Age Swap

Chapters

Ponyville and Apples.
Pegasi and Unicorns
Through the Everfree
Fashion and Fog
The Final Stand
Cake, Pie and Adventure Time.

Ponyville and Apples.

Long ago, two Princesses ruled over Equestria together. The elder raised and lowered the moon, and the younger did the sun. One day, the younger princess found that nopony would stay up during the night. She told her sister that night was worthless, as nopony stayed awake to enjoy it. The elder sister disagreed, arguing that her night replenished their subjects’ energy. The younger did not listen to her sister’s reasoning however, and when the older refused to vanquish the night, the younger became furious. Her anger caused great disharmony within her soul, and twisted her being into one of total contempt- Sinking Sun. Using her magic, fueled by her own rage, she forced the moon down and locked the sun in place at high noon. The elder, seeing that there was only one way to stop her corrupted sister, used the Elements of Harmony to seal her sister into the very moon that she despised . With her last waking breath, Sinking Sun swore that she would return and cause eternal day, promising to remove the moon completely. The remaining Princess took charge of both sun and moon, and Equestria has lived in peace ever since.

"The Elements of Harmony?" a purple dragon asked himself as he finished the tale, seated under the shade of a tree in the garden of a massive castle. "I know I read something about them once, but what was it?" Bearing this question in mind, the dragon stood up and walked into the castle, holding the book in his clawed hand.

He was the only dragon in Canterlot, probably the only one in all of Equestria. He was hatched and raised from an egg by Princess Luna and had earned her deepest trust. He practically considered her his mother, though she insisted on being referred to as his mentor. Teaching him about everything he would ever need to know, caring for him, being there when he needed her.

When he entered the castle, a couple of the servants nodded at him. He was about the height of an average pony, maybe a half a head taller. He had purple scales and he got his name, Spike, from the green spines running from his head to his tail.

It was hard for Spike, being a dragon in a world of ponies. If the staff, or anypony, had been in the castle for a long enough time, they had come to accept him and treat him as they would any other, since he did behave very much like a pony, not knowing how else to behave. New ponies, however, always stared at Spike before turning away quickly when they saw him looking. Everypony was afraid of him when they first met. But Spike had gotten used to it.

Spike went up to his room quickly, avoiding the darting gazes. He opened the door to the familiar room lined with books, his hammock swinging gently in the breeze.

"Twili- oomf!" Spike called as he entered the room, tripped, and fell on his face. He looked back to see what he had tripped on and a small, purple unicorn with a dark purple, straight mane and tail that had a pink streak running down the middle was laying under his legs. It was his assistant, Twilight Sparkle.

Princess Luna had made Twilight Spike's assistant once she had decided that Spike was ready to take on the responsibility. Spike loved Twilight and treated her like his sister. She was a great help, even though she was just a filly and could get really annoying sometimes. She only went up to his waist when she was standing up and didn't even have her cutie mark yet. Everypony got one when they found what their special talent was, and Twilight was around the age where that happened.

The little unicorn blushed slightly. "Yes, Spike?" she asked.

"Twilight," Spike groaned. "What have I told you about reading in front of the door?"

Twilight’s face reddened even more. "Sorry Spike, I just got really engrossed in this book and didn't notice where I was laying."

Spike rolled his eyes as he stood up; that filly was always getting lost in a book.

"So," Twilight said as she closed her book with her magic and set it on a desk. She was very good with magic, considering how young she was. "What did you want me for?"

"I need you to help me find that book on the Elements of Harmony."

"Oh, okay," Twilight said, a little confused.

"Great!" Spike ran over to one of the bookcases and started pulling books off the shelves. He would look at one, find it wasn't right, and throw it on the floor.

"Here it is!" Twilight called, holding a book with her magic.

"Thank you," Spike took the book from her and flipped through it. "Elements, elements," He muttered as he turned the pages. "Ah, here it is. Wait, 'See Mare in the Moon'?"

"That's just an old ponies’ tale," Twilight pointed out, completely bewildered now.

"I know, and it says in that pony tale that on the longest day, one thousand years after she was banished, Sinking Sun would return and make the day last forever." Spike started to pace, remembering what he had read. "The Summer Solstice Celebration, the longest day of the year, is in a couple of days. And do you know how many years it's been since Sinking Sun was banished to the moon?" the dragon asked his assistant.

"Um..."

"One thousand!" Spike answered his own question. He paused for a moment before declaring, "We need to warn Princess Luna about this impending danger." Spike raced out of the room with Twilight running to keep up.

..........

Spike took his familiar route to the Princess's chambers. When he got there, the guards didn't even blink as he knocked on the door; he was always talking to Luna when she wasn't busy.

"Come in," a voice called from inside the room. Spike pushed open the huge doors and walked in, Twilight just managing to squeeze in after him.

Sitting in a throne in the middle of the room was a deep, dark blue alicorn. She was at least a foot taller than Spike, and with her wings spread out she looked even bigger. She had light blue eyes and a mane and tail that reminded Spike of the night sky. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon, symbolizing her power over the moon and night itself. This was Princess Luna. Spike bowed to her and Twilight did the same.

"Rise, Spike, and you, Twilight. What is it you want?" Luna asked in a calm, friendly tone, but there was always power in her voice.

