The Mane 12 Adventures: Season 1

by Ponyfanatic

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Mystery, Misty, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Random, Adventure, Mane 5, Crossover
Length: 43063

In another universe, Generation 4 and Generation 5 were merged. What would happen to the story?

Time is a fickle thing isn’t it? One simple change and the universe could go into disarray. Yes, not all changes are bad, but most universes depend on six special ponies. Without them, that worlds Equestria could go into chaos, but not every. But lets think for a moment, one simple, tiny change can create a world so different, but all so similar.

Who ever knew that one rainboom would’ve connected twelve different ponies from different parts of Equestria? When Twilight Sparkle and Sunny Starscout go to Maretime Bay to check on preparations, a series of unfortunate events leads them to become Equestria’s new guardians.

NOTE: This story has been cancelled, but there's a rewrite up now!

REWRITE: The Chronicles of Friendship

Published 2024-05-08 01:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-12-14 04:46:38 UTC

Prologue

Episode 1: The Vision-Dream

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 1: “The Vision-Dream”

“Wah!” Sunny shot up from her bed, only to realize her bed wasn’t there. “Okay, that’s... weird,” she looked around to find black almost everywhere! She turned around, only to see an orange unicorn behind her. “Woah! You, uh, gave me quite a scare. Hello?”

‘Oh, hello! You must be Sunny Starscout, right?’

“Uh, yeah, that’s right. Who are you exactly?” Sunny asked.

’Listen, Sunny, I don’t really have that much time, so names aren’t that important right now.’

The mare nodded. The unicorn smiled before continuing. ‘Good! Okay, you know that old ponies tale? About the one with the two sisters? Well, Nightmare Moon is coming back from her imprisonment on the moon. She can't put Equestria in an eternal night this time! You and eleven others will have to defeat her and retrieve the Elements of Harmony! Cool, right?’

Sunny was silent for a moment before she burst out laughing. “Hah! Listen, this has got to be one of the weirdest dreams I’ve had.”

‘I’d say vision, but y’know,’

“Even if what you’re saying is true, then why me? Why not like anyone else!? I’m just a normal earth pony. What can I do?”

‘You can do much more than you think.’ The unicorn approached Sunny, looking into her eyes. ‘I’m kinda breaking the rules of life and death, but the fate of Equestria is on the line here!’ Suddenly, the unicorn faded in and out of existence, which made the unicorn’s expression turn sour.

‘Well, looks like Fate found out. She’s the spirit police, in a way. If I’m correct, she’s gonna erase your whole memory of this conversation, so I will cast a spell! Yes, you’ll still forget some stuff, but you’ll still have a vague memory of this experience.’

The young earth pony stepped back, looking confused yet curious at the same time. “Wait, what!? I don’t exactly believe you, but how do I stop this Nightmare Moon, anyway!?”

‘Ah, don’t worry about it! Your friend Twilight Sparkle will find out, I’ll make sure of that!’ he stepped back, translucent yellow wings sprouting on his back, which surprised Sunny. ‘Yes, I’m an alicorn, you don’t wanna know how I became one... yet,’ His horn lit up before it went out a few seconds later.

Just then, a portal opened, and a white alicorn with golden yellow hair stepped out. “Clover! You know you’re not supposed to meddle in mortal affairs! Get over here this instant!” The alicorn - which had to be Fate - said.

“Oh, do you know how many rules you’ve broken this time!? Ugh, at least you did it in a dream, easier to clean up.” The alicorn’s horn lit up, and the next thing she knew, she blacked out.

‘Beep! Beep! Be- *click*’

Sunny rose from her bed, disheveled. Inside her room were multiple posters that certainly implied friendship and unity. One poster was different, however, it was a poster with a blue stallion on it - Argyle Starshine, Sunny’s father.

She vaguely remembered an orange unicorn. She knew he was talking about something important, but she couldn’t remember.

Sunny got out of bed, her mind still fixated, trying to remember her weirdly vivid dream. She fixed her bed before exiting her room and heading towards the kitchen.

Once she arrived, she saw a gray unicorn–Twilight Velvet–putting plates on the table.

“Oh! Good morning, Sunny!” she greeted, walking towards the apricot mare. “Come, I’ve made your favorite!”

When she sat down at the table, Twilight Velvet used her magic to pour some orange juice whilst she brought a pan over. She used her magic to nudge the pancake that was on it onto the plate.

“Tada! Chocolate Chip pancakes!” she said. “It’s been a while since I made this, so I whipped 'em up again!”

“Aw, thanks, Mrs. Velvet!”

“Eat up!”

Giggling, Sunny cut and ate a pancake, her eyes sparkling with delight. “Just as good as I remember them,”

A few minutes later, Sunny spoke up. “So, is Twilight gonna come down soon?”

“Oh, I think she stayed up late in that library again.” Twilight Velvet said. “Ah, I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”

The apricot mare thought for a moment before speaking up. “Hey, I can get Twilight on my morning rounds. It wouldn’t be a bother at all!”

“Thank you, Sunny. That would be a help.”

Sometime later, Sunny packed her bags before exiting her house. “I’ll be back soon!” she took out her rollerblades and put them on. “Okay, smoothie cart, then Twilight.”

A few minutes later, she arrived at a smoothie cart that read ‘Smooth Smoothies’. She took out her keys, unlocked the side door, and brought multiple boxes inside. Once she had organized everything that was inside the boxes, she locked the door again before skating off.

She had skated for roughly thirty minutes before arriving at a lavish gate with a guard on both sides. “Halt! Who goes there?”

“Morning! I’m just here to visit Twilight Sparkle, y’know, Princess Celestia’s personal student?” Sunny said, smiling.

The two stallions looked at each other. A moment of silence passed before the guards moved to open the gate, which allowed Sunny to get inside. “Thank you, sirs!”

She started skating to what appeared to be a giant tower, like one of those you would find in storybooks. She ran up the stairs before she saw a giant door. She carefully opened it and stepped inside.

She closed the door before walking up another set of stairs, revealing a purple unicorn - Twilight Sparkle - sleeping on her desk littered with books. “Twi?” she walked towards the purple unicorn, who had drooled. “You’ve been here all night. Come on, wake up.”

Sunny nudged the unicorn a little, which seemed to be enough to wake her up. “What- huh? Oh- Sunny? What’re you doing here this late? I must’ve dozed off for a second.” The unicorn said, rearranging her glasses.

“It’s morning- about nine to be precise!” Sunny smiled.

“It’s already nine in the morning?! Geez, all that coffee certainly didn’t help at all.” Twilight said, a look of shock on her face. “Ugh, Spike? Spi-ike!”

“Five more minutes!” Sunny turned to see a purple and green dragon sleeping under various books.

“Spike? It’s already nine. Come on, get out.” the apricot mare went over to the dragon and nudged him lightly, the only response being a groan. “Mhm, yep, I’m gonna take Spike back home.”

The apricot mare put the dragon on her back, securing him in place to ensure he wouldn’t fall. “You coming, Twilight? Mrs. Velvet made chocolate pancakes!”

“Yes, yes, let me just fix this up,” Twilight said, referring to the mess on her desk. “You should go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“Kay,” Sunny said. She walked down the stairs while the dragon was mumbling in his sleep.

The purple unicorn’s horn blazed to life as the papers started arranging themselves and books started floating toward their place on the shelves. “Right!”

Unknown to her, a faint yellow aura surrounding a book nudged it out of its spot, falling in front of the unicorn.

“Ack!” She jumped back, startled, to see a book on the ground. “Oh, hehe, just a book.”

She levitated the book towards her, flipping through the pages, scanning it. “This seems like a good read. Wonder why I haven’t seen this before... a new copy, perhaps?” The unicorn shrugged before she put it in her bag before walking down the stairs and exiting the library.

Sometime later, she arrived at her house. Once she entered, she saw her mom, Sunny, and an asleep Spike on the couch.

“Ehehe, sorry, Mom.” Twilight apologized. “I didn’t realize it got so late, and the next thing I knew-”

Twilight Velvet spoke up, cutting off her daughter. “Don’t worry, dear! You’re not in trouble, you’re almost 18, you can certainly care for yourself now!” She gestured to a chair. “Come, eat!”

Inside the throne room of Canterlot, Princess Celestia sat on her throne, signing paperwork. She used her magic to remove her reading glasses, then sighed.

“Was it the right choice? Maybe if I noticed earlier, she could’ve been here now...” She shook her head. “No, what’s done is done. I can’t change the past now.”

Suddenly, the orange alicorn - Clover, from Sunny’s dream - appeared in the window's reflection, which surprised the alicorn. ‘Listen! Celestia, time is of the essence, so no talking! None of that!’

Judging by the look on Celestia’s face, he continued. ‘Okay, listen, you need to get Twilight Sparkle and Sunny Starscout to Maretime Bay, y’know, the town where you’re doing your Summer Sun Celebration?’

The reflection started glitching, and Clover saw the hesitation in Celestia’s eyes. ‘Listen, I know you’ve gotten close to the two, and in different circumstances, I would’ve been on your side! But if this goes through... they could save Luna.’

When he said that name, Celestia’s expression changed from hesitation to a mix of determination and grief. “I see...” Clover smiled, ‘Also, make it discreet, please? I’m already in enough trouble with Fate as it is.’ The orange alicorn’s reflection disappeared.

The white alicorn chuckled before returning to her throne, pondering.

With Twilight and Sunny, the former flips to the next page of her book. “Hmm, the Tale of the Two Sisters,” she uses her magic to flip to the next page, scanning through the text fast and thorough.

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.”

She flipped to the next page, continuing the tale, which got Sunny’s attention. “She vowed she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently from the moon. The elder sister took responsibility for both the sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.”

She closed the book, using her magic to put it back in her bag. “Sunny, there’s something... uh, off about this.”

“Off? Like what?” Sunny asked, not entirely understanding the statement.

“Y’know, something... weird, off, strange!” Twilight said. “I just have this feeling... I know these elements of harmony. I don’t know how I just do!”

“Right... they're powerful artifacts. Maybe you just read about them in a book?” Sunny said.

“Well, maybe, but something about this story just shoves me the wrong way. Maybe the whole “Nightmare Moon” talk is getting to my head, but I know something’s off!”

“Twilight, if you’resure about this, then I’ll help,” Sunny said. “Come on, there must be something in that library.”

Twilight smiled. She got up and pulled Sunny up as well. “Thanks, Sunny.”

“No problem! That’s what friends are for, right?” Sunny chuckled, gently nudging Twilight.

“Yeah... friends,”

To be continued...

Author's Note

Okay, hello! This is my first fanfiction I’ve ever wrote. I’ve been here for a while, but making an account didn’t cross my mind until this story!

I came across the story Harmony and Unity, which sadly was cancelled in March. But the idea was so cool, so I decided to write a fanfic of it, taking some elements of the story from HuskToFawn. Also, I love the cover image! I made it myself while thinking of... ideas! :pinkiegasp:

So, some stuff about the AU here:

Twilight isn’t the social outcast that she is in the show here. Yes, she is still introverted, and isn’t in the idea of friendship all that much, only having a few friends that she really bonds with. But she has some of the personality of her canon counterpart! I haven’t watched Friendship in Magic in a well, not a long while, but I’ve been focusing on the new generation for now. So if some of the characters aren’t in character, please let me know and I’ll try to improve! :scootangel:

Well, not a lot I can say here except for the people who do read this. Please comment on this and send your opinions! I’m a new writer, and I wanna know if I jumped into a new story correctly. :pinkiehappy:

Episode 2: Maretime Bay Blues

Episode 3: Streamerlined

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 3: “Streamerlined”

“Urgh... my head-” Twilight said. She paused, seeing the blue pegasus on her. “Uh... hello?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry bout’ that!” The pegasus said, picking her up. “The name's Rainbow Dash, one of the best flyers in Zephyr Heights!”

“Wait... Rainbow Dash? The Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said, coming to a realization.

“You’ve heard of me?' Rainbow said, surprised, but she quickly hid it. “I mean, of course, you know! Uh, how do you know?”

“I heard that you were supposed to be clearing the skies for the Summer Sun Celebration?”

A white pegasus flew to the ground, a worried look on her face. She calmed down when she saw her friend was okay, but that didn’t stop her from asking questions. “Rainbow! My Celestia, you could’ve hurt yourself!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, Zipp!” Rainbow said, quickly doing a spin in the air. “Nothing’s broken!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Sunny said, stepping into the conversation. “You,” she pointed to Rainbow, “You are supposed to be clearing the skies! But instead, you crashed into my friend!”

“That’s what I told her!” The white pegasus, Zipp, said.

“I’ll do it later!” Rainbow said, defending herself. “Practicing for the Wonderbolts is waay better!”

“Wait, Wonderbolts? The Wonderbolts? The fastest flyers in all of Equestria?!” Twilight said, shocked.

“Duh, who else?”

“Hah! Please, why would they accept a pegasus who can’t do one measly thing- clearing the sky!”

“Hey! I can do that, easy!”

“Really? You can do it, in... let’s say, ten seconds flat?”

“Try me,”

Cut to Zipp, holding a stopwatch, while Rainbow was doing stretches in the sky.

“Okay, Zipp! This here is going to be the biggest moment of my life!” Rainbow said, zooming in the air.

“And you do know this is just a really elaborate plan?” Zipp asked. “Anyways, are you sure that you can do this? I have faith in you and all, but you cannot clear the skies in ten seconds flat.”

Rainbow froze before she scoffed. “Oh, please. I obviously knew it was a trick! What do you take me for?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Plus, I’m not one to back down from a challenge, so... let’s do this!”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Zipp said.

“Okay, are we ready?” Twilight said, cutting in the conversation. “We don’t have all day!”

“Wish me luck!” Rainbow said, planting her hooves on the ground.

“Three-” Rainbow spread her wings. “-two,” she put on a determined face. “-one. Go!”

Rainbow shot into the air, destroying clouds left and right. She flipped and twirled in the air, destroying ten clouds per second before she landed back on the ground—no clouds in the sky.

“Done, and done!” Rainbow said. “Okay, how many seconds was that?”

Zipp, Sunny, Twilight, and Spike checked the watch before their mouths hung in shock. Rainbow looked at their faces before she checked the watch herself. She smiled before she cheered. “All right! In all honesty, I was just winging it.”

“Oh, my Celestia- how? How!?” Twilight said, shocked.

“I guess that’s why I’m one of the best flyers in Zephyr Heights!” Rainbow chuckled. “You’re a laugh, Twilight Sparkle! If you wanna hang out, give me a call!"

Rainbow flew off, Zipp following in tow. “Huh...” was the only thing Sunny could say.

“Decorations,”

The trio were walking towards Town Hall. The building was huge, with pink windows on every side. A yellow ribbon, which complemented the brown pillars, surprisingly well connected to each pillar. The three entered inside, where they were greeted by a pink pegasus flying in the air, holding a phone in her hoof.

“Well, that is all for now, my Pippsqueaks! Can’t reveal too much, cause’ y’know, spoilers!” The pegasus laughed. “Anyway, stay tuned for the new hoof-polish that is releasing soon! And be sure to come and celebrate the awe of the raising of the sun! Pipp, Pipp, hooray!”

The three looked to the side and saw a white unicorn with purple hair and a light purple unicorn decorating every part of Town Hall. “Izzy, can you pass the ribbons, darling?”

The unicorn’s horn flared up, and a light purple aura surrounded the ribbon before it got moved towards the other unicorn. “Thank you, dear.”

The unicorn wrapped the ribbon around the pillar, before the light purple unicorn - Izzy - sprinkled glitter on it, much to the white unicorn’s dismay. “Whaat? You can never have too much glitter, Rarity!”

“Yes, I suppose so...”

Twilight walked around, admiring the decor. Even if it wasn’t finished, it was still a sight to behold. “The décor... it’s so... beautiful! This’ll be quick,”

Suddenly, the pink pegasus flew up to her face, a smile forming on her cheeks. “Hello! Hi!”

Twilight jumped back, startled from the action. She took a moment to compose herself before she spoke, “Uh, hi? I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are Sunny Starscout and Spike. Princess Celestia sent us to check on preparations, and I’m assuming you’re in charge of decorations?”

“Obviously!” the pegasus replied. “I’m Pipp Petals, daughter of Queen Haven!”

“Wait... you’re Pipp Petals!?” Sunny said, shocked. Her expression changed from shocked to excitement as she began rambling. “Oh, my Celestia! I follow you on ClipTrot, YouHoof, you name it! I.. I’m such a huge fan!”

“Awe, great to meet a PippSqueak!” Pipp said. “Hey, why don’t I treat you three to some time at Mane Boutique?” She pulled out her phone and showed them a few pictures of her boutique/salon. It was a big light pink building, a sign with the company’s logo on the side. Various yellow streamers were hung because of her “Summer Sale” for the Summer Sun Celebration. “It’ll be great! You look like you need some rest and relaxation.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I don’t think-” Twilight was about to decline, before Sunny interrupted her.

“-we should pass on this opportunity! I’ve always wanted to visit, but I never had a chance to!” She turned to Spike. “Spike, are you coming?”

“Yeah, I guess.... only because there’s nothing else to do in this town!” Spike replied, crossing his arms.

“Well, that’s settled! Rares, Iz, are you coming?” Pipp called out. The two mares in question were tying up ribbons, sprinkling glitter... uh, just that.

“I’m afraid not, I’ve still got loads of work to do!” Rarity said, sprinkling glitter almost everywhere.

“Come on, Rares! It looks good enough!” Izzy said, putting a hoof over Rarity.

“I suppose you’re right...” Rarity said. “Very well, I do have stuff to attend to in the boutique.”

Cut to the six at Mane Boutique. Pipp, in a dramatic way, opened the door to reveal the bustling building. Ponies were everywhere, getting their hooves and hair done, and some were trying on outfits. “Welcome... to Mane Boutique!”

The three’s eyes widened at the beauty of it. “Woah... this is incredible!” Sunny giddily said, before a thought occurred to her. “Hey, aren’t you like a super famous pop star?”

“It’s just one of my many, many talents.” Pipp bragged. “But yes, I am a pop star.”

“Then why aren’t you helping with music prep?” Sunny asked. “I think I saw it on the list...”

“Oh, that? Yeah, Mayor Mare said it had to be like animal music, to like, really help with the summer vibes.” Pipp explained. “Plus, my D.I. Y streams are on trend!” [1]

“Huh,” Sunny said. Twilight was looking around before her eyes settled on one of the most beautiful dresses she’s ever seen. The long, white fabric with connecting gold lines ended on the end of the dress. Rarity noticed the purple unicorn eying the dress in awe and walked up to her.

“Isn’t this the most beautiful dresses you’ve ever seen?” Rarity asked.

“Of course! Not to say that other dresses in Canterlot are bad... but this? This is incredible! The hoovesmanship, the seams! Incredible!”

“I... thank you,” Rarity thanked, which made Twilight come to a realization.

“Wait, you’re the pony who made this?! You’re so talented!” Twilight complimented.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really! I just threw some fabric together- that’s really just it!” [2]

“Just threw fabric together? This is the best dress in the world! I’m surprised no one bought it yet!” Twilight said.

“Yes, well... not everyone sees your view.” Rarity said, looking downfallen. “This dress took me a week to finish! And do they know how much golden lining is? 20 golden bits!”

“Well, just because some ponies don’t see the artistic beauty that this dress is, doesn’t mean it isn’t good!” Twilight said. “Those ponies are obviously jealous of your sewing skills!”

“Oh, that means... a lot, thank you, Twilight.” Rarity thanked.

“It’s no problem, really,” Twilight said. “But, uh, I feel like me and Sunny should be going.”

Rarity nodded. “Of course, just let me get something.” Rarity went to the back of the salon. When she came back, she held a pink box tied in a golden ribbon with the Mane Boutique logo. “Here it is, the Mane Boutique welcome gift! Normally, Pipp’s the one who gives this, but I’m sure she won’t mind.” She put the gift into Twilight’s hooves, before the glasses-wearing unicorn looked up.

“Are- are you sure? I didn’t really do much to deserve this-”

“Nonsense, darling! And besides, we have more of those.” Rarity said. “Take it,”

Twilight was about to protest before another customer came to Rarity and she was pulled away, which left the unicorn alone to her thoughts.

“Byeeeee! Come back soon!” Pipp said, waving. “It’s been totes fun meeting you!” Twilight, Sunny, and Spike waved back before they continued on.

Once they were out of earshot, Twilight pulled out the gift she got from Rarity, which Sunny saw. “Ooh, what’s that?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing much, just a gift I got from Rarity.”

“Isn’t Rarity just the most beautiful mare you’ve ever seen?” Spike said, unknowingly speaking his thoughts. “And to top it off, she’s the most generous!”

“Well, I suppose she is.” Twilight said. “Anyway, casanova, what’s next on the list?”

“Security,”

“Wait, security? Aren’t the guards gonna be supervising the celebration?” Sunny asked, confused.

“Well, yes, but Shining Armor has stuff to do in Canterlot. Becoming the captain has, apparently, a lot of paperwork.” Twilight explained. “Anyway, Spike, where is security prep taking place?” [3]

“The Sheriff’s office,”

“Okay... so, where is that?”

After searching around town, the three made it to the sheriff’s office. It was a plain white building, with a blue lining and a sheriff’s badge on top. The three entered inside, and when Sunny saw what was inside, she gasped.

“H-Hitch?”

A yellow earth pony stallion with teal hair turned around to see Sunny, Twilight, and Spike. He couldn’t recognize the latter two, but he knew Sunny. “Sunny? Sunny!”

“Oh, my Celestia! Hitch! It- It’s so nice to see you!” Sunny said, running to her friend.

“Likewise, it’s been... what, like, five years?” Hitch asked. “Uh, anyway, it’s so nice to see you!”

Suddenly, the white pegasus from earlier - Zipp, right? - stepped down from the second floor. “Uh, Hitch? What’s going on in here?”

“It’s you! You’re the pegasus with Rainbow Dash, right?” Twilight said.

“Oh, yeah. I remember you,” Zipp said.

“Wait... you know each other?” Hitch asked.

“It’s a long story, so... basically, Rainbow crashed into Twilight, and she challenged Rainbow to clear the sky in ten seconds flat...” Sunny explained. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I’m helping Hitch with the security preparations,” Zipp said. “I have this... lead, and if it comes true, then Equestria could be in danger! Like, actually!”

“Right, she says that--” Hitch said before Zipp covered his mouth.

“Cut it out! I’m not crazy!” Zipp said. “I have solid evidence!”

“Myths and fairytales don’t count as evidence, Zipp!”

“Wait, myths... fairytales... Equestria in danger...” Twilight muttered, before she stopped. “Sheriff Hitch, I know it sounds hard to believe, but Zipp isn’t crazy. She’s correct!”

“Aha! Told you!” Zipp said smugly. “If Twilight - student of Princess Celestia - says it’s true, then it is!”

“What do you mean?” Hitch asked, suspicious. “There is no way it could be true! Mythical evil alicorns in the moon do not exist!” [4]

“Actually, they do,” Sunny said.

“Sunny, you really believe them?

“Yes, I do, Hitch!” She sighed. “Earlier today, me and Twilight found a book. Predictions and Prophecies inside told a story of two sisters and an orange alicorn. I’m sure you know it.”

Zipp nodded. “Okay, and normally, I wouldn’t believe it, but I had a... dream. I remember a little, but it told me of how I and eleven others will have to stop this danger. Crazy enough, it was an orange alicorn who was telling me this, and while there’s a small chance... I think that the orange alicorn is the same one from the story.”

“Wait, so because of a random dream... you believe it’s true?” Hitch said, speaking up. “Listen, Sunny, I haven’t mentioned it in any of my letters but... I have a son.”

“WHAT!?” Sunny shrieked. “You’re eighteen, Hitch! How do you already have a son?!”

“No! He’s a dragon!” Hitch said, defending himself.

Sunny stopped and sighed. “Okay! Okay, phew! I got worried for a moment, y’know?”

“Yes, and Sunny, I have to protect him. So, as much as I want to believe you... I can’t, for him and my town.” Hitch said, sighing. “I’m sorry,”

“No,” Sunny said. “It’s alright, I can understand why.” She sighed before she gave a small smile. “Hey, I’ll see you around soon? Me and Twi got stuff to do, and... yeah.”

Hitch nodded. “See you around, Sunny.”

Sunny walked out of the station, Twilight and Sunny following her.

“Sunny? Are you... alright?” Twilight asked, concerned for her friend.

“Yeah, yeah, I am.” Sunny said. “Come on, let’s just finish it up and we can go to the lighthouse.”

“Music,”

The three were at a beach [5]. Everypony was packing up or leaving. The only exception was a blue unicorn and a yellow pegasus, who was orchestrating a couple of birds. The three got closer to the two, and the symphony of music got louder.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah, it really- woah!?” The unicorn jumped back, startled. The birds that the pegasus was orchestrating flew away, and the pegasus turned to see Twilight, Sunny, and Spike.

“Oh- oh, my! I’m so sorry- I didn’t mean to scare your birds!” Sunny apologized. “But you sounded good while they were still there! Uh, I’m Sunny Starscout.” She reached out a hoof and awkwardly smiled.

“I- uh, I’m Misty Brightdawn...” the unicorn timidly said. “I haven’t seen you around! Are you uh, new?”

Twilight nodded. “We’re here to supervise prep for the Summer Sun Celebration,” she turned to the pegasus. “And it sounds amazing!”

The pegasus muttered something, barely audible.

“Uh, what was that?”

She muttered again, but it was barely louder. “Nope, can’t hear you!” Twilight awkwardly laughed. The pegasus muttered it again, barely louder than last time.

Twilight awkwardly cleared her throat before she noticed the birds were back. “Oh! Looks like your birds are back. I’ll just... go?”

Twilight backed away before Spike ran up to her. “And we’re good to go! Music was the last one on the list, so time to go to the lighthouse!”

Suddenly, the yellow pegasus swooped Spike into her hooves, her eyes filled with wonder. “Oh, my! A baby dragon! You don’t look like Sparky [6], I’m Fluttershy, what’s your name?”

“I’m Spike!” Spike introduced. “It’s nice to meet you... uh, Fluttershy.”

“This is so exciting! I’ve never met another dragon before!” Fluttershy said. “What do you talk about? Food?”

“No way! That’s just a stereotypical lie from Canterlot and pony tales. Us dragons are much more complicated than stealing princesses or... uh, stuff!” Spike said, puffing out his chest.

“Oh! I- I didn’t know,” Fluttershy said. “My only reference is Sparky, and-”

“Don’t worry bout’ it!” Spike waved off. “You said you wanted to know what I talk about, right?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well, let me tell you!”

Twilight groaned as she walked to the lighthouse, with Sunny, Misty, Fluttershy, and Spike following behind. “I started out as a cute lil’ purple and green egg...”

While Spike started rambling about his life story, Sunny made conversation. “So... Misty, when you’d come to Maretime Bay?”

“Oh- uh, around two years ago?” Misty answered. “I wanted to see the world, I guess. Bridlewood isn’t all that lively these days, y’know?”

Sunny nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard Bridlewood isn’t like Zephyr Heights or Canterlot.”

The group continued walking until they made it to their destination: Sunny’s old lighthouse. The light house - even for its old age - still looked to be quite intact on the side of the cliff they were on. “... and that’s the story of my entire life! Well, until today. Wanna hear about today?”

“Yes, please!” Fluttershy said, only to get interrupted by Twilight.

“Oh, wow! Look at the time- when did we get here so fast?” She forced a smile onto her face. “Well, we best get going! We wouldn’t wanna miss the celebration, would we?”

“R- Right,” Fluttershy said.

“Uh... good night!” Twilight rushed into the lighthouse and used her magic to pull Sunny and Spike inside before slamming the door on them. Inside, it was pitch black. Not one thing could be seen.

“Twi... you didn’t have to slam the door on them, y’know?” Sunny frowned.

“Yes, yes, I know! But we’re losing valuable time!” Twilight said. “Ugh, it’s pitch black in here! Where’s the lights in this place?”

Suddenly, the lights opened, and confetti rained down on them. Ponies were inside the lighthouse, all with party hats on or grabbing food from the buffet table. “SURPRISE!”

To be continued...

Author's Note

[1] - Yeah, so I know that Pipp’s like, a pop star and something, but I like the idea of having bird music, to fit the summer vibe that we just entered! :ajsmug:
[2] - In this universe, Rarity’s designs aren’t that well known. So, she’d naturally be surprised when someone compliments her. :applecry:
[3] - Originally, I wasn’t gonna have security prep, but a comment by Comickook gave me an idea! :pinkiehappy:
[4] - Hitch will be surprised later! :rainbowlaugh:
[5] - Maretime Bay is - essentially - still a beach town. Don’t try to figure out the map, it’ll just make your brain explode :twilightoops:
[6] - Sparky is older in the story and knows how to talk! :pinkiegasp:

So! Here is the third episode! I know I said this wouldn’t take long to publish... but, it’s good quality! Right? :twilightsheepish: So while I won’t promise when the next one will be out, it will be good quality!

