Visions: Chapter One - Family

by cronenberg_

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Mystery, Slice of Life
Length: 8825

A new story begins.

Note: This is heavily based on Skijarama's fanfic, "Little Glimpses". I highly reccomend you read it!

Two fillies. Two fillies living together, no parents in sight, met together by a series of visions. A mystery still stands, and nopony has answers. Who? What? Why? Find out what happens.

Special thanks to my friend Aaron for pre-reading and helping the story get along!

Published 2024-11-23 03:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-11-23 03:00:01 UTC

Prologue: Saying Goodbye, Saying Hello

It was a dark night in Canterlot that day. The stars were covered by mist, and the moon was unable to be seen, since it was a new moon. A silhouette appeared through a window, inside one of the many buildings crammed together. Inside, was a filly Twilight Sparkle, studying away in her room, around 3 piles of books surrounding her, each being about 10 books tall. A knock.

"I'm coming!" the filly said. "Maybe Mom and Dad's already home!" she thought, but quite the opposite had happened.

It has been a week since Twilight's parents died from a tornado, on the way to a Wonderbolts show. The news crushed the foal, but she persisted to being now the only inhabitant in her house, since Shining Armor went to Royal Guard training earlier that year. She was going to the market, since it was a Sunday and Twilight was running out of supplies to cook, and she wanted to be a responsible pony. At least, that would've been her parents' last wishes.

Inside the market, she accidentally bumped into another filly. A pegasus pony, with a cyan coat, rainbow-colored mane, and purple eyes. She seemed lost, unsure where to go.

"Hi! What's your name?" Twilight asked.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, and you?" the filly, now identified as Rainbow Dash, asked.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said. "Where are your parents?"

"Oh... uh... they're around... somewhere. Yours?" the other filly replied.

"I'm not the only one who lost my parents... am I?" Twilight asked.

Suddenly, a ringing sound overtook her.

“Twilight? Twilight?”

”There should be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds,” a dragon had said.

“Is that… me?” Twilight thought, she saw an older version of herself, looking around to the sky. “Well, she isn’t doing a good job, is she?” Crash.

“Rainbow Dash?” She saw an older Rainbow Dash, giggling at her mistake. “Lemme help you.”

Then, the vision shattered.

“Hello? Equestria to Twilight, please answer,” a worried Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight gasped in shock. She had finally snapped from the vision. “Did you see that too? Or was it just me?” Rainbow Dash just shrugged.

Rainbow Dash agreed to stay at Twilight's place. And thus, a friendship began, that would change Equestria for years to come.

Author's Note

And so, the story begins!

Also, check out the story it's based on!

"Little Glimpses" by Skijarama: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/380650/little-glimpses

Chapter 1: Swarmed!

It had been a month since Rainbow Dash moved in with Twilight. Word had since spread about two seemingly unrelated fillies living together without any parents in sight. Of course, their address was never leaked, for privacy reasons.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Twilight said, waking up Rainbow Dash. It was eight in the morning, ripe time for Twilight to wake up, but much less the right time for Rainbow Dash.

"Killjoy. I was in the middle of a good dream!" she said. Rainbow Dash later attempted to create reasons to wake up later and sleep again, but Twilight had cleverly created various counters for those excuses.

"Fine, I'll wake up," Rainbow Dash said, defeated by Twilight's smarts once more.

It was a bright new day in Canterlot. The mares and colts chattered, the chariots flew. It was an incredible Sunday, a perfect day to go to the market.

"Let's go, RD," she said, while dragging Rainbow Dash with her magic. "We gotta do some shopping for the week."

The market was emptier than usual. "Huh. Maybe we missed the rush," she said.

The two rolled around the market, only to find that the stalls were empty. Suddenly, they got swarmed by photographers. They took various pictures, and even asked them questions. Questions that they did not want to answer. And such, the two teleported away.

Author's Note

I'm not exactly sure where to go from here, but I'll think of something!

Chapter 2: The Rain Before the Rainbow

It has been a few hours since they escaped from the fiasco at the market. Rainbow Dash still seems frazzled about it, but Twilight still seems to be doing fine.

"Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes?"

"How do you do it? How do you survive under pressure?" the cyan filly asked.

"Oh believe me, you haven't seen me under pressure. I'd melt to pieces!" Twilight said enthusiastically.

"Yeah... pieces," Rainbow Dash murmured, as if those words sounded familiar to her.

"RD. What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"I haven't told you HOW my parents died, didn't I?"

"It was the day of a Wonderbolts show. My parents got me tickets! I was so excited! The three of us went to Canterlot for the show. But uh... lets just say... I was the only one that survived. My parents were swallowed by a tornado, and I was the only one that was quick enough to run away," a distraught Rainbow Dash said.

“I’m sorry. My parents were lost on a trip to a Wonderbolts show too. And by tornado as well. I’m probably the only pony that can relate with you,” Twilight replied.

Author's Note

This was a little shorter than I wanted it to be. I just didn’t know where to go.

Chapter 3: Hi, Old Friend of Mine

Rainbow Dash woke up once more.

“Oh, right. Its Tuesday, Twilight needs to go to school,” she said. She slumped out of her bed, and found that it was eight in the morning. “Huh, she’s rubbing onto me,” she thought. She poured some cereal for herself, and began eating breakfast. A knock came on the door. “Yes?” she asked, opening the door.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash,” a filly pegasus said, shyly.

“Fluttershy!?”

Rainbow Dash was… startled by Fluttershy’s sudden visit. The two decided to talk about their lives since they parted a month and a half ago.

“Anyways, what are you doing here?” Rainbow asked.

