hmm.. then why do you still have yours?" Mean Twilight questioned. "Uh... because my Element bonded with me and it positioned myself on my head where my mother, auntie and I decided to let it stay." Moonshine explained. "Shouldn't you already know this? I told you this like two months ago." "I do remember. It doesn't hurt to get a reminder does it...?" Mean Twilight asked. "Hmm... I guess not.." Moonshine smiled. "Anyway, I'm gonna go to the library to read and work on an invention. Bye.." Moonshine started to walk away but Mean Twilight reappeared in front of her. "Wait. Why don't I come with you? We both live in there don't we?" "Yes. You can come too. I guess.." Moonshine said. "Excellent..." Mean Twilight smiled as she watched Moonshine go on ahead. Then the rest of the Mean Six came over. "Good. I manage to get her to trust me. Now we can find out all her secrets and weakness while 'Our Master' finishes the rest of his phases. Once everything is in place, we'll get rid of the 'Princess' and steal her Element along with the others.." Mean Twilight explained with an evil grin. The Mean Six laughed evily together. "What should we do with her three stupid creatures..?" Mean Fluttershy questioned. "They might be on to us soon.." "Just let me take care of that..." Mean Twilight said. "Now come, let's go see her library..." and the Mean Six followed their leader after Moonshine. Moonshine entered her library followed by Mean Twilight. Moonshine then went downstairs into her lab where she was working on something. Mean Twilight noticed a pedestal with what looked to be saddle on it. "Whose the saddle for?" Mean Twilight asked. "It's for Toothless." Moonshine replied, looking over her schematics of the saddle. "Toothless?" Mean Twilight questioned before she saw the Night Fury hanging upside down like a bat on one of the ceiling supports. "Yeah. I decided to try and make a saddle with some cool weapons inside of it. So when I fly on him. I don't have rely on my magic and he won't have to use up all of his plasma blasts." Moonshine stated as she screwed in some parts. Mean Twilight smiled, interested. "What kind of weapons..?" she asked, rubbing her hooves together. "Shouldn't you know? You suggested that I make this." Moonshine questioned, focusing on her project. "Ooh! Yeah, but I may need just a small refresher. If you don't mind.." Mean Twilight stated. "Well...It includes a laser that can shoot either fire, lightning or water, depending on the setting I turn it to. We also agreed that we should include handlebars so that I can hold on it." Moonshine explained with a smile.. Mean Twilight saw a small robotic laser on the table in front of her with a large opening in the front and three large holes in the side. Moonshine then used her magic and created a yellow, red and blue orb with her magic. One for lightning. One for fire and one for water. Mean Twilight looked surprised as she placed the orbs inside of the holes and the laser lit up in the colors, yellow, red and blue. Once the glowing stopped, Moonshine wiped her forehead. "Phew.. that one took some out of me.." she said before she attached the laser to a small hatched that was located on the side of the saddle. "Hehe.. once I'm done, its' going to be awesome..!" "Yes.. I'm sure it will..." Mean Twilight agreed with a smirk. "I'm gonna go upstairs and read for a bit, I'll be back..." Moonshine nodded and Mean Twilight exited the room... not noticing that Toothless was staring at her with narrowed eyes and decided to follow her. Mean Twilight came back into the library and found the rest of her 'friends'. "So what did she tell you?" Mean Rainbow questioned in a bored voice. "She told me she's working on a saddle for her dragon friend. 'Our Master' was right about her having great magic and her being the daughter of Celestia and niece of Luna. Speaking of which.. let's see if he completed side of his plan..." Mean Twilight then used her magic and made a small communication portal and the Shadow Pony appeared on the other side. "Mean Six, have you completed your assignment..?" he asked. "Not yet. Moonshine was foolish enough to believe we're her friends and we're inside her home right now. She's revealed the location of the other Elements." Mean Twilight said. "Excellent. Stay with her." the Shadow Pony ordered. "I've already completed my phases, but you must retrieve the Elements of Harmony and Moonshine's to make my plan a complete success..! Hahahah...!" the Shadow Pony laughed before the communication was cut. Toothless gasped at the conversation before he slipped back downstairs without any of the Mean Six noticing. That's when Moonshine came back upstairs. "Hi Twilight. Oh! Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, I didn't know you all were here too." "We uh... decided that... uh... you wanted some company." Mean Applejack stated with a smile. "Oh. Okay. I was just about to get some lunch with my mother and auntie in Canterlot. If you guys wanna come, then that would be nice.." Moonshine offered. Mean Twilight smiled. "Of course we'd like to come." Moonshine smiled and soon the group were on the train heading towards Canterlot. When they arrived, they entered the palace throne room, "Mom, Auntie Luna. I here for our lunch date.." Moonshine gently called out, searching for her mother and auntie. However, she didn't see them on their usual thrones. "Hmm.. weird.. must already be there.." Moonshine said. "Moonshine, if I remember correctly, you said the Elements of Harmony are inside one of the towers in Canterlot?" Mean Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded, "If you guys want to see them again, then that's okay.." The Mean Six nodded, while Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff narrowed their eyes at the 'Mane 6'. Moonshine took the girls the tower where she opened the doors and lead them down the long hallway to the doors that held the Elements of Harmonys' chest. "This door is protected by a spell that only my mom and I can break. One sec." Moonshine placed her horn inside the lock and used her magic to unlock the door. The door opened revealing the Element of Harmonys' chest. "Perfect.." Mean Twilight stated. Moonshine levitated the chest in her magic before Mean Twilight snatched it her magic! "Twilight! What are you-?" Moonshine gasped as 'Twilight' broke the chest and gave the Elements of Harmony to the Mean Six. "What are you doing?!" Moonshine exclaimed. "We're taking the Elements of Harmony, you idiot." Mean Fluttershy growled. "B-But I thought we were friends!" Moonshine exclaimed, horrified. "We're not you're friend exactly. We work for the Shadow Pony. Hahah..!" Mean Twilight explained. "We're nothing more than dopplegangers to your weakling friends.." Moonshine gasped in horror while Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff growled at them. "G-Give back the Elements!" Moonshine exclaimed, but Mean Twilight smiled evily before she and the Mean Six activated the Elements! Moonshine gasped in horror, knowing what they were going to do. "Say goodbye...!" Mean Twilight laughed as the group tried to blast her... but the Elements stopped glowing..! "What..?" Mean Twilight exclaimed, tapping hers. "Why aren't they working..?" Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Harmony glowed and shot out a beam at the Element of Magic which connected to the other Elements and they all detached themselves from the Mean Six and floated over and above Moonshine's head. "What is the meaning of this...?" Mean Twilight growled. "I-I don't know..." Moonshine stammered, seeing the six angry mares. "Give us those Elements..!" Mean Rarity growled. "They're mine!" The six mares moved forwards to take the Elements from her but Toothless fired a plasma blast at them, forcing them back while Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff stood in front of her. "Soo... it seems the Elements act in the same way as yours Moonshine..." Moonshine and the Mean Six turned and saw the Shadow Pony from before in the room! "W-What are you doing here, Shadow Pony?!" The Shadow Pony laughed, "The name is Midnight, thank you very much. As for what I'm doing? I simply created the Mean Six so that you would be foolish enough to think of them as your real friends and take them to the Elements of Harmony so they could steal them and yours, but it seems the Elements are bonded to your friends just like your pathetic Element. However, that gave me enough research to create these..." Midnight revealed six more Elements but they were all black and they matched the Mean Six's cutie marks. "The Elements of Disharmony..! Normality, Greed, Cruelty, Despair, Disloyalty, and Deceit…!" he placed the Elements of Disharmony on their respective ponies. Element of Deceit - Mean Applejack Element of Disloyalty - Mean Rainbow Dash. Element of Cruelty - Mean Fluttershy Element of Despair - Mean Pinkie Pie. Element of Greed - Mean Rarity. And Element of Normality - Mean Twilight. "I made them just as powerful as the Elements of Harmony. With these at our disposal, we'll rule Equestria and finally take out you... girls..?" Midnight questioned with an evil smile. The girls smiled evily at Moonshine, who gulped nervously. They got into formation and activated the Elements, floating up in the air, just like Twilight and her friends would. "Oh.. and by the way... your friends and family are currently imprisoned in Tartarus. But you won't be around to rescue them! Hahaha..! Let her have it..!" Midnight yelled and the Mean Six unleashed the power of the Elements of Disharmony on Moonshine, who braced herself for the impact before everything turned black...! Moonshine shivered in fear, thinking that she got blasted by the Mean Six and their Elements of Disharmony, but... "Rockruff...!" "R-R-Rockruff...?" Moonshine called out. "Rockruff..!" Rockruff barked and Moonshine felt a small wet snout nuzzling her arm. Moonshine carefully opened her eyes and saw a rainbow colored shield around her, Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff! "What...?" Moonshine asked in awe. Moonshine them saw the other six Elements of Harmony floating in front of her, still glowing in their mystical way. "T-The Elements of Harmony protected us from the Elements of Disharmony...!" she realized in awe. The Elements dropped the protective shield and Moonshine noticed the Mean Six and Midnight were gone! "Oh no... they're gone...!" Moonshine gasped, before she remembered what Midnight said just before the blast. "M-My friends and family m-must be in Tartarus... Oh no..! I-I gotta do something..." Moonshine stammered. "B-But I can't go up against the Mean Six and their Elements! I only have one Element that I can control. I need Twilight and the others to activate the other Elements.. oooh.. what am I gonna do...?" Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff looked at each other with concern. Twilight and the Mane 5 were the only ones who could control the other six Elements of Harmony, but without them, they were useless. Now Moonshine had to rescue her friends and family by herself with only her Element. It wouldn't be a fair fight. Seven versus four! They would get clobbered in no time! Suddenly, the Elements of Magic, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter and Honesty glowed on their own once more and so did Moonshine and her four creature friends, "Uh.. what's happening..?" Moonshine whimpered in fear before the Element whisked them off to Celestia knows where. Meanwhile, in Tartarus. Twilight and the Mane 5 along with Celestia and Luna were all locked in a cage together. Twilight, Rarity, Celestia and Luna had anti-magic rings on their horns, preventing them from using their magic while Rainbow and Fluttershy had braces on their wings, preventing them from flying as well. Celestia and Luna had the braces as well. "Aw... why the long faces...?" Midnight smirked as he and the Mean Six appeared behind him. "I thought you'd be happy as my prisoners.." "Yeah right." Rainbow Dash stated. "Why are you doing this, Midnight?" Twilight growled. "Why?" Midnight scoffed before he laughed. "You all know why! So I can get rid of that Princess Moonshine and finally rule all of Equestria!" "You will never rule in Equestria." Celestia replied with an upset look on her face. "Oh yes he will, your majesties.." Mean Twilight mocked. "With these Elements of Disharmony, we'll destroy all of Equestria taking it by force. Hahaha...!" "You bullies will be sorry when Moonshine gets here and kicked your butts!" Pinkie Pie yelled in anger, jumping up and down. "You mean the Moonshine that my girls blasted to smithereens with their Elements of Disharmony?" Midnight smirked, earning a horrified shock from everyone. "That weak excuse for a Princess is long gone by now.." Mean Fluttershy smirked and laughed. "No...." Celestia whispered in shock. "Eh believe it. If those lame Elements didn't make a shield around her last second.." Mean Pinkie Pie laying on the ground, uninterested, but it caught everyone's attention. "What was that?!" Mean Twilight snapped. "Those lame Elements made a shield around her and her pests. No big deal." Mean Pinkie deadpanned. "It is a big deal! You imbecile! That means she's still out there!" Mean Twilight snapped at Pinkie Pie, yanking her up to her hooves. "Oh, don't worry about her.. without her 'friends' controlling the other Elements of Harmony, she only had one Element to use against our six Elements." Midnight smirked. "She would not be that foolish to challenge us knowing we've got the advantage." "Ooooh! Just you wait! Moonshine will kick you butts for sure!" Rainbow exclaimed before she turned to the Mean Six. "Especially you six!" Mean Rainbow yawned, "Wake me up when I care..." she groaned before she curled up and took a nap. "Hahaha... even a Princess like her wouldn't be that dumb and naive to come here, knowing that it houses Equestria's most dangerous creatures and villains." Midnight smirked before he turned his back to them. "Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some conquering to do..." The Mean Six smirked before they left with their master. Mean Rainbow was dragged along by Mean Fluttershy. "Ugh... this sucks! We're locked in here while those creeps are gonna go after Moonshine and destroy her..!" Rainbow growled, frustrated with their current situation. "But you heard what our dopplegangers said, our Elements of Harmony protected Moonshine from their Elements of Disharmony." Twilight pointed out. "Meaning, if Moonshine can find a way to control the six of them, then she'll be evenly matched with the Mean Six." "Let us hope you are right, my faithful student." Celestia said. "For Equestria and my daughters' sake." Back with Moonshine, she rubbed her eyes and to clear her vision and she found herself and her friends in a cave with purple diamonds all around the walls and small pools and plants near the bottom. Moonshine turned around and she was greeted with a large crystalline tree with five branches with hole in them and the center of the tree had a star hole in the middle. The trunk of the tree had the markings of the sun and moon as well. "Woah.... what's this...?" Suddenly, the Tree glowed and appeared a sparkling version of Twilight Sparkle. "Hello there..." she greeted in a mystical tone. "W-Who are you...?" Moonshine questioned. "I am the Tree of Harmony..." "The Tree of Harmony..?" Moonshine asked, confused. The sparkling Twilight nodded, "I sensed that you need some help.." "Boy, do I. The Shadow Pony that I saw in my dreams created dopplegangers of my friends and they control six Elements that are the complete opposite of my friends and had very powerful dark magic in them. Now my friends and family are trapped in Tartarus and I'm the only one who can save them, but I only have control over my Element, not Twilights' or the others." Moonshine explained. Astral Twilight nodded, "I see. I sensed a great deal of dark magic, but you don't have to worry about that because your Element can counter the Elements of Disharmony." "H-How..?" Moonshine asked confused. "Your Element of Harmony, The Element of Hope, is the combination of all the Elements that grew from me. Making it just as powerful as all six combined, meaning you don't need all seven Elements to unleashed great power. Using your Element of Harmony, you can counter the Mean Six's Elements of Disharmony." Moonshine was surprised.. "So.. the Elements... came from you...?" Astral Twilight nodded, "I grew the Elements of Harmony and I created yours, Moonshine." Moonshine was speechless, "But.. why did they protect me from the Mean Six all on their own?" she questioned. "Since your Element of Hope is created by the six original Elements of Harmony, they are all connected and bonded to you in a way, meaning they'll act on their own to protect you from harm." Astral Twilight explained. Moonshine looked at the six floating Elements in awe. "Now it is time for you to rescue what is rightfully yours, Moonshine. I believe in you..." Astral Twilight said before she vanished in a flash of light. When Moonshine and the others looked they saw Twilight and the others Elements of Harmony, except for Moonshine’s floated out of their necklaces and crown and magically float back into their rightful places in the Tree of Harmony. “Wow..” Moonshine gasped in awe before a loud explosion was heard. “What?” Moonshine and the others rushed out of the cave and saw smoke rising in Ponyville. Moonshine teleported everyone there where she gasped in horror... the Golden Oak Library was destroyed! There’s was nothing left of it but a large piece of wood. All the books were either destroyed or smoking and burning from the blast. Moonshine was horrified. The culprits revealed themselves laughing at her, “Sorry Moonshine..” Mean Twilight bragged. “Guess you’re homeless now.. hahaha...!” Moonshine saw the six of them and snarled. “You’ll lay for this..!” she yelled and Toothless roared in agreement along with Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff. “Hahaha... is like to see you try..” Mean Twilight said before she teleported everyone to Tartarus, where Twilight and the other saw them. “Moonshine!” “Moony!” Twilight and Pinkie called. Midnight then appeared before the Mean Six, “So you were foolish enough to bring challenge us. Just like how you were foolish enough to bring my minions to your Elements of Harmony.” “You’ll pay for destroying Twilights’ and my home!” Moonshine yelled and Twilight gasped in horror. “Our home is... gone...” Midnight laughed, “Did you forget about one thing..?” Midnight looked at the girls and the Mean Six got into formation and activated the Elements of Disharmony. Moonshine snarled and her Element of Hope activated and she floated up in the air as well. The Mean Six blasted their combined beam at Moonshine and she countered with her own rainbow beam from her Element of Hope. The two beams collided and were at a standstill one struggling to overpower the other. Moonshine concentrated hard and her eyes glowed white and her beam increased tenfold! It overpowered the Mean Six’s beam and caused a large explosion that blinded everyone. After a couple of minutes, Moonshine floated back down into the ground and she didn’t see any sign of the Mean Six and Midnight. She did see Twilight and the others coming to, now with the braces and anti-magic rings destroyed in the blast. “That was awesome...!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You wiped the floor with them!” “Outstanding!” Luna added. “That was Moontastic!” Pinkie Pie added. “Woo-wee That Element of yours matched there’s ten fold!” Applejack added. “It was simply gorgeous, darling.” Rarity added. “Excellent, honey..” Princess Celestia said. The only one who didn’t praise her was Twilight who stammered to Moonshine, “Moonshine... our home...” Moonshine’s face turned grim and she teleported everypony to the remains of the library. Everyone gasped in horror seeing the destroyed library and home of their friends. “H-How...?” Twilight gasped. “The Mean Six... they destroyed it...” Moonshine replied grimly. Twilight was in such despair at the loss of her home... however her face suddenly turned... to one of anger as she glared at Moonshine. “Moonshine, how could you..?!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed at her in anger. “You lead the enemies right to the Elements of Harmony and now we’ve lost our home cause of you!” “W-Wha-?!” Moonshine stammered. “You just can’t stop being so naive, kind and generous that you can’t even see an evil plot from a mile away!” she yelled in anger. “B-But I-“ “You need to stop being so sweet to everypony you meet! We told you this before and you didn’t listen and now we’ve lost our home because of you and more villains are out there bent on destroying Equestria, all because of your pathetic behavior!” “P-Pathetic..” Moonshine whispered, horrified. “Ugh...! YES IT PATHETIC! YOU ARE JUST SO PATHETIC! NO DAUGHTER OR NIECE OF THE RULERS OF EQUESTRIA WOULD LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN! CELESTIA AND LUNA WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU...!” Twilight yelled in complete rage. Everyone gasped in horror at her last sentence and Moonshine felt her heart split in two... Moonshine just stood there... froze in horror a what Twilight just said. Tears started to pour from her eyes and she just closed her eyes and yelled back, “IF THAT’S HOW YOU FEEL THAN I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU! OR ANY OF YOU! IF YOU THINK THAT I’M WORTHLESS, PATHETIC AND A HORRIBLE DAUGHTER AND NIECE AND WANT ME GONE, AND OUT OF YOUR LIVES, THEN FINE!” Moonshine screamed at the top of her lungs with tears raining down from her eyes. Moonshine ran away into what was left of their home and she packed everything including her pokemon and everything from her lab, including her saddle for Toothless. Then, she just ran out with tears poring from her eyes and pushed past Twilight and the others as she ran off and out of Ponyville. “.... Twilight! I can’t believe you would say such a horrible thing!” Applejack snapped at her, shocking Twilight. “What we were all thinking it.” Twilight growled. “No we weren’t! That was totally out of line. She saved our lives and all of Equestria!” Rainbow added. “We wouldn’t need saving if she would have just acted correctly.” Twilight growled. “Darling, you cannot blame Moonshine for losing your home. It was that ruffian Midnight and the Mean Six!” Rarity added. “You just said the most hurtful thing to Moony!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with her mane flattened. “I didn’t know you could go so low, Twilight.” “You should have be thankful for Moonshine, the only friend you ever had before us but you went ahead and pointed out all her flaws and called her a mistake to Celestia and Luna!” Fluttershy yelled with surpassing anger and tears in her eyes. “How could you?! Moonshine risked everything to save us and instead of praising her you just broke her heart! You monster!” Twilight’s friends then just walked away from Twilight, furious with her for how she treated Moonshine after saving them and all of Equestria. Celestia and Luna turned away as well. “Come on sister, let’s go find Moonshine and show her that some ponies appreciate her..” Celestia said, giving Twilight a glare. Twilight folded her ears at her mentors’ glare. “Yeah.. us to girls... let’s go find Moonshine or as Twilight called her ‘pathetic’.” Applejack snarled as she looked at back the mare. With that, the girls and the Princesses left. Twilight just stared at them... frozen for a moment.. before she fell on her rump.... and started to cry.... because of her anger and ignorance.. she just lost her best friend... possibly... forever... Deep in the Everfree Forest, far from Ponyville, Moonshine just laid there in a clearing, sobbing while covering her face. She could still hear the hurtful things Twilight said to her. “You just can’t stop being so naive, kind and generous that you can’t even see an evil plot from a mile away!” “You need to stop being so sweet to everypony you meet! We told you this before and you didn’t listen and now we’ve lost our home because of you and more villains are out there bent on destroying Equestria, all because of your pathetic behavior!” “YOU ARE JUST SO PATHETIC! NO DAUGHTER OR NIECE OF THE RULERS OF EQUESTRIA WOULD LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN! CELESTIA AND LUNA WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU...!” Moonshine sniffled and sobbed some more, just thinking about her best friend saying such things to her, broke her heart even more, leaving her feeling useless. Moonshine sniffled and she wiped her tears. Toothless, Lycanroc, Mudbray and Rockruff looked at her with such worry. They've never seen her this.... broken before.... "M-Maybe Twilight's right... maybe I just too nice for my own well being. Maybe everyone is better off without me..." Moonshine thought grimly to herself. Then, to Toothless, Lycanroc, Mudbray and Rockruffs' shock... Moonshine lost all color in her fur, mane and tail, becoming completely grey. A tear dropped from her eye and it was in the shape of a broken heart...! "Moonshine..!" "Moonshine, honey..!" Moonshine didn't react when she heard her mother, auntie and her friends coming up to her. "Hey sugarcube.." Applejack said. "What Twilight said to you was way out of line. We're grateful that you helped save us and all of Equestria." "Yeah, so.. why don't you come back to Ponyville..?" Rainbow asked with a hopeful smile. "Why would I go back to a place where nobody wants me." Moonshine replied in a rude tone, much to the groups' shock. "It's obvious no one wants me around because I'm just too nice and pathetic for my own good or for the good of Equestria." "W-What? Moonshine, no you're not!" Applejack exclaimed. "Yeah, we like you just the way you are, Moony." Pinkie stated. "Don't let what meanie Twilight said get to you.." "Too late..." Moonshine grumbled before she grabbed her stuff. "I just a pathetic alicorn. I don't even deserve a mother and auntie like Celestia and Luna..." Moonshine then took off her Elements of Hope and gave it to Celestia. "Here... give it a daughter more deserving...." and she just trotted off. Toothless and the others looked at the group with a worried look before they followed Moonshine. "Oh dear... this is more serious than I thought." Luna stated with great worry. "Did anypony else notice how grey Moonshine was?" Rainbow questioned. "Yeah, and she acted the total opposite of how she usually acts.." Fluttershy said. "I wonder why?" "Well isn't it obvious..?" another voice came and in front of the group appeared a draconequus! He has a deer antler on the right, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang, different-sized pupils, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. He has the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, he has a bat's right wing, a Pegasus' left wing, a horse's mane, and a dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of his body resembles that of a snake. "Discord?!" Everyone exclaimed, seeing the draconequus floating in the air on his back. "Hello everypony.." Discord grinned. "What are you doing here?!" Celestia exclaimed. "My sister and I sealed you away!" "Well that little spell of yours broken once you lost your connection with the Elements of Harmony..." Discord grinned. "But rather than start creating chaos like I would, I couldn't help but overhear Twilight and Moonshine major fall out. Hahaha! Hilarious!" "Enough of your games, Discord." Luna grumbled. "Do you know what's wrong with thou niece?" "It's obvious that Twilight broke Moonshine's heart by claiming that being herself basically lead to Equestria nearly being destroyed, triggered Hopeless Magic inside of herself turning herself grey." Discord explained. "Woah, woah, woah..... so you mean to tell us that Moonshine basically shunned everything flaw about herself because of her fight with Twilight, creating this.. Hopeless Magic that turned her into the opposite of who she really is?" Rainbow repeated. "That's correct, my dear Rainbow Dash.." Discord stated. Celestia and Luna were shocked and horrified at the same time. Their daughter/niece was completely taken over by Hopeless Magic. Hopeless Magic is a unique form of dark magic where the subject lose hope due to thinking that they were worthless to their home. Since Moonshine thought that she was too nice for Equestria's well being, she ended up shunning every quality that makes her Moonshine, thus creating Hopeless Magic inside of herself. "Oh honey..." Celestia sighed sadly. "Is there a way to reverse the Hopeless Magic?" Fluttershy asked. "The only way to reverse such magic is if you can get Moonshine to see that her flaws are useful to Equestria instead of being useless." Discord stated. "And I suggest starting with the pony who caused all of this..." and then Discord teleported away. "... Twilight..." the Mane 5 said together. Back at the ruined Golden Oak Library, Twilight was sniffling, feeling very guilty and remorse about what she said to her best friend. She let her anger of losing her home take control and now she ruined her longest friendship. "What have I done..." Twilight sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes. "Twilight.." Twilight sniffled and turned to see the Mane 5 and the two Princesses walking towards her. Twilight wiped her eyes again and turned to face them. "H-Hi.... I know what I did to Moonshine was extremely out of line, selfish and goes against everything I've learned about friendship so far. I was so angry about losing our home and at Midnight and the Mean Six for everything they've put us through that I took it all out on Moonshine, thinking that her kindness and generosity blinded her from seeing the truth about the Mean Six. I never should have said such things to her, especially that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't deserve her. I'm so so sorry..." Twilight lowered her head in great shame. The group looked at each other and then back at Twilight. Applejack then walked up to her and lifted her head gently, "I can see that you were truly honest with your apology, Twi, but the one who you should really apologize to is Moonshine. Because of you, she created her own Hopeless Magic, causing her turn grey and actually believe everything you said to her.." Twilight looked shocked at Applejack's words. Rainbow then came up to her, "Yeah, Discord said that because of you, Moonshine shunned every quality that makes her who she is and you have to fix this.." Twilight, still looking ashamed, nodded at Rainbow Dash. "R-Right..." However.. "Oh... going so soon..." The group gasped and turned seeing the Mean Six and Midnight standing behind them! "What they hay-?" Applejack exclaimed. "You didn't really think that one Element could take us down.." Mean Twilight smirked. "I created these ponies with powerful dark magic. The Elements of Disharmony I created gives these ponies, so that they could withstand Moonshine's pathetic attempt to defeat them." Midnight smirked before he laughed. "And I should thank you for doing the second to last phase of my plan for me.." "What phase?" Rainbow growled. "I knew that as long as Moonshine is who she is that wouldn't stop fighting to protect the ones she loves. But with her little argument with Twilight, she was able to break her heart by telling her that she's useless and pathetic , putting everypony and Equestria at risk, breaking her heart completely and shunning everything that made her willing to fight. Without her, you ponies are defenseless.. hahahaha!" Midnight laughed before she blasted the girls, created a cage around them and chaining them to the bars of the cage. "Now I believe its time that my minions finish off that pony for good.." Midnight nodded at the Mean Six and they laughed evily before they went off to find Moonshine and finish her off. "Leave Moonshine alone! She's my friend!" Twilight yelled. "Ha! If she was really your friend then why did you say she was useless and pathetic cause she was always too nice, huh?" Midnight scoffed with a raised eyebrow. Twilight winced at his point before she looked ashamed again, "You even blame her for the lost of your precious home! You said that just by being herself she's a threat to Equestria just as much as we are! You made her believe that she was worthless. Now tell me.. what friend would do that....?" Twilight closed her eyes and she sat down, defeated and a tear fell from her eye... "N-No friend...." and she started quietly sobbing. Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy came around Twilight and comforted her as Midnight smirked. "Hahaha... you know whose really pathetic... you all! You think that 'friendship is magic' well, it's not! Friendship is nothing more than a waste. And once I conquer this miserable land, you'll see what real magic is...! Hahahaha....!" The Princess narrowed their eyes at Midnight. "You'll never prevail, Midnight.." Celestia growled. "Oh won't I...?" Midnight smirked, turning to see the Mean Six returning with Moonshine tied up and with Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff in a cage as well! Celestia and Luna gasped in horror while Midnight laughed. Mean Twilight dropped Moonshine on the ground and she just had a blank, emotionless expression on her face. The Mean Six backed off as Midnight went over to her and Moonshine looked back up at her before she looked away. "Hahaha....! Excellent work, Twilight Sparkle, you've completely broken her spirit, making her the perfect target.. to be destroyed..." Midnight hissed as he lit his horn with dark magic. "No..!" Celestia exclaimed in horror. However... Moonshine's Element of Hope suddenly glowed on its own and sent it own blast at Midnight, knocking him back from Moonshine. "What?!" Midnight snarled. The Element of Hope then came in front of Moonshine... as did Astral Twilight. "Moonshine... I sense Hopeless Magic in your heart... you must fight against it to save your family..." "What's the point... I'm useless... I'm too nice for Equestria's own being... I don't deserve to be a Princess..." Moonshine said in a monotone voice. "Yes you do.... Princesses are kind and loyal to their family and subjects. You stood up to Nightmare Moon to bring back your mother. You saved Twilight and her friends from their evil selves when you could have let them take over Equestria... being yourself is not useless to Equestria. It's what makes Equestria stronger..." Moonshine looked at Astral Twilight for a moment and thought about what it said.... and her color returned to normal and she sat up. "Y-You're right..." Moonshine stated with a small smile on her face. Astral Twilight smiled The Element of Hope floated over to Moonshine and engulfed her body in a rainbow glow. Everypony shielded their eyes at the light.. and when it was gone, everypony gasped in awe. Moonshine was now wearing armor on her body! She had four golden shoes on her hooves, like Luna's but they had the symbols of the Elements of Generosity, Kindness, Laughter and Honesty on them. She wore body armor as well that was also golden and it had the symbols of the Elements of Loyalty and Magic on the back. Finally, her crown was shimmering brightly on her head behind her horn. Rarity and the girls were amazed by her new look while Midnight and the Mean Six growled at her. The Mean Six activated their Elements of Disharmony and fired a blast at Moonshine, but her Element countered their beam and she added their own magic to the blast, striking the Mean Six and sending them flying far, far, far away from Ponyville. Moonshine then aimed her beam at Midnight, "Nooo....!" Midnight screamed as her Elements magic engulfed him and turned him to stone! Then it sent out a shockwave that broke the cage, freeing Twilight and the others. Moonshine floated back down to the ground and Rarity and the Mane 4 cheered for her. "Alright Moonshine!" Applejack cheered. "Yeah Moony!" Pinkie Pie cooed. "That was awesome...!" Rainbow exclaimed. "And so beautiful..." Fluttershy added. Princess Celestia and Luna smiled at their daughter/niece. Finally, Twilight walked up to Moonshine and the girls backed away. "Moonshine... I-I'm so sorry.. I never should have said those things to you. I let my anger take control and I said the most hurtful things I could think of to you. I never meant any of it. I love that your kind and generous. Celestia and Luna do deserve a pony like you as their daughter/niece. Your flaws aren't worthless to Equestria, it makes Equestria and better place.... and it made me a better pony.... please forgive me..." Moonshine looked at Twilight for a moment before she gave her a smile, "I forgive you, Twilight..." Twilight smiled and the two best friends hugged each other with such love. Moonshine's Element of Hope suddenly glowed on its own again and it launched out a large beam to the other side of Ponyville. Out of the ground sprouted a tree-castle! The tree-castle bears some resemblance to the Golden Oak Library at least the aboveground portion, but is many times larger and appears to have a multi-level castle in its branches, which includes a great balcony, two spires, and a tower. The structure has at least one banner flying on the side marked with Moonshine's Element of Hope and Twilight's Cutie Mark and the top bears a large crystal star. Two sets of five strings of beads hang off the side of the structure much like the white beads that hang off the Tree of Harmony. At the foot is a great golden stair for the two-leaved golden door into the tree's body. Two open lancet windows flank the door. Twilight and the others ran over there and gasped at the sight, "Sweet Celestia...! Are you all seeing what I'm seeing?" Rarity asked. "But.. whose is it?" Twilight asked. "I believe it is yours and Twilights, Moonshine." Celestia smiled at her daughter. "I-It is...?" Moonshine gasped in awe before Discord appeared. "Oh wonderful! This is such a gorgeous castle, Moonshine. Every Princess needs a castle am I right..?" Celestia and Luna rolled her eyes at Discord. Together everyone goes inside the castle to take a look of what glory awaits inside as Twilight and the princesses lead the way with Spike and the Mane 5 right behind them with Discord following a larger distance back as they walk through the castle hallway. Moonshine and Twilight looked in awe at their new home as well as Toothless and the pokemon. "Moonshine, you’re probably wondering what you are now meant to do as a princess. Do you know now?” Celestia spoke to oonshine as they continued walking down the hall. “As princess, I believe I have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria. I believe that this is the role I am meant to have in our world! The role I choose to have!” Moonshine stated. “Then it is unlikely you are meant to take on this task alone.” Princess Celestia mentioned as she uses her magic to open the double-doors in front of them causing Spike and the seven ponies to gasp in awe at the sight of what they are seeing. It was a massive throne room with throne seats with cutie marks made specifically for all seven ponies representing the Elements of Harmony in front of a large circle with a large star in the very center. “You are now Moonshine, the Princess of Friendship.” Princess Celestia proclaimed as the Mane 7 all get themselves comfortable on their specialty made chairs. “But what is the Princess of Friendship without her friends?” Celestia added as the Mane 6, Toothless, Lycanroc, Mudbray, Rockruff, Discord and Spike all huddle around her. “Wait a minute, where's my throne?!” Discord asked in surprise seeing that he doesn’t have a royal seat with the girls. “I don't think you're quite there yet.” Moonshine said sympathetically. "Yes, well, I suppose not.” Discord admittedly chuckled in agreement. ”Now how about we all get a look at my new castle as all Ponyville ponies are invited for the day.” Twilight offered much to their delight as Moonshine begins to sing. “Each one of us has something special That makes us different, that makes us rare.” Moonshine sang as she invited everypony inside the castle with her hoof. “We have a light that shines within us That we were always meant to share.” Fluttershy sang as she and Rainbow Dash flew above the throne room as ponies walk inside the room. “And when we come together Combine the light that shines within There is nothing we can't do There is no battle we can't win.” The Mane 6 sang as they danced row by row and face to face with Twilight and Fluttershy facing each other in one row, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in the second row, and Applejack and Rarity in the third row. “When we come together There'll be a star to guide the way It's inside us every day See it now! See it now!” The girls sang as they walked up to the star with Moonshine in the middle and each raised a hoof towards the middle of the star. Moonshine's Element glows bright and sent out a rainbow burst with the rainbow flying all over Equestria. “Let the rainbow remind you That together we will always shine Let the rainbow remind you That forever this will be our time.” Twilight reminisced about her big argument with Moonshine causing her to believe that she was a worthless alicorn and that everyone would be better off without her which activated the Hopeless Magic inside of herself and to lose her spirit and her color. "Each one of us will sometimes falter We may stumble We may fall." Then the girls remember the Astral Twilight reminding Moonshine that her flaws make Equestria stronger and that she's not a worthless alicorn, but an alicorn she should be proud of. "But we still have a kind of magic One that will see us Though it all." “And when we come together Combine the light that shines within There is nothing we can't do There is no battle we can't win.” “When we come together There'll be a star to guide the way It's inside us every day See it now! See it now!” The girls sang as the rainbow came back to the castle passing by Discord who is humbly and awkwardly standing as the princesses and all of the gathered ponies are holding no resentment towards Discord for his betrayal as he humbly gives Princess Celestia a bouquet of flowers to thank her for her letting bygones be bygones. “Let the rainbow remind you That together we will always shine.” Moonshine sang as her friends huddled around her for a group photo. The Cutie MapThree Months Later.... One morning in the Castle of Friendship, the Mane Seven all enter the throne room where Spike is found sleeping on his throne. it's been a week since the defeat of Midnight and the Mean Six. Twilight and Moonshine moved in to their new castle home. Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff were all ecstatic about their new home. Once everypony is seated in their specifically designed throne chairs, Twilight spoke to everypony. “Let’s go through this one more time.” Twilight began as she rubbed her hoof under her chin causing Rainbow Dash to groan to aggravation as apparently Twilight has talked about this multiple times now. “We've been over it like a million times, Twilight! Moonshine regained her spirit and color, beat the Hopeless Magic, blasted the Mean Six out of Equestria, defeated Midnight and got you both sweet castle! End of story!” Rainbow Dash quickly told Twilight of what had just happened in a quickly summed up fashion. “Yes, but why?” Twilight acknowledged but can’t help but question why she isn’t getting all of this so sudden after turning herself around. “I dunno, sugarcube. Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that.” Applejack answered as she moved to sit in her chair. As soon as she did the cutie mark on her chair glowed. “I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it. It's all simply divine!” Rarity added as she sat down on her chair causing the cutie mark on her chair to glow too while saying all that’s important is that the Twilight they all know and loved is back. “I agree with Twilight. And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy chimed in as she sat down on her chair with her cutie mark on her chair glowing too. “Oh, and probably Spike.” Fluttershy added as if she almost forgot to include as she turned to him who is still sleeping and snoring on his chair. “As princess, Moonshine has been chosen to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria.” Twilight continued to speak her mind as she paces around the center of the room. "Twilight, stop worrying about it." Moonshine, daughter of Princess Celestia and niece of Princess Luna, said to her best friend. "I don't mind this." "But Moonshine, the Tree obviously sees you as some kind of student to it, so why would it want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense.” She concluded as she sat down on her chair causing her cutie mark to glow along with the mark on her chair. Everypony takes notice when the cutie marks on the chair glow as the beams of light they produced all shined onto the star in the center of the room causing crystal rocks to form as a crystal table starts to appear from the center of the room causing Spike to awaken from hearing this who then looks surprised at the sight that had just formed in the middle of the room. “Is that new? I like it.” Spike commented just as surprised as everypony in the room. Spike would then walk on the table as looks around it as what they are seeing is a map of all of Equestria. “This is incredible! It's got all of Equestria!” Spike commented in amazement. “Hi, Mom and Dad!” Pinkie happily commented as she looked at her parent’s rock farm house. Spike at that moment would end up stepped on the model house causing Pinkie’s eyes to water up as if she thought her parents were killed. Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Hope shimmered andd created a projected image of the crown itself and The Mane Six’s cutie marks on their flanks and they glow as projected images of them circling around Moonshine's Element of Hope and they hovered above the map from where Ponyville is to some town near the mountains. Twilight, wanting a better look, used her magic to drag Spike off the table so she can examine this. “But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks nd Moonshine's Element over there?” Fluttershy commented wondering what this meant. “I don't know.” Twilight honestly answered. “But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The Tree, Moonshine's Element, her armor, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?” She questioned her friends. “Y'know what?” Rainbow Dash flew in close examining some places on the map. “There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!” She quickly put her hoof forward to join Twilight on this trip. “Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right.” Applejack responded in agreement. “Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets, but okay!” Pinkie answered sounding reluctant at first before happily agreeing too. “Very well.” Rarity reluctantly agreed too with a smile as she and Pinkie turn to Fluttershy expecting her answer wanting her to come along to with Rainbow Dash joining them as well. “Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike.” Fluttershy nervously responded not wanting to come. “Awesome!” Spike happily responded as he wore a drinking hat and a foam finger. “Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats...” Hearing all this causing Fluttershy to make weirded out expressions as she sees is signing herself up for activates that only guy and stallions would like. “O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them. In case they need me.” Fluttershy quickly answered to show that she has changed her mind as she turns to Rainbow Dash who smiles in response to her answer. “Looks like it's time for a road trip.” Twilight told her friends with a confident expression. “Well, suit yourself. But he's got a Hock Fetlock rookie card I plan to sweet-talk right into these hot little claws.” Spike continued to express his excitement over his plans with Big Mac as the Mane Six head out. The Mane Seven all board the train from Ponyville to their destination as the train rode on tracks through mountains and tunnels until the train reached the end of the tracks as it stopped in front of a yellow and black stripped signed to signal that this is a dead end and the end of the train ride. The Mane Six all exit the train as it backs away to depart from the dead end stop as Twilight looks the map she made herself for a moment before rolling it up and walking ahead in the direction of the nearby town with her friend’s right behind her. The Mane Six would cross a wooden bridge and then reached their destination, a small village down below the mountains. “That's it! That's the place on the map!” Twilight pointed out as Rarity fumbled with the dust in her hair. “Right. Let's get down there and find the spa.” Rarity spoke prepared to head on down before being stopped by Twilight who magically teleports in front of her. “Wait.” Twilight stopped Rarity in her tracks with a hoof on her chest. “We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in. It could be dangerous.” “Yes!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in excitement at the mention of danger she thrives of engaging in it. “Stay behind me, everypony! I'm on it!” Pinkie spoke as she stood on her rear hoof while placing her front hoofs in front of Twilight and Rarity with a serious expression. “Careful, Pinkie!” Applejack called out to Pinkie as she rolled down the mountain and ducked to a nearby rock as she peeks from the corner who motions the others to follow her lead as she stealthily makes her way to town by ducking under nearby rocks while the others walk up behind her as she scoots herself under a huge rock before she and the others peeked at the village as they now got a closer look. “This is where the map sent us? It looks like the most boring place in Equestria.” Rainbow Dash commented as they watch every pony chatting and walking around. “It's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk.” Applejack voiced her thoughts. “It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes. Or any architectural flourishes.” Rarity commented seeing that the village could use some more fashionable taste of decoration. “I think it's lovely.” Fluttershy responded seeing there is no problem with what she is seeing. “I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right.” Pinkie suspiciously commented at the sight of the continuously smiling ponies. “I agree.” Twilight shared the same suspicion as she eyed on the marks on everypony’s flanks. “Look at the cutie marks.” She pointed out that everypony had equal signs on their flanks. “Okay, that's weird.” Rainbow Dash commented in agreement with Twilight. “An entire village with the same cutie mark? How can that be?” Twilight questioned the very possibility of that. “I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it.” Rainbow Dash suggested as she watched the village from afar. “What makes you say that?” Twilight asked. “'Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!” Rainbow Dash excitedly dreamed of. “Well I not sure I would say monster but definitely some sinister pony lurking around is behind this.” Twilight commented as she observed the village while feeling the need to comment on Rainbow Dash describing a potential said pony as a monster. “I reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's goin' on.” Applejack suggested. “Great idea, AJ. Let's go!” Rainbow Dash agreed in a dash as she flew in between Twilight and Applejack before she as flew off ahead as the others follow her. “Those smiles are bad news.” Pinkie shared suspiciously before joining the others in heading into town. The Mane Seven make their way into town where all of the ponies still keep up their friendly smiles as they approach them. “Welcome.” A gray earth stallion with brown eyes greeted. “Welcome.” A female Pegasus mother with two fillies by her side greeted. “Welcome.” A blue unicorn pony with green eyes greeted. “Welcome.” A pink unicorn with pink eyes and pigtails greeted. “Welcome.” A blue pony with gray eyes and mane greeted. “Welcome.” A brown pony with a blonde mane and pigtails greeted as her children walked with her. “Welcome.” The fillies walking with their mother greeted. “This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!” Fluttershy positively commented as she flew by as another peagsus with gray fur and a white mane flew up to greet her. “Welcome!” Fluttershy giggled at the friendly greeting. “Ugh. Thanks a lot, map.” Rainbow Dash groaned in boredom. “Welcome! Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?” A light blue furred unicorn greeted as he approached the Mane Seven and questioned Moonshine who grinned humbly. “That there's the Princess of Friendship!” Applejack introduced her to him. “Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship.” He further greeted the alicorn. “What brings you to town?” A white pony with a matching mane and blue eyes questioned Moonshine. “We're not entirely sure.” Twilight honestly answered. “I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village.” The white stallion further welcomed the six before introducing themselves as he directs a hoof towards himself and at the pony next to him. “My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor. “Howdy, Double Diamond. I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Moonshine.” Applejack introduced the whole group by pointing her hoof at each pony around her. Double Diamond them looked down at Twilight's cutie mark. “And you all have your own unique cutie marks.” Double Diamond observed her and Pinkie’s cutie marks. “If you don't mind, has there been any sort of... trouble here, lately?” Twilight quickly questioned. “Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village.” Double Diamond answered while still smiling. “It's true. You'll see. Hm.” Party Favor added in agreement. “Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder Starlight Glimmer.” Double Diamond offered as they lead her in her direction. “I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are.” Fluttershy hopefully wished as she faced her friends. “I've got my eye on them. Something's rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we're.” Pinkie suspiciously told her as she saw the smiling ponies following them. “Agreed.” Twilight agreed with Pinkie in the same tone. “Something is definitely suspicious around here and I think this pony we are about to meet is behind this.” Double Diamond and Party Favor approached a door and both knock on it at the same time. “Starlight, we have some new visitors.” Double Diamond told the pony inside as all eight ponies walk inside. “Be ready to fight. We don't know what's gonna come through that door.” Rainbow Dash warned Applejack in a whispered tone as the pony opened the door in front of them and out from the room is a pink unicorn with a purple mane with light blue streaks and blue eyes. “Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here.” Starlight happily greeted the Mane Seven. Rainbow Dash groaned in disappointment as if she was expecting somepony more dangerous. “This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Moonshine.” Double Diamond introduced the Mane Seven to Starlight as she inspects Moonshine closely who grins nervously again while shaking her wings a little while recovering from her shock. “Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming its Princess Moonshine? We don't get many Alicorns around here.” Starlight questioned Moonshine, who still grins nervously. "Ha! She's not just an alicorn. She's the daughter and niece of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Rainbow bragged, earning a hard nudge from Applejack. "Ow!" "The daughter and niece of the Princesses, what an honor." Starlight stated. “Yes, but "Moonshine" is fine.” Moonshine humbly and nervously responded. “So! How did you hear of our little village?” Starlight eagerly questioned while still smiling a little creepier this time. “It's kind of a long story. Let's just say we found it on a map.” Twilight explained the short and straight to the point way. “Technically, it's a Tree-chest-castle-map!” Pinkie Pie happily added before her face turned back to her suspicious face as she moved away from Starlight. “Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you! We're happy to have any pony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time.” Starlight spoke with pleasure in her voice as the Mane Seven eye each other in confusion by what she meant. “Say what?” Applejack questioned out of confusion. “Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see. Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt.” Starlight explained as she moved towards a nearby picture of an equal sign cutie mark and correctly readjusted it perfectly to her liking. “Is that why you all have those cutie marks?” Twilight questioned as she points a hoof at the equal sign cutie mark on her flank. “Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!” Starlight happily and politely offered with another bright smile as she stepped forward towards the door as she addresses everypony in town. “Heads high, ponies! Marching proud! All together now! Every one of you! No pony left behind!” Starlight Glimmer marched throughout town wanting everypony still smiling to follow her lead as she begins to sing. "Life is so grand in Our Town We're always filled with cheer We never have to look around To know that we're all here.” Starlight sang as she marched forward and then turned towards the Mane Seven as the town ponies circle around them. “In Our Town, in Our Town We don't have to wait To find out that our destiny Is just to emulate.” The towns ponies sang as they marched around the Mane Seven. Moonshine watched this and she felt something was definitely wrong here.. but she couldn't place her hoof on it. “Let's see those big, happy smiles!” Starlight instructed everypony to continue keeping up their wide smiles. “Life is a smile in Our Town Our cutie mark's the same Because we do not separate Ourselves by more than name.” Starlight sang as the town ponies marched into single file formation. “In Our Town, in Our Town We dare not compete Winning only breeds the worst Ego-filled conceit.” The town ponies sang as two Pegasus ponies flew up to Rainbow Dash to lower her back down to the ground leaving her exasperated and insulted that these ponies see competition for ponies with overinflated egos and that it brings out the worst in ponies win or lose. “You see? Now everypony wins!” Starlight told Rainbow to encourage her that her approach to friendship is better this way leaving Rainbow uncomfortable with that idea. “Life is a joy in Our Town We're all equal here No one is superior And no one shakes in fear.” Starlight sang as she marched upfront and used her magic to make sure one of the mares has her mane tied up pig-tail style which Twilight took notice of. “In Our Town, in Our Town We work as a team You can't have a nightmare If you never dream.” The town ponies sang they marched in rows of four in front of the Mane Seven. “Other ponies argue Do you ever wonder why?” Starlight sang as she trots around Pinkie and Fluttershy as the former is more warm-welcoming while the latter is still frowning very suspicious at their smiles. “When you think your talent's special You don't see eye-to-eye.” “There's just too many differences That lead to disarray But when you learn to act as one It's like a holiday.” Starlight sang as the town ponies danced around. “In Our Town, in Our Town We don't complicate When you learn to simplify Life is oh, so great.” The town ponies sang as Fluttershy started dancing to the tune to which Pinkie which frowns at her to get her stop to which Fluttershy recoils in submission. “Join in our utopia Come out of the dark Banded by equality By our cutie mark!” The town ponies sang as they formed up in single file and row and row formation with the peagsus ponies flying through with an equal sign banner. “You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!” Rainbow Dash laughed off the very idea. “Rainbow Dash, don't be so rude.” Fluttershy scolded her. “I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice.” “Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy.” Pinkie quickly warned Fluttershy against trusting them. “I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this.” Twilight politely told Starlight. “We have no judgments here in our village. Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks.” Starlight assured Twilight nopony holds any judgement on them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she for real?” Rainbow Dash questioned as if all of this is a huge joke which earned her a glare from Twilight. “When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way. But, well, it doesn't seem like you need any help.” Twilight explained her reasons for visiting while still politely smiling. “Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you?” Starlight suggested as she placed a hoof on Twilight's chest. “After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave. Why should you be any different?” She questioned the Mane Seven who look at each other in confusion. “But that is entirely your choice. Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well. Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need.” Starlight instructed him to help them feel accommodated for their visit. “Of course.” Double Diamond obliged to Starlight’s request who continues grinning at the Mane Seven who all look uneasy by this gesture as Starlight trotted off As the Mane Seven walk forward with Double Diamond right behind them more town ponies greeted them while still sporting the same smiles. “A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills. How is it possible to—“ Twilight questioned the very possibility of all of this before being interrupted by Rarity’s gasping. “What in the name of Equestria is that?!” Rarity exclaimed as she pointed a hoof at ragged brown cloaks. “Welcome! Care to sample some local fashion? We've got cloaks this month!” The brown stallion offered to which Rarity resisted the urge to throw up. “Wha— Ooh, er, perhaps another time, good sir, thank you.” Rarity awkwardly and politely told him as she nervously backed away as the group proceeded to sit on a nearby table “No wonder nopony's wearing anything!” She whispered to her friends. “Really, girls!” Fluttershy scolded the girls in a hushed tone. “They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude.” “No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us!” Rainbow Dash commented feeling the need to correct Fluttershy. “Need something?” Double Diamond asked the Mane Seven from a table. “Uh, no! We're good!” Moonshine politely told him before turning back to the girls in a hushed tone. “Fluttershy's right. If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies.” “I think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!” Applejack complained that this is all a waste of time. “If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big 'A'!“ Pinkie Pie giggling joked as she raised her hooves up. “Get it?” "Girls, the Tree of Harmony is a whole lot smarter than it looks. It made my Element, entrusted it to me and helped me out the biggest slump of my life. Do you really think it would send us here for no reason?" Moonshine pointed out. The girls looked at each other and they had to agree. The Tree of Harmony has done so much for Moonshine. They shouldn't have any doubt in its abilities or its reasons. "Moonshine's right. There's something definitely wrong here." Twilight agreed. “Is this a bad time?” The waitress pony who had listening to their conversation politely chimed in. “We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends. Really, Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy continued to defend the villagers while scolding Applejack. “Don't drag me into this!” Rainbow Dash objected to Fluttershy’s comment. “Is your friendship ending?” The waitress questioned as she faced Rarity. “Are you crazy?! We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!” Pinkie Pie energetically exclaimed. “O-kay, well, my name is Sugar Belle.” The waitress introduced herself and used her magic to lift up a notepad ready to take their order. “What can I bring you? We have: muffins... “ The group expected more items off the menu to be offered but her awkward silence clues them in that muffins are the only thing she can offer. “Then I guess we'll take six muffins!” Twilight told her. “Make that twelve!” Pinkie Pie eagerly exclaimed as her friends give her weird looks. “What? I'm hungry!” She defended herself. “Come on, girls. We've got to stick together. It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now.” Twilight spoke to her friends in a hushed tone to ensure nopony else is eavesdropping on their conversation. “I guess you're right.” Applejack accepted. “And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home.” At that moment Sugar Belle came back with a plate of muffins she placed in the center of the table. “Forgive me for overhearing” Sugar Belle mentioned. “But just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're... agreeing.” “Uh-huh...” Applejack responded with crossed hooves. “Well, you had such differing opinions – and cutie marks.” Sugar Belle continued to speak with confusion. “We have differing opinions all the time, darling.” Rarity answered as if it is no surprise to them. “But you look like you're friends.” Sugar Belle pointed out. “We are friends. A simple disagreement wouldn't change that.” Twilight positively responded which led to Sugar Belle smiling nervously at that statement before frowning as she again speaks her mind. “I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding. Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery.” She explained before turning her frown back into a smile. “So... why aren't you bitter and...?” Sugar Belle is quickly interrupted when Pinkie Pie chokes and spits out a muffin she had just ate “Blech!” She quickly corrects herself by faking a smile to feign politeness. “Mmmm... good...” “It's all right.” Sugar Belle assured Pinkie she holds nothing against her for not liking her muffins. “I know I'm not a very good baker.” She admitted. “At least, I know I'm not any better than anypony else in the village.” She took a glance behind her directed at Double Diamond and quickly darted back with a sense of anxiety. “Well, I... hope you enjoy our little village!” She began walking inside the shop as Pinkie loudly scraped the bits and pieces of muffin off her tongue. Sugar Belle quickly stopped between Twilight and Pinkie to address before. “Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!” Sugar Belle told them in distress before sporting a grin before heading inside. “Okay, that was weird too.” Rainbow Dash commented as she stretched out her hoof across the table. “Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal.” Twilight instructed the others in a hushed tone as she eyed everypony around them suspiciously. “I think we're being watched.” She points out to everypony still wide smiling at them while doing their daily business. “You think?” Rainbow Dash sarcastically replied. “No, not like that!” Twilight corrected. ”I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle.” She added as she pointed her eyes at Double Diamond who is watching them while biting into a muffin. “I got an idea.” Applejack offered an idea. “But you gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie.” “Me?! Why me?!” Pinkie protested. “You got a stronger stomach than any of us, and that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here.” Applejack reasoned with her who reluctantly sees her point as she proceeds to bite into and eat all of the muffins and by the time she finally manages to eat them all her face is now sickly green. “I can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie!” Applejack announced as the others look at everypony with forced smiles. “We'd best go inside and get some more!” The Mane Six immediately head downstairs per Sugar Belle’s instructions. “Nice work, Pinkie.” Twilight commended Pinkie as they headed downstairs as Pinkie Pie bounced downstairs with a balloon belly. “I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that...” Pinkie sadly commented over being forced to literally stomach in all of those muffins. “Hello? Sugar Belle?” Twilight called out. “Thank you for coming!” Sugar Belle spoke up as she emerged from the dark and sported another wide smile. “Why did you want us to come down here?” Twilight asked. “So nopony could see what's about to happen.” Sugar Belle answered with a smirk as some of the ponies gather around them ominously causing Twilight to ready her horn to attack in self-defense until Part Favor leaned in like a fan pony. “Are you really the Princess of Friendship?” Party Favor questioned. “Do you know Princess Celestia?” Night Glider questioned as she leaned in towards Twilight. “I love your cutie mark!” Sugar Belle commented as she touched Pinkie’s flank. “How can you be friends with different cutie marks? Don't you end up hating each other?” Night Glider questioned as she flew in front of Rarity and Fluttershy. “Oh, look at this one! This one's great too!” Sugar Belle commented on Fluttershy’s cutie mark as she touched her flank. “I'd love to have my special talent back even just for a day! Make something besides those disgusting muffins...” She added sounding depressed. “So what's stopping you? Go get your cutie marks back.” Rainbow Dash responded wondering why it’s so hard to do so. “Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme.” Party Favor answered as he spoke. “I'm not sure Starlight would like that. She wants us all to be happy in our sameness.” Sugar Belle mentioned. “How do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?” Twilight asked. “The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience!” Night Glider answered and recalled. “Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these.” She explained as she pointed towards the equal sign marks on her and the other’s flanks. “But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark. It represents such an essential part of who you are.” Twilight spoke from experience. “Oh, we're not kept from them.” Night Glider quickly responded. “They're in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.” "Wait... how come you don't have a cutie mark?" Double Diamond asked, pointing to Moonshine's blank flank. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I didn't figure out my special talent yet." Moonshine replied honestly. "But don't you friends hate you cause you don't have a cutie mark?" Night Glider asked. "Of course not! Just because she doesn't have a cutie mark doesn't mean we'd stop being friends with her." Rainbow stated. "Yeah, Moony is just as special as the rest of us, even if she doesn't have a cutie mark." Pinkie added. The three ponies looked at each other, confused. After a moment of thinking Twilight asked them. “Can we visit this cave?” Soon, the Mane Seven were lead into a mountain cave behind the village and down a tunnel. Once they got to the end of it, they all gasped seeing a large vault with multiple cutie marks locked inside of it. "Behold! Our cutie mark vault!" "I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items. We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks! I'm curious – how did the subject of the vault come up?" Starlight asked. "Oh, I was just wondering why everypony had the same cutie mark. Ponies can still be friends with different cutie marks like my friends." Moonshine stated. "Well, w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little—" Rarity said nervously. "Good. Let's just make sure of that, shall we?" Starlight Glimmer questioned as some ponies came out of the shadows. "It's a trap!" Twilight exclaimed. She teleported out of the circle and readied her magic but Starlight used her Staff and blasted Twilight, holding her in place and forcefully removing her cutie mark! "Twi!" Moonshine cried in horror as she fell to the ground. The Starlight did the same with her friends! Removing their cutie marks by force and locking them in the vault! “Aw. I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today. You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing.” Starlight gloated still trying to make the whole situation still sound positive. “Give them back!” Twilight demanded. “Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!” Starlight responded as she put her staff away as the ponies who gathered inside of the cave gather around them. "Not I have anything to say about it..!" Moonshine growled as she readied her magic. Starlight blasted her with the Staff of Sameness too.. however Moonshine's Element of Hope activated and created a shield around her! "What?!" Starlight growled. Moonshine then unleashed a shockwave, knocking Starlight and the other ponies back. Moonshine quickly flew over and blasted the pieces of glass with her friends cutie marks and they returned to their owners, returning their abilities and talents to them. Starlight got up and snarled in anger at what Moonshine did. Moonshine then took off her Element of Hope and threw at Twilight who caught it in her magic, "Girls! Get out of here!" Moonshine called. "What?! But Moonshine..!" Twilight exclaimed but Moonshine yelled, "GOOO!" before Starlight struck her with her magic, freezing her in place. Twilight knew she had no choice and she teleported the girls and herself out of the cave. "I've done a lot to give these ponies friendship and you're not going to ruin it!" Starlight yelled at her before she took out a jar. Suddenly, Moonshine felt a strong and painful tug in her horn and she grunted and groaned in pain as Starlight removed her magic and placed it in the jar! Whens she was done, Starlight dropped her on the floor. Moonshine felt so weak that she could barely keep her eyes open. "You may not have a cutie mark, but you will be valuable to my cause..." Starlight said with an evil smirk before everything went black for Moonshine. Starlight Glimmer carried an unconscious Moonshine into one of her buildings and just dropped her on the floor. Starlight smiled evilly at her as she gazed at the jar filled with her stolen magic. "Foolish Alicorn, challenging my philosophy? Hehehe... big mistake." Starlight used her magic to create a chain and tied it around Moonshine's left back hoof and attached it to a stack in the house. "Hehe... still.. I'm sure those 'strangers' will come and rescue you, but they won't get far, cause I'll be ready for them.. and once I have their cutie marks all of Equestria will know what I'm trying to accomplish." Starlight then walked out of the building and slammed the door shut and ordered two ponies at the door to guard it. "Perfect... now..." Starlight looks at the jaw with Moonshine's magic inside of it. "Let's see just how powerful her magic is..." Meanwhile, Twilight and the Mane 5 were hiding outside of the village, over looking it from a hilltop. "Alright girls, I think that made it pretty clear about why the map sent us here.." Twilight said to her friends. "Yeah, Starlight Glimmer is forcing everypony to give up their cutie marks so they can have her version of 'friendship'." Applejack stated. "If it weren't for Moonshine steppin' in like that, we would have been in the same situation." "Oh... I hope she's alright." Fluttershy cooed with worry. "Yeah, let's go get her back!" Rainbow exclaimed, but before she could fly into town, Twilight caught her by the tail. "Rainbow! You can't just bargin into town like that. Starlight might have some kind of trap waiting for us." Twilight scolded. "Twilight's right. We need a way to figure out if Moonshine is alright." Applejack stated. "But how..?" Suddenly Discord appeared, "Oh for Scorpan's sake, why didn't you ponies call me when you found a pony causing her own kind of chaos?" he whined. "Discord? What are you doing here?!" Twilight exclaimed, shocked to see the Spirit of Chaos. "Oh isn't eavesdropping not the way you figure out what your dear friends are doing?" Discord questioned with an innocent look earning a 'No!" from Twilight and the others. "Oh well." Discord shrugged. "If you want to see from all the way out here, then.." Discord snapped his fingers and he made some binoculars appear. "These should help..." Twilight took the binoculars in her magic and looked through them. "Woah... these have X-Ray vision, I can see right through the buildings.." she said in awe. She looked into the building that was guarded by two ponies and gasped, "Moonshine..!" "Twilight, what's wrong?" Applejack asked. "Moonshine's unconscious in one of the buildings and..." Twilight then looked at the building at the end of the village and saw Starlight Glimmer holding a jar with magic inside. "Now let's see just what this Princesses' magic can do. With such power, I'll be able to remove the cutie marks of everypony all over Equestria and everypony will understand my version of harmony.. hahaha...!" Starlight laughed evily, making Twilight gasped in utter shock. "What is it?" Rainbow asked. "Starlight Glimmer stole Moonshine's magic! And she's going to use to so she can take the cutie marks of everypony in Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed and the Mane 5 gasped in horror. "We gotta stop her!" Rainbow exclaimed, knocking her hooves together. "But how? That pony probably got a hole bunch of ponies on the lookout for us." Applejack reminded. "We need a sneaky way to get in, save Moonshine and get out, while showing everypony that what Starlight is doing is wrong..." The six girls began to think about how they could do all three at once. Meanwhile. Moonshine began to stir and she felt really weak and had a major headache. "Ugh...." she started moving her legs a little bit and they felt like jelly. She tried lifting her head but she could barely do that. That's when she heard the door opened and she had to blink a few times before she saw Starlight Glimmer with a tray on it with an apple and some water. "Hello Princess... I decided to bring you some food.." Starlight stated in a nice voice, but Moonshine didn't buy it. "G-Give me... back my.. magic..." Moonshine growled as she weakly staggered to her feet "I'm afraid you're in no shape to make demands." Starlight smiled wickedly and Moonshine turned and saw the chain on her back hoof. "You... can't keep.. me here... forever..." Moonshine stammered, trying to sound as serious as she could. "Oh.. I think I can.." Starlight smirked. "Without your magic, my guards at the door, there's no way you're leaving.." "My... friends will.. come for me..." Moonshine replied. "Ah yes those strangers. All different ponies who believe that they were something special with their cutie marks." Starlight growled with an angry expression. "They don't have any real friendships. They are just blinded by their cutie marks." "Their friendship.... is real... and their cutie marks and differences make their friendships stronger." Moonshine replied, gaining a little strength back. "This coming from the pony who doesn't have a cutie mark! Let alone a Alicorn Princess! Your mother would be ashamed that you don't have a cutie mark and yet you stand up for those who do!" Starlight yelled at her. "My mother would never be ashamed of me! Especially after the scacrifice I made to protect my friends." Moonshine growled at Starlight. Starlight had enough and blasted Moonshine sending her slamming into the back wall. "Ugh..!" the impact made the glass of water spill onto Starlight's flank.. revealing her actual cutie mark! It was a stream of blue magic that was attached to a purple star! "You still have your cutie mark..." Moonshine narrowed her eyes at her. Starlight gasped,"Oh shoot." "You didn't use that Staff to take away the ponies cutie marks! You used your own magic!" Starlight sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry. That was my fault. I should have been more careful." She neatly folded the towel and placed it on top of a flat surface. "It looks like I'll have to find some sort of spell in one of my books that'll wipe your memory of what just happened here. Maybe it'll wipe your whole memory. Who knows." "Wha…what?" Moonshine stammered. "Forgive me. But if you're to stay, I must do it for the sake of the village." She brought out some makeup and covered her cutie mark. Then, she brought out a stencil and used the makeup to brush back on her fake cutie mark. Afterwards, she prepared to continue leaving. "Don't worry. I'll wait until our little mess is over and done with." She opened the door and walked out. However, she peeked in before completely leaving. "Remember, don't try anything dumb, okay? I'd really hate to end up having to take some drastic measures." She shut the door and locked it. Moonshine now knew she was right! "I.. have to get this info to Twilight and my friends... but how...?" Moonshine pondered before she spotted a piece of paper and a pencil. She was able to reach it, despite being chained up and she wrote down a message on the paper before she folded it into a paper airplane. "How can I get this to Twilight and my friends...?" Moonshine wondered before... a small mailbox came floating over to her that said 'Please place inside for Twilight Sparkle'. Moonshine blinked at it, confused as to how this managed to get in here, but seeing that it may be her only chance, she placed the letter inside and the mailbox vanished in a bright flash, and Moonshine hoped that it would get to her friends. Meanwhile, the mailbox poofed up in front of Twilight and her friends. "I can't believe that acutally worked, Discord." Twilight said, taking the letter out of the box. "Well of course it worked. I made it.." Discord bragged. The girls, save for Fluttershy and Pinkie, rolled their eyes as Twilight read the letter out loud. "Girls, Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark is fake! She covered it up with makeup. It was her magic that was used to removed your cutie marks before I stepped it. It was never the staff. You have to get the townsponies to realize this. Use Water, it'll wiped off the make up easily." "I knew something was wrong with her!" Twilight exclaimed. "That mare was nothing but a faker!" Applejack added. "Yeah, and now she has our friend and her magic captive. We've gotta do something now!" Rainbow added. "But how can we convince to townsponies she's been lying to her all this time?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight thought for a moment before she had an idea. "I've got it. Discord, we're gonna need you for a little chaos..." Twilight smiled and Discord laughed, eager to see what he would do. Soon, Moonshine was being lead out of the building by Starlight with all of the townsponies watching. "I trust that you've made your decision, Princess?" Starlight asked with a smirk. But Moonshine just narrowed her eyes and her and looked away. "No? Hmm.. maybe another day will help change your mind.." "Stop!" a voice came and everypony saw the Mane Six walking into the village. "Ah.. so the strangers have returned, huh?" "Yeah, we're here for our Princess and her magic.." Rainbow growled, "So give 'em up!" "Yeah, you can't force anypony to give up their cutie marks or what makes them special. It don't work like that." Applejack added with a glare. "What are you talking about, we're all equal here." Starlight stated innocently. "Well except for you six. Those cutie marks have blinded you of real friendship." "No they don't, Starlight." Twilight stated. "Cutie marks make our friendship stronger. It doesn't matter if we're different what matters is that we're all friends which is what really matters." Starlight laughed mockingly, "My village is a place of equality and friendship. Friendship that is stronger than whatever you six have." "Equality, you say...?" a voice came before a small dark cloud came above Starlight. "Well what do you have to say about this..?" and then it started to rain on Starlight. "Hey!" she exclaimed as she got soaked. Then cloud stopped its small downpour and Starlight shook herself clean and everypony in the village gasped, seeing her real cutie mark! Starlight noticed then and widened her eyes extremely in shock as she covered her flank with her tail. "Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!" She said pointed towards the Mane Six and laughed nervously. "You lied to us…?" Party Favor questioned with an expression of devastated shock. "How could you?" Night Glider asked. "You said cutie marks were evil!" Double Diamond joined in. "You said special talents led to pain and heartache!" "They do! Don't you see?! Look at them!" She was clearly desperate now. "Look at what they're doing to us! We were perfectly fine and happy before they came to town!" "Then why?" Sugar Belle grew the confidence to confront Starlight. "Why did you take ours and not give up your own?" "I..." Starlight Glimmer was sweating now. "I-I-I…" Her eyes clenched shut and her eyebrows furrowed. Tension squeezed out from her face before she reopened her eyes. "I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!" "But the staff has all the magic we need!" Night Glider retorted. "The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert!" Starlight Glimmer finally confessed. "It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!" "You lied to us!" Party Favor answered back. "So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!" She stated that last part with confidence as if everything would go back the way it was. "Except for you." Sugar Belle pointed out. Starlight was prepared to shoot a fiery glare back at this pony before Moonshine stepped forward and spoke up. "Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—" "QUIET!" Starlight Glimmer bellowed out, only to receive a tackle from Moonshine! Moonshine kicked Starlight away from her friends and she skidded across the ground. "You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!" Sugar Belle asserted. Everypony slowly began surrounding Starlight, leading her to anxiously turn her head around to see her becoming cornered. Starlight Glimmer's eyes began shooting daggers at Moonshine Her eyes closed shut and a bubble began to form around her. Her horn glowed with magic, and we were soon pushed aside, giving her space to run through. Starlight then shot another ray of magic at Moonshine and knocked her unconscious! Then, Starlight carried her with her magic and ran in the direction of the building she had been keeping her. "Moony!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she ran off after her. "You ponies get your cutie marks! We'll handle this!" Twilight directed the others and followed behind. As soon as the ponies reached the door, Applejack and Rainbow began banging the sturdy wood loudly, "Open the door, Starlight!" Applejack exclaimed. They could hear things being moved around and shuffled inside. "You think you can come to my village and take everything I worked so hard for and destroy it just like that?!" Starlight's voice angrily sounded through. "Let's see how you like it when I take something from you!" "Not if we have anything to say about it.." Rainbow Dash flew backwards and she used her speed to kick down the door. the girls immediately galloped inside and searched for any sign of Starlight. "Where are they?!" Fluttershy asked. "Look! Up here!" Twilight called from up the stairs. The girls came upstairs and entered a bedroom. However, the bed had been merely thrown to the side and revealed some kind of secret escape in the floor. "Come on.." Twilight said and the girls galloped through the escape door and they came out on the other side of the tunnel, outside of the village near a path towards snowy mountaintops. "Look!" Rainbow Dash pointed out in midair. "She's headed for the pass!" Twilight added. "If she gets into those mountains, we'll never her and Moonshine!" I spread out my wings. "We need to stop her!" Suddenly, the girls head and familiar roar and saw a Night Fury flying down towards them with three pokemon on its back. "Toothless..!" the girls cried happily. The Night Fury cooed at the girls before they saw Toothless flying over to where Starlight was running. "Come on..." Twilight called. "Wait for us..!" the girls turned and saw Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond and Night Glider running and flying towards them, joining the chase, now with their cutie marks and colors restored. Starlight ran down the path and saw Toothless flying towards her, "Back off Dragon!" she growled and fired a blast of magic but Mudbray countered with Mud-Slap. Starlight growled and Toothless fired a plasma blast in front of her, causing her to fly back and she fell on the ground. Toothless blocked her path and snarled at her as Twilight and the other ponies blocked the backway. "All of you! Nopony move! One step and I'm sending this little filly down this cliff, and I can promise you she'll never be found again!" Starlight Glimmer aggressively threatened, holding Moonshine off of the path along with the jar of her stolen magic. "Don't try any magic either." She added, eyeing especially at the ones with horns. "I can promise you won't have enough time to help the Princess before she disappears never to be seen again." "Think about what you're doing, Starlight!" Twilight exclaimed. "What are you getting out from doing this? You do anything to her, you'll surely find yourself being banished from Equestria! Is that what you want?" She scoffed loudly. "You think I care about banishment? You want to know how hard I worked to raise that village you all so easily destroyed in a matter of minutes?! I had to go through so much! I had to lose so much to get to where I was, and you all took that away from me! If anypony should be banished, it's you all! I won't be satisfied until I see the look on your faces when you lose something so dearly like I did!" and then she let Moonshine and her jar of magic fall! "Moonshine!" Twilight gasped in horror but Toothless and Rainbow dove down at great speed and Toothless grabbed Moonshine in his claws while Rainbow caught the jar with her magic. "Is that how you treat somepony who gave you a loving and unjudging home?!" Starlight angrily asked Double Diamond, Party Favor, Sugar Belle and Night Glider who stood at the front of the group. "You always said we had to be equal." Double Diamond answered back. "But what I realized is that we had to be equal on your terms. Not something that everypony agreed on!" "Yeah!"Night Glider added in. "We were always scared of thinking of something and being punished by you for it! If you ask me, that's not equal at all! Just like Princess Moonshine said." Aggressively tightening and scrunching her eyes, Starlight proceeded to fire a spell towards these four ponies. However, Twilight immediately jumped in front them and protected them all with a strong steady magical barrier. "Wh– I studied that spell for years!" Starlight argued to this surprise. "How can you—?" "I studied magic for years too!" Twilight countered. "But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these six! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!" Starlight blocked out the lecture coming from Twilight's mouth and rolled her eyes. "Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies real friendships they never could've had otherwise!" "How do you know that?!" Double Diamond exclaimed. "You never even gave us a chance!" Completely outraged by this, Starlight fired up a shield-looking aura around her, making everypony back away. The shield exploded, allowing Starlight to escape into the caves. "She's in the caves!" Rainbow Dash announced. "We'll never find her in there." Double Diamond said. "We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something." Twilight stated. "It's you who have taught us something." Party Favor said as he approached Twilight. "We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!" He regrouped with the other three and they all shared a group hug. "Does that mean you'll stay in the village?" Twilight asked. "It's our home. I'm not going anywhere." Night Glider responded both firmly and proudly. "This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!" Double Diamond smiled. "And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!" Sugar Belle exchanged gleefully. Everypony laughed aloud before Toothless placed a still unconscious Moonshine on the ground. "Okay boy.." Twilight smiled and Rainbow nodded before she smashed the jaw holding her magic and it flowed back into her horn. Moonshine stirred as she opened her eyes, "W-What...? D-Did we win..?" she asked as she staggered to her feet with the help of Applejack and Rainbow. Twilight chuckled, "She's just fine." Back in the village, the Mane Seven saw all the villagers, smiling and enoying the small party they put together in celebration. "Now those are real smiles." Pinkie Pie described as the villagers enjoyed the party. Soon enough, a sound emerged from everypony but Moonshine. They all looked towards their flanks to find their cutie marks glowing and Moonshine's Element of Hope shimmered as well. "I'll never get used to that…" Applejack admitted. "I think it's divine." Rarity sweetly objected. "Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?" Fluttershy questioned Moonshine. "I have a feeling it means our work here is done." Moonshine settled with. "Looks like you were right, Moonshine. The map did have a reason for sendin' us here." Applejack brought up. "We brought real friendship to these here ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship." She ended with a wink. "But the map didn't send me. It sent us." Moonshine humbly included. "You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too." The rest of them squealed and giggled as she shared a group hug. "We don't have to go home right away, do we?" Pinkie Pie asked. "That Sugar Belle can bake!" "I don't see any harm in staying for a little while longer." Twilight mentioned. The girls cheered as they all entered the town to enjoy the festival. Meanwhile in the mountains, Starlight Glimmer was fuming over the loss of her village, "I'll make those pathetic ponies pay.. especially that Moonshine.." she growled to herself. "You want to get rid of the Princess too...?" a voice said that sounded familiar. "Whose there?!" Starlight yelled as she looked around and out came.... Mean Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight Sparkle..!" Starlight roared in anger and fired a blast at her but Twilight stepped out of the way. "I am not the Twilight you know, we despise Moonshine as just as you.." "We?" Starlight asked before she saw the Mean Five appeared from the shadows. "We were banished out of Ponyville for weeks after Moonshine defeated our Master... but you seem like a pony who could replace him..." Mean Twilight smirked before she held out a hoof to her, "So what do you say, Starlight Glimmer...?" Starlight looked at the Mean Six and smirked evilly at them... and she shook her hoof. "Let's do it..." Interlude: Folly of TwilightA glowing candle illuminated the dark grey hall. Moonshine let out a soft groan of fatigue, rising from the cold stone tiles to survey her surroundings. It looked like the hall of some ancient castle. Red curtains covered the tall windows and candelabras and portraits decorated the gray stone wall. It reminded her of the Castle of the Two Sisters, enough that for a moment she believed that that was where she was, but the cut of the stone beneath her hooves dissuaded her of that notion. It was as though someone had tried to recreate the building off of a drawing, unsettlingly close but subtly off the mark. Every changed detail caught her eye like a small jolt, keeping her skittish as she tried to orient herself. “Ah, Princess Moonshine, welcome to my humble abode.” Moonshine looked up. Standing upon a raised platform on the far side of the hallway was a pony wearing a hooded cloak. Light from a stained glass window illuminated them, but shadow still fell across its face. Only their eyes were visible, but even these were obscured by some enchantment, hiding their true colors. Moonshine stared at the figure before her. “Who are you?” “A pertinent question, which we will address in due time,” the figure replied. Whoever this pony was, they were using some sort of spell to disguise their voice, but it wasn’t quite successful; there was still something vaguely feminine in her tone, something almost familiar that Moonshine couldn’t quite place. “I’m sorry… I don’t even know what I’m doing here,” Moonshine stammered, trying take in all of her surroundings. “Why does this look like the Castle of the Two-" Moonshine was cut off when the cloaked pony covered her mouth with her hoof. "Trust me when I say none of that matters right now. Here's what really matters...." the cloaked figure said as she took a few steps back before she made Twilight's Element of Magic appear in her red magical aura. "Twilight's Element of Harmony! What have you done to her?!" Moonshine exclaimed. "Your friend is unharmed....." the cloaked pony said. "My name is Viper by the way and all you need to know is that I'm not your enemy here Moonshine. All you have to do to leave is take the Element of Harmony...." "Okay..... what's the catch?" Moonshine questioned with suspicion. "Take the Element of Harmony......and destroy it...!" Viper exclaimed. Moonshine gasped, "Never! I would never destroy by best friends Element of Harmony...!" "Why are you friends with such a pathetic unicorn?" Viper suddenly asked, catching Moonshine's attention greatly. "Come again?" Moonshine quipped. "You heard me. Twilight Sparkle is nothing but a nuisance to you, Moonshine. You are the daughter of the most powerful Princess in Equestria and yet you choose to live with a weak unicorn who doesn't really care about you." Viper said. "H-How could you say such a thing...!" Moonshine exclaimed. "Let me give you a prime example.... the Mean Six.... when they blew up your original home. Twilight blame everything on your; saying that you are to naïve and weak to be in Equestria and that your kindness is your greatest weakness. Also she said that Celestia and Luna didn't deserve you as a daughter or niece. Now tell what kind of 'friend' would say such a thing?" Viper questioned. "T-Twilight was just blinded by her anger during that time! It wasn't her fault that she said those things about me." Moonshine defended. "And yet you believe her, allowing for hopeless magic to enter your heart, causing you to turn grey and emotionless..." Viper smirked. "If Twilight Sparkle really was your friend then she wouldn't have been so cruel about your behavior." "Twilight's not a perfect pony. She’s going to slip up from time to time. Like any average pony, she’s going to make mistakes–" Moonshine started before she was cut off. “But she isn’t the average pony!” Viper shouted, slamming her hoof into the ground. "And these aren't average mistakes she’s made. She is mentally unstable weakling that deserves to be put in her place; by which I mean should be stripped of her magic and destroyed...." Moonshine couldn't believe what she was hearing. "N-Never!" she exclaimed. "I could never turn on my bestest friend like that! We both have our differences, but that's what makes us stronger together. I may be the daughter of Princess Celestia and she may just be her student, but together we're both family to Mother and Auntie Luna. Twilight Sparkle is my oldest friend and I will never... ever turn on her!" "AHHHH!" Viper yelled before she lunged at her and pinned her to the ground, "You fail to understand my logical and correct reasoning. No matter, soon you'll be mine so you won't have too...." Moonshine growled at Viper when suddenly, "WHO THOU INVADE MY NIECE'S DREAM?!" a booming voice came and appearing out of the moon was none other than Princess Luna. "Auntie Luna...!" Moonshine said with joy. Luna landed and blasted Viper off of Moonshine. Moonshine got up as Luna hovered in front of her. "Are you alright, my niece?" Luna asked. "Yes, I'm alright." Moonshine replied. Viper chuckled at the Princess of the Night, "Well, Well, well, Princess Luna or should I say, Nightmare Moon?" Princess Luna narrowed her eyes at Viper, "What is thou doing in thou niece's dream?" she demanded to know. "Just convincing her that her so called friend is nothing more than a pathetic pony holding her back from her true potential." Viper smirked. "Twilight is nothing more than just a mentally unstable unicorn who shouldn't be allowed to be friends with such a alicorn pony such as Moonshine." "Twilight is not mentally unstable!" Moonshine defended. "Oh really? Then why did she stress herself to the brink of mental collapse when she was bust caring for baby Spike while at the same time studying for her classes. You offered to help her, but she kept rejecting it until she reached her breaking point." Viper growled. "So. Twilight learned her lesson that day. That Mother wasn't giving her an assignment. Mother simply gave her another friend in Spike." Moonshine defended. "Thou shall not speak ill of my sisters' prized pupil!" Luna exclaimed. "And thou shall not invade my nieces' dreams anymore!" Luna activated her magic and banished Viper from Moonshine's dream before the pair found themselves in the dream realm. "Are you hurt, Moonshine?" Luna asked. "I'm okay, Auntie Luna. But just who is this Viper?" Moonshine asked. "I do not know, but I know that this 'Viper' character is a major threat. If Viper tried to convince you what she thinks of my sisters' pupil then Twilight may be her desired target. Keep an eye on your precious friend, Moonshine. Her life may depend on it...." Luna said and Moonshine nodded before Luna activated her magic again and all Moonshine saw was white. ............ ............. ........... Moonshine gasped as she woke in her bed with Rockurff, Lycanroc, Mudbray and Toothless sleeping near her bed. Moonshine caught her breath and stared at the moon, thinking about what her Aunt said. "Who is Viper? And what does she have against Twilight...?" Moonshine thought as she laid back down in her bed, staring at the ceiling with those burning questions running through her head. Pillar of EquestriaIt's been three months since Moonshine became the Princess of Friendship and since she and Twilight moved into their Castle of Friendship. Toothless, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Mudbray adored the castle and specifically Moonshine's bedroom which had a queen sized bed, several smaller beds for the pokemon a large rock slab for Toothless to sleep on. There was a dresser adjacent to her bed with a mirror over it and there were two small desks on either side of her bed; one that held a small lamp and the other held a picture of her Mother and Princess Luna. Moonshine right now was walking into the castle with her friends, Toothless and Pokemon. "Ugh, Twilight, we've been over this. Moonshine recovered from the Hopeless Magic, she defeated the Mean Six, the evil clones of us and she got this sweet castle. End of story!" Rainbow Dash explained for another the hundredth time to the unicorn as she sat down on her throne along with the other girls, save for Moonshine. "Yes, but why?" Twilight asked. "Moonshine has chosen by the Tree of Harmony to become the Princess of Friendship cause the Tree gave her her Element of Hope and now this castle, so why would it just want her sit in a Castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense." "Well... maybe the reason will come up later on, Twilight." Moonshine figured sitting in her throne before the cutie mark symbol on her throne glowed brightly along with her Element of Hope. Both of them shot out a beam of light in the center of the floor and the yellow star in the center opened up and what came out looked like a crystalline artifact but it was in the shape of an Alicorn, specifically, it looked like Princess Luna! The crystal matched the colors of Moonshine's Element of Hope to a T as well. The girls were jaw dropped at the crystalline alicorn floating in the center of the room, before the crystalline alicorn spun around and around before it unleashed a very powerful shockwave of light, making the girls, Toothless and the pokemon cover their eyes from the brightness. When the shockwave was gone, everyone stared at the crystalline alicorn. "What... just happened?" Rainbow asked aloud, confused as to what just happened. "M-Moony's throne just made a crystalline alicorn in the shape of Princess Luna appear." Pinkie Pie said. Twilight looked at the crystal alicorn. "Jumpin' Junebugs, well then where do you suppose this came from?" Applejack asked. "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this before or read anything about it." Twilight added. "Spike!" Spike saluted, grabbed a quill and scroll, "Ready Twilight." he called and he wrote down what Twilight wanted to be put in the scroll. "Dear Princess Celestia, My friends I have just discovered the appearance of a crystalline alicorn that is in the shape of Princess Luna that came from a blast from Moonshine's throne and Element of Hope, we are hoping that you or Princess Luna may know anything about this. Please write back. Twilight Sparkle" "Done!" Spike exclaimed before he rolled up the scroll and breathed his fire, sending it to Canterlot. In no less than a second later, Princess Celestia and Luna appeared in the throne room. "We got your message, Twilight." Princess Luna said. "Wow... that was fast." Fluttershy remarked. Celestia and Luna noticed the crystalline alicorn floating in the center of the thrones, "So this just appeared out of the center of the throne?" Princess Celestia asked. "Yes Mom." Moonshine confirmed. "After it did, it sent out a powerful shockwave of light, but we don't know why?" "Hmmmm...." Princess Celestia thought. "What I want to know is why is this shaped like me?" Princess Luna asked, seeing the great resemblance in the crystal. "I don't really know why it has that look either, Auntie Luna..." Moonshine said. "There's nothing in the books about another crystalline artifact other than the Crystal Heart." Twilight added. Princess Celestia nodded, "Hmmm, maybe the library in Canterlot has something that might pretain to this.... Crystal Alicorn..." Twilight and the girls nodded. "Until we know more about, I suggest you don't try to tamper with it." "Okay, Mom..." Moonshine grinned and the two Princesses. Soon a couple days have passed since the Crystal Alicorn appeared in the center of the throne room. So far, it hasn't really done anything except float there. While the Princesses tried to figure out what it was, Moonshine was reading in her library and just finished another book on magic spells. She then took another book in her magic but this one looked to be very old... Moonshine was intrigued by this book, "Huh? Wonder what this is..." she opened the book and the first introduction page read, "Starswirl the Bearded" "Starswirl the Bearded? Whose that....?" Moonshine echoed. "Starswirl the Bearded! He's the most famous unicorn that ever existed. How could you not know who he is!" Twilight exclaimed, getting in Moonshine's face. Moonshine gently pushed away Twilight. "Sorry Twilight, but I haven't heard of him, but let's go and see if my mom has..." Twilight nodded and the girls, along with Twilight's friends, Toothless, Lycanroc Rockruff and Mudbray went over to Canterlot and Moonshine presented Princess Celestia and Luna with the ancient looking book before she went to the first page and read it. (Play until 1:21) After Moonshine was finished reading it, the Princesses looked at her in awe, "Incredible..." Princess Luna asked. "Ihave always wondered what became of our old teacher." Luna said while Celestia looked kinda nervous for some reason. Twilight stepped forth, "So it's genuine? You can verify that this journal really belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded?!." Luna levitated the book up to her, "Indeed. From the looks of it, the last thing he wrote before facing the Pony of Shadows." "Hold it! The Pony of Shadows was real?!" Applejack exclaimed in shock. "It appears so." Celestia stated. "We never met the other Pillars, and we were too young to understand the danger they faced." Luna added. "Hold on a second now. All those legendary ponies were real, too? And they went off with Star Swirl to face the Pony of Shadows, and then none of them were ever heard from again?" Applejack asked. "They must have defeated the villain, since Equestria is still full of light and hope." Rarity stated. "But how? And where did they go?" Kaede asked. "My Olde Ponish is a bit rusty, but I wonder if the answers can be found somewhere within the pages of this book." Celestia stated. " Well, I just happen to be an expert in Olde Ponish. I mean, I've practically memorized every ancient text about Star Swirl there is!" Twilight said with glee. "Seriously, all of them." Spike added to confirm. Luna explained, "We have fond memories of our old teacher. If you could discover what happened to him, we would be most grateful." she levitated the book over to me. "Solving a thousands-year-old mystery could take forever! Think of the research! The re-reading! The re-re-reading!" Twilight said with a smile. Rainbow groaned in dismay. Moonshine looked at her mother who was still nervous about something, "Mom...? What's wrong?" she asked. "You look nervous. Do you.... know something about Starswirl the Bearded?" Princess Celestia sighed, knowing that it was time for Moonshine to know..... "Moonshine, there's a secret that I've been keeping from you." Celestia replied, confusing everyone, including her sister. "What secret...?" Moonshine asked. "That Starswirl the Bearded..... is your father...." Princess Celestia said, earning gasps from everypony. "H-How is Starswirl the Bearded Moonshine's father?!" Twilight exclaimed. Princess Celestia sighed and explained that when Celestia and Luna first became adults, Starswirl was very proud of them for completing their studies of magic. During the teaching Celestia developed a crush on her teacher, but they knew that naturally having a child together would arouse unnecessary attention so, Starswirl used a spell that would create a biological child (Moonshine) by combining the DNA of both him and Celestia, bringing Moonshine into Equestria. However, when he went off with the other Pillars to face the Pony of Shadows, they disappeared, leaving Celestia to raise Moonshine, which only got harder when Celestia was forced to banish Luna to the moon when she turned into Nightmare Moon. "Since then, I've had to raise her alone, cause she never really got to know about her father." Celestia replied sadly. Moonshine was beyond surprise; the greatest unicorn that ever lived in history was her father! "And that there may be a clue to his disappearance, I don't really know what to feel." "We'll find out what happened to Starswirl and the other pillars, Princess. We promise." Twilight vowed. Three Days Later... Twilight was looking through Starswirls journal for any clues as the disappearance but couldn't find anything. She was staying glued to the book. "Figured out anything?" Moonshine asked Twilight. "Nothing. I mean, Star Swirl was a genius, obviously. But forget Olde Ponish. There's parts where his horn writing is like another language!" she groaned. Applejack came over to her, "Twilight, we've been studyin' and referencin' and cross-referencin' for three days straight now." Rainbow stretched, "Ugh. I haven't spent this much time reading since the last Daring Do book came out." Rarity was nearby wearing some reading glasses. "Perhaps it is time to take a break. This mystery is over a thousand years old, after all. Another day or two won't make a difference." "Two days?! I don't want to waste two seconds!" she went over to a chalkboard where there were notes, allowing Moonshine to get a chance to read it. "I'm close to an answer. I can feel it." Moonshine looked at some of the words and said them aloud, ""Hearg sylfum se Ponhenge". What's that?" "The Temple of Ponhendge. You can read that?!" Twilight exclaimed. "The writing is kinda sloppy but still readable." Moonshine said. "Toward dol grimlic of Fola Firgenbeorg"? "At the base of Foal Mountain." Twilight said. "User endemest scield". Twilight gasped, "Our last stand." "Looks like we found our first real clue." Twilight levitated a book over to us and it revealed a small clearing with rock formation on it. Soon we made our way to Ponhenge where there were some vines on the rocks and dirt on a rock formation that were six rocks placed in a circle around what looked like a slab. "I'm not sure we'd find out what happened here over a thousand years ago." Fluttershy said. Twilight was holding the book and she placed it on a rock. "Well who knows maybe the answer will just magically appear." Suddenly the book began to glow. "Uh, Twilight." Spike said. Twilight gasped and looked at the book as it opened up on it's own and appeared a holographic image of Starswirl. Everyone was jaw dropped while Twilight was amazed. "Star Swirl!? I... I've wanted to meet you my whole life! I can't believe you're here!" Moonshine waved her hoof through image. "I don't think he is here. I don't think any of them are." Moonshine pointed to the other rocks and the holographic images of Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, Somnambula, Mistmane, Mom and Flash Magnus appeared as well. (Skip to 1:20) Starswirl blasted the center and the Pony of Shadows appeared. It was about as tall as Blitz with a long curved horn. "You summon me at your peril, Star Swirl! Once I defeat all of you, this realm will embrace the darkness as I did so long ago!" he launched out black ropes, ensnaring the Pillars. "Drawing me here will only make me stronger. You will never defeat me!" My mom broke free and charged the Pony of Shadows but the Pony of Shadows blasted her and sent her flying. "Sapphire!" Starswirl exclaimed in fear as he watched Sapphire flying out of sight. The POS laughed. "You miserable ponies will never defeat me." "We did not come here to defeat you." Starswirl said as he used his magic to break free. His book glowed and sent out a magical line to the mask, shovel, blindfold, flower and shield. "What are you doing?" The Pony of Shadows asked. "We came to contain you." Starswirl said. They and the POS were lifted into the air and vanished into thing air, leaving their items behind. "Well do ask for a magical explanation." Pinkie said. "Uh... what just happened?" Rainbow asked. "It looked like Star Swirl cast a spell that banished the Pony of Shadows." Kaede said. "Of course! Powerful magic like that would leave an impression on this place. Bringing the book back here let us see what happened." Twilight said. "Which was what?" Applejack asked. "Star Swirl and the rest of the Pillars sacrificed themselves to save Equestria." Twilight said, making Moonshine to become very sad. Twilight nuzzled her best friend, "But I'll keep figuring out exactly what the spell was." Moonshine smiled and nodded. Back at the Castle of Friendship, Moonshine was walking through the hallway towards the throne room with Toothless, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Mudbray. The four of them sensed that Moonshine was sad and they comforted her when she and the girls returned. Moonshine entered the throne room and saw Twilight popped up, "I think I understand Star Swirl's spell!" she said. "I know I've finished one of Star Swirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level! Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation? It's Star Swirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once Starlight set me on the right track with his crazy hornwriting. I mean, he was a genius, so I guess we can forgive a little messiness – I went through the journal again, and it's amazing!" "Twilight, darling. We understand you're excited, but that's all we understand." Rarity said. "What exactly is so amazing?" Rainbow asked. "Only how Star Swirl and the other Pillars sent the Pony of Shadows to limbo!" "They did what now?" Applejack added. Twilight made a small diorama of Ponhenge. "They used their magic to open a portal between worlds – to limbo – and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside." the diorama exploded. "Darling you diorama!" Rarity exclaimed. "I made more." She pointed to a pile of them and I sweat dropped. "Star Swirl thought the only way to trap the Pony of Shadows in limbo was for the Pillars to take him there." Twilight explained. "So they got stuck too." Applejack added. Fluttershy shivered, "The Pony of Shadows must have been really awful for them to do that." "I suppose being trapped for all time with a super-duper bad guy in limbo might be okay if you were doing the limbo, but that's still pushing it." Pinkie added. "The thing is I think I can get them out." Twilight said, much to our shock. "Twilight, are you serious? You can save the most legendary ponies of all time?" Moonshine questioned, "I-Including my dad?" "I-I don't know. Opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. Are you sure it's safe?" My mom asked. "First of all, you opened portals through time." Twilight said. "Which is different than time." My mom still looked hesitant. "But how do you know they'll be okay even when you bring them back?" Rantaro asked "That's the thing about limbo. It iisn't one place or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we can pull them out, it'll be like they never left, right?" Twilight suggested. "So what can we do to help?" Spike asked. "If I'm right, we need to find items that are connected to the Pillars in some way." Twilight said. "You mean like stuff that belonged to them?" Rainbow asked. "Exactly and if I remember correctly Moonshine had gathered all the items that belonged to the Pillars while we were growing up in Canterlot, which she brought here." "So now that we have the items what do we do with them?" Rarity asked. "Easy, we go to Ponhenge and get the Pillars back." Twilight said. Everyone nodded and soon they were back at Ponehenge with the Pillars items placed on each of the rocks. "I can't believe I'm gonna meet Star Swirl the Bearded! You know, outside of my dreams." Twilight said with glee. My mom, on the other hand us still concerned. "I can't believe you're actually going through with it." Moonshine said with worry. "What do you mean?" "I'm all for pushing the envelope, obviously, but this is pretty out there for you, Twilight." "What's "out there" about saving the most legendary ponies of all time from a thousands-year-old prison? Including your father so you, Celestia, Luna can all be a family again." "Well... nothing when you say it like that. Unless "the most legendary ponies of all time" knew what they were doing, and we shouldn't mess with it." "I'm sure Star Swirl and the Pillars did the best they could back then, but magic has come a long way. Mostly because of the work they did. Sapphire, Star Swirl the Bearded is the greatest wizard who ever lived. The chance to have him back in Equestria is worth the risk." Moonshine sighed, "Well then I can't stop you." "Alright.. here we go." Twilight said. We all backed off as Twilight used her magic to perform the spell and in an instant, the Pillars of Equestria reappeared. I used my magic to catch them all and placed them on the ground. "What... What has happened?" Starswirl asked as he looked around. "D-Dad...?" Moonshine gaped at Starswirl who looked at her, "Moonshine... my child..." "Dad...." Moonshine grinned, with tears developing in her eyes, which she wiped away. "It worked! We brought you back!" Twilight said. "To where?" Starswirl added. "You and the others have been trapped in limbo for over a thousand years, but I figured out how to get you ho—" "What?! No, no, no, no! You must undo what you've done!" Starswirl said in a scared voice. Twilight was confused, "What? Why? I mean, I don't think I can." "You cannot bring us back!" Starswirl said. "But I did. I brought all the Pillars back." Twilight said. "You cannot bring only the Pillars back!" Starswirl added. Lightning flashed in a large cluster of shadows. The Pony of Shadows appearance! "Oh no!" The POS laughed, "Your pitiful attempt to imprison me has failed, Star Swirl!" Starswirl looked at Twilight, "You must return us to limbo. It's the only way to stop him." "I only figured out how to bring you back." Twilight said. "Allow me to assist." POS said before lashing out vines of dark magic and destroying the rock formation! "There! Without the power of Ponhenge, your banishing spell is useless!" Starswirl exclaimed to Twilight, "You have studied my writings. Surely you have some other plan." "No. I just wanted to save you. I didn't think—" Twilight stammered before Moonshine stepped up. "I'll handle this." Moonshine flew up to the POS, who laughed, "What can a tiny thing like you do against me?" The activated she activated her Element of Hope and she blasted a rainbow beam at the POS who cried in pain. Starswirl and the Pillars were shocked. The POS growled and launched his vines at her but her Element of Hope created a barrier around her, protecting her from the vines. "Argh! This one is almost as... strong as you, Star Swirl. But even in my weakened state, she cannot stop the might of shadows!" The POS blasted his shadows at Twilight and the others but Moonshine counter with her Element which pushed back his shadows and struck him. "GAH!" "Know this, fiend! We will not rest until we find a way to return you to limbo!" Starswirl declared. "Never! Your days of glory are through, Star Swirl. Now my dark power will reign, and you six will bow to me!" Then the POS vanished into his shadow form. "Um... where'd he go?" Rainbow asked. "That is a riddle we must unravel. And quickly." Somnambula added. "How long have we been gone?" Meadowbrook asked. "Over a thousand years." Fluttershy added. "Then my spell worked – before it was meddled with – and the realm has been at peace for a millennia!" Starswirl said. "Weeeeell... we did have to save everypony from Nightmare Moon and Discord and Chrysalis and King Sombra and Lord Tirek, and there was that one time when Moonshine signal handedly faced down six evil clones of us and the Elements of Disharmony. But that's all in the past." Pinkie pointed out. "If you are truly this accomplished, we will stop the Pony of Shadows twice as fast together." Flash Magnus said. "We shall see. It is an easy thing to say you have saved the world. It is quite another to do it." Starswirl stated. "Excuse us beardo, but your daughter has saved the world." Rainbow said. "Be that as it may, the problem of locating the Pony of Shadows remains, and this land is vast." Starswirl claimed. "Well... maybe...." Moonshine through and the group was back in the throne room of Moonshine's castle where they looked at the crystallin alicorn. Moonshine gently let her Element touch the crystalline alicorn and it glowed before it showed a holographic image of the world of Equestria and the image of the Tree of Harmony. "Just as I thought. This map, and indeed this very castle are grown from the seed we planted over a thousand years ago." Starswirl added. "Then it did work!" Rockhoof exclaimed. "What worked?" Ren asked. "Each of us infused a crystal seed with our magic in hopes that it would grow into a force for good." Somnambula said. "We wanted to leave something to protect the realm in our absence, but we never dreamed our gift would become so powerful." Mistmane added. "Y'all mean the Elements came from you?" Applejack asked. "You know, the sparkly crystal things that grow from the Tree of Harmony and represent each of us? Laughter, honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness, and magic! And Sapphire's new Element: Faith." Pinkie explained. "They are reflections of our own elements of hope, strength, beauty, bravery, healing, and sorcery." Somnambula said. "We had no idea our small seed would bloom into the living spirit of the land. I am glad our mantles have passed to such capable ponies." Meadowbrook said with a smile. "More importantly, we no longer need Ponhenge to send our foe back to limbo. We can use the stored magic in this Tree of Harmony." Starswirl added. "But doesn't a banishing spell take a lot of power? We'd have to sacrifice the Elements for that." Twilight stated. "Mm-hmm." Starswirl nodded. "They'd be gone... forever?" Fluttershy added. "Star Swirl, I don't think the Tree can survive without the Elements. If it dies, Equestria will suffer." "If the Pony of Shadows has his way, your land will not exist. So unless you have a better idea..." Starswirl added. "I do. We only use my Element!" Moonshine declared. Everyone gasped in shock. "Moonshine, no! You can't sacrifice your Element of Hope." Twilight said. "Where did that one even come from? We only planted six seeds." Rockhoof added. "The Tree gave it to me." Moonshine stated. Starswirl scoffed, "The Tree of Harmony did no such thing. That thing is just a half baked gem." I gasped at that insult and Applejack stepped forth, "Beggin your pardon Mr. the Breaded but Moonshine's Element is anything but a half baked gem." "It's as real as the other Elements of Harmony." Applejack added. "She used it to defeat the evil clones of us and defeated the Elements of Disharmony, the evil counterparts to our Elements of Harmony." Starswirl huffed before a bright light glowed overtop of the Hollow Shades, "It seems there are fewer dark corners in the realm these days." Starswirl said, looking at the map. "Isn't that a good thing?" Rainbow asked. "True. The Pony of Shadows will have a hard time regaining power. When he rears his head, we'll be ready!" Flash stated. "Isn't there some way to banish him without losing all of you?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, I wish there were. But to save our home, we are willin' to leave it." Meadowbrook said. "You don't have to." Moonshine said, stepping forth. "I can use my power to reform the POS." "The Pony of Shadows was not interested in reconciliation. Once a villain, always a villain." Starswirl said, glaring at me. "That is so untrue! Not every villain stays a villian." I stated boldly. "Stygian wanted more power than he had, and that desire led him down a path from which there is no return!" Starswirl said. "Whose Stygian?" Fluttershy asked. "Stygian was the name the Pony of Shadows gave up when he turned to darkness." Meadowbrook said. "And I'm just trying to figure out why." Moonshine stated. "I know I can reform the POS/Stygian is my duty as the Princess of Friendship and the Element of Hope." Starswirl used his magic to take my Element off of my neck! "You and your Element are nothing more than a bunch of fakes!" he exclaimed in anger. Everyone gasped. "Stygian wants to destroy all that is good in this world. There's no way to befriend a pony like that." Starswirl exclaimed to me with a serious face. "Yes there is!" Moonshine exclaimed back with a fiery temper. "My mother has always taught me about the Magic of Friendship and she entrusted me to spread the Magic of Friendship throughout Equestria and if you don't believe Princess Celestia, then you're just a jerk! I thought I would be happy to finally meet my father after he was gone for many years, but now.... I just regret it...!" Moonshine cried before she ran out of the room, sobbing and slamming the door behind her. "Moonshine, wait...!" Twilight called but she was long gone..... Twilight and the girls were left in distraught over what they just witnessed between Starswirl and Moonshine, "Starswirl how could you say such a thing to her!" Twilight scolded. "Yeah, you totally disrespected your own daughter!" Rainbow added. "That is not how a father should act!" "Rainbow Dash is right, Mr. the Bearded. Moonshine just figured out that your her father and what do ya do? You reject something that makes her special. That's disrespectful!" Applejack added. "Mhm." Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity agreed. "Even I have to agree with them, Starswirl. That was pretty harsh." Flash Magnus added. "Yeah, all the little lass wanted to do was help defeat the villain." Rockhoof said. "She just didn't want to lose you again, like she already had." Mistmane added. "Spoken like a true daughter." Meadowbrook stated. Starswirl, who was still in shock from what happened with Moonshine, heard what the others said and sighed sadly. "Y-You..... right..... it's just..... when I left to fight the Pony of Shadows, I left Celestia all alone to raise our daughter. That's something that can't be forgiven. I left her to raise our daughter alone and I didn't try to reunite with them moons ago." "But you couldn't do anything in limbo." Twilight defended. "And that's the problem... I couldn't do anything. I felt.... useless. While my loving wife raised our child alone... I couldn't do anything..." Starswirl said with great remorse. The Mane Six lowered their ears, feeling sad for Starswirl. "Come on, ya'll we should go and see if she's okay." Applejack suggested and the Mane Six agreed before they left the Pillars to go to Moonshine's bedroom along with Toothless and her pokemon. But to their surprise, they found it empty. They didn't see any sign of Moonshine except that there was a note on her bed. "A note?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight took the note in her magic and read it before she gasped in horror, "Oh no! Moonshine's gone off to face the Pony of Shadows alone!" "WHAT?!" The girls gasped in horror. "S-She can't do that!" Fluttershy added. "That big meanie will do Celestia knows what to her!" Pinkie Pie said with worry. "W-We have to find her!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "But we don't know where the darling could be!" Rarity pointed out. Suddenly, the skies in Ponyville became dark as dark black clouds rolled in near Town Hall and they were followed by a familiar laugh. "I think I have an idea..." Rainbow whimpered. "Spike, alert the Princess immediately! Tell them to bring the Elements of Harmony as well." Twilight ordered and Spike nodded before sprinting off to get a scroll and quill. "Come on girls, let's go get the Pillars and head over there." "Right." The girls said and they sprinted off. Moonshine meanwhile, with her Element of Hope ready to use confronted the Pony of Shadows, "Hahaha, one measly little pony cannot defeat me..!" The Pony of Shadows growled. "You wanna bet!" Moonshine snarled. "Hahahaha, I'll take my chances, especially cause I've found some help..." The Pony of Shadows smirked as he looked to the right and Moonshine gasped, seeing Starlight Glimmer and the Mean Six with the Elements of Disharmony. "Long time no see, Princess Moonshine." Mean Twilight mocked. "We've been planning our revenge against you." Moonshine snarled at the bad guys before Starlight smirked before she used her magic to remove Moonshine's Element of Hope. "Hey! Give me that back!" Moonshine ordered. "After what you did! You disrupted the peace of my village and turned everypony against me! You ruined my harmony so now I'm gonna ruin yours!" Starlight yelled in anger before turning to the Mean Six and they nodded. The Mean Six activated their Elements of Disharmony and this time they glowed black with purple and green dots around them. Starlight levitated Moonshine up in the air, right in their path. "Let me go...!" Moonshine snarled and Starlight laughed at her pathetic order. "I don't take orders from pathetic alicorns like you...! Now!" Starlight ordered and the Mean Six blasted Moonshine with the Elements dark magic, sending the blast right into her heart! Moonshine screamed and winced in the upmost pain, just as the girls and the Pillars arrived. "Moonshine!" The girls gasped in horror. Just then, the Princesses arrived with the Elements of Harmony, "Moonshine, honey, no!" Princess Celestia cried in horror seeing her daughter in pain. Princess Luna snarled and flew up to the Mean Six and blasted them and Starlight with her magic, interrupting their spell and causing Moonshine to fall to the ground. "How dare thou harm thy niece!" Princess Luna snarled, angry with Starlight and the Mean Six. "Hahahaha, she had it coming, Princess." Starlight mocked which made Princess Luna furious. "Thou shall pay for hurting thou precious niece!" Princess Luna yelled as he eyes turned white and wind started to stir around her. Luna glowed white and she began to transform into a tall pony, the same size as Celestia and shared many similarities towards her as well. Her fur color is pitch black, and her mane and tail flow in a starry midnight complexation. This was Luna's evil alter ego.... Nightmare Moon! Starswirl was horrified and at the same time in awe that Luna could transform into such a pony as well as the other Pillars. Starlight and the Mean Six just smirked at the furious transformed Alicorn. "You think a transformation will stop us?" Mean Rainbow smirked. "Pfft. Loser." Nightmare Moon snarled before she made the tip of her horn glowed and she blasted a beam at Mean Twilight, who created a barrier around herself and the others. The Pony of Shadow laughed, "Face it Starswirl, this world will soon meet the darkness...!" "We'll see about that Pony of Shadows." Princess Celestia growled before she gave Twilight and the girls their Elements of Harmony. The girls nodded at each other and they activated the Elements of Harmony, sending out images of their respective elements around the Pony of Shadows. Soon, the girls opened their eyes and came together, sending out a large rainbow beam of powerful magic at the Pony of Shadows. "NOOOOOOO!" The Elements Magic consumed the Pony of Shadows in its magic and destroyed the dark magic shadows, revealing an unconscious unicorn pony who was small in stature and just wore a simple, short brown cloak and he had a moderate cerulean, arctic blue and roseish black mane and tail. The girls stopped the spell and the pony fell on the ground. "Oh word.... Stygian...!" Meadowbrook gasped. Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon/Luna broke through Mean Twilight's barrier and blasted the Mean Six and Starlight injuring them. Starlight snarled, knowing they at least completed one part of their secret plan and she dropped Moonshine's Element of Hope on the ground, "You may have beat the Pony of Shadows but we completed what we came here to do. Soon, that precious Princess of yours shall be nothing but a shadow of her former self...!" Starlight declared before she teleported herself and the Mean Six away. When they were gone, Nightmare Moon changed back into Princess Luna and she flew over to her precious niece. "Moonshine, sweetheart?" Luna called. Moonshine groaned as flashes of dark magic arose from her heart, where she was struck. Celestia, the girls and the Pillars rushed over to her. "How-How is she?" Fluttershy asked. "I sense a great deal of dark magic inside of her heart." Starswirl said grimly, seeing the flashes coming from her heart. "Those ruffians must have done it when they blasted her with those ghastly Elements of Disharmony." Rarity scoffed. "I-Is there's something we can do to help...?" Twilight asked, worried about her best friend. Starswirl and Celestia looked at each other grimly, "Curing dark magic in someone's heart, is a very difficult process and its rarely been recorded in Equestrian History, but my sister and I shall searched the library of Canterlot for anything that may help Moonshine." Twilight and the girls nodded as they just looked at their unconscious friend as the dark magic still radiated from her heart, hoping there was someway to help her cure the infection that has plagued her heart. After the battle, everyone took Moonshine and Stygin to the hospital in Canterlot Castle where the medical doctors immediately looked over the two of them while Twilight, the Princesses, the Mane Six and the Pillars were in the waiting room, anxiously waiting for any news on the pair. After what seemed like forever, the doctor came out. "How are they doctor?" Princess Celestia questioned. "Stygian is stable right now and he'll make a full recovery since he only appeared to have suffered from magical exhaustion." the doctor replied before his face turned grim. "As for Princess Moonshine..... I'm afraid it's not very good." "W-What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "I'm afraid Princess Celestia was right, when she said that dark magic infected Moonshine's heart." the doctor made a screen appear showing Moonshine's heart. They noticed a black splotch of dark magic festering inside. "The dark magic that was shot from the Elements of Disharmony is now progressing inside of Moonshine's heart, turning it from pure to black. If this keeps up, soon her heart will be consumed by dark magic completely which means that the Princess shall become a darker version of herself." The girls gasped in horror. "I-Is there anything that you can do to stop this ghastly symptom?" Rarity exclaimed in worry. The doctor sighed, "If it was just her mind, then yes. But with her heart..... its such a fragile part of the body. If we try to remove the dark magic and mess up, it could lead to a fatal consequence." the doctor explained the large risk. "I know how you all feel and I feel the same way too, but its just too risky to remove dark magic from the Princess' heart without causing a near fatal consequence if there is an error in this process." Twilight and the girls looked at each other with great worry. Suddenly, an ear piecing scream echoed through the hospital! "Moonshine!" Twilight exclaimed as she and the group rushed past the doctor as he followed, with their hearts beating fast. The group made it to Moonshine's room where they saw her screaming and squirming in pain as the dark magic in her heart started to take its form. "Oh no! The dark magic! It's mutating...!" Princess Luna gasped in horror. Moonshine screamed in alot of pain as the dark magic started to come out of her heart as green and purple smoke before it glowed in a black light and sent out a large shockwave of dark magic. Princess Celestia and Luna used their magic to create a force field around the group and the doc to protect them. Moonshine continued to scream as the dark magic came out of her body.... and began to form another pony! This pony was just like Moonshine, except, she was completely gray with blood red eyes and she was wearing the Alicorn Amulet on her neck and she had the look of evil in her eyes. "Haha... haha.. HAHAHAHAHA!" The girls and everyone were shocked and horrified at what just happened. "W-Who are you...?" Fluttershy shivered, holding Rainbow Dash. "Hahaha.... why I'm your precious friend, Fluttershy..." the gray Moonshine smirked. "No you're not! You are not our friend!" Applejack rejected. "Hahaha.... then you can just call me Eclipse... or as you would say it.. the evil alter ego of your friend." Eclipse smirked before she looked at Princess Luna, "Like Auntie like niece, huh, Princess Luna?" she smirked. "I am your niece's worst instinct come to life and I only have one royal duty now... to destroy you!" Eclipse suddenly launched a blast at the Princess' but Twilight countered her magic. "You are not hurting the Princesses!" Twilight exclaimed. Eclipse laughed before she coated herself in magic and rammed Twilight, sending her through the hospital wall and knocking her unconscious! "Twilight!" Applejack and the girls exclaimed in horror while Eclipse laughed, "Pathetic!" she smiled with a wicked flare. "Nothing can stop me! Not even your precious student, Princess Celestia!" Eclipse gloated before Moonshine's Element of Hope appeared and blasted Eclipse with its magic. "Agh! Pesky Element! I don't know why I even chose to have you around! You should be destroyed along with the other Elements of Harmony!" Eclipse yelled before she launched a powerful fiery beam of dark magic at Moonshine's Element, but it blasted back with more power and struck its bearers' evil side. "Agh!" Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Hope glowed extra brightly and began to spin around and around very fast before it sent out a shockwave of light that blasted Eclipse out of the hospital and out of Canterlot. Eclipse landed on the outskirts of Canterlot, "OOF! Grrr..... annoying Element of Harmony... I'm going to see to it that they are all destroyed along with their bearers..... starting with my goody two shoes double... AHAHAHA!" In the hospital, Twilight started to stir before she began to come too and she saw the girls relieved faces, "Twilight, thank goodness you're okay." "W-What happened? Where's Eclipse?" Twilight asked as she looked around. "Moonshine's Element banished her from Canterlot." Meadowbrook explained. "It was quite an amazin' feat." "Indeed. The Element of Hope responded on its own and acted on its own free will." Mistmane added. "Like it was alive." "Even I haven't seen anything like that before." Flash Magnus stated. "B-But what about Moonshine?" Twilight questioned. "What will happen to her now?" The doctor examined Moonshine and found no more traces of Dark Magic in her heart. "The dark magic has been completely removed from her heart, but.... only time will tell is she'll ever awake." "So..... what does that mean....?" Twilight asked. "It means that..... our niece is in a comatose state because of what happened...." Luna confirmed grimly. "And only time will tell if she'll ever awake again..." "No........" Twilight gaped as tears filled her eyes and she collapsed into Applejacks' arms as she cried. The girls and the Pillars were horrified as was Starswirl. They couldn't do anything to wake Moonshine up from this severe illness. The only thing they could do........ was wait......