Comments and constructive criticism are MUCH appreciated! :moustache:

Episode 1: The Vision-Dream

Episode 2: Maretime Bay Blues

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 2: “Maretime Bay Blues”

Sunny Starscout and Twilight Sparkle, who could’ve thought they would’ve made good friends? The latter was extremely extroverted and pretty optimistic. While Twilight on the other hoof, was introverted and preferred to be alone, sure, but somehow they made their friendship work. You could interpret that as yin-yang, technically.

“Oh! Sunny, Twilight! There you guys are!”

Twilight and Sunny were snapped out of their conversation, theorizing about the Tale of the Two Sisters, when they saw three other mares, gifts on their backs. One was yellow with blue hair - Lemon Heart, another was white with a light pink mane - Twinkle Shine, and the last was light blue with a darker blue and white streaked mane - Minuette.

“We were wondering where you were!” Minuette said.

“Girls! What’re you doing? And what’s with the gifts?” Sunny asked, walking up to the three smiling.

“Oh, don’t tell me you forgot!” Lemon Heart said. “It’s Moondancer’s get-together today! We were going to ask what your gift was, but it looks like you didn’t shop recently.” She giggled.

Suddenly, the orange mare gained a look of realization and guilt on her face. “Right! I feel so bad, I completely blanked on today!”

“Don’t worry, Sunny. I’m sure Moondancer won’t be mad!” Twilight said, trying to assure her friend. “If it helps, I can go with you to the party if it’ll help?”

“Really? Thanks, Twi. I know you don’t like parties that much, so it means a lot,” Sunny said, surprised but happy.

“What have you done with our Twilight? She would never do this in a million moons!” Minuette joked.

“Well, it’s just as Sunny said earlier. That’s what friends are for, right?” Twilight said, smiling.

The group said their goodbyes before Sunny and Twilight continued towards the library. They arrived at the white tower with golden outlines a few minutes later. “I never thought I’d be at a library twice in one day, first time for everything, I guess,” Sunny said.

They went up the stairs, but once they arrived they saw Spike, with a red box tied in a golden ribbon in his hands.

“Spike? What’s that for?” Twilight asked, pointing at the box.

“It’s for Moondancer’s get-together!” Spike said. “I gave her a framed photo of us! Mystique charges it for a surprising two gold bits.”

“Well, that’s nice Spike,” Twilight said, entering the library with Sunny following behind. “Come on, Spike. Help us find a book on ancient myths and stories.”

“Uh... okay, but why?” Spike asked, putting the gift in his scales.

“Don’t ask, it’s not a long story, but still,” Sunny said, grabbing a random book. “It’s hard to explain,”

Suddenly, Twilight’s horn flared up, and multiple books started floating to her, aligning in a line. “Okay, no, no, no, no- NO!” The magenta aura surrounding the books disappeared, making them fall to the ground. “There must be something!”

“If you’re looking for a book about ancient myths... wait here!” Spike ran up another flight upstairs in the library, before running back down with an old blue book. “Here it is, Predictions and Prophecies!”

He gave it to Twilight, whose eyes widened. “Spike! This might be it!” she flipped through the pages until she groaned in frustration. “Ugh! There’s nothing here!”

“Try... E, maybe? Elements of Harmony?” Sunny inquired.

She flipped through the pages again until she smiled. “Yes! Here it is! Elements of Harmony, ancient artifacts! See page 241 for more information...” She flipped through the pages again until landing on said page.

“Mare in the Moon, commonly known from the Tale of the Two Sisters. The Mare in the Moon is a myth from old Equestria. As some may not know, the Tale of the Two Sisters was based on this myth for foals who couldn’t sleep at night. In the olden rendition, an orange alicorn joined the older sister and used the Elements of Harmony to trap her on the moon. Legend states on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring eternal night.”

Suddenly, Sunny felt something... rush into her, a memory.

“Well, Nightmare Moon is coming back from her imprisonment on the moon. She can't put Equestria in an eternal night this time!”

Sunny gasped, and so did Twilight. “Do you know what this means?!” Twilight said, turning to her friends.

“Uh... no?” Spike said.

“Spike, take a note please!” Twilight said, levitating a quill and a scroll to Spike.

“My dearest teacher, my studies of Ancient Equestria have led me to discover we are on the precipice of disaster.”

“Preci... pice, got it!” Spike said, writing the last few words on the scroll paper.

Twilight smiled before she continued, “For you see, the mythical mare in the Moon is Nightmare Moon, and on the longest day of the longest year, she will return to Equestria and bring eternal night. Something must be done to ensure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twi-light... Spar-kle..." He curled up the scroll and wrapped it with a red ribbon. “And done!”

“Great! Send it!” Twilight said.

“Now? Like, now now?” Spike said, hesitantly.

“Yes, Spike, now now! We have to get this to the Princess!” Sunny said.

“Er... it’s just that Princess Celestia is busy... y’know, getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. It’s like, tomorrow.” Spike said.

“Spike, the longest day of the longest year is tomorrow! That’s why we need to warn the princess!” Sunny explained. “So... come on!”

“All right! All right! Jeez...” Spike said. He blew a green flame on the scroll, which quickly burned. The smoke (which had green elements to it) went out the window. “There, it’s on its way! But I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

“Oh, Spike, I’m not worried,” Twilight said, smugly. She was looking out the window. “In all my years as her student, she’s never once doubted me.”

“Yeah, well... there’s a first time for everything,” Spike muttered, which didn’t go unheard. Suddenly, Spike burped out a scroll, which had a golden ribbon attached to it.

“Well, let’s see, won’t we?” Twilight said. Spike rolled his eyes before he unfurled the scroll and started reading the first few pages.

“My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight. You know I value your diligence, and that I completely trust you...”

“See, Spike. She doesn’t doubt me!” Twilight said, raising her head upwards, smug. But her smug expression changed to one of shock when Spike read the next lines.

“But it’s summer! You simply must stop reading those dusty old books!”

“Well, look who’s right now!” Spike said, smugly. Twilight rolled her eyes before she used her magic to bring to her and brought it to her face.

“My dearest student, Twilight... there is more to a pony's life than studying, so I’m sending you to Maretime Bay to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete - make some friends?”

“Friends? I already have friends! Well... more like acquaintances in a way, but friends... ish!”

“Twi, no offense, but the only real friends you have been me, Sunny, and Moondancer,” Spike said flatly.

“Well...”

Cut to Twilight, Sunny, and Spike on a golden chariot. “Ooh! This is so exciting! I haven’t been here since I was a filly. We have to visit the old lighthouse! Then, we can get homemade Apple treats from the Apple family- ooh, we just have to go to Mane Boutique. And- uh, Twilight? Are you okay?”

Turns out, Twilight was, in fact, not okay. “Huh? What’s that?”

“You’ve been quiet this entire trip, you haven’t even touched your book,” Sunny said, picking up the blue book. “What’s up?”

“It’s just- Princess Celestia! In all her years of being my teacher, she never once doubted me! What changed?” Twilight asked.

“Uh... well, to be fair, talk about an all-powerful, revenge-seeking alicorn from an old myth sounds... farfetched,” Spike said, which caused Twilight to sigh. Sunny nudged Spike before putting on a small smile.

“Eh, it’s not all bad! If you hadn’t sent that letter, we wouldn’t be on a chariot to Maretime Bay! Plus, we’re gonna stay at the old lighthouse! That’s... fun!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Twilight said. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she perked up. “Hey, didn’t you say there was a library in the lighthouse?”

“My dad stored all sorts of books in there, from all over Equestria!” Sunny said.

“Yes, so there might be information about Nightmare Moon! And the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight said.

“And there might be a way to stop her!” Sunny said, her smile growing wider.

“Uh, not to ruin this moment, but when are you gonna make friends, like the princess asked?” Spike asked Twilight, looking at her.

“She said to check on preparations. I’m her most faithful student, so once we finish, straight to the lighthouse.” Twilight responded. “The fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends!”

The chariot landed on the ground, and the group stepped off it. Maretime Bay was something to behold, ponies were everywhere, walking around the streets. “Come on, Twilight! Just try! The ponies here in Maretime Bay must have something to talk about!” Spike pleaded.

“Ugh, fine!” Twilight groaned. She took a minute to compose herself before she walked up to a pink mare with pink fluffy hair. “Uh... hello?” Twilight said. The pony took one look at and responded with a surprised gasp before zipping away. “Well, that was interesting, anyways, what’s first on the list?”

“Banquet preparations,” Spike said. “At...”

“Sweet Apple Acres!” The three were now walking towards a farm on the side of the town. Ponies, or more importantly, ponies of the Apple Family were mingling, partying, you name it.

“Well, I should’ve known. The Apple’s make the best food from here to... uh, everywhere!” Sunny said.

“Then this should be quick, shouldn’t it?” Twilight said, crossing into the farm. Suddenly, an orange earth pony with a light blonde mane jumped through the trees, carrying two buckets of apples on her back. The earth pony put the buckets down before turning to see Twilight, Sunny, and Spike behind her.

“Uh, hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Sunny Starscout and Spike.” Twilight introduced. “We’re here to check on preparations, and you’re in charge of the food, correct?”

“We sure are!” The mare said, shaking Twilight’s hoof a little too vigorously. “The name’s Applejack, nice ta meet ya, Miss Twilight Sparkle!”

“Nice- to meet- you- too- I- guess,” Twilight said. Applejack let go of her hoof as Twilight stumbled back, dizzy.

“Well, since we’re here, would you mind if we tried some?” Sunny asked.

“We wouldn’t mind a bit, Miss Sunny!”

“Uh, just Sunny, please.”

“As ya wish, Sunny.” Applejack said before she pulled out an iron triangle and shouted: “SOUPS ON, EVERYPONY!” Suddenly, the sounds of ponies running were enough to snap Twilight back to reality.

“Huh? What happened?” Twilight asked, not knowing why they, somehow, were now at a table. To her surprise, various apple-based meals were being placed on the table, which made their mouths water. But before Twilight could grab anything, Applejack spoke up.

“Well, before we eat, why don’t ah introduce y’all to the Apple family?” Applejack said, but before Twilight could protest, she started talking either way.

“This here’s Apple Fritter, then we have Apple Bumpkin, then Red Gala, then Red Delicious, then...” Applejack continued for what seemed like five minutes before she got to the three ponies that were essential to this story.

“Then we have Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith!” Applejack said, finally finishing. “Now, who’d like ta hear about the Apple Family history?”

Twilight shot up from her seat, “NO!” She looked around to see the looks of the other ponies before she sat back down. “Uh, I mean, no, thank you. We can’t take too much time here, we still have more rounds to finish, you understand?”

“Course’,” Applejack said. “Well, let’s dig in!” The Apple’s raised their cups before they all started to chomp down on the food. When Twilight put the Apple Fritter in her mouth, she quite literally cried.

“This- this is incredible!” Twilight said, taking another bite. “I’ve never tasted anything this tasty!”

“If ya like that, ya should try the pies, best outta’ the bunch,” Applejack said, sliding a pie towards her.

“Ooh, have any cider?” Sunny asked, looking eager.

“We sure as sugar do!” Applejack said, taking a cup of cider. “Here ya go,”

A few minutes later, Twilight, Sunny, and Spike were walking on the streets of Maretime Bay.

“Ergh...” Twilight groaned.

“Told... told you, they made the best food.” Sunny chuckled before she groaned as well. “But, let’s lay off the food for now.”

“Spike, what’s next on the list?” Twilight asked. Spike looked at the list before he looked up at the sky. “Weather. There’s supposed to be a pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds,”

“Well, she isn’t doing a good job, is she?” Suddenly, without warning, a blue blur crashed into Twilight, knocking her to the ground.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Well, here is Chapter 2! Sorry for the long wait, exams started RIGHT as I published the first chapter. :twilightblush: But! I can certainly promise you, the next episodes/chapters will come out sooner! :pinkiehappy:

If there are ANY errors, or anything that needs to be rewritten, just tell me, I’d be happy to rewrite. :ajsmug:

Well, I don’t have alot to say here, but I can tell you that in the next episode, we will see the others of the Mane 12! Please comment and/or like on this story if you enjoy, I’d really appreciate it :pinkiegasp: See you next time, :trollestia:

Episode 3: Streamerlined

Episode 4: Eternal Night

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 4: “Eternal Night”

“SURPRISE!”

Loads of confetti rained over them, and a pink earth mare with a bubbly mane quickly put party hats on them. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Uh, Sunny,” Sunny introduced. “And what just happened?!”

“It’s a surprise party, silly! Were you surprised? I can tell you’re surprised!” Pinkie laughed.

“Yes! Of course, we’re surprised! How did you get-” she gestured to the party. “-done in one day?!”

“Oh, that’s easy! All I had to do was write and mail invitations to every pony in Maretime Bay, then set this up, and then devise a foolproof plan to surprise you!” Pinkie shrugged. “All in a day's work!”

“Okay, but why?” Sunny asked.

“Remember when we met earlier? I didn’t recognize you and realized you were new here! You see, I know every pony and I mean every pony! But then I thought, if you’re new, that means you haven’t met anyone yet! And if you haven’t met anyone, that means you don’t have any friends in Maretime Bay, and that made me sad. So suddenly, I had an idea! I super secret surprise party just for you three!” She walked next to Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Hitch, Pipp, Misty, Zipp, and Izzy. “And now you have loads of friends!”

“I... don’t know what to say!” Sunny said. “You did all this? For us?”

“Well, duh! What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t host a party?” Pinkie said.

Sunny chuckled. She grabbed a glass and poured punch into it. “I guess I see your point,” she turned to Twilight. “Punch?” But she wasn’t there. “Twilight? Uh, Twilight?”

“Ooh! Are we playing hide and seek? I love hide and seek!” Pinkie said.

Sunny walked away, trying to find her friend. She saw a purple unicorn and trotted over to her, only to find that it wasn’t Twilight. “Oops! Sorry, ma’am!” She turned around again and tried to think. Where could she be? Until she realized. She walked up to the door that, hopefully, was the library. She went inside to see Twilight and a couple of books on her desk.

“Twilight?” Sunny asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Twilight lied. She flipped to another page in her book before groaning, “Fine. Maybe there is something.”

“And that is...?” Sunny asked.

“All I wanted to do was research about Nightmare Moon! And how to stop her! Right now, all we have to go on is an old myth!” Twilight sighed. “And I’m actually trying to stop her! But I can’t get some peace!”

Sunny frowned and sighed. “Twilight, listen. I know you’re worried, and so am I! But that won’t help, believe me. So, why don’t we have some fun? Besides, there’s nothing we can do to stop Nightmare Moon before she comes, but we know about the only things that can stop her: The Elements of Harmony!”

Twilight sighed, “I suppose you’re right,” Twilight stood up, “You go on ahead, I’m going to fix the mess I made.”

“All right,” Sunny worriedly said. “Just text me if you need me!” Sunny left the room, and Twilight was left to her thoughts.

Elements of harmony, huh? Twilight wondered. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to stop her. Her horn flared up, and the books returned to where they originally were. “Okay, time to... party on? Whatever.” Twilight took one last glance at the library before leaving.

Sunny wandered around, holding a cup of punch in her hands before she bumped into someone. She looked up to realize it was Hitch!

“Oh! Sunny, great to see you!” Hitch said.

“Hitch! Nice to see you,” Sunny smiled. “So, when am I gonna meet this “dragon son' of yours?” Sunny playfully asked.

“Hopefully, soon. He’s staying with Granny Figgy for the weekend. He loves her cookies!” Hitch said. “He’ll be back tomorrow,”

Sunny nodded. “How old is he, by the way?”

“Uh, around... eight?” Hitch said. “It’s complicated. No one really knows what’s the equivalent of dragon years in pony years.”

“Okay, so Spike is older by... two years!” Sunny said.

“Spike’s the purple dragon you were with, right?” Hitch asked.

“Yep, Twilight hatched him during her entrance exam and she’s been raising him ever since,” Sunny explained. “How’d you find Sparky? Was there some unicorn entrance exam for you as well?” Sunny joked.

“Nah, you see, I found Sparky in-” Suddenly, the booming sound of Izzy's voice interrupted Hitch, who looked quite surprised.

“Ponies! Ponies, it’s time for the intermission! We advise you to get the rest of the snacks before they restock it, no wasting food, and because we still have... seven hours before the celebration starts!” Izzy announced. “Introducing, the glamourous, the stylish, the uber-famous, the pop star sensation, the... daughter of Queen Haven! It’s... Pipp Petals!”

Izzy gave Pipp the microphone, the latter thanking her. “Alright, ponies! Who’s ready to witness a three-hour-long concert?! One singer being me, Pipp Petals as you know! I don’t wanna keep you ponies waiting anymore, so... hit it!”

The lights dimmed, and colorful spotlights danced around the lighthouse. “Okay, how did Pinkie do all of this in under a day?” Sunny commented.

“You learn not to question it,” Hitch said.

“Glowin' up, kind of love.
Dip and slide through the cut.
Glowin' up, kind of love.
We say "Hi", you say "What?"

Pipp twirled in the air, her fans cheering her on. She took a deep breath before resuming.

“I used to care what they'd say,
Let 'em into my brain.
But I found a new way! (Ooh-hoo-ooh)
Every time I fall down,
I pick it up like a rebound.
Gotta get through somehow!”

“We don’t fly like we used to.
We take what we’ve been through.
And we can feel brand new. (Ooh-hoo-ooh)
I know I am a fighter, I feel the fire
I’m shinin’ brighter (Ooh-hoo-ooh)”

Twilight stumbled across the lighthouse. She couldn’t see anything with the amount of ponies blocking her view. Until she bumped into Zipp.

“Oh! I- uh, Zipp!” Twilight stammered.

“Twilight? What’s up?” Zipp said. “You looking for someone? Or... something?”

“Eh, just trying to find the snack table... so can you move? Please?” Twilight said.

“Hate to break it to you, but they’re still restocking it. Pinkie somehow could get two cakes, a chocolate fountain, apple cider... almost everything! I don’t think they’ll be done soon. We have four hours until we gotta go.”

“Four hours?!” Twilight screamed. “Oh Faust... I could’ve been using this time to research about Nightmare Moon!”

“You still got four hours. Why not?” Zipp shrugged.

“The noise,” Twilight said. “It’s too loud! I can’t focus if I tried.”

Zipp pondered for a moment before she smiled. “Wait here,” she zoomed away before returning with headphones. “Use these. They don’t block all the sound, but they block most of it!”

“Uh, Zipp, this is nice and all, but you don’t have to do it!” Twilight said. “Really, I’m fine!”

“Nah, it’s alright! I’m practically rich, being an heir to the throne.” Zipp said. “I can buy ten of these. Take it!”

Twilight gasped, only registering the first part. “You’re Princess Zipp!?”

“Uh... that’s me.”

“I can’t believe I met two princesses! In a day!” Twilight said. “If I may ask, why are you here, in Maretime Bay? Shouldn’t you be in Zephyr Heights? With Queen Haven?”

“Nah, I moved out a long time ago.” Zipp explained. “And besides, I’m happier here! No boring princess lessons every day.”

Twilight chuckled. “Well, I won’t keep you here any longer. Thanks for the headphones! I really needed them.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Zipp said.

Several hours later, ponies were leaving the party, and others were helping pack up. Twilight, who was getting tired, exited the library to end up in confusion. She walked up to Misty, who was carrying a bowl of chocolate popcorn.

“Uh, Misty? Where’s everyone... going? I know the party’s been on for a while, but it shouldn’t be ending this early!” Twilight asked.

“Oh! Yeah, uh, everypony’s heading for Town Hall, for the raising of the sun! That’s kinda the whole point of today, remember?”

Twilight paused before sighing in relief. “Well, that’s a relief. We should go then. Don’t wanna be late!”

Misty nodded before the two left the lighthouse. Unbeknownst to them, the shape of the mare on the moon vanished, like it was never been there.

In the backstage of Town Hall, Princess Celestia was getting ready for her appearance. When she noticed the blue smoke forming around her. “Luna.”

The blue smoke spun around until it became the shape of an alicorn. A black coat with a mane that reflected the galaxy. She wore light blue armor with moon symbols on them, and her eyes were slits.

“It’s... Nightmare Moon now, sister.” The alicorn smiled, her teeth as sharp as a knife. “I thought you already know! Even after a thousand years, you still know nothing about me!”

Princess Celestia faced her sister. Holding herself back, she spoke. “What do you want? Why are you here?”

“Simple! To rid Equestia of its beloved sun and princess!” Nightmare Moon said. “We had this over a thousand years ago. Get it in your head!”

Celestia shook her head. “This isn’t you! I know you don’t want this! Luna wouldn’t-”

“Hah! Don’t act like you know me after one thousand years! If you really knew me, well, I wouldn’t have been on the moon for a millennium!” She hissed. Her horn lit up and was ready to strike Celestia down, but she held herself back. “So, where’s dear old Clover? Getting your precious elements of harmony?”

Celestia shook her head, and Nightmare Moon laughed. “He’s gone, isn’t he?” A magical blue aura surrounded Celestia, in which she couldn’t move in. “As the new ruler of Equestia, my first order is to banish you to the moon! So in my eternal night, ponies will only see the mark of a failed princess, but a dawn of a new era!”

“You will not get away with this!” Celestia screamed. She tried to use her magic, but her response was a failed spell.

“No element bearer, no problem!” Nightmare Moon said. Celestia tried to protest, but not a second later, she was gone. “Now then, it’s time for eternal night!”

Misty and Twilight entered Town Hall, where they saw loads of ponies inside. Twilight and Misty waved goodbye before Twilight tried to find Sunny or Spike.

“Sunny!? Spike?!” Her efforts were cut short as the ceremony started. Trumpets were heard across the room, and Mayor Mare went on stage for the opening remarks. “Fillies and gentlecolts!” Twilight looked around, but that is when she noticed the moon. It had a green, pink, and blue sheen to it. [1]

“Psst! Twilight!” Sunny whispered. Behind Twilight was Sunny, who was ducking. “Something’s wrong. Did you notice the moon? It had-”

“-a green, pink, and blue sheen to it. Why?” Twilight asked.

“Doesn’t that shade look familiar?” Sunny asked.

She looked at the moon again, and something clicked. “That’s Princess Celestia’s mane colors! It wasn’t like that earlier... that means...”

“Now, may we welcome... Princess Celestia!” Mayor Mare finished her speech and signaled to the pegasi to unfurl the curtain. But when they did, Nightmare Moon stood before them, donning an evil grin.

“Oh, my beloved subjects! How long has it been since I’ve seen your precious sun-loving faces!” Nightmare Moon said. “But we’ll change that, won’t we?”

“Who are you?! And what have you done with our Princess!” Rainbow angrily questioned, flying up to Nightmare’s face. Nightmare Moon pushed her away.

“Rainbow!” Applejack scolded, which got a laugh from Nightmare Moon.

“Don’t worry...” Nightmare Moon teleported next to Applejack. “I’m not mad.” She flashed a devilish grin. “It’s been a thousand years. All of you must not know who I am!”

Twilight was about to speak up, but Pipp interrupted her. She flew up to Nightmare Moon’s face and started talking.

“Omigosh! This is so exciting!” In Zephyr Heights, everypony noticed Pipp’s broadcast, as it was on the big screen. “So, before we get to your whole villain speech, do you have any words for about all of Equestria?” Pipp smiled.

Nightmare Moon angrily took Pipp’s phone and was about to throw it before an idea formed into her mind and spoke. “Hello, my little ponies! Every little one of you must be asking: where’s Princess Celestia? Well, take a good look at the moon! That’s right, your precious princess is on that moon at this very moment!”

Rainbow Dash growled, but Applejack put a hoof on her. “Let me introduce myself, because, from this moment on, I am the new high Princess of Equestia! I... I am Princess Nightmare Moon! And the night will last forever!”

“No.” Everypony turned to look at Twilight, who had a determined look on her face.

“No? Whatever do you mean?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“I mean no! Your night will not last forever! You may have put Princess Celestia on the moon, but I know about the one thing that can stop you!” Twilight sighed and locked eyes with the evil alicorn. “The elements of harmony!”

Instead of receiving anger, wrath, or even punishment, Nightmare Moon simply laughed. “The elements are gone! And even if you knew where they are, I highly doubt it.”

Twilight paused. She didn’t think of that! During her research, she never once found a lead on where the elements are, no ancient myth, no riddles, no anything! It was like it didn’t exist, though. That would probably explain a lot. Twilight knew that with every second she stood there, she was wasting valuable time, so... she turned and left.

Back in the lighthouse’s library, Twilight was looking through books, desperately trying to find... anything! “No, no, no, no, no!” she groaned. “How am I going to find the elements?”

“And what just are the elements of harmony?!” a voice said. She turned behind her to find Rainbow Dash, who had a look of confusion and suspicion. “Are you a spy? Admit it, you’re a spy!”

Twilight was going to speak up before Zipp beat her. “No! She’s not a spy, Rainbow! Did you even hear her speech?”

“But she sure knows what’s going on, don’t ya Twilight?” Applejack spoke. She turned to her, and before she knew it, she saw Izzy, Rarity, Pipp, Pinkie, Hitch, Fluttershy, Misty, and Sunny behind them.

Twilight sighed, “Back in Canterlot, I found a book. It held a story, Nightmare Moon’s story. And in that story, was the Elements of Harmony, two alicorns used those to banish her into the moon as punishment.”

“Then why is she here?” Izzy asked. “Shouldn’t she be on the moon?”

Twilight shook her head. “Unfortunately, it told that after a thousand years, she would return and exact revenge on Equestia, putting the land in an eternal night! And sadly, she did! But if she was stopped before, she can be stopped now. All we need are the elements of harmony!”

“So let’s go get them!” Rainbow said. “If they’re the only thing that can stop her, then why are we wasting time in a library?”

“Because no one has seen the elements in a thousand years! No one knows where they are!” Twilight said.

“Hey, guys! Over here!” Pinkie pointed to a book, which had a golden aura around it. Twilight carefully got the book with her magic and levitated it over to her. She blew the dust over the book, revealing its title.

“The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide?” Twilight read. “Pinkie! This is it!” She opened the book and read its contents aloud.

“As mentioned, there are twelve elements of harmony, each representing a different characteristic. Kindness, Heart, Laughter, Creativity, Generosity, Confidence, Honesty, Justice, Loyalty, Bravery, and Hope, the twelfth is unknown.”

“Does it say where they are?” Sunny asked.

Twilight flipped to the next page and continued from there. “It is said that the last known location of the elements is in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, which is located in what is called... The Everfree Forest."

The others (except for Twilight) tensed up. “Uh, what’s wrong?”

“You don’t know?” Hitch asked.

“Of course not, I’m new in Maretime Bay. Why? What’s wrong with it?”

Hitch looked at Sunny, who nodded. “It’s best if we show you.”

Cut to the group on a road leading into a forest, which looked very, very overgrown. “Wee! Let’s go!” Pinkie cheerily said before Twilight stopped her.

“I’m sorry, but I think it’s best if I go alone,” Twilight said. “I don’t want to pressure you into going with me.”

“No can do, sugarcube!” Applejack said. “Ya don’t know anything bout’ the Everfree, but we here in Maretime Bay do. We ain’t letting ya go in there, whether ya like it or not.”

She turned to Sunny for support but the earth mare shook her head. “She’s right, Twi. We don’t know much about the Everfree Forest, but they do! Come on, it wouldn’t hurt having others to rely on!”

Twilight was about to protest but the group looked set with their answer, so she reluctantly sighed. “Alright, let’s go!”

She walked inside before the others followed behind, though Pinkie looked a bit too excited about it.

To be continued...

Author's Note

[1] - Since Celestia is banished to the moon for now, the moon gained a pink, blue, and green sheen to it, like in the timeline where Nightmare Moon won.

Okay! So the next episode will be the final episode for “The Nightmare Arc”, after that we’ll have the filler episodes (with bits of lore)! Exciting, hopefully it won’t take as long to write but with my schedule, it’ll be here in around two weeks. See you then! :pinkiehappy: Also, credits to Comickook for inspiration for some scenes! :pinkiegasp:

If anything’s wrong, feel free to comment!

