How I Spent My Summer Vacation on the Moon

Chapter Nine: Friendship is Sorcery Most Foul

Pyx crouched low behind the bushes, peeking out. About a hundred feet ahead of her, the path was blocked by a wide river. Her eyes scanned the bank, and sure enough, there was a shallow, rock-strewn ford right where the voice had told her it would be. However, the river was also occupied at present by a large, purple sea-serpent, who was splashing around in the water, talking to himself about mustaches or something equally stupid and eating some gemstones he'd harvested from the bank.

The serpent appeared oddly well-groomed, with a large coiffured shock of orange hair and a long thin mustache. However, for some reason, one side of the mustache was curled and purple.

"Who's that?" whispered Pyx.

Never mind him, the voice replied. He isn't dangerous. He is, however, extremely annoying. Just walk past him, don't make eye contact, and in the name of all that's holy, don't answer him if he tries to talk to you.

"Got it," Pyx whispered. "Tutturu~~!"

She left the cover of the bushes and trotted quickly to the shallow part of the bank where the ford began. Noticing her, the sea serpent approached and started babbling something about his mustache. Pyx walked more quickly. She was roughly halfway across the river now. Meanwhile, the sea serpent was frantically trying to catch her attention, flailing his arms effeminately and warbling on and on about his stupid mustache.

Don't look at him, don't talk to him, don't even acknowledge him, the voice advised.

Pyx did as she was told, and soon she was on the far bank. She spotted a break in the trees where the path began again and trotted towards it. The forest once again closed in on her, and slowly the serpent's anguished cries faded into the background.

The path continued on through the forest. The sun had long since disappeared below the horizon, and the sky was rapidly turning from purple to black. A few winking stars were already visible through the tree branches. Pyx wasn't quite sure at what point "nightfall" officially took place, but it felt like she had very little time left. She trotted more quickly.

Finally, she came to a deep ravine, across which a rickety suspension bridge extended. At the far end was a low hill, and on top of the hill stood the immense ruins of an ancient castle. Pyx stopped short, staring up at the crumbling, moss-covered towers and parapets.

There. What do you think of THIS clubhouse? the voice said, a little arrogantly.

Pyx responded with an anguished groan of despair.

What is the matter now, child? demanded the voice.

"Oh, it's hopeless!" Pyx wailed. "How in Equestria am I supposed to move this thing?!?"

The door to Sugar Cube Corner swung shut, and Twilight once again emerged into the darkening...eh...twilight. The streetlights around Ponyville were beginning to come on; meanwhile, the lights inside Sugar Cube Corner went out, and a familiar pink muzzle could be seen flipping the "Open" sign in the window to "Closed." It seemed they had made it here just in time.

"What did she say?" asked Apple Bloom. The three Crusaders gathered around her, looking up expectantly. Twilight sighed.

"She says they came in here, but left a long time ago. She didn't see where they went."

Their faces fell.

Suddenly, they felt a whoosh of air from above, and a sky-blue pegasus landed on the street in front of them.

"Any luck?" Twilight asked hopefully. They had run into Rainbow Dash on the way here, and Scootaloo had sensibly thought of asking her to fly around to some of the local foal hangouts, to see if she could dig anything up.

"Sorry, Twi," said Dash. "Nopony's seen any trace of Tiara, Spoon or Pyx all afternoon."

"Oh." Twilight's face fell again. The idea that Pyx might have gone off with two bullies had been troubling enough, but at this point things were starting to look bad. Really bad. She'd never wanted a glass of wine so badly in her life, but right now she needed as many intact faculties as she could muster.

"Anyway," continued Dash, "I'm sorry about this, but I...uh...probably shouldn't be involved in this. Because, uh...you know."

"Yes, I understand," said Twilight. "Thanks for your help, Dash. I appreciate it, I really do."

"No problem, let me know if you find them," she said. Then, glancing awkwardly at Scootaloo: "Uh, see you later, squirt."

Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head and looked away, laughing nervously.

"Yeah...see you later."

Then there was a big gust of air, and Dash vanished into the evening sky.

"Well now what do we do?" said Sweetie Belle, kicking at a pebble in the road. It rolled a few feet and then collided with somepony's hoof. Sweetie was about to apologize, but the pony began speaking before she had a chance.