“Uhm… oh! I have to go, how long has passed! Uh… bye Rainbow!” Fluttershy said, in a nervous tone. She then speeded right out the door.

“Huh, that was… strange. Even for Fluttershy!” a confused Rainbow Dash said.

Author's Note

Man, I’m getting terrible for writing longer chapters. I had an idea for this chapter, but I couldn’t get it to work right.

Chapter 4: Meeting Fluttershy

Twilight had just finished her lessons for the day. Again, a perfect day. Aced an experiment on potions, got an A+ on two tests, and won first place on a contest she didn’t even know she joined. On her way home, she bumped into Fluttershy.

“Oh, sorry, let me help you with that,” Twilight said, bringing back all the critters she brought on her bag back using magic. “Wait a minute, you’re Fluttershy, right? Rainbow Dash has talked about you before!”

“She did?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course she did! Come with me,” Twilight replied, bringing Fluttershy to her house.

Much to her dismay, because of the pushover she is, Fluttershy is returning to Twilight’s house. Fluttershy is returning to Rainbow Dash’s new home. Knock knock.

Twilight then opened the door. “I’m home! And look who I bumped in!” Twilight said, showing Fluttershy.

“Uh… hi again?”

Author's Note

I genuinely do not know where this is going. Okay, next chapter!

Chapter 5: A New Roomate

The trio talked over some dinner that Twilight prepared.

“So Fluttershy, you dodged my question the last time, but since your pasta’s still not finished, so I ask you, what ARE you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked, knowing that Fluttershy would never leave without finishing her food.

“Fine… I’ll tell you,” she said, taking a sigh. “My parents… are divorced.”

A state of shock erupted Rainbow Dash, especially since the last time she saw Fluttershy’s family, her mom and dad were doing fine.

“They told me it was nothing unreasonable, and if I wanted, I could see you again. I found that Twilight lived with you, and looked for your address. Then I found myself here,” Fluttershy said.

“I am so sorry Fluttershy, I never should’ve asked in the first place,” Rainbow Dash said. Rainbow later became unresponsive.

“Rainbow? Rainbow Dash? Hello?”, a concerned Twilight said.

”Now, what have we learned?” an adult Rainbow Dash said.

“Is that… me? I look… awesome!” filly Rainbow said.

“Screaming and hollering,” an adult Fluttershy said.

“Loss of control,” she continued

“And most importantly?"

“Passion!” adult Fluttershy said, mustering up all her courage to say it.

“Right! So now that you know the elements of a good cheer, let's hear one,” adult Rainbow said.

Fluttershy inhaled, and then she made the loudest cheer she ever made.

“Yay!” Fluttershy said softly.

“Same old Fluttershy, even years apart!” filly Rainbow said.

And then, the vision shattered.

Author's Note

Okay, I don’t know why I decided to put that scene for the flash, but, I needed to find a way to make Rainbow Dash have a flash. Wait… that rhymes!

Chapter 6: A Royal Favor

A few days after Fluttershy’s arrival, Princess Celestia announced a field trip to the White Tail Woods to observe the wildlife there. There WAS a filly who was excited, though. I think you know who it is.

“A FIELD TRIP!?!?!? TO SEE CUTE CREATURES!?!?!? CAN I COME CAN I COME CAN I COME PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE!” an ecstatic Fluttershy exclaimed.

“You should ask Princess Celestia,” Twilight said. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Can you accompany me ask her?” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine,” she said.

Fluttershy screamed in excitement. Princess Celestia ended up allowing the two to join, just with one rule.

“You can join, but just don’t stay away from the other fillies, okay?” Princess Celestia said.

“Okay!” the two fillies replied. Lets just say that Fluttershy bursted out the throne room in excitement. Rainbow Dash though, was not so eager.

“Well, if it helps my friend, then-“, she thought, before getting unresponsive once again.

”Why, we always round up our critters for a regular ol’ Pet Pony Playdate in this park,” a mare with a Southern accent said. Filly Rainbow looked around, and saw filly Fluttershy too, terrified for her life.

“Are we having this… together?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What… is happening…?”

“I thought you knew. You didn’t know. She didn’t know?”, an adult Fluttershy said.

“Is that… me?”

“We were totally gonna invite you, Rainbow, then Twilight remembered that you don't even have a pet, and Rarity remembered that you really like to take naps in the afternoon, so Applejack figured you wouldn't be missing out on anything anyway, and Fluttershy and I nodded our heads in agreement like this,” a pink mare said.

“Oh, please don't be mad at us,” adult Fluttershy said.

“Oh, I'm not mad. You all are right. Not much point of a Pony Pet Playdate for me if I'm a pony without a pet, right?” adult Rainbow Dash said.

“Yep… still looks awesome,” filly Dash said.

“Hey, now wait a minute! Just because I don't have a pet now doesn't mean I never want a pet!” adult Rainbow said.

“Ohh! Y, y, Oh, really? You really want a pet? Really? 'Cause I've got so many wonderful choices at my house! Oh, and I know you'll just love them! And they'll love you! Oh, and you'll be best friends forever and ever! Oh,” adult Fluttershy said.

“Yep, same old Fluttershy,” filly Dash said, looking at Fluttershy, who blushed.

Then, the vision shattered.

Author's Note

I didn’t know how to make this chapter longer, so I added a vision from “May the Best Pet Win!”, season 2 episode 7.

Chapter 7: The Field Trip

Fluttershy could not contain her excitement. She was zipping from tree to tree, looking at the various critters who lived in its branches and leaves. Rainbow Dash, for once, was the more responsible one. She kept Fluttershy in tow, hoping that she would stop herself. It did not get any better. In fact, it only got worse. However, her curiosity killed the cat. Fluttershy zipped to the next tree, and the next thing Rainbow Dash knew, she was gone. At this point, they were far behind the group, so Rainbow knew what she had to do. She had to follow her.