Episode 4: Eternal Night

Episode 5: Trial By Harmony

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 5: “Trial By Harmony”

Somewhere on the outskirts of Equestria stood a tower, which had stood there for a thousand years. Inside was Opaline Arcana, who was imprisoned after... well, you’ll find out.

The banished alicorn was pacing around in the throne room until she grew tired. “ALLURA!” she shouted. A light blue unicorn with an ice-colored mane stumbled into the throne room. One distinct part about her was her horn. Her horn looked like ice, wasn’t as fragile as ice, though.

“Uh, yes, Opaline?” Allura said.

“What time is it? Because apparently, the sun should be up by now! Today’s the Summer Sun Celebration, is it not?” Opaline said.

Allura checked her phone, before looking back up. “It’s... 12:36! The sun should be up by now, weird.”

“That is strange, nothing's going on today except for... oh!” Opaline grinned. “How exciting! I thought I would’ve remembered, but can’t change the past, can we, Allura?”

“Uh- no! Of course not, Opaline.”

“That was a rhetorical question, Allura. Keep up,” Opaline rolled her eyes. “A thousand years ago, I was banished, cast away! All because of Celestia, Luna, and.. Clover the Clever. They used their little Unity Crystals, but that’s beside the point. Sometime after that, Luna changed! She wasn’t the same, and eventually, she turned into... Nightmare Moon! Quite an improvement, if I say so myself.”

“Nightmare Moon? Isn’t she just an old fillies tale?” Allura asked.

“I was there a thousand years ago, Allura. It’s not just an old fillies tale.” Opaline said. “I admit, I may or may not have encouraged her, but she hardly remembers that. But I know my sister. Celestia has something up her hooves,”

“So... what are we gonna do?” Allura asked. “To stop Nightmare Moon?”

“We won’t be doing anything, I’m sure “Tia” will deal with it, but if not...” Opaline smiled. “Well, I’ll be in Canterlot once more.”

“So... has anyone been inside before? Fluttershy? Hitch?” Twilight asked. It had been five minutes since they entered, and there was no sign of anything, that is, if you could see anything.

Rarity scoffed. “Heavens no! Who in their right mind would dare go in such a place!”

“Uh... you?” Zipp said, which made Rarity blush awkwardly.

“I mean, she’s got a point, Zipp. As sheriff, I’m supposed to protect the ponies, that means close off any area that is most likely dangerous!”

“Ugh, who would make a castle in this place?! It’s so... gross, and there isn’t even any wifi!” Pipp complained. “How long until we get there?”

“Quit yer complainin’ n’ start walkin’! Yer gonna need the energy, cause’ it looks like we’ll be here a while,” Applejack said, which caused Pipp to groan. “Ah’m just sayin’ the truth!”

Another five minutes passed, and the silence was so thick you could see it from a mile away! Rainbow, who was getting bored, spoke up with a sneaky grin. “You wanna know why no one's been here before?”

“Rainbow! Quit it!” Applejack said, but Rainbow ignored her. The group made it at the cliff side where, unknowingly, blue smoke went in the cracks.

“They say that any pony that goes inside...” Rainbow crouched, slowly walking towards Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Izzy, Misty, and Pipp. “... never... goes... OUT!” She lept at them, and the cliff gave out. The pegasi went into the air, but the others slid down rapidly. Hitch was able to stabilize himself before he could get far, thankfully. Rainbow grabbed Pinkie, Pipp grabbed Rarity, Fluttershy grabbed Misty, and Zipp grabbed Izzy.

Luckily, Sunny was able to slow herself down, but she was nearing the edge. Applejack grabbed an exposed root with her teeth, but Twilight kept sliding until she was holding onto the cliff’s edge, about to fall.

“Hold on! Ah’m a comin’!” Applejack carefully let go of the root, slid down to where Twilight was, and grabbed her hoof.

Sunny looked behind her and saw the edge coming. She tried to grab on the root next to her but... she missed. “No!” She ended up in the same position as Twilight, except no pony was around to help her... or that’s what she thought.

“Sunny! I’m coming to help you!” Hitch shouted, but stopped. Blue smoke surrounded Hitch, who tried to escape before realizing something was wrong. “Sunny, something’s wrong, I- I can’t move!”

Of course, you can’t! He heard someone say. He looked around, trying to find where the pony was until the voice spoke again. Don’t try, you’ll only get confused.

“Who are you?” He asked suspiciously.

Me? I’m sure you already know. And before you say something, I’m not you.

He looked at the blue smoke, then at his friend, who looked like she was about to fall. “I don’t care. Just get me out of this thing!”

Now why would I do that? You’re making a bad decision, sheriff!

“Bad... decision?”

Twilight could feel herself slipping. Applejack tried to pull her up, but she couldn’t. She tried desperately for a solution, but she couldn’t. “Twilight, ya need ta let go.”

“What?!” Twilight said in shock. “What do you mean let go?! I’m gonna die!”

“No, ya ain’t! Rainbow n’ Zipp’ll catch ya,” Applejack said.

“You don’t know that!” Twilight argued.

“Now listen here. What ah’m sayin’ ta ya is the honest truth. Let go, n’ you’ll be safe.” Applejack assured.

Twilight’s eyes widened. She didn’t know whether to trust her or listen to her gut. She sighed before she let go of Applejack’s hooves and started screaming until she stopped mid-air. She opened her eyes and saw Rainbow and Zipp holding her. “Rainbow! Zipp!” she looked up at Sunny, who was losing her grip. “You have to catch Sunny!”

With Hitch, the sheriff looked confused. He didn’t know what the voice meant by “bad decision”.

You’re risking your life! Why would you risk it for a pony you haven’t seen in a long time? You’re safe here!

“Why wouldn’t I? Sunny’s my friend, I have to save her!” Hitch said. “Let me go!”

You’re going to cause your death! Trust me, I only want what’s best for you.

“Let. Me. Go!” Hitch growled. The blue smoke around him disappeared, and he ran towards Sunny. “Sunny!” he was about to pull her up, before the same blue smoke pulled Sunny away.

“Hitch!” Sunny screamed. Hitch didn’t know what to except... jump! He lept off the cliff and hugged Sunny as they were falling. “Hitch! What are you doing!?”

“I can’t let you die! I won’t let that! I’ll be there to be your landing!”

“Not at the cost of your life!”

Sunny and Hitch were close, close to the ground. Sunny closed her eyes as small tears escaped her eyes. She thought that her death would be quick and painless, but it thankfully never came. She opened her eyes to see Zipp carrying her. She turned around to see Rainbow carrying Hitch.

“Z-Zipp?” Sunny whimpered. She wrapped herself tightly around Zipp, which the pegasus didn’t mind.

The two pegasus put their friends on the ground before doing so themself. Twilight ran to Sunny and wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Sunny! I was so, so worried!”

“Yeah, me too.” Sunny chuckled. “We should... get going! Don’t have any time to waste, right?”

Twilight looked surprised, but quickly hid it. “I guess...”

“Whoosh! Once Pinkie and Rarity were safe, me and Zipp looped the loop around them, and bam! Caught you in the nick of time, but it’s not done yet! Just after we made sure you were safe, Sunny and Hitch were falling to their dooms! And as a good friend, I knew I had to save them! So wham the bam, boom! Right before you hit the ground, we caught them!” Rainbow excitedly said. “Can you believe it? Three awesome saves in a day!”

“Yes, Rainbow, I do believe it, I was there, y’know!” Twilight rolled her eyes. “And I’m very grateful for that, but we need to-" the sound of a booming roar cut Twilight off. They turned to find a creature with the body of a lion, bat wings and ears, and a scorpion’s tail.

“Uh... what is that?!” Sunny shrieked.

“It’s a manticore! But they don’t attack unless provoked?” Twilight said, “We gotta get past him!”

The manticore charges at the group and leaps at Rarity. Luckily, she was able to dodge and respond with a buck to the face, causing the creature to recoil in shock. “Hi-ya! Take that, you ruffian!”

Angered, the creature made a full-blown roar directed at Rarity, which messed up her hair. “My hair!” She started weeping before she trotted away.

Zipp and Rainbow charged at it full speed in mid-air. They spun around it which accidentally created a tornado. The creature started swiping its paws around until one of them hit Rainbow, causing her to drop out of the air and fall to the ground rapidly. “Rainbow!” Zipp turned to the manticore and charged at him again, but the manticore was quick to react and swiped her away.

Zipp landed on the ground, dirt entering her mouth. “Blegh!”

“Um, guys? There might be another way to-” Fluttershy muttered, but she went unheard and unnoticed. Hitch lept in the air and drop-kicked the manticore, causing it to fall to the ground. Applejack quickly used her lasso to trap the creature, but it easily broke through the rope.

“Darn it!” Applejack muttered. “Pinkie! Do yer thing!”

“Wait! I don’t think that’s a good-”

“On it!” Pinkie happily replied, “Izzy! Formation 109!” Pinkie charged at the monster while Izzy followed close behind. Once she was near enough, she grabbed a party cannon from her mane and lit it up. “SURPRISE ATTACK!” Confetti shot out of the cannon, momentarily stunning the manticore. While it was stunned, Izzy grabbed multiple ribbons and tied them around it.

“Did it work?” Sunny asked. The creature struggled and rustled in the ribbon knot before it roared in defeat. The group happily celebrated, but unknown to them, blue smoke surrounded the manticore before the knots came loose. The smoke quickly dissipated as the manticore started charging at the group.

“Uh, look out!” Pipp shouted as they quickly jumped away, barely dodging it.

“What?! But that’s the tightest knot in Equestria!” Izzy paused. “Well, I think so.”

“Izzy! There’s no time for that!” Sunny scolded. “Let’s go, round 2!”

“I’m getting real tired of this guy,” Rainbow said. The group started preparing to charge, and so did the manticore. Fluttershy, who had no choice, jump into the middle of the two and screamed, “WAAAAIIIT!”

Fluttershy turned and walked to the manticore. Once she was close, the beast took a defending stance and raised its paw up. “This is gonna hurt just a bit.” The group closed their eyes like they were mourning until they heard... laughing?

They opened their eyes and saw the manticore holding Fluttershy in its arms and licking her. “Aw, you’re just a little old baby kitty, aren’t you? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

Twilight looked at the ground and saw a thorn lying down. “How... did you know about this thorn?”

The manticore let Fluttershy down, “I didn’t! Sometimes, we all need to be shown a little kindness.”

The group went forward and left Twilight alone with her thoughts. She smiled before she ran towards the others.

The group continued their way across the forest until a blue blur surrounded them. The group prepared to defend themselves until a black female unicorn with dark blue hair appeared.

“Who are you?!” Sunny suspiciously asked. “And... where did you come from?”

“Name’s Lunar Swirl, and I came from the...” She turned around. “Blue smoke behind us!”

“Okay... Lunar, why are you here?” Hitch asked.

“Oh! That’s simple, to get you ponies... out!” Lunar enthusiastically replied.

“Get us out? I don’t understand?” Rarity said.

“Nightmare Moon said to get you ponies out of the forest! It’s not safe in here, y’know?” Lunar said.

“Look, we’re on a mission to get the Elements of Harmony. We don’t need you to make things harder!” Rainbow said.

She sighed. “Nightmare told me you’d react like this,” her horn lit up. “So, in this scenario, I have to... fight! Alright, get ready for this!” She shot multiple blasts at the group, who luckily dodged.

“We just finished a like, awesome fight! Why can’t we take a break!” Pipp groaned, flying around.

“Wait, this isn’t fair! There’s twelve of you, and one me!” Lunar noticed. A flash of white and light blue filled the Everfree. Once it died out, there were three other copies of Lunar beside the original. “Meet the Lunars!”

“C-Cloning? But that requires a high level of power! A level only alicorns can reach!” Twilight gawked. “Just how powerful are you?!”

“That wasn’t me!” Lunar held her hooves up. “I’m good at magic, but cloning is out of my league!”

“Then who did-” Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by Rainbow Dash groaning.

“Are we gonna fight, or what!?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking ready to brawl.

“Oooh, right!” The four Lunar’s horns lit up, and beams were shot at the group. Since there were four of them now, it was a lot harder to dodge.

After some time, the group started panting. “Okay, this is getting tiring! Can somepony actually do something?!” Sunny said before narrowly avoiding a laser beam. “Please!”

Rainbow dodged more laser beams in the air, she dived towards a Lunar clone, who just teleported away. “Come on!”

Rarity and Izzy teamed up and shot laser beams at a clone, who quickly conjured a shield spell. The clone transformed the shield into multiple ice shards, which were shot at the two. Zipp and Pipp tried to distract another clone while Hitch and Applejack snuck onto them from behind. Applejack threw her lasso at her, but the unicorn clone quickly stopped it mid-air with her magic.

Pinkie and Misty charged at the original, who quickly paused them in time and... rewinded them. “What?! This isn’t fair! I call for my pony rights!” Pinkie argued.

Sunny held a clone down while Twilight shot beams at it, which was dodged every time. After a few seconds, Sunny got bucked off and hit the ground. The clone shot beams at Twilight, who kept teleporting away. Twilight teleported next to Sunny and helped her up before they teleported away.

“Original Lunar?” a clone called. “We’re all powerful unicorns, correct? Why don’t we just end them? Like, with one huge super big blast!”

“I like the way you think, Lunar clone!” The original said. “Clones! To me!”

The clones quickly teleported next to her. “Alright, you know how to do blasts, right? Exactly, so just do that... but bigger!” Each Lunar’s horn started glowing, a white glowing ball forming on the tip.

“Uh, guys? What are we gonna do bout’ that?!” Rainbow asked, slowly backing away.

“There’s nothing we can do!” Pipp screamed. “We barely survived them while they were fighting separately, but together we’re doomed!”

“Twilight! I... Is there anything you can do? You’re Princess Celestia’s student, aren’t you? Use a shield spell! O-Or maybe we can teleport! Anything!” Misty begged.

Twilight racked her mind, trying to find a solution in her head. Until she thought of one, “Izzy, Misty, Rarity! Next to me, now!”

The aforementioned mares stood next to her. “Uh, Twilight? What are we going to do, exactly?” Rarity asked.

“Simple! We counter their attack with the same attack, genius!” Twilight explained. “Fight fire with fire,”

“Most of us don’t know how to create a magical blast, Twilight!” Izzy said.

“Just channel all your magic in the tip of your horn, then, when there’s enough, send it out,” Twilight said. “It should be easy enough,”

“Hm, alright,” Rarity said. She channeled all her magical energy, which came out as a small, glowing ball of light. Izzy. Misty and Twilight did the same, naturally giving the same results.

“Once they shoot, we do too.” Twilight said. A few seconds passed by before a white beam was shot at the group. Luckily, Twilight was quick to counter with her beam, accompanied by Rarity, Izzy, and Misty’s.

Both beams were powerful, but the Lunar’s beam started pushing the other beam back. Twilight pushed more magic into her beam, but it didn’t work. “Ugh! It’s- it’s not working!” Twilight said. She put her hooves in the ground, focusing all her magic into the beam.

The original Lunar grinned as her beam started strengthening. “Aha! Take that, Twilight Sparkle! Looks like you aren’t that skilled in magic as you thought! Ooh, wait till’ I mention this to Mrs. Goldspark! I’m her new favorite now!”

Twilight started panting, she grew tired from holding up the beam, and it seemed like the others were too. “I don’t know what to do- ugh! Lunar Swirl is too good, she’s better than magic than me! Go! Leave! Save yourselves! You can still go and get the elements, I’ll be fine!” She closed her eyes and focused what was left of her magic into the beam, which was growing weak.

“NO!” Sunny said. Twilight turned around and saw Sunny, Rainbow Dash, Zipp, Pipp, Applejack, Hitch, Fluttershy, and Pinkie standing right behind her. “We’re not leaving you!”

“We’re in this together!” Rainbow determinately said.

“You’re not alone,” Fluttershy said.

“N’ we’re not budging!” Applejack added.

“We beat a horrifying manticore, we’ll beat them too!” Zipp said.

“Then we’ll get the elements!” Pipp said.

“Stop Nightmare Moon,” Hitch said.

“And throw one super big par-tay!” Pinkie happily finished.

Suddenly, Twilight felt a warm feeling in her chest, one of happiness. She turned forward and channeled all her magic back into her beam. The others stood beside Twilight as the beam started glowing... rainbow? The beam started pushing Lunar’s beam back, who looked stunned.

She growled. “What?! No! This isn’t fair!” Lunar pushed more magic into her beam, but Twilight’s seemed too powerful. The clones dissipated, and Lunar pushed even more magic into the beam. “No, no, no, no, no!” Her beam faded and the rainbow beam surrounded Lunar, who started screaming and thrashing in her spot.

When Twilight’s beam died out, Applejack quickly took the opportunity to tie her rope around her.

“I’ll get you back, Twilight Sparkle! You’ll pay! You’ll... pay!” Lunar screamed. She tried to use her magic to escape, but her horn looked burnt, she thrashed in her spot before few tears left her eyes. Those tears turned into sobs until she was downright crying on the spot.

“Come on, let’s go!” Rainbow said, who quickly walked away. While the others followed Rainbow, Misty looked behind her before looking back ahead.

“Um, guys? We can’t just leave her there, can we?” Misty asked.

“Why shouldn’t we? She almost killed us!” Zipp retorted. “Besides, we have to get the elements, remember?”

“I don’t know it feels... mean!” Misty ran to the crying unicorn and untied the rope. “There, you’re free to go!”

Lunar’s face showed a mix of shock and surprise, but Zipp’s contained anger and confusion. “Misty! What the heck was that for?!” Zipp furiously said.

“Look, I know she tried to kill us... but just leaving her here is doing the exact same! Who knows what might get her here!” Misty said.

“She does have a point,” Hitch replied.

“I... I don’t know what to say,” Lunar breathed. She tried to stand up, but she quickly collapsed not too long after. “Why? Why did you free me? You have every reason not to, I tried to kill you for Celestia’s sake!”

“You’re right, I had every reason to just leave you there, but I didn’t. My mom always taught me to be kind and helpful, not heartless and apathetic! You may have tried to kill me, but I won’t just let you die alone.” Misty explained. “You should go, just be careful!”

Lunar nodded before her horn gave off a small glow, she took a deep breath as her horn started glowing brighter. “Um, thank you, really. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that I tried to kill you.” She quickly teleported away just after. Misty turned around and ran to her friends, who all looked stunned.

“Misty, that was... an incredibly nice thing to do.” Sunny said. “But we shouldn’t waste anymore time, let’s go.”

As the group walked in the forest, Rarity felt herself stepping on sort of gooey substance. “Ick, mud!” She screamed.

“Calm down, Rarity, It’s not like it’s gonna hurt ya,” Applejack said.

“Of course I know that, but I just got a new pedicure earlier!” Rarity whined. “Well, I can always do it again, I suppose.”

The group stepped into darkness, which allowed Nightmare Moon (in her blue smoke form) to snake past. “Darkness. How enjoyable,” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“The castle could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn’t even see it! Literally!” Twilight said, she bumped into a tree. “Ow!”

Fluttershy shrieked. “Fluttershy, it’s just a tree-” Twilight turned around and screamed. Each tree had different faces, all contorted to make it seem horrifying and real. “What is that!?”

Pipp looked at one of tree trees before stumbling back, bumping into Zipp. “What in the name of Faust is that?!”

“Stay together!” Twilight instructed. She, Sunny, Applejack, Hitch, Fluttershy, Misty, Izzy, Rarity, Pipp, Zipp, and Rainbow stood together in their spot. The trees looked like they were moving, but in reality they stood in place.

Alright, come on, Twilight! How can I... wait, is that laughing? Twilight’s thoughts were cut off by the sound of giggling. The group turned to the source, to find Pinkie making faces at a tree, giggling while she did so.

“Pinkie! Are you insane! Run! Get over here!” Twilight shouted.

Pinkie laughed. “Why would I do that?” Weirdly, music started playing out of nowhere.

“Where is that music coming from?” Zipp murmured to herself.

“When I was a little filly and,
the sun was going do-o-o-own!”

“This is not a good time for a song!” Twilight said.

“The song’s good, let her sing!” Pipp cheered.

“The darkness and the shadows,
they would always make me fro-o-own.”

“Where is that music coming from?!” Zipp questioned. She looked at Pipp, who just shrugged.

“I'd hide under my pillow,
From what I thought I saw.
But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way
to deal with fears at all-l-l!”

She appeared next to Rainbow, who rolled her eyes. “Then, what is?”

“She said, "Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall,
Learn to face your fears!
You'll see that they can't hurt you
Just laugh to make them disappear."

She paused, positioning herself forward at the tree before continuing. “Ha, ha, ha!”

Surprisingly, the face on the tree dissapeared, which recited some gasps.

“So, giggle at the ghostly!
Guffaw at the grossly!
Crack up at the creepy!
Whoop it up with the weepy!
Chortle at the kooky!
Snortle at the spooky!”

With each line, the group started laughing, which made the face on the tree they were next to dissapear.

“And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna...” She started laughing uncontrollably, and so did her friends.

“Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuugh!”

The music ended, and they all flopped on the ground, each all laughing.

The group - still laughing - progressed on their journey before they stopped. They were at a river. Water soaked the grounds while cries of distress were heard in the air.

“Ooh, how are we gonna get past this?” Pinkie asked.

“Uh,” Rainbow gestured to her wings. “I can just fly us across! Easy as pie,” Rainbow took off, but when she flew over the river she immediately flew back.

“Nevermind,” Rainbow bitterly said. The gusts of winds proved to be too hard to fly in, even for Rainbow. “What even is doing all this?!”

“That,” Izzy said. She pointed to a sea snake. It had long purple scales, orange hair, and it was really, really long. It’s constant thrashing only made the waves come faster and bigger, which soaked everypony.

“Seems like we found our source,” Twilight said. “Sir! Sir! SIR!” She shouted, but the constant crashing of the waves combined with it’s cries blocked her sound. “No use,”

“How’re we gonna get past now?!” Sunny asked.

“Well, the most logical way would be to get it to stop.” Zipp replied. “We would have to build a raft of sorts, but we would have to account for wind and water speed. And we would have to find materials...”

“That’s easy!” Izzy said. “We’re in a forest, didn’t ya know back in the old days. When ponies had to go across sea, all they did was put logs together and made a boat! And we have four pegasus, if they work together they can make some sort of engine! And we could use branches for paddles!”

“Izzy, darling, while you do make a good point... we’re twelve ponies. How on Equus would we make a raft that fits all of us?”

“If you believe, you can achieve!” Izzy responded. “Now, does anyone have any glue? No? Yeah, we’re gonna have to move past that. If we do this in a song, we’ll get this done in fifteen minutes!”

“Izzy, there’s no way we can build a raft in one song.” Twilight said. Though that didn’t stop Izzy from continuing.

“(Ooh-ooh) I got a good feelin'
(Ahh-ahh) In my so-o-oul.
(Ooh-ooh) Let's put our manes together (uh-huh)
(Ahh-ahh) Let's lose contro-o-ol!”

Twilight, Izzy, Misty, and Rarity were levitating logs over to the rest of the group. Sunny, Hitch, Pinkie, and Pipp were taking the measurements of the logs given to them, while Applejack, Fluttershy, Zipp, and Rainbow were aligning the logs in place.

“(Ooh-ooh) Oh, yeah, I got that vision,
(Ahh-ahh) Told you befo-o-ore.
(Ooh-ooh) I'll make somethin' outta nothin'
(Ahh-ahh) So here we go-whoa-whoa!”

Cut to the group trying to extract the sap from their trees, but after a couple of minutes they were able to get enough sap needed.

“Can you see it? Oh, yeah, I can see it.
Just follow my vibe, no, we don't need a blueprint. (uh-huh)
Life is random, sometimes it's chaotic.
But in a bit of time, oh, pony, it'll be lit (whoo!)

Every little thing, yeah, has got a purpose. (Oh, pony, can ya feel me?)
Every little thing, yeah, just needs a pla-a-ace. (Oh, pony, can ya hear me?)
Every little pony has got their own destiny
And I'm gonna live mine with a little creativity! (With a little creativity!)”

The group was now carefully putting the logs with the sap applied together, and after a couple of long minutes... they finished it!

“With a little creativity. (oh, pony)
With creativity,
With a little creativity!”

Izzy, with her friends admired their work. Twilight walked up to Izzy before speaking, “Izzy, you were right! Sure, I had some skepticism at first... but you were correct! We finished this in one song!”

“Told ya!” Izzy laughed. "Come on, let's test the raft I'm ninety percent sure won't break!"

Applejack tied her lasso around the flag Izzy put and connected it to the tree. After she made sure it was secure, they pushed the raft in the water.

Pipp, Zipp, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were at the back at the raft, taking deep breaths. The others were at the front, holding thick sticks. "Rainbow, Zipp, Fluttershy, Pipp start flapping those wings!" Sunny instructed.

The pegasi did as they were told and started flapping their wings as hard as they could. And sure enough, they were moving. "Okay, get ready to paddle! Applejack, untie the rope." Sunny said.

Applejack untied the rope and they started paddling. The raft started moving forward. Slowly, combined with the energy of twelve ponies, they started gaining speed. "It's working! Somehow, but it's working!"

The pegasi started flapping faster and harder, whilst the others were rowing ever faster. "Come on, we're so close!" Sunny said.

"I'm getting wing cramps!" Pipp said. "And it hurts so badly! Why is it so far away!?"

"So... close!" Rainbow grunted, speeding up her flapping. "We can do this!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Stop!" Sunny screamed. And on instinct, Twilight used her magic to abruptly stop the boat, which caused everypony to fall on the hard logs.

"What was that... for..." Misty gulped, looking up at the looming figure above them. "Uh, hello?"

"And who just are you?" The sea serpent asked, narrowing it's eyes. "Are you the one responsible for my uneven mustache?!"

"No! We only just got here, uh, mister." Misty awkwardly replied. "Um, it's really such a tragedy for your mustache."

"That's what this was all about?" Rainbow muttered. Rarity side-eyed her before walking up to the tall purple sea serpent.

"Rainbow, how could you be so insensitive!" Rarity scolded. "Just because it doesn't feel important to you doesn't mean it isn't important to somepony else."

"Why, thank you, little pony." He thanked. "I am Steven Magnet, pleasure to meet you."

"Rarity, pleasure is mine as well." Rarity greeted. "If I may ask, how did your mustache get... ripped off?"

Steven scoffed. "I was just swimming here, minding my own business when suddenly, some tacky blue smoke came and tore half of my mustache!"

"Well, that's very sad and all, but can you let us cross?" Zipp impatiently said. "We've got very important stuff to do."

Rarity glared at Zipp before Steven spoke up, "I'm verry sorry, but I cannot let you pass."

"What?! Why not?!" Rainbow said, flying up to the sea serpents face. "We need to get the Elements! Equestria is on the line!"

"Ah, you see, just after my mustache was so horribly taken from me, I heard a voice in my head! It told me that if I wanted my precious mustache back, I could not let the next group of ponies to pass! So, my final answer is no." Steven explained. "If it were up to me, you would already be on your way, but I can't when I look like this."

"I understand," Rarity said.

"You what?!" Twilight screeched. "I know you don't like getting dirty- dirt in general. But for the sake of Equestria, we need these Elements!"

Rarity winked. "I know, I know. But look at those lovely luminescent scales! That expertly coiffed mane, his fabulous manicure!"

"I know, I know!" Steven sighed.

"What's... happening?" Pipp asked. "Are they bonding?"

"All ruined without that beautiful mustache!" Rarity said.

The serpent started sobbing. "Oh, it's true! I'm hideous! Hideous!"

"I just cannot let a crime in fashion go uncorrected!" Rarity decided. She clamped her teeth around one of his scales, and ripped it off.

"Rarity! What are you..." Twilight was interrupted by the sound of a swipe. She gasped when she realized what the unicorn cut. "...doing. Rarity, your tail!"

The unicorn levitated her tail up and attached in to the torn part of the mustache. "There, good as new! Orange and purple are probably in season..."

"My mustache! It's fixed! Oh, thank you, Miss Rarity!"

"Rarity! Your tail!" Twilight gasped. "It's ruined!"

Rarity laughed it off, "I know, darling, but I'm more than alright to sacrifice my tail in order for the sake of Equestria! Besides, short tails are in season... hopefully. And it'll grow back!"

"So would the mustache!" Rainbow angrily grumbled.

"Since I have my delightful mustache back..." Steven stroked his new mustache. "You can pass!" He pushed the raft just hard enough for them to start sailing towards land. "Good luck! And thank you for the mustache!"

After a few minutes, the group reached land. "Wait here, I'm gonna fly overhead to try and see where we are." Rainbow said, flying high in the air. After a few seconds, she flew back down. "I have good news, and bad news."