"Oh, um, hi Twilight. I'm glad I found you."

Twilight turned at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, I've actually been looking for you. I wanted to ask you something about your cousin."

A purple blur whizzed past the three crusaders, ruffling their manes, and suddenly Twilight's face was inches from Fluttershy's.

"What about Pyx?!? Do you know where she is?!?"

"Oh, um, well, um, you see..."

Fluttershy, clearly taken aback, began to stutter and paw at the ground. Twilight took a deep, deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"Fluttershy," she began. "This is very important. Did you see Pyx at all today?"

"She would have been with two other fillies," added Apple Bloom. The whole group was gathered in a semicircle around Fluttershy now, staring anxiously up at her as she hemmed and hawed.

"Um, well, yes, I have," Fluttershy stammered finally. "That's what I wanted to tell you about. Did you know that Pyx and her friends have a clubhouse in the Everfree Forest?"

"A clubhouse?!?" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

"The Everfree Forest?!?" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"A what in the where?!?" exclaimed Twilight. "No, I didn't--is that where they went?!?"

"Yes, um, I saw the three of them go in there. Pyx said something about a secret clubhouse and went into the forest, and then her two friends went in after her. I, um, thought it was something I should tell you about."

Something like a lighting bolt went off inside Twilight's head, and suddenly she could see everything clearly; so clearly that she was almost able to forget her near-crippling alcohol withdrawal.

"Alright," she said decisively. She turned to the three crusaders. "You three head on home!"

"What?"

"No!"

"We want to help look!"

"Sorry girls," said Twilight. "I appreciate your help, but it's way too dangerous for me to take you in there. You three need to head on home and let your sisters know what's going on; they're probably getting worried about you too. Er, well, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom can do that. Uh, Scootaloo...you can just...uh...go back to wherever you sleep at night, I guess."

Scootaloo stared sullenly at the ground and said nothing.

"Fluttershy, you're with me," Twilight continued.

"Oh, um, well, um, I don't know..."

"You know about animals and stuff. I'm going to need you with me if we want to get those fillies out of there alive."

Then, realizing what she'd just said, she turned to the three saucer-eyed fillies in front of her and said:

"Um, I mean, they're probably fine, and there's nothing to worry about. But Fluttershy, seriously; you're coming with me."

"Um, well, I, oh, um, well--."

Before she could even finish stuttering, Twilight had seized her in a magic aura and was galloping off in the direction of the forest.

Pyx made her way slowly and with trepidation through the ruined courtyard of the ancient castle. The moon was now bright and the sky was a black canopy of stars. She'd completely missed the deadline to move the clubhouse, but she was not thinking about that anymore. There was something fascinating about this place; something she felt drawn to.

Come further! the voice commanded. Step this way, my child, and such things will I show you...

As if under a spell, Pyx continued to walk across the deserted courtyard, her hoofsteps echoing eerily against the paving stones. She passed through a great stone arch into some sort of keep. The roof had largely collapsed, and she had to pick her way around great piles of rubble.

Beyond the keep's vestibule was a staircase, and beyond the staircase was a corridor, and beyond this there were more stairs and more corridors. Pyx traversed all of it as if in a dream, somehow knowing exactly where to go without even the voice directing her.

Not for the first time, she found herself thinking about the missing pieces in her memory. She couldn't remember anything that had happened to her before Mommy Twilight had found her in the forest, and yet...she had to have some sort of past, right? Fillies didn't just materialize in the woods, after all. At least, she didn't think they did.

"I wonder where I am," she said aloud. Her voice echoed strangely in the empty castle. "Could this be...Detrot? Mommy Twilight says I came from there, and she also says it's pretty run down..."

She came at length to a massive hall, with a raised dais at the end. As she approached the dais, she noticed that there were scratches and burn marks on the floor and walls. Something had happened here; a battle, or some other sort of disruption. Something far more recent than anything else that had befallen this place.

The instant she stepped onto the dais, Pyx was engulfed by a powerful force that flowed through her body like an electric current. Hidden runes on the floor of the dais lit up, forming a magic circle with Pyx herself at the center. A great column of blue-white light shot upward, through Pyx's body and into the sky, and Pyx felt herself being levitated slowly into the air.

Look! the voice in her head boomed. Gaze into the mirror of the past! Look upon that which has been hidden from you!