"Fluttershy? Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash called for Fluttershy, only to be found with no response. Then, she heard a roar. "FLUTTERSHY!" She bursted through the trees, trying to find the source of the roar. She searched far and wide. Then, she heard something she didn't want to hear. She finally found Fluttershy, who had accidentally awoken an Ursa Major, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Oh no..." Rainbow thought.

Chapter 8: A Major Problem

The two looked in fear on what they unleashed.

"What did you do, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking towards the filly in question.

"I-I d-don't kn-know w-what dd-did I do... I j-just dro-drop-dropped a b-ball!" Fluttershy muttered, looking in fear.

"We need to tell Twilight!" Rainbow exclaimed. The two fillies somehow managed to escape their grasps, and somehow manage to find their way back to the path and into the group. "Psst. Twilight! Over here! You gotta help us!"

"Fluttershy, what did you do?" Twilight asked, looking in fear towards the Ursa Major.

"Same thing I asked. Anyways, how do we get rid of this thing?"

"What's it holding?" Fluttershy asked, pointing towards a stone formation of sorts.

"We need to get the Ursa Major out of here, and then we can think about that thing its holding," Twilight said.

"How CAN we get that thing out of here?", she thought.

"Piece of cake. I'll just lead it somewhere else," Rainbow said.

"To where? Canterlot?" Twilight asked.

"On second thought, may not be as easy."

"I have an idea! If we can get the Ursa Major to divert its attention to me, I'm sure I could whip up a spell to make it stop recklessly destroy the forest!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Okay, its probably the best idea we have. Fluttershy?"

"Oh... yeah...! Sure..." Fluttershy whimpered. And thus, they took their plan in action.

"Hey! Over here, big guy!", Rainbow Dash exclaimed, taking the Ursa away from the class' direction. The Ursa Major sped towards the three.

"Twilight... now!"

And then, a blast. White light covered them. Rainbow Dash almost thought she was getting a vision. But when the dust cleared, they saw it. The Ursa Major, had turned into an Ursa Baby. And then, we shift perspectives to Twilight. Suddenly, everything went dark, she felt dizzy, and not long later she knew no more.

Author's Note

The last few sentences seemed a little weird to me…

Chapter 9: Welcome Back, Twilight

"Twilight?" a voice came through to Twilight's ears. She had finally opened her eyes. "Twilight!" the voice, identified to be Rainbow Dash's, hugged her.

"You did an age spell, Twilight. Impressive, since only higher-level unicorns are able to do that. You must've fainted from magic exhaustion," another voice, identified to be Princess Celestia, said. "You should get going. It's been 5 days since-" Princess Celestia said, before getting cut off by Twilight’s panicking cries.

"5 DAYS!?! HOW MUCH ASSIGNMENTS HAVE I MISSED?" Twilight panicked, hoping that Princess Celestia may not banish her to Tartarus, or something.

"You missed none, Twilight. I made sure of that," the Princess said, chuckling at Twilight's panic.

"You three should go home," she continued, looking towards the three fillies. They agreed, and they returned home since.

"So, what about the stone structure it was holding?" Twilight asked.

"I dunno. Once we checked the site, it was gone," Rainbow Dash said. The three had since returned to their house, retracing the events in the past five days.

"Also, there was another filly that came to Canterlot. She was really energetic. Had the same visions we had about us and saw me and Rainbow walking by. She was looking for you, but you were still in a coma then. Her name was Pinkie Pie, I think?" Fluttershy said.

"Tell me about it," Twilight replied.

Author's Note

And thus, 4/6 of the Mane 6 has been revealed in this story. Who's next? Give your bets!

Chapter 10: Let’s Get This Party Started!

Two days before...

"Woah! Look at this place... its... so lively!" a pink-coated earth pony said energetically.

"Focus, Pinkie Pie. The doctor told me that I needed to visit Canterlot and find a doctor there to discover my issue, or something," she thought. Pinkie Pie looked around, hearing all the chatter, excitement surrounding her. Then, at the corner of her eye, she saw two pegasi, one cyan, the other yellow, talking away. "Hey! Its those guys from my dream-thingies!" she said, approaching the two fillies. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What is your name?" she said. The yellow one immediately hid herself behind the cyan one.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, and the filly behind me is Fluttershy. Anything I can help you?" the cyan one, identified to be Rainbow Dash, asked.

"Well..." Pinkie Pie said.

"...and that's why I'm here!" she said. At this point, they were already at their house, drinking tea Fluttershy made. Pinkie was retelling her story for the past 20 minutes, from the day she started having visions. The other two fillies thought for a while. She did look familiar.

"The only filly that could possibly help is in comatose, so-" Fluttershy said, before being cut off by Pinkie Pie.

"Oh really? Who? Where? When?" Pinkie asked. And such, the other two agreed to bring Pinkie to Twilight.

"Here she is," Rainbow said. They were looking at a dormant Twilight, unphased, looking peaceful in sleep.

"How about you stay with us? You don't really have a home, after all," Fluttershy said.

"Oh, no! I do, just rest of family living in the other side of Equestria, and already got in touch with a mare that runs a bakery in Ponyville, says that I could stay. I'm fine, really. And speaking of which, I need to go! It'sbeennicetomeetyoubye!" Pinkie said.

"What a strange filly."

Author's Note

If you're wondering, Spike does not exist in this story... yet. I've got a plan for him in future installments(this is Chapter One, after all), but it's very likely that something will change, and Spike may just... not exist in this alternate timeline.