"What's the good news?" Sunny asked.

"We're getting close to the castle, like real close." Rainbow explained. "It's not too far, follow me!"

She ran ahead, and the others quickly followed behind. After a minute, Rainbow abruptly stopped, and everone except Twilight did as well. Twilight, on the other hand, stopped just at the edge of the cliff.

"Is the bad news about the divide between us... and the castle?" Twilight gulped.

"Nah, that was just to mess with ya." Rainbow chuckled. She indicated to her wings, which made Twilight sigh in relief. "I see a bridge down there, doesn't look too broken. Let me get that for ya,"

She dives in the mist below and grabbed the broken rope bridge with her teeth. She flew to the castle and tied one end on the wooden stake. Thick mist surrounded her, and a female voice called out to her. "Rainbow.."

She quickly turned around, narrowing her eyes. "Who's there?" She asked apprehensively. "Show yourself!"

"Rainbow..." The voice said again, as if it was taunting her.

"This isn't funny... who is this?!" Rainbow shouted. She groaned before she turned around, planning to finish the job when the voice speaks again.

"We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria," the voice said.

"Uh, who?" Rainbow asked.

"You, of course." another voice said.

"Really?!" Rainbow squeaked before she coughed. "Uh, yeah, of course, me! You wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts bout' that? It'll really help out! I've been trying to get into their group for... since I was a filly!"

"No, Rainbow Dash. We want you to join us," Three pegasi emerged from the shadows, all bearing unique grins. Two of them had purple manes, while the one in the center had a dark blue color. They all wore what looked like a Wonderbolt's costume, except the blue and yellow were replaced by black and purple. They all wore yellow goggles, and yellow streaks that looked like lightning bolts trailed around their body. "The Shadowbolts!"

"The... Shadowbolts? That kinda sounds like a rip off of the Wonderbolts, but I've heard of names like Lightningbolts. Yours is better than that one, though, nothing beats the original!"

The mare simply ignored her before she spoke, "We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree forest, and soon the greatest in all of Equestria!" She leaned in close to Rainbow. "But first... we need a captain. They have to be the most magnificent, swiftest, bravest flyer in all the land."

"Yep, I think I know who you're talkin' about." Rainbow said.

"We need..." The mare leaned close to her ear before whispering, "...you."

"Knew it! Sign me up, we have a deal!" Rainbow giddily said. "Just let me tie the bridge real quick, you can come with us to get-"

"NO!" The mare shouted, which startled Rainbow. "If you side with them, the deals off."

Back with the others, Applejack yawned. "What's takin' Rainbow so darn long? It can't be too hard, can it now?"

"Yeah... real suspicious..." Twilight remarked. She looked over to peek on Rainbow and saw the three pegasi. "Rainbow! What's happening? Don't listen to them!" She said, raising her voice.

Rainbow turned around, and the mist grew thicker, covering any vision of Twilight or her friends. She sharply turned her head back, "What's your deal?! Why do you not want us to get the elements? Do you want Equestria to have Nightmare Moon as a ruler?!"

Suddenly, something clicked her her brain. "Wait, that's exactly what you want, isn't it? You work for Nightmare Moon, don't you!"

"Aren't you a smart one?" The mare chuckled. "Time for me to reveal myself, the name's Storm Shroud, these two are Gaze and Sprinter."

"I didn't ask for your name," Rainbow spat. "Why don't you want us to get the elements? What's in it for you?"

"We were just like you, we wanted to join the Wonderbolts. But Spitfire, she didn't think we were good enough, she thought we weren't fit to be one of them. Not too long ago, Nightmare Moon promised us that if we were to stop you from achieving your goal, we would be the best flyers in Equestria." Storm Shroud explained. "You can join us in glory, why wait for the Wonderbolts to see your potential... when we already do?"

Rainbow looked conflicted, if what she was saying was true, why shouldn't she take it? She could become famous, she could have everything she's ever dreamed of! She turned around before sighing,

"No." Rainbow simply said.

"No? NO?!" Storm shrieked. "Are you okay? Because who in their right mind would refuse an offer like this?!"

"I'm only loyal to my friends, not to some stranger I met only two minutes ago!" Rainbow said. She tied the rope around the wooden stake, and the mist cleared. "I'd never leave them hanging, not even for my own personal desires."

"You made the wrong choice, Rainbow Dash." She snarled. Storm Shroud turned to her friends before they flew away, leaving a trail of smoke in the air.

"Come on, we're so close!" Sunny said. She and the others went on the bridge, treading carefully. But just as everyone stepped hoof on it, blue smoke swirled around the entrance of the castle. After a few seconds, the smoke took form of an alicorn, one that could only be...

"Nightmare Moon." Twilight said.

"So we meet again, little ponies." Nightmare Moon said. "How did you do it? How did you manage to overcome the cliff? The forest? The serpent? Or my faithful subjects?! Was it fate? Destiny? Or was it just pure luck?" She laughed. "No matter, I should've dealt with you from the start."

Nightmare Moon sent a beam of magic at the bridge, which broke in half. "No... no!" Sunny screamed. Zipp, Pipp, and Fluttershy were quick to go airborne. Rainbow dived after them, but they were falling too fast.

"Wah!" Twilight screamed. Unlike from earlier, she and her friends were falling too fast, so anypony catching them was out of the option. "Come on, come on!" She said to herself.

What to do? What to do?! We're gonna die! Twilight thought. If I don't think of something, we're gonna crash into the ground! Maybe... yes! Levitation! But eight ponies all at once... I have to try!

She focused all her magic into a levitation spell, simple yet complicated at the same time. "Work! Work you darn horn!" Twilight screamed.

Just as they were about to hit the ground, Twilight's horn lit up a bright magenta. She was quick to cast the spell around her friends, who were surrounded by a magenta aura.

After a few seconds, Twilight carefully put herself down then her friends. Not too long after, Rainbow, Zipp, Pipp, and Fluttershy landed.

"Is anypony hurt?" Fluttershy asked.

Sunny shook her head. "Nope, Twilight was able to catch us before we landed... where even are we?"

"I'll tell ya where you are," A voice said. The group turned to see an old unicorn mare behind them. She was gray and had bright yellow hair with gray streaks in them. Her cutie mark was a symbol of a potion with swirls around them. "We're under the ruins of the castle! My name's Sunlight Brew, but call me Granny Brew."

"You don't work for Nightmare Moon, don't you?" Rainbow asked suspiciously.

"Of course not! If I did, I'd have a name based of the moon!" Granny Brew laughed. "I'm just here to get y'all out of the forest and away from the castle."

"No offense, Granny Brew, but we can't leave the Everfree Forest just yet! We need the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare!" Pipp said.

"Elements my flank! You ponies are too young, you can't be riskin' your lives! Celestia'll be back in a thousand years, don't worry bout' it!"

"That's the thing, we might not have another thousand years! Equestria can't survive without the sun, everyone knows that!" Zipp said.

"Our crops will wither, meanin' no food!" Applejack said. "Can ya lead us to the exit?"

Granny Brew thought it over for a second before she spoke, "Follow me," she walked away as the Mane Twelve followed her.

After a few minutes, Granny Brew stopped in front of a cave. Inside it was a tree, except it wasn't a normal tree, it looked like it was made of crystal, and there were eleven spots that looked like it could fit gems.

"What is this place?" Twilight asked.

"It's totes fancy!" Pipp said, taking selfies of her and the tree. "We should come back here sometimes!"

"To answer your question, Twilight Sparkle, this is the Tree of Harmony, the birthplace of the Elements of Harmony."

"How do you know all this?" Twilight asked. "This doesn't seem like information any regular pony would know."

"Ah, but you see, I'm not a regular pony." Granny Brew said. "Back in my days, I was quite the adventurer. I was skilled in magic, my studies, and I was even Princess Celestia's student!"

"Sounds like somepony I know," Sunny chuckled.

"Till' one day, I came across this very tree. Princess Celestia told me all about it, about the elements, about Nightmare Moon, everything!"

"She knew?" Applejack asked. "Then why didn't she stop it?!"

"You see, her connection with the Elements were... fading, the elements needed new bearers." Granny Brew explained. "And yes, while she could've used the elements to banish Nightmare Moon back onto the moon, that connection would break. And without the Elements of Harmony, Equestria would fall to whatever darkness that would come."

"So even if we got the Elements, we would need to find their bearers?" Pinkie asked.

"Correct," Granny Brew said.

"Ugh... that makes it even harder!" Twilight said. "How are we going to find twelve ponies with a strong connection?!"

"It's always the blind ones..." Granny Brew muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Granny Brew said. Her horn lit up, and a tray with multiple herbs and ingredients appeared along with a bowl, water, and utensils. "If you want to get out of this hole, mix these ingredients into a whole. Under the moonlight, the mixture will glow. While done incorrect, a fatal blow."

"Granny Brew, I don't think this is the time for weird rhymes and mixing!" Hitch said. "We need to get out of here, fast!"

"And you will," Granny Brew assured. "If you mix these ingredients correctly, I'll show you the way out. You just need to have confidence in yourself."

"You said something about a... fatal blow? What do you mean by that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nothing to worry about," Granny Brew said. "Now, get to mixing!"

Twilight levitated one of the herbs up and examined it. "I've never heard of a mixture like this before, this is going to take a while."

Rainbow groaned. "Why are we sticking around? We can just fly out!"

"It would take too long to carry each of them up, so we'd have to find another way. And Granny Brew's the only one who knows it!" Zipp said.

Rainbow groaned. "Hey, wait, a minute..." Pipp said. "Uh, Twilight, can you hand over the herbs please?"

Twilight shrugged before levitating the herbs over to her. "Alright..." Pipp muttered. "The tray, please? I think I know this!"

Twilight hesitated. "Are you sure? With the amount of water, I'd assume we'd only have one try. And no offense, but I think I'd know this better."

"You may be Princess Celestia's student, but I'm the best in chemistry! And I make my own products, believe me, I know how to make things shimmer."

Twilight sighed before she passed the tray over to her. "You're confident?"

"Trust me on this, when you've made enough D.I.Y videos, you get the hang of it." Pipp said. She started putting herbs in the bowl, then some water as she started mixing. She took two herbs and made them into powder, before sprinkling it in. "It's missing something... aha!" She took out a vial of an unknown blue liquid before pouring it in and mixing. After some time she added the rest of the herbs in.

"Ta-da! Introducing... Pipp Petal's Moonlight Shimmer Mixture!" Pipp introduced, holding the bowl in the air. "This should work."

"What was in that blue liquid?" Rarity asked. "It seems to have done the trick. I've never seen anything this glamorous! Well, except for that tree, but this comes in close second."

"That liquid was part of my new hoofpolish, makes anything shimmer." Pipp explained. "Now, let's show this to Granny Brew and get out of this place!"

Pipp handed the bowl to Granny Brew, who nodded. "Well done, you've passed! Though, I must apologize."

"Apologize? For what?" Pipp asked.

"I lied about the "fatal blow" thing, just needed a good rhyme! Also, even if you didn't get it right, I was still going to show you to the exit..." Granny Brew said. "Anyways, go right and there should be stairs! Good luck!" She teleported away, leaving behind the bowl.

"Can't believe she tricked us! And she didn't even bring the bowl!" Sunny said. "Let's just get out of... here?" Wolves made of branches and leaves appeared before them, all with glowing blue eyes.

"What are these?!" Twilight said. "Wolves made of branches?!"

"These here are timberwolves, they stay in the Everfree Forest most o' the time." Applejack clarified. "Ah guess it was only a matter of time till' they found us."

"Is there anyway to stop them?" Sunny asked.

"Timberwolves are practically indestructible!" Zipp said. "There are only two ways, one is if we get them out of the Everfree Forest as the properties in the forest are what's causing them to stay together. Going out would mean they would fall apart, but we can't leave until we have the elements!"

"And the other one?" Pinkie asked.

"We'd have to make a mixture that could neutralize their magic, but we don't have anything like that!"

"Ya think this could work?" Applejack asked, holding up the bowl.

"That's the thing, we don't know if it's the correct substance! And even if it was, one of us would have to be brave enough to risk their lives to even try! That's too dangerous, we'd have to escape." Twilight said. "We need to get out of the Everfree Forest if we're going to live."

"But we're so close! We can't give up now!" Sunny said. More timberwolves came from behind, walking over to them slowly. "I don't think escape is an option now, anyway."

Twilight put a protective shield around them. "I guess our only choice is the bowl," Zipp said.

"So who's gonna do it? I mean, risking their lives?" Misty gulped.

"It'll have to be a pegasus, as they'll be safer in the sky than on ground. I don't think Fluttershy would do it, no offense." Twilight thought.

"None taken." Fluttershy said. "But... that only leaves us with Rainbow, Zipp, and Pipp."

"I can't do it, I haven't even gotten to ten million followers on ClipTrot!" Pipp said.

Zipp sighed. "I'll do it."

"Wait, what?! Zipp, you can't!" Pipp protested. "Why can't Rainbow do it?!"

"She's right, I can do it!" Rainbow said. "You just stay here,"

Zipp shook her head. "No, I'll do this one. I've made up my mind. Equestria needs the sun and Princess Celestia, I have to do."

"Zipp, you can't! We can't lose you, Mom can't lose you, I can't lose you." Pipp begged. "Please, don't do this!"

"If I stay high enough, they won't be able to reach me." Zipp said. "I'll be fine."

"I'm going too, I'm not gonna stand by while you risk your life!" Rainbow said.

"We only have one bowl, so only one of us can do it. We can't risk both of our lives, can we?" Zipp said.

"So what if we only have one bowl?! Two is better than one! You said that if we fly high enough, they won't reach us." Rainbow said. "I'm going with you. I've risked my life before, what's one more time?"

Zipp opened her mouth to speak, but she sighed in defeat. "I'll never get through to you, can I?"

Rainbow nodded. "Fine, let's do it." Zipp said.

"I'm going to lower the shield." Twilight said. "Once it drops, you two get airborne, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rainbow said.

"Okay... get ready in three... two... one!" Twilight dropped the shield. "Now!"

Zipp and Rainbow flew upwards, leaving a trail of rainbows and smoke. Zipp grabbed a handful of the substance before throwing it at a timberwolf. Sure enough, they collapsed into a pile of sticks.

Zipp sighed before she quickly threw more at each timberwolf, each becoming sticks once it landed. "Alright, so it is the correct substance."

"Hey, Zipp!" Rainbow called out. "Over here!" She pointed to a group of timberwolves, each leaping for Rainbow.

"Right." Zipp threw some of the mixture at the group, which caused them to collapse. "Any more?"

"Zipp! Here!" Twilight shouted. Zipp flew to where Twilight was. She dodged a swipe from it before she threw the substance at it. "Are you alright?" She put her hooves on the ground, panting.

Twilight nodded. "Thankfully, but there's still more."

Zipp went airborne again, before throwing the last of the substances at the timberwolves. "That's... all of them!"

Zipp landed back on the ground, and so did Rainbow. "That was shorter than I expected..." Zipp said. "Nevermind, let's go."

The group ran to the location where Granny Brew said the exit was, and when they arrived, they saw stairs. "Alright!" Pipp cheered.

The group returned to the bridge, which to their surprise, was fixed. "What the..." Twilight muttered. "It should be broken!"

"Are ya really gonna ask questions now?" Applejack said.

"Ehehe, right." Twilight said. Once she stepped foot on the bridge, she half expected it to break. But to her surprise, it was just as sturdy. "Someone must've fixed it, it's the only logical answer!"

Twilight's eyes widened at the sight of the castle. Yes, it was broken, dirty, and beyond repair, but seeing it in person was truly a sight to behold. "Amazing..."

"Are these... the elements?" Misty asked, looking at the structure before her. It looked to be an apparatus. It had eleven stone tablets shaped like spheres at the end of radial shafts. They each had carvings that depicted gems on them, and in the center had a carving of a six pointed star. "There's nothing else here."

"I thought they would be more crystal-y." Pinkie remarked.

"They should be..." Twilight said. "Let's just get them off, and we'll go from there."

Zipp, Rainbow, and Pipp helped grab the stones and carefully place them on the floor. Pipp tried to get the one in the center, but it wouldn't budge. "Hey, guys? This one's not moving!"

"No, I think that's just for decoration." Twilight said. "The book said, "When all eleven are present, a spark will cause the twelfth one to be revealed.""

"That... makes no sense." Sunny said. "You have an idea, right?"

"Well, yes, but I have no idea if it'll work!" Twilight said. "But, that doesn't mean I can't try."

She arranged the stones into a circle before she took deep breaths. "Stand back, I don't know what will happen."

"Come on, she needs her space." Hitch said, leading the others outside the castle.

"I'm gonna stay here, just in case she gets hurt." Sunny said to Hitch, who nodded.

Unbeknownst to them, Nightmare Moon slipped inside the castle. Twilight's horn lit up, enveloping the stones with her magic. Just as she puts more magic into it, Nightmare Moon forms a whirlwind, which lifts the stones off the floor.

"Twilight!" Sunny shouted. Twilight opened her eyes, seeing the whirlwind in front of her. "We have to get out of here!"

"No! The elements!" The tornado grows taller, almost reaching the ceiling. She dived into the tornado with Sunny following close behind.

Hitch tried to jump in after them, but the tornado dissipated before he could enter. "Where'd they go?" Pinkie asked.

In another part of the castle, a glowing white ball appears before it explodes in the blast of smoke. A few second later, the smoke cleared, revealing Twilight and Sunny on the ground. Twilight looked up to see Nightmare Moon standing on a crumbling dais, the stones in the grip of her mane and tail.

"I must admit, you two have determination, I'll give you that." Nightmare Moon remarked. "But you'll have to do better than that to try and stop me." She put the stones on the floor.

Twilight lowers her head and paws the ground to work up steam for a charge. "You really think that will work? Really?"

She charges at the alicorn, lightning up her own horn. Nightmare Moon charges at the purple unicorn, but just as the two could collide, Twilight disappears in a flash of light. "What?"

"Go, Twilight!" Sunny cheered. Nightmare Moon turned around to see Twilight with the elements. Her horn blazes, and the stones start glowing.

"NO!" Nightmare Moon shouted. She teleported in between the elements, knocking Twilight back.

Twilight grinned, seeing the magical energy that was connecting the elements until... they died out. Twilight gasped, "No!"

Sunny ran to Twilight, "Twilight, are you okay?"

"Where's the twelfth element?" Twilight asked, who was still in shock.

"You little ponies, you really thought you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess or the sun, forever!" Nightmare Moon stomped her hooves on the ground, which shattered the elements upon impact.

"No!" Twilight shouted. She looked to the floor, completely broken. Sunny noticed this and couldn't help feel sad for her friend.

Sunny took a deep breath before she stood up, looking Nightmare Moon dead in the eyes. "Listen, Nightmare Moon, you may have destroyed our elements, you may have trapped Princess Celestia in the moon, you may be an alicorn. But you know what? None of that matters! You took lots of stuff from us, but the one thing you'll never take... is our hope. We'll find a way to stop you, with or without the elements."

"And how will you manage that?" Nightmare Moon replied. "The elements were your only chance of defeating me, and they're gone, accept it!"

"No! I'll never accept it, there's always an answer. And right now, all we have to do is find it." Sunny said.

Twilight thought about what Sunny said, that was when she heard the voices of her friends. Her eyes widened, a tiny flicker of light in them. "You think you can just destroy the Elements of Harmony? Well, you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, are right here!" Twilight said, her friends beside her.

The shards of the Elements started glowing, which startled Nightmare Moon. "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty!" Orange shards revolved around Applejack, who looked surprised.

"Hitch, who was willing to sacrifice his life in order to save his friend, represents the spirit of Justice!" The same thing happened to Hitch, except the shards were green.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness!" Light pink shards revolved around Fluttershy, who was backing away.

"Misty, who showed forgiveness even to a pony who tried to hurt her, represents the spirit of Heart!" Yellow shards surrounded Misty, who yelped in shock.

"Pinkie Pie, who fought fear with the gift of joy, represents the spirit of Laughter!" Pinkie jumped in joy as light blue shards revolved around her.

"Izzy, who made a raft unique just like her, represents the spirit of Creativity!" Izzy laughed as indigo shards revolved around her.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity!" Dark purple shards surrounded Rarity, who just primped her mane.

"Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty!" Red shards surrounded Rainbow who just kicked the air in excitement.

"Pipp, who created a brew with a determination that can't be stopped, represents the spirit of Confidence!" Aquamarine shards surrounded Pipp, who took selfies of her and the shards.

"Zipp, who risked her life so that we could stop you, represents the spirit of Bravery!" Crimson shards surrounded Zipp, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"And Sunny, who showed me that even when all seems lost, there will always be light, represents the spirit of Hope!" Lavender shards surrounded Sunny, who just smiled.

"The spirits of these ponies, they got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilight said.

"No- it didn't work! You still don't have the twelfth element! I've still won! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare Moon said, growing more and more fearful.

"But it did, a different kind of spark." She turned to her 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 of me, when I realized you all..." She turned back to Nightmare Moon. "...were my friends!"

A white flash of light filled the room, and when it was gone, the last element was floating above Twilight's head. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the… the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the twelfth element. The Element of... Magic!"

The stone glowed, as it sent white beams of magic to the others. They started floating, the magic from the Elements surrounding them. The shards start spinning faster until they combined into a gold necklace, each set with a jewel the shape of the bearer's cutie mark. An orange apple, a green badge, a light pink and a yellow butterfly, a light blue balloon, a indigo heart, a dark purple diamond, a red and crimson lightning bolt, an aquamarine music note, and a lavender star.

Twilight, however, received a golden crown with a magenta six pointed star embedded inside it. A rainbow beam emerged from the group, swooping down on Nightmare Moon.

"Noooooo!" Nightmare Moon screamed. A burst of rainbow light traveled across Equestria, making sure everypony saw it.

On the moon, Celestia was wandering the surface when she noticed the rainbow beam heading towards her. She smiled as she allowed the magic to surround her, transporting her back to Equestria.

Twilight's eyes glowed as Nightmare Moon was enveloped in a white light. Just seconds after, the beam dissipated, and the group was lowered down.

"My head!" Rainbow groaned.

"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked.

"Yep, pretty sure." Zipp said.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Rarity said, looking at her regrown tail. "My tail! I don't know how it grew so fast, but I'm not whining!"

"Oh, my! It's so gorgeous!" Pipp admired.

"I know, I'm never doing something like that again!" Rarity said.

"Not that, but yes it's quite beautiful, I meant our necklaces!" Pipp said. "They so match us!"

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow said.

"Ooh, it's so shiny!" Misty said.

Izzy looked at her necklace, "Are these the Elements of Harmony?"

"It sure looks like it," Applejack said. "Ah though Twilight was jus' spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we do represent the Elements of Harmony!"

"Indeed you do," Princess Celestia said, teleporting inside the castle. They were so intrigued by their new jewels, they failed to notice the princess in front of them, and the sun being in the sky once more.

Princess Celestia walked to the ponies, who bowed in respect. "Twilight, my faithful student, I knew you could do it."

"But... you told me it was an old ponies tale!" Twilight said.

"I told you, that you should make friends, nothing more!" Princess Celestia said. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." She turned around, "Now if only another will, aswell."

A small, blue alicorn with a lighter blue mane where Nightmare Moon once was, cowering. Princess Celestia walked up to her, and instead of any punishment... she extended a hoof to her. "Princess Luna, it has been a thousand years since I have seen you. It's time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."

"Sister?!" The group exclaimed. "Well, it does make sense." Sunny said.

"Will you accept my friendship?"

Luna looked hesitant before she ran into her sister, hugging her. "Oh, dearest sister, how I have missed thou so much!"

The ponies smiled, touched at this heartwarming scene before Pinkie had an idea. "You know what this calls for? A par-tay!"

The Mane 12, Celestia, and Luna walk into Maretime Bay to be greeted by a massive party taking place.

"Pinkie... how did you do all this?! We just got here!" Twilight said.

"Nah, I texted some friends." Pinkie giggled.

Two pegasus fillies flew up to Luna and placed a flower necklace around her neck. "Why... this is incredible! Everything looks so... advanced." Luna remarked.

Spike pushes his way through the crowd to give Twilight the biggest hug he could manage. Twilight hugs just as hard in return.

After a while, Twilight looks to her friends, each giving her a warm smile. She couldn't help but feel sad that she was leaving them so soon, especially after the adventure they shared.

"Why so glum, my faithful student?" Princess Celestia asked, walking over to Twilight. "Are you not happy that your mission is done, and you can return to Canterlot?"

"I've finally learned how great it is to have ponies to rely on, to have fun with, only to leave them." Twilight sighed.

"I hoped you would say that. Spike, that a note, please." Princess Celestia said, giving Spike a quill pen and a scroll. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must study the magic of friendship, and report to me what's she's learned in her new home: Maretime Bay."

The look of sadness on Twilight's face quickly disappeared, now showing a bright smile. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study twice as hard! I won't let you down!"

"I know you won't Twilight," Celestia said. "Now, why don't we enjoy a bit of the festivities?"

Twilight looked over to her friends, who smiled warmly, then to Princess Luna, who looked fascinated at phones. "What are these strange devices?"

"Of course," Twilight said, looking at Princess Celestia.

Epilogue.

Allura ran inside the throne room, slamming open the doors. "Allura! I told you not to slam open those doors anymore! You know how hard they are to fix!"

"Sorry, Opaline, but you've got to see this!" Allura said, showing Opaline a photo of the Mane 12, Celestia, and Luna.

Opaline groaned. "Ugh! Celestia beat Luna?! And Luna's good again!? This makes things even harder!"

"Actually... Princess Celestia was on the moon the whole time! It was these ponies who fought Nightmare Moon," She swiped to the next picture, a picture of the Mane 12. "They're the new Elements of Harmony!"

"So Celestia really got other ponies to do her work?" Opaline scoffed. "Just shows how I'd be a better ruler, I never rely on other ponies!"

Allura nodded. "The best!"

"This... complicates things, but they're new to this. They'll mess up eventually, and all we're going to do... is watch." Opaline said, spreading her wings. "Opaline Arcana will be back, Equestria."

Author's Note

We're finally done with Episodes 1 - 5! Ten thousand words and made the deadline :pinkiecrazy: I didn't rush this. This would've come out earlier, except I forgot about Pipp! Her trial was supposed to be after Rarity's but when I remembered, I was already preparing for Zipp's :flutterrage:! Well, it still came out good... probably.

Opaline encounter spotted! She won't be the main villain for this season, she'll be on the sidelines for now. Season 1 will be about happy, fun adventures! Because Season 2 is when things get tougher. :twilightoops:

If there are ANY errors, please comment it so I can improve! Any constructive criticism is very helpful to me! Next up, a revamped episode of... The Ticket Master! :moustache:

Episode 5: Trial By Harmony

Episode 6: The Ticket Masters, Part 1

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 6: "The Ticket Masters, Part 1"

Two days after they defeated Nightmare Moon and Twilight and Sunny moved in Maretime Bay, everything was pretty normal. That day, Applejack asked for Twilight and Sunny's help, bucking apples at Sweet Apple Acres, as Rainbow couldn't come.

Twilight, Applejack, and Sunny were walking back to the barn, carrying apples in baskets on their back. Spike was busy inspecting apples, throwing the ones he didn't like on the floor. "No, nope, never, no..."

"Ah'd have to say, ya did pretty well for a first timer." Applejack complimented. "Usually, it takes round' three weeks before ya get good."

"Thank you, Applejack." Twilight replied. "It wasn't that hard, you just have to calculate the amount of force, distance, speed... I'm rambling."

"Ah bet Big Macintosh ah could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime." Applejack said. "If ah win, he's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one a' Granny's old girdles."

"We're glad to help, we didn't have anything else to do today anyway." Sunny said. "But maybe we need lunch. Applebucking is surprisingly easy, but really tiring and hunger-inducing."

"You said it," Spike said, grabbing an apple before throwing it away. "Hard work."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Hard work for us! You've just been sitting or relaxing all day while we did all the work!"

"Exactly! You took so long, I missed snack time!" Spike said. "I'm a growing dragon, I need food!"

Sunny groaned. "I need lunch... or food, snacks work."

Just then, Spike pulled out a bright red apple from the basket, the group's reflection shining on it. "Oh... my... that's beautiful! Spike, give it here." Sunny said.

But Spike ignored Sunny and ate the apple in one bite. "Mm! That was good."

Sunny glared at Spike, "Spike! Ugh, just forget it."

Applejack chuckled. "Why don't yall stay for lunch? We got some leftovers from the Summer Sun Celebration."