Judging a Book By It's CoverIt's been a few weeks since the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the reunion between Celestia, Luna and Moonshine. Moonshine was very happy to have her long lost Aunt back in her life and Celestia was happy to have her sister back after 1,000 years. Now, Moonshine and Twilight were walking through Ponyville with Spike, Lycanroc and Rockruff. "So how's your Lycanroc doing?" Twilight asked. "He's great. Strong too." Moonshine praised, rubbing Lycanrocs' mane. "Lycanroc.." he said in a deep voice. Rockruff barked happily at his evolved sibling. "Hehehe, Rockruff wants to be big and strong like him." Moonshine chuckled. Twilight and Spike chuckled too and the group entered Ponyville... only to find it empty. There was nopony in the street. A tumbleweed rolled across the area. "Where is everypony?" Twilight wondered. "Psst... Twilight... Moonshine...!" the girls turned and they saw Pinkie waving at them from Sugarcube Corner, "Come on.. quickly!" Moonshine and Twilight looked at each other and shrugged. They walked towards Pinkie who grabbed them and yanked them inside. "Woah!" Moonshine yelped. "Pinkie, why are you in here in the dark alone?" Twilight asked. "I'm not in the dark alone." Pinkie said. Some lights came on and Twilight and Moonshine saw Applejack and the other girls inside along with Applebloom. "What are you all doing in here?" Moonshine asked. "We're hiding.." Applejack said. "Hiding?" Moonshine questioned. "From.. them...." Rainbow said, pointing outside. Twilight and Moonshine looked through he blinds and they could see two more creatures outside. One was a pony like creature but it wore a brown cloak with a hood, only showing her striped legs. One leg had golden rings on it. The other creature was about 26 feet long and had a 45 foot wingspan. It was black as night and had ear appendages on its head. It also had some tail fins on it.. but one was missing! The two creature turned and looked with yellow and black glowing eyes. The ponies gasped at the two of them turned around and looked. "Will you cut that out?" Twilight asked. "Just look at those stripes, so ghastly." Rarity said. Twilight rolled her eyes. "She's a zebra." "A what?!" Everypony exclaimed. "A zebra. And those stripes aren't a fashion choice, Rarity, they're what she was born with." Twilight explained and Rarity fainted. "Born where. I've never seen a pony or critter like that in these parks, except them." Applejack said with a shudder. "Well, they're probably not from around her and she's not a pony. My books says that zebra's come from a far away land." Twilight explained. " But I've never read anything about a dragon like that one." "I have." Moonshine said. "It's called a Night Fury.' "Night Fury?" Twilight echoed. Moonshine nodded and she explained, "Night Furys' are very strong and very intelligent dragons. They are part of the Strike Class of dragons, so they have blazing speed and are very powerful. They're called the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." "Lightning and death!" Rainbow stated. "Now that's creepy." Moonshine rolled her eyes, "But that one doesn't look menacing at all." Moonshine saw the Night Fury looking at its damaged tail with a depressing look. "What's wrong with it?" Fluttershy asked. "Without both of its tail flukes, it can't fly." Moonshine explained. The girls gasped softly, starting to feel bad for the dragon. Rainbow on the other hand, "Pfft, how bad can losing half of your tail be?" "How would you feel if you lost one of your wings, Rainbow?" Moonshine asked her with a raised eyebrow. "... Okay, fair point." Rainbow stated. "Where does she live anyway?" Twilight questioned. "That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest!" Applejack stated and Moonshine only gave her a deadpanned stare, "And...." she trailed on, "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow..." Applejack added. "Animals care for themselves..." Fluttershy added. "And the clouds move..." Rainbow stated. "All on their own!" they all said in unison and Rarity fainted again. Twilight and Moonshine rolled their eyes. "And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!" Rainbow Dash grumbled, "Here we go.." and Pinkie started singing her song, (Pinkie Pie) She's an evil enchantress She does evil dances And if you look deep in her eyes She'll put you in trances Then what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew Then she'll gobble you up In a big tasty stew Soooo... Watch out! The ponies just started at Pinkie while she was breathing haevily, "Wow. Catchy." Twilight said. Pinkie smiled, "It's a work in process." "This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?" "Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville. Then, she lurks by the stores. And then, she digs at the ground." Rarity explained. "Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?" Twilight suggested. "And what exatcly does the Night Fury do when it comes to Ponyville, exactly?" "Well... nothing much really." Rainbow stated. "Do you see the dragon every time you see Zecora?" Moonshine asked. "Actually, the dragon appeared before we began seeing Zecora." Fluttershy explained. "Wonder why?" "Well that destroyed tail fluke might have something to do with why it came here." Moonshine stated. Moonshine looked through the blinds again and she saw the dragon trying to fly but it kept falling down onto the ground with a dejected expression on its face. "Why are you so worried about that dragon anyway, Moonshine? It's bad news." Rainbow stated. Moonshine looked at Rainbow Dash, "Because, my books says a down dragon is a dead dragon." "Dead?!" The girls exclaimed. "If the dragon can't fly then it can't get away from predators or hunters." Moonshine answered. "The Night Fury won't survive unless it can fly again." "But how are you gonna help it fly again? Make it a new tail fluke." Rainbow suggested before she started laughing. "Exactly..!" Moonshine exclaimed, stopping Rainbows' laugh. "WHAT?!" All the ponies, except for Appleblooom exclaimed. "I can make him a new tail fin." Moonshine stated. "I've read about making prosthetic during my studies." "But Moonshine, what if it attacks you?" Fluttershy cooed in worry. "You can't judge someone based on how they look." Moonshine said, heading for the door, "Just watch." she was about to exit when she noticed a small filly missing, "Hey, where'd Applebloom go?" Applejack and the girls looked around and saw the filly no where to be seen, "The doors' already open!" Rainbow exclaimed. "And Zecora and that dragon critter are gone!" Applejack added. "Applebloom must have followed them!" "We've gotta get to her, fast!" Rainbow said and the girls rushed out of Sugarcube Corner. Moonshine, Lycanroc and Rockruff were the last ones to leave. "Ready to help a dragon, guys?" she asked them. "Lycanroc.." "Ruff..!" Moonshine smiled and three followed the six mares to the Everfree Forest. Inside the forest, Applebloom was following behind Zecora and the dragon creature. She gulped nervously until she heard Applejacks' voice, "Applebloom!" she gasped and turned to see Applejack and the others standing in a field of blue flowers. "There you are, Applebloom." Moonshine called as she and her pokemon came along. They were about to step into the blue flower field when the Night Fury gasped and bounded over and snatched Moonshine away from the flowers. "Woah!" the dragon got her away from the blue flowers and Zecora stated, "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" "Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?" Applejack called to her. Pinkie and the others called to her as well as Twilight rollied eyes. Zecora vanished into some fog calling, "Beware.. Beware..." Zecora stated. "Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!" Rainbow exclaimed. Applejack turned to Applebloom, "And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?" "I...I..." Applebloom stammered. "Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?" Applejack scolded. "You guys, there's no such thing as curses!" Twilight pointed out. "Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself." Rainbow scoffed. "My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale." Twilight explained. "Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true." Applejack stated. "Well I believe Twilight and you shouldn't have been so hard on Applebloom, Applejack." Moonshine stated. "What?" Applejack stated. "Applebloom just wanted to try and get to know Zecora before jumping to conclusions like somponies." Moonshine stated, eyeing the Mane 5. "What do you mean 'jumping to conclusions'?" Rainbow asked. "I mean you're making assumptions based on gossips and rumors which is not the way to get to know somepony or creature." Moonshine explained. "Oh yeah... prove it!" Rainbow challenged. The Night Fury dragon came over to Moonshine and warbled at her with a curious look on its face. "Hey there, big fella..." she cooed, reaching a hand out to it. The Night Fury purred and placed his snout onto Moonshine's hoof. "There we go..." The Night fury warbled at Moonshine and nuzzled her. Moonshine turned to the girls who were jaw dropped. "I arrest my case.." Moonshine smirked before she walked away with her pokemon and Night Fury in tow. Moonshine was walking back through town with the Night Fury in tow, "Don't worry boy. I'll make a new prosteic fin for you. Then, you'll be able to fly again. How does that sound?" The dragon roared in joy and playfully tackled Moonshine, licking her face. "Hahahaa...!" Moonshine laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it." The next morning, Moonshine was sleeping in her room with the Night fury, Lycanroc and Rockruff by her bedside when... "MOONSHINE!" "WAH!" Twilight's cry sent Moonshine jumping out of bed and scaring her pokemon and dragon friend awake. Twilight came into the room and Moonshine gasped, seeing her horn covered in blue spots and droopy, "What happened to your horn?" she asked. "I don't know but there’s something wrong with the girls too." Twilight stated. "Huh?" Twilight lead Moonshine downstairs where she saw a tiny Applejack, Rainbow's wings were upside down, Rarity’s fur and mane were completely tangled, Pinkie's tounge was out of her mouth, covered in blue spots too and Fluttershy.... seemed fine? "What's wrong with Fluttershy?" Moonshine asked. "I don't wanna talk about it." Fluttershy said in a deep male voice, much to her shock. Spike, on the other hand, was laughing. "This is Hilarious! Look at all of you! We got: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, and... uh... I got nothin'... Twilight Sparkle. I mean seriously, I can't even work with that." Twilight sarcastically laughed too, "This is no joke, Spike. Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!" "I think we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place!" Rainbow said, trying to flying with her upside-down wings. "It's not a curse!" Twilight dismissed. "I agree with Dash! We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex!" Applejack exclaimed. "It's not a hex either!" Twilight added. Moonshine and Applebloom, meanwhile, looked at each other. “Oh this is all my fault.” Applebloom said. “No it’s not, Applebloom.” Moonshine reassured. “You really think so?” Moonshine nodded, “I think it has something to do with that plant they all stepped into yesterday. But... I have to make sure.” Moonshine then quietly walked out of the library while the girls were arguing with each other. Lycanroc, Rockruff and her dragon noticed her leave and followed after her. In the Everfree Forest, Moonshine was walking with her pokemon and dragon in search of Zecora’s hut. Rockruff had picked up her scent from yesterday and tracked it to a large hut in the forest. “Woah...” the hut had some bottles hanging from some of its branches and it looked really big. Moonshine came and knocked on the door. The door opened and Zecora looked at Moonshine. “Ah, one of the other ponies from the day, Quite strange to see you in here I must say.” Zecora spoke. “Hi Zecora, I’m Moonshine and this is Lycanroc and Rockruff and I believe you already know the dragon.” The dragon warbled at Zecora. “Ah yes, the Night Fury; so strong and true And I see it has become good friends with you.” Moonshine nodded. “Yeah. Can we come in? I wanted to ask you something.” Zecora nodded an fallowed the group of four to come into her hut. Inside there were shelves filled with potions and bottles along with some masks as well as a small cauldron in the middle of the room. “Now what is the problem you have spoke of Perhaps your friends had caught a small cough?” Zecora asked. “It’s more than a cough. Zecora. They all seemed to have these weird happenings occurred to them. Applejack is tiny. Rainbows wings are upside down. Rarity’s fur is tangled. Pinkie’s tounge is large and blue spotted, Fluttershy’s voice turned deep and Twilight’s horn is covered in blue spots and droopy. I think this all has something to do with that plant they all stepped in yesterday.” “What you’ve concluded is right That plant known as Poison Joke Ponies think this plant causes much fright But it’s unlike Poison Oak, but it’s results are like a joke.” “Oh... so that plant just played a few tricks on them.” Moonshine realized. Zecora nodded. “Is there someway you could help them, Zecora?” Moonshine asked her. Zecora nodded and she went to her small bookshelf and she pulled out a book, “This holds the answer you seek, Go on and take a peek.” Moonshine flipped through the book and she found a remedy bath that would cure the effects of Poison Joke. “Thanks Zecora. Could you try and make the cure for my friends?” Moonshine asked. “Making the cure; that I will, But I am missing an herb from Ponyville.” Zecora said. “So that why you were digging your hooves into the ground yesterday?” Moonshine questioned, getting a nod from the zebra. “... And what about the dragon? My friends said that it came here before you arrived.” “The Night Fury was injured in a crash And it’s left tail fin was badly torn Without it he can fly no more Since then, his spirit has been worn.” Zecora explained, bringing a sad expression onto the Night Furys’ face. “Hey, don’t worry, boy. Remember I’ll make you a prosthetic fin.” Moonshine reminded. The Night Fury smiled and nodded at her. “Now about this herb in Ponyville. I believe I can help you with that.” Meanwhile, the girls were still arguing about what to do about Zecora whole Twilight was searching her books for a cure. “No no no no no! None of these books have a cure! Ugh! There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy?!” “A curse!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I said a real reason. Something that points to something real.” Twilight deadpanned. Spike the found a green book, “How about this one?” "Supernaturals"? Spike, the word supernatural refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies, which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey!” “But what if you're wrong, Twilight? What if this really is a-“ Spike started but was cut when they heard Rainbow exclaims, “Zecora’s back!” “What?!” The girls exclaimed. “And she’s got Moonshine with her!” The girls all gasped and raced outside of the library and they indeed saw Zecora and Moonshine, her pokemon and dragon companion. The girls came up to the pair, “Moonshine! Get away from her!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Yeah, she put this horrid curse on us.” Rarity added, blowing some of her fur out of her face. “Zecora didn’t put a curse on you.” Moonshine replied. “Then how do you explain this?” Twilight asked, pointing to her horn. “It’s because of that plant you all steeped in yesterday. It’s call Poison Joke and it played jokes on you all which caused all of your problems.” Moonshine explained. “Huh?” The girls asked. Spike then came up with the same book from before, “She’s right. Twilight. The book you said was a load of hooey actually has the plant, the effects and the cure for it.” He showed Twilight and the girls the page and the girls realized they had been wrong all along. “I.. I’m so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time if only I bothered to look inside.” Twilight said in a disappointed tone. Zecora chuckled. “Maybe next time you should take a second look, And not judge the cover of the book.” Zecora advised the girls, who looked remorses for their actions. “Zecora’s gonna make you girls a remedy bath to help cure the poison Joke but she needs an herb from Ponyville.” Moonshine explained. “I think we can help with that.” Twilight grinned. Soon, the girls were at Ponyville Spa taking a drop in the remedy bath. Moonshine was relaxing with her pokemon and dragon friend. Dear Princess Celestia, My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week: Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your "cover" is; it's the "contents" of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle The remedy bath cured the girls of their Poison Joke effects and they all dried off before going over to Moonshine, “Moonshine, we’re sorry we didn’t believe you before.” Twilight apologized. The other girls gave their apologies too. “It’s okay, girls.” Moonshine smiled. The Night Fury nuzzled her, “So what are you gonna name this fella?” Applejack asked. “Hmm.. I haven’t really thought of a name.” Moonshine replied. The Night Fury then opens its mouth revealing pink gums, “Huh? No teeth?” Twilight stated. “So he’s toothless?” Rainbow added before teeth popped out from his gums. “Woah!” “Retractable teeth, amazing!” Fluttershy gasped. “Toothless.... that’s a good name for him. Toothless it is then.” Moonshine declared. Toothless warbled at her and nuzzled her with a smile on his face while the girls watched with smiles of their own. The Next Day..... Moonshine was down in Twilight's basement lab, wearing a mask while she was wielding some pieces of metal together. When she stopped wielding, she pulled up the mask and wiped the sweat from her face, "Phew.. there... looks good." she commented. Then Spike and Twilight came downstairs, "Hey Moonshine, what are you working on?" Twilight asked. "The prosthetic fin for Toothless." Moonshine replied. "And after a couple hours; its done and ready for testing." Spike and Twilight looked at the prosthetic fin. "Woah...." they gasped. It resembled Toothless' other tail fin. It had metal odds connected to the base and coated in a sheet of flexible paper. "I put a spell on it so its' fire, water and lightning proof." Moonshine added with pride. "Moonshine, this is amazing." Twilight praised. "Now time to give it a test run.." Moonshine smiled. "Oh Toothless~" To say Toothless was excited to try on his new tail fin was an understatement. The Night Fury was bounding around Moonshine with a gummy smile. "Hehe, I know, I know..." Moonshine cooed. "You're excited, but calm down a little. Hehehe..." Toothless came to her side and laid his tail down. Moonshine attached the prosthetic to the tail and secured it. "There we go, Toothless." Toothless looked at the prosthetic and moved it up and down with his other tail fin simultaneously. "Perfect....now how about a test flight with it?" Toothless nodded excitedly. Soon the trio, Lycanroc and Rockruff were outside of the Golden Oak Library. "Okay Toothless, whenever you're ready." Moonshine called. The Night Fury nodded and spread his wings and he took to the sky and the he was flying perfectly. He looked at this tail fin as it held up greatly with glee as he flew higher into the air and performed dive in the air and pulled up with great speed. “Alright Moonshine, you did it!" Spike cheered. "Woo-Hooo!" Moonshine cheered, seeing her prosthetic working like a charm. Toothless came down and hovered in front of the group with a gummy smile. "Hehehe, he loves it, Moonshine." Twilight smiled, hugging her friend. Then Toothless heard something, "Lookout!" Toothless turned around to see a rainbow missile heading right for them. He gasped flew higher, avoiding it, but it slammed into Moonshine and into the library. THUD! "Ugh..." Moonshine groaned. "Moonshine!" Twilight cried in worry. Moonshine sat up and saw books and paper littered all over the floor along with a familiar rainbow pegasus. "Rainbow Dash?" Moonshine called, getting the mares' attention. “Oh.... hehe... sorry about that Moonshine." Rainbow apologized with a sheepish smile. "What are you doing?" Spike asked. "I was practicing my new trick; the Corkscrew Flash, but I lost control." Rainbow answered as she shook off the dust from her fur. Moonshine stood up, "I see you got that dragon of yours in the air now." "Yeah, her prosthetic fin is incredible!" Spike exclaimed. "She really knows engineering." Moonshine blushed at Spikes' comment. "Aw... Spike." "Hey Moonshine, maybe you could help me with my new trick?" Rainbow asked the alicorn mare. "Well, I don't have anything else to do today, so I guess its alright." Moonshine replied. "Yes!" Rainbow cheered. "Come on!" Rainbow zipped off and Moonshine turned to Twilight and Spike, "Do you want my help to clean up, Twilight?" she offered. "No, no Moonshine, it's alright. You go with Rainbow Dash." Twilight stated, picking up a few books in her magic, ready to put them back on the shelves. "Okay, Come on Toothless." Moonshine called. The Night Fury warbled and flew into the air, "Lycanroc! Rockruff..!" The wolf and puppy pokemon leaped out of the balcony window and followed their trainer. They found Rainbow in a field standing on a cloud, "There you are." "Hi Rainbow, so how's this trick of yours supposed to go?" Moonshine asked. Rainbow flew down to the ground and picked up a piece of paper that was being held down by a rock. "Here Moonshine." Moonshine took the paper in her magic. The paper read: Corkscrew Flash; It had Rainbow flying high into the air and performing three circles in the air, climbing higher with each other, then it had her spinning in the air four times before she would dive towards the ground and come up at the last minute." "Hmmm... I think you should replace the four spins you have here, Rainbow." Moonshine replied. "Huh?" Rainbow asked confused. "If you spin four time after you do the corkscrew, you'll get dizzy and lose your balance which is probably why you crashed before." Moonshine explained. "Try replacing it with three flips in the air rather than spins." "Hmm... alright. I'll give it a try." Rainbow stated and she took off like a rocket into the sky and she went straight into performing the three circles, climbing higher into the air with each one, then she performed three flips in the air, helping her gain more altitude. Finally, she dove towards the ground at high speeds and she came up at the last second, leaving behind a rainbow steak. Rainbow stopped and she flew back down to Moonshine, "That was awesome!" she exclaimed. "The first time, I got so dizzy that I lost control of my flying, but this time it was completely different. Thanks Moonshine." Moonshine smiled at her friends, "Happy to help, Rainbow." She trotted back to Ponyville to check on its residence and maybe lend a helping hoof if need be. "Oh Moonshine darling~" Moonshine and her friends turned and saw Rarity trotting over to them, "Oh hey, Rarity. What is it?" "Moonshine darling, you'd you be a dear and help me gather some gems from the gem mines?" Rarity asked. "Okay Rarity." Moonshine stated. "Perfect!" Rarity exclaimed. Soon, the girls were at the gem mines, each hauling carts behind them, "So what are these gems for?" Moonshine couldn't help but ask. "Oh darling, these gems are for some of my clients. Turns out, ponies adore having colorful gems on their dresses and other clothing." Rarity said. "So I want to gather lots of gems just for the occasion." "Okay, Rarity." Moonshine smiled. "Good, now let's get to work." Rarity added. Two hours quickly passed, and the girls had gathered a lot of gems filling both carts and were on their way back to Ponyville, "Are you sure you can handle it, darling?" Rarity asked, turning back towards Moonshine who was struggling to pull the cart. "Ugh... I'm okay... ugh..." but the sweat coming down her face and the dirt on her front hooves from all the digging says otherwise. "Well were almost home darling." Rarity assured and within a few minutes they were at the front step of the Carousal Boutique. Moonshine let out a relieving sigh and detached herself from the cart. "You head on in and I'll take care of this." Rarity said grabbing some of the gems in her magic and bringing them in. Moonshine nodded before she walked away with her pokemon and Toothless. Moonshine was back at the Golden Oak Library resting in her bed with an ice pack on her back. "Ugh... man those carts are tough..." she groaned. Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless looked at each other, worried. Twilight then came into the room, "Hey Moonshine, how's your back?" "A little better." Moonshine stated. "Thanks for the ice pack by the way." Twilight smiled, "Of course.." suddenly, there was a loud crash, "MOONY!" "Pinkie Pie?!" The mares exclaimed in shock. "Lycanroc?!" "Rockruff?!" Pinkie Pie came bursting into Moonshines' room. "Moony, I need you for something important. Really, really, really, really, really important...!" Pinkie said quickly. Moonshine blinked at Pinkie in shock. "Umm.... okay..." Moonshine stated. "But Moonshine, what about your back?" Twilight inquired, worried about her friends' back problem. Moonshine got out of bed, "Ugh.. I think it'll be fine..." "YEAAAAHHH!" Pinkie cheered and she grabbed Moonshine and took her away. "WOAH!" Twilight sighed in dismay, "Lycanroc?" "Rockruff?" Toothless warbled in worry. "Keep an eye on her, you three, please?" Twilight asked them. "Rockruff!" "Lycan." Toothless nodded and the three went off to Sugarcube Corner. At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie lead Moonshine to her room where it was flooded with all sorts of sweets; cupcakes, cakes, muffins, cookies and more. So... many more. "Umm... so... what's so important Pinkie?" "Ah, so you brought her here, good." Applejack said, coming into the room. "Huh? Applejack?" Moonshine said. "What are you doing here? What's going on?" "Well Pinkie and I were talkin and she suggested that she can cook better sweets than I can." Applejack explained. "So we decided to have a little contest where we would have somepony taste test all of the sweets we made and judge which one of us is the better cook." "And... what does this have to do with me?" Moonshine asked. Pinkie Pie emerged from beside her, "Isn't it obvious, Moony. The judge will be you." Moonshine's eyes widened as she looked at the large, large amount of sweets. "Soo... what do you say?" at that moment, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless arrived and gawked at the amount of sweets that littered the room. "Umm..." Moonshine thought. As a filly, she really didn't eat sweets that much. Maybe only a cookie once in a while but she was nothing compared to her mother, who adored cakes and sweets and would try to eat one whenever she got the chance. Moonshine looked at her friends, who were waiting for an answer. ".... Okay..." "Yeah!" "Yee-Haw!" Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless looked at each other with worry. This wasn't gonna end well. Soon, Moonshine was sitting in front of the sweets that Applejack and Pinkie Pie made. Moonshine gulped nervously. "Come on, Moony, what are you waiting for?" Pinkie asked. "Oh.. um.. r-right.." Moonshine stated. Moonshine began eating the sweets that Pinkie and Applejack made for her. She ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. Finally, after about four hours, all of sweets wee gone and Moonshine was laying on the floor with her mouth coated in some frosting and her stomach bulging. Her stomach gurgled sickly and Moonshine placed her hoof on it, "Ugh..." she moaned quietly. She then saw Pinkie and Applejack standing over her. "So who won sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Whose the best cook out of the two of us?" Pinkie added. "Ugh... umm.... it's a.. ugh.. tie.." Moonshine said as she staggered to her feet. "Yeah!" Pinkie cheered. Moonshine slowly staggered over to Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless with her bulging stomach and a sick feeling in her throat. "Uh, Moonshine? You alright there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, noticing how unwell she looked. "I-I'm.. urp.. fine.." Moonshine replied, almost tuning green in the face. "I-I'm gonna go back home now..." Moonshine painfully walked down the stairs and exited Sugarcube Corner and she headed back to the library. The moon was full and out by the time she got back. She opened the door and she found Spike and Twilight. "Moonshine, there you-Woah! You don't look so good." Spike notified. Twilight went over and she felt her friends stomach, "Oooh!" Moonshine grunted. "You didn't eat a lot of sweets, did you, Moonshine?" Twilight questioned with a raised eyebrow. Moonshine nodded and Twilight groaned, "Moonshine, you can't eat a lot of sweets! You'll end up vomiting your guts out!" Moonshine just groaned, looking green in the face. "Come on, let's get you to bed and some medicine." Moonshine stiffly nodded and had Twilight lead her upstairs to her room. Moonshine was soon laying in bed, trying to get to sleep, but she couldn't cause of upset stomach and the constant vomiting she endured. "Ugh..." she moaned as her stomach gurgled sickly. It was gonna be a long night. Days later, Twilight and Spike were having breakfast when Moonshine came downstairs, followed by Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless. Her mane was a bit frazzled and she had bags under her eyes due to her lack of sleep, but her stomach was back to normal. "Hey Moonshine, feeling better?" Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded. "Think you can eat something?" Moonshine shook her head. Then there was a knock at the door and Rainbow Dash came into the room, "Hey Twilight, I need to borrow Moonshine, real fast thanks." she said as she quickly gabbed the Alicorn and zipped away. "Hey!" Twilight called but she was already gone. She groaned in annoyance, "Spike, watch the library." "Right." Spike saluted. "Lycanroc, Rockruff, Toothless, let's go." Twilight said as she teleported herself and the group away. Rainbow, meanwhile had taken Moonshine to Ghastly Gorge. "Why are we here?" Moonshine groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Angel Bunny, Fluttershy's pet, wandered in here and she wants us to go and get it cause she's too scared to get him herself." Rainbow said. "O-Okay..." Moonshine groaned. She spread her wings and she followed Rainbow Dash as they flew through the Gorge searching for Angel Bunny. Soon, Rainbow spotted him. "There!" she pointed, seeing the bunny near some large holes in the wall. "What are those holes for?" Moonshine asked, confused while Rainbow's eyes widened in horror. "Those are quarry eel nests!" she exclaimed. Moonshine gasped in horror as some of the quarry eels; large red and yellow eels with large eyes, came out of the holes and spotted the tiny bunny, who screeched in fear. "Angel!" Rainbow exclaimed as she and Moonshine dove towards the quarry eels. Rainbow distracted some of the eels while Moonshine flew in and grabbed Angel bunny. "Got him!" Moonshine called lethargically, but one of the eels bashed her in the side, "Ugh!" the impact sent her cashing into the wall and sending Angel into Rainbow's arms. "Moonshine!" Rainbow called to her downed friend. Moonshine groaned as she came to from the fall and she looked around. She heard rocks cracking from above her and she saw rocks beginning to fall. "Moonshine, get out of there!" Rainbow called, but Moonshine, with everything she's been through, was just too weak and tired to get out of the way in time. All she could do was brace herself as rocks filled her vision and she heard one final cry, "MOONSHINE!" Beep.... Beep... Beep.... Beep... That's what Moonshine heard when she came to and saw six blurry figures in front of her, "Is she gonna be okay?" the orange blur asked. "Oh, I'm so worried.." the yellow blur added. Moonshine's vision cleared and she saw that it was Twilight and the girls surrounding her bedside. "Moonshine..." Twilight called gently. Moonshine groaned as she looked around and saw her right front leg in a cast being held by a sling as well as her back left leg and her right wing in a cast and a bandage on her head. "W-What happened?" she groaned. "You got trapped in an avalanche in Ghastly Gorge, sugarcube." Applejack exclaimed. "Twilight and your critters dug you out and rushed you to Ponyville Hospital." "The doctor said the rocks broke your legs and wings, hence the slings and casts." Twilight added. "He said you'll make a full recovery in a few weeks." Moonshine nodded, "Moonshine, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into this." Rainbow apologized, hanging her head low. "I-It's alright... Rainbow..." Moonshine stammered. "Moonshine, it's not okay!" Twilight exclaimed. "You have to stop being so, and don't take this the wrong way, naive." Moonshine blinked at her best friend, "Naive?" "Ah, think what Twilight means to say.. is that you bein' easily tricked or bein' too kind for your own good." Applejack added. "But I'm just being who I am." Moonshine replied. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Moonshine questioned. "No, not at all darling, but sometimes being too nice can get you into a lot of trouble." Rarity explained, referring to her injuries. Moonshine looked sad at that moment, "I know you like helping ponies, Moonshine." Twilight added coming up to her, "But sometimes you have to know when you can't help somepony; friend or not." "But I was trying to be like mom. She always helps ponies when they need help." Moonshine replied. "Yes, but Celestia also knows when she has to decline helping somepony." Twilight added. "Twilight is right, honey." a motherly voice came and the ponies turned and saw Princess Celestia entering the room. "Princess, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "I'm here to check on my daughter. Spike wrote to me, informing me of what happened." Celestia replied. Celestia came to her daughters' bedside and rubbed her head, "And Twilight is right, Moonshine. Although, I help ponies whenever they need it, I also know when not to help somepony. Like when I'm not feeling well." Celestia nuzzled her daughter, "I'm proud of you, wanting to help the ponies, but perhaps you could learn when to say 'no' sometimes." Moonshine nodded at her mother, "Okay mom.... should I write a letter to you about it?" Celestia chuckled, "This time; no honey." "Okay Mom..." Moonshine stated before they heard scraping at the door, "Rockruff..! Rock!" "Rockruff?" Moonshine called. Rockruff managed to push the door open and he, Lycanroc and Toothless entered the room. Rockruff whimpered, see his trainer injured, "Rockruff?" "I'll be alright, Rockruff." Moonshine said, as Rockruff rubbed her uninjured leg. "Those three seemed awfully worried about ya, sugarcube." Applejack stated. Moonshine rubbed Lycanroc on his mane, making him smile, "Lycan.." Toothless warbled and nudged Moonshine's casts. "Aww, Toothless. Don't worry, I'll be fine.." Moonshine reassured, earning a small warble from the Night Fury. Then Nurse Redheart came into the room, "Alright everypony, Princess Moonshine needs her rest. You all have to come back tomorrow." she said. The Mane 6 left the room one by one but Rockruff, Toothless and Lycanroc weren't to keen on leaving. Rockruff whimpered and nuzzled Moonshines' leg, not wanting to go. Celestia rubbed the little puppy pokemon, "She'll be fine, Rockruff. Nurse Redheart will look after her." she reassured. "Now come on, you three. Your friend needs her rest." Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless nodded and they left the room, leaving mother and daughter in the room. Celestia kissed Moonshine on the head, "Love you, honey." "I love you too, mom." Moonshine said and Celestia left the room, leaving her daughter to recover. Moonshine yawned and she closed her eyes as Redheart closed the curtains to help her rest and Moonshine fell asleep and Redheart closed the door quietly.
A Royal ProblemToday, Moonshine was packing her things in her room. She was going to Canterlot, to visit her mother and Auntie Luna for the week. She has been wanting to spend some quality time with them ever since Luna came back from being banished. Twilight and Spike couldn't be happier for her as they came up to the room, "Hey Moonshine, ready for some family time with Celestia and Luna?" Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded, "I can't wait! I know we're going to have the best time...!" she squealed in joy. Twilight and Spike smiled at her, "Have a good time, Moonshine." Spike praised. Moonshine nodded and the group heard whinnies coming from outside, "Well that's my ride, you guys. Are you sure I should leave Lycanroc and the others here?" "Don't worry, they'll be fine here for a week without you." Twilight reassured, pushing Moonshine towards the door, "Now you go and enjoy your family." "Hehe, right." Moonshine opened the door and carried her suitcase as she went over to the chariot pulled by two of her mothers' guards. Moonshine entered the chariot and waved to her friends as the guards flew into the air towards Canterlot. When she arrived at the Palace, she was escorted to the throne room where her mother and Auntie Luna stood. "Moonshine, dear." Celestia greeted. "It's wonderful to see you." "It's good to see you to mom, Auntie Luna." Moonshine said. "We'll have a grand time together, right sister?" Celestia asked, looking at Luna. "Yes, everything will be fun.. sister.." Luna said but she looked like she was pouting about something while Celestia looked happy. Moonshine looked confused. Something was up. Moonshine was escorted to her old room in the palace and she started to unpack her bags when... "Psst..." "Huh?" She looked around and she heard the 'Psst' again. Looking at the desk near her bedside, There was a small ballerina pony doll spinning around on a stand and the pony looked like.. "Twilight?" Moonshine went over, "Is that you? How are you here?" "I'm not. I'm still home. It's an easy spell. I'll show you later. Anyway, I wanted to check in on you not in a meddling kinda way but in a friendly hows it going kinda way, so hows it going?" Twilight asked quickly. "Kinda weird now. I think something's up with mom and Auntie Luna." Moonshine reported. "What makes you say that?" Twilight asked. "You know how someponies say and look like there's nothing wrong but you get the feeling that something is definitely going on?" Moonshine asked, earning a nod from Twilight. "Well I'm getting that vibe from mom and Luna." "Hmm..." Twilight thought. "Odd... see if you can find out anything more about this." Moonshine nodded, "Right." Then one of Celestia's Solar Guards came into the room, "Your mother has your breakfast ready, Princess." he said. "Okay." Moonshine replied and the guard closed the door. "Well, here I go." Moonshine said to Twilight as she exited the room. Moonshine entered the dining room where she found her mother placing a plate on the table. The plate had a stack of pancakes that was topped with blueberries and whipped cream. "Hehe, awww Mom. " Moonshine blushed. "You still make the faces on the pancakes. Just like when I was a foal..." "Hehe, of course darling." Celestia said as she sat down. "Just a way to show I care." Then the door opened and in came Luna. She had bags under her eyes and a frown on her face. "Good morning, sister." Celestia greeted. Luna looked at her with her frown. "Join us?" Celestia asked, levitating a stack of pancakes she made for Luna. "Too tired." Luna said and she levitated a pineapple in her magic before taking a bite out of it and walking passed Celestia, "Please excuse me." Celestia put down the plate and stuck a fork and knife into her stack, "Woah... last night must have been really hard on her." Moonshine said. "Oh no, honey.. she's like this.. every morning." Celestia said, looking sad before she put her stack of pancakes into a trash can before walking away. Back in her room, Moonshine reported what happened to Twilight, "I think Auntie Luna's hurting Moms' feelings without even realizing it." she stated. "Poor Celestia. That's so sweet that she makes her sister pancakes every morning." Twilight cooed with a smile. Moonshine gave her a deadpanned stare, "She's your mentor. I think you might be biased." "Fair enough." Twilight added. "So what are you gonna do?" "Nothing, yet. I have to get all the facts. I asked Luna if I could spend some time with her this evening. So I'll be able to see what's going with her." Moonshine explained. Then one of Luna's bat pony guards came into the room, "Princess Lunas' waiting for you, Princess." Moonshine nodded and she joined the guard in exiting the room. Moonshine entered the throne room as night was upon Canterlot. She saw Luna placing purple flowers onto the small balconies that lines the hallway. "Wow, Auntie Luna. You do this every night?" Moonshine asked as she came up to her. "Lavender's calming scent is known to aid dreamers in achieving a restorative sleep." Luna explained letting Moonshine smell the lavender flowers, "That's so thoughtful!" "I try my best to make sure the ponies in this castle sleep peacefully." Luna added. Then the throne rooms' door opened and out came Celestia and a few dignitary ponies, "And so, then I said, "Touring? More like 'boring'!" the pony said before laughing along with Celestia, "Oh, you really are a card!" As they walk by, Luna sighs, "But as always, my sister is too busy having fun with dignitary ponies to acknowledge anything I do. Hmph!" Luna huffed before walking away with the cart of lavender flowers. Moonshine looked in front and behind her, "I gotta tell Twilight." In the room, Moonshine paced back and forth in front of Twilight, "So Mom and Auntie Luna are hurting each other without realizing it. And instead of talking about it, they're just getting colder and more distant." "And they're Celestia and Luna. So it's not like you can just confront them." Twilight replied. "Actually, that's exactly what I was gonna do." Moonshine stated nonchalantly, earning a panicked response from Twilight, "What?! Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed before she regained her composure, "I mean, heh, you do whatever you think is best." "Thanks for the confidence." Moonshine deadpanned. "I do. But the last time the princesses fought, Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, and Princess Celestia had to banish her for a thousand years! That can't happen again!" Twilight informed. "Well, I can't do nothing." Moonshine replied. "Their my family and I have to help them rekindle their relationship they lost for 1,000 years." Twilight nodded, knowing how much Celestia and Luna meant to her. Then the girls noticed a small light coming from the door. "Huh? What's that light?" Twilight asked. "I don't know..." Moonshine opened the door and gasped, "My Element?!" Indeed, it was her Element of Hope, floating in front of the door before it magically floated onto her head and stopped glowing. "Woah... I've never seen your Element do that before." Twilight stated. "Me either.." Moonshine said. "Wonder why?" The next morning, Moonshine was greeted by another stack of pancakes, this time decorated with pineapples. "Wow. I almost feel bad eating this. It's adorable." "Like I said, I enjoy this part." Celestia said. "So you said you element suddenly appeared at your rooms' door?" "Yeah... have the Elements done this before when you controlled them?" Moonshine asked. "No, never." Celestia replied. "The Elements never acted on their own before." Then the door opened and in came Luna, looking the same way she did the other morning. "Hi Auntie Luna.." Moonshine greeted. "Hi Moonshine." Luna said sourly with a full mouth. She was about to walk away when Moonshine got out of her seat, "Auntie Luna, wait!" she called. Luna looked at her and Moonshine was a little taken back by her frown, but she proceeded. "I believe I've found a problem inside the palace." Moonshine informed. "You did, honey?" Celestia asked. "What is it?" "... You two.." Moonshine said, pointing at the two with a sheepish smile. "Excuse me/I beg your pardon." Celestia and Luna said in unison. "I think you're accidentally hurting each other's feelings without realizing it." Moonshine said. The Princesses looked away from each other, so Moonshine played negotiator. "Mom, does it bother you that Auntie Luna never notices the wonderful breakfasts that you prepare for her?" "Uh... Y-Yes. It does." her mother admitted. "Auntie Luna, tell Mom how you feel about the fact that she never acknowledges the work you put into lining the hallway with lavender every night." Moonshine encouraged. "I... Well, I... I-It's not the best feeling." Luna admitted before she tuned to Celestia. She gently pushed Moonshine away as she talked with her elder sister, "I'm sorry I never noticed that you make fruit faces on pancakes, but nights are long for me. You might be a morning pony, but I am half-asleep." "You think I don't get tired? I'm exhausted! Oh, I apologize for not noticing flowers in a wall sconce. But by the time I get to retire for the night, I can barely see straight! Even so, I still make an effort to smile!" Celestia said, smiling. "Like smiling is so hard." Luna dismissed, wiping the smile off of Celestias' face. "I-I-I'm sure that's not what Auntie Luna meant to say." Moonshine added quickly. "Is that what exhausts you? Smiling and being adored by everypony?" Luna asked her sister, annoyed. "And you have it so much worse, do you?! You've spent your evenings flitting around giving ponies lovely dreams! Oh, it sounds just awful!" Celestia retorted. Moonshine got in between her mother and Auntie before the tension between them escalated even more. "Okay! I feel like we should step back, take a deep breath..." but Luna dragged her away by her magic. "Don't presume to know what it is like to govern the dream realm!" she exclaimed at her sister. "And yet you know exactly what it's like to be me?! Oh, please!" Celestia exclaimed back. Then Luna broke into song, (Luna) I don't need to live all large You don't know the tasks I do To patrol the way I do for my subjects (Celestia) Oh sister, I wish you knew All the work I have to do Just to keep you in your duties and your mess (Luna) If you knew what I go through- (Celestia) If you (Both) Knew what I go through, walked a day in my own shoes, (Luna) Well the maybe you could see all the things my way (Celestia) Well then maybe you would See all of the reasons why I have long night As the two were singing, Moonshine's Element of Hope started to glow on its own, which was noticed by Moonshine but not by Celestia or Luna as they continued. (Luna) If you knew what I go through how I smile everyday. (Celestia) I'd love to be in school, have a night without a care. Then Moonshines' Element glowed brightly and it spread to the two sisters which they didn't notice but Moonshine could feel in heart that something was about to happen. (Both) How I wish you'd understand and see the world my way, For just one day, just one day, just one day Suddenly, the Element of Hope engulfed the two sisters, stopping their argument and switching their cutie marks as well! When they saw their switched cutie marks they were shocked! "Moonshine, what have you done?!" Celestia exclaimed. "I didn't do it! My Element did it! It did some spell on its own!" Moonshine replied frantically. "Well make it change our cutie marks back!" Luna stated. "I don't know what spell the Element performed to switch your cutie marks... but... Twilight!" Moonshine called and Twilight suddenly appeared, "You called me, Moonshine?" Celestia and Luna were caught off guard by her sudden appearance. "Yeah. My Element switched Mom and Auntie Luna's cutie marks." Twilight gasped, "It did?!" she exclaimed and looked at the sisters switched cutie marks. "Woah...." "Do you know what kind of spell that it might have used to do it?" Moonshine asked. "Hmm...." Twilight thought. "It might have been a '24 hours switch spell'. The spell lasts for 24 hours with whatever effect it had." she theorized. "So... what now?" "Maybe... this isn't such a bad thing." Moonshine said. "Huh?" Celestia and Luna asked. "You said it yourselves! Neither of you believes your sister knows how hard it is to be you. So this is your chance to prove it." Moonshine suggested to her mother and auntie who looked at each other, "Well, I could use an easy day followed by a good night's sleep." "You can try. I haven't had an easy day in, well, ever! But now, I get to sleep, and tonight will be a breeze. All right, honey. We will do this." Celestia stated. "O-Okay, mom." Moonshine stated. Soon, Luna was before the maid, servants and guards in the throne room. "As you can see, Celestia and I are switching places today." she announced to the ponies, who murmured in confusion until she raised her hoof, silencing them, "I assure you, I am more than capable of handling all of Celestia's, heh, duties. Dismissed." The servants, maids and guards exited the throne room. "So, what is first on my dear sister's to-do list?" Moonshine held a long list in her magic, "It says you have a few public appearances. Store openings, judging the royal rose contest... You know, that sort of thing." Luna chuckled, "Oh, I knew today would be easy, but I didn't think it would be that easy." and soon she was riding through Canterlot on a royal chariot, waving to the crowd with a big smile with Moonshine and Twilight behind her. At one of the store openings, Luna held a pair of scissors in her magic and tried to cut the rope... but the scissors didn't but so she just knocked the rope to the ground, earning cheers from the crowd. At the Royal Rose Contest, Luna went around sniffing flowers, holding the first place ribbon in her magic. She was about to give the medal away when a pony waved to her and she saw more flowers for her to smell. Luna put on a smile and continued with the contest. Later, she was in front of the School of Magic, standing with a foal who was having their picture taken with her. Luna struggled to keep up the smile while the photographer, made sure the camera was ready. Moonshine and Twilight were behind the photographer, encouraging Luna to keep smiling. Unfortunately, the moment Luna stopped smiling.. the pony took the picture. "'Princess Luna Unhappy with Student Fundraiser?' But I wasn't unhappy!" Luna said, looking at the newspaper while she, Moonshine and Luna were sitting at the table that afternoon. Moonshine took the paper in her magic and winced, "Um, you are scowling, Auntie." "Well, I-I didn't mean to! I've been smiling all day! My cheeks hurt! I stopped for one second! And that's when he took the picture!" Luna defended. "Guess smiling all day isn't as easy as you thought?" Twilight questioned. Luna took the newspaper back in her magic and read more of it, "It says here that, because of me, the school didn't raise enough funds to go on their field trip! I-I didn't mean for that to happen!" she slammed her head on the table in dismay. Moonshine flew over and lifted her auntie's head, "I know. But you can't dwell on that now. According to the list, some delegates are about to arrive for a luncheon. You need to dispel rumors of timberwolves in the White Tail Woods. The nearby towns have been in a state of panic for weeks." "B-B-But I have to fix this!" Luna stated as she got up and tried to head back to the school but Twilight stopped her, "You can't. You need to put on a brave face and help these ponies. It's what Celestia would do." Twilight opened the door and they saw a few delegate ponies. Luna took a deep breath and shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice, "Hello! Great news! There are no timberwolves!" That didn't do much to sooth the ponies nerves and they burst out of the room, "No, there are definitely timberwolves!" they all screamed in unison. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't stop thinking about those poor students. Normally, I have all the time in solitude I need to work through my problems at my own pace." Luna explained. "Well mom, doesn't have that luxury. She has to solve the problem when they come at her, even if she's dealing with alot. Like when she was caring for me when I was a foal. She had to deal with taking care of me and all the other duties and problems that she dealt with during the day." Moonshine explained. Luna looked at her thoughtfully. She never realized how much her sister does each day. Dealing with caring for a young foal with her support ever since she was banished.... she never took it into an account. The three ponies then heard some ponies voices coming from the other side of the door, "The princess will definitely side with me!" "Please see reason, Mayor Cream Cheese! I'm telling you, Baltimare..." "Ready for the town hall?" Twilight asked and Luna sighed. The trio entered the room and it was nighttime by the time they were done. "Glad that's settled." "And it only took three hours." "That got heated, didn't it?" "Still on for golf?" "Oh, absolutely." Luna, Twilight and Moonshine came behind the ponies and Luna looked very tired. "You made it to the end of the day. Yay?" Twilight said with a nervous smile. " Hmm? Oh. Yes, uh..." Luna yawned before handing Moonshine her list of duties, "I'm just going to turn in, then. Good shine, Moonlight and Twishine.." Luna stated before she headed off to bed. Then Princess Celestia came up to them, "Oh, hello, Moonshine, Twilight. I don't know about you, but I feel very well-rested. Where's Luna?" "Um, uh, she already turned in for the night, mom." Moonshine informed. "Did she now? It seems my duties were harder than my sister expected." Celestia smirked before heading off to perform Luna's duties. Soon, she was on the balcony, raising the moon into the night sky, "Moon raised! It's even easier than raising the sun." she chuckled, "What's next?" Celestia turned and saw Twilight and Moonshine curled up together asleep. "Of course.." Celestia said as she put the two of them to bed, "Everyponys' asleep at night. Heh. Luna works alone... Oh, but it's nothing I can't handle." she levitated Luna's list in her dark blue aura. "All I have to do is watch over Equestria, visit the dream realm, and protect ponies in their nightmares. My list was three times as long!" she chuckled, throwing the list away. On the balcony she could see the lights turning off, "All right. Everypony's asleep. You're talking to yourself, Celestia. Heh. But there's nopony else to talk to! Yet. I can talk to ponies in their dreams!" Using Luna's powers she entered the dream realm where she saw small bubbles that had everyponys' dreams, "Now, to save some ponies from their nightmares. Which aren't real, so it shouldn't be too hard, right? Right. Good call, Celestia!" and then she realized, "And I'm talking to myself again." Suddenly, she heard a scream and she saw a small bubble with Moonshine in it, "Huh? Moonshine?" Celestia asked as she flew over to the bubble. Inside, she could see Moonshine being chased by a black pony that looked to be made of shadows and darkness. The pony wore a purple and black suit "Leave me alone!" Moonshine cried as she desperately ran away from the pony. "Hahaha... there's no escape from me, Princess...!" the pony growled. Celestia gasped in horror. "What in Equestria is that?" she asked herself. "Grr.. no matter. Moonshine needs me." and without hesitation, she leaped into Moonshine's dream and she blasted the shadow pony. "Mommy!" Moonshine cried in joy, running over to her. "Moonshine, are you alright..?" Moonshine nodded and then whimpered when she heard the shadow ponys' growl. Celestia stood in front of her, "Leave my daughter alone, this instant." The shadow pony chuckled, "Why deal with me, Princess Celestia...? When you could deal with..." "Me!" another voice came and the two tuned and they saw Nightmare Moon once more. She laughed evily as she stood in front of the pair. "Don't worry honey. I know how to handle Nightmare Moon." Celestia stated. "Yes..." a new voice came. "But can you handle... me?!" and a new pony revealed herself. She was the same height as Celestia except her mane and tail were made of fire and she wore orange armor on he hooves, chest and on her head. Her wings looked to have armor on the edges as well. "This can't be!" Celestia gasped. "If Luna can turn into Nightmare Moon, you can absolutely turn into me — Daybreaker! The better, prettier, and more powerful version of you!" Daybreaker stated, pointing at Celestia. "No! I'll never turn into you!" Celestia defended. "Deep inside, you know how powerful you are. You don't need Luna." Daybreaker said, pointing at Nightmare Moon, who growled at her, "That's not true! Even when we were apart, I knew I needed her!" Daybreaker laughed, "Oh, please! You don't need anypony! You can do whatever you want. And all you have to do is get rid of anypony who stands in your way!" she then sent a blast towards Nightmare Moon! Celestia and Moonshine dodged the attack. "I never should've banished you to the moon! I should've destroyed you!" Daybreaker growled as she lunged at Nightmare Moon. Then Nightmare Moon blasted Daybreaker, "You can't get rid of me so easily, sister! Unless you plan on smiling me to smithereens!" The two charged each other but Celestia came in between them, "Enough!" Daybreaker laughed once more, "I told you I was more powerful than you!" she mocked before sending a blast at her but Moonshine gasped and deflected it. "Leave my mommy alone!" Moonshine exclaimed. Daybeaker growled at Moonshine, "You tiny pest! Just wait until I'm through with you!" she charged Moonshine, much to the horror of Celestia, "Moonshine, No!" Moonshines' Element suddenly glowed and involuntarily fired at Darybreaker, "Ugh!" Daybreaker recovered and snarled, "Big Mistake!" She lunged at Moonshine again but Nightmare Moon blasted Moonshine! "You're not the only one who has a bone to pick with this more, sister.." she growled. Moonshine grunted as she fell down. "Moonshine!" Celestia gasped. The shadow pony laughed at the scene, "Yes... take out that Celestial pest! When she's out of way, my plan can commence." "What plan?" Celestia snapped. The shadow pony laughed, "That's for you to figure out on your own.. hahahah!" the shadow pony then disappeared. Celestia looked back and saw Moonshine struggling to defend against Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. Celestia knew there was only one pony who could help her. Luna. In Luna's dream, she was looking in the mirror, smiling when a dream foal came up to her and said, "That smile's too wide... It's obviously not real..." Then another dream foal came up, "Why don't you want us to go on our field trip?" "I don't...!" Luna stammered but then her teeth started to come out of he mouth and fall on the floor, "I mean, I do!" Then more foals came in singing, "That smile's too wide... It's obviously not real..." Then Celestia appeared through the mirror. " Celestia!" Luna cried and she hugged her sister, "I'm so glad you're...!" Celestia pulled her through the mirror and back into Moonshine's dream. Moonshine was struck with a magical blast and she was sent flying. "Ugh!" Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon laughed before they lunged at her once more, "I've seen a lot, but I haven't seen this before." Luna stated, having never seen Daybreaker before. "What happened, sister?" "There was shadow pony in Moonshines' dream trying to harm her." Celestia explained. "When I intervened Nightmare Moon appeared along with Daybreaker.... an evil side of me." Luna gasped. "They began to fight and Moonshine intervened and now they're both after her." Moonshine managed to stand up, covered in scratches and burn marks from their magic. "Hahaha, you can't stand up to me, pest!" Daybreaker mocked before she rammed Moonshine once more, "Ugh!" "You have to end this nightmare or else it will have a gave consequence on Moonshines' psyche." Luna informed her elder sister. "But my magic isn't powerful enough! I thought if we worked together...!" "I have your magic, remember? It doesn't work in the dream realm. It has to be you!" "Oh, Luna, I can't do this! I was wrong! Your job is so incredibly hard! You have to battle nightmares and work in the darkness and do it all alone! It takes such a brave, strong pony to do what you do!" Celestia admitted, surprising Luna who also had to admit, "And that pony is you. I walked a day in your shoes. I thought all you had to do was smile and be adored all the time, but I was wrong. There is so much more to it than that." "Gah!" Moonshine grunted as she crashed onto the ground and the realm changed into their throne room. Daybreaker landed on Celestias' throne laughing as fire filled the sides of the room. Nightmare Moon landed on the other side of her, both ready to strike Moonshine, "In order to protect Moonshine and defeat Daybreaker, you need only to trust in your strength as I do." Luna encouraged. Celestia smiled at her sister and she nodded at her. Nightmare Moon and Daybreake both fired at Moonshine, but Celestia got in between them and blocked the blasts with he wings, "You can't destroy me! I'm everything you want to be!" Daybreaker exclaimed. "No, you're not! You are not real, and you will never exist again!" Celestia exclaimed as she repelled both blasts, getting rid of Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. Moonshine looked up at her mother, "M-Mom?" "Moonshine, honey.." Celestia gasped, nuzzling her. "It's alight honey, everything's fine now." Moonshine nodded and Luna came over, "You did it!" "Only because you were here. I don't know how you do this alone." Celestia replied. "So, um, did you talk to yourself?" Luna asked. "Um, a little." Celestia admitted and the two sisters laughed. "Aghhh!" Just then, the same shadow pony appeared, "You ruined my plan!" "What do you want, shadow pony?" Celestia demanded, standing in front of Moonshine. "What does thou want with my niece?" Luna growled. "Like I told your sister, Princess Luna... that's for you to find out... we'll meet again... until then...!" the shadow pony disappeared and Celestia exited the dream realm along with the others. Celestia and Luna looked at each other and smiled. "This is serious sister.." Luna said. "Yes Luna, whatever this shadow pony wants with my daughter; your niece... can't be good." Celestia said. The duo heard Moonshine yawn as she awoke. "Mommy? Auntie?" Celestia levitated her out of the bed and Celestia and Luna hugged her, "Moonshine, are you alright?" Celestia asked. Moonshine nodded, "W-What does that pony want with me...?" "We don't know... but we're going to find out.." Celestia promised. Moonshine nodded and Luna tapped Celestia on the shoulder. "Sister, I finally understand what you go through everyday while I'm asleep. I never knew how hard it was to get everything right on the first try.... especially when you had to care for Moonshine all alone.." "Oh Luna..." Celestia hugged her sister, "It's alright. I thought all you did was give ponies lovely dreams but there's so much more to that. You protect ponies from their fears and anxieties in their dreams." Luna smiled at her sister, "And there's something else I wanted to tell you." Celestia added before she broke into song. (Skip to 1:30. Play until 2:12) (Celestia) Today and everyday, I will be here, I will love you I will put nothing above you 'Cause I love your messy mane And I love your grouchy glare As Celestia sang, Moonshine's Element of Hope began to glow once more. The way you dress and all your mess I love them through and through Whatever makes you happy, I want for you, I do I'm telling you, it's true 'Cause Luna, I love you for you! (Luna) And you know I love you for you! (Celestia) I love everything you do (Both) You know that I love you! Moonshine's Element then enveloped the sisters in its magic once more and it switched their cutie marks back to the way they were before. Celestia and Luna looked at their cutie marks, "They're back to normal!" Luna gasped, "... But.. how...?" "I think... my Element casted the spell to help you two see each others' lives." Moonshine said. "To help you both see how the other lives." "So... the Element acted on its own' to teach us a lesson...?" Luna asked skeptical. "That's what it looks like..." Moonshine replied. Luna could only blink, "That's one weird element." Celestia and Moonshine laughed together under the dawn sun. A week has passed and Moonshine enjoyed her quality time with her mother and Luna, despite the incident. Celestia and Moonshine shared a few sweets with each other while Luna and Moonshine played some music together. The week went by fast and it was time for Moonshine to return to Ponyville. "It's been a wonderful week, Moonshine." Celestia said. "Yeah Mom. Thank you. You too, Auntie Luna.." Moonshine thanked. "Your welcome." the two sisters said in unison. Moonshine smiled as she put her bag into the chariot, "Oh, and there's something that I wanted to give you Moonshine." "Huh? What is it Mom?" Moonshine asked. Celestia pulled out seven golden tickets. "Here, seven tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala; for you and your friends." Moonshines' eyes widened, seeing the tickets and she put on a small grin, "... Greeeat... hehehe..." she said nervously. Moonshines' chariot landed in front of the Golden Oak Library and Spike opened the door. "Moonshine, hey! How was your visit?" "It was... exciting. Hehe." Moonshine said nervously, not wanting to inform the baby dragon about the shadow pony. "Don't worry, Twilight already told me about the shadow pony." Spike said before he put a finger in front of his mouth, "Ssshhh..." Moonshine nodded, knowing the dragon would keep the secret. "Moonshine!" Twilight called as she spotted her best friends. Moonshine entered the library, "Are you alright?" she asked, looking her over. "Yeah.. I'm alright..." Moonshine replied with a small grin. "Hey, why are you still wearing your Element?" Twilight asked, noticing Moonshine's Element of Hope still on her head. "... About that..." Flashback Moonshine and her mother and auntie came up to the tower where the Elements of Harmony are kept safe. "Time to put you back where you belong." Moonshine said, taking her Element off of her head. Celestia performed the spell to open the door, revealing the chest that held the Elements of Harmony, but when Moonshine prepared to put the Element back into the chest... it levitated out of her hooves and back onto her head! "Huh?" Moonshine tried placing the Element back into the chest but it kept placing itself back on her head, "What's wrong with it?" "I believe the Element refused to leave your side." Luna suggested. Moonshine looked surprised but with the way her Element was acting.... she had to agree... Flashback Ends "So Luna and Celestia let you keep the Element with you?" Spike questioned, earning a nod from Moonshine. "Woah..." Twilight gasped and then she noticed the envelope. "Hey, what's in the envelope?" "Oh..." Moonshine grumbled before she took out the eight tickets. "Tickets... to the Grand Galloping Gala...yeah..." "Woah! Awesome!" Spike exclaimed, grabbing one while Twilight grabbed one in her magic. "This is amazing, Moonshine!" she exclaimed with a smile before noticing the frown on her face, "Moonshine...?" Moonshine sighed, "I don't think I'm gonna go to the Gala this year.." "Why not?" Spike asked. Moonshine gave Spike a knowing look. "Oh... right..." Since she was a filly, Moonshine was never a fan of the Grand Galloping Gala. Moonshine saw the Gala as just a boring party where ponies would just talk all day. "Come on, Moonshine, maybe it won't be that bad this year." Spike suggested. "Yeah, I've never been to the Gala before either." Twilight said. "Well Mom says its always awful." Moonshine grunted. "And I'd rather spend the night in here. Give the tickets to the others will you, Twilight?" Moonshine asked, handing the tickets to Twilight before heading upstairs, "Where are you going?" Twilight called. "To greet two pokemon and a dragon." Moonshine stated as she headed upstairs to her room. Up in her room, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Toothless were napping when they all heard the door open. They opened their eyes and they saw Moonshine there, "Hi boys, miss me?" she teased. Rockuff barked happily and lunged at Moonshine's chest, nuzzling her hard, "Hahaha, hey..!" she laughed. Toothless and Lycanroc smiled, seeing their friend again. Rockuff stopped nuzzling and Moonshine placed him on the ground, "You boys were good for Twilight, right?" The pokemon and dragon nodded and Moonshine smiled, "Good." "Wanna go out and play?" Moonshine asked. Rockruff barked and wagged his tail. "Hehehe, alright. Come on." Moonshine, Lycanoc, Rockruff and Toothless headed outside and went out in a field outside of Ponyville. "Rockruff, Lycanroc, how about some training for you two?" "Rockruff..!" "Lycan." Lycanoc smiled. "Alright." Moonshine stated. Lycanroc and Rockruff soon stood on either side of the field with Toothless and Moonshine standing to the side, "Alright. Lycanroc use Stone Edge!" Lycanoc howled and punched the ground, creating a line of large, glowing rocks that ran towards Rockruff. Rockruff barked and leaped into the air, stepping onto the Stone Edge and ramming Lycanroc, but Lycanroc blocked the attack and deflected Rockruff away. "Roooo...!" Rockruff landed on the ground. "Now Rockruff, use Rock Throw!" Rockruff barked, "Rockruff...!" and unleashed Rock Throw at Lycanroc. Lycanroc blocked the attack with his arms and he charged forth towards Rockruff. Rockruff growled and he charged Lycanroc as well. "Rooo...!" the two of them collided with each other and Rockruffs' collar glowed white and it unleashed a close range Rock Throw! Lycanroc was sent skidding back a little but still has plenty of fight in him. Rockruff backed off and barked, "Ruff..!" "Great, Rockruff!" Moonshine praised. "Ruff...!" Rockruff then charged forth with a Bite attack ready to go, but Lycanoc moved to the side and dodged the attack before unleashing Rock Throw as well. Rockruff was struck and he was sent skidding back. "Roooo!" "Rockruff, are you okay?" Rockruff growled as he got back on his feet. "Rockruff..!" "That's the spirit!" Moonshine exclaimed, "Now use Tackle!" Rockruff charged forth with his Tackle attack when suddenly... mud came out of nowhere and splattered onto Rockruffs' face. "Rooo!" Rockuff tripped and fell on the ground. "Rockuff! Hey, who did that?" Moonshine called out. "Muudbraaaayyyy!" "What the-?" Moonshine, Lycanroc and Toothless looked at the side and saw a small donkey like pokemon. "What the- What pokemon are you?" Moonshine pulled out the pokemon book and she flipped through the pages, "Aha, Mudbray, the Donkey Pokemon. A ground type. It has a stubborn, individualistic disposition. Eating dirt, making mud, and playing in the mire all form part of its daily routine." The Mudbray was laughing at his little prank on Rockruff. "Mudbrayyy, Mud..." "Mudbray, that was not funny, that was mean." Moonshine scolded. "Lycanroc." Her Lycanroc agreed as Toothless helped Rockruff get the mud out of his eyes. Mudbray only laughed before it spit more mud, landing on Moonshine's face! "Hey!" she exclaimed. Lycanroc had enough and charged the little pokemon but Mudbray cried out and turned around, kicking Lycanroc twice, sending him flying back. "That was Double Kick!" Moonshine gasped. Not good. Double Kick was a fighting type move, super effective against Lycanroc, a rock type! Mudbray laughed again but Lycanroc recovered and growled, "Lycanroc, try Rock Throw!" Lycanroc howled and launched rocks at Mudbray which just stood there and took the attack head on. When the dust cleared, Lycanroc and Moonshine saw orange lights surrounding Mudbray, "What the-? What's that?" Moonshine asked herself. She looked at the Mudbray page once more and discovers, "Ability: Stamina, this pokemons' defense raises each time its attacked." "Oh pony feathers!" Moonshine exclaimed. That meant the more attacked Lycanroc threw, the less damage it would do it Mudbray. Mudbray scrapped the ground before charging forth with its front hooves glowing red, "That's Rock Smash! Lycanroc, lookout!" Lycanroc growled and leaped to the side to dodge the attack but Mudbray quickly changed direction and struck Lycanroc, "Mudbray!" "Roooo!" "Lycanroc!" Lycanroc crashed onto the ground with some catches on it while the Mudbray chuckled and began dancing around, "Mudbray, Mudbray, Mudbray~" "Hmmm... you're a tough little pokemon, aren't ya..?" Moonshine thought before she grinned and took out a pokeball, "If that's the case, then I'm gonna catch you, Mudbray." Mudbray stopped dancing and stared at her in shock, "Mudbray!" Lycanroc stood back up, "Lycan..." Mudbray recovered from its shock and actually smiled, "Mudbray...!" It charged Lycanroc once more with a Rock Smash attack. "Use Stone Edge!" Lycanoc howled and punched the ground using Stone Edge. Mudbray, using Rock Smash, used the move exactly what it was named for, smashing rocks! It smashed he Stone Edge! "Careful, here it comes!" Moonshine warned. Lycanroc nodded, "Lycanroc." Mudbray smashed through the final rock, "Now Rock Throw!" Lycanroc howled and launched rocks, catching Mudbray off guard! "Mud!" the attack struck hard and Mudbray was sent skidding back. "That's the way!" Moonshine praised. "Lycanroc." Lycanroc smiled. Mudbray got up and its Stamina kicked in once more, "Defense rose again!" Moonshine grunted. Lycanoc howled and charged straight in, "Lycanoc?" Moonshine called. Lycanroc howled before its tail glowed and turned to steel! "What?! Iron Tail!" Moonshine gasped. Mudbray gasped as well as Lycanroc smashed Mudbray with Iron Tail. "Mudbrayyyyyy!" The super effective steel type attack, sent Mudbay flying into the air and it crashed onto the ground. "Mud...." it groaned and it glowed red which meant, "Iron Tail, lowered it defense!" Moonshine gasped. She took out the pokeball, "Now's my chance! Pokeball, go!" Moonshine called as she threw the pokeball at Mudbray. it bounced off of Mudbray and it turned into red energy before going into the pokeball. The pokeball landed on the ground before shaking three times and clicking. "Alright..! I caught Mudbray!" Moonshine cheered. "Rockruff..!" "Lycanroc!" Moonshine then let Mudbray out, "Mudbray, come on out..!" Mudbray came out with a smile, "Mudbray!" "Mudbray, you're one tough cookie and its great you'll be joining us.." Moonshine smiled. "Lycanroc." Lycanroc smiled at Mudbray, earning it respect and Rockuff came bounding over, now free of mud and nuzzled Mudbray. "Mudbray." Mudbray smiled. Then, "Hey Moonshine!" The group turned and saw Twilight and the others coming towards them. "You okay? We heard some commotion." Applejack asked. "I'm fine." Moonshine said. "Hey whose the tiny donkey?" Rainbow asked, noticing Mudbray. "This is Mudbray, my new pokemon." Moonshine smiled. "You caught it?!" Twilight exclaimed, earning a nod from Moonshine, "And its' one tough cookie." "Oh really...?" Applejack questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Mudbray!" Mudbray exclaimed before stomping its hoof. "I think that's a yes, Applejack." Moonshine stated. Applejack looked at the tiny donkey which was a bit smaller than her, "I don't see it..." that annoyed Mudbray and it unleashed Rock Smash, on Applejack, sending her flying, "WAH!" "Aj!" Rainbow exclaimed before flying after her and catching her. She brought her back down to the others, "Okay... I take that back." she stated, now convinced about Mudbray being a tough cookie. "Anyway, Twilight says you don't wanna go to the Gala this year, darling." Rarity brought up. "Yeah.. don't really see it as exciting..." Moonshine stated. "But at least give it a try, this year, Moonshine." Applejack said. "It might be fun..." Moonshine sighed. "Please...?" Twilight asked her best friends. Moonshine looked at her and she could see that she wasn't going to give in so... "Alright... I'll give it a try this year..." The girls cheered happily while Moonshine sweat-dropped. "Looks like we're going to a gala in a few weeks, guys." Moonshine told her pokemon and Toothless. They all nodded at Moonshine while Mudbray chuckled.
Ponies of the Dark WaterTwo weeks have passed and today, Moonshine and the Mane 6 were walking through the forest after her mother wanted the ponies help settle a situation in the Kingdom of Abyssinia. “Well we saved Equestria once again.” Twilight said. “Yep, cause we’re the best.” Rainbow gloated. “And the good news is this time they aren’t going to prosecute.” Applejack added. “The Kingdom of Abyssinia is strangely fabulous.” Rarity said. Then we heard some soothing sounds, “Was that a fwoosh?” Twilight asked. “I don;t remember there being any fwosohsing sounds around here.” Rarity said. Then we heard some gurgle too. “And gurgles! Those are definitely gurgles!” Rockruff barked and tracked the sounds, "Rockruff, wait up!" Moonshine called as she and the girls followed the Puppy Pokemon. Then they all came across a large lake with a waterfall filling it with water. A hot spring. And what is surely new!” Applejack exclaimed. Pinkie gasped, “It looks so pretty.” Rainbow was confused, on the other hand, “Huh? I just flew pass here last week. I know this spring wasn’t here.” Fluttershy was talking to some small creatures. “Oh thank you Mr. Gossamer. Mr. Gossamer says these hot springs have just appeared in a couple days, apparently they caused quite a commotion when they appeared.” “There are a number of underwater rivers running through here I suppose geothermal pressure cause one of them to erupt.” Twilight said, examining the lake. She stuck her hoof into the water. “Hmm.. it’s not quite as hot as I thought.” Then Pinkie pushed her into the water. “Surprise!” Ker-Splash! “Pinkie Pie!” Twilight exclaimed, soaking wet. “Why would you do that?!” “Comedy is a surprise! So it was funny” “Well it’s not funny.” “Actually it kinda was.” Rainbow chuckled. Pinkie I’m very upset-at least I would be if this wasn't so relaxing like a giant hot tub.” Pinkie and the other girls went into the water. “It’s like a natural spa. This water is lovely!" Rarity described. Applejack came up, “Maybe we should take some of it home. I bet my apples would really take to this water.” “I guess we deserve a reward after our adventure, don’t we?” Twilight asked, soaking herself in the lake too. "Moonshine, come on in." Twilight called. Moonshine nodded and was about to come in but, Lycanroc and Mudbray blocked her, "Lycanroc..." "Mudbray.." "Lycanroc, Mudbray, what is it?" Moonshine asked, confused. She noticed Toothless growling at the water for some reason while Rockruff stayed clear of it. Lycanroc, Mudbray and Rockruff were understandably, not fans of water because rock and ground type pokemon are weak to water-type attacks, but the fact that Toothless was growling at the water, made Moonshine think that something else was going on. Toothless usually loves water, but with his aggressive attitude, Moonshine knew something was wrong.. she just didn't know what. That Night The girls were sleeping in their beds, mumbling in their sleep. “All the books… all the knowledge.” Twilight mumbled. “The best apples in Equestria.” Applejack said. My friends.. I’ll keep you safe…” Fluttershy stated. “Flawless. NO one finer.” Rarity added. “I feel the need… the need for speed…” Rainbow smiled. “Heh, hehe, ha, ha, ha.” Pinkie laughed. Unknown by any of them, a shadow creeped into their rooms and into their chests and they grunted a little before they went back to sleep. Two pairs of eyes appeared in the shadows. “Perfect…” the figure hissed. The Next Morning Spike and Moonshine woke up and went downstairs. "Morning Spike." Moonshine greeted. "Morning Moonshine." Spike greeted. The pair went into the library but they noticed that Twilight wasn't there..." Where's Twilight?" Moonshine asked. "Huh? This is weird." Spike said, scratching his head. The pair then went outside and ran into Applebloom. “Applebloom, have you seen Twilight?” Spike asked. “She left before breakfast and-” Suddenly.. BOOM! “AHAHAHA!” There was a loud boom and sonic rainbow rings were seen in the sky. “What the heck?!” Moonshine exclaimed. exclaimed. “Out of my way! I’m on important business here.” Huh? What the-? Applejack? That when the three of them turned and saw Applejack but something was different. Her eyes were red instead of green and she was pushing ponies out of her way. “What’s wrong with Applejack?” Moonshine asked Applebloom. “I don’t know. She’s been acting like that ever since this morning.” Applebloom replied. Then she saw the cart of spilled apples. “What in the Gold Durned Ding Dang is this?!” she yelled. “One of those rainbooms knocked over the cart. I’m okay through.” Applebloom said. “I ain't worried about you!” Applejack exclaimed. Moonshine gasped, "Applejack, don't you care about your sister?" “I’m more worried about my apples do you know how many sales I’ve lost!” Jack stepped in front of Applebloom. “Farm chick, calm down. Don’t yell at the tiny brat.” “She’s my apprentice, My worst apprentice ever!” Applejack declared. “I’m not your apprentice. I’m your family.” Applebloom said. “There’s no room for family in business.” Applejack said as she walked off. “Okay that was very wrong.” Moonshine said. “Applejack always cares about her family but now she’s acting rude and uncaring.” “What’s gotten into her?” Spike asked. “I don’t know.” Applebloom said. Then a loud boom was heard and everyone turned towards the Golden Oak Library. “Attention everypony in Ponyville.” Twilight’s voice boomed across the town. The sky turned pink with white lightning bolts. “I, Twilight Sparkle have appointed myself as Empress of Ponyville. As the most intelligent pony in this town, or any other it is the only logical course of action. More announcements will follow about the new order but for now know I promise and harsh but fair rule!” “We have to check on the others.” Spike said. “Applejack is gonna fire me for this.” Applebloom said. “Don’t worry Applebloom, we’ll get her back to normal.” Moonshine reassured. “How dare she!” We turned and saw Rarity wearing a purple cloak and a silver mask over her eyes. “Rarity, what happened to you?” Moonshine asked. “Why are you wearing a mask? And a purple cloak?” “The arrogance of that pony, thinking she can rule Ponyville. When it should be me there’s no one finer than me.” Rarity growled. Spike approached her. “Um.. what’s with the mask?” “I couldn’t get my eyeliner perfect. I can’t have ponies seeing this face with any kind of flaw on it!” Then she walked away. “Sure that’s not overreacting at all.” Spike deadpanned. “Overreacting is Twilight thinking that her library fixation and that five year old hairstyle is in anyway entitled her to rule these ponies. I will correct her thinking as soon as I find the right outfit to do so.” Rarity declared and she walked away. “Let’s find the others.” Spike suggested. “Right.” Moonshine said and the three began running off, Moonshine whistled and Lycanroc, Rockruff, Mudbray and Toothless came by her side. “I’ll get the crusaders.” Applebloom said. Soon they all met up at the Crusaders' Clubhouse, “So none of us could find Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie?” Sweetie Belle asked. "No, and the others are acting totally different then how they usually act." Moonshine stated, “But what’s wrong with them? They were fine yesterday even when we took a break at these new hot springs.” I said. “New?” Scootaloo said. “Hot.” Sweetie added. “Springs?” Applebloom added. Moonshine blinked, feeling a bit stupid. “... When you put it like that it does sound kinda obvious.” she said bashfully. “Something in that water must have changed them.” Spike said. “If there was something in that water that would explain why Lycanroc and the others kept pushing me away from the water and not wanting me to get in there." Moonshine realized, "They must have sensed the evil in the water before anypony else did. “But how do we change them back?” Applebloom asked and Spike took out a letter. “I don’t know but there’s one pony who will. Princess Celestia!” Canterlot Celestia read the note Spike sent her. “Something has turn Twilight Sparkle and her friends to their darker sides.” “What kind of magic could do that sister?” Luna asked. “Spike says that they have their theories but I must send someone to investigate and resolve this.. I must send… you Luna.” “Me? Sister is that wise? My history is it’s own darkness.” Luna reminded. “Yes, whatever has happened here you will have your personal experience. Tragic it maybe but I couldn’t think of anypony better for this than you.” Celestia reassured. “I see your point.” Luna spread her wings and flew off. “I will get to Ponyville as fast as I can.” “Good luck, sister.” Celestia said. Back at the clubhouse, the Crusaders, Spike, Moonshine and the others were discussing the problem, “I think Twi is the immediate threat!” Scootaloo said. “Really Rarity seems pretty mad at me.” Sweetie said. “No I think the worst will be either Pinkie or Fluttershy.” Sweetie Belle said. “And exactly what evil can Pinkie do?” Spike asked. Suddenly the tree started to shake. “Huh? What the-?” They all ran outside to see Applejack bucking the tree. “Get out, you brats!” she called. “Yikes.” Spike said. “Let’s get out of here!” We all ran out of the treehouse with Applejack chasing them, “Gone from my treehouse and my farm! Y'all are going to pay your debt off. You’ll be indented until you’re in dentures!” “Umm… we better leave.” Moonshine said. They all dashed out of the treehouse and through the orchard with Applejack chasing us. “She’s gone nuts!” Spike cried. “I don’t remember signing a contract!” Scootaloo cried. “It’s an implied oral agreement.” Applejack replied. “Is it just me or is she making less and less sense?” Spike asked. Suddenly, blue smoke clouds began to roll in. “What’s with the clouds?” Scootaloo asked. “Don’t care, Applejack’s getting faster. Hoof it!” Applebloom cried. “No matter how foggy it is, I know these acres like the back of my hoof. No one can hide from me?” Applejack gloated. Suddenly, Applejack saw a silhouette in the fog. “I’m not hiding!” a voice said and revealed to be..... Luna! “Princess Luna hides from no one!” Applejack gulped at the sight of her. “... You know maybe we can call it even.” Applejack tried to run away but Luna grabbed her in her magic, “No, I think we need to have a discussion.” She brought Applejack close to her, “I sense dark magic within you Applejack and it is clouding your vision.” “What they hay are you talking about?” Applejack exclaimed. “I’m seeing things clearly! Like your her on my property. You stay much longer maybe I should charge you rent or an admission fee.” “What’s wrong with my sister. This isn’t like her.” Applebloom said to Luna. “I cannot tell at least not yet. There is definitely something wrong. Powerful magic. But it’s unfocused. It’s the cause of your sisters’ personality. It’s warping her nature and disorienting her like a flawed mirror. Perhaps I can extract it.” But before Luna could, Applejack broke free from her magic! “Whatever magic the water placed on them, it’s making her more powerful. The Applejack I know wouldn’t be able to shatter my magic.” Luna said, looking down on Applejack. “I’m not the Applejack you know. I’m better.” Applejack hissed and she turned and ran away. “She’s getting away.” Applebloom cried. “Let her go.” Luna said. “Anyway, I couldn’t hold her anyway. Now tell me how all this happened leave out no detail.” “We were all walking through a forest near Ponyville where we came across these new hot springs. The girls took a dip but Toothless and the others didn't let me in. The next morning they were like this.” Moonshine explained. “Applejack started being greedy and crazy!” Applebloom said. “Twilight said she was the Empress of Ponyville.” Sweetie added. “Rarity is focus on perfection.” Moonshine said. “We have no word about Flutters and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash-” Scootaloo started. BOOM! Another sonic rainboom was heard behind them. “... Well that.” “Whatever magic was in those springs had corrupted your friends and I may not be able to change them back. I tried with Applejack and you all saw what happened. We need a different plan.” Luna said. “Hahaha! You can try!” a familiar voice came and we turned and saw a shadow pony standing there chuckling. The CMC’s hid behind Moonshine and Luna in fear. Luna and Moonshine growled, "You again! You're the pony who invaded my nieces dream!" Luna exclaimed. "Yes... and I see you've watched my latest plan unfold." the shadow pony smirked. "Who are you?" Spike questioned. The shadow pony chuckled, "I'm not gonna let you find that out that easily." “Wait… you used your dark magic on the water and turned Twilight and the others to their darker selves didn’t you, Void?” Moonshine guessed. The shadow pony chuckled, “Haha, you’re very smart, Moonshine. Though I expected nothing more from Celestia's daughter.” "How do you know about me?" Moonshine chuckled. "Haha... I've been watching you, Moonshine and that's all you need to know. Now with them on my side, there will be nothing you can do to stop me!” “You won’t get away with this, creep!” Spike exclaimed. “Yeah, we’re gonna stop you.” Applebloom added. "... Somehow..." The shadow pony chuckled, "You may try.." he hissed before he disappeared into the shadows. “Applebloom, you and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders will go into the Everfree Forest and find Zecora. Where my magic had failed, perhaps her knowledge in potions will help.” Luna suggested. “Cutie Mark Crusaders are on their way!” Applebloom said. “Take Toothless with you, girls. Who knows what is in that forest.” Moonshine suggested. “Right. Come on Toothless.” Applebloom said. Toothless purred and went with the Crusaders as they went off into the Everfree forest. In the forest the Crusaders and Toothless were walking until they were confronted by an army of animals and Fluttershy who was wrapped in a green vine with red flowers on it. “What do we have here… INTRUDERS!” she cried. Yesterday Twilight was going through some books in Sarah’s Castle. “No, No NO! It’s not enough!” She sat herself at a table. “All these books and all this knowledge and I can’t learn fast enough. I need more! Knowledge is precious and I need much of it if I’m going to lead wisely.” She walked out on the balcony, overlooking Ponyville. “I know I’m the smartest pony her already. I need to be the smartest pony ever. So I can rule these poor, uneducated, uniformed ponies to show them the many errors they’ve made… my ponies.” “Wait my ponies won’t need to think, will they? I’ll do the thinking for them, making sure they make the right choices.” Twilight added. “And if they don’t need to think they can spare a little bit of their brain power, can they?” She went back into the library where on a black chalkboard had a picture of a mind helmet. “Why they’ll hardly even miss it. And then I’ll be the smartest ruler… smartest pony in Equestria!” Having finished her machine she went outside and found two stallions talking. She placed the helmet on one of them. F-zap. And she did to two more ponies. “I can feel my I.Q increasing but there is still more intellect out there to confiscate.” Twilight hissed as she walked off. Now Toothless was carrying the Crusaders on his back as they were being chased by Fluttershys' animal army. "Okay, I take it back, Fluttershy can be a threat!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Less talking! Toothless, more flying!" Applebloom cried and Toothless flew faster through the forest. Now back in Ponyville Ponies were in the streets and there were purple present boxes on the ground. “What are all these present doing here?” a pony asked. Suddenly, the box exploded with this stuff shooting out of them. Everypony screamed and ran for cover. Cheerlie called them over to a theater. “Everypony in here!” Everypony rushed in and panted in relief. Suddenly the lights went out and Pinkie Pie came on stage. She was wearing blue and purple clothing with clown make up on her face. “Welcome back my friends, to a show that never ends. Come inside.” she hissed. “Showtime!” She came out on stage wearing a purple clown costume and makeup. “Hey everypony welcome to my one pony show. Don't try to leave and even if you could. I locked the door and I put glue on your seats.” she said. “What a good looking captive audience we have tonight. I just hope you love it. I’m Pinkie Pie.” Then she started to do some stand up comedy that was, to the crowds’ eyes, horrible. Meanwhile, Rarity was running through the streets. “Twilight Sparkle cannot be allowed to rule Ponyville why her fashion choices alone disqualify her as a leader and -Gasp! What? This cannot stand!” she in front of a shoulder pads store.”Shoulder pads?! Those atrocities will never come back into style. Not if I have anything to say about it. She blasted the store, sending the glass flying. “What’s next High Waist? Bell Bottoms? Are we savages?! “Luna, she’s over here!” Spike called. Rarity looked at me with a face of fury. “Spike, are you responsible for this fashion crime?” she asked. She was about to blast Spike when Luna came in and protected him with her magic. “I’ve been around for a thousand years. Fashion is cyclical.” “Another reason I need to be in charge!” Rarity said. Moonshine and her pokemon came up, "Rarity stop! This isn't you!" she called, trying to snap her back but it was no use. “I know who I am. A pony who fights any crime to fashion, which includes you!” Rarity fried a blast of magic at them but Luna countered with her shield. “You and your sister will be in the Donation bun, Luna.” “That’s Princess Luna.” Luna said Meanwhile, Toothless arrived at Zecora’s and he flew into the hut, shutting the door with his tail and shocking Zecora, who wasn't pleased with the sudden entrance. “Have you gone mad!” Zecora exclaimed upset. Sweetie closed the door quickly, “Zecora, some strange water made our friends turn evil and we need your help to change them back. Sweetie Belle said. “Also Fluttershy is leading an army of animals against us because Snowflake accidently stepped on her bunny friend.” Applebloom added. “Your story is quite troubling and the chaos seems to be doubling. We must return ourselves to town and investigate how everything went down.” Zecora said. “We’ll have to get past Fluttershy’s animal army first.” Carrie whimpered. “Open the door and we will escape. We four.” Zecora said. Applebloom opened the door and the animals came in, “That’s a lot of angry foes, complete with an intimidating pose.” Toothless roared at them. Then Zecora walked in, “Zeocra, are you protecting these criminals? They harmed one of my creatures.” Fluttershy growled. “Since when are the animals of the forest exclusively your goods? Now Applebloom-!” Zeocra called. Applebloom tossed some blue dust on the ground and made a large cloud of dust and it allowed them to escape. Back in Ponyville, the fight between Evil Rarity and Princess Luna continued. The fighting wrecked the theaters! Rarity struck Luna down on the ground, "Auntie!" Moonshine cried out before Mudbray charged in with Double Kick and kicked Rarity away from Luna. "Agh, you horrid donkey!" Rarity growled. "Mudbray...!" Mudbray cried before striking her again with Double Kick. That’s when the Crusaders and Toothless came up to us with Zecora “We got Zecora!” Applebloom called. “Thank goodness. At least something was not broken on our way.” Luna said. “Other than the theater. Man, I had tickets to see that Celestia Rap Musical next week, too.” Spike said. “Now is not the time, Spike.” Moonshine deadpanned. “Zecora do you have any insight into how we can rectify this situation?” Luna asked. “I must learn what occurred Before we can understand why our friends morals become blurred Moonshine, you say there was something evil in the springs That made our friends into these evil things?” Zecora rhymed. "Yes, there was this shadow pony that Luna and I encountered before. He used his dark magic to infect the water which then affected my friends." Moonshine said. "Problem is, we don't know how to change them back." Suddenly, Twilight’s voice was heard again. “There shall be no fighting in my kingdom! Stop this disturbance! Stop this fighting!” I think we all shuddered at that announcement except for Rarity, who ran off towards the castle. “I’ve suffered your arrogance long enough, Sparkle. You are not fit to rule, Rarity is!” Suddenly, we all heard.. Drums. “Where are those drums coming from?” Spike asked. Moonshine flew into the air and she could see Fluttershy and an army of animals outside of Ponyville. "Oh no! Fluttershy and her animal army are about to enter Ponyville!" “WHAT?!” Spike and Luna exclaimed. “Believe it she chased us through the Everfree with those critters.” Appleebloom sad. “We’ve gotta change them back to normal!” Suddenly, Pinkie appeared holding a water balloon in her hooves. “Pinkie Pie?!” Kaede exclaimed. “Splash Splash, let’s make a bash!” Pinkie said and she started throwing the balloons. Lucario used it’s aura to scan the balloons “Watch it they have the same water that turned them evil!” Applebloom exclaimed. “Run!” We all ran away while dodging the evil water balloons. “Run! Flee! Scram!” Some of the water balloons hit some of the ponies and they turned evil as well. “Here's a little for you and for you!” Pinkie said. Scootaloo ducked and avoid a water balloon but.. "Princess Luna...!" The balloon struck Luna in the face! “Luna got hit!” Moonshine exclaimed in horror! Luna’s eyes suddenly turned red and her eye pupils were slits and she turned into… “Nightmare Moon has returned!” Nightmare Moon bellowed. “AHAHAHAH!” Everyone stared in horror at the mare of darkness. “And just when things couldn’t get any worse.” Applebloom whimpered. “Free again! No longer am I trapped in that pathetic shell of Luna.” Nightmare Moon said. “Oooh, this has gone much better than I thought it would.” Pinkie hissed. “What are you waiting for? You’re Nightmare Moon Evilly awesome and feared by many. Start making the world burn!” Nightmare Moon turned to Pinkie. “You…” “Oops.” Pinkie said. Nightmare Moon started firing at Pinkie. “My attempt to introduce chaos has returned in an unpredictable way. How ironic!” Pinkie exclaimed. “My reign will be absolute and orderly and dark! There is no room for brightness in it!” Nightmare Moon declared. “Watch out!” Moonshine cried and we scattered to dodged the blasts. “No worries. I'm clearly not that bright!” Pinkie cried out. Zecora and the rest of them ran away. “Under the cart! That’s where we’ll start!” Zecora and Spike hid underneath a cart while the rest of us watched. “Things are going from worse to worser!” Applebloom whimpered. “Tell me about it.” Moonshine stated. “From six bad ponies to seven. We’re heading in the wrong direction.” Sweetie Belle added. “Plus Fluttershy’s animal army.” Pinkie kept dodging Nightmare Moon’s blasts. “Stay still so I can incinerate you!” “I’m crazy-” Pinkie said then she zipped and hid behind a barrel, “But not that crazy.” “Maybe you need glasses.” Pinkie said, holding a paper with different sized letters like the kind you look at when you go to the eye doctor. “Try reading the third line down.” Nightmare Moon kept blasting. “How do I keep missing?” “Because it's funny.” Pinkie said. Finally, Nightmare Moon blasted Pinkie and she crashed to the ground, “Pinkie!” Sweetie Belle cried. “Ooof, that’s not funny. How?" Pinkie groaned. “I aimed from where you weren’t!” Nightmare Moon said. “That’s one less menace In my way. Now to take care of the three in the library.” and Nightmare Moon flew off. We raced over to Pinkie just as Zecora and Spike came out. “We got it!” Spike declared. “The Bellwether dust has turned blue. We can return them to their forms true.” Zecora said. Zecora came over and rubbed the blue water on Pinkie Pie. “Is she alright?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Pinkie Pie isn’t hurt, she will be alright , especially if the cure removes all her spite.” Zecora said as she rubbed Pinkie’s head with the cure. Pinkie came to and her eyes were normal again. “W-What happened?” “That hot springs you and the other bathed in turned you evil.” Moonshine stated. “It was part of a shadow ponys' plot.” “It was horrible. It was like I wasn't in control and not in the good way. Every thought that crossed my mind became action. There was no filter. Horrible. Horrible!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Twilight and Rarity are trying to take over Equestria. Applejack has become an apple baron. Fluttershy is the Lady of Flies and Rainbow-” BOOM! We saw Rainbow smacking about Sonic Rainboom. “And Rainbow Dash is making sonic rainboom and causing destruction!” Spike finished. “But now we know how to make the cure. We can return them to their forms most pure.” Zecora said. “Well I don’t know why the others are, but I’m pretty sure where my sister will be.” Applebloom said. “Where?” Moonshine asked. “This way.” Applebloom lead us to a telegraph shop and we could hear her arguing with another pony, “Don't they know how to read your dots n’ dashes or do you not know how to type? I’m trying to take over Appaloosa hostile-like and make it a subsidiary of Sweet Apple Acres and I can’t do that if you ain’t doing this right!” Applejack yelled. “I’ve got it. I’ve got it. They’re responding now.” the telegraph pony replied. “They say your terms are insane. You’re trying to crash the mark.” “You mean market?!” “No they said ‘Mark’ and nothing else. Odd.” Applejack came out angry, “Assuming this ain't operator error and that’s a big assumption, Maybe -What?” Applejack saw Applebloom, “My own flesh and blood! Bringing down my trading down from the inside! I’d be proud if I weren’t so angry! And chased after her through the streets on Ponyville. She led Applejack right towards Lycanroc who threw the water balloon and she was soaking wet… and back to normal. “Woah.. did I have too much cider? What’s going on here?”. It was so weird taking care of the apples.It became all I cared about. Nothing but apple, apples, apples. “Your love of the farm got twisted and taken over by a bad shadow pony. More on that later. But you’re back on our side now.” I smiled. Then we started hearing drums… What? “What’s with the drums?” Applejack asked. “Those are Fluttershy’s drums of war! If we don’t stop her, then we’re done for!” Spike exclaimed. We could see the animal army from Ponyville. “We’re surrounded by Fluttershy’s adorably cute animal army!” Sweetie said. “She's become an expansionist power.” Scootaloo said. “Worse, those animals will never let us through their lines to cure Fluttershy.” Applebloom sad. “No they won’t! But I know who can get to her. Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said. “But she's still evil.” Scootlaoo reminded. “She loves showing off so much that the water twisted her love too!” “Yes but listening to you and Pinkie. I think I can use her evilness against her.” Applejack said. Soon, the Cursaders set up a target on a tree branch and soon Rainbow Dash was seen flying in. She was aiming for the target and when she hit it, the cure soaked her and she was back to normal, “Eh, I”m soaked and why was I so concerned about showing off?” “No time, Rainbow." Moonshine said. "Fluttershy is about to invade Ponyville with an army of animals." “I got this.” Rainbow took a few baskets of the cure and put it into the clouds and it rained the cure of Flutters, making her normal once more. Thank goodness. “My goodness. What have I done. I’m so embarrassed.” “The antidote rain is soaking the whole town.” Scootaloo said. “Anypony who Pinkie might have turned bad now be back to normal as well as our friends.” Sweetie Belle said. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard and we saw the library covered in a large amount of magic. “Oh no! The Library!” Applebloom exclaimed. “The plan we tried didn’t account for those inside.” Zeocra said. Moonshine spread her wings and she flew off towards the library, "Moonshine!" Spike exclaimed. "NO!" Inside the library, Twilight and Rarity were arguing with one another, “I offer the world order, Rarity. What can you possibly offer?” Twilight exclaimed. “Style! Your world will be dull, gray and uniform where fashion and color should be.” Rarity said. “I will fashion a new world, one that had evolved past such superficial concerns and yes there will be uniforms!” Twilight growled. Both of the mares horns were lit. “You monster!” Rarity stated. Suddenly, Nightmare Moon burst through the ground, “No do I have your attention?” she asked, “You’ve been on the dark side of life for mere days but I had a thousands years and I have learned some things in that time. Like to be patient and wait to let your enemies tire themselves out. And that Equestria is a big place. And so its big enough for all of us. We could fight each other that way you have been, do some damage, only one of us surviving weakened… and capable of being defeated by my sister. So I propose we agree or disagree. Let’s divided into thirds. I’ll take Canterlot so I can deal with my sister.” “Give me Manhattan and Ponies East. The coast is the place for me, where I can really show off my style.” Rarity said. “That gives me Ponyville and the countryside. Fine by me. These simple folk in flyover country will benefit most from my leadership.” Twilight said. “What?!” Nightmare Moon growled. “Why would we ever listen to you?” “Because I’m more powerful than either of you and I can offer you everything you want.” Twilight said. Suddenly, Moonshine burst into the library, "Not on my watch!" she exclaimed. The three growled at the sight of her, "What do you want?!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed. Moonshine's Element of Hope glowed brightly, "I'm getting my family back!" Moonshine exclaimed and her Element of Hope sent out a rainbow beam at the three and created a large explosion inside the library. Just then, Spike and the others came in and found Luna, Twilight and Rarity... all back to normal. "Twilight..!" Spike exclaimed as he hugged Twilight. "Auntie!" Moonshine raced over and hugged her aunt who hugged her back. "Thank you, Moonshine." "What? But I though of everything. Everything! Every-- Oh no! What have I done!" Twilight gasped. "Fortunately, you got smarter not funnier. And comedy is surprise." Pinkie Pie reassured. Twilight looked very ashamed as Luna came over to her, "I thought I was so intelligent and so full of myself. I thought I deserved to rule." "Your confidence and intelligence are your strengths, Twilight that the shadow pony twisted." Luna stated. "We all know how you're feeling, Twilight." Rainbow said. "We were all turned into the worst versions of ourselves." "Our best qualities become our sinister assets." Luna continued, "Comfort yourself knowing that it was just the shadow pony that turned you and not your own jealousy and arrogance. That is very hard to live with. “Now my question is are you still super smart.” Spike said and he opened the door, Smart enough to returned everyponys’ intelligence?” Twilight nodded and placed a high tech helmet on her head, “Even though I never expected to use it, I was clever enough to build this with a reserve switch.” she liked it and the helmet lit up and everypony’s intelligence was returned. Soon, Twilight and the others fixed what they did wrong in Ponyville. “I think that’s the last of it. Everything as normal as we can make it..” Sootlaloo said. “Do you wonder what it would have been like if we would have turned evil? We have still have been friends?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Oh there, would have been a place for all of you in my kingdom.” Applebloom said. Mayor Mare was talking with Twilight. “We now you all weren't acting of your own accord. Those waters and that shadow pony affected you. And you’ve fixed everything you could.” “No we still have one more thing.” Twilight said. Then they all went back to the hot springs with Zecora and Luna. “I can feel the dark magic coming from these waters. Its Effervescent.” “I feel the darkness too. Evil in these waters too.” Zecora said. Equestria has been home to all sorts of magic spells. I fear those energies may have corrupted these walls. A type of mystical pollution, but I have a solution.” She put her long spear in the water, “The proper potion will remove all this negative emotion. The right spell and all will be well and this cursed spring will no longer be a thing.” the water glowed for a moment before it stopped. “Did that do it?” Rarity asked. Twilight looked at it and Pinkie pushed her in. Ker-Splash! “Seriously! Again?!” Twilight said annoyed. “How are you feeling? Evil?” Spike asked. Twilight shook her head and then used her magic to pull Pinkie in. “Did you do that because you’re evil?” Spike asked. “No I did it because it as funny.” Twilight smirked. “I believe I will take my leave of you. You’ve all been through so much, but I believe your friendship will carry you through.” Luna said. “A friendship which fortunately wasn’t disturbed by the evil water.” “Fortunately Princess? Why do you say that?” Flutters asked. “Because if you six had stayed evil and worked together.” Luna spread her wings and flew into the air. “I have no doubt you’d have been unstoppable.” she finished as she went back to Canterlot. "So what's about this Shadow Pony, Moonshine?" Applejack asked. Twilight and Moonshine looked at each other, "Girls.... we have a new threat to Equestria..." Twilight said to the girls. "The Shadow Pony wants to do something with Moonshine that we don't know yet." "Well is this creep wants to get her, he'll have to get passed us first!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Yeah!" the girls cheered.