Chapter 11: Discord

"-and that's how this Pinkie Pie came here. She was a strange filly, but it was nice to see somepony else other than Fluttershy, Princess Celestia, and an unconscious you for once," Rainbow said.

"These friends seem... interesting," a voice said. "These fillies were the ones that freed me from my stone prison, after all," the voice said. The voice had a... strange look. It had the head of a pony and a body of all sorts of other things. It was a draconequus, if the books were correct. "I would love to know... more about them," the draconequus sinisterly said.

Princess Celestia had summoned the three fillies to the palace as soon as possible. Twilight was panicking on what happened, Rainbow Dash was too lazy to go, and Fluttershy... was Fluttershy. In the end, Twilight was dragging Rainbow to the throne room, Fluttershy lending a hoof.

"We gotta do this, Dash!" Twilight said, straining in between every word.

"I don't want to. I should be stretching for a daily exercise now, but we have to do this," Rainbow said.

"Come on, RD," Fluttershy said.

"Killjoys," Rainbow said. At this point, they were in front of the throne room. They opened the door, revealing a worried Princess Celestia.

"Hello, my little ponies. I have something to say to you."

"So, this dracone-something is freed from his stone prison, and he wants to reign terror and chaos over Equestria?" Rainbow said. "We can whip his sorry-butt," she said.

"Rainbow!" Twilight interjected. Rainbow scoffed. And then, they heard something. A sinister laugh.

"Hello, my friends. How are you doing today?" a voice said.

"Discord, reveal yourself this instant!" Princess Celestia said.

"I'm not taking my orders from you, Princess. These must be the fillies you talked about! Oh I've heard so much about you three. Three unrelated fillies living together. So cute! Anyways, chaos isn't going to create itself, so if you'll excuse me..." the voice, identified to be Discord, said, before dissapearing.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked.

Author's Note

After this, a massive time jump will occur. Like, a MASSIVE time jump.

Chapter 12: Four Years Later

It had been four years since the DIscord incident. Four entire years. Not much happened within those four years. Sure, there was the occasional vision, but Twilight had recently turned 15 years old, Rainbow Dash 13, and Fluttershy 15 too, and nopony had seen DIscord since. Search parties had been made, but nothing was found. Apparently, the incident at the castle was the last time he was seen. Anyways, it was the Summer Sun Celebration, which was being held in a small town called Ponyville.

"Heh. It was the place that silly pink filly told us where she was staying around four years ago. Pinkie Pie, I think? My memories' a little fuzzy," Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, I think," Twilight said. The Princess had summoned them to the throne room.

"Lets go," Fluttershy said.

"Okay," Twilight said. The three later arrived at the palace.

They opened the door to the throne room.

"Hello, my friends. How was your trip here?" Princess Celestia asked.

"Oh... it was fine. Why did you summon us here?" Twilight asked.

"Well, we would love to ask you three to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location, Ponyville. If you want to, of course," the Princess said.

"Oh, yeah. S-sure," Fluttershy muttered.

"Thank you. We will send a chariot to your place. It will send you directly to Ponyville for the 997th Summer Sun Celebration. You three can stay in a library afterwards. I believe it was called the Golden Oak Library." the Princess said. "I will see you there on the day of the celebration."

Author's Note

As mentioned, 997th Summer Sun Celebration. Keyword "997th". So don't expect Nightmare Moon just yet. I've got a special role for her in future installments. Again, this is still Chapter One after all, right?

Chapter 13: Welcome to Ponyville

"Hey, wake up, sleepyhead. Today's the day we go to Ponyville to help preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration," Twilight said, waking Rainbow Dash up.

"Killjoy. I'll wake up, because we've been through this conversation more than once, okay?" Rainbow Dash said, remembering all the times she has failed to give Twilight a good reason to fall back to sleep. And plus, she was correct, they needed to go.

"The chariot's waiting, come on RD. We don't even need to pack anything," Twilight said.

"All right, I'm comin',” the latter said.

It was a completely fine and safe ride to Ponyville.

"What do you think the locals are going to be like?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe there can be a monster attack so ~~I~~, I mean WE can save the citizens there and look awesome!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"I hope they're nice. I heard Ponyville is very welcoming to new guests," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, I read all about Ponyville! Its customs, which is shockingly little, its history, and more, all packed within this handy-dandy book!" Twilight said, showing them a book called 'A Guide to Ponyville: History and More'.

"Hey! I thought you said we didn't need to pack anything?"

"I did, but I needed to bring this checklist, and I thought I might as well bring a few more things, this book included.”

"We're here!” one of the guards that were bringing the three said. Ponyville looked beautiful from above. After they landed, they said goodbye to the guards, and began their journey for preparation.

Chapter 14: Reunion

"She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends," Twilight said.

"Huh... back here again. What is it now?" our Twilight said.

"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about. Come on, Twilight, just try!" a dragon said, whom our Twilight believes the name is Spike.

"Uh... hello?" other Twilight said, looking towards a pink mare.

"Pinkie Pie!" our Twilight said. Pinkie Pie gasped in excitement, then ran away.

And then, the vision shattered.

"Twilight! Thank Celestia you're awake. Had another vision?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight slowly nodded.

"What was it about?" Fluttershy asked.

"It was just me. I entered Ponyville, and said goodbye to the very same people that sent us here. There was a dragon, his name was Spike, from my past visions, I think. He told me to talk to somepony. So, I did. I said hi to Pinkie. She gasped, and then the vision shattered," Twilight said. If it was perfect timing, or just destiny, Pinkie Pie strolled past the three.