There was a tremendous surge of power, and suddenly Pyx was assaulted by a flood of memories. Most of them she didn't understand, memories of betrayal and anger and some kind of struggle between two sisters. However, the last memory involved ponies who were familiar to her.

She saw herself in this very room, at a far more recent time than in the previous visions. She felt larger and taller, and infinitely more powerful. Across from her stood a group of six ponies, whom she immediately recognized as Mommy Twilight and her friends.

She tried to call out, but found that she could not speak. Or, rather, that she was speaking already, but neither the words nor the voice were her own.

"You little foal!" she said, in a menacing voice. "Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!"

She laughed; an evil, menacing laugh that seemed to shake the very walls of the castle. However, Mommy Twilight was undaunted. She looked at her and spoke, clearly and confidently:

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here."

Now, Pyx could feel another power taking shape in the room, emanating from where Mommy Twilight and her friends stood. This new power filled her with an inexplicable dread.

"You still don't have the sixth Element!" the voice that was hers yet not hers cried in desperation. "The spark didn't work!"

"But it did!" replied Mommy Twilight. "A different kind of spark."

She turned to her five friends.

"I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark of Friendship, the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... MAGIC!"

And with that, Mommy Twilight's eyes began to glow with a strange power, as did those of her friends. A storm of magical energy began to take shape and grow, emanating from the six ponies. Pyx was powerless to stop it.

Suddenly, the gathered power burst forth in a torrent, taking the shape of a great and terrible rainbow that ripped into her body, tearing her entire being asunder. She was suspended in midair about halfway between the dais and what remained of the ceiling, unable to move or do anything. She had no choice but to let that power flow through her, ripping and tearing and burning.

She screamed, an unholy wail that echoed through the decaying halls of the castle and burst out into the forest. Her enchanted glasses suddenly burst, the lenses shattering into a thousand pieces, and her eyes lit up with a white-hot power.

What is this?!? thought Pyx as the rainbow tore through her. Is THIS the Magic of Friendship that Mommy Twilight is always talking about?!? It hurts!!

That was the last thing she remembered thinking before the magic overwhelmed her entirely. Her eyes went blank, her body went limp, and the great column of light dissipated. Her tiny body collapsed to the cold stone of the dais, and she remembered nothing more.

They were going in circles. Both of them knew it, but neither wanted to say it out loud. They had been in this clearing before; they were sure of it.

Diamond Tiara squinted. The forest was dark, but thankfully there was a full moon, and its light was bright enough that they could at least see what was in front of them. However, what Tiara saw did not lift her spirits.

"Arrgh!" she cried out. "It's that stupid table again!!"

Silver Spoon turned and looked at where her friend was pointing, and saw that she was correct. On a small mound of earth stood some kind of weird stone table, the only meaningful landmark they'd come across the entire time they'd been in the forest. And unless whoever had built it had made more than one of them, this was the fourth time they'd seen it.

Diamond Tiara plopped down on her haunches.

"I give up," she muttered. She kept her voice low. She hoped that Silver Spoon couldn't tell that she was close to tears.

"Maybe we should just wait here for the rest of the night," Spoon whispered, sitting down in the grass next to her. "We can find our way back when the sun comes up."

"That table gives me the creeps, though," Tiara muttered. "Why is something like that even here?"

Before Spoon could reply, they both heard a sound coming from the edge of the clearing.

Rustle.

"What was that?!?" she cried.

Rustle rustle.

Diamond Tiara couldn't respond; there was now a lump in her throat large enough to choke a full-grown mare.

Rustle rustle rustle.

Rustle rustle.

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All work and no rustling makes Jack a dull boy.

All work and no rustling makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no rustling makes Jack a dull boy.

All work and no rustling makes Jack a dull boy.

Rustle

Rustle

Rustle mania

RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE okay I'll stop now

"W-what's all that rustling?" said Silver Spoon, her voice trembling like an old saw.

"What do I look like, some kind of rustling expert?!?" snapped Tiara.

Then, to their dismay, they saw that a bush at the edge of the clearing, not ten yards from where they sat, was shaking and trembling (and rustling). Something was coming towards them. Involuntarily, they clung to each other, shaking with fear. The bush parted, and a dark, terrifying creature stepped into the moonlit clearing--

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

They screamed together in unison, shutting their eyes tight and awaiting the inevitable.