Special Event: The Mean SixIn the Everfree Forest, near the Castle of the Two Sisters, the shadow pony from Moonshine's dream was surrounded by six trees, chuckling to himself. "With this new spell I've mastered, I'll be able to take care of that meddling princess and started to execute my plan..." the shadow pony replied, removing his hood to reveal his midnight black coat with his greyish mane and a scar over his left eye. "With this new spell, I can make a copy of anypony I choose... and I know just the ponies who can takedown that meddling princess.." he held up six photos in his magic.... and they were of Twilight and the Mane 5! The shadow pony placed the pictures on each of the six trees and used his magic to engrave each of their cutie marks underneath the pictures. "This spell will allow my clones to come to life and do my bidding. And once the other phases are in place, I'll force that princess into my grasp where she'll meet her doom..! Hahaha...!" he laughed and he activated the spell and it struck all the trees, making them split open and allowed the copies to be created. The copies all looked like the Mane 6 but they were duller in color by little. The six clones exited the trees and stood before the shadow pony. "Hahaha....! Alright you six... here's what I want you to do..." Meanwhile, high above the sky, Moonshine was flying through the fluffy white clouds with Toothless. Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff were smiling happily from the back of Toothless. The Night Fury was excited to be flying on his own like before. Toothless gave a loud roar in happiness and Moonshine smiled at him, "Having fun, huh bud?" Moonshine asked, earning a happy coo from Toothless. "Hahaha." Moonshine chuckled. The group all flew down through the clouds and they glided into the center of Ponyville. "That was our best flight yet!" Moonshine cheered happily. Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff agreed happily. They were unaware that the Mean Six were watching them. "Ugh, spying on some lame alicorn, this is the worst day ever." Mean Pinkie grumbled before Mean Fluttershy kicked dirt in her face, "No. Now it's the worst day ever hahaha..!" she laughed. "That Element on her head is mine!" Mean Rarity claimed. "Quiet, you imbeciles.." Mean Twilight snapped at them. "She'll hear us..." "Ugh... why should I care.." Mean Rainbow grumbled, laying on her back, uninterested in this. "Because once we get the power of her Element along with the others and that alicorn, no creature, not even "our Master" can tell us what to do. Just follow my lead. Got it?" Mean Twilight stated to others who smiled evily and chuckled. Then Mean Twilight walked out into the open. "Oh, hi Twilight." Moonshine greeted. "Hello Moonshine..." Mean Twilight said. "How are you doing today?" "I'm doing great. I just finished flying with my friends." Moonshine smiled before she looked confused for a moment. "Is there a problem?" Mean Twilight asked. "Are you okay? You look duller than usual..?" Moonshine asked, noticing how duller Twilight looked than normal. "I'm fine, Moonshine. Don't you worry. I was wondering if you tell me something." "Okay, what is it..?" Moonshine asked as Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff looked at 'Twilight'. "I was wondering if you could tell me where the Elements of Harmony are...?" Twilight asked her with a narrowed look. Moonshine gave her a confused look, "Don't you already know, Twilight? They're locked inside one of the Canterlot Towers." "Hmm.. then why do you still have yours?" Mean Twilight questioned. "Uh... because my Element bonded with me and it positioned myself on my head where my mother, auntie and I decided to let it stay." Moonshine explained. "Shouldn't you already know this? I told you this like two months ago." "I do remember. It doesn't hurt to get a reminder does it...?" Mean Twilight asked. "Hmm... I guess not.." Moonshine smiled. "Anyway, I'm gonna go to the library to read and work on an invention. Bye.." Moonshine started to walk away but Mean Twilight reappeared in front of her. "Wait. Why don't I come with you? We both live in there don't we?" "Yes. You can come too. I guess.." Moonshine said. "Excellent..." Mean Twilight smiled as she watched Moonshine go on ahead. Then the rest of the Mean Six came over. "Good. I manage to get her to trust me. Now we can find out all her secrets and weakness while 'Our Master' finishes the rest of his phases. Once everything is in place, we'll get rid of the 'Princess' and steal her Element along with the others.." Mean Twilight explained with an evil grin. The Mean Six laughed evily together. "What should we do with her three stupid creatures..?" Mean Fluttershy questioned. "They might be on to us soon.." "Just let me take care of that..." Mean Twilight said. "Now come, let's go see her library..." and the Mean Six followed their leader after Moonshine. Moonshine entered her library followed by Mean Twilight. Moonshine then went downstairs into her lab where she was working on something. Mean Twilight noticed a pedestal with what looked to be saddle on it. "Whose the saddle for?" Mean Twilight asked. "It's for Toothless." Moonshine replied, looking over her schematics of the saddle. "Toothless?" Mean Twilight questioned before she saw the Night Fury hanging upside down like a bat on one of the ceiling supports. "Yeah. I decided to try and make a saddle with some cool weapons inside of it. So when I fly on him. I don't have rely on my magic and he won't have to use up all of his plasma blasts." Moonshine stated as she screwed in some parts. Mean Twilight smiled, interested. "What kind of weapons..?" she asked, rubbing her hooves together. "Shouldn't you know? You suggested that I make this." Moonshine questioned, focusing on her project. "Ooh! Yeah, but I may need just a small refresher. If you don't mind.." Mean Twilight stated. "Well...It includes a laser that can shoot either fire, lightning or water, depending on the setting I turn it to. We also agreed that we should include handlebars so that I can hold on it." Moonshine explained with a smile.. Mean Twilight saw a small robotic laser on the table in front of her with a large opening in the front and three large holes in the side. Moonshine then used her magic and created a yellow, red and blue orb with her magic. One for lightning. One for fire and one for water. Mean Twilight looked surprised as she placed the orbs inside of the holes and the laser lit up in the colors, yellow, red and blue. Once the glowing stopped, Moonshine wiped her forehead. "Phew.. that one took some out of me.." she said before she attached the laser to a small hatched that was located on the side of the saddle. "Hehe.. once I'm done, its' going to be awesome..!" "Yes.. I'm sure it will..." Mean Twilight agreed with a smirk. "I'm gonna go upstairs and read for a bit, I'll be back..." Moonshine nodded and Mean Twilight exited the room... not noticing that Toothless was staring at her with narrowed eyes and decided to follow her. Mean Twilight came back into the library and found the rest of her 'friends'. "So what did she tell you?" Mean Rainbow questioned in a bored voice. "She told me she's working on a saddle for her dragon friend. 'Our Master' was right about her having great magic and her being the daughter of Celestia and niece of Luna. Speaking of which.. let's see if he completed side of his plan..." Mean Twilight then used her magic and made a small communication portal and the Shadow Pony appeared on the other side. "Mean Six, have you completed your assignment..?" he asked. "Not yet. Moonshine was foolish enough to believe we're her friends and we're inside her home right now. She's revealed the location of the other Elements." Mean Twilight said. "Excellent. Stay with her." the Shadow Pony ordered. "I've already completed my phases, but you must retrieve the Elements of Harmony and Moonshine's to make my plan a complete success..! Hahahah...!" the Shadow Pony laughed before the communication was cut. Toothless gasped at the conversation before he slipped back downstairs without any of the Mean Six noticing. That's when Moonshine came back upstairs. "Hi Twilight. Oh! Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, I didn't know you all were here too." "We uh... decided that... uh... you wanted some company." Mean Applejack stated with a smile. "Oh. Okay. I was just about to get some lunch with my mother and auntie in Canterlot. If you guys wanna come, then that would be nice.." Moonshine offered. Mean Twilight smiled. "Of course we'd like to come." Moonshine smiled and soon the group were on the train heading towards Canterlot. When they arrived, they entered the palace throne room, "Mom, Auntie Luna. I here for our lunch date.." Moonshine gently called out, searching for her mother and auntie. However, she didn't see them on their usual thrones. "Hmm.. weird.. must already be there.." Moonshine said. "Moonshine, if I remember correctly, you said the Elements of Harmony are inside one of the towers in Canterlot?" Mean Twilight asked. Moonshine nodded, "If you guys want to see them again, then that's okay.." The Mean Six nodded, while Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff narrowed their eyes at the 'Mane 6'. Moonshine took the girls the tower where she opened the doors and lead them down the long hallway to the doors that held the Elements of Harmonys' chest. "This door is protected by a spell that only my mom and I can break. One sec." Moonshine placed her horn inside the lock and used her magic to unlock the door. The door opened revealing the Element of Harmonys' chest. "Perfect.." Mean Twilight stated. Moonshine levitated the chest in her magic before Mean Twilight snatched it her magic! "Twilight! What are you-?" Moonshine gasped as 'Twilight' broke the chest and gave the Elements of Harmony to the Mean Six. "What are you doing?!" Moonshine exclaimed. "We're taking the Elements of Harmony, you idiot." Mean Fluttershy growled. "B-But I thought we were friends!" Moonshine exclaimed, horrified. "We're not you're friend exactly. We work for the Shadow Pony. Hahah..!" Mean Twilight explained. "We're nothing more than dopplegangers to your weakling friends.." Moonshine gasped in horror while Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff growled at them. "G-Give back the Elements!" Moonshine exclaimed, but Mean Twilight smiled evily before she and the Mean Six activated the Elements! Moonshine gasped in horror, knowing what they were going to do. "Say goodbye...!" Mean Twilight laughed as the group tried to blast her... but the Elements stopped glowing..! "What..?" Mean Twilight exclaimed, tapping hers. "Why aren't they working..?" Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Harmony glowed and shot out a beam at the Element of Magic which connected to the other Elements and they all detached themselves from the Mean Six and floated over and above Moonshine's head. "What is the meaning of this...?" Mean Twilight growled. "I-I don't know..." Moonshine stammered, seeing the six angry mares. "Give us those Elements..!" Mean Rarity growled. "They're mine!" The six mares moved forwards to take the Elements from her but Toothless fired a plasma blast at them, forcing them back while Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff stood in front of her. "Soo... it seems the Elements act in the same way as yours Moonshine..." Moonshine and the Mean Six turned and saw the Shadow Pony from before in the room! "W-What are you doing here, Shadow Pony?!" The Shadow Pony laughed, "The name is Midnight, thank you very much. As for what I'm doing? I simply created the Mean Six so that you would be foolish enough to think of them as your real friends and take them to the Elements of Harmony so they could steal them and yours, but it seems the Elements are bonded to your friends just like your pathetic Element. However, that gave me enough research to create these..." Midnight revealed six more Elements but they were all black and they matched the Mean Six's cutie marks. "The Elements of Disharmony..! Normality, Greed, Cruelty, Despair, Disloyalty, and Deceit…!" he placed the Elements of Disharmony on their respective ponies. Element of Deceit - Mean Applejack Element of Disloyalty - Mean Rainbow Dash. Element of Cruelty - Mean Fluttershy Element of Despair - Mean Pinkie Pie. Element of Greed - Mean Rarity. And Element of Normality - Mean Twilight. "I made them just as powerful as the Elements of Harmony. With these at our disposal, we'll rule Equestria and finally take out you... girls..?" Midnight questioned with an evil smile. The girls smiled evily at Moonshine, who gulped nervously. They got into formation and activated the Elements, floating up in the air, just like Twilight and her friends would. "Oh.. and by the way... your friends and family are currently imprisoned in Tartarus. But you won't be around to rescue them! Hahaha..! Let her have it..!" Midnight yelled and the Mean Six unleashed the power of the Elements of Disharmony on Moonshine, who braced herself for the impact before everything turned black...! Moonshine shivered in fear, thinking that she got blasted by the Mean Six and their Elements of Disharmony, but... "Rockruff...!" "R-R-Rockruff...?" Moonshine called out. "Rockruff..!" Rockruff barked and Moonshine felt a small wet snout nuzzling her arm. Moonshine carefully opened her eyes and saw a rainbow colored shield around her, Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff! "What...?" Moonshine asked in awe. Moonshine them saw the other six Elements of Harmony floating in front of her, still glowing in their mystical way. "T-The Elements of Harmony protected us from the Elements of Disharmony...!" she realized in awe. The Elements dropped the protective shield and Moonshine noticed the Mean Six and Midnight were gone! "Oh no... they're gone...!" Moonshine gasped, before she remembered what Midnight said just before the blast. "M-My friends and family m-must be in Tartarus... Oh no..! I-I gotta do something..." Moonshine stammered. "B-But I can't go up against the Mean Six and their Elements! I only have one Element that I can control. I need Twilight and the others to activate the other Elements.. oooh.. what am I gonna do...?" Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff looked at each other with concern. Twilight and the Mane 5 were the only ones who could control the other six Elements of Harmony, but without them, they were useless. Now Moonshine had to rescue her friends and family by herself with only her Element. It wouldn't be a fair fight. Seven versus four! They would get clobbered in no time! Suddenly, the Elements of Magic, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter and Honesty glowed on their own once more and so did Moonshine and her four creature friends, "Uh.. what's happening..?" Moonshine whimpered in fear before the Element whisked them off to Celestia knows where. Meanwhile, in Tartarus. Twilight and the Mane 5 along with Celestia and Luna were all locked in a cage together. Twilight, Rarity, Celestia and Luna had anti-magic rings on their horns, preventing them from using their magic while Rainbow and Fluttershy had braces on their wings, preventing them from flying as well. Celestia and Luna had the braces as well. "Aw... why the long faces...?" Midnight smirked as he and the Mean Six appeared behind him. "I thought you'd be happy as my prisoners.." "Yeah right." Rainbow Dash stated. "Why are you doing this, Midnight?" Twilight growled. "Why?" Midnight scoffed before he laughed. "You all know why! So I can get rid of that Princess Moonshine and finally rule all of Equestria!" "You will never rule in Equestria." Celestia replied with an upset look on her face. "Oh yes he will, your majesties.." Mean Twilight mocked. "With these Elements of Disharmony, we'll destroy all of Equestria taking it by force. Hahaha...!" "You bullies will be sorry when Moonshine gets here and kicked your butts!" Pinkie Pie yelled in anger, jumping up and down. "You mean the Moonshine that my girls blasted to smithereens with their Elements of Disharmony?" Midnight smirked, earning a horrified shock from everyone. "That weak excuse for a Princess is long gone by now.." Mean Fluttershy smirked and laughed. "No...." Celestia whispered in shock. "Eh believe it. If those lame Elements didn't make a shield around her last second.." Mean Pinkie Pie laying on the ground, uninterested, but it caught everyone's attention. "What was that?!" Mean Twilight snapped. "Those lame Elements made a shield around her and her pests. No big deal." Mean Pinkie deadpanned. "It is a big deal! You imbecile! That means she's still out there!" Mean Twilight snapped at Pinkie Pie, yanking her up to her hooves. "Oh, don't worry about her.. without her 'friends' controlling the other Elements of Harmony, she only had one Element to use against our six Elements." Midnight smirked. "She would not be that foolish to challenge us knowing we've got the advantage." "Ooooh! Just you wait! Moonshine will kick you butts for sure!" Rainbow exclaimed before she turned to the Mean Six. "Especially you six!" Mean Rainbow yawned, "Wake me up when I care..." she groaned before she curled up and took a nap. "Hahaha... even a Princess like her wouldn't be that dumb and naive to come here, knowing that it houses Equestria's most dangerous creatures and villains." Midnight smirked before he turned his back to them. "Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some conquering to do..." The Mean Six smirked before they left with their master. Mean Rainbow was dragged along by Mean Fluttershy. "Ugh... this sucks! We're locked in here while those creeps are gonna go after Moonshine and destroy her..!" Rainbow growled, frustrated with their current situation. "But you heard what our dopplegangers said, our Elements of Harmony protected Moonshine from their Elements of Disharmony." Twilight pointed out. "Meaning, if Moonshine can find a way to control the six of them, then she'll be evenly matched with the Mean Six." "Let us hope you are right, my faithful student." Celestia said. "For Equestria and my daughters' sake." Back with Moonshine, she rubbed her eyes and to clear her vision and she found herself and her friends in a cave with purple diamonds all around the walls and small pools and plants near the bottom. Moonshine turned around and she was greeted with a large crystalline tree with five branches with hole in them and the center of the tree had a star hole in the middle. The trunk of the tree had the markings of the sun and moon as well. "Woah.... what's this...?" Suddenly, the Tree glowed and appeared a sparkling version of Twilight Sparkle. "Hello there..." she greeted in a mystical tone. "W-Who are you...?" Moonshine questioned. "I am the Tree of Harmony..." "The Tree of Harmony..?" Moonshine asked, confused. The sparkling Twilight nodded, "I sensed that you need some help.." "Boy, do I. The Shadow Pony that I saw in my dreams created dopplegangers of my friends and they control six Elements that are the complete opposite of my friends and had very powerful dark magic in them. Now my friends and family are trapped in Tartarus and I'm the only one who can save them, but I only have control over my Element, not Twilights' or the others." Moonshine explained. Astral Twilight nodded, "I see. I sensed a great deal of dark magic, but you don't have to worry about that because your Element can counter the Elements of Disharmony." "H-How..?" Moonshine asked confused. "Your Element of Harmony, The Element of Hope, is the combination of all the Elements that grew from me. Making it just as powerful as all six combined, meaning you don't need all seven Elements to unleashed great power. Using your Element of Harmony, you can counter the Mean Six's Elements of Disharmony." Moonshine was surprised.. "So.. the Elements... came from you...?" Astral Twilight nodded, "I grew the Elements of Harmony and I created yours, Moonshine." Moonshine was speechless, "But.. why did they protect me from the Mean Six all on their own?" she questioned. "Since your Element of Hope is created by the six original Elements of Harmony, they are all connected and bonded to you in a way, meaning they'll act on their own to protect you from harm." Astral Twilight explained. Moonshine looked at the six floating Elements in awe. "Now it is time for you to rescue what is rightfully yours, Moonshine. I believe in you..." Astral Twilight said before she vanished in a flash of light. When Moonshine and the others looked they saw Twilight and the others Elements of Harmony, except for Moonshine’s floated out of their necklaces and crown and magically float back into their rightful places in the Tree of Harmony. “Wow..” Moonshine gasped in awe before a loud explosion was heard. “What?” Moonshine and the others rushed out of the cave and saw smoke rising in Ponyville. Moonshine teleported everyone there where she gasped in horror... the Golden Oak Library was destroyed! There’s was nothing left of it but a large piece of wood. All the books were either destroyed or smoking and burning from the blast. Moonshine was horrified. The culprits revealed themselves laughing at her, “Sorry Moonshine..” Mean Twilight bragged. “Guess you’re homeless now.. hahaha...!” Moonshine saw the six of them and snarled. “You’ll lay for this..!” she yelled and Toothless roared in agreement along with Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff. “Hahaha... is like to see you try..” Mean Twilight said before she teleported everyone to Tartarus, where Twilight and the other saw them. “Moonshine!” “Moony!” Twilight and Pinkie called. Midnight then appeared before the Mean Six, “So you were foolish enough to bring challenge us. Just like how you were foolish enough to bring my minions to your Elements of Harmony.” “You’ll pay for destroying Twilights’ and my home!” Moonshine yelled and Twilight gasped in horror. “Our home is... gone...” Midnight laughed, “Did you forget about one thing..?” Midnight looked at the girls and the Mean Six got into formation and activated the Elements of Disharmony. Moonshine snarled and her Element of Hope activated and she floated up in the air as well. The Mean Six blasted their combined beam at Moonshine and she countered with her own rainbow beam from her Element of Hope. The two beams collided and were at a standstill one struggling to overpower the other. Moonshine concentrated hard and her eyes glowed white and her beam increased tenfold! It overpowered the Mean Six’s beam and caused a large explosion that blinded everyone. After a couple of minutes, Moonshine floated back down into the ground and she didn’t see any sign of the Mean Six and Midnight. She did see Twilight and the others coming to, now with the braces and anti-magic rings destroyed in the blast. “That was awesome...!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You wiped the floor with them!” “Outstanding!” Luna added. “That was Moontastic!” Pinkie Pie added. “Woo-wee That Element of yours matched there’s ten fold!” Applejack added. “It was simply gorgeous, darling.” Rarity added. “Excellent, honey..” Princess Celestia said. The only one who didn’t praise her was Twilight who stammered to Moonshine, “Moonshine... our home...” Moonshine’s face turned grim and she teleported everypony to the remains of the library. Everyone gasped in horror seeing the destroyed library and home of their friends. “H-How...?” Twilight gasped. “The Mean Six... they destroyed it...” Moonshine replied grimly. Twilight was in such despair at the loss of her home... however her face suddenly turned... to one of anger as she glared at Moonshine. “Moonshine, how could you..?!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed at her in anger. “You lead the enemies right to the Elements of Harmony and now we’ve lost our home cause of you!” “W-Wha-?!” Moonshine stammered. “You just can’t stop being so naive, kind and generous that you can’t even see an evil plot from a mile away!” she yelled in anger. “B-But I-“ “You need to stop being so sweet to everypony you meet! We told you this before and you didn’t listen and now we’ve lost our home because of you and more villains are out there bent on destroying Equestria, all because of your pathetic behavior!” “P-Pathetic..” Moonshine whispered, horrified. “Ugh...! YES IT PATHETIC! YOU ARE JUST SO PATHETIC! NO DAUGHTER OR NIECE OF THE RULERS OF EQUESTRIA WOULD LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN! CELESTIA AND LUNA WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU...!” Twilight yelled in complete rage. Everyone gasped in horror at her last sentence and Moonshine felt her heart split in two... Moonshine just stood there... froze in horror a what Twilight just said. Tears started to pour from her eyes and she just closed her eyes and yelled back, “IF THAT’S HOW YOU FEEL THAN I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU! OR ANY OF YOU! IF YOU THINK THAT I’M WORTHLESS, PATHETIC AND A HORRIBLE DAUGHTER AND NIECE AND WANT ME GONE, AND OUT OF YOUR LIVES, THEN FINE!” Moonshine screamed at the top of her lungs with tears raining down from her eyes. Moonshine ran away into what was left of their home and she packed everything including her pokemon and everything from her lab, including her saddle for Toothless. Then, she just ran out with tears poring from her eyes and pushed past Twilight and the others as she ran off and out of Ponyville. “.... Twilight! I can’t believe you would say such a horrible thing!” Applejack snapped at her, shocking Twilight. “What we were all thinking it.” Twilight growled. “No we weren’t! That was totally out of line. She saved our lives and all of Equestria!” Rainbow added. “We wouldn’t need saving if she would have just acted correctly.” Twilight growled. “Darling, you cannot blame Moonshine for losing your home. It was that ruffian Midnight and the Mean Six!” Rarity added. “You just said the most hurtful thing to Moony!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with her mane flattened. “I didn’t know you could go so low, Twilight.” “You should have be thankful for Moonshine, the only friend you ever had before us but you went ahead and pointed out all her flaws and called her a mistake to Celestia and Luna!” Fluttershy yelled with surpassing anger and tears in her eyes. “How could you?! Moonshine risked everything to save us and instead of praising her you just broke her heart! You monster!” Twilight’s friends then just walked away from Twilight, furious with her for how she treated Moonshine after saving them and all of Equestria. Celestia and Luna turned away as well. “Come on sister, let’s go find Moonshine and show her that some ponies appreciate her..” Celestia said, giving Twilight a glare. Twilight folded her ears at her mentors’ glare. “Yeah.. us to girls... let’s go find Moonshine or as Twilight called her ‘pathetic’.” Applejack snarled as she looked at back the mare. With that, the girls and the Princesses left. Twilight just stared at them... frozen for a moment.. before she fell on her rump.... and started to cry.... because of her anger and ignorance.. she just lost her best friend... possibly... forever... Deep in the Everfree Forest, far from Ponyville, Moonshine just laid there in a clearing, sobbing while covering her face. She could still hear the hurtful things Twilight said to her. “You just can’t stop being so naive, kind and generous that you can’t even see an evil plot from a mile away!” “You need to stop being so sweet to everypony you meet! We told you this before and you didn’t listen and now we’ve lost our home because of you and more villains are out there bent on destroying Equestria, all because of your pathetic behavior!” “YOU ARE JUST SO PATHETIC! NO DAUGHTER OR NIECE OF THE RULERS OF EQUESTRIA WOULD LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN! CELESTIA AND LUNA WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU...!” Moonshine sniffled and sobbed some more, just thinking about her best friend saying such things to her, broke her heart even more, leaving her feeling useless. Moonshine sniffled and she wiped her tears. Toothless, Lycanroc, Mudbray and Rockruff looked at her with such worry. They've never seen her this.... broken before.... "M-Maybe Twilight's right... maybe I just too nice for my own well being. Maybe everyone is better off without me..." Moonshine thought grimly to herself. Then, to Toothless, Lycanroc, Mudbray and Rockruffs' shock... Moonshine lost all color in her fur, mane and tail, becoming completely grey. A tear dropped from her eye and it was in the shape of a broken heart...! "Moonshine..!" "Moonshine, honey..!" Moonshine didn't react when she heard her mother, auntie and her friends coming up to her. "Hey sugarcube.." Applejack said. "What Twilight said to you was way out of line. We're grateful that you helped save us and all of Equestria." "Yeah, so.. why don't you come back to Ponyville..?" Rainbow asked with a hopeful smile. "Why would I go back to a place where nobody wants me." Moonshine replied in a rude tone, much to the groups' shock. "It's obvious no one wants me around because I'm just too nice and pathetic for my own good or for the good of Equestria." "W-What? Moonshine, no you're not!" Applejack exclaimed. "Yeah, we like you just the way you are, Moony." Pinkie stated. "Don't let what meanie Twilight said get to you.." "Too late..." Moonshine grumbled before she grabbed her stuff. "I just a pathetic alicorn. I don't even deserve a mother and auntie like Celestia and Luna..." Moonshine then took off her Elements of Hope and gave it to Celestia. "Here... give it a daughter more deserving...." and she just trotted off. Toothless and the others looked at the group with a worried look before they followed Moonshine. "Oh dear... this is more serious than I thought." Luna stated with great worry. "Did anypony else notice how grey Moonshine was?" Rainbow questioned. "Yeah, and she acted the total opposite of how she usually acts.." Fluttershy said. "I wonder why?" "Well isn't it obvious..?" another voice came and in front of the group appeared a draconequus! He has a deer antler on the right, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang, different-sized pupils, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. He has the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, he has a bat's right wing, a Pegasus' left wing, a horse's mane, and a dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of his body resembles that of a snake. "Discord?!" Everyone exclaimed, seeing the draconequus floating in the air on his back. "Hello everypony.." Discord grinned. "What are you doing here?!" Celestia exclaimed. "My sister and I sealed you away!" "Well that little spell of yours broken once you lost your connection with the Elements of Harmony..." Discord grinned. "But rather than start creating chaos like I would, I couldn't help but overhear Twilight and Moonshine major fall out. Hahaha! Hilarious!" "Enough of your games, Discord." Luna grumbled. "Do you know what's wrong with thou niece?" "It's obvious that Twilight broke Moonshine's heart by claiming that being herself basically lead to Equestria nearly being destroyed, triggered Hopeless Magic inside of herself turning herself grey." Discord explained. "Woah, woah, woah..... so you mean to tell us that Moonshine basically shunned everything flaw about herself because of her fight with Twilight, creating this.. Hopeless Magic that turned her into the opposite of who she really is?" Rainbow repeated. "That's correct, my dear Rainbow Dash.." Discord stated. Celestia and Luna were shocked and horrified at the same time. Their daughter/niece was completely taken over by Hopeless Magic. Hopeless Magic is a unique form of dark magic where the subject lose hope due to thinking that they were worthless to their home. Since Moonshine thought that she was too nice for Equestria's well being, she ended up shunning every quality that makes her Moonshine, thus creating Hopeless Magic inside of herself. "Oh honey..." Celestia sighed sadly. "Is there a way to reverse the Hopeless Magic?" Fluttershy asked. "The only way to reverse such magic is if you can get Moonshine to see that her flaws are useful to Equestria instead of being useless." Discord stated. "And I suggest starting with the pony who caused all of this..." and then Discord teleported away. "... Twilight..." the Mane 5 said together. Back at the ruined Golden Oak Library, Twilight was sniffling, feeling very guilty and remorse about what she said to her best friend. She let her anger of losing her home take control and now she ruined her longest friendship. "What have I done..." Twilight sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes. "Twilight.." Twilight sniffled and turned to see the Mane 5 and the two Princesses walking towards her. Twilight wiped her eyes again and turned to face them. "H-Hi.... I know what I did to Moonshine was extremely out of line, selfish and goes against everything I've learned about friendship so far. I was so angry about losing our home and at Midnight and the Mean Six for everything they've put us through that I took it all out on Moonshine, thinking that her kindness and generosity blinded her from seeing the truth about the Mean Six. I never should have said such things to her, especially that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't deserve her. I'm so so sorry..." Twilight lowered her head in great shame. The group looked at each other and then back at Twilight. Applejack then walked up to her and lifted her head gently, "I can see that you were truly honest with your apology, Twi, but the one who you should really apologize to is Moonshine. Because of you, she created her own Hopeless Magic, causing her turn grey and actually believe everything you said to her.." Twilight looked shocked at Applejack's words. Rainbow then came up to her, "Yeah, Discord said that because of you, Moonshine shunned every quality that makes her who she is and you have to fix this.." Twilight, still looking ashamed, nodded at Rainbow Dash. "R-Right..." However.. "Oh... going so soon..." The group gasped and turned seeing the Mean Six and Midnight standing behind them! "What they hay-?" Applejack exclaimed. "You didn't really think that one Element could take us down.." Mean Twilight smirked. "I created these ponies with powerful dark magic. The Elements of Disharmony I created gives these ponies, so that they could withstand Moonshine's pathetic attempt to defeat them." Midnight smirked before he laughed. "And I should thank you for doing the second to last phase of my plan for me.." "What phase?" Rainbow growled. "I knew that as long as Moonshine is who she is that wouldn't stop fighting to protect the ones she loves. But with her little argument with Twilight, she was able to break her heart by telling her that she's useless and pathetic , putting everypony and Equestria at risk, breaking her heart completely and shunning everything that made her willing to fight. Without her, you ponies are defenseless.. hahahaha!" Midnight laughed before she blasted the girls, created a cage around them and chaining them to the bars of the cage. "Now I believe its time that my minions finish off that pony for good.." Midnight nodded at the Mean Six and they laughed evily before they went off to find Moonshine and finish her off. "Leave Moonshine alone! She's my friend!" Twilight yelled. "Ha! If she was really your friend then why did you say she was useless and pathetic cause she was always too nice, huh?" Midnight scoffed with a raised eyebrow. Twilight winced at his point before she looked ashamed again, "You even blame her for the lost of your precious home! You said that just by being herself she's a threat to Equestria just as much as we are! You made her believe that she was worthless. Now tell me.. what friend would do that....?" Twilight closed her eyes and she sat down, defeated and a tear fell from her eye... "N-No friend...." and she started quietly sobbing. Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy came around Twilight and comforted her as Midnight smirked. "Hahaha... you know whose really pathetic... you all! You think that 'friendship is magic' well, it's not! Friendship is nothing more than a waste. And once I conquer this miserable land, you'll see what real magic is...! Hahahaha....!" The Princess narrowed their eyes at Midnight. "You'll never prevail, Midnight.." Celestia growled. "Oh won't I...?" Midnight smirked, turning to see the Mean Six returning with Moonshine tied up and with Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff in a cage as well! Celestia and Luna gasped in horror while Midnight laughed. Mean Twilight dropped Moonshine on the ground and she just had a blank, emotionless expression on her face. The Mean Six backed off as Midnight went over to her and Moonshine looked back up at her before she looked away. "Hahaha....! Excellent work, Twilight Sparkle, you've completely broken her spirit, making her the perfect target.. to be destroyed..." Midnight hissed as he lit his horn with dark magic. "No..!" Celestia exclaimed in horror. However... Moonshine's Element of Hope suddenly glowed on its own and sent it own blast at Midnight, knocking him back from Moonshine. "What?!" Midnight snarled. The Element of Hope then came in front of Moonshine... as did Astral Twilight. "Moonshine... I sense Hopeless Magic in your heart... you must fight against it to save your family..." "What's the point... I'm useless... I'm too nice for Equestria's own being... I don't deserve to be a Princess..." Moonshine said in a monotone voice. "Yes you do.... Princesses are kind and loyal to their family and subjects. You stood up to Nightmare Moon to bring back your mother. You saved Twilight and her friends from their evil selves when you could have let them take over Equestria... being yourself is not useless to Equestria. It's what makes Equestria stronger..." Moonshine looked at Astral Twilight for a moment and thought about what it said.... and her color returned to normal and she sat up. "Y-You're right..." Moonshine stated with a small smile on her face. Astral Twilight smiled The Element of Hope floated over to Moonshine and engulfed her body in a rainbow glow. Everypony shielded their eyes at the light.. and when it was gone, everypony gasped in awe. Moonshine was now wearing armor on her body! She had four golden shoes on her hooves, like Luna's but they had the symbols of the Elements of Generosity, Kindness, Laughter and Honesty on them. She wore body armor as well that was also golden and it had the symbols of the Elements of Loyalty and Magic on the back. Finally, her crown was shimmering brightly on her head behind her horn. Rarity and the girls were amazed by her new look while Midnight and the Mean Six growled at her. The Mean Six activated their Elements of Disharmony and fired a blast at Moonshine, but her Element countered their beam and she added their own magic to the blast, striking the Mean Six and sending them flying far, far, far away from Ponyville. Moonshine then aimed her beam at Midnight, "Nooo....!" Midnight screamed as her Elements magic engulfed him and turned him to stone! Then it sent out a shockwave that broke the cage, freeing Twilight and the others. Moonshine floated back down to the ground and Rarity and the Mane 4 cheered for her. "Alright Moonshine!" Applejack cheered. "Yeah Moony!" Pinkie Pie cooed. "That was awesome...!" Rainbow exclaimed. "And so beautiful..." Fluttershy added. Princess Celestia and Luna smiled at their daughter/niece. Finally, Twilight walked up to Moonshine and the girls backed away. "Moonshine... I-I'm so sorry.. I never should have said those things to you. I let my anger take control and I said the most hurtful things I could think of to you. I never meant any of it. I love that your kind and generous. Celestia and Luna do deserve a pony like you as their daughter/niece. Your flaws aren't worthless to Equestria, it makes Equestria and better place.... and it made me a better pony.... please forgive me..." Moonshine looked at Twilight for a moment before she gave her a smile, "I forgive you, Twilight..." Twilight smiled and the two best friends hugged each other with such love. Moonshine's Element of Hope suddenly glowed on its own again and it launched out a large beam to the other side of Ponyville. Out of the ground sprouted a tree-castle! The tree-castle bears some resemblance to the Golden Oak Library at least the aboveground portion, but is many times larger and appears to have a multi-level castle in its branches, which includes a great balcony, two spires, and a tower. The structure has at least one banner flying on the side marked with Moonshine's Element of Hope and Twilight's Cutie Mark and the top bears a large crystal star. Two sets of five strings of beads hang off the side of the structure much like the white beads that hang off the Tree of Harmony. At the foot is a great golden stair for the two-leaved golden door into the tree's body. Two open lancet windows flank the door. Twilight and the others ran over there and gasped at the sight, "Sweet Celestia...! Are you all seeing what I'm seeing?" Rarity asked. "But.. whose is it?" Twilight asked. "I believe it is yours and Twilights, Moonshine." Celestia smiled at her daughter. "I-It is...?" Moonshine gasped in awe before Discord appeared. "Oh wonderful! This is such a gorgeous castle, Moonshine. Every Princess needs a castle am I right..?" Celestia and Luna rolled her eyes at Discord. Together everyone goes inside the castle to take a look of what glory awaits inside as Twilight and the princesses lead the way with Spike and the Mane 5 right behind them with Discord following a larger distance back as they walk through the castle hallway. Moonshine and Twilight looked in awe at their new home as well as Toothless and the pokemon. "Moonshine, you’re probably wondering what you are now meant to do as a princess. Do you know now?” Celestia spoke to oonshine as they continued walking down the hall. “As princess, I believe I have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria. I believe that this is the role I am meant to have in our world! The role I choose to have!” Moonshine stated. “Then it is unlikely you are meant to take on this task alone.” Princess Celestia mentioned as she uses her magic to open the double-doors in front of them causing Spike and the seven ponies to gasp in awe at the sight of what they are seeing. It was a massive throne room with throne seats with cutie marks made specifically for all seven ponies representing the Elements of Harmony in front of a large circle with a large star in the very center. “You are now Moonshine, the Princess of Friendship.” Princess Celestia proclaimed as the Mane 7 all get themselves comfortable on their specialty made chairs. “But what is the Princess of Friendship without her friends?” Celestia added as the Mane 6, Toothless, Lycanroc, Mudbray, Rockruff, Discord and Spike all huddle around her. “Wait a minute, where's my throne?!” Discord asked in surprise seeing that he doesn’t have a royal seat with the girls. “I don't think you're quite there yet.” Moonshine said sympathetically. "Yes, well, I suppose not.” Discord admittedly chuckled in agreement. ”Now how about we all get a look at my new castle as all Ponyville ponies are invited for the day.” Twilight offered much to their delight as Moonshine begins to sing. “Each one of us has something special That makes us different, that makes us rare.” Moonshine sang as she invited everypony inside the castle with her hoof. “We have a light that shines within us That we were always meant to share.” Fluttershy sang as she and Rainbow Dash flew above the throne room as ponies walk inside the room. “And when we come together Combine the light that shines within There is nothing we can't do There is no battle we can't win.” The Mane 6 sang as they danced row by row and face to face with Twilight and Fluttershy facing each other in one row, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in the second row, and Applejack and Rarity in the third row. “When we come together There'll be a star to guide the way It's inside us every day See it now! See it now!” The girls sang as they walked up to the star with Moonshine in the middle and each raised a hoof towards the middle of the star. Moonshine's Element glows bright and sent out a rainbow burst with the rainbow flying all over Equestria. “Let the rainbow remind you That together we will always shine Let the rainbow remind you That forever this will be our time.” Twilight reminisced about her big argument with Moonshine causing her to believe that she was a worthless alicorn and that everyone would be better off without her which activated the Hopeless Magic inside of herself and to lose her spirit and her color. "Each one of us will sometimes falter We may stumble We may fall." Then the girls remember the Astral Twilight reminding Moonshine that her flaws make Equestria stronger and that she's not a worthless alicorn, but an alicorn she should be proud of. "But we still have a kind of magic One that will see us Though it all." “And when we come together Combine the light that shines within There is nothing we can't do There is no battle we can't win.” “When we come together There'll be a star to guide the way It's inside us every day See it now! See it now!” The girls sang as the rainbow came back to the castle passing by Discord who is humbly and awkwardly standing as the princesses and all of the gathered ponies are holding no resentment towards Discord for his betrayal as he humbly gives Princess Celestia a bouquet of flowers to thank her for her letting bygones be bygones. “Let the rainbow remind you That together we will always shine.” Moonshine sang as her friends huddled around her for a group photo.