"Wait a minute... you're those three fillies from a few years ago! Hi! What are you doing here?" Pinkie said energetically.

"Hi! We're here to see how the preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration is going," Twilight replied.

"Oh well, it was nice to see you guys. Bye!" Pinkie said, before hopping away.

"Look guys, the quicker we finish this, the quicker we can go back," Twilight said.

Author's Note

Remember like, two chapters ago when I said Spike will not be in this fanfic? Well, you'll find out soon.

And also: I just realised how much same amount of words I have with my chapters. I think i have like, two chapters with 142 words, and two with 304.

Chapter 15: Preparation for the Celebration

Preparation for the celebration went smoothly. First, they went to Sweet Apple Acres, where they met Applejack, who recognized them, for the food.

"Have we met before?" she asked. She wasn't wrong. The three had seen her in a handful of their visions.

Then, they got to Town Hall, where they met Rarity, for the decor. Again, they each recognized each other, though Rarity chose to remain silent, but everyone could tell. She gave them looks, glances, similar to Applejack.

After a second lunch break(the first from their "taste-testing" with the Apple family), they met two mares, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, they believed, were their names, who were in charge of music. They didn't recognize the three, but the three recognized them, often in the backgrounds of their flashes. Lastly, they met Spitfire, who was in charge of the weather(and the Wonderbolts, too, Rainbow was very excited). Obviously, Rainbow Dash was the only one who remembered her from her flashes, often from her apparent time at the Wonderbolts. At last, it was almost time for the celebration to begin. Everything was ready, Princess Celestia was coming soon, and the three were one happy group. Dreams fulfilled, stomach fulfilled, and list finished. What could possibly go wrong at this point? Obviously, those words would bite them from the back, because a familiar foe decided it would be the time to pop in.

Author's Note

If you're wondering why the last few sentences seemed... weird, its because I needed to find a way to make the chapter longer(I began to set a minimum for 200 words in chapters now).

And also: the fic's almost over. I genuinely can't believe it. We're at the brink of the climax, which will very likely happen in the next chapter, and I probably will begin my work on Chapter Two very soon.

Chapter 16: Gone

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited— well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I gasped but I mean really, who can top that?" Pinkie said, waiting for the Summer Sun Celebration to begin. She had just hosted a lovely party at the library, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" the mayor of Ponyville said. The crowd of ponies cheered along.

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria... Princess Celestia!" she continued, opening the curtain, revealing an empty room. The crowd gasped in shock with the realisation of Princess Celestia going missing. "Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" the mayor said.

"Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?" Pinkie said, attempting lighten up the mood, to very little success.

"She's gone!" one of the ponies said. After a short search party throughout Ponyville, they reached that conclusion. Suddenly, something poofed into their view. A draconequus. A very familiar draconequus.

"Hello, my little ponies," Discord said sinisterly. Twilight had a sudden realisation that everything is not going to be okay, and she shuddered on the thought.

Chapter 17: Summer Sun Chaos

Everypony was trembling in fear at the sight of DIscord.

"My name is DIscord, and I am here to bring chaos upon you all," Discord said.
"I've seen some of you before, some helped me escape from my stone prison I was stuck in for a thousand years," he continued, looking towards Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, who was grouped up together, shuddering at the realisation that DIscord was looking at them.

"What d-did you do to o-our Princess?" Rainbow Dash said, with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Oh, I simply teleported her to a cage. Once the Elements of Harmony are mine, nothing can stop me," Discord said, before cackling. They needed to run. Discord began blasting away Town Hall into smithereens, ponies running for their lives. However, a group of mares knew exactly what they needed to do.

"Where are they going?" Applejack said, looking at Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight trotting to the library.

After they reached the library, Twilight immediately ran towards the 'E' section of the place.

"Elements, Elements, E, E, E... Aha! Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Now what are you doin' over here?" Applejack said, slamming the door open. "Discord looked to you guys when he said that there were some ponies that helped him escape his stone prison. Can you elaborate?" Rarity asked.

"Well..."

They explained themselves. The Ursa insident(which s how they anticipated Discord got out of stone), the encounter at the castle, the relentless search parties, and at last, the present.

"So, where are these... Elements of Harmony?" Applejack asked, and such, they opened the book.

Author's Note

The climax begins... eventually. I'm sneaking in a few things from the season 2 premiere, so the climax may be a little later than expected. I still think that the story may end in less than 10 chapters, but who knows?

Chapter 18: The Elements of Harmony

"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now called the Everfree Forest," Twilight read.

"Wait, wait, wait. The Everfree Forest?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Some folks say it doesn't work the same as Equestria. No pony has ever come in, and come out in the same trip," Applejack continued, frightening Fluttershy.

"It's our only chance to stop DIscord. We need to go to the Everfree Forest, whether you like it or not," Twilight said.

"Pack your stuff, it's going to be a wild ride. We don't know what to expect. Don't overpack. Meet me back here in 30 minutes," she continued, "Go. Pack your bags!”

"Uh... are you sure about this, Twilight?" Fluttershy muttered, shuddering at the entrance of the forest.

"Yeah, I am." And then, a sudden ringing overtook Twilight.

"What's happening?" Applejack said.

"She's just having another vision. She'll come back in 2 minutes tops," Rainbow Dash said.

"Whee! Let's go!" Pinkie said.

"Not so fast. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own," the other Twilight said.

"Oh well, this seems familiar," our Twilight said.

"No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy agreed. And thus, they headed inside.

And so, the vision shattered.

Author's Note

And we are nearing the climax... kinda.