"With a family big as yours, I'd have a hard time believing that." Sunny said. "But you're the Element of Honesty, so it's true."

Just then, Spike burped out a scroll, surprising the cowgirl. "Uh, is that normal?" Applejack asked.

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, Spike could do that since birth. We still don't know why, but it's a big help."

"So, what's in the scroll?" Sunny asked.

Spike unfurled the scroll, clearing his throat before reading aloud. "Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala, to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot on the twenty-first day of…" He trailed off. "...we cordially invite the "Elements of Harmony" to this wonderful event. The ponies Twilight Sparkle and Sunny Starscout will receive an extra ticket to give to who they want as their plus one."

Spike held out twelve tickets, "The Grand Galloping Gala!?" The three mares exclaimed.

"I've never been to the Gala before, even as Princess Celestia's personal student. Isn't this exciting?" Twilight said.

Sunny grabbed the tickets, "I never thought I'd go to the Grand Galloping Gala! Wait, what am I going to wear?! And who will I bring as my plus one?"

"Count me out of the list, I don't want anything to do with that "girly frilly frou-frou" nonsense." Spike said, rolling his eyes.

"Why not? A dance would be nice, y'know!" Twilight said.

"Nice? It's a heap more than just nice!" Applejack said. "Why, ah can't thank Princess Celestia enough fer inviting me."

"Sounds like you really like this dance," Sunny laughed.

"Course' ah do! The Gala is fer those fancy, rich ponies. Everyone in Maretime Bay would go in an instant!" Applejack said. "The first thing ah'm gonna do there, is set up an apple stand. But not mah regular apple stand, an extra fancy one! Those elitists will be chewin' on our apples till' the cows came home!"

Applejack sighed. "With all that money, we could fix the barn again! No more soggy roof, no more old plow, no more saggy old hip for Granny, and Apple Bloom could go ta university!" Applejack said. "This gala could change mah life!"

That sounds like an exaggeration, but anything could happen... Sunny thought. She grabbed the tickets and handed Applejack's to her, "Well, here's your ticket."

"Ah can't wait to tell Granny n' Big Macintosh ah'm goin' to the gala!" Applejack said.

Suddenly, a rainbow blur crashed into her. "Did you say gala!? Like the Grand Galloping Gala!?"

"What in tarnation- Rainbow?!" Applejack exclaimed. "What are you doin' here? You said you were busy today!"

"Uh... I was! I was busy napping!" Rainbow said, pointing to a cloud which had a pillow and a blanket on it. "I just happened to hear you talking about the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Let me guess, you're going to want your ticket?" Sunny asked.

"Duh, I can see it now!" Rainbow said, grinning. "You know how every year, the Wonderbolts perform at the gala? Well, this year, I finally have my chance!"

"Chance? You're not going to sneak in the V.I.P, are you?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe, maybe not, but anyways.." Rainbow's eyes widened, almost glimmering. "During their performance, everypony's eyes will be on them. That's when I'll make my move!"

"Your.. move?" Sunny asked.

"My Super Speed Strut! I'll fly in their performance, and everypony's eyes will be on me! I'll do some of my other moves too, I'm not a one trick pony. Everypony there will want to get my autograph, and that's when they'll ask me to join their team! My moves probably stunned them, so of course that'll happen!" Rainbow said. "This gala could change my life!"

"Do you really think that'll work?" Sunny whispered to Twilight, who shook her head. "Yeah, thought so."

Twilight levitated Rainbow's ticket to her. "Here's your ticket, me and Sunny will be going."

"What? Why?" Sunny asked. "Applejack's offering lunch! Free lunch!"

"We'll get smoothies from your smoothie cart, we need to give these tickets to our friends!" Twilight reminded.

"Right." Sunny said. "Bye, Applejack! Bye, Rainbow!"

Twilight and Sunny put their apple baskets down before walking away. Once they were out of eyesight, Rainbow nervously chuckled.

"So... I'm going to go." Rainbow said. "See ya!" She was about to take off before Applejack pulled the rainbow mare close to her.

"Not so fast." Applejack sternly said. "Your comin' with me."

Twilight and Sunny arrived at the sheriff's station, "We still haven't gotten those smoothies..." Sunny grumbled.

"Sweet Apple Acres was closer to the station, than the cart! It's practical!" Twilight said, "Come on." She entered the station and Sunny followed.

"Sunny, Twilight! What's up?" Hitch said, noticing the two enter. "Is anything wrong?"

"Nope, we're just here to give you this!" Sunny pulled out a ticket, surprising Hitch.

"Is that a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala?! Sunny, how did you get this?!" Hitch said, shocked.

"Remember when we saved Equestria from eternal night? Well, the Princess wants to congratulate us by inviting us to the gala! Isn't it exciting!?" Sunny said.

"Very!" Hitch said, taking his ticket. "Only... one?"

"Yes...? Why?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just..." Hitch started. "I wanted to bring Sparky with me! He's always wanted to go to the gala! He's always wanted to go there, the gems, the food, the party! That's everything he's ever wanted! So when I get a ticket, and he doesn't... it just makes me feel sad that I won't get to spend the night with my favorite dragon son."

Sunny thought it over before she thought of something, she gave her plus one ticket to Hitch, who looked surprised. "My plus one ticket! Me and Twilight got plus one tickets, and I didn't really know who I would've invited... you should have it! So you and Sparky can go enjoy the gala together!"

"I... I can't believe it, thank you, Sunny." Hitch thanked.

"It was nothing, really!" Sunny said. "Also, where is Sparky? I haven't met him yet."

"He's in Bridlewood with Izzy, she said she was going to teach him how to make stuff." Hitch said.

"Alright," Sunny said. "We're going to go now, because I need food and because we still need to deliver the other tickets."

Hitch grabbed a paper bag, inside was couple of macaroons. "Why don't you take this, I'm not going to eat it."

"Ooh. macaroons!" Sunny said, taking the paper bag. "I haven't had this since I was in Canterlot!"

"Good luck!" Hitch said. Sunny ate a macaroon before she and Twilight exited the station. He put the two tickets in an envelope and labeled it as "surprise".

"Who's next?" Sunny asked Twilight. "Wait, where's Spike?"

Realization dawned on Twilight, "He's still at the barn! How did I forget him!?" Twilight groaned. "Why didn't he speak up?!"

"To be fair, he wouldn't miss free lunch." Sunny chimed.

"Right, that must be the reason, he did like the food there." Twilight said. "Let's hope Applejack doesn't let him off on his own, without supervision..."

Sunny noticed Mane Boutique open, "Mane Boutique! Rarity or Pipp must be inside."

"Yeah," Twilight said. She and Sunny walked inside the boutique, which was packed with ponies. Each seat was taken, and ponies were busy taking selfies or buying dresses.

"It's so... busy!" Sunny noticed. "Not like the last time we were here, it's much more packed."

"You said it, how are we going to find Rarity or Pipp in a crowd this big!" Twilight said.

"Hey!" A light blue pony said, walking up to the two. She had an orange mane with a purple fade, and her cutie mark was a horse shoe with a nail-polish brush passing through it. "You're looking for Rarity, right?"

"Yeah, who are you?" Sunny asked.

"I'm Jazz Hooves, I work at Mane Boutique as the mane stylist slash pedicurist. You're Sunny Starscout and Twilight Sparkle, right?" Jazz asked.

Twilight nodded, "Yes, we are. Can you take us to Rarity?"

"She's in her design room, follow me." Jazz said. She walked over to the stairs, "Just go up, it has her cutie mark on the door."

"Thanks, Jazz." Sunny thanked. She and Twilight went up, and went into the room with the three diamonds on them.

Inside the room were loads of fabric and pony mannequins, Rarity was at her sewing table. "Rar...ity? It's us! Twilight and Sunny."

Rarity turned off her sewing machine before turning around smiling. "Girls! Isn't this a nice surprise! Though, I'm afraid you caught me at the wrong time."

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Ever since word got out that we defeated Nightmare Moon, well, business has been booming! I've got dozens of orders, all for my dresses!" Rarity explained, squealing. "This is a dream come true for me! But it's taking a toll on my schedule, I have ten more orders for today, and seven more tomorrow. I hate to ask you to leave, but bills don't pay themselves."

"This won't take long, we just wanted to give you something." Twilight said, levitating Rarity's ticket to her. "Princess Celestia invited us to the Grand Galloping Gala for returning her sister and saving Equestria. If today is good, then it became better!"

"Better? Better!? This made today the best day of my life! Never would I thought I'd finally have a chance to see... him!" Rarity gushed.

"Him?" Sunny asked. "Who's him?"

"Him!" Rarity said. "Princess Celestia's nephew, Prince Blue Blood!"

Twilight grimaced, but Rarity didn't notice. "I'll stroll through the gala in a stunning dress which would make everyone wonder, "Who is that mysterious mare?". They would never guess that I, Rarity, was just a simple pony in the tourist town of Maretime Bay."

Rarity turned around, grabbing a mannequin with a stylish dress on it. "Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself. And the Princess would be so taken with the style and elegance that she would introduce me to him, her nephew."

Rarity wrapped light purple fabric around her, as if it was a dress. "The most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot! Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt, our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say YES!!"

"Marriage?! You're only... seventeen?" Twilight said, not sure about her friend's age.

"I'm of legal age, and the age gap between us is only by three years!" Rarity said. "We would have a royal wedding befitting a princess, which is what I would become upon marrying him! The stallion of my dreams."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Don't get your hopes up, Rarity. Prince Blue Blood isn't exactly as you'd describe him."

"Everypony has their flaws, even someone as perfect as... him." Rarity fainted, falling on the floor.

"Rarity!" Sunny said. She crouched next to her friend, inspecting her. "Well, she just fainted. Should be back up in ten minutes, we should... go."

"Agreed." Twilight said, leaving the design room.

Sunny and Twilight were walking, seemingly lost in the their thoughts. The gala can't really be this good! I mean, it's just the best event in history! Sunny thought, ...Maybe it is really that good.

Twilight however, was paranoid. Oh, Rarity! You're going to be crushed when you find out about how Blue Blood acts! I can't bring myself to tell you either, that would make your best day into the worst day! Hopefully, she'll take it good when she finds out..

Twilight unknowingly bumped into Pinkie, which caused her to fall on the ground. Twilight, who was brought back to reality, accidentally let go of her hold on the tickets, which fell on Pinkie's nose.

When the tickets landed, Pinkie screamed. "Bats! Bats on my face!"

Sunny snapped out of thought as well, hearing her friend's screams. "Ack! Pinkie! Those aren't bats, those are tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

Pinkie paused, "Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala? Why didn't you say so! It was about time we got to this part in the story."

"Story? Pinkie, are you alright?" Twilight asked, pulling her friend up along with the tickets. "Now that I think about it, it's probably normal for you."

"Yep!" Pinkie giggled. "The gala! I can't wait for the gala! It's just the most amazing, incredible, tremendous, super-fun, wonderful, terrifically humongous party in all of Equestria!"

"So we've heard..." Sunny chuckled. "Okay, what's your reason to go? All the others have reasons, so what's yours?"

"To party! What else?!" Pinkie said. Just then, music started playing in the backround. "Musical number!"

"Musical number?" Twilight asked, but was instantly cut off by Pinkie, who started singing.

Pinkie's Gala Fantasy Song

"Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
Hip hip, Hooray!
It's the best place for me- for Pinkie-e-e-e!

With decorations like streamers and fairy-lights and pinwheels and piñatas and pin-cushions. With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sun-beams and sarsaparilla. And I get to play my favorite-est of favorite fantabulous games like Pin the Tail on the Pony!

Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!
'Cause it's the most galarrific superly-terrific gala ever-
In the whole galaxy-y-y!
Wheee!!"

The song ended, and Pinkie happily took her ticket. "Eee! This is the best-est day ever! Even better than that one time I found not one- but two cupcakes on the table, still fresh!"

"Uh... is bursting into musical numbers... normal?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe! Anyway, I've got to go! Good luck on your ticket giving! See ya, Twilight! Sunny!" Pinkie said before she bounced away.

"...I have a feeling we're going to have more musical numbers in the future, aren't we?" Sunny said.

"Let's focus on giving our friends their tickets." Twilight said.

Author's Note

Hi! Didn't expect this chapter to be out this early, did you? Technically, it says on the site I published Episode 5 on June 29 (on ACCIDENT), but the full release was July 5... or 6? Anyway, I didn't want to keep you all waiting, so I decided to split this chapter into two!

I don't know how to write Sparky :twilightoops: Hopefully, I can publish weekly chapters now :pinkiehappy: Anyways, next time, we're going to Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood because I want to introduce them early. :ajsmug: Will we see Spike? And what has Spike been doing with Applejack? Is Rainbow okay? And more importantly, where is Sprout Cloverleaf?

If you're wondering why I mentioned Sprout, wait until next week (hopefully)! :pinkiecrazy: If there is any errors or if there is anything I should change, please comment so I can work to become a better writer!! :pinkiehappy:

Someone get Comickook back in my comments, I need a person who'll theorize. :moustache:

Episode 6: The Ticket Masters, Part 1

Episode 7: The Ticket Masters, Part 2

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 7: "The Ticket Masters, Part 2"

Sunny and Twilight were in front a small, light blue house. It, for the most part, looked very comforting. "Is... this the right house? I've never been to Misty's," Sunny asked.

"One way to find out..." Twilight said, she walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. They waited for a few minutes before Twilight checked the window. The lights were closed, and Misty seemed to be nowhere. "Huh, she's not here."

"We have the wrong house, don't we?" Sunny asked.

"Um, Misty's not at home right now..." A small voice said. Sunny turned around to see Fluttershy and a bunny on her back.

"Fluttershy!" Sunny greeted. "It's nice to see you."

"Same, how have you been since..."

"Since we found the Elements of Harmony? It's been good, Maretime Bay is surprisingly a lot calmer than Canterlot. The ponies here are so nice!" Sunny said.

"Well, that's great, it's nice that you're adjusting to Maretime Bay fast." Fluttershy said. "Also, if I can ask, how did your parents react when you told them you were moving?"

"To be honest, Twilight's parents were actually ecstatic that Twilight was moving out." Sunny said. "I'm eighteen, I can technically do what I want now! Besides, my dad disappeared when I was twelve, and my mom died during childbirth... I'm pretty sure they'd be fine with it."

"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss..." Fluttershy somberly said.

"What? Oh, no, no! It's fine!" Sunny quickly said. "I've already moved on, it's alright!"

"Oh, okay..." Fluttershy shook head. "Um, I should head home, I need to make lunch."

"Right, right," Sunny grabbed Fluttershy's ticket and put it in her hooves. "This is your ticket for the Grand Galloping Gala! Princess Celestia invited us."

"Oh, my... this is..." Fluttershy stuttered. "I... I don't deserve this-" She was cut off by her bunny, who was angrily stomping it's foot. "Oh, uh, nevermind."

"So... what're you going to do at the gala?" Sunny asked.

"The only thing I really want to do there, is visit their garden! The Canterlot Gardens have a vast arrange of exotic plants and animals! I've always, always wanted to go visit! But I've never had the chance to, well, not until today!" Fluttershy said.

"The Gala is pretty exciting, isn't it?" Sunny said.

"It's the most exciting event in Equestria!" Fluttershy said. Her bunny started rapidly tapping on her tail, Fluttershy said goodbye before leaving.

"We still need to give the tickets to Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, and Misty." Twilight said. "We know where Izzy and Misty are, but what about Zipp and Pipp?"

Sunny thought for a second before she pulled out her phone. She scrolled for a while before she found sometime. "Here!" She showed Twilight a picture of a festival in Zephyr Heights. "Today marks the victory of the Thunder Revolution, Zephyr Heights celebrates it with a festival every year. That must be where they are!"

Twilight nodded. "Let's split up, I'll take Zephyr Heights, and you take Bridlewood. That way, it'll be quicker."

"Agreed," Sunny said.

Sunny walked up to the border of Maretime Bay, she knew where Bridlewood was, and it wasn't too far thankfully. "Wait!" A voice shouted.

Sunny turned around to see a panting Spike running up to her. "Spike?! What are you doing here?"

"I... was... looking... all... over... for... you!" Spike said, in between breaths. "Where's Twilight?"

"We decided to split up, she's probably heading to Zephyr Heights right now." Sunny said. "Wanna come with me to Bridlewood?"

Spike nodded, and the two of them started their journey to Bridlewood.

Twilight walked to an air balloon station, "Hello? I need a trip to Zephyr Heights?" Twilight said, walking up to the pony who was working there.

"Of course, ma'am. That'll be three bits," The pony said.

Twilight levitated three bits to the pony, "Here you go."

The pony put the bits into his pocket before asking, "Hey, you're Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?"

Twilight nodded. "I have to thank you! You saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon! Ponies are talking about you all everywhere I go!" The pony thanked.

"Oh, um, it was nothing." Twilight said. "I should be going, I don't want to be late! Haha..."

"Right!" The pony said. He opened the door of the air balloon and indicated for Twilight to get inside. Twilight stepped inside the air balloon, the pony untied the rope holding it to the ground and turned the engine on.

"Have a safe flight!" The pony said whilst the air balloon started going air borne.

"What?! You're not going with me?!" Twilight shouted.

"I can't! Sorry! There's instructions! It's pretty easy!" The pony said. The air balloon got higher while Twilight read the manual in the book next to her.

"Ugh, such a flaw." Twilight muttered. "Well, the instructions are easy." Not too long after, she figured out how to control the air balloon. And a few minutes later, Twilight arrived at the floating city in the clouds.

"Woah... Zephyr Heights..." Twilight muttered. The city was full of pegasi flying, and giant skyscrapers and the large screen. The streets were full of floats and stands, due to the festival. The castle was majestic, it stood tall among the city.

Twilight moved the air balloon to the landing dock, and was instantly greeted by a light blue pegasus mare with a light yellow mane. "Hiya! Are you new here?"

"Um... yes! Yes, I am new here." Twilight said.

"Personal visit? Family visit? Work?" The mare asked.

"Uh... personal visit, I guess."

"Alrighty! I'm Sky Dawn, and I'm your tour guide for your trip!" Sky Dawn cheerfully said.

"Oh- oh, no! I don't need a tour guide, I'll be fine!" Twilight protested.

"Sorry, it's mandatory. Every new pony who comes to Zephyr Heights must have a tour guide to show them around the city!" Sky Dawn explained. "So sorry! But you're stuck with me!"

"Heh... ugh..." Twilight groaned.

"You came at the right time Ms... uh, what is your name, exactly?" Sky Dawn asked.

"Twilight Sparkle! Princess Celestia's personal protégé!" Twilight said. "Do you know where exactly Princess Zipp and Pipp are? I really need to talk to them!"

"Sorry, but they're at the festival right now. They're busy for the who-o-ole day!" Sky Dawn said. "If we leave now, we might just catch their float!:

An idea sparked into Twilight's mind. "Of course, lead the way!"

Sky Dawn started walking into the city while Twilight followed behind. "Want to know some history?" Sky Dawn asked. "It's going to be a while until we get there."

"Uh... sure."

Sky Dawn cleared her throat, "As you may know, the Thunder Festival happens every year! But do you know why they do it?"

Twilight shook her head. "The Thunder Festival commemorates the victory of the ponies over the evil alicorn a thousand years ago today."

"Evil alicorn? You mean Nightmare Moon, right?" Twilight asked.

"Nope, a different alicorn. Legends say that she symbolized fire, like how Princess Celestia symbolizes the sun, and our new Princess Luna symbolizes the moon." Sky Dawn explained. "She wanted power, all of it! She stole the magic from Princess Celestia and other alicorns, but she wanted our magic as well. That's what started the Thunder Revolution, lead by Clover the Clever. Together, we drove the evil alicorn out of Equestria, and the magic was restored!"

"This... evil alicorn? Do you know what was her name?" Twilight asked.

Sky Dawn shrugged. "Not really, some say it was "Blaize" or "Ember", but most ponies just say "evil alicorn". You could ask Princess Celestia, y'know, because you are her protégé and all."

"Right..." Twilight said.

"Hey! We're here!" Sky Dawn said, pointing at the massive floats on the road. "Ooh, look at that one!" She indicated to a float that was shaped like Princess Celestia. "It's Princess Celestia!"

"It's... nice?" Twilight said, unsure how to react. "Where's Zipp and Pipp?"

"They're over at the back." She pointed to a float shaped like a flower. On top of it was Zipp, Pipp, and a purple pegasus wearing a golden crown with a purple jewel shaped like two pegasus wings, also known as Queen Haven.

"Come on!" Twilight said, running towards their float.

"Wha- wait up!" Sky Dawn said, chasing after the purple unicorn.

On the float, Zipp looked bored, while Pipp got thrown a rose bouquet. "Aww, thank you, who ever threw that!" Pipp said.

"Smile for the cameras, Zipp!" Queen Haven said, waving to the crowd.

"Yeah, yeah." Zipp rolled her eyes. She turned to the crowd and noticed a familiar purple unicorn in the crowd following their float. "Twilight?!" She turned to her mom, "Hey, mom? Can I, uh, invite one of my friends onto the float?"

"A friend? I don't know about that, dear. Maybe after the festival, we can invite them into the palace!" Queen Haven suggested. "I'd like to meet this mysterious friend, but not right now."

"Come on, please-e-e! It'll make me happier for the cro-owd!" Zipp pleaded.

"Well... let me ask your sister, this will be a family decision." Queen Haven said. The queen turned to her other daughter, who now wore a crown and had multiple bouquets in her hooves. "Pipp, Zipp wants to invite one of her friends onto the float."

"What?" Pipp said. She turned to her sister, "Zipp, Rainbow is in Maretime Bay! And so are our other friends!"

"Uh... not exactly." Zipp said. "Twilight's here."

"Twilight?! What's she doing here?! Oh! Do you think she'd like bouquet, I have too much on my hooves." Pipp said. "Yeah, sure, bring her up!"

Zipp smiled, turning to the crowd. She looked around for a second before she saw Twilight, "Hey, Twilight!? Wanna come on the float?" She shouted.

The crowd turned to Twilight, who laughed awkwardly. "Um..." Two pegasi guards lifted her up to the float, while Sky Dawn looked up surprised.

"She knows the Princesses? Well, she already knows Princess Celestia and Luna, why not go for the full set?" Sky Dawn chuckled. "Ooh, fire flakes!"

Twilight was put gently on the float. The first thing that she saw was the crowd below her, and beside her were welcoming faces of Zipp, Pipp, and Queen Haven.

"Oh, hello, dear!" Queen Haven said. "It's so nice to meet one of my dear Zephyrina's friends!"

"Mom!"

"Oh, hush, Zipp." Queen Haven said. "It's very nice to meet you... what is your name?"

"Um, it's Twilight Sparkle, your majesty." Twilight stammered.

"Oh! Twilight Sparkle? You're Celestia's student, aren't you?" Queen Haven said. "And you're the one who saved Equestria along with my daughters and their friends!"

"Yes, your majesty." Twilight said.

"Ah, don't be so modest. Call me, your majesty Queen Haven." Queen Haven said before laughing. "I'm kidding, just call me Queen Haven."

"Yes, um, Queen Haven." Twilight said.

"So, Twilight, what are you doing here? It's a nice surprise, but you should've told us you were coming to Zephyr Heights!" Zipp said.

"It was a... last minute decision." Twilight said. "I never thought I'd be on a float today..."

"It gets kinda boring, we still have the whole day to fill. But, you are here, you maybe it'll be a little less boring?" Zipp said.

"Yeah," Twilight smiled. "Look at all these ponies, they're all cheering for you."

"Comes with being a princess." Zipp said.

"Hey, Twilight!" Pipp said. "It's like, so nice to see you!" Pipp handed her a bouquet. "I have too much of these, you can have this one."

"Oh- uh, thanks? I guess." Twilight said, holding the bouquet in her hooves. "I wanted to give something to you two, that's why I came up here."

Twilight pulled out two tickets. "Tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala!"

Instead of looking happy or ecstatic like Twilight predicted, their faces showed confusion. "Uhh, what's wrong?"

"Twilight, we already have tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala." Zipp said. "We're princesses, we get invited every year! Our tickets are back at the palace."

"What?" Twilight looked at the names of the tickets, and saw that it was her ticket and her plus one. "Oh... right."

"Look at the bright side! We can celebrate the festival together! Isn't that fun?" Pipp said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Twilight said. "Hey, random question, but, what are you going to do at the gala?"

"I'm so glad you asked, Twilight! Everypony who is anypony attends the gala, including the famous ClipTrot star, Emerald Disco! She has over a trillion likes on every social media platform, so that's why this year, I'm going to persuade her to do some collabs with me. And if she accepts, I'll be so famous, I'll shine as bright as the sun!" Pipp said, her eyes sparkling.

"And if she doesn't?" Twilight asked.

"Oh. Well, that won't happen! I'm basically on the same level as her, even if she has a trillion likes and I only have... a few hundred thousand." Pipp said. "It will happen, Twilight!"

"Right... and you Zipp?" Twilight asked, facing the white pegasus.

Zipp shrugged. "Well, the only thing I'll be doing is investigating."

"Investigating? Investigating what?"

"You see, there's been a mystery that nopony's been able to solve. The disappearance of Sunset Shimmer - Princess Celestia's old student, - and Sprout Cloverleaf, son of Phyllis Cloverleaf, C.E.O of CanterLogic." Zipp explained. "No one knows what happened to them, and Princess Celestia isn't giving any answers to the press. But there were guards that night that might've saw the whole thing, I just need them to talk."

"Sunset Shimmer? Princess Celestia might've mentioned her a few times, but when she did, she always felt guilty." Twilight said.

"Do you think she had anything to do with it? That would explain why she wouldn't give anything to the press." Zipp muttered.

"I... maybe... but she wouldn't do anything bad to Sunset Shimmer! Princess Celestia always talked highly of her whenever she could." Twilight said.

Zipp sighed. "Yeah, you're right, it was wrong of me to think she had anything to do with it. But something happened to those two, but what?"

"Let's focus on enjoying the day, I got nothing else to do anyway." Twilight said. "Sunny must be in Bridlewood by now,"

Sunny and Spike walked into Bridlewood, the trees were so tall that it's leaves blocked most of the sky. To help brighten the place, lanterns were hung on most houses and trees. For some reason, the wood on the trees were a light purple and the leaves were pink, purple, or orange.

"Alright, who should we find first, Spike?" Sunny asked. "Izzy or Misty?"

"Let's go for Izzy, she sounds nice." Spike said. "Just how are we going to find her anyway?"

"We could... ask around! The locals must know where Izzy is!" Sunny said. She walked up to a light lavender unicorn with crimson red hair. "Um, excuse me? Do you know where Izzy Moonbow is?"

"Huh? Why would I know, I'm not friends with the girl." The pony said. Sunny asked a few more locals before being met with the same answer.

Sunny sighed before walking dejectedly back to Spike. "We're on our own."

"Huh? Why?" Spike asked.

"Nopony knows where Izzy is! We'll have to explore Bridlewood." Sunny said.

"Eh, it can't be that hard." Spike shrugged.

Sunny and Spike walked around Bridlewood, searching for Izzy. After a few minutes, Sunny sighed, Izzy wasn't anywhere! "Spike, I think this is a lost cause... Izzy isn't anywhere!"

"Where could she be?" Spike said. "Have we checked her house?"

Sunny gasped in realization. "Oh, right! We haven't checked her house yet! But, to be fair, we don't know where it is..."

"Is it that one?" Spike pointed to a giant tree, which looked like it had a house built inside. On the door had the words "Villa Izzy" written on it.

"That must be it!" Sunny said. She and Spike ran to the house before knocking on the door. They heard the shuffling of objects before the door opened. "Izzy?"

Instead of a light lavender unicorn mare, it was a small turquoise dragon. "Hello?" The dragon asked.

"Are you Sparky by any chance?" Sunny asked, to which the dragon nodded. "You're Hitch's dragon child! I'm Sunny, and this is Spike." Sunny nudged Spike forward, earning her a glare.

"Uh... hello?" Spike asked. "I'm Spike!"

Sparky spun around Spike rapidly, which caused the purple and green dragon to go dizzy. "Another dragon!?" Sparky squealed.

"I've never met another dragon before!" Sparky said. "You're Spike, right?!"

"Yes?" Spike said. "You're a dragon too, huh?"

Sparky nodded. "Yup! Sparky Sparkeroni!"

"Spark...eroni?" Sunny asked. "Hitch really named you that?"

Sparky nodded. "Yup! I mean, Sparky Trailblazer doesn't sound as good as Sparky Sparkeroni!"