Then, when the death blow didn't come, Diamond Tiara cautiously opened her eyes and peeked out. She heaved a sigh of relief and let go of Spoon.

"Get off me," she snapped, pushing her friend away. "It's just Pyx."

Spoon opened her eyes, and saw that Tiara was correct. The little black and green filly was standing in the clearing ahead of them. Her mane was a mess, she was covered in brambles and stickers, and her glasses were gone, but apart from that she looked none the worse for wear.

"Pyx!" cried Silver Spoon. "Where were you? We were looking all over for you!"

"Yeah," said Diamond Tiara. Her voice was still trembling a little, but she managed to recover a little of her old imperiousness. "We--we tried to find you, we went out to where the clubhouse was, but we didn't see you, so we--we figured you'd got lost, and went looking for you--"

"Uso da."

Pyx's voice had a calm, almost deadly quality to it that caused Diamond Tiara to cut herself off in mid-sentence.

"W-what are you talking about...?" Silver Spoon stammered.

Pyx smiled thinly. It wasn't a nice smile. It was hard to see her clearly in the moonlight, but Pyx seemed different. She seemed...older somehow, and there was something almost menacing about her, something neither filly could put a hoof on.

"There was never any clubhouse," Pyx said, her voice serene and yet tinged with poison. "You sent me out there to die."

"N-n-n-no, that's not true..." Silver Spoon continued to stammer. "W-w-w-we went out th-there to l-l-l-look for y-you, and w-w-we c-c-couldn't find you..."

"USO DA!!!!"

The sudden outburst caused both fillies to jump backwards in terror. Pyx's eyes opened wide, and as she stepped closer they could see that there was something wrong with them. They looked like the eyes of...of some kind of reptokitty...and they seemed to glow with an otherworldy light.

Diamond Tiara fell back on her haunches again, no longer able to stand, but kept backing away as Pyx advanced slowly closer to them.

"O-okay, we're s-s-sorry Pyx..." she said. "W-we were just m-m-messing with you a little. W-w-we just wanted to scare you a l-little, we weren't t-trying to hurt you or anything..."

"Y-yeah..." chimed in Silver Spoon, who was also backing away. "I-it was just a j-joke...we j-just went a little far, is all...w-we're s-sorry..."

Pyx didn't seem to hear them. She kept advancing towards them with slow, deliberate steps. Her weird reptilian eyes floated in the blackness like twin moons. Her mane, too, seemed to glow with an ethereal power, writhing about her head like a nest of snakes.

"I found a different clubhouse, though," Pyx continued serenely. "Oh, yes, I found a clubhouse. Come with me, and I'll show it to you. Let me show you my clubhouse..."

Tiara and Spoon kept backing up, scooting through the damp grass on their haunches, until eventually their backs were against the stone table and they could go no further.

"Come to my clubhouse," said Pyx, her voice sweet, monotonous and deadly. "Let's...be...friends........."

Her lips parted into a wide and hideous grin. The two fillies screamed.

Twilight made her way down the path, the violet glow from her horn blending with the pale moonlight to illuminate their way. Fluttershy trotted a few steps behind her, keeping an eye out for cockatrices and manticores and reptokitties, and other dangerous creatures of the forest.

The elation she'd felt had evaporated quickly once she realized just how large and dense and trackless the Everfree Forest was. But then they had seen that strange burst of magical light in the distance, and heard that wail...

The thought of where Pyx might have gone had filled her with dread, but at least they had a lead now.

The path wound its way steeply downward, and soon they came to a familiar-looking river. Twilight scanned the banks, searching for a place where they could cross. It looked like there was a rocky, shallow area a little ways down that could be forded. However, she also noticed the silhouette of a large, sinuous creature splashing about in the water not far away.

"W-what's that?" whispered Fluttershy, drawing even with her.

Twilight peered forward into the darkness. At the sight of the creature she'd doused her horn, but there was still enough moonlight that she thought she could get a look at it. She squinted, letting her eyes adjust, and then suddenly breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"It's okay," she whispered back. "It's just that stupid sea serpent from the last time we were here."

"Oh, right, I remember him," said Fluttershy.

"Now listen," said Twilight. "We're here to look for Pyx, so we don't have any time to waste. So if that guy tries to start talking to you about his mustache or whatever, just ignore him."