Chapter 19: Into the Everfree

After Twilight's vision ended, the six entered inside the Everfree Forest. However, something was different. A fog came by, seperating the six. Everyone gave a shriek in response.

"Hey, we'll find a way to get out of this fog, meet me there later, all right?" Twilight said, but no response came. It was almost like the fog had teleported her somewhere completely different. "Hello? Guys?" she asked. Instead, she heard a maniacal laugh.

"Hello, Twilight," Discord said. "How have you been? It's been a while since I last saw you," he continued.

"What have you done to my friends?" Twilight asked in response.

"Your friends? You've only been with them for so little, yet you consider them friends. Oh wait, your talking about them..." Discord replied. "How do you consider them friends, when they don't consider you as one?" Discord asked.

"What do you mean? I love Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and I'm sure they appreciate me too," Twilight answered in response.

"Keyword, sure. They only want to be with you because you're powerful, Twilight. They realised that when you used your magic to turn that Ursa Major into a baby," Discord said. He later showed her a vision, similar to the one he used to spy on them.

"Is she gone?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, she is," Rainbow Dash replied, looking towards the window, to show Twilight walking to school.

"God, I hate her. I just wish she would... go. I'm getting tired of her ramblings about science and stuff like that. Boring," Rainbow continued

"That isn't like Rainbow Dash to say that..." Twilight said.

"Oh believe me, you barely know her," Discord smirked.

"After all, we only need her to grab things we can't reach and stuff like that," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, she's so powerful. And way too gullible," Rainbow added.

"No... they really do hate me," Twilight thought. And thus, Discord saw his window of opportunity. Twilight's expression turned from a 'meh' face to a frown.

"They really hate me..." and then, all the color just... sucked out of her.

"So much for friends..." Twilight grouchily said, body devoid of any color.

"Yes... my plan is working!", Discord exclaimed, snickering at the thought of the chaos to come.

Author's Note

Whoooo, this was a real doozy to write.

Chapter 20: Creating Discord

Rainbow Dash noticed something was strange about her friends. FIrst, she had seen Applejack, who was sputtering lies that were way to obvious to tell. Then, she'd seen Fluttershy, who starting jabbing at her for her age. After that, she saw Rarity, who was pushing a rather massive boulder, thinking it was some kind of fabulous diamond, and was greedily hoarding all the random stuff they found throughout the way. Soon later, they met up with Pinkie Pie, who was really... really... bored all the time, and often making things boring and devoid of any color. Lastly, she saw Twilight, who was reluctant to use her magic, and often was forced to by others to use it. She also noticed a pattern between the rest, not just being devoid of any color, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it.

Rainbow Dash was getting fed up. Fluttershy was often jabbing at Pinkie Pie, who groaned and did not answer anything after. Rarity would ask Twilight if she could lend a hoof with helping her carry the boulder, which Twilight would always say no on, not wanting to use her magic on "fake friends".

"Ya never had friends in the first place, minus us, Twi," Rainbow thought. Applejack was trying to get her out of this, often lying to make up excuses.

"Ah got apples to pick!"

"At 4 in the morning?"

"Apple Bloom needs to get up... she'll get all worked up if Ah don't wake her up."

Rarity interjected, "You never wake Apple Bloom up, you know?" Applejack could just groan.

"Okay, that's it. WHAT IS UP WITH YOU GUYS?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh... uhm... Ah-ah'm totally fine!" Applejack said. They all sloppily nodded in agreement.

"This was a bad idea..." she thought.

Author's Note

And so... the plot thickens! If you're wondering how RD might've taken her friends out of their spell, we'll get to meet a really important character in the next chapter. A character that is very good at magic. A character that was an antagonist at first, but a protagonist later.

Note: I just realised I just wrote 14 entire chapters today, and I gotta sleep soon. I can squeeze in like 2-3 more, but for now this'll be as much as you'll get today. The story will be ending soon, and I am super excited to work on Chapter Two, but not today.

Chapter 21: Starlight Glimmer

"You know what? I give up... you guys can just go back. I can't bear you guys anymore," Rainbow Dash said, after hearing their antics for the 100th time, it felt like. Within a flash, everypony just, dissapeared. Rainbow Dash sighed, walking back sadly. She felt... lost. The color began to seep out of her. Discord had won.

A mare stepped hoof onto Ponyville.

"Huh... Princess Celestia said this would be where I find that Twilight Sparkle and her friends... and isn't it the Summer Sun Celebration? Where is everypony?" a lilac mare asked. She walked around, looking at the closed businesses and ruin. That's when she bumped into another pony.

"Oh! I'm so sorry... didn't see you there," the mare said, looking up to see Rainbow Dash... just a little different.

"Wait... you're Rainbow Dash! Princess Celestia told me about you! I'm Starlight Glimmer, I came over here from Canterlot after Princess Celestia told me to do so. I began experiencing these flashes of things that didn't happen... and I wondered if you could help me," the mare, identified to be Starlight, said.

"Uh-huh. Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said, unenthusiastically.

"What... happened...?" the other mare asked.

"Discord attacked us. He foalnapped Princess Celestia and wreaked havoc on the place. We went here, to find a book on the Elements of Harmony, and it led us to the Everfree Forest. That was when we lost each other in fog. When we met each other again, they were... different. Everypony felt grouchier... I- I-" Rainbow Dash said, breaking up on that last sentence.

"I got the gist of it. You don't need to tell me any further," Starlight said.

"Anyways, isn't Fluttershy and Twilight staying here for the night? Where are they?" she asked.

"I don't know... I don't wanna know..." Rainbow said.

"Hey. For as little as I've known you... you look like a really good friend. Princess Celestia told me about you three's... antics. You guys were inseparable growing up," Starlight said, trying to cheer Rainbow up.