"Heya, Sparky! Who's at the door?" Izzy looked over to see the orange mare and the purple and green dragon at her door. "Sunny!"

"Izzy! We've been looking all over for you!" Sunny said.

"That's nice!" Izzy said before an idea came into her mind. "Hey! Why don't you two come inside? I can't wait to show you Villa Izzy!"

"Uh, okay!" Sunny said. She and Spike went inside Izzy's house, which was bigger on the inside. "Woah! This is your house?"

"I'd call it my tree cottage, but yeah! It is!" Izzy said. "Hey, Sparky? Can you get some of my homemade tea?"

"On it!" Sparky zipped away, coming back quick with four cups of tea. "Here you go, madam Izzy!"

"Thank you, sir Sparky!" Izzy joked. "My patented: Izzy Moonbrew! Forged from the finest of teapots, mixed under the Bridlewood's luxurious moon! Together, they create the best tea in existence!"

Sunny grabbed one of the teacups and sipped it, and surprisingly enough, Izzy was correct. "Huh, it's good."

Spike took a cup too and drank the whole thing. "Its so good! Sweet and Spicy!"

"I got this recipe from my great, great, great grandmare!" Izzy said.

"You have a recipe book?" Sunny asked.

"Nope!" Izzy replied. "Anyways, what brings you here?"

"Do we really need a reason to visit a new friend?" Sunny said.

Izzy smiled, "Well, that makes sense!"

"So, Izzy, you know about the Grand Galloping Gala, right?" Sunny asked.

"Duh! It's like, the bestest party in Equestria!" Izzy said. "Why?"

"What if I told you that me, you, and the others have the chance to attend?" Sunny asked.

"Then that would be the best surprise ever! Why?" Izzy gasped. "Do you have tickets!?"

Sunny pulled out the tickets, "Of course! The princess invited us to the gala!"

"Really?! This is amazing! I've always wanted to go to the gala!" Izzy said. "To think, I, Izzy Moonbow, will make something so creative I'll be in the Canterlot Art Museum!"

"Hm? Why's that?" Sunny asked.

"Every year, at the Grand Galloping Gala, Princess Celestia holds an event where the lucky ponies who attend the gala, along with some of Canterlot's greatest artists get to create anything! The top ten best creations get put in the Canterlot Art Museum! I've been training for this my whole life!" Izzy said. "Sunny, follow me."

Izzy lead Sunny to a room which had various creations inside. "This is my Unicycling Hall! I keep every creation I have in here!"

Each creation was made from old stuff, what was once old was now new. "Izzy, this is incredible!"

"Each of these are made from old stuff, I can't believe they leave trash everywhere! I use the trash I find to make these babies!" Izzy proudly said. They reached the end of the hall, which lied a water fountain made from an old umbrella, a vase with a handle glued on it, and various others. "Introducing my first unicycle project!"

"What... is this, exactly?" Sunny asked.

"Uh, a water fountain? Duh! It's so obvious!" Izzy revealed.

Sunny was about to reply before she recieved a notification from her phone. Sunny checked her phone to see a message from Twilight.

Turns out that Zipp and Pipp were already invited. Have you given Izzy and Misty theirs yet?

Sunny replied with,

Uh, I'm kinda working on it. I'm with Izzy right now!

Well, alright! I'll see you later, Zipp and Pipp are showing me around Zephyr Heights. I had a tour guide, but I lost her somehow.

Also, Pipp and Zipp say hi!

"Um, Izzy?" Sunny looked up from her phone, "Why don't we speed things up? I still need to give Misty her ticket."

"Alright! I didn't know what I was going to say anyway..." Izzy said.

Sunny gave Izzy her ticket before they walked out of the 'Unicycling Hall'. Sunny turned to Spike, "Spike! We're going to go find Misty!"

"Oh, can I come with?" Spike asked.

Sunny nodded, "Bring Sparky, as well! Can't leave him alone here."

"Yay!" Sparky said. He, Spike, Sunny, and Izzy left the house. "Just one quick question, where are we going?"

"To the Crystal Tearooms! Misty said she'll be spending the day with her dad, and knowing Alphabittle, they'll be there." Izzy said. "Oh, and before you ask, Alphabittle is Misty's dad!"

The group arrived at the Crystal Tearooms, which was packed with ponies. "How are we going to find Misty?!"

"She's right there!" Izzy pointed to Misty, who sat next to a gray unicorn stallion with white hair. "Hey, Misty!"

"Huh?" Misty turned her head and saw Sunny, Izzy, Spike, and Sparky. "What are you doing here?!"

"We wanted to give you... this!" Sunny pulled out the last ticket - Misty's. "Your ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Hold on there," The gray unicorn said. "Name's Alphabittle, Misty's father and pony who runs this joint." He indicated to the tearooms. "Want to tell me how Misty got invited to the Grand Galloping Gala?"

"Oh, um, you see..." Sunny awkwardly laughed. "Remember the whole Nightmare Moon thing? Uh, me, Twilight, Misty, and some of our other friends went into the Everfree Forest to get the Elements of Harmony! And we successfully stopped Nightmare Moon! Princess Celestia's inviting us to the Gala as a way of thanks!"

Alphabittle nodded. "So you mean to tell me, you went into the Everfree Forest, brought my daughter along, and faced off Nightmare Moon two days ago? You're the ponies who bear the Elements of Harmony now? Including my daughter?"

Sunny nodded before taking a step back. "As a citizen of Equestria, I commend you for doing this. But as a father, what were you thinking?! You could've easily died in there, along with my Misty!"

"Dad! We're all fine!" Misty said, stepping in the conversation. "If we didn't go, we would still have eternal night! We can't dwell on the past, so we should all forget about it."

Alphabittle sighed. "You're right, Misty. But I'm not so sure about Misty attending the Gala."

Izzy gasped. "What?! Why not?!"

"We all know how those elitists act, and what if Misty gets hurt in there? We're grateful that Princess Celestia invited Misty, but I'm afraid we'll have to decline."

"Dad?! No!" Misty protested.

"I'm sorry, but you're still under my protection, you're not eighteen." Alphabittle reminded. "I'm your dad, I'm doing what's best for you!"

"Dad, please! I'm seventeen, I can handle myself!" Misty said. "I've always wanted to go to the gala, you know that!"

"Mr. Alphabittle, please! Isn't there a way you could change your mind?" Sunny asked. "It won't be right if everyone goes except Misty!"

Alphabittle thought it over for a minute before speaking up. "Tell you what, if you beat me at any game, I'll let Misty go to the gala, I promise."

"I acce- oof!" Izzy put a hoof over Sunny's mouth before she whispered in her ear.

"Sunny! What are you doing!? Don't accept!" Izzy said.

"What? Why?" Sunny said, getting Izzy's hoof out of her mouth.

"Alphabittle's the master of games! You see those things at the back of the counter?" Izzy pointed to the counter, where at the back were multiple items. "He got them all by playing. Nopony has been able to beat Alphabittle at his own game! If you decline, maybe he'll still change his mind?"

Sunny shook her head. "I can't, there's a small chance that he will change his mind if I decline. Misty should be able to go to the gala!"

Izzy sighed. "Is there anyway you'll change your mind?"

"Nope," Sunny said. "Tell me what game does he usually play."

Izzy pointed at a 2x2 rubik cube, which caused Sunny to smirk. "Easy peasy, I can do that thing in ten seconds flat."

Sunny turned back to Alphabittle, "I accept your challenge, if I win you'll let Misty go to the gala."

"Good to know you're determined, I like that." Alphabittle smirked. "But I'm the game master, you really want to do this?"

"Misty will get that ticket, I know so." Sunny replied.

"Sunny, are you sure?" Misty asked, looking uncertain. "It's fine, really."

"Don't worry about it, Misty. I know I can do this," Sunny reassured.

"If you're done stalling, why don't we get started?" Alphabittle said.

"Hand me the rubik cube." Sunny said, determined.

"Rubik cube? What makes you think that?" Alphabittle said. "We'll be playing... Just Prance."

Sunny's face turned to one of shock, "Just... Prance?"

"Not so confident now, are you?" Alphabittle said. "Tell you what, if you win just one game, you win."

"Fine!" Sunny said. "Let's do this."

A few minutes later, a pony brought out the "Just Prance" machine, which Sunny and Alphabittle were standing on. "Are both ponies ready to battle?" The pony asked.

They both nodded. "This game will be best out of three, the earth pony will only need to win one round to win. If Alphabittle wins every round, the earth pony loses." The pony cleared her throat. "Round one!"

The game started, and four different colored hoof prints lit on the screen of the machine. The hoof prints matched the glowing ones on the machine's floor, but in a different arrangement.

Unsurprisingly, Alphabittle was able to keep up with the machine as it sped up. Sunny, on the other hand, was struggling with keeping up. Not too long after, Alphabittle was the one who won round one.

"Round two!"

Sunny steeled her nerves, and this time, was able to keep up with the machine, but missed a few. Alphabittle won the second round as well. "No!" Sunny groaned.

"Told you." Alphabittle said.

Izzy walked up to her friend, who was sweating. "Come on, Sunny! You can do this! Feel the beat! Feel it!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Sunny said. "I can do this!"

"Round three!"

This time, Sunny didn't mess up, not even once. She and Alphabittle had the same score for most of the game, that is, until Alphabittle messed up. Sunny won round three, leaving the gray stallion in bewilderment.

"I... did it? I did it!" Sunny said. "Misty! I did it! You're going to the gala!"

Misty cheered. "Yeah! You go, Sunny!"

Alphabittle chuckled. "Well, a deal is a deal. You won fair and square. Misty can go to the gala."

Misty, Sunny, and Izzy squealed. "We're going to the gala!" Izzy screamed. "I'm so excited!"

Sunny handed Misty her ticket. "Grand Galloping Gala, here we come!"

While the girls buzzed in excitement, Alphabittle chuckled nervously. How am I going to tell them I was still going to let Misty go even if Sunny lost.

Spike looked at Sparky, "So... you like gems?"

"Rarity gives me her extras, my personal favorite are smoky quartzes, they taste like chocolate!" Sparky said. "What's your favorite?"

"Sapphires, they taste like mint!" Spike said. "Always thought it would be blueberry though..."

End of Episode.

Author's Note

Episode 7 is finally done! And I think I can get weekly chapters out now, for sure! Anyway, we got some Sprout/Sunset lore! :pinkiegasp: Did you guess who the "fire alicorn" is? It's pretty obvious :twilightoops: Next up will be Applejack and her big ego, :ajsleepy:

If there is ANY errors, please comment it so I can fix it and learn from it. :trollestia:

Episode 7: The Ticket Masters, Part 2

Episode 8: Applebuck Season

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 8: "Applebuck Season"

Five days after Twilight and Sunny had given their friends tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, Big Mac had an injury. An injury that couldn't let him help during harvesting season. He and Applejack were on a hill, watching the sunrise.

"Oh, howdy! Look at all those apple trees! We got more than last year! This the biggest orchard ah've ever seen." Applejack said.

"Eeyup, too big for ya to handle on yer own." Big Mac said.

Applejack laughed. "Oh, ain't that a hoot. Course' ah can do it on mah own. Apple Bloom n' Granny Smith can't do it, so it's up ta me. Ya just focus on gettin' better, big brother."

"But ya can't buck all these trees alone! Ya need help, plain n' simple." Big Mac said. "Why don't ya ask yer friends ta help?"

"Twilight n' Sunny are good n' all, but this is mah responsibility, not theirs." Applejack retorted. "Ah'll show you, ah'll get all these apples off these trees by the day's end."

"But one pony and hundreds of trees ain't possible!"

Applejack scoffed. "N' evil alicorns from the moon are?"

Big Macintosh shut his mouth. "That's what ah thought." Applejack said.

Big Macintosh walked away while Applejack looked back at the hundreds - nearly thousands - of apple trees. "What have ah gotten myself into..."

Applejack bucked a tree, apples falling to the baskets she put under it. "One down, nearly... a thousand ta go."

Suddenly, she felt the ground rumbling. She looked around to find a herd of cows, stampeding towards Maretime Bay. "Oh, no!"

At the beach town, Sunny noticed something coming towards them. "What is... that?"

"Stampede!" Rainbow shouted, and panic spread through out the city quickly.

Pinkie giggled as she let the tremors bounce her along the road. "Weeee! Heeeey, thiiiis maaaakes mmyyy voiiice sssound sssilly!" She said, her voice vibrating.

Hitch grabbed Pinkie and carried her to safety. "Safety before fun, Pinkie!" Hitch reminded.

Once he made sure Pinkie was safe, he started evacuating the town. "Do not panic! Go to the safety areas listed on the maps around Maretime Bay! I repeat, do not panic and go to the safety areas on the maps around Maretime Bay!" He ordered.

"Hey, look at that!" Pipp said, pointing at the cowgirl and her dog herding up the cattle. "It's Applejack!"

A crowd gathered as the entirety of Maretime Bay watched the orange mare and her dog. "Go, Applejack!" Pinkie cheered.

"Do you really think she'll be able to do this?" Misty asked.

"Well, she's our only choice now." Hitch said. "Though, knowing Applejack, she'll be sure to succeed!"

And sure enough, Applejack did. She was able to get them to steer clear of Maretime Bay and calm them down. "Woo! She did it!" Pinkie said, munching on popcorn.

"Where did you get popcorn?!" Twilight asked.

Pinkie shrugged, "Of course..." Twilight muttered.

"Applejack was just... just...!" Mayor Mare said, still in shock.

"Amazing! Simply divine!" Rarity said. "I needed new ideas for a new fashion line, and Applejack just gave it to me!"

"We must do something to thank Applejack for single-handedly saving the town!" Mayor Mare said. "Though, I do wonder why we didn't send anypony to deal with it..."

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! Why don't we surprise her with a par-tay!" Pinkie said, bringing out balloons from her mane. "The theme would be apples! It's going to be apple-tastic!"

"Um, Pinkie? Apple-tastic isn't a word." Misty pointed out.

"Anything can be a word, dear Misty!" Izzy said.

It took a week before everything was ready for Applejack. At the Town Square, decorations were being hung up, balloons were inflated, apple-themed foods were cooked, you get it. Though, one thing was missing... the pony who had earned the party.

"It's coming good so far!" Twilight said. "Rarity certainly has a knack for designing."

"Why, thank you, darling." Rarity blushed. "It wasn't much, I just threw a bit of everything everywhere. Though, we're just missing something... aha!" Rarity levitated a banner with Applejack's face around the front arches of Town Hall.

"Why do we have banners of Applejack in Maretime Bay?" Twilight asked. "That doesn't seem like a normal thing to sell, or make!"

"Oh, that?" Pipp said, flying up to the two. "Pinkie has banners of everypony in Maretime Bay, it's like, her thing."

"Whaat? You never know when you need to host a surprise party last minute!" Pinkie defended.

"No one casually has banners of ponies in their house, Pinkie!" Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, really? Then what do you call those banners of the Wonderbolts in your house, huh?" Pinkie said, narrowing her eyes.

"Those are posters, Pinkie! They're different things!" Rainbow said. "Wait, where's Applejack? We definitely told her to come to the Town Square today! Pinkie, didn't you send Applejack a letter?"

"Yup!" Pinkie replied. "She should be coming right about... now!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "I'm sure she'll be here soon, Pinkie. In the meantime, why don't we get started with the ceremony?"

Twilight walked up onto Town Hall, clearing her throat while preparing her stack of notes. She stood infront of a lectern with a mic, so that the ponies could hear her. Behind her was a closed curtain. "Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to- oof!"

Rainbow pushed Twilight aside before she started talking. "Did you all see those moves out there?! Applejack's such an athlete! This week, she’s gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it’s gonna be so awesome!"

"And I'm going to record her!" Pipp said, flying next to Rainbow. "So for any of my fans out there, stay tuned! Pipp, Pipp?"

"Hooray!" The crowd said, which brought a smile on Pipp's face. "See you all soon!" Pipp said, flying off the stage along with Rainbow.

Twilight stood up and fixed her cards again. "Right. Now, if we'll just get back to the point- ack!"

Pinkie shoved Twilight away, bouncing on the spot. "Oops! Sorry, Twilight! But this is super duper important! Because this week, the Cakes are going on vacation! And that leaves me in charge of Sugarcube Corner for the first time! Eee!"

Twilight rolled her eyes before realizing, "What does that have to do with Applejack?" She asked.

"Well, you see, Twilight..." Sunny walked on stage, "I'm going to help Pinkie as well! And Applejack, one of the best bakers, is going to help! And we'll be doing free samples! Oh, also, if you buy anything from the menu, you get one free small fruit smoothie!"

"That sounded more like an advertisement..." Twilight muttered. "Well, if that's all then I should continue!" She used her magic to shove Pinkie Pie and Sunny off the stage. "There we go! So, if I could just-" She noticed Fluttershy on the stage. "-talk. Alright, what is it, Fluttershy?"

"Twilight, I’m so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season." Fluttershy said. "She’s gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills."

Fluttershy walked off the stage as Twilight rolled her eyes. "If anypony wants to talk, do it now! Now before I get interrupted again!"

She looked around, and saw that nopony else was speaking up. "Good. So, as I was trying to say-" She saw Mayor Mare's expectant grin. "Ugh. Never mind!"

Twilight stormed off the stage, as Mayor Mare awkwardly coughed before she cleared her throat. "Well, and so, without furthur ado, it is my privilege..." Two ponies brought up a golden trophy, decorated with a sapphire blue ribbon. "...to give the “Prize Pony of Maretime Bay” Award to our beloved guest of honor a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity… Maretime Bay’s most capable and dependable friend, Applejack!"

The curtain unfolded, and the orange cowgirl that was supposed to be there... was not there, which elicited gasps from the crowd of ponies.

"Yay! Way to go, Applejack!" Sparky cheered, not noticing the looks on the other ponies faces. When he did, he coughed. "Uh, I mean- where's Applejack?!"

"Ah'm here!" Applejack said, a bit woozy. She was carrying two buckets of apples as she made her way to the trophy. "Sorry ah'm late, ah was just... woah, did ah hit yer tail?"

"Applejack? There's no one there." Sunny said. Applejack shook her head before realizing she was stepping on a piece of paper.

"Oh, right, ah knew that." Applejack made her way onto the stage, and almost hit Mayor Mare. "Um, sorry bout' that." She faced the crowd, and everypony could see the eyebags under her eyes.

She cleared her throat, "Mayor Mare, thank you kindly for this here, uh, award thingie." She walked up to the trophy, she saw her reflection in it as she yawned. "It's so bright... n' shiny, and..."

Her reflection was distorted on the trophy, which amused Applejack. "Ah sure do look funny..." She pulled forward then pulled it back, then forward again while she made "whoo-woo" noises. Pinkie and Izzy soon joined in as well, also making the noises.

"Uh... well! Thank you for your help, Applejack. For saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony." Twilight said.

"Huh?" Applejack shook her head. "Oh, right. Yeah, ah like helpin' the uh, ponies n' stuff..." She dozed off, releasing a few snores.

"Applejack? Hey, Applejack?" Twilight said. "Applejack!"

Applejack's eyes opened, though, she was still a bit doozy. "Oh, yeah, uh... ah should get goin'" Applejack gripped one of the trophy's handles with her teeth, dragging it off the stage.

"Do you need help?" Twilight asked.

"Nope." Applejack bluntly said, she pulled the trophy back to the apple farm, and the crowd left, only leaving the Mane 12 there, along with Spike and Sparky.

Twilight looked confused, "Did Applejack seem a little-"

"Tired?" Rainbow said.

"Off?" Zipp added.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy said.

"Messy?" Rarity said.

"Weird?" Misty said.

"Out of character?" Hitch said.

"I didn't see it." Pinkie shrugged.

"She looked super fine to me!" Izzy said.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Something's wrong, and I'm going to find out..." Twilight turned to her friends. "I'm gonna do some investigating."

Zipp sighed. "Wish I could come too, but I have to go back to Zephyr Heights."

"Well, see you all later." Twilight started walking to Sweet Apple Acres when she heard a voice calling out for her.

"Twilight! Wait!" The voice called out.

Twilight turned around to see Hitch, running towards her. "Hitch?!"

Hitch caught up to Twilight and was gasping for air. "What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"I... wanna... come... with you!" Hitch said, breathing between words. "Applejack's my friend, I wanna help her!"

"That's it? Well, okay, I guess." Twilight said. "Come on,"

"Let me take a breather first." Hitch said.

Twilight and Hitch arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, where they saw Applejack bucking the trees with her hind legs. Buckets were placed next to the tree, so when Applejack bucked it, the apples fell into the buckets perfectly. She does the same to two other trees; the landscape indicating that she has already tended to several others in the same way. If anything, she is even more tired than she was at the award ceremony!

Applejack's head droops for a bit before she shook it off. Applejack, who was too far from the tree, hit nothing but air when she bucked it. She tried again, except this time, she hit the empty apple bucket instead of the tree.

"What is she doing?" Hitch asked.

"I think she's supposed to be applebucking, but that tree doesn't have apples." Twilight pointed at the tree Applejack was trying to hit, which didn't have apples. "And she probably would've hit it."

Twilight teleported her and Hitch to Applejack, who didn't notice the two as she was bucking a tree. "Hey, Applejack?"

No response.

"Applejack?" Twilight called out, but the apple farmer seemed to be dozing off.

"Let me try," Hitch cleared his throat before shouting, "APPLEJACK!"

Applejack returned to reality, she shook her head. "Huh- what? Oh, howdy Twilight, Hitch."

"So... what is all of... this?" Hitch asked.

"It's the Applebuck season." Applejack said, walking past Twilight and Hitch.

"Apple-what season?" Twilight asked.

"It's what the Apple family calls harvestin' time." Applejack explained. "We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell them."

"Alright, but why are you doing it alone?" Twilight asked.

"Cause' Big Macintosh hurt himself, has ta heal." Applejack said.

"What about all those relatives I met when I first came to Maretime Bay? Can’t they help?" Twilight asked.

"Don't you have over a hundred relatives?" Hitch asked.

"They were just here fer the Apple family reunion. They actually live all over Equestria n' are busy harvestin’ their own orchards. So, uh, ah'm on my own." Twilight walked in front of Applejack, and so did Hitch. "Which means ah should get back ta work?"

Twilight raises her eyebrow. "Hint, hint? Get back ta work?" Applejack said.

Hitch stepped aside and so did Twilight. "Just make sure not to overwork yourself." Hitch reminded.

"Yeah, yeah, can ya move outta' the way now?" Applejack asked.

"We did?" Twilight said.

Applejack shook her head, "Oh, right."

"Applejack, you don't look so good... maybe take a quick break?" Twilight asked.

"What she said." Hitch said. "You need rest, even just a little."

"Don’t none of ya five worry none, ah'm just fine and dandy." Applejack said.

"Do you want some help? We'd more than be happy to help while you take a quick break!" Hitch asked.

"Help? No way, no how!" Applejack said.

"Applejack, there is no way you can do it all on your own! At least take a break!" Twilight said.

Applejack, however, only heard the first part. "Is that a challenge?"

"Applejack, please, take one break!" Hitch said.

"Well, ah'm gonna prove to ya'll that ah can do it!" Applejack said, shaking her head. "Now if ya'll will excuse me, ah've got apples ta buck." Applejack turned and walked away, starting her work again.

"Oh, dear..." Twilight worriedly said.

Hitch sighed, "There's no stopping that pony, hopefully, she'll get some sleep. We can't reason with her, so... let's go."

"Yeah..." Twilight said, walking away with Hitch. "Hopefully,"

Rainbow and Pipp stood infront of a contraption, waiting for Applejack. It was a scaffold infront of a seesaw, the end closest to the scaffold marked with an X. Applejack ran towards the two pegasi, gasping for air once she reached them.

"Ah'm mighty sorry ta keep ya'll waitin', ah was busy applebuckin' and the next thing ah must'a closed mah eyes fer a second. N' when ah woke up, ah was late." Applejack explained.

"Nah, it's alright. As long as you're here now." Rainbow said.

"If you had arrived here on time, our contraption would still be in the works, so perfect timing!" Pipp said. "So, anyway, here's how it works! It's pretty simple, you climb the scaffold and jump and land on this end." She indicated the end with the red X. "And Rainbow will stand on the other end, and once you land on it, she'll do some amazing flips and tricks! And I'm going to record her doing it so that she'll have something to impress the Wonderbolts with, and I get some exciting new content!"

"That sounds easy enough." Applejack said. She climbed the scaffold, and looked down below her. Her vision blurred, and she squinted her eyes. "Are ya sure bout' this? Isn't this a mite dangerous?"

"Not for a pegasus!" Rainbow shouted.

"Alright... three! Two! One! Go!" Pipp said. Applejack jumped... and missed the seesaw. "Applejack?! Are you alright!?

"Uh... yup," Applejack said, shaking her head. "Ah can do it,"

Applejack tried again, and again, and again, and everytime she did, she landed on the ground. Luckily, after the first failed attempt, Pipp put pillows on the ground beside the seesaw in case Applejack missed.

"Okay, Applejack, what is going on? You're Maretime Bay's best athlete, what's going on?" Rainbow asked. "Is everything alright? That fall didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Ah'm fine," Applejack said. "Ah have an idea!"

She grabs the high end of the seesaw and pulls it down. "Uh... ta-da!"

Needless to say, Rainbow wasn't impressed. Applejack chuckled awkwardly, "Oh, um, maybe not. Okay, one more try." She climbed the scaffold tower once more, "Ah'm sure to get it this time... ah hope."

Rainbow‘s end thuds to the ground, collapsing her onto the seesaw when her knees and legs give out. On the scaffold, Applejack's vision became crystal clear, she knew exactly where to land this time. "Here ah go!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Applejack, stop!" Pipp shouted, but Applejack already jumped. When Applejack landed, the seesaw shot her into the air, hurling her towards the lighthouse.

"Yer welcome!" Applejack shouted.

Pipp was speechless. "So, uh, ah'm gonna go now." Applejack said, taking her leave.

At the lighthouse, Twilight was on the balcony of the second floor, reading. After they had defeated Nightmare Moon and moved to Maretime Bay, Princess Celestia had ordered the light house to be refurbished and renovated. She looked up to see Rainbow, coming towards her at full speed.

"Ack!" Twilight was quick to react, freezing Rainbow in her place before she could hit the floor of the balcony. "Rainbow?!"

Twilight gently put Rainbow on the balcony, "What exactly... happened?"

"Applejack happened, that's what." Rainbow said. "Can't you talk to her?"

"I'll see what I can do," Twilight sighed. With a flash, Twilight disappeared.

She reappeared inside the sheriff's office, a few papers falling on the floor. "Uh, Twilight? What's wrong?" Hitch asked.

"Applejack." Twilight said. "Rainbow was hurled towards the light house! And apparently, it was Applejack who did it!"

Hitch groaned, "I'm going to guess we're going back to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Yup." Twilight said. "Come on, we're teleporting."

"Alright," Hitch said, standing next to Twilight. The unicorn's horn glowed, and they appeared at Sweet Apple Acres the next second. Twilight and Hitch walked to the barn, expecting Applejack to be there. But when they arrived, the only pony there was Big Macintosh.

"Uh... can ah help ya?" Big Mac asked.

"Yes! Yes, you can help us!" Twilight said. "You should talk some sense into Applejack! Because Rainbow was sent flying to the light house, and Applejack was the cause!"

Big Mac grimaced. "Ah'd love ta help, but ah tried tellin' her the same thing! But she didn't listen ta me!"

"Do you know where Applejack is?" Hitch asked.

Big Mac shrugged, "Probably at Sugarcube Corner, somethin' bout' helpin' Pinkie Pie n' Sunny out."

Twilight and Hitch looked worriedly at each other.

At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie and Sunny were in front of a light blue mare with a pink-ish red mane designed to look like the swirls of a cupcake. Next to her was a yellow stallion with an orange mane.

"Now, Pinkie Pie," The mare said. "are you sure you're up for running the store for the week? We can cancel our vacation, if you want."

"Don't worry about it, go on your vacation! Me and Sunny can handle it, yes-sirree-bob!" Pinkie said.

"We'll have Applejack helping us out, Mrs. Cake." Sunny said. "Pinkie said she's the best baker in Maretime Bay, so we'll be fine!"

"Alright..." Mrs. Cake said. "Speaking of which, where is Applejack?"

"She should get here soon!" Sunny said.

"Come on, hun, we have to get to the train." The stallion said, carrying multiple bags.

"Right, well, we'll see you in a week." Mrs. Cake said.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie said, waving goodbye to the couple as they left the shop. "Have fun!"

Applejack barged in the shop, breathing heavily. "Sorry ah'm late!"