"Right."

"Alright, let's go."

The two ponies trotted out and headed quickly for the ford. As they neared the riverbank, the serpent caught sight of them and slithered towards them, flailing his arms and yammering about mustaches.

"Don't make eye contact, don't talk to him, don't engage him," muttered Twilight to Fluttershy, and then they were fetlock-deep in water.

Twilight kept pressing onward. The current was strong, but the water wasn't deep, and she was able to travel quickly across. Halfway there; good. They were going to make it. The sea serpent was still flailing his arms and bawling about something or other; she didn't even spare a glance in his direction. Three quarters of the way. They were almost there, they were going to make it--

Almost against her will, she dared to look over her shoulder, and to her dismay she saw that Fluttershy was no longer following her. She had made it about a quarter of the way across the river, when she had managed to get herself roped into a conversation with that idiotic sea serpent. The loathsome creature was chattering a mile a minute, gesticulating wildly, and it was obvious that, even had she been able to get a word in edgewise, Fluttershy would have been far too polite to disentangle herself.

Twilight hesitated, caught between the desire to help her friend and the desire to find Pyx.

Keep going; Fluttershy's dead to us now, her inner voice advised her.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm soooo happy to see you!!" the serpent cried, catching sight of her. "You won't believe what happened to my mustache since the last time I saw you..."

The serpent began flailing its arms, slithering in her direction. That made up her mind. She turned away and moved as quickly as she could through the water until she reached the far bank, and then broke into a full gallop. Fluttershy would just have to fend for herself until she got back.

Even in the dark, she realized that she knew the path she was following, and the recognition filled her with unease. It was the same path her locator spell had shown her, on the day that she first found Pyx. And though she hadn't known it at the time, she'd also followed it the night before that, when she was tied up, blindfolded and trapped in a sack.

And now, she realized that she'd followed this path once before that even, and so had Fluttershy and the rest of her friends. A little further on would be a clearing with an old stone table, and beyond that...

Beyond that was an ancient castle.

She was so lost in these thoughts that she almost didn't see the little black filly that was standing in the middle of the path. She reared up, barely managing to avoid trampling the poor little creature, and almost fell backwards trying to arrest her gallop. An instant later, she realized that she knew who it was.

"Pyx!" she cried out. "Oh, thank Celestia you're okay!"

She scooped the filly up in her front legs and hugged her close.

"Mrmmy, ah crnt breef..."

Twilight suddenly realized she was crushing the poor filly, so she let her go. She ignited her light spell and looked her over. Pyx was covered in scratches and brambles and cockleburs, and somewhere along the way she'd lost her glasses, but she seemed otherwise okay.

"Where have you been?" Twilight demanded. "Everypony has been worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry," mumbled Pyx. She sounded weary and disoriented.

"What happened to those other two fillies that were with you?"

Pyx blinked. She looked genuinely confused, like there was something she couldn't remember.

"I...I don't know," she said. "They ditched me...and then...I don't know where they went after that. They said something about a clubhouse..."

A clubhouse, thought Twilight. Fluttershy had mentioned something about that as well. An unpleasant thought suddenly occurred to her.

"You three weren't playing around near that old castle, were you?"

"Old castle?" Pyx blinked again. "No, I don't think so..."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She suddenly realized she was more tired than she'd ever been in her life, and that she needed a drink. Make that ten drinks, she thought.

"Come on, Pyx," she said. "Let's go home."

"What about Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?" asked Pyx.

"They probably went home too," said Twilight wearily. "And if they're still out here, they better hope I don't find them."

They turned and started back down the path. However, something caught the light from Twilight's horn and drew her attention. She frowned. It looked like Pyx had something tucked inside her vest.

Her aura flared up again, and she reached inside Pyx's vest and levitated the object out. It was a bag full of bits, she realized. A lot of bits. She held it close and peered inside. There were...sweet Celestia. There had to be at least a thousand bits in there.

She looked down at Pyx, who was watching her curiously.

"Where did you get this?" Twilight demanded.

That weird, blank look came over the filly's face again, and she looked confused for a few seconds. She blinked and then shrugged.

"I don't remember. I found it somewhere, I think. Under a log."

She smiled brightly, if a little wearily.

"Nipah~~!"

Author's Note

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