"Some good things have to end... do they?" Rainbow added.

"No. It doesn't. Look, I know where this path leads. I saw it in my visions," Starlight said. "After my friend, Sunburst, left for magic school after he got his cutie mark, I began to have visions. While I just sucked it up and said oh well, a version of me I saw in these visions did not. She started to feel... bitter. It led her down a dark path. A path that hated cutie marks. She founded a village, and stole everypony that inhabited the place cutie marks' and stored them in a vault. I- I was..." Starlight muttered.

"You don't need to tell me anymore about it," Rainbow Dash said.

"My point is, there are much worse friends than you are one, Rainbow. And I believe that you can stop Discord with your friends," Starlight said. "Really, you think so?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Of course I do, Rainbow... of course I do," Starlight replied. Rainbow Dash hugged her. She felt the color in her returning.

"Rainbow Dash! Your color's back!"

"It is?" she looked at herself. And then, everything clicked to place. "I know how to save my friends!"

Author's Note

Ho-wee! This was a long one to write. My longest one... by FAR! The climax is quickly approaching.

Chapter 22: Magical Mystery Cure

Rainbow Dash knew exactly what she needed to do.

"You know how all you needed to do to bring my color was to remind me of the real me?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Starlight replied, unsure on what the pegasus wanted her to do.

"You got any memory spells in your arsenal?"

"Best believe, Rainbow. You barely know me!"

"Then lets go, Starlight."

They started picking up the rest of the Mane 6, one by one. First, they went to Sugarcube Corner, where they saw a rather depressed Pinkie, lying on her bed.

"For what I've seen of her, that does NOT look like Pinkie Pie," Starlight said.

"I agree. Not lets get her out of this. If this continues, she might bash her head through a wall. Come on, Starlight," Rainbow Dash said, calling the other mare. Starlight continued to levitate herself. She was encased within lavender magic, rising up, looking at Rainbow Dash in the eye.

"What- how- what?" she looked at the lilac mare in question in awe. Starlight couldn't help but chuckle.

"Anyways, lets go," she said, opening the window to Pinkie's room.

"Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, calling the pink mare in question.

"Leave me alone! What are you-" Pinkie said, before being cut off by Rainbow Dash.

"Starlight, now!" she exclaimed. Suddenly, a flash of cyan light flashed across their eyes. It was blinding. Rainbow almost thought she was having another flash. And then, the light subsided, revealing Pinkie Pie back in color.

"What happened?" she said.

"I'll tell you on the way. We need to go to Sweet Apple Acres."

Author's Note

Yes, I derived the name of this chapter from the season 3 finale. I just thought of the circumstances being to good to be true, so I just wrote it down plainly.

Chapter 23: All But One

The cure was working. They helped Applejack snap out of it at Sweet Apple Acres, who sincerely apologized after they saved her.

"Wh-what happened? Rainbow Dash! I saw a vision of us feudin' and fightin'. I couldn't face the truth, so I started tellin' lies. Can you ever forgive me?" she said.

"I already have. Come on!" Rainbow replied. Then, they helped Fluttershy, who was on a very nice patch of grass , scaring away all the animals she encountered. Another flash occured.

"Oh no! Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, I just had the worst dream!", Fluttershy exclaimed, before looking towards the lilac mare that stood between them. "Who's that?" she asked. Soon later, they went to the Carousel Boutique, and they found Rarity, who still had the boulder and various knick-knacks in tow.

"Let us never speak of this again," she said, the others snickering at her. At last, they had found everypony and returned them back. Everypony except one.

Author's Note

A little shorter than I thought it would be, but I decided that Twilight's curing would be in the next chapter. And after the last two chapters, I thought we needed a breather. 538 words! Wow. Didn't know I could do that.

Chapter 24: Snap Out of It

"Where can Twilight be? Equestria is wide, Rainbow, and Twilight could be anywhere," Fluttershy said.

"I bet on one place where she could be," Rainbow said.

They were going to arrive on a train to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash secretly hoping her fillyhood friend would be there.

"Come on, Twilight. Please..." she thought. The train had at last stopped. It was time to see if her hunches were true.

The six mares had arrived at Twilight's place. Rainbow Dash then rang the doorbell. She sighed. Opening the door, she saw papers clattered, cleaning tools were scattered. It was clear that somepony was here.

"I think I should go alone," Rainbow said.

"Not even you, Starlight," she continued. Starlight nodded, and stepped backwards. With a sigh, she went upstairs, and opened the door to Twilight's room.

"Twilight? Its me, Rainbow Dash," she said, entering her room.

"Just leave me alone!" Twilight said, quietly sobbing.

"Look, I know that not everything has been fine, Twi. But believe me... everything will be alright," Rainbow said.

"I know the world can get you down,
Things don't work out the way that you thought,
Feeling like all your best days are done,
Your fears and doubts are all you've got.

But there's a light, shining deep inside!
Beneath those fears and doubts so just squash em'," A smile grew on Twilight. Rainbow Dash knew what she had to do.
"And let it shine, for all the world to see,
That it is time, yeah, time to be awesome!"

And so, Twilight embraced Rainbow Dash. The color inside her started seeping back. "I'm so, sorry..." she said, falling to tears.

"Everything is going to be okay, Twi. Everything is gong to be okay."

Author's Note

I did not anticipate 'Time to Be Awesome' to be part of this story. But I needed something to motivate Twilight, and this was the first thing that popped up in my head.

And also, nearly let out a tear while writing Twilight's little breakdown.

Chapter 25: Bringing Back the Elements

"We need to get the Princess. She'll know where the castle is. She'll bring back the Elements," Rainbow said.