"Actually, the Cakes just left!" Sunny said.

"Come on!" Pinkie entered the kitchen. "Those cupcakes aren't gonna bake themselves!"

In the kitchen, Sunny put down a bowl on the table. "Right. I'll get the sugar, Pinkie you get the eggs, and Applejack, you get the chocolate chips."

"Eh... what was that?" Applejack asked.

"Chocolate chips!" Sunny said, except Applejack only heard "chips".

"Chips." Applejack said, her face brightening. "All right."

Applejack looked in the pantry shelves before she noticed a bag of potato chips. "Tater chips, all salty n' dry." Applejack put the bag of chips in the bowl, which already contained sugar and eggs.

"Next, we need some baking soda!" Pinkie said.

"Soda... perfect! That'll get the chips nice n' wet." Applejack looked in the refrigerator, before spotting a full bottle of Kola. She poured the whole bottle in the bowl before throwing the bottle away.

"Uh, Pinkie? Are you sure this is the recipe?" Sunny asked, looking at the batter.

"Duh! I've made cupcakes before, Sunny!" Pinkie said, still looking at the book. "Then we need to put a cup of flour!"

"A cup of sour? Well, lemons sure are sour." Applejack asked. Applejack shrugged before slicing lemons and putting the juice in the batter.

"Lastly, wheat germ!" Pinkie said.

"Wheat... worms? Oh! That must be fancy talk fer earthworms!" Applejack said.

"Um, maybe I should do this one." Sunny nervously chuckled.

"Oh, sure." Applejack said.

Sunny put two cups of wheat germ in the batter, "Finished... are you sure about this?"

"Of course!" Pinkie said. She put the batter in the cupcake mold and put it in the oven. "It's going to be delicious!"

"Well... if ya say so." Applejack said, slightly not convinced. "Can ah go now? Ah need ta help Fluttershy."

"Yup! We can handle it from here!" Pinkie said. Applejack left Sugarcube Corner, and a few minutes later, the cupcakes were done. The cupcakes looked moldy, and inedible to say the least.

"Ooh! They look scrumptious!" Pinkie said.

"Pinkie, I don't think we should be serving this." Sunny said.

"Why not?" Pinkie asked.

"Pinkie, it looks rotten, and most likely inedible." Sunny flatly said. "We should redo it, we cannot serve this."

"Don't worry about it!" Pinkie took a bite and immediately recoiled from disgust. "Actually, I take it back. We can't serbe these! These aren't baked goods, they're baked bads." She threw up in the trash can, and quickly dumped the cupcakes in there too.

Twilight and Hitch ran into the kitchen, "Where's Applejack?!" Twilight asked.

"Woah, Twilight, what's going on?" Sunny asked. "Is something wrong?"

"We need to talk to her, ASAPP!" Hitch said, receiving confused looks. "As fast as pony possible!"

"Applejack just left!" Pinkie said. "But hey! While you're here, why don't you help us bake some cupcakes!"

"Sorry, but we need to find Applejack!" Twilight said. "Maybe some other time, Pinkie."

"But why do you need to find Applejack?" Sunny asked.

"Remember how Applejack was acting weird at the ceremony? Well, turns out, she's been harvesting apples without any breaks!" Hitch explained. "And because of her lack of sleep, Rainbow was shot flying to the light house!"

"Oh, no! Is Rainbow okay?" Sunny asked.

"Luckily, yes. I was able to catch her with my magic." Twilight said. "While Applejack was here, was she acting... odd? Different?"

"Now that you mention it, Applejack was acting weird." Pinkie said. "She made some of the worst cupcakes! That's not like Applejack to get a recipe wrong! Blegh! She almost put earthworms into it, which would've given me food poisoning!"

"We need to talk some sense into Applejack, do you know where she would've gone?" Hitch asked.

"She mentioned something about helping Fluttershy." Sunny said. "Wait, didn't Fluttershy say that Applejack was going to help her herd the bunnies?"

Twilight was about to respond, but the ground started shaking. "What in the hay is happening?!" Hitch asked.

The four looked outside to see bunnies rampaging the city. "It's a bunny stampede!" Pinkie screamed. "Run for your lives!" Pinkie ran, and it quickly turned into mayhem.

"Pinkie! We need to stick together!" Twilight shouted. "Ugh! It's no use!"

"Twilight! Hitch! Sunny!" Fluttershy ran towards the three, looking fearful. "I don't know what happened! Applejack was helping me herd the bunnies in the park, but she was too hard on them! And now we've caused a stampede! I'm so sorry!"

"It wasn't your fault, Fluttershy." Twilight said gently. "It was Applejack's, speaking of which, I need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?"

"She must be at the farm," Fluttershy said.

Twilight nodded. "Hitch, you're coming with me to knock some sense into her. Sunny, Fluttershy, you have to try and stop the stampede, understand?"

"Got it! Come on, Fluttershy, let's go." Sunny said. She and Fluttershy left to stop the stampede, while Twilight and Hitch teleported to Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack was pulling a cart full of apples back to the barn, with all the ponies she "helped" today, she made up for lost time. Twilight and Hitch appeared in front of Applejack, looking very crossed.

"Alright, Applejack. Your applebucking has caused an over-propelled pegasus to almost crash into me, almost poisoned Pinkie Pie, and caused a bunny stampede that is currenly rampaging Maretime Bay! I don't care what you're going to say, because you need help!"

"Hah! No, ah don't!" Applejack said. "Ah harvested every tree in Sweet Apple Acres without yer help. How'd ya like them apples!"

Hitch snorted. "Actually, you didn't." Hitch pointed at the other side of the orchard, which had even more trees, which all still had apples on them.

"No.... no!" Applejack fainted, her cart full of apples falling on the ground.

"Applejack? Applejack!" Before she blacked out, she heard her friend's worried voice.

Applejack awoke in an ethereal place, "What? Where ah'm ah?" Applejack stood up, wandering the strange, new area. "Hello? Is anypony there?"

"Hello, Applejack." Applejack looking for the source of the voice. She noticed blue smoke, forming into the shape of an alicorn. The blue smoke disappeared, only leaving...

"Princess Luna!" Applejack said. "What are ya doin' here? Do ya still... remember me?"

"Of course, you are the wielder of Honesty, are you not?" Princess Luna said. Her appearance hadn't changed from when she was redeemed a week ago.

Applejack nodded. "To answer your question, I am the protector of dreams, I make sure that the ponies of Equestria don't have nightmares." Princess Luna explained. "After my transformation from Nightmare Moon to Princess Luna, I've been wandering the dream realm more often. Though, I didn't expect to find you here, young Applejack."

Applejack grimaced, which Luna took a note of. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Can ah be honest with ya Princess Luna?" Applejack asked, to which Princess Luna nodded. "Ah messed up, ah took on more than ah could handle. Ah've created a mess of things,"

"What do you mean?" Princess Luna asked.

"It's harvestin' season, that means the we have to harvest every apple before it's over. Mah big brother hurt himself, and mah granny and lil' sis can't do it, so ah've had to do it alone. But ah haven't had rest since harvest season started, n' when Twilight n' Hitch tried to get me to... ah didn't listen. Ah almost got Rainbow hurt, ah almost poisoned Pinkie, n' ah caused a stampede! Ah wish ah listened to Twilight and Hitch, now Maretime Bay is payin' for mah stubborn head!"

Princess Luna sighed, "I understand, Applejack. I wish I too could go back in time and talked to my sister, maybe then I wouldn't have turned into Nightmare Moon. But you cannot change the past, no matter how badly you want to. Applejack, do you feel regret?"

"Of course ah do." Applejack said.

"Then go make things right." Princess Luna said. Her horn glowed an icy blue, and Applejack felt her consciousness regaining.

Applejack woke up in her bed, Twilight and Hitch sitting next to her. "Twilight? Hitch?"

"Applejack! You're awake!" Twilight said. "Are you alright?"

Applejack sighed, "Yeah, ah am. How long was ah out for?"

"Three hours," Hitch said.

Applejack's eyes widened. "The stampede- is everypony alright?"

Twilight nodded. "Fortunately, Sunny and Fluttershy were able to calm the bunnies down before they could cause serious damage."

Applejack's face turned to relief, then to guilt. "Listen, Twi, ah... ah'm sorry. Ah should've listened to ya, if ah did, none of this would've happened."

"It's alright, Applejack. No one was hurt," Twilight said.

"Applebuck season's almost over, and ah've still got ta buck the other apple trees." Applejack said.

"Applejack, I completely respect the Apple family ways. You’re always there to help anypony in need, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you." Twilight said.

"We're not going to take no for an answer," Hitch said.

Applejack smiled. "Course', ah really need yer help."

"Finally, you admit it." Hitch chuckled.

The Mane 12, along with Spike and Sparky were helping Applejack harvest the apples. Applejack, who was fully rested, brought a tray with fourteen cups of apple juice to the group. "Why don't ya'll take a break? Ah've got some fine apple juice!"

Applejack sighed, "Girls, ah can’t thank ya'll enough for this help. ah was actin’ a bit stubborn earlier."

"A bit?" Twilight asked.

"A bit is an understatment." Hitch said.

Applejack chuckled. "Okay, a mite stubborn, n' ah'm awful sorry. Now, ah know the town gave me the Prize Pony award, but the real award is havin' you thirteen as mah friends."

They all took the apple juice, "Thirteen is a lot," Sparky said. "But I'm not complaining."

"Phew! That applebucking sure is hard work, wish I had some food." Rainbow said.

"Say no more," Applejack brought out a tray of apple pies. "Apple family apple pies!"

The group cheered, while Twilight brought out a scroll and a quill pen and started writing.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she’s always there to help anypony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it. So while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it’s also about accepting what our friends have to offer.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay! But hey, I got it all out in one chapter! :pinkiecrazy: Remember how Pinkie technically got food poisoning in the original episode? Yeah, that didn't make the cut. I didn't write Fluttershy's part because it would've been the same as the original. That, and five thousand words is a lot. Anyway, next episode is an original one. Well, technically it's a mix of the Tell Your Tale episodes "Foal Me Once" and "Pippsqueaks Forever", but it has an original plot! I'm just taking some inspiration! :pinkiehappy: Anyway, next episode will have some lore drop, so stay tuned!

If there is ANY errors, or anything I should fix, please comment so I can work on it. :pinkiesmile:

Wkh wzhoyh zhuh qrw phdqw wr eh. Slhfhv ghvwurbhg exw uhexlow. (Good luck deciphering! :rainbowdetermined2: Hint: It's the first cipher featured in Gravity Falls.)

Episode 8: Applebuck Season

Episode 9: Lunar Swirl

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 9: "Lunar Swirl"

Ten years ago, at the school for Gifted Unicorns, a young Lunar Swirl was working on her science project. She had cobalt blue fur with a capri blue mane. She was mixing a couple of substances, she was extremely careful while doing so. After a few minutes, she poured a purple substance into a green one, which resulted in a small explosion.

The young Lunar Swirl coughed, "What if I..." She used her magic to pour an orange and a purple substance into a green one at the same time. She closed her eyes, expecting an explosion, but when she didn't hear or feel anything, she cautiously opened her eyes. She looked at her potion, seeing that it was fully white.

"Wowie!" She smiled, she put a cork in the bottle before running to her teacher, Ms. Goldspark. "Ms. Goldspark! Ms. Goldspark!"

The teacher fixed her glasses before crouching down to the filly's level. She noticed the white potion in her hooves and let out a small gasp. "Did you make this?" Ms. Goldspark asked.

Young Lunar nodded. "Yup! It's a simple vision spell, it allows you to see anything in the past!" Lunar explained. "Well, hypothetically, that is."

Ms. Goldspark carefully took the potion and inspected it, she took out the cork and took a sip of the potion. Once she did, her eyes glowed white. After a few minutes, her eyes turned back to normal before shaking her head. "I... I don't know what to say! This is incredible!"

"You really mean that?" Lunar hopefully asked, to which the teacher nodded. "Does this mean I passed?"

"An A+," Ms. Goldspark said. Lunar smiled, she felt a warm sensation in her chest. "Now, go along and play with your... friends?"

Lunar's right flank glowed, and the image of a moon with magic, swirling around it appeared on it. "My cutie mark? My cutie mark!"

"You sure have a knack for mixing, dear." Ms. Goldspark said. "I'm very proud of you."

"Really?" Lunar smiled.

The teacher nodded, and Lunar ran off to play with her friends. "Ah... I remember when I got my first cutie mark..." Ms. Goldspark muttered to herself.

The next day, the young Lunar was walking towards the classroom, looking happy. She sat on her desk and hummed while waiting for class to start.

Ms. Goldspark walked in, holding multiple files with her magic. "Hello, class. I've got some great news! I've graded all of your tests, and every one of you succeeded!"

The class cheered, and Ms. Goldspark handed out the graded papers to each student. Once she was done, she cleared her throat. "Now, class, I've got an announcement! Please, give a round of applause to Lunar Swirl, who got a 16/15!"

The class applauded while Lunar blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, it was nothing, really!" Lunar said.

"And, give a bigger applause to Twilight Sparkle! Who got a 17/15!" Ms. Goldspark said. Lunar froze, turning directly to Twilight, who had her head in a book as usual.

At lunch, Lunar played around with her food, thinking heavily on something. Why did Twilight have to upstage me?! That was my moment to shine! Ugh! Lunar groaned. Why can't I have one day where I'm the center of attention! It's always Twilight! Twilight this, Twilight that! She thinks she's so good, being Princess Celestia's student!

"Hey," Lunar was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the young purple filly speak. She sat down and started eating her food, not paying any mind to Lunar's confusion.

"What do you want?" Lunar said, a bit too harsh, but Twilight didn't notice.

"I noticed you were lonely, you looked sad." Twilight said. "I noticed your new cutie mark, what does it mean?"

Lunar blinked, she didn't expect that. "Oh, this? I got it after I made one of the best potions in the world! Probably better than anything you could ever make." Lunar bragged.

"Hm, that's nice." Twilight said. Lunar noticed a book beside her, she took a quick peek at the title. It was a Daring Do book! The series had just come out, but ponies instantly loved it. "Is something on your mind?" Twilight asked.

"I... um... you read Daring Do?" Lunar asked.

"Oh, yeah! I love Daring Do! She's so adventurous, I like that!" Twilight said. "I can't wait for the second volume, I've read the Sapphire Stone like, fifty times already!"

"Same!" Lunar grinned. "But I've probably read it sixty times,"

"Oh, really? Then, what lead Daring Do to go on a life of adventure?" Twilight asked.

"Hah! Easy!" Lunar said. "She found a note and a small sapphire in her grandmare's house, leading her to go on a quest to find the sapphire stone!"

And with that, any resentment Lunar had for Twilight quickly disappeared as quickly as it came.

Present time, it was a week after the Applebuck Season, Twilight was happily walking around Maretime Bay with a book in her saddlebag. She hummed to herself, she wondered what Sunny was doing. She saw a potion store, but it was closed.

Potions... she remembered she had a friend in Canterlot, she liked potions, she got her cutie mark because of it! What was her name? Lula... Lura... Lun... Lunar! Her thoughts quickly changed, she thought about her adventure in the Everfree. Or, about the unicorn mare who attacked her, the unicorn mare who said her name was Lunar as well. She knew Ms. Goldspark, her potions teacher for three years before she moved away to Manehattan.

She thought back to her Lunar, she was normally happy and upbeat, she wouldn't do such a thing, she wouldn't try and actually attack her, right? No, it was just a coincidence, Lunar is a pretty normal name for ponies who have moon-themed cutie marks. And the one she met in the Everfree was black, and had a blue mane! Her Lunar looked much different.

Her thoughts were cut short when she bumped into somepony, who fell as well. "Oh, my, I'm so sorry!" The mare apologized.

"No, no, it's fine. I should've been watching where I was going, I..." She took a closer look at the mare she had bumped into, she looked familiar. She had cobalt blue fur, a capri blue mane, and was a unicorn! Twilight fixed her glasses, and immediately recognized her as... "Lunar?"

"I... you remember me?" Lunar asked, she looked nervous.

"Of course!" Twilight said, "We're friends! From the School for Gifted Unicorns?"

Lunar sighed with relief, which Twilight took a note of. "Right! Yes, that's where you know me, not from anywhere else! Nope! Just your old pal, Lunar!" She awkwardly laughed.

"So, what have you been up to? It's been two weeks since I left Canterlot." Twilight asked.

"Oh, you know! The usual, making potions, selling them..." Lunar said. "How's life in Maretime Bay? Being the Element of Magic must have it's perks."

Twilight shrugged. "I mean, everypony in this town treats me the exact same. It's nice," Twilight said. "What brings you here?"

"I was just visiting, there are stuff here that aren't in Canterlot." Lunar said. "Like beaches."

Twilight chuckled, "Well, I won't interfere with your visit, I'll see you around." Twilight said, waving goodbye before walking away.

"Yeah... see you around." The smile on Lunar's face quickly disappeared, and she wandered around Maretime Bay.

Later, Twilight was walking around Maretime Bay, until she found a map of it. "A map! Where was this when I needed it..." Her eyes darted across the map, trying to look for anything interesting. Until her eyes saw a museum, which wouldn't be interesting for anypony else other than Twilight. "Ooh! A museum! And it's close!"

Twilight walked to the museum, and saw a large fancy white building. "Yesyesyesyesyes!" She cheered. She ran inside it, and saw various exhibits.

She wandered around the exhibits, looking at the replicas of ancient and powerful artifacts. "Oh, Celestia!" She saw an ancient sword, the blade a dull blue inside a small box. "The Sapphire Sword!"

She looked at the inscription and realized that this was the only real scavenge in this exhibit. "The Sapphire Sword, an ancient and powerful sword from the early days of Celestia's rule. It is said that whenever danger was near, it would shine a magnificent blue."

"Fascinating!" Twilight said. She wandered to the end of the exhibit, but there was a glass box on top of a stand pedestal, broken. Glass shards were littered across the floor, which made Twilight wonder of what was inside it. She carefully walked to the pedestal, and read the inscription.

"The Elements of Harmony, powerful artifacts used to defeat Nightmare Moon twice. Twilight Sparkle, Sunny Starscout, Applejack, Hitch Trailblazer, Fluttershy, Misty Brightdawn, Pinkie Pie, Izzy Moonbow, Rarity, Pipp Petals, Rainbow Dash, and Zipp Storm bear these elements and used it to stop eternal night. during the Summer Sun Celebration. While these are replicas, the real ones were found in the Everfree Forest and stored in Canterlot Castle."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Who in the hay would steal the Elements of Harmony?! And why replicas?!"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Twilight turned around, and saw Hitch, along with Pipp filming. "Hitch? Pipp? What are you two doing here?"

"Trying to solve the case," Hitch said.

"And I need content! I have like, no ideas left! I couldn't post a video of Rainbow getting shot into the sky!" Pipp said. "That's why, I'm going to help Hitch! A good mystery video will be sure to blow up!"

"Where's Zipp? Isn't she a detective?" Twilight asked.

"Not officially, no." Hitch said. "She's in Canterlot, with Queen Haven."

"So... do you have any leads?" Twilight asked.

"Well, we're gonna inspect the scene, obviously. That mystery pony must have left some sort of evidence." Pipp said.

"Don't let me stop you," Twilight said, moving out of the way.

"Actually, Twilight, I was wondering if you'd... help us? I'm sure Pipp would be a "great" help, it's just that, I'm going to need some other help." Hitch said. "Help that isn't just taking pictures of things!"

"Eh, why not?" Twilight said. Her horn flared up, and the area they were in started glowing magenta. Pipp posed before taking multiple pictures of herself. A few seconds later, it returned back to normal. "Someone's been here yesterday night, obviously. But I can't tell if they're an earth pony, unicorn, or pegasi! They might not even be a pony!"

She walked over to the broken glass box, and inspected it, she saw small scorch marks on it. "Scorch marks? Hitch, what do you make of this?"

Hitch walked over to her, and saw the scorch marks. "That's weird, scorch marks? Who could make these?" Hitch said.

"Well, scorch marks come from heat, and what is hotter than a dragon's fire?" Pipp said, still taking pictures.

"What? Sparky wouldn't do this! Nor would Spike!" Hitch said. "Pipp, how could you say such a thing!"

"She's... she's not entirely wrong, scorch marks do come from heat, and I haven't seen Spike all night yesterday..." Twilight said. "I don't want to believe it, but maybe Spike knows what happened."

Hitch and Pipp looked at eachother, the latter putting her phone away.

The three entered the light house, where an anxious Sunny was waiting. "Twilight, I got your message. I couldn't find Spike, though."

"Do you know where he is?" Twilight asked, to which Sunny shook her head. "Where is that dragon?!"

That moment, Spike walked in the light house, holding a bag in his claws. "Hey,"

"Spike... we should talk." Twilight said, calmly.

"I didn't do anything! I'm innocent, I tell you!" Spike said, putting his claws over the bag.

"Where were you last night?" Hitch asked. "And what's in that bag?"

"I was nowhere! And this is nothing!" Spike said. He said, his claws tightening.

Twilight used her magic to levitate the bag out of his hands, and took a look inside. "It's... the latest Power Ponies comic?"

"Okay, spill." Pipp said, silently recording it. "Didn't they just release that? It hasn't even been shipped to Maretime Bay!"

"Maybe we should be asking her how she knows that?" Sunny whispered to Hitch, who chuckled.

"It's all over my ClipTrot, duh!" Pipp said, who heard the whisper. "Yes, I heard you."

Twilight groaned, "Spike, please, can you tell us what happened?"

"Fine..." Spike said. "If you must know, I originally planned to go the comic book store."

"I had just heard about the release, and I had enough bits, so I went to the comic book store."

It was night, and Spike was running to the comic book store, a sack of bits in his claws. Fortunately, it was still open. Spike went inside, and started browsing.

"Ah, Spike. What brings you here? This fine night?" A stallion said.

"I'm looking to see if they released the new Power Pony comic here yet," Spike said, still searching.

"Well... you see..." The stallion said. "It won't be here for another month, problems with the shipping."

"What?!" Spike said, turning to the stallion. "Isn't there any way to ship it faster?! I need it now, or else I'll see spoilers! Please, Pagespinner, please!" He begged.

"Sorry, kid." Pagespinner sighed. "I'll be closing soon, you should head back over home."

Spike dejectedly walked out of the comic book store, until he saw a stand. But he also saw, the latest Power Pony volume. He ran over to the stand, and saw the stand owner. "How much?"

"Hundred bits."

"But, wasn't it sixty-five bits?" Spike asked.

"Yes, but I say a hundred." He replied.

"But it says sixty-five on the price tag," Spike said, pointing the price tag out.

"It's a hundred or nothing, kid." The stallion said.

"But that's a rip off! Sixty-five." Spike said.

"A hundred and five."

"What?! That's higher than before!" Spike protested.

"My shop, my rules."

And so, the two continued to bicker, until the next morning. Ponies were starting to gather around in a crowd, watching the debate happen.

"Sixty-five!"

"A hundred and twenty!"

An idea formed in Spike's head, and he smirked. "A hundred and twenty!"

"No, sixty-five!" Bingo.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

He put the bag of bits on the stand and took the comic, putting in a plastic bag. The stallion grabbed the bag of bits before he realized. "Wha- hey! No fair!" He shouted.

"...and that's why I was gone the whole night." Spike finished.

"...Oh, so that's what that crowd was!" Pipp said.

"So you didn't rob the museum?" Hitch asked.

"No? Why would I?" Spike asked.

"It was a stupid idea, to be fair." Twilight said.

"So then who caused those scorch marks?" Hitch asked.

Twilight thought about it, before she came to a conclusion. "How could I be so stupid! When unicorns cast spells, their magic sometimes causes scorch marks. Like when teleporting, when you teleport from one place to another, they usually cause scorch marks from the place you teleported from, and where you teleported."

"So the culprit has to be a unicorn! And even if it was a dragon, no dragon would make a scorch mark that small." Twilight said.

"So the thief is a unicorn?" Pipp said. "But there's like, so many unicorns in Maretime Bay! And who knows if they're even still here! They could be on their way to Bridlewood, or Canterlot!"

"Maybe there's a way to narrow it down," Twilight said, turning to Hitch. "Hitch, your station has files about everything in Maretime Bay?"

"Yes? Where are you going with this?" Hitch asked.

"Well, I'm sure there are other things this mysterious unicorn has stole, so it must be in the station files." Twilight said. "And then, with our information, should be able to guess on who it is, or at least narrow it down."

"Twilight, you're a genius!" Hitch praised. "Let's go."

Twilight, Hitch, and Pipp entered the station and immediately started going through the station files. "Has anything gone stolen or missing today?" Twilight asked.

Hitch shook his head, "Anything in the last few days?"

"Wait, guys! I think I found something!" Pipp said, holding a file up. Hitch and Twilight went to Pipp, and opened the file.

"This is the only other report of things gone stolen this week," Pipp said. "Potion ingredients."

"Potion ingredients? What would that have to do with the theft?" Hitch asked.

"Well, maybe it's for a potion? Maybe they want to make their own Elements of Harmony?" Pipp suggested.

"But why would anyone want to make their own Element of Harmony? It doesn't make sense!" Twilight said. "Unless they wanted to, I don't know, destroy Equestria or something!"

"But it's something, we should take this into consideration." Hitch said. "Do you know anypony who would want potion ingredients, or an interest in potions and is a unicorn?"

Twilight started searching her mind for anypony that matched the description, until it hit her. "I... know one pony."

"Who?" Hitch asked.

"Lunar Swirl, she was a classmate of mine back in Canterlot." Twilight said. "She's in Maretime Bay, and has an interest in potions. But she wouldn't do that! I know her!"

"Lunar Swirl? Isn't that the unicorn we met in The Everfree Forest? The one that tried to, y'know, kill us!" Pipp said.

"She wouldn't steal, and she isn't the one who tried to kill us!" Twilight argued. "Her mane and coat are different!"

"Well, she's still a pony of interest, so we should question her." Hitch said. "Look, Twilight, I believe you on this, but we can't be so quick to... dismiss!"

Twilight sighed, "That's reasonable..."

"Do you know where she is?" Hitch asked.

"We talked earlier today, but other than that... no." Twilight said. "She could still be in Maretime Bay."

"Then let's find her!" Pipp said.

The three exited the station, she briefly saw a cobalt blue unicorn, she tried to get a better look, but there was too many ponies in the way. "Uh, guys, I think I see her?"

"That fast?" Hitch asked.

"Well, I don't really know if it's her, but it's a unicorn..." Twilight said. "I just need a better look, so I can identify her."

"Ooh! Idea!" Pipp lifted Twilight into the air, much to her surprise. "Didn't you say you needed a better look?" Pipp said, to which Twilight nodded nervously. She looked at the ground, her eyes darting around before she saw Lunar, a bag on her back.

"Found her!" Twilight said. Pipp lowered her to the ground before the three started running to where Lunar was. "Come on, come on!"

Twilight stopped and looked around, trying to locate where Lunar was. She saw Lunar enter an alleyway, and she, Hitch, and Pipp followed her. "Lunar, wait!" She had entered the alley, Lunar turned around to see Twilight, Hitch, and Pipp.

"Twilight? Um, what are you doing here?" Lunar asked.

"Why are you here?" Hitch asked.

Lunar started to sweat, "Oh, y'know, the normal stuff ponies do when in an alleyway!"

"Lunar, did you steal-" Twilight's voice was cut off by Lunar's voice.

"Me? Steal? What? No! Hah! I didn't steal anything!" Lunar said, nervously.

Pipp saw the bag on her back, "What's in the bag?" Pipp asked.

"Nothing! It's nothing!" Lunar said.

"Lunar, please, tell us the truth." Twilight urged.

"Listen, Twilight," Lunar sighed. "You don't know what I'm going through, so just..." Lunar's horn lit up. "...forget it." She shot a beam at the group.

"Wha... huh?" Twilight said, on the ground of the alleyway. "Ugh... how'd I get here?" She looked around, and saw Hitch and Pipp. "Hitch? Pipp?"

Hitch and Pipp stirred around before coming back up, "What... happened?" Hitch asked. "And why do I have this headache?"

"Ew, why are we in an alleyway?" Pipp asked. "And how did we get here? Weren't we just leaving the light house?"

"I... I can't remember, one second we were leaving the light house, the next..." Twilight winced, some sort of pain forming in her head. "Why can't I remember?"

"I can't remember anything from after we left the light house," Hitch said.

Twilight noticed a crumbled piece of paper in front of her, she took it and unfurled it. It was ripped, but she could see the words 'Lun' before it ended. But the weird thing was, that it was in her hoofwriting. "What?"