The Cutie MapThree Months Later.... One morning in the Castle of Friendship, the Mane Seven all enter the throne room where Spike is found sleeping on his throne. it's been a week since the defeat of Midnight and the Mean Six. Twilight and Moonshine moved in to their new castle home. Toothless, Mudbray, Lycanroc and Rockruff were all ecstatic about their new home. Once everypony is seated in their specifically designed throne chairs, Twilight spoke to everypony. “Let’s go through this one more time.” Twilight began as she rubbed her hoof under her chin causing Rainbow Dash to groan to aggravation as apparently Twilight has talked about this multiple times now. “We've been over it like a million times, Twilight! Moonshine regained her spirit and color, beat the Hopeless Magic, blasted the Mean Six out of Equestria, defeated Midnight and got you both sweet castle! End of story!” Rainbow Dash quickly told Twilight of what had just happened in a quickly summed up fashion. “Yes, but why?” Twilight acknowledged but can’t help but question why she isn’t getting all of this so sudden after turning herself around. “I dunno, sugarcube. Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that.” Applejack answered as she moved to sit in her chair. As soon as she did the cutie mark on her chair glowed. “I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it. It's all simply divine!” Rarity added as she sat down on her chair causing the cutie mark on her chair to glow too while saying all that’s important is that the Twilight they all know and loved is back. “I agree with Twilight. And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy chimed in as she sat down on her chair with her cutie mark on her chair glowing too. “Oh, and probably Spike.” Fluttershy added as if she almost forgot to include as she turned to him who is still sleeping and snoring on his chair. “As princess, Moonshine has been chosen to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria.” Twilight continued to speak her mind as she paces around the center of the room. "Twilight, stop worrying about it." Moonshine, daughter of Princess Celestia and niece of Princess Luna, said to her best friend. "I don't mind this." "But Moonshine, the Tree obviously sees you as some kind of student to it, so why would it want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense.” She concluded as she sat down on her chair causing her cutie mark to glow along with the mark on her chair. Everypony takes notice when the cutie marks on the chair glow as the beams of light they produced all shined onto the star in the center of the room causing crystal rocks to form as a crystal table starts to appear from the center of the room causing Spike to awaken from hearing this who then looks surprised at the sight that had just formed in the middle of the room. “Is that new? I like it.” Spike commented just as surprised as everypony in the room. Spike would then walk on the table as looks around it as what they are seeing is a map of all of Equestria. “This is incredible! It's got all of Equestria!” Spike commented in amazement. “Hi, Mom and Dad!” Pinkie happily commented as she looked at her parent’s rock farm house. Spike at that moment would end up stepped on the model house causing Pinkie’s eyes to water up as if she thought her parents were killed. Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Hope shimmered andd created a projected image of the crown itself and The Mane Six’s cutie marks on their flanks and they glow as projected images of them circling around Moonshine's Element of Hope and they hovered above the map from where Ponyville is to some town near the mountains. Twilight, wanting a better look, used her magic to drag Spike off the table so she can examine this. “But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks nd Moonshine's Element over there?” Fluttershy commented wondering what this meant. “I don't know.” Twilight honestly answered. “But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The Tree, Moonshine's Element, her armor, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?” She questioned her friends. “Y'know what?” Rainbow Dash flew in close examining some places on the map. “There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!” She quickly put her hoof forward to join Twilight on this trip. “Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right.” Applejack responded in agreement. “Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets, but okay!” Pinkie answered sounding reluctant at first before happily agreeing too. “Very well.” Rarity reluctantly agreed too with a smile as she and Pinkie turn to Fluttershy expecting her answer wanting her to come along to with Rainbow Dash joining them as well. “Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike.” Fluttershy nervously responded not wanting to come. “Awesome!” Spike happily responded as he wore a drinking hat and a foam finger. “Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats...” Hearing all this causing Fluttershy to make weirded out expressions as she sees is signing herself up for activates that only guy and stallions would like. “O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them. In case they need me.” Fluttershy quickly answered to show that she has changed her mind as she turns to Rainbow Dash who smiles in response to her answer. “Looks like it's time for a road trip.” Twilight told her friends with a confident expression. “Well, suit yourself. But he's got a Hock Fetlock rookie card I plan to sweet-talk right into these hot little claws.” Spike continued to express his excitement over his plans with Big Mac as the Mane Six head out. The Mane Seven all board the train from Ponyville to their destination as the train rode on tracks through mountains and tunnels until the train reached the end of the tracks as it stopped in front of a yellow and black stripped signed to signal that this is a dead end and the end of the train ride. The Mane Six all exit the train as it backs away to depart from the dead end stop as Twilight looks the map she made herself for a moment before rolling it up and walking ahead in the direction of the nearby town with her friend’s right behind her. The Mane Six would cross a wooden bridge and then reached their destination, a small village down below the mountains. “That's it! That's the place on the map!” Twilight pointed out as Rarity fumbled with the dust in her hair. “Right. Let's get down there and find the spa.” Rarity spoke prepared to head on down before being stopped by Twilight who magically teleports in front of her. “Wait.” Twilight stopped Rarity in her tracks with a hoof on her chest. “We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in. It could be dangerous.” “Yes!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in excitement at the mention of danger she thrives of engaging in it. “Stay behind me, everypony! I'm on it!” Pinkie spoke as she stood on her rear hoof while placing her front hoofs in front of Twilight and Rarity with a serious expression. “Careful, Pinkie!” Applejack called out to Pinkie as she rolled down the mountain and ducked to a nearby rock as she peeks from the corner who motions the others to follow her lead as she stealthily makes her way to town by ducking under nearby rocks while the others walk up behind her as she scoots herself under a huge rock before she and the others peeked at the village as they now got a closer look. “This is where the map sent us? It looks like the most boring place in Equestria.” Rainbow Dash commented as they watch every pony chatting and walking around. “It's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk.” Applejack voiced her thoughts. “It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes. Or any architectural flourishes.” Rarity commented seeing that the village could use some more fashionable taste of decoration. “I think it's lovely.” Fluttershy responded seeing there is no problem with what she is seeing. “I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right.” Pinkie suspiciously commented at the sight of the continuously smiling ponies. “I agree.” Twilight shared the same suspicion as she eyed on the marks on everypony’s flanks. “Look at the cutie marks.” She pointed out that everypony had equal signs on their flanks. “Okay, that's weird.” Rainbow Dash commented in agreement with Twilight. “An entire village with the same cutie mark? How can that be?” Twilight questioned the very possibility of that. “I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it.” Rainbow Dash suggested as she watched the village from afar. “What makes you say that?” Twilight asked. “'Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!” Rainbow Dash excitedly dreamed of. “Well I not sure I would say monster but definitely some sinister pony lurking around is behind this.” Twilight commented as she observed the village while feeling the need to comment on Rainbow Dash describing a potential said pony as a monster. “I reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's goin' on.” Applejack suggested. “Great idea, AJ. Let's go!” Rainbow Dash agreed in a dash as she flew in between Twilight and Applejack before she as flew off ahead as the others follow her. “Those smiles are bad news.” Pinkie shared suspiciously before joining the others in heading into town. The Mane Seven make their way into town where all of the ponies still keep up their friendly smiles as they approach them. “Welcome.” A gray earth stallion with brown eyes greeted. “Welcome.” A female Pegasus mother with two fillies by her side greeted. “Welcome.” A blue unicorn pony with green eyes greeted. “Welcome.” A pink unicorn with pink eyes and pigtails greeted. “Welcome.” A blue pony with gray eyes and mane greeted. “Welcome.” A brown pony with a blonde mane and pigtails greeted as her children walked with her. “Welcome.” The fillies walking with their mother greeted. “This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!” Fluttershy positively commented as she flew by as another peagsus with gray fur and a white mane flew up to greet her. “Welcome!” Fluttershy giggled at the friendly greeting. “Ugh. Thanks a lot, map.” Rainbow Dash groaned in boredom. “Welcome! Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?” A light blue furred unicorn greeted as he approached the Mane Seven and questioned Moonshine who grinned humbly. “That there's the Princess of Friendship!” Applejack introduced her to him. “Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship.” He further greeted the alicorn. “What brings you to town?” A white pony with a matching mane and blue eyes questioned Moonshine. “We're not entirely sure.” Twilight honestly answered. “I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village.” The white stallion further welcomed the six before introducing themselves as he directs a hoof towards himself and at the pony next to him. “My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor. “Howdy, Double Diamond. I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Moonshine.” Applejack introduced the whole group by pointing her hoof at each pony around her. Double Diamond them looked down at Twilight's cutie mark. “And you all have your own unique cutie marks.” Double Diamond observed her and Pinkie’s cutie marks. “If you don't mind, has there been any sort of... trouble here, lately?” Twilight quickly questioned. “Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village.” Double Diamond answered while still smiling. “It's true. You'll see. Hm.” Party Favor added in agreement. “Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder Starlight Glimmer.” Double Diamond offered as they lead her in her direction. “I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are.” Fluttershy hopefully wished as she faced her friends. “I've got my eye on them. Something's rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we're.” Pinkie suspiciously told her as she saw the smiling ponies following them. “Agreed.” Twilight agreed with Pinkie in the same tone. “Something is definitely suspicious around here and I think this pony we are about to meet is behind this.” Double Diamond and Party Favor approached a door and both knock on it at the same time. “Starlight, we have some new visitors.” Double Diamond told the pony inside as all eight ponies walk inside. “Be ready to fight. We don't know what's gonna come through that door.” Rainbow Dash warned Applejack in a whispered tone as the pony opened the door in front of them and out from the room is a pink unicorn with a purple mane with light blue streaks and blue eyes. “Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here.” Starlight happily greeted the Mane Seven. Rainbow Dash groaned in disappointment as if she was expecting somepony more dangerous. “This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Moonshine.” Double Diamond introduced the Mane Seven to Starlight as she inspects Moonshine closely who grins nervously again while shaking her wings a little while recovering from her shock. “Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming its Princess Moonshine? We don't get many Alicorns around here.” Starlight questioned Moonshine, who still grins nervously. "Ha! She's not just an alicorn. She's the daughter and niece of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Rainbow bragged, earning a hard nudge from Applejack. "Ow!" "The daughter and niece of the Princesses, what an honor." Starlight stated. “Yes, but "Moonshine" is fine.” Moonshine humbly and nervously responded. “So! How did you hear of our little village?” Starlight eagerly questioned while still smiling a little creepier this time. “It's kind of a long story. Let's just say we found it on a map.” Twilight explained the short and straight to the point way. “Technically, it's a Tree-chest-castle-map!” Pinkie Pie happily added before her face turned back to her suspicious face as she moved away from Starlight. “Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you! We're happy to have any pony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time.” Starlight spoke with pleasure in her voice as the Mane Seven eye each other in confusion by what she meant. “Say what?” Applejack questioned out of confusion. “Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see. Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt.” Starlight explained as she moved towards a nearby picture of an equal sign cutie mark and correctly readjusted it perfectly to her liking. “Is that why you all have those cutie marks?” Twilight questioned as she points a hoof at the equal sign cutie mark on her flank. “Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!” Starlight happily and politely offered with another bright smile as she stepped forward towards the door as she addresses everypony in town. “Heads high, ponies! Marching proud! All together now! Every one of you! No pony left behind!” Starlight Glimmer marched throughout town wanting everypony still smiling to follow her lead as she begins to sing. "Life is so grand in Our Town We're always filled with cheer We never have to look around To know that we're all here.” Starlight sang as she marched forward and then turned towards the Mane Seven as the town ponies circle around them. “In Our Town, in Our Town We don't have to wait To find out that our destiny Is just to emulate.” The towns ponies sang as they marched around the Mane Seven. Moonshine watched this and she felt something was definitely wrong here.. but she couldn't place her hoof on it. “Let's see those big, happy smiles!” Starlight instructed everypony to continue keeping up their wide smiles. “Life is a smile in Our Town Our cutie mark's the same Because we do not separate Ourselves by more than name.” Starlight sang as the town ponies marched into single file formation. “In Our Town, in Our Town We dare not compete Winning only breeds the worst Ego-filled conceit.” The town ponies sang as two Pegasus ponies flew up to Rainbow Dash to lower her back down to the ground leaving her exasperated and insulted that these ponies see competition for ponies with overinflated egos and that it brings out the worst in ponies win or lose. “You see? Now everypony wins!” Starlight told Rainbow to encourage her that her approach to friendship is better this way leaving Rainbow uncomfortable with that idea. “Life is a joy in Our Town We're all equal here No one is superior And no one shakes in fear.” Starlight sang as she marched upfront and used her magic to make sure one of the mares has her mane tied up pig-tail style which Twilight took notice of. “In Our Town, in Our Town We work as a team You can't have a nightmare If you never dream.” The town ponies sang they marched in rows of four in front of the Mane Seven. “Other ponies argue Do you ever wonder why?” Starlight sang as she trots around Pinkie and Fluttershy as the former is more warm-welcoming while the latter is still frowning very suspicious at their smiles. “When you think your talent's special You don't see eye-to-eye.” “There's just too many differences That lead to disarray But when you learn to act as one It's like a holiday.” Starlight sang as the town ponies danced around. “In Our Town, in Our Town We don't complicate When you learn to simplify Life is oh, so great.” The town ponies sang as Fluttershy started dancing to the tune to which Pinkie which frowns at her to get her stop to which Fluttershy recoils in submission. “Join in our utopia Come out of the dark Banded by equality By our cutie mark!” The town ponies sang as they formed up in single file and row and row formation with the peagsus ponies flying through with an equal sign banner. “You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!” Rainbow Dash laughed off the very idea. “Rainbow Dash, don't be so rude.” Fluttershy scolded her. “I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice.” “Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy.” Pinkie quickly warned Fluttershy against trusting them. “I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this.” Twilight politely told Starlight. “We have no judgments here in our village. Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks.” Starlight assured Twilight nopony holds any judgement on them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she for real?” Rainbow Dash questioned as if all of this is a huge joke which earned her a glare from Twilight. “When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way. But, well, it doesn't seem like you need any help.” Twilight explained her reasons for visiting while still politely smiling. “Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you?” Starlight suggested as she placed a hoof on Twilight's chest. “After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave. Why should you be any different?” She questioned the Mane Seven who look at each other in confusion. “But that is entirely your choice. Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well. Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need.” Starlight instructed him to help them feel accommodated for their visit. “Of course.” Double Diamond obliged to Starlight’s request who continues grinning at the Mane Seven who all look uneasy by this gesture as Starlight trotted off As the Mane Seven walk forward with Double Diamond right behind them more town ponies greeted them while still sporting the same smiles. “A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills. How is it possible to—“ Twilight questioned the very possibility of all of this before being interrupted by Rarity’s gasping. “What in the name of Equestria is that?!” Rarity exclaimed as she pointed a hoof at ragged brown cloaks. “Welcome! Care to sample some local fashion? We've got cloaks this month!” The brown stallion offered to which Rarity resisted the urge to throw up. “Wha— Ooh, er, perhaps another time, good sir, thank you.” Rarity awkwardly and politely told him as she nervously backed away as the group proceeded to sit on a nearby table “No wonder nopony's wearing anything!” She whispered to her friends. “Really, girls!” Fluttershy scolded the girls in a hushed tone. “They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude.” “No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us!” Rainbow Dash commented feeling the need to correct Fluttershy. “Need something?” Double Diamond asked the Mane Seven from a table. “Uh, no! We're good!” Moonshine politely told him before turning back to the girls in a hushed tone. “Fluttershy's right. If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies.” “I think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!” Applejack complained that this is all a waste of time. “If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big 'A'!“ Pinkie Pie giggling joked as she raised her hooves up. “Get it?” "Girls, the Tree of Harmony is a whole lot smarter than it looks. It made my Element, entrusted it to me and helped me out the biggest slump of my life. Do you really think it would send us here for no reason?" Moonshine pointed out. The girls looked at each other and they had to agree. The Tree of Harmony has done so much for Moonshine. They shouldn't have any doubt in its abilities or its reasons. "Moonshine's right. There's something definitely wrong here." Twilight agreed. “Is this a bad time?” The waitress pony who had listening to their conversation politely chimed in. “We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends. Really, Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy continued to defend the villagers while scolding Applejack. “Don't drag me into this!” Rainbow Dash objected to Fluttershy’s comment. “Is your friendship ending?” The waitress questioned as she faced Rarity. “Are you crazy?! We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!” Pinkie Pie energetically exclaimed. “O-kay, well, my name is Sugar Belle.” The waitress introduced herself and used her magic to lift up a notepad ready to take their order. “What can I bring you? We have: muffins... “ The group expected more items off the menu to be offered but her awkward silence clues them in that muffins are the only thing she can offer. “Then I guess we'll take six muffins!” Twilight told her. “Make that twelve!” Pinkie Pie eagerly exclaimed as her friends give her weird looks. “What? I'm hungry!” She defended herself. “Come on, girls. We've got to stick together. It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now.” Twilight spoke to her friends in a hushed tone to ensure nopony else is eavesdropping on their conversation. “I guess you're right.” Applejack accepted. “And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home.” At that moment Sugar Belle came back with a plate of muffins she placed in the center of the table. “Forgive me for overhearing” Sugar Belle mentioned. “But just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're... agreeing.” “Uh-huh...” Applejack responded with crossed hooves. “Well, you had such differing opinions – and cutie marks.” Sugar Belle continued to speak with confusion. “We have differing opinions all the time, darling.” Rarity answered as if it is no surprise to them. “But you look like you're friends.” Sugar Belle pointed out. “We are friends. A simple disagreement wouldn't change that.” Twilight positively responded which led to Sugar Belle smiling nervously at that statement before frowning as she again speaks her mind. “I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding. Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery.” She explained before turning her frown back into a smile. “So... why aren't you bitter and...?” Sugar Belle is quickly interrupted when Pinkie Pie chokes and spits out a muffin she had just ate “Blech!” She quickly corrects herself by faking a smile to feign politeness. “Mmmm... good...” “It's all right.” Sugar Belle assured Pinkie she holds nothing against her for not liking her muffins. “I know I'm not a very good baker.” She admitted. “At least, I know I'm not any better than anypony else in the village.” She took a glance behind her directed at Double Diamond and quickly darted back with a sense of anxiety. “Well, I... hope you enjoy our little village!” She began walking inside the shop as Pinkie loudly scraped the bits and pieces of muffin off her tongue. Sugar Belle quickly stopped between Twilight and Pinkie to address before. “Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!” Sugar Belle told them in distress before sporting a grin before heading inside. “Okay, that was weird too.” Rainbow Dash commented as she stretched out her hoof across the table. “Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal.” Twilight instructed the others in a hushed tone as she eyed everypony around them suspiciously. “I think we're being watched.” She points out to everypony still wide smiling at them while doing their daily business. “You think?” Rainbow Dash sarcastically replied. “No, not like that!” Twilight corrected. ”I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle.” She added as she pointed her eyes at Double Diamond who is watching them while biting into a muffin. “I got an idea.” Applejack offered an idea. “But you gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie.” “Me?! Why me?!” Pinkie protested. “You got a stronger stomach than any of us, and that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here.” Applejack reasoned with her who reluctantly sees her point as she proceeds to bite into and eat all of the muffins and by the time she finally manages to eat them all her face is now sickly green. “I can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie!” Applejack announced as the others look at everypony with forced smiles. “We'd best go inside and get some more!” The Mane Six immediately head downstairs per Sugar Belle’s instructions. “Nice work, Pinkie.” Twilight commended Pinkie as they headed downstairs as Pinkie Pie bounced downstairs with a balloon belly. “I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that...” Pinkie sadly commented over being forced to literally stomach in all of those muffins. “Hello? Sugar Belle?” Twilight called out. “Thank you for coming!” Sugar Belle spoke up as she emerged from the dark and sported another wide smile. “Why did you want us to come down here?” Twilight asked. “So nopony could see what's about to happen.” Sugar Belle answered with a smirk as some of the ponies gather around them ominously causing Twilight to ready her horn to attack in self-defense until Part Favor leaned in like a fan pony. “Are you really the Princess of Friendship?” Party Favor questioned. “Do you know Princess Celestia?” Night Glider questioned as she leaned in towards Twilight. “I love your cutie mark!” Sugar Belle commented as she touched Pinkie’s flank. “How can you be friends with different cutie marks? Don't you end up hating each other?” Night Glider questioned as she flew in front of Rarity and Fluttershy. “Oh, look at this one! This one's great too!” Sugar Belle commented on Fluttershy’s cutie mark as she touched her flank. “I'd love to have my special talent back even just for a day! Make something besides those disgusting muffins...” She added sounding depressed. “So what's stopping you? Go get your cutie marks back.” Rainbow Dash responded wondering why it’s so hard to do so. “Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme.” Party Favor answered as he spoke. “I'm not sure Starlight would like that. She wants us all to be happy in our sameness.” Sugar Belle mentioned. “How do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?” Twilight asked. “The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience!” Night Glider answered and recalled. “Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these.” She explained as she pointed towards the equal sign marks on her and the other’s flanks. “But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark. It represents such an essential part of who you are.” Twilight spoke from experience. “Oh, we're not kept from them.” Night Glider quickly responded. “They're in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.” "Wait... how come you don't have a cutie mark?" Double Diamond asked, pointing to Moonshine's blank flank. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I didn't figure out my special talent yet." Moonshine replied honestly. "But don't you friends hate you cause you don't have a cutie mark?" Night Glider asked. "Of course not! Just because she doesn't have a cutie mark doesn't mean we'd stop being friends with her." Rainbow stated. "Yeah, Moony is just as special as the rest of us, even if she doesn't have a cutie mark." Pinkie added. The three ponies looked at each other, confused. After a moment of thinking Twilight asked them. “Can we visit this cave?” Soon, the Mane Seven were lead into a mountain cave behind the village and down a tunnel. Once they got to the end of it, they all gasped seeing a large vault with multiple cutie marks locked inside of it. "Behold! Our cutie mark vault!" "I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items. We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks! I'm curious – how did the subject of the vault come up?" Starlight asked. "Oh, I was just wondering why everypony had the same cutie mark. Ponies can still be friends with different cutie marks like my friends." Moonshine stated. "Well, w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little—" Rarity said nervously. "Good. Let's just make sure of that, shall we?" Starlight Glimmer questioned as some ponies came out of the shadows. "It's a trap!" Twilight exclaimed. She teleported out of the circle and readied her magic but Starlight used her Staff and blasted Twilight, holding her in place and forcefully removing her cutie mark! "Twi!" Moonshine cried in horror as she fell to the ground. The Starlight did the same with her friends! Removing their cutie marks by force and locking them in the vault! “Aw. I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today. You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing.” Starlight gloated still trying to make the whole situation still sound positive. “Give them back!” Twilight demanded. “Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!” Starlight responded as she put her staff away as the ponies who gathered inside of the cave gather around them. "Not I have anything to say about it..!" Moonshine growled as she readied her magic. Starlight blasted her with the Staff of Sameness too.. however Moonshine's Element of Hope activated and created a shield around her! "What?!" Starlight growled. Moonshine then unleashed a shockwave, knocking Starlight and the other ponies back. Moonshine quickly flew over and blasted the pieces of glass with her friends cutie marks and they returned to their owners, returning their abilities and talents to them. Starlight got up and snarled in anger at what Moonshine did. Moonshine then took off her Element of Hope and threw at Twilight who caught it in her magic, "Girls! Get out of here!" Moonshine called. "What?! But Moonshine..!" Twilight exclaimed but Moonshine yelled, "GOOO!" before Starlight struck her with her magic, freezing her in place. Twilight knew she had no choice and she teleported the girls and herself out of the cave. "I've done a lot to give these ponies friendship and you're not going to ruin it!" Starlight yelled at her before she took out a jar. Suddenly, Moonshine felt a strong and painful tug in her horn and she grunted and groaned in pain as Starlight removed her magic and placed it in the jar! Whens she was done, Starlight dropped her on the floor. Moonshine felt so weak that she could barely keep her eyes open. "You may not have a cutie mark, but you will be valuable to my cause..." Starlight said with an evil smirk before everything went black for Moonshine. Starlight Glimmer carried an unconscious Moonshine into one of her buildings and just dropped her on the floor. Starlight smiled evilly at her as she gazed at the jar filled with her stolen magic. "Foolish Alicorn, challenging my philosophy? Hehehe... big mistake." Starlight used her magic to create a chain and tied it around Moonshine's left back hoof and attached it to a stack in the house. "Hehe... still.. I'm sure those 'strangers' will come and rescue you, but they won't get far, cause I'll be ready for them.. and once I have their cutie marks all of Equestria will know what I'm trying to accomplish." Starlight then walked out of the building and slammed the door shut and ordered two ponies at the door to guard it. "Perfect... now..." Starlight looks at the jaw with Moonshine's magic inside of it. "Let's see just how powerful her magic is..." Meanwhile, Twilight and the Mane 5 were hiding outside of the village, over looking it from a hilltop. "Alright girls, I think that made it pretty clear about why the map sent us here.." Twilight said to her friends. "Yeah, Starlight Glimmer is forcing everypony to give up their cutie marks so they can have her version of 'friendship'." Applejack stated. "If it weren't for Moonshine steppin' in like that, we would have been in the same situation." "Oh... I hope she's alright." Fluttershy cooed with worry. "Yeah, let's go get her back!" Rainbow exclaimed, but before she could fly into town, Twilight caught her by the tail. "Rainbow! You can't just bargin into town like that. Starlight might have some kind of trap waiting for us." Twilight scolded. "Twilight's right. We need a way to figure out if Moonshine is alright." Applejack stated. "But how..?" Suddenly Discord appeared, "Oh for Scorpan's sake, why didn't you ponies call me when you found a pony causing her own kind of chaos?" he whined. "Discord? What are you doing here?!" Twilight exclaimed, shocked to see the Spirit of Chaos. "Oh isn't eavesdropping not the way you figure out what your dear friends are doing?" Discord questioned with an innocent look earning a 'No!" from Twilight and the others. "Oh well." Discord shrugged. "If you want to see from all the way out here, then.." Discord snapped his fingers and he made some binoculars appear. "These should help..." Twilight took the binoculars in her magic and looked through them. "Woah... these have X-Ray vision, I can see right through the buildings.." she said in awe. She looked into the building that was guarded by two ponies and gasped, "Moonshine..!" "Twilight, what's wrong?" Applejack asked. "Moonshine's unconscious in one of the buildings and..." Twilight then looked at the building at the end of the village and saw Starlight Glimmer holding a jar with magic inside. "Now let's see just what this Princesses' magic can do. With such power, I'll be able to remove the cutie marks of everypony all over Equestria and everypony will understand my version of harmony.. hahaha...!" Starlight laughed evily, making Twilight gasped in utter shock. "What is it?" Rainbow asked. "Starlight Glimmer stole Moonshine's magic! And she's going to use to so she can take the cutie marks of everypony in Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed and the Mane 5 gasped in horror. "We gotta stop her!" Rainbow exclaimed, knocking her hooves together. "But how? That pony probably got a hole bunch of ponies on the lookout for us." Applejack reminded. "We need a sneaky way to get in, save Moonshine and get out, while showing everypony that what Starlight is doing is wrong..." The six girls began to think about how they could do all three at once. Meanwhile. Moonshine began to stir and she felt really weak and had a major headache. "Ugh...." she started moving her legs a little bit and they felt like jelly. She tried lifting her head but she could barely do that. That's when she heard the door opened and she had to blink a few times before she saw Starlight Glimmer with a tray on it with an apple and some water. "Hello Princess... I decided to bring you some food.." Starlight stated in a nice voice, but Moonshine didn't buy it. "G-Give me... back my.. magic..." Moonshine growled as she weakly staggered to her feet "I'm afraid you're in no shape to make demands." Starlight smiled wickedly and Moonshine turned and saw the chain on her back hoof. "You... can't keep.. me here... forever..." Moonshine stammered, trying to sound as serious as she could. "Oh.. I think I can.." Starlight smirked. "Without your magic, my guards at the door, there's no way you're leaving.." "My... friends will.. come for me..." Moonshine replied. "Ah yes those strangers. All different ponies who believe that they were something special with their cutie marks." Starlight growled with an angry expression. "They don't have any real friendships. They are just blinded by their cutie marks." "Their friendship.... is real... and their cutie marks and differences make their friendships stronger." Moonshine replied, gaining a little strength back. "This coming from the pony who doesn't have a cutie mark! Let alone a Alicorn Princess! Your mother would be ashamed that you don't have a cutie mark and yet you stand up for those who do!" Starlight yelled at her. "My mother would never be ashamed of me! Especially after the scacrifice I made to protect my friends." Moonshine growled at Starlight. Starlight had enough and blasted Moonshine sending her slamming into the back wall. "Ugh..!" the impact made the glass of water spill onto Starlight's flank.. revealing her actual cutie mark! It was a stream of blue magic that was attached to a purple star! "You still have your cutie mark..." Moonshine narrowed her eyes at her. Starlight gasped,"Oh shoot." "You didn't use that Staff to take away the ponies cutie marks! You used your own magic!" Starlight sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry. That was my fault. I should have been more careful." She neatly folded the towel and placed it on top of a flat surface. "It looks like I'll have to find some sort of spell in one of my books that'll wipe your memory of what just happened here. Maybe it'll wipe your whole memory. Who knows." "Wha…what?" Moonshine stammered. "Forgive me. But if you're to stay, I must do it for the sake of the village." She brought out some makeup and covered her cutie mark. Then, she brought out a stencil and used the makeup to brush back on her fake cutie mark. Afterwards, she prepared to continue leaving. "Don't worry. I'll wait until our little mess is over and done with." She opened the door and walked out. However, she peeked in before completely leaving. "Remember, don't try anything dumb, okay? I'd really hate to end up having to take some drastic measures." She shut the door and locked it. Moonshine now knew she was right! "I.. have to get this info to Twilight and my friends... but how...?" Moonshine pondered before she spotted a piece of paper and a pencil. She was able to reach it, despite being chained up and she wrote down a message on the paper before she folded it into a paper airplane. "How can I get this to Twilight and my friends...?" Moonshine wondered before... a small mailbox came floating over to her that said 'Please place inside for Twilight Sparkle'. Moonshine blinked at it, confused as to how this managed to get in here, but seeing that it may be her only chance, she placed the letter inside and the mailbox vanished in a bright flash, and Moonshine hoped that it would get to her friends. Meanwhile, the mailbox poofed up in front of Twilight and her friends. "I can't believe that acutally worked, Discord." Twilight said, taking the letter out of the box. "Well of course it worked. I made it.." Discord bragged. The girls, save for Fluttershy and Pinkie, rolled their eyes as Twilight read the letter out loud. "Girls, Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark is fake! She covered it up with makeup. It was her magic that was used to removed your cutie marks before I stepped it. It was never the staff. You have to get the townsponies to realize this. Use Water, it'll wiped off the make up easily." "I knew something was wrong with her!" Twilight exclaimed. "That mare was nothing but a faker!" Applejack added. "Yeah, and now she has our friend and her magic captive. We've gotta do something now!" Rainbow added. "But how can we convince to townsponies she's been lying to her all this time?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight thought for a moment before she had an idea. "I've got it. Discord, we're gonna need you for a little chaos..." Twilight smiled and Discord laughed, eager to see what he would do. Soon, Moonshine was being lead out of the building by Starlight with all of the townsponies watching. "I trust that you've made your decision, Princess?" Starlight asked with a smirk. But Moonshine just narrowed her eyes and her and looked away. "No? Hmm.. maybe another day will help change your mind.." "Stop!" a voice came and everypony saw the Mane Six walking into the village. "Ah.. so the strangers have returned, huh?" "Yeah, we're here for our Princess and her magic.." Rainbow growled, "So give 'em up!" "Yeah, you can't force anypony to give up their cutie marks or what makes them special. It don't work like that." Applejack added with a glare. "What are you talking about, we're all equal here." Starlight stated innocently. "Well except for you six. Those cutie marks have blinded you of real friendship." "No they don't, Starlight." Twilight stated. "Cutie marks make our friendship stronger. It doesn't matter if we're different what matters is that we're all friends which is what really matters." Starlight laughed mockingly, "My village is a place of equality and friendship. Friendship that is stronger than whatever you six have." "Equality, you say...?" a voice came before a small dark cloud came above Starlight. "Well what do you have to say about this..?" and then it started to rain on Starlight. "Hey!" she exclaimed as she got soaked. Then cloud stopped its small downpour and Starlight shook herself clean and everypony in the village gasped, seeing her real cutie mark! Starlight noticed then and widened her eyes extremely in shock as she covered her flank with her tail. "Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!" She said pointed towards the Mane Six and laughed nervously. "You lied to us…?" Party Favor questioned with an expression of devastated shock. "How could you?" Night Glider asked. "You said cutie marks were evil!" Double Diamond joined in. "You said special talents led to pain and heartache!" "They do! Don't you see?! Look at them!" She was clearly desperate now. "Look at what they're doing to us! We were perfectly fine and happy before they came to town!" "Then why?" Sugar Belle grew the confidence to confront Starlight. "Why did you take ours and not give up your own?" "I..." Starlight Glimmer was sweating now. "I-I-I…" Her eyes clenched shut and her eyebrows furrowed. Tension squeezed out from her face before she reopened her eyes. "I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!" "But the staff has all the magic we need!" Night Glider retorted. "The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert!" Starlight Glimmer finally confessed. "It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!" "You lied to us!" Party Favor answered back. "So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!" She stated that last part with confidence as if everything would go back the way it was. "Except for you." Sugar Belle pointed out. Starlight was prepared to shoot a fiery glare back at this pony before Moonshine stepped forward and spoke up. "Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—" "QUIET!" Starlight Glimmer bellowed out, only to receive a tackle from Moonshine! Moonshine kicked Starlight away from her friends and she skidded across the ground. "You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!" Sugar Belle asserted. Everypony slowly began surrounding Starlight, leading her to anxiously turn her head around to see her becoming cornered. Starlight Glimmer's eyes began shooting daggers at Moonshine Her eyes closed shut and a bubble began to form around her. Her horn glowed with magic, and we were soon pushed aside, giving her space to run through. Starlight then shot another ray of magic at Moonshine and knocked her unconscious! Then, Starlight carried her with her magic and ran in the direction of the building she had been keeping her. "Moony!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she ran off after her. "You ponies get your cutie marks! We'll handle this!" Twilight directed the others and followed behind. As soon as the ponies reached the door, Applejack and Rainbow began banging the sturdy wood loudly, "Open the door, Starlight!" Applejack exclaimed. They could hear things being moved around and shuffled inside. "You think you can come to my village and take everything I worked so hard for and destroy it just like that?!" Starlight's voice angrily sounded through. "Let's see how you like it when I take something from you!" "Not if we have anything to say about it.." Rainbow Dash flew backwards and she used her speed to kick down the door. the girls immediately galloped inside and searched for any sign of Starlight. "Where are they?!" Fluttershy asked. "Look! Up here!" Twilight called from up the stairs. The girls came upstairs and entered a bedroom. However, the bed had been merely thrown to the side and revealed some kind of secret escape in the floor. "Come on.." Twilight said and the girls galloped through the escape door and they came out on the other side of the tunnel, outside of the village near a path towards snowy mountaintops. "Look!" Rainbow Dash pointed out in midair. "She's headed for the pass!" Twilight added. "If she gets into those mountains, we'll never her and Moonshine!" I spread out my wings. "We need to stop her!" Suddenly, the girls head and familiar roar and saw a Night Fury flying down towards them with three pokemon on its back. "Toothless..!" the girls cried happily. The Night Fury cooed at the girls before they saw Toothless flying over to where Starlight was running. "Come on..." Twilight called. "Wait for us..!" the girls turned and saw Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond and Night Glider running and flying towards them, joining the chase, now with their cutie marks and colors restored. Starlight ran down the path and saw Toothless flying towards her, "Back off Dragon!" she growled and fired a blast of magic but Mudbray countered with Mud-Slap. Starlight growled and Toothless fired a plasma blast in front of her, causing her to fly back and she fell on the ground. Toothless blocked her path and snarled at her as Twilight and the other ponies blocked the backway. "All of you! Nopony move! One step and I'm sending this little filly down this cliff, and I can promise you she'll never be found again!" Starlight Glimmer aggressively threatened, holding Moonshine off of the path along with the jar of her stolen magic. "Don't try any magic either." She added, eyeing especially at the ones with horns. "I can promise you won't have enough time to help the Princess before she disappears never to be seen again." "Think about what you're doing, Starlight!" Twilight exclaimed. "What are you getting out from doing this? You do anything to her, you'll surely find yourself being banished from Equestria! Is that what you want?" She scoffed loudly. "You think I care about banishment? You want to know how hard I worked to raise that village you all so easily destroyed in a matter of minutes?! I had to go through so much! I had to lose so much to get to where I was, and you all took that away from me! If anypony should be banished, it's you all! I won't be satisfied until I see the look on your faces when you lose something so dearly like I did!" and then she let Moonshine and her jar of magic fall! "Moonshine!" Twilight gasped in horror but Toothless and Rainbow dove down at great speed and Toothless grabbed Moonshine in his claws while Rainbow caught the jar with her magic. "Is that how you treat somepony who gave you a loving and unjudging home?!" Starlight angrily asked Double Diamond, Party Favor, Sugar Belle and Night Glider who stood at the front of the group. "You always said we had to be equal." Double Diamond answered back. "But what I realized is that we had to be equal on your terms. Not something that everypony agreed on!" "Yeah!"Night Glider added in. "We were always scared of thinking of something and being punished by you for it! If you ask me, that's not equal at all! Just like Princess Moonshine said." Aggressively tightening and scrunching her eyes, Starlight proceeded to fire a spell towards these four ponies. However, Twilight immediately jumped in front them and protected them all with a strong steady magical barrier. "Wh– I studied that spell for years!" Starlight argued to this surprise. "How can you—?" "I studied magic for years too!" Twilight countered. "But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these six! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!" Starlight blocked out the lecture coming from Twilight's mouth and rolled her eyes. "Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies real friendships they never could've had otherwise!" "How do you know that?!" Double Diamond exclaimed. "You never even gave us a chance!" Completely outraged by this, Starlight fired up a shield-looking aura around her, making everypony back away. The shield exploded, allowing Starlight to escape into the caves. "She's in the caves!" Rainbow Dash announced. "We'll never find her in there." Double Diamond said. "We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something." Twilight stated. "It's you who have taught us something." Party Favor said as he approached Twilight. "We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!" He regrouped with the other three and they all shared a group hug. "Does that mean you'll stay in the village?" Twilight asked. "It's our home. I'm not going anywhere." Night Glider responded both firmly and proudly. "This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!" Double Diamond smiled. "And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!" Sugar Belle exchanged gleefully. Everypony laughed aloud before Toothless placed a still unconscious Moonshine on the ground. "Okay boy.." Twilight smiled and Rainbow nodded before she smashed the jaw holding her magic and it flowed back into her horn. Moonshine stirred as she opened her eyes, "W-What...? D-Did we win..?" she asked as she staggered to her feet with the help of Applejack and Rainbow. Twilight chuckled, "She's just fine." Back in the village, the Mane Seven saw all the villagers, smiling and enoying the small party they put together in celebration. "Now those are real smiles." Pinkie Pie described as the villagers enjoyed the party. Soon enough, a sound emerged from everypony but Moonshine. They all looked towards their flanks to find their cutie marks glowing and Moonshine's Element of Hope shimmered as well. "I'll never get used to that…" Applejack admitted. "I think it's divine." Rarity sweetly objected. "Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?" Fluttershy questioned Moonshine. "I have a feeling it means our work here is done." Moonshine settled with. "Looks like you were right, Moonshine. The map did have a reason for sendin' us here." Applejack brought up. "We brought real friendship to these here ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship." She ended with a wink. "But the map didn't send me. It sent us." Moonshine humbly included. "You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too." The rest of them squealed and giggled as she shared a group hug. "We don't have to go home right away, do we?" Pinkie Pie asked. "That Sugar Belle can bake!" "I don't see any harm in staying for a little while longer." Twilight mentioned. The girls cheered as they all entered the town to enjoy the festival. Meanwhile in the mountains, Starlight Glimmer was fuming over the loss of her village, "I'll make those pathetic ponies pay.. especially that Moonshine.." she growled to herself. "You want to get rid of the Princess too...?" a voice said that sounded familiar. "Whose there?!" Starlight yelled as she looked around and out came.... Mean Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight Sparkle..!" Starlight roared in anger and fired a blast at her but Twilight stepped out of the way. "I am not the Twilight you know, we despise Moonshine as just as you.." "We?" Starlight asked before she saw the Mean Five appeared from the shadows. "We were banished out of Ponyville for weeks after Moonshine defeated our Master... but you seem like a pony who could replace him..." Mean Twilight smirked before she held out a hoof to her, "So what do you say, Starlight Glimmer...?" Starlight looked at the Mean Six and smirked evilly at them... and she shook her hoof. "Let's do it..."