"Two steps ahead of ya!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bringing the royal Princess herself.

"I came as soon as I could. Is there anything I could do to help?" Princess Celestia asked, looking towards Rainbow Dash, who was still comforting Twilight.

"Yes, we need a lot of your help. Still know where your old castle is?"

The trip to the castle was bumpy… but all right. Applejack saved them from a plant infestation by telling the truth, Fluttershy saved them from a manticore attack by showing the manticore some kindness, Rarity decided to cut off her tail to fix a crying sea serpent’s moustache, Pinkie Pie saved them from scary trees by laughing at them, and Twilight used her magic to save the group from an avalanche, though Princess Celestia or Starlight could’ve helped.

They were right there. Right in front of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Just needed to fix a broken bridge to do so.

"I got it!" Rainbow said, flying over to the other side to fix the bridge. Suddenly, fog covered them, unable to see each other.

"Hello... Rainbow Dash," a familiar voice said.

"What do you want, Discord?" the latter asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to give you this," Discord said, showing her a box of the Elements.

"The Elements!" Rainbow said, reaching for the box.

"Nuh-uh-uh! You need to make a choice, Rainbow. The elements, or your friends," Discord said, opening the fog to reveal her friends, struggling againts a swarm of creatures. Cockatrices, snakes, vampire fruit bats, and manticores alike. Rainbow gulped.

Author's Note

To this point, this story has had a 'Slice of Life' tag. I need your help. Should I keep it? Because it doesn't seem very Slice of Life-y to me. But it's up to you guys.

Chapter 26: Beating Discord

“So, which one is it, Rainbow? Your friends, or your elements?” Discord asked. Rainbow had around 2 minutes to decide.

“My friends, please,” she said. Rainbow Dash then fixed the bridge.

“What!? But your precious Elements of Harmony are right here!” Discord exclaimed, shocked by Rainbow’s decision.

“We don’t need those elements to stop you, Discord. Because your whole experience taught me something. The spirits of the Elements are right here,” Rainbow Dash said. Her friends had crossed the bridge, facing Discord.

“Applejack, who saved us from a plant infestation by telling them the truth, represents the element of Honesty!” she said, one of the stone balls Discord had held from his box broke and floated towards Applejack.

“Fluttershy, who jumped to action to help a manticore in need of medical attention, represents the element of Kindness!” she exclaimed, another one of the stone balls Discord had held broke and floated towards Fluttershy.

“Rarity, who broke off her tail in order to fix a crying sea serpent’s moustache, represents the element of Generosity!” she continued, a third stone ball breaking and floating to Rarity.

“Pinkie Pie, who snickered and laughed at the face of danger, represents the element of Laughter!” she said. Another one of Discord’s stone balls breaking and floating towards Pinkie.

“And lastly, me, Rainbow Dash, who rejected your offer to save my friends, represents the element of Loyalty!” she said, as one of the last stone balls breaked and floated towards Rainbow Dash.

“But you still don’t have the sixth element. There’s still no spark,” Discord snickered. “And that’s where you’re wrong, Discord!” Twilight interjected. “You see, I too, realised something on your little game you played on us. After all, that was why I was crying when you put that spell on me. I was convinced that my friends were using me just for my magic. But Rainbow Dash helped me see through her lens. I was very powerful, yes, but I was a very powerful friend,” she continued. “And that’s when I realised it. A spark ignited inside me. That spark creates the sixth Element of Harmony…” she said, a final stone ball poofing into existence. “…magic.” Then, everything went dark for all eight of them.

Author's Note

And thus, ends the ‘Discord’ arc. Began in Chapter 11, ‘Discord’, continued in Chapter 20, ‘Creating Discord’, and ended in this chapter, Chapter 26, ‘Beating Discord’. This chapter was really nice to write.

Epilogue: Saying Hello, Saying Goodbye

It had been a few days after Discord’s defeat. He was returned to stone, in what Princess Celestia had called “an explosion of rainbow light”. The elements had also bonded with them, with necklaces of their cutie marks appearing on their necks, and a full-on crown with Twilight's cutie mark as the centerpiece layed on her head. After some persuasion, Princess Celestia agreed to let Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash to stay in Ponyville for another month. Fluttershy rented a place near the forest, while Rainbow and Twilight stayed at the Golden Oak Library. The six had incredible adventures together. One time, Twilight nearly created a vortex because of “boundaries”. Another time, Twilight’s brother decided to visit them and decided to embarass her. One time, Applejack nearly had a meltdown preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, and another, three fillies decided to destroy Hearth’s Warming Eve in order to help it. However, all good things must come to an end. Their month was running out. They needed to return for Canterlot.

“Do ya really need to go?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah. We have a home in Canterlot, too,” Twilight replied.

“Well, we’ll sure miss you three,” Rarity said. And so, they had to go. The chariot to Canterlot was arriving soon, and Twilight and her friends were packing their bags.

“All the memories we made here,” Twilight thought.

“Well, this isn’t goodbye, it’s a ‘see you later’. We will see each other again. I have a sneaking suspicion we will,” she said. At last, the chariot arrived. Their friends waved goodbye one last time, and once again, they were back in Canterlot.

“Goodbye, Ponyville,” Twilight said, shedding a tear.

Author's Note

And so, the story ends! Sorry for the somber ending, but Chapter Two will be coming soon. Expect something new around the next few days. We’ll see you in Chapter Two!

And also: I'll give you a spoiler below on Chapter Two.

Twilight's only remaining family member is dying, but she will meet a new, unexpected member.

Chapter Two set to be finished 28/12/24.