"Twilight, what's... that?" Pipp asked, referring to the paper.

"It's some sort of note, it has the word "Lun" on it, it's ripped, so where's the other piece?" Twilight said. "And it's in my hoofwriting, weird."

"Is this it?" Hitch held up another piece of paper, which Twilight took. She unfurled that part, and saw that it was also ripped. She put the two papers together and read what the spelled out.

"Lunar Swirl?" Twilight said. "What does this mean? I'm sure it's a name, but- argh!" She felt a sharp pain in her head, and she saw small flashes of things. A cobalt blue unicorn, with a capri blue mane.

"Twilight!" Pipp said. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's... it's nothing, the pain's gone, but I keep seeing things." Twilight said. "They're like... visions? No, memories."

Twilight shook her head, "Lunar Swirl, she's my classmate from The School for Gifted Unicorns, but she's in Canterlot... right?"

"Lunar Swirl? Isn't that the pony who attacked us in the Everfree Forest?" Hitch asked.

"I don't know, but I have this feeling that she's the thief now." Twilight said. "But I haven't seen her today, so I don't know where she could be!"

"Do you think she's in Canterlot? That's where she lives, right?" Pipp asked.

Twilight nodded. "She could be there, but I'm not sure."

"It's our only lead so far, so we should follow it." Hitch said. "Let's go to the train station."

"We don't need to, I've been studying on longer range teleportation, and I haven't had the time to test it yet... so why not now? A quicker way to Canterlot, and a test! Win-win!" Twilight said.

"What if it doesn't work?" Pipp nervously asked.

Twilight shrugged. "We just keep on trying, there's a ninety percent chance in the small percent that it doesn't work, we'll be teleported to the same location."

Hitch and Pipp moved towards Twilight, who's horn was flaring up. "Okay... here we go." In a flash, the three disappeared.

In the streets of Canterlot, Twilight, Hitch, and Pipp appeared. "It worked!" Twilight cheered.

"Is this Canterlot?" Hitch asked, noticing the fancy buildings.

"Yeah, it is." Twilight said. "We should split up, I know my way around Canterlot, you and Pipp should stick together."

Hitch and Pipp nodded, "Let's meet at Donut Joe's at five, or when we find her."

Hitch and Pipp went left, while Twilight went right. "Okay, okay, where would Lunar be?" She muttered to herself.

Admittedly, she didn't want to believe Lunar was the thief, they were friends! She tried to remember how she got in that alleyway, but all she got were the flashes of memories. Twilight thought more and more of this while she searched, the fact that they just appeared in an alleyway with no recollection on how they got there... it was starting to seem to Twilight that there was magic involved.

Memory magic is quite advanced, not even she could do it yet. Though, it's worth looking into once this is over. "Lunar? Lunar!" Twilight called out.

She turned around, and saw the cobalt blue unicorn behind her. "Lunar!"

Lunar noticed Twilight, and gasped. "Twilight?! How did you find me?!"

"I remember everything, Lunar, don't try to hide it." That was a lie. She wanted to see if Lunar would react, if she did, then she was the thief.

"But how?! I erased any conversation we had today! Even the one in the alleyway!" Lunar said. "How!?"

"Oh, it's what I call... a bluff." Twilight smirked, "You told me that, I know you're the thief. But why, why steal?"

"You wouldn't understand, Twilight." Lunar said, looking away. "Please, leave."

"No," Twilight said, stepping closer to Lunar. "I want to help, something's clearly bothering you."

"I told you, you wouldn't understand." Lunar said.

"Then help me understand!" Twilight said. "You're my friend, you can trust me."

"But you can't trust me," Lunar said. "I tried to kill you!"

"Kill me? What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"In the Everfree Forest, I was the unicorn who attacked you! I was the unicorn who shot a magic blast at you!" Lunar revealed.

Twilight's eyes widened, "You... what? B... but, your coats! They're-"

"Different? It was because of Nightmare Moon, to match her look." Lunar said.

"But you didn't do it on purpose, right?" Twilight asked.

"No, Nightmare Moon tricked me into doing it." Lunar said. "But I believed her!"

"What do you mean?"

"She told me, that you were just friends with me because you pitied me, and I tried not to believe it, but in the end... I did." Lunar said.

"Nightmare Moon tricked you, you weren't in your right mind! And even if you were, I forgave you!" Twilight said. "Please, Lunar, come with me."

"I... I..." Lunar stammered. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be, like I told you, we're friends. Ponies make mistakes, no one's perfect, but what matters is that we move on from them." Twilight said.

"You're... you're right..." Lunar said. "I'm... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" Lunar was close to bursting out to tears, until Twilight hugged her.

"It's fine," Twilight said. "We should meet up with the others."

"Are you sure?" Lunar asked.

Twilight nodded, "I'll explain everything, don't worry."

At Donut Joe's, Twilight and Lunar sat down at their table. "So, Lunar, why'd you steal the replicas of the Elements of Harmony?"

"What replicas?" Lunar asked. "The only thing I stole are my potion ingredients."

"Then, who stole-" Twilight was cut off by Hitch and Pipp, who had just arrived.

"Hey, Twilight!" Pipp said.

"This is Lunar?" Hitch asked.

"Yeah, listen, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused." Lunar apologized. "I'm sure you had other stuff to do, besides chasing me down."

"It's fine! Just hand over the stuff you stole, and the only thing you'll get is ten hours of community service." Hitch said.

Lunar handed over the bag full of potion ingredients, which Hitch took a look in. "Where's the replicas of the Elements of Harmony?"

"She didn't steal them, the only thing she stole are these." Twilight said.

"So... if Lunar didn't steal them, who did?" Pipp asked. "Ooh, plot twist!"

"Well, if you didn't steal them, it's only going to be three hours." Hitch smiled. "One question, why did you steal?"

"My family is going though some... tough times, my dad's in the hospital, and my mom has been working extra long just to make ends meet." Lunar said. "I'm trying to help out with my potion business, but I ran out of ingredients, and we're barely getting by now."

Twilight left the table, then came back with some donuts. "I came to Maretime Bay in hopes that potion ingredients were cheaper there, but as luck would have it, it wasn't. So, I had to steal." Lunar explained. "I didn't want to, but I had to if I wanted to survive. And that's it, my story."

Hitch took a donut and took a bite. "I... I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's not like it'll change anything." Lunar said.

Hitch slid the bag back to Lunar, who looked surprised. "Keep it. I'll pay for everything, just promise me one thing."

Lunar nodded, "That if you need help, come to us. We'd be happy to help," Hitch said.

"Oh, I... thank you." Lunar thanked. "This really means a lot, I promise, I'll make it up to you someday!"

"No need." Hitch laughed. "I hope your dad recovers soon."

Hitch took two donuts, before standing up and leaving. "Wait, Hitch! Where are you going?" Pipp asked.

"Uh... Maretime Bay? I have to get to the train." Hitch said.

"We have Twilight, she can teleport us!" Pipp said.

"Oh, right." Hitch said. "Twilight, can you teleport us back?"

Twilight nodded, "Of course, I should be going anyway." She turned to Lunar, "I'll see you soon, Lunar." Twilight, Hitch, and Pipp exited the store, before teleporting away.

"You have good friends kid," A stallion said, Donut Joe.

"I do, don't I?"

Twilight, Hitch, and Pipp appeared in Maretime Bay, in front of the light house. "Well, we figured out who the thief was! A different thief, but we still did it!" Pipp cheered.

"That was... quite a ride," Twilight said. "I'm going to go research, on memory magic!"

"Have fun?" Hitch said.

"I will!" Twilight said, walking towards the light house.

"Who finds reading fun?" Pipp asked. "There's like, so many other things to do!"

"Is this the same pony who streams about every day?" Hitch said. "I don't understand the appeal of giving your entire life to the public, probably the same way you don't understand how reading is fun."

Pipp jokingly scoffed, "Well, I'm sure Rarity would disagree!"

Twilight was in the library, reading books. She took out a scroll and started writing.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I've learned from my friend Lunar that, that even if you've done something bad, it doesn't make you a bad [pny. What does is how you move forward, a good pony would feel guilt, a good pony would want to make up for it. Lunar had stolen potion ingredients, but she feels regret and guilt. I know she isn't a bad pony, she only did bad things because she thought she had to. But I think now, that whenever she needs help, she can count on her friends too.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. Can I ask you for a favor?"

She furled up the scroll, "Oh, Spike!" She called out, and Spike went in the room. "And you send this for me?"

Spike rolled his eyes before he enveloped the scroll in green flames, which caused it to appear in Princess Celestia's room. "Thanks," Twilight said.

Lunar was walking towards her house, when she heard a voice.

"Come one, come all, witness the greatest feats of magic performed by the Great and Powerful... Trixie!"

Elsewhere, a cloaked figure left Maretime Bay, the replicas of the Elements of Harmony in a sack. He turned to look at the town one more time, before returning on his way.

Author's Note

Episode 9 is done! We'll be returning to Lunar Swirl in a future episode, I'm sure you know which. :trixieshiftright: Anyway, we have a mysterious figure! And if anyone asks, no, he will not be the villain for Season 1, we'll get back to him in Season 2... or maybe after that. Anyway, stay tuned! :pinkiehappy:

If there is anything wrong, or anything I need to change, comment down below! I'll change it.

Episode 9: Lunar Swirl

Episode 10a: Certified Pranksters

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 10a: "Certified Pranksters"

Two weeks after the robbery, Hitch had decided to close the case, as not even Zipp could solve it. During that time, Princess Celestia had given Lunar's family quite a lot of money, which Lunar could not stop thanking Twilight and the princess for.

At the Maretime Bay Park, Pinkie Pie was excitedly telling Twilight and Sunny a story. "Hoof-biting action overload! She was like a stunt superstar-" Pinkie excitedly said, bouncing around. "-flying higher and higher, and then Rainbow Dash swooped down, swoosh!" Pinkie appeared next to Twilight, who was busy reading a book. "And right before she hit the ground, shoom! She pulled up! Vroom!"

"Uh-huh." Twilight said, flipping to the next page of her book.

"And then she looped around and around, like woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo!" Pinkie said, mimicking the action with her head.

"Rainbow really did all of that?" Sunny asked.

"Uh, duh!" Pinkie fell onto the ground, she looked up at the sky to see Rainbow Dash, flying. "Oh, it's Rainbow!"

"Oh, hey, Pinkie." Rainbow nonchalantly said, before her eyes widened. "Pinkie?! Oh, not this time!" She zoomed away, with Pinkie following on her trail, leaving Sunny and Twilight alone.

"Rainbow!" Pinkie called out, keeping up with Rainbow's speed.

"Not now, Pinkie!" Rainbow shot back. She started flying faster, to which somehow Pinkie was able to match.

"But... but, Rainbow!" Pinkie said.

"I'm in the middle of something!" Rainbow retorted, going even faster.

"But-"

"I said not now!" Rainbow said, before she hit a rock wall fast first.

"I was going to tell you to look out for that mountain!" Pinkie said. "Oh, well, it just can't be helped!" Pinkie hummed while she bounced away, while Rainbow simply groaned.

"Hi! I'm looking for Rainbow Dash, have you seen her?" Pinkie asked. She was in the town's marketplace, unlike other cities, Maretime Bay didn't have supermarkets.

Rainbow, who had already healed from earlier, was napping on a cloud. "Hi! Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow shot up, panicked. She didn't dislike Pinkie, but sometimes she could be a little... annoying. "Hello, have you seen Rainbow Dash? No? Aw, okay!"

Pinkie walked up to Zipp, "Zipp! Have you seen Rainbow?"

"Rainbow? Oh, she's right up there." Zipp said, pointing to a cloud.

"Rainbow Dash~" Pinkie said, in a singsong tone.

"No!" Rainbow said, flying away faster than the speed of light. Pinkie simply hummed while she bounced after Rainbow, taking her time.

Rainbow, who looked quite worried, made it to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack, who was working, saw Rainbow Dash's worried face. "Rainbow? What're ya doin' here?"

"You have to hide me! Pinkie's on my trail!" Rainbow said, looking around. "Please!"

"Uh..." Applejack stared at her, confused. "Why're ya running away from Pinkie? She ain't dangerous!"

"Hi!" Pinkie said, standing next to Rainbow.

Rainbow screamed, before flying away again. "Bye!" Pinkie said, following the rainbow maned pegasus. Rainbow flew as hard as she can, before she hid in a tree back in Maretime Bay.

She looked around in the tree, before she sighed in relief. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" She looked down, and realized she was sitting on Pinkie.

Rainbow screamed again, before she left the tree. She flew over across a field and started flying over a hill, and Pinkie bounces after her, taking her time. Rainbow noticed the pink pony coming towards her, and hid in a cloud quickly. A few minutes later, the pegasus cautiously took her head out of the cloud, and looked around. To her relief, Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.

She left the cloud and flew towards the lake, hoping that Pinkie wasn't there. She dived in the water before she spotted Pinkie Pie, wearing a diving mask, a snorkel, and floaties. Rainbow flew back up, and Pinkie swam out of the water.

Rainbow was about to fly away, before Pinkie spoke up. "Wait! I need a favor, Rainbow!" Pinkie said, dropping her floaties on the ground.

Rainbow sighed, "Oh, forget it. You're just going to catch up to me, somehow."

"Oh, don't worry! I promise, it'll be super duper fun!" Pinkie said, wrapping a hoof around Rainbow.

"Whatever you say," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, Spi-ike!" Twilight called out, putting a book on the table. Spike came out of his room, holding a comic in his claws. "Spike, I need you to get some of the scrolls from Town Hall."

"Why can't Sunny do it?" Spike asked.

"Because, Spike, she's busy with Izzy trying to start some smoothie stand cart." Twilight said. "And you haven't done anything all day besides reading comics!"

"Fine, but I better have some snacks out when I get back!" Spike said, putting his comic on the table next to Twilight's book.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say," Spike exited the lighthouse and headed towards Town Hall.

At Town Hall, Spike entered the building while Pinkie and Rainbow were setting something up. Rainbow moved a cloud over the stairs of the Town Hall. "Over to the right! Wait, no! To the left!" Rainbow did so, before Pinkie spoke up again. "Oh, wait! Back to the right!"

Rainbow sighed while she moved the cloud back. "Now... a little leftish? Wait, no! A few inches south!"

Rainbow groaned as she did what she said, "Okay! Then some centimeters north... then a smidge-a-meter to the west!"

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow shouted, which caused Pinkie to awkwardly laugh.

"Uh, I mean! It's perfect! Thanks, Rainbow!" Pinkie said. "Just wait for my signal!"

Inside, Spike gathered all the scrolls he could fit in his arms and left the Town Hall. Just when he stepped on the stairs, Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow the signal. Rainbow stomped on the cloud, which caused a sudden flash of lighting that frightened Spike. A few seconds passed by before Spike started hiccuping.

Pinkie and Rainbow burst into laughter. "Oh, Rainbow! We startled Spike to get the hiccups!" Pinkie said, still laughing.

Spike started laughing, before it stopped when he hiccuped. "Oh, that was good, Pinkie!" He hiccuped, "You always do the best pranks!"

Spike picked up one of the scrolls, but his hiccups accidentally caused him to let out some of his dragon fire, which caused it to disappear in a green flame. "Oh, no!" Pinkie said. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Pinkie, haven't you seen me use my dragon fire before?" Spike asked. "And, dragons don't get hurt from our dragon fire." He hiccuped again, "Can I get some help over here?"

"Oh, right," Rainbow went in Town Hall, and came out with a red ribbon. She grabbed all the scrolls and tied them to Spike's back. "There, that should hold."

"Thanks!" Spike said, heading back to the light house. "I wish scrolls were fireproof too..." He muttered.

Rainbow smirked, "I didn't take you for a prankster, Pinkie."

"Well, duh! You're never there when I pull my pranks!" Pinkie said.

"You know, Pinkie, you're not as annoying as I thought." Rainbow said. "You wanna hang out?"

"Really!?" Pinkie asked, "This is the most amazing thing to happen to me!"

"Yeah, I know. I'm pretty awesome," Rainbow said. "Come on, let's go pranking!"

Pinkie and Rainbow exited a novelty shop, holding bags full of prank materials in their teeth. Pinkie pulled out a list, names of all their friends written on it. They went to Rarity's house, which for some reason, looked like a carousel.

"Do you think she's home?" Rainbow asked.

"Eh, probably?" Pinkie shrugged as she put a package on Rarity's doorstep. "But this is going to be gold!" She rang the doorbell, and she and Rainbow hid behind a bush.

Rarity opened the door, "Hello?" She noticed the package on her doorstep. "My fabric has arrived!" She went back in her house, and opened the package. Much to her surprise, instead of the fabric she ordered, there was a bouquet inside.

"Oh, must've been a mistake." Rarity said. She noticed a note on it, and in her curiosity, read it. On it, was the words 'To Rarity', much to Rarity's confusion.

"It's for me?" Rarity asked aloud. "This is a nice surprise," She sniffed the flowers, and started sneezing uncontrollably."Achoo! Achoo!"

"This is a prank, isn't it!" Rarity stormed outside, sneezing. She looked around, and saw the blue pegasus and the pink mare leaving, snickering. "Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!"

Rainbow and Pinkie ran away while Rarity slammed the door, "Achoo!"

"Who's next on the list?" Rainbow said, still running.

"Pipp is!" Pinkie cheerfully replied. "And I know just the thing!"

Inside Mane Boutique, Pipp was experimenting with her products. She poured some liquid into a cauldron before it exploded in front of her eyes. "Well, that didn't work... aha!"

She grabbed a bottle full of a pink liquid and poured it in, along with a bottle of glitter. "There! That should do it!" She heard the door open, and went to check it out.

Pinkie, who was in a disguise, went inside the boutique. "Uh, hello, pegasus princess I have not met!" Pinkie said, nervously.

Pipp, who noticed it was a disguise almost instantly, laughed. "Pinkie, I know that's you! You didn't have to dress up, y'know!"

"Oh, uh, right!" Pinkie said. While she was talking to Pipp, Rainbow sneakily entered the building without getting caught. "I need a... uh, full makeover! Give me everything you've got!"

"Everything, huh? Well, sit down, and I'll see what I can do." Pipp said.

Pinkie sat down in one of the chairs while Pipp grabbed some beauty products, "Get ready, because I'm going all out!"

Rainbow, who was hiding behind some tables, went out of her hiding spot. She grabbed anything she could find her hooves on, and put it in the cauldron. The mixture inside it started to bubble, which Rainbow didn't notice. She put a lid on it, before she left the boutique.

A few minutes later, Pinkie exited the building as well. "That took you long enough!" Rainbow said.

"Yeah, well, Pipp really did go all out." Pinkie said. "But on the bright side, I look amazing!"

A shriek came from inside the building, as Pipp was covered in a rainbow substance. "My mane! Who could've done this?!"

Rainbow started laughing as she and Pinkie left, "What are we going to do for Twilight?" Pinkie asked.

Rainbow started rummaging in her bag, until she pulled out an invisible ink bottle. "Perfect!" Pinkie said.

At the lighthouse, flasks and test tubes were on the table next to an ink bottle. Twilight was holding a scroll with her magic, she turned to her equipment before she started writing on the scroll with a quill pen. She turned back to the flasks, which were bubbling, she turned back to her scroll to find that the words disappeared.

"What the..." She eyed the mixture, which was fuming. She turned to the scroll again and wrote something on it, not too long after, the words disappeared. "That's weird..." She turned back to her mixture for it to explode in her face.

She turned to the window to see Rainbow and Pinkie, snickering. She rolled her eyes before she went and grabbed a wet cloth. She used her magic to grab the ink bottle and found out, it was an invisible ink bottle. She put the invisible ink bottle down before she grabbed a real one.

Somewhere in Maretime Bay, Sunny and Izzy were setting up a smoothie cart. "Oh, thanks again for helping me with this, Izzy!" Sunny said.

"Aw, don't worry about it! I've always wanted to start a smoothie cart, among other things." Izzy said. "Anyways, I've made some fruit-tastic decorations!" Izzy levitated Christmas lights up, except the lights were shaped like fruits.

"Izzy! These are amazing! How'd you make these?" Sunny said, inspecting the lights. "Do they even work?"

"Maretime Bay has a lot of fruit themed lights, it wasn't that hard!" Izzy said. "And yes, they do work!"

"This is going to be a success, I can feel it!" Sunny said. "Now, we need to sell samples! Where's our fruit boxes?"

Izzy levitated a crate over to Sunny, "One crate of fruit, coming up!" She opened the crate, and saw that the only thing inside was air. "Hey, where's the fruits?"

"Check the other crates!" Sunny said. She and Izzy opened the other crates they had, and like the first one, there was nothing. "Who would do something like this?"

"Sunny, there's something in this one!" Izzy said. Sunny went over to check it out, and saw a note inside it.

Sunny grabbed the note, and read it. "Get... pranked?" Sunny sighed, and dropped the note.

"Sunny! Sunny! I found the crates!" Izzy said. "They were behind the cart!"

Sunny chuckled, "Well, at least we can still make samples! Izzy, get the blenders."

"Aye, aye, Sunny!"

At Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow and Pinkie were hurriedly painting each and every one of Applejack's apples with food paint. "Do you really think this will work?"

"Well, duh!" Pinkie said, dipping her paintbrush into the can. "And I couldn't think of anything else, and we had lots of cans of food paint!"

"Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!" Applejack shouted, coming out of the barn. Rainbow and Pinkie took off, which caused Applejack to sigh. "Landsakes!" An apple fell into a water bucket, and the paint instantly washed away. Realizing she got pranked, she chuckled.

At the sheriff's office, Pinkie pulled Sparky out. "Hey- what gives?!" Sparky asked, raising his hands up.

"Heya, Sparky-Spark, listen, we need you to transform some stuff for us!" Pinkie said. "We're going to play a simple prank on Hitch, and we need your help!"

"Yeah, it's gonna be awesome!" Rainbow said.

"Alright, fine, but for a price." Sparky smirked. "As much as I love pranks as the next dragon, my fire isn't free."

"Okay, who taught you this?" Rainbow asked.

"Spike did!" Sparky happily said.

Pinkie pulled out a gem cupcake from her hair, "Gem cupcake~" Pinkie said in a singsong tone.

Sparky grabbed it and ate it, "Deal's a deal, what do you need me to transform?"

"I know just the thing," Rainbow smirked.

Hitch walked into the station, humming. He noticed something on his desk, and went over to check it out. His eyes widened when he saw his badge, except it was made out of candy.

"My badge! My badge!?" Hitch screamed, "What happened to you?!"

"I mean, that badge was kinda giving you the impression that you were better than all of us!" Izzy said, peeping in the station.

"Izzy, that was a year ago! And why are you here?" Hitch asked. "Weren't you starting some smoothie business, or something?"

"Eh, something happened with me and Sunny's smoothie cart, and we need your help!" Izzy said. "And, don't you have spare badges lying around somewhere?"

"Oh, right! I'll be there soon, Izzy, I just need to get my spare badges!" Hitch said.

Outside, Pinkie and Rainbow were watching. "Did you know about the spare badges?" Rainbow asked.

"Nope! Well, next is Zipp and Misty!" Pinkie said. "Though, it's kinda weird Hitch has spare badges..."

"Pinkie, Hitch's cutie mark is a badge, by now it's basically his special talent!" Rainbow said, which caused for them to go laughing.

In Zephyr Heights, Zipp and Misty were in the palace library. Misty sighed and put down the book she was holding. "There's no mention of the Elements of Harmony anywhere else! The only thing about them is the Mare in the Moon section of Prediction and Prophecies, and the Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!" Misty said.

"In the story, it implied said that the Elements were used before!" Zipp said. "But there's no traces of them in any history records, nothing!"

"It did?"

"Yes? Maybe I'm over thinking, but there has to be something!" Zipp said. "We learned that the Elements came from some crystal tree called "The Tree of Harmony" under the Castle of the Two Sisters! Somepony has to have planted some weird seed to make it, and for that matter, why?"

Zipp took out a post board with pictures of various drawings and text, all connected by red thread. "The Elements must've been made for something, it's not like they knew Princess Luna would've became Nightmare Moon! Maybe it was made to protect Equestria, so by going on that theory, they must've been used other times!"

"But that leaves the question of why there aren't any historical records on them! The only thing we had were an old book, and some weird reference guide that shouldn't even exist!" Zipp groaned.

"Well, there are gaps in history, so maybe that's the reason why there aren't any records of them." Misty suggested. "The Elements were used to banish Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago, if they were used any other time any records are probably gone!"

Zipp sighed, "Yeah, you're right. But there's still a question that's been on my mind, why us? Why were we chosen to wield the Elements of Harmony? And who was that orange alicorn that was with Princess Celestia a thousand years ago? We don't even know his name!"

"The only pony who'll give us those answers is well, Princess Celestia herself! But, there's no way we could ask her, right?" Misty asked.

"I am a princess, remember?" Zipp smirked.

Just as Misty was about to reply, Queen Haven entered the room. "Oh, girls! A package came for you two!" Queen Haven said.

"A package? I didn't order anything," Zipp said, grabbing the package.

"Well, you really should order stuff more. We're royalty! We can afford to lose some bits!" Queen Haven said. "Well, I'll let you be, tell Pipp to get back here soon!" Queen Haven left the room, leaving Misty and Zipp alone.

"Yeah, I will Mom," Zipp replied, opening the package. "What's in this thing?"

Misty pulled a book out of it, "A book?"

Zipp took the book and opened it, her eyes widened when she saw the first words. "You... got... pranked. Signed, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."

"Ugh!" Zipp slammed the book. "Typical Rainbow Dash! I thought this was something!"

"How?" Misty asked, grabbing the book and putting it down on the table.

"Unnamed package?" Zipp said. "That and the fact that I was desperate,"

"So, who's next?" Pinkie asked. They were walking around Maretime Bay as the sun was going down.

"We did everyone but Fluttershy, and I know just how to prank her!" Rainbow smiled, deviously.

"What?!" Pinkie said. "We can't do Fluttershy! She's so sensitive that even our most harmless prank would hurt her feelings!"

"Yeah, you're right. We need someone tougher, someone who's not a Fluttershy!" Rainbow said.

"Oh, I think I know just the pony." Pinkie said. "The toughest around!"

"Really? Who? Do I know them?" Rainbow eagerly asked.

Pinkie pulled out a telescope from her mane, somehow. "Here! Just look into it and you'll see who!"

Rainbow eagerly looked in the telescope, before pulling out confused. "Pinkie, are you kidding me? I don't see anyone around?"

Pinkie pulled out a mirror and handed it to Rainbow. The rainbow maned pegasus looked into the mirror, and saw that her right eye had a circle of ink around. "Oh, I get it now!" Rainbow snickered. "You got me Pinkie Pie,"

She held out her hoof for a handshake (or would it be hoof?), to which Pinkie Pie happily took. Except, when she grabbed it, she was shocked. "What the?!" Pinkie muttered, only for Rainbow to reveal a modern version of the joy buzzer. "Well played!"

"Well, I'd better get back home." Rainbow said, realizing that the sun was about to go down. "See ya tomorrow, Pinkie Pie!"

Rainbow took off, leaving Pinkie Pie alone. "This was a fun day!"

The next day, Pinkie Pie was in Zephyr Heights, wearing joke glasses with a round red ball and a droppy mustache, along with the classic "arrow through the head" over her mane. She arrived at a medium-small house, and knocked on it. "Rise and shine, Rainbow!"

The door opened, and instead of the rainbow maned, blue pegasus, was a griffon. "Who are you s'posed to be?"

To be continued... in Episode 10b!

Author's Note

Well, here it is, Episode 10! Well, 10a, but, it doesn't really matter. Unfortunately, I realized I couldn't finish the full episode this week, so Episode 10 will be split into two parts! Episode 10b will release next week, obviously.

But, I also come with some bad (neutral?) news, my schedule is a little crazy right now. After Episode 10b, episodes will be released when they're finished, because I'll only be able to write during Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays now. And when you're me, that isn't a lot of time. I didn't want to do this because my fanfic only started, but I must!

Anyway, on a more happier tone, GILDA'S HERE! :pinkiegasp: Also, does anyone want flashback chapters? Because if so, I've got the perfect pony! Also, because Gravity Falls is back from the dead, I've decided that after the mid-season mark, there will be codes! It'll be easy, probably. :twilightsheepish: But maybe not, because I've been losing my head trying to decipher the Bill Cipher!

If there's any mistakes, please comment so I can fix it and get better at writing! :pinkiehappy:

Episode 10a: Certified Pranksters

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Episode 10b: Griffon the Brush Off

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UPDATE

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