Interlude: Folly of TwilightA glowing candle illuminated the dark grey hall. Moonshine let out a soft groan of fatigue, rising from the cold stone tiles to survey her surroundings. It looked like the hall of some ancient castle. Red curtains covered the tall windows and candelabras and portraits decorated the gray stone wall. It reminded her of the Castle of the Two Sisters, enough that for a moment she believed that that was where she was, but the cut of the stone beneath her hooves dissuaded her of that notion. It was as though someone had tried to recreate the building off of a drawing, unsettlingly close but subtly off the mark. Every changed detail caught her eye like a small jolt, keeping her skittish as she tried to orient herself. “Ah, Princess Moonshine, welcome to my humble abode.” Moonshine looked up. Standing upon a raised platform on the far side of the hallway was a pony wearing a hooded cloak. Light from a stained glass window illuminated them, but shadow still fell across its face. Only their eyes were visible, but even these were obscured by some enchantment, hiding their true colors. Moonshine stared at the figure before her. “Who are you?” “A pertinent question, which we will address in due time,” the figure replied. Whoever this pony was, they were using some sort of spell to disguise their voice, but it wasn’t quite successful; there was still something vaguely feminine in her tone, something almost familiar that Moonshine couldn’t quite place. “I’m sorry… I don’t even know what I’m doing here,” Moonshine stammered, trying take in all of her surroundings. “Why does this look like the Castle of the Two-" Moonshine was cut off when the cloaked pony covered her mouth with her hoof. "Trust me when I say none of that matters right now. Here's what really matters...." the cloaked figure said as she took a few steps back before she made Twilight's Element of Magic appear in her red magical aura. "Twilight's Element of Harmony! What have you done to her?!" Moonshine exclaimed. "Your friend is unharmed....." the cloaked pony said. "My name is Viper by the way and all you need to know is that I'm not your enemy here Moonshine. All you have to do to leave is take the Element of Harmony...." "Okay..... what's the catch?" Moonshine questioned with suspicion. "Take the Element of Harmony......and destroy it...!" Viper exclaimed. Moonshine gasped, "Never! I would never destroy by best friends Element of Harmony...!" "Why are you friends with such a pathetic unicorn?" Viper suddenly asked, catching Moonshine's attention greatly. "Come again?" Moonshine quipped. "You heard me. Twilight Sparkle is nothing but a nuisance to you, Moonshine. You are the daughter of the most powerful Princess in Equestria and yet you choose to live with a weak unicorn who doesn't really care about you." Viper said. "H-How could you say such a thing...!" Moonshine exclaimed. "Let me give you a prime example.... the Mean Six.... when they blew up your original home. Twilight blame everything on your; saying that you are to naïve and weak to be in Equestria and that your kindness is your greatest weakness. Also she said that Celestia and Luna didn't deserve you as a daughter or niece. Now tell what kind of 'friend' would say such a thing?" Viper questioned. "T-Twilight was just blinded by her anger during that time! It wasn't her fault that she said those things about me." Moonshine defended. "And yet you believe her, allowing for hopeless magic to enter your heart, causing you to turn grey and emotionless..." Viper smirked. "If Twilight Sparkle really was your friend then she wouldn't have been so cruel about your behavior." "Twilight's not a perfect pony. She’s going to slip up from time to time. Like any average pony, she’s going to make mistakes–" Moonshine started before she was cut off. “But she isn’t the average pony!” Viper shouted, slamming her hoof into the ground. "And these aren't average mistakes she’s made. She is mentally unstable weakling that deserves to be put in her place; by which I mean should be stripped of her magic and destroyed...." Moonshine couldn't believe what she was hearing. "N-Never!" she exclaimed. "I could never turn on my bestest friend like that! We both have our differences, but that's what makes us stronger together. I may be the daughter of Princess Celestia and she may just be her student, but together we're both family to Mother and Auntie Luna. Twilight Sparkle is my oldest friend and I will never... ever turn on her!" "AHHHH!" Viper yelled before she lunged at her and pinned her to the ground, "You fail to understand my logical and correct reasoning. No matter, soon you'll be mine so you won't have too...." Moonshine growled at Viper when suddenly, "WHO THOU INVADE MY NIECE'S DREAM?!" a booming voice came and appearing out of the moon was none other than Princess Luna. "Auntie Luna...!" Moonshine said with joy. Luna landed and blasted Viper off of Moonshine. Moonshine got up as Luna hovered in front of her. "Are you alright, my niece?" Luna asked. "Yes, I'm alright." Moonshine replied. Viper chuckled at the Princess of the Night, "Well, Well, well, Princess Luna or should I say, Nightmare Moon?" Princess Luna narrowed her eyes at Viper, "What is thou doing in thou niece's dream?" she demanded to know. "Just convincing her that her so called friend is nothing more than a pathetic pony holding her back from her true potential." Viper smirked. "Twilight is nothing more than just a mentally unstable unicorn who shouldn't be allowed to be friends with such a alicorn pony such as Moonshine." "Twilight is not mentally unstable!" Moonshine defended. "Oh really? Then why did she stress herself to the brink of mental collapse when she was bust caring for baby Spike while at the same time studying for her classes. You offered to help her, but she kept rejecting it until she reached her breaking point." Viper growled. "So. Twilight learned her lesson that day. That Mother wasn't giving her an assignment. Mother simply gave her another friend in Spike." Moonshine defended. "Thou shall not speak ill of my sisters' prized pupil!" Luna exclaimed. "And thou shall not invade my nieces' dreams anymore!" Luna activated her magic and banished Viper from Moonshine's dream before the pair found themselves in the dream realm. "Are you hurt, Moonshine?" Luna asked. "I'm okay, Auntie Luna. But just who is this Viper?" Moonshine asked. "I do not know, but I know that this 'Viper' character is a major threat. If Viper tried to convince you what she thinks of my sisters' pupil then Twilight may be her desired target. Keep an eye on your precious friend, Moonshine. Her life may depend on it...." Luna said and Moonshine nodded before Luna activated her magic again and all Moonshine saw was white. ............ ............. ........... Moonshine gasped as she woke in her bed with Rockurff, Lycanroc, Mudbray and Toothless sleeping near her bed. Moonshine caught her breath and stared at the moon, thinking about what her Aunt said. "Who is Viper? And what does she have against Twilight...?" Moonshine thought as she laid back down in her bed, staring at the ceiling with those burning questions running through her head.
Pillar of EquestriaIt's been three months since Moonshine became the Princess of Friendship and since she and Twilight moved into their Castle of Friendship. Toothless, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Mudbray adored the castle and specifically Moonshine's bedroom which had a queen sized bed, several smaller beds for the pokemon a large rock slab for Toothless to sleep on. There was a dresser adjacent to her bed with a mirror over it and there were two small desks on either side of her bed; one that held a small lamp and the other held a picture of her Mother and Princess Luna. Moonshine right now was walking into the castle with her friends, Toothless and Pokemon. "Ugh, Twilight, we've been over this. Moonshine recovered from the Hopeless Magic, she defeated the Mean Six, the evil clones of us and she got this sweet castle. End of story!" Rainbow Dash explained for another the hundredth time to the unicorn as she sat down on her throne along with the other girls, save for Moonshine. "Yes, but why?" Twilight asked. "Moonshine has chosen by the Tree of Harmony to become the Princess of Friendship cause the Tree gave her her Element of Hope and now this castle, so why would it just want her sit in a Castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense." "Well... maybe the reason will come up later on, Twilight." Moonshine figured sitting in her throne before the cutie mark symbol on her throne glowed brightly along with her Element of Hope. Both of them shot out a beam of light in the center of the floor and the yellow star in the center opened up and what came out looked like a crystalline artifact but it was in the shape of an Alicorn, specifically, it looked like Princess Luna! The crystal matched the colors of Moonshine's Element of Hope to a T as well. The girls were jaw dropped at the crystalline alicorn floating in the center of the room, before the crystalline alicorn spun around and around before it unleashed a very powerful shockwave of light, making the girls, Toothless and the pokemon cover their eyes from the brightness. When the shockwave was gone, everyone stared at the crystalline alicorn. "What... just happened?" Rainbow asked aloud, confused as to what just happened. "M-Moony's throne just made a crystalline alicorn in the shape of Princess Luna appear." Pinkie Pie said. Twilight looked at the crystal alicorn. "Jumpin' Junebugs, well then where do you suppose this came from?" Applejack asked. "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this before or read anything about it." Twilight added. "Spike!" Spike saluted, grabbed a quill and scroll, "Ready Twilight." he called and he wrote down what Twilight wanted to be put in the scroll. "Dear Princess Celestia, My friends I have just discovered the appearance of a crystalline alicorn that is in the shape of Princess Luna that came from a blast from Moonshine's throne and Element of Hope, we are hoping that you or Princess Luna may know anything about this. Please write back. Twilight Sparkle" "Done!" Spike exclaimed before he rolled up the scroll and breathed his fire, sending it to Canterlot. In no less than a second later, Princess Celestia and Luna appeared in the throne room. "We got your message, Twilight." Princess Luna said. "Wow... that was fast." Fluttershy remarked. Celestia and Luna noticed the crystalline alicorn floating in the center of the thrones, "So this just appeared out of the center of the throne?" Princess Celestia asked. "Yes Mom." Moonshine confirmed. "After it did, it sent out a powerful shockwave of light, but we don't know why?" "Hmmmm...." Princess Celestia thought. "What I want to know is why is this shaped like me?" Princess Luna asked, seeing the great resemblance in the crystal. "I don't really know why it has that look either, Auntie Luna..." Moonshine said. "There's nothing in the books about another crystalline artifact other than the Crystal Heart." Twilight added. Princess Celestia nodded, "Hmmm, maybe the library in Canterlot has something that might pretain to this.... Crystal Alicorn..." Twilight and the girls nodded. "Until we know more about, I suggest you don't try to tamper with it." "Okay, Mom..." Moonshine grinned and the two Princesses. Soon a couple days have passed since the Crystal Alicorn appeared in the center of the throne room. So far, it hasn't really done anything except float there. While the Princesses tried to figure out what it was, Moonshine was reading in her library and just finished another book on magic spells. She then took another book in her magic but this one looked to be very old... Moonshine was intrigued by this book, "Huh? Wonder what this is..." she opened the book and the first introduction page read, "Starswirl the Bearded" "Starswirl the Bearded? Whose that....?" Moonshine echoed. "Starswirl the Bearded! He's the most famous unicorn that ever existed. How could you not know who he is!" Twilight exclaimed, getting in Moonshine's face. Moonshine gently pushed away Twilight. "Sorry Twilight, but I haven't heard of him, but let's go and see if my mom has..." Twilight nodded and the girls, along with Twilight's friends, Toothless, Lycanroc Rockruff and Mudbray went over to Canterlot and Moonshine presented Princess Celestia and Luna with the ancient looking book before she went to the first page and read it. (Play until 1:21) After Moonshine was finished reading it, the Princesses looked at her in awe, "Incredible..." Princess Luna asked. "Ihave always wondered what became of our old teacher." Luna said while Celestia looked kinda nervous for some reason. Twilight stepped forth, "So it's genuine? You can verify that this journal really belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded?!." Luna levitated the book up to her, "Indeed. From the looks of it, the last thing he wrote before facing the Pony of Shadows." "Hold it! The Pony of Shadows was real?!" Applejack exclaimed in shock. "It appears so." Celestia stated. "We never met the other Pillars, and we were too young to understand the danger they faced." Luna added. "Hold on a second now. All those legendary ponies were real, too? And they went off with Star Swirl to face the Pony of Shadows, and then none of them were ever heard from again?" Applejack asked. "They must have defeated the villain, since Equestria is still full of light and hope." Rarity stated. "But how? And where did they go?" Kaede asked. "My Olde Ponish is a bit rusty, but I wonder if the answers can be found somewhere within the pages of this book." Celestia stated. " Well, I just happen to be an expert in Olde Ponish. I mean, I've practically memorized every ancient text about Star Swirl there is!" Twilight said with glee. "Seriously, all of them." Spike added to confirm. Luna explained, "We have fond memories of our old teacher. If you could discover what happened to him, we would be most grateful." she levitated the book over to me. "Solving a thousands-year-old mystery could take forever! Think of the research! The re-reading! The re-re-reading!" Twilight said with a smile. Rainbow groaned in dismay. Moonshine looked at her mother who was still nervous about something, "Mom...? What's wrong?" she asked. "You look nervous. Do you.... know something about Starswirl the Bearded?" Princess Celestia sighed, knowing that it was time for Moonshine to know..... "Moonshine, there's a secret that I've been keeping from you." Celestia replied, confusing everyone, including her sister. "What secret...?" Moonshine asked. "That Starswirl the Bearded..... is your father...." Princess Celestia said, earning gasps from everypony. "H-How is Starswirl the Bearded Moonshine's father?!" Twilight exclaimed. Princess Celestia sighed and explained that when Celestia and Luna first became adults, Starswirl was very proud of them for completing their studies of magic. During the teaching Celestia developed a crush on her teacher, but they knew that naturally having a child together would arouse unnecessary attention so, Starswirl used a spell that would create a biological child (Moonshine) by combining the DNA of both him and Celestia, bringing Moonshine into Equestria. However, when he went off with the other Pillars to face the Pony of Shadows, they disappeared, leaving Celestia to raise Moonshine, which only got harder when Celestia was forced to banish Luna to the moon when she turned into Nightmare Moon. "Since then, I've had to raise her alone, cause she never really got to know about her father." Celestia replied sadly. Moonshine was beyond surprise; the greatest unicorn that ever lived in history was her father! "And that there may be a clue to his disappearance, I don't really know what to feel." "We'll find out what happened to Starswirl and the other pillars, Princess. We promise." Twilight vowed. Three Days Later... Twilight was looking through Starswirls journal for any clues as the disappearance but couldn't find anything. She was staying glued to the book. "Figured out anything?" Moonshine asked Twilight. "Nothing. I mean, Star Swirl was a genius, obviously. But forget Olde Ponish. There's parts where his horn writing is like another language!" she groaned. Applejack came over to her, "Twilight, we've been studyin' and referencin' and cross-referencin' for three days straight now." Rainbow stretched, "Ugh. I haven't spent this much time reading since the last Daring Do book came out." Rarity was nearby wearing some reading glasses. "Perhaps it is time to take a break. This mystery is over a thousand years old, after all. Another day or two won't make a difference." "Two days?! I don't want to waste two seconds!" she went over to a chalkboard where there were notes, allowing Moonshine to get a chance to read it. "I'm close to an answer. I can feel it." Moonshine looked at some of the words and said them aloud, ""Hearg sylfum se Ponhenge". What's that?" "The Temple of Ponhendge. You can read that?!" Twilight exclaimed. "The writing is kinda sloppy but still readable." Moonshine said. "Toward dol grimlic of Fola Firgenbeorg"? "At the base of Foal Mountain." Twilight said. "User endemest scield". Twilight gasped, "Our last stand." "Looks like we found our first real clue." Twilight levitated a book over to us and it revealed a small clearing with rock formation on it. Soon we made our way to Ponhenge where there were some vines on the rocks and dirt on a rock formation that were six rocks placed in a circle around what looked like a slab. "I'm not sure we'd find out what happened here over a thousand years ago." Fluttershy said. Twilight was holding the book and she placed it on a rock. "Well who knows maybe the answer will just magically appear." Suddenly the book began to glow. "Uh, Twilight." Spike said. Twilight gasped and looked at the book as it opened up on it's own and appeared a holographic image of Starswirl. Everyone was jaw dropped while Twilight was amazed. "Star Swirl!? I... I've wanted to meet you my whole life! I can't believe you're here!" Moonshine waved her hoof through image. "I don't think he is here. I don't think any of them are." Moonshine pointed to the other rocks and the holographic images of Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, Somnambula, Mistmane, Mom and Flash Magnus appeared as well. (Skip to 1:20) Starswirl blasted the center and the Pony of Shadows appeared. It was about as tall as Blitz with a long curved horn. "You summon me at your peril, Star Swirl! Once I defeat all of you, this realm will embrace the darkness as I did so long ago!" he launched out black ropes, ensnaring the Pillars. "Drawing me here will only make me stronger. You will never defeat me!" My mom broke free and charged the Pony of Shadows but the Pony of Shadows blasted her and sent her flying. "Sapphire!" Starswirl exclaimed in fear as he watched Sapphire flying out of sight. The POS laughed. "You miserable ponies will never defeat me." "We did not come here to defeat you." Starswirl said as he used his magic to break free. His book glowed and sent out a magical line to the mask, shovel, blindfold, flower and shield. "What are you doing?" The Pony of Shadows asked. "We came to contain you." Starswirl said. They and the POS were lifted into the air and vanished into thing air, leaving their items behind. "Well do ask for a magical explanation." Pinkie said. "Uh... what just happened?" Rainbow asked. "It looked like Star Swirl cast a spell that banished the Pony of Shadows." Kaede said. "Of course! Powerful magic like that would leave an impression on this place. Bringing the book back here let us see what happened." Twilight said. "Which was what?" Applejack asked. "Star Swirl and the rest of the Pillars sacrificed themselves to save Equestria." Twilight said, making Moonshine to become very sad. Twilight nuzzled her best friend, "But I'll keep figuring out exactly what the spell was." Moonshine smiled and nodded. Back at the Castle of Friendship, Moonshine was walking through the hallway towards the throne room with Toothless, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Mudbray. The four of them sensed that Moonshine was sad and they comforted her when she and the girls returned. Moonshine entered the throne room and saw Twilight popped up, "I think I understand Star Swirl's spell!" she said. "I know I've finished one of Star Swirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level! Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation? It's Star Swirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once Starlight set me on the right track with his crazy hornwriting. I mean, he was a genius, so I guess we can forgive a little messiness – I went through the journal again, and it's amazing!" "Twilight, darling. We understand you're excited, but that's all we understand." Rarity said. "What exactly is so amazing?" Rainbow asked. "Only how Star Swirl and the other Pillars sent the Pony of Shadows to limbo!" "They did what now?" Applejack added. Twilight made a small diorama of Ponhenge. "They used their magic to open a portal between worlds – to limbo – and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside." the diorama exploded. "Darling you diorama!" Rarity exclaimed. "I made more." She pointed to a pile of them and I sweat dropped. "Star Swirl thought the only way to trap the Pony of Shadows in limbo was for the Pillars to take him there." Twilight explained. "So they got stuck too." Applejack added. Fluttershy shivered, "The Pony of Shadows must have been really awful for them to do that." "I suppose being trapped for all time with a super-duper bad guy in limbo might be okay if you were doing the limbo, but that's still pushing it." Pinkie added. "The thing is I think I can get them out." Twilight said, much to our shock. "Twilight, are you serious? You can save the most legendary ponies of all time?" Moonshine questioned, "I-Including my dad?" "I-I don't know. Opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. Are you sure it's safe?" My mom asked. "First of all, you opened portals through time." Twilight said. "Which is different than time." My mom still looked hesitant. "But how do you know they'll be okay even when you bring them back?" Rantaro asked "That's the thing about limbo. It iisn't one place or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we can pull them out, it'll be like they never left, right?" Twilight suggested. "So what can we do to help?" Spike asked. "If I'm right, we need to find items that are connected to the Pillars in some way." Twilight said. "You mean like stuff that belonged to them?" Rainbow asked. "Exactly and if I remember correctly Moonshine had gathered all the items that belonged to the Pillars while we were growing up in Canterlot, which she brought here." "So now that we have the items what do we do with them?" Rarity asked. "Easy, we go to Ponhenge and get the Pillars back." Twilight said. Everyone nodded and soon they were back at Ponehenge with the Pillars items placed on each of the rocks. "I can't believe I'm gonna meet Star Swirl the Bearded! You know, outside of my dreams." Twilight said with glee. My mom, on the other hand us still concerned. "I can't believe you're actually going through with it." Moonshine said with worry. "What do you mean?" "I'm all for pushing the envelope, obviously, but this is pretty out there for you, Twilight." "What's "out there" about saving the most legendary ponies of all time from a thousands-year-old prison? Including your father so you, Celestia, Luna can all be a family again." "Well... nothing when you say it like that. Unless "the most legendary ponies of all time" knew what they were doing, and we shouldn't mess with it." "I'm sure Star Swirl and the Pillars did the best they could back then, but magic has come a long way. Mostly because of the work they did. Sapphire, Star Swirl the Bearded is the greatest wizard who ever lived. The chance to have him back in Equestria is worth the risk." Moonshine sighed, "Well then I can't stop you." "Alright.. here we go." Twilight said. We all backed off as Twilight used her magic to perform the spell and in an instant, the Pillars of Equestria reappeared. I used my magic to catch them all and placed them on the ground. "What... What has happened?" Starswirl asked as he looked around. "D-Dad...?" Moonshine gaped at Starswirl who looked at her, "Moonshine... my child..." "Dad...." Moonshine grinned, with tears developing in her eyes, which she wiped away. "It worked! We brought you back!" Twilight said. "To where?" Starswirl added. "You and the others have been trapped in limbo for over a thousand years, but I figured out how to get you ho—" "What?! No, no, no, no! You must undo what you've done!" Starswirl said in a scared voice. Twilight was confused, "What? Why? I mean, I don't think I can." "You cannot bring us back!" Starswirl said. "But I did. I brought all the Pillars back." Twilight said. "You cannot bring only the Pillars back!" Starswirl added. Lightning flashed in a large cluster of shadows. The Pony of Shadows appearance! "Oh no!" The POS laughed, "Your pitiful attempt to imprison me has failed, Star Swirl!" Starswirl looked at Twilight, "You must return us to limbo. It's the only way to stop him." "I only figured out how to bring you back." Twilight said. "Allow me to assist." POS said before lashing out vines of dark magic and destroying the rock formation! "There! Without the power of Ponhenge, your banishing spell is useless!" Starswirl exclaimed to Twilight, "You have studied my writings. Surely you have some other plan." "No. I just wanted to save you. I didn't think—" Twilight stammered before Moonshine stepped up. "I'll handle this." Moonshine flew up to the POS, who laughed, "What can a tiny thing like you do against me?" The activated she activated her Element of Hope and she blasted a rainbow beam at the POS who cried in pain. Starswirl and the Pillars were shocked. The POS growled and launched his vines at her but her Element of Hope created a barrier around her, protecting her from the vines. "Argh! This one is almost as... strong as you, Star Swirl. But even in my weakened state, she cannot stop the might of shadows!" The POS blasted his shadows at Twilight and the others but Moonshine counter with her Element which pushed back his shadows and struck him. "GAH!" "Know this, fiend! We will not rest until we find a way to return you to limbo!" Starswirl declared. "Never! Your days of glory are through, Star Swirl. Now my dark power will reign, and you six will bow to me!" Then the POS vanished into his shadow form. "Um... where'd he go?" Rainbow asked. "That is a riddle we must unravel. And quickly." Somnambula added. "How long have we been gone?" Meadowbrook asked. "Over a thousand years." Fluttershy added. "Then my spell worked – before it was meddled with – and the realm has been at peace for a millennia!" Starswirl said. "Weeeeell... we did have to save everypony from Nightmare Moon and Discord and Chrysalis and King Sombra and Lord Tirek, and there was that one time when Moonshine signal handedly faced down six evil clones of us and the Elements of Disharmony. But that's all in the past." Pinkie pointed out. "If you are truly this accomplished, we will stop the Pony of Shadows twice as fast together." Flash Magnus said. "We shall see. It is an easy thing to say you have saved the world. It is quite another to do it." Starswirl stated. "Excuse us beardo, but your daughter has saved the world." Rainbow said. "Be that as it may, the problem of locating the Pony of Shadows remains, and this land is vast." Starswirl claimed. "Well... maybe...." Moonshine through and the group was back in the throne room of Moonshine's castle where they looked at the crystallin alicorn. Moonshine gently let her Element touch the crystalline alicorn and it glowed before it showed a holographic image of the world of Equestria and the image of the Tree of Harmony. "Just as I thought. This map, and indeed this very castle are grown from the seed we planted over a thousand years ago." Starswirl added. "Then it did work!" Rockhoof exclaimed. "What worked?" Ren asked. "Each of us infused a crystal seed with our magic in hopes that it would grow into a force for good." Somnambula said. "We wanted to leave something to protect the realm in our absence, but we never dreamed our gift would become so powerful." Mistmane added. "Y'all mean the Elements came from you?" Applejack asked. "You know, the sparkly crystal things that grow from the Tree of Harmony and represent each of us? Laughter, honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness, and magic! And Sapphire's new Element: Faith." Pinkie explained. "They are reflections of our own elements of hope, strength, beauty, bravery, healing, and sorcery." Somnambula said. "We had no idea our small seed would bloom into the living spirit of the land. I am glad our mantles have passed to such capable ponies." Meadowbrook said with a smile. "More importantly, we no longer need Ponhenge to send our foe back to limbo. We can use the stored magic in this Tree of Harmony." Starswirl added. "But doesn't a banishing spell take a lot of power? We'd have to sacrifice the Elements for that." Twilight stated. "Mm-hmm." Starswirl nodded. "They'd be gone... forever?" Fluttershy added. "Star Swirl, I don't think the Tree can survive without the Elements. If it dies, Equestria will suffer." "If the Pony of Shadows has his way, your land will not exist. So unless you have a better idea..." Starswirl added. "I do. We only use my Element!" Moonshine declared. Everyone gasped in shock. "Moonshine, no! You can't sacrifice your Element of Hope." Twilight said. "Where did that one even come from? We only planted six seeds." Rockhoof added. "The Tree gave it to me." Moonshine stated. Starswirl scoffed, "The Tree of Harmony did no such thing. That thing is just a half baked gem." I gasped at that insult and Applejack stepped forth, "Beggin your pardon Mr. the Breaded but Moonshine's Element is anything but a half baked gem." "It's as real as the other Elements of Harmony." Applejack added. "She used it to defeat the evil clones of us and defeated the Elements of Disharmony, the evil counterparts to our Elements of Harmony." Starswirl huffed before a bright light glowed overtop of the Hollow Shades, "It seems there are fewer dark corners in the realm these days." Starswirl said, looking at the map. "Isn't that a good thing?" Rainbow asked. "True. The Pony of Shadows will have a hard time regaining power. When he rears his head, we'll be ready!" Flash stated. "Isn't there some way to banish him without losing all of you?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, I wish there were. But to save our home, we are willin' to leave it." Meadowbrook said. "You don't have to." Moonshine said, stepping forth. "I can use my power to reform the POS." "The Pony of Shadows was not interested in reconciliation. Once a villain, always a villain." Starswirl said, glaring at me. "That is so untrue! Not every villain stays a villian." I stated boldly. "Stygian wanted more power than he had, and that desire led him down a path from which there is no return!" Starswirl said. "Whose Stygian?" Fluttershy asked. "Stygian was the name the Pony of Shadows gave up when he turned to darkness." Meadowbrook said. "And I'm just trying to figure out why." Moonshine stated. "I know I can reform the POS/Stygian is my duty as the Princess of Friendship and the Element of Hope." Starswirl used his magic to take my Element off of my neck! "You and your Element are nothing more than a bunch of fakes!" he exclaimed in anger. Everyone gasped. "Stygian wants to destroy all that is good in this world. There's no way to befriend a pony like that." Starswirl exclaimed to me with a serious face. "Yes there is!" Moonshine exclaimed back with a fiery temper. "My mother has always taught me about the Magic of Friendship and she entrusted me to spread the Magic of Friendship throughout Equestria and if you don't believe Princess Celestia, then you're just a jerk! I thought I would be happy to finally meet my father after he was gone for many years, but now.... I just regret it...!" Moonshine cried before she ran out of the room, sobbing and slamming the door behind her. "Moonshine, wait...!" Twilight called but she was long gone..... Twilight and the girls were left in distraught over what they just witnessed between Starswirl and Moonshine, "Starswirl how could you say such a thing to her!" Twilight scolded. "Yeah, you totally disrespected your own daughter!" Rainbow added. "That is not how a father should act!" "Rainbow Dash is right, Mr. the Bearded. Moonshine just figured out that your her father and what do ya do? You reject something that makes her special. That's disrespectful!" Applejack added. "Mhm." Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity agreed. "Even I have to agree with them, Starswirl. That was pretty harsh." Flash Magnus added. "Yeah, all the little lass wanted to do was help defeat the villain." Rockhoof said. "She just didn't want to lose you again, like she already had." Mistmane added. "Spoken like a true daughter." Meadowbrook stated. Starswirl, who was still in shock from what happened with Moonshine, heard what the others said and sighed sadly. "Y-You..... right..... it's just..... when I left to fight the Pony of Shadows, I left Celestia all alone to raise our daughter. That's something that can't be forgiven. I left her to raise our daughter alone and I didn't try to reunite with them moons ago." "But you couldn't do anything in limbo." Twilight defended. "And that's the problem... I couldn't do anything. I felt.... useless. While my loving wife raised our child alone... I couldn't do anything..." Starswirl said with great remorse. The Mane Six lowered their ears, feeling sad for Starswirl. "Come on, ya'll we should go and see if she's okay." Applejack suggested and the Mane Six agreed before they left the Pillars to go to Moonshine's bedroom along with Toothless and her pokemon. But to their surprise, they found it empty. They didn't see any sign of Moonshine except that there was a note on her bed. "A note?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight took the note in her magic and read it before she gasped in horror, "Oh no! Moonshine's gone off to face the Pony of Shadows alone!" "WHAT?!" The girls gasped in horror. "S-She can't do that!" Fluttershy added. "That big meanie will do Celestia knows what to her!" Pinkie Pie said with worry. "W-We have to find her!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "But we don't know where the darling could be!" Rarity pointed out. Suddenly, the skies in Ponyville became dark as dark black clouds rolled in near Town Hall and they were followed by a familiar laugh. "I think I have an idea..." Rainbow whimpered. "Spike, alert the Princess immediately! Tell them to bring the Elements of Harmony as well." Twilight ordered and Spike nodded before sprinting off to get a scroll and quill. "Come on girls, let's go get the Pillars and head over there." "Right." The girls said and they sprinted off. Moonshine meanwhile, with her Element of Hope ready to use confronted the Pony of Shadows, "Hahaha, one measly little pony cannot defeat me..!" The Pony of Shadows growled. "You wanna bet!" Moonshine snarled. "Hahahaha, I'll take my chances, especially cause I've found some help..." The Pony of Shadows smirked as he looked to the right and Moonshine gasped, seeing Starlight Glimmer and the Mean Six with the Elements of Disharmony. "Long time no see, Princess Moonshine." Mean Twilight mocked. "We've been planning our revenge against you." Moonshine snarled at the bad guys before Starlight smirked before she used her magic to remove Moonshine's Element of Hope. "Hey! Give me that back!" Moonshine ordered. "After what you did! You disrupted the peace of my village and turned everypony against me! You ruined my harmony so now I'm gonna ruin yours!" Starlight yelled in anger before turning to the Mean Six and they nodded. The Mean Six activated their Elements of Disharmony and this time they glowed black with purple and green dots around them. Starlight levitated Moonshine up in the air, right in their path. "Let me go...!" Moonshine snarled and Starlight laughed at her pathetic order. "I don't take orders from pathetic alicorns like you...! Now!" Starlight ordered and the Mean Six blasted Moonshine with the Elements dark magic, sending the blast right into her heart! Moonshine screamed and winced in the upmost pain, just as the girls and the Pillars arrived. "Moonshine!" The girls gasped in horror. Just then, the Princesses arrived with the Elements of Harmony, "Moonshine, honey, no!" Princess Celestia cried in horror seeing her daughter in pain. Princess Luna snarled and flew up to the Mean Six and blasted them and Starlight with her magic, interrupting their spell and causing Moonshine to fall to the ground. "How dare thou harm thy niece!" Princess Luna snarled, angry with Starlight and the Mean Six. "Hahahaha, she had it coming, Princess." Starlight mocked which made Princess Luna furious. "Thou shall pay for hurting thou precious niece!" Princess Luna yelled as he eyes turned white and wind started to stir around her. Luna glowed white and she began to transform into a tall pony, the same size as Celestia and shared many similarities towards her as well. Her fur color is pitch black, and her mane and tail flow in a starry midnight complexation. This was Luna's evil alter ego.... Nightmare Moon! Starswirl was horrified and at the same time in awe that Luna could transform into such a pony as well as the other Pillars. Starlight and the Mean Six just smirked at the furious transformed Alicorn. "You think a transformation will stop us?" Mean Rainbow smirked. "Pfft. Loser." Nightmare Moon snarled before she made the tip of her horn glowed and she blasted a beam at Mean Twilight, who created a barrier around herself and the others. The Pony of Shadow laughed, "Face it Starswirl, this world will soon meet the darkness...!" "We'll see about that Pony of Shadows." Princess Celestia growled before she gave Twilight and the girls their Elements of Harmony. The girls nodded at each other and they activated the Elements of Harmony, sending out images of their respective elements around the Pony of Shadows. Soon, the girls opened their eyes and came together, sending out a large rainbow beam of powerful magic at the Pony of Shadows. "NOOOOOOO!" The Elements Magic consumed the Pony of Shadows in its magic and destroyed the dark magic shadows, revealing an unconscious unicorn pony who was small in stature and just wore a simple, short brown cloak and he had a moderate cerulean, arctic blue and roseish black mane and tail. The girls stopped the spell and the pony fell on the ground. "Oh word.... Stygian...!" Meadowbrook gasped. Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon/Luna broke through Mean Twilight's barrier and blasted the Mean Six and Starlight injuring them. Starlight snarled, knowing they at least completed one part of their secret plan and she dropped Moonshine's Element of Hope on the ground, "You may have beat the Pony of Shadows but we completed what we came here to do. Soon, that precious Princess of yours shall be nothing but a shadow of her former self...!" Starlight declared before she teleported herself and the Mean Six away. When they were gone, Nightmare Moon changed back into Princess Luna and she flew over to her precious niece. "Moonshine, sweetheart?" Luna called. Moonshine groaned as flashes of dark magic arose from her heart, where she was struck. Celestia, the girls and the Pillars rushed over to her. "How-How is she?" Fluttershy asked. "I sense a great deal of dark magic inside of her heart." Starswirl said grimly, seeing the flashes coming from her heart. "Those ruffians must have done it when they blasted her with those ghastly Elements of Disharmony." Rarity scoffed. "I-Is there's something we can do to help...?" Twilight asked, worried about her best friend. Starswirl and Celestia looked at each other grimly, "Curing dark magic in someone's heart, is a very difficult process and its rarely been recorded in Equestrian History, but my sister and I shall searched the library of Canterlot for anything that may help Moonshine." Twilight and the girls nodded as they just looked at their unconscious friend as the dark magic still radiated from her heart, hoping there was someway to help her cure the infection that has plagued her heart. After the battle, everyone took Moonshine and Stygin to the hospital in Canterlot Castle where the medical doctors immediately looked over the two of them while Twilight, the Princesses, the Mane Six and the Pillars were in the waiting room, anxiously waiting for any news on the pair. After what seemed like forever, the doctor came out. "How are they doctor?" Princess Celestia questioned. "Stygian is stable right now and he'll make a full recovery since he only appeared to have suffered from magical exhaustion." the doctor replied before his face turned grim. "As for Princess Moonshine..... I'm afraid it's not very good." "W-What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "I'm afraid Princess Celestia was right, when she said that dark magic infected Moonshine's heart." the doctor made a screen appear showing Moonshine's heart. They noticed a black splotch of dark magic festering inside. "The dark magic that was shot from the Elements of Disharmony is now progressing inside of Moonshine's heart, turning it from pure to black. If this keeps up, soon her heart will be consumed by dark magic completely which means that the Princess shall become a darker version of herself." The girls gasped in horror. "I-Is there anything that you can do to stop this ghastly symptom?" Rarity exclaimed in worry. The doctor sighed, "If it was just her mind, then yes. But with her heart..... its such a fragile part of the body. If we try to remove the dark magic and mess up, it could lead to a fatal consequence." the doctor explained the large risk. "I know how you all feel and I feel the same way too, but its just too risky to remove dark magic from the Princess' heart without causing a near fatal consequence if there is an error in this process." Twilight and the girls looked at each other with great worry. Suddenly, an ear piecing scream echoed through the hospital! "Moonshine!" Twilight exclaimed as she and the group rushed past the doctor as he followed, with their hearts beating fast. The group made it to Moonshine's room where they saw her screaming and squirming in pain as the dark magic in her heart started to take its form. "Oh no! The dark magic! It's mutating...!" Princess Luna gasped in horror. Moonshine screamed in alot of pain as the dark magic started to come out of her heart as green and purple smoke before it glowed in a black light and sent out a large shockwave of dark magic. Princess Celestia and Luna used their magic to create a force field around the group and the doc to protect them. Moonshine continued to scream as the dark magic came out of her body.... and began to form another pony! This pony was just like Moonshine, except, she was completely gray with blood red eyes and she was wearing the Alicorn Amulet on her neck and she had the look of evil in her eyes. "Haha... haha.. HAHAHAHAHA!" The girls and everyone were shocked and horrified at what just happened. "W-Who are you...?" Fluttershy shivered, holding Rainbow Dash. "Hahaha.... why I'm your precious friend, Fluttershy..." the gray Moonshine smirked. "No you're not! You are not our friend!" Applejack rejected. "Hahaha.... then you can just call me Eclipse... or as you would say it.. the evil alter ego of your friend." Eclipse smirked before she looked at Princess Luna, "Like Auntie like niece, huh, Princess Luna?" she smirked. "I am your niece's worst instinct come to life and I only have one royal duty now... to destroy you!" Eclipse suddenly launched a blast at the Princess' but Twilight countered her magic. "You are not hurting the Princesses!" Twilight exclaimed. Eclipse laughed before she coated herself in magic and rammed Twilight, sending her through the hospital wall and knocking her unconscious! "Twilight!" Applejack and the girls exclaimed in horror while Eclipse laughed, "Pathetic!" she smiled with a wicked flare. "Nothing can stop me! Not even your precious student, Princess Celestia!" Eclipse gloated before Moonshine's Element of Hope appeared and blasted Eclipse with its magic. "Agh! Pesky Element! I don't know why I even chose to have you around! You should be destroyed along with the other Elements of Harmony!" Eclipse yelled before she launched a powerful fiery beam of dark magic at Moonshine's Element, but it blasted back with more power and struck its bearers' evil side. "Agh!" Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Hope glowed extra brightly and began to spin around and around very fast before it sent out a shockwave of light that blasted Eclipse out of the hospital and out of Canterlot. Eclipse landed on the outskirts of Canterlot, "OOF! Grrr..... annoying Element of Harmony... I'm going to see to it that they are all destroyed along with their bearers..... starting with my goody two shoes double... AHAHAHA!" In the hospital, Twilight started to stir before she began to come too and she saw the girls relieved faces, "Twilight, thank goodness you're okay." "W-What happened? Where's Eclipse?" Twilight asked as she looked around. "Moonshine's Element banished her from Canterlot." Meadowbrook explained. "It was quite an amazin' feat." "Indeed. The Element of Hope responded on its own and acted on its own free will." Mistmane added. "Like it was alive." "Even I haven't seen anything like that before." Flash Magnus stated. "B-But what about Moonshine?" Twilight questioned. "What will happen to her now?" The doctor examined Moonshine and found no more traces of Dark Magic in her heart. "The dark magic has been completely removed from her heart, but.... only time will tell is she'll ever awake." "So..... what does that mean....?" Twilight asked. "It means that..... our niece is in a comatose state because of what happened...." Luna confirmed grimly. "And only time will tell if she'll ever awake again..." "No........" Twilight gaped as tears filled her eyes and she collapsed into Applejacks' arms as she cried. The girls and the Pillars were horrified as was Starswirl. They couldn't do anything to wake Moonshine up from this severe illness. The only thing they could do........ was wait......