"Luna," Spike stood up. "It has come to my attention that in a couple of days we will have our thousandth Sun Celebration."

"Yes," Luna said, confirming this.

"I have also learned that Sinking Sun will return and make eternal day."

Luna didn't say anything for a moment before chuckling and asking, "Spike, do you really believe that old pony tale?"

Spike stared at her, speechless.

"Spike, I trust you," Luna reassured him, "but I think living with books and only having myself and Twilight as company has gotten to you. I didn't even think you read pony tales, and now you believe them? I think it is time you made some more friends."

"What?" Spike asked, "But...but the danger..."

"Isn't real," Luna finished for him. "But I think living alone has gotten to your head. You hardly ever leave the castle and you've never left Canterlot." That was true. Spike rarely left; he didn't even go outside his room that much. He didn't like ponies staring at him or running away. "I think you should leave Canterlot and go and see the world, make some friends."

"Ponies don't want to be friends with me," Spike huffed.

"You don't know that," Luna said kindly. "Tell you what, this Sun Celebration is to be held in Ponyville, a small town close by. How about I send you and Twilight there? You can supervise the preparations for me. I'll even arrange for you to stay in a library so you feel more at home."

Spike wanted to protest, but he knew that when the Princess made up her mind it was final. Besides, it was better than nothing; he could try to stop the danger by himself, especially if he was to stay in a library. "Fine," he grumbled and started to leave.

"Spike," Luna called. "Make sure you don't bury yourself in books, and actually try to make some friends."

..........

"Grrr," Spike grumbled as he trudged to his room, "doesn't she know that no pony wants to be my friend? They're all terrified of me."

"I'm not," Twilight added helpfully.

"You were when we first met; then you got to know me," Spike reminded her. "No one in that town will even come near me, let alone get to know me. If they do, it's just because the Princess sent me."

"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville are really friendly," Twilight suggested.

Spike just snorted as they entered his room. "Okay Twilight, Luna said we would be staying in a library, so we don't need to bring anything along. Grab the book on the Elements just in case, though; they might not have it in their library."

"But we're supposed to be going there to make friends," Twilight said.

"What's more important, making friends or saving Equestria? Now be sure to grab your Smarty Pants doll, we wouldn't want to leave that behind."

Twilight went to find her doll as Spike took down his hammock; he certainly wasn't leaving that. He wanted to make friends, it's not like he didn't, he just knew that nopony would want to be friends with him. He was a dragon, after all; they'd just run away. "That's not important anyway," he mumbled to himself. "What's important is finding the Elements of Harmony and stopping Sinking Sun."

..........

The chariot ride to Ponyville was boring for Spike, but Twilight was taking in the view. She had never been outside of Canterlot, so she took notice of everything going on. "Look at all the clouds, Spike! We're almost passing through some! The ground's rushing by so fast! It must be so fun to be a Pegasus and fly like this all the time."

Spike had tuned her out, trying to think of ways to make himself look less threatening. Then something Twilight said snapped him out of it.

"Do you think I'll get my Cutie Mark here?"

Her cutie mark had always been a touchy subject, so Spike picked his words carefully. "Maybe, Twilight. You get to do lots of different things when you're around other ponies."

"I can't wait to meet more ponies, then."

"A young filly like you should have lots of friends," Spike mumbled, looking anywhere but at her. He secretly felt bad about her being alone in the castle with him all this time. It was pretty much his fault that she was so lonely.

"So should you. Come on Spike, the ponies are going to love you."

"I doubt that," Spike huffed. "I just hope that they don't get so scared they evacuate the town."

Twilight rested a hoof on her mentor's shoulder. "I'm sure the ponies in Ponyville aren't that judgmental."

Spike just grumbled and leaned against the side of the chariot. It wasn't long before the town of Ponyville appeared below them. The royal guards descended to the town square. On the way down, Spike saw little humble houses that looked cozy and very well built lining the streets and ponies going about their day, enjoying the fine weather and each other’s company. Spike hated that he was about to ruin this pleasant little town. To his surprise, though, nopony panicked when he disembarked from the chariot and the guard ponies took off again.

"Come on, Spike! Just try to talk to somepony and be nice," Twilight told Spike, scanning the crowd for an especially friendly-looking pony. "How about her?" Twilight gestured to a pink filly about her age with an extremely messy mane.

Spike sighed. "Fine, I'll try." He walked toward the pink filly and began to fidget, then glanced back at Twilight, who nodded him forward, before continuing to approach the filly. The filly didn't run away as Spike drew closer, which made him feel a little more confident that this wouldn’t be so bad. "Er, um, hi there...I'm Spike and I..."

Suddenly, the pink filly gasped so loud that she practically jumped into the air. Then the filly ran off so quickly that Spike couldn't even be sure which way she went. Spike looked at Twilight with a 'see what I mean?' look before starting to walk off.

Twilight just sighed.

..........

"Where are we going first?" Spike asked his assistant.

"Where the festival is being held, Sweet Apple Acres. We need to see how the decorating is coming." Twilight was looking at a little checklist and map that she had suspended in front of her with her magic. The orchard was easy to find as it made up a fifth of Ponyville.

They walked through the gates and Spike had to admit that it was a great place for the celebration. There was a lot of space for ponies, food lined every table, and every tree was decorated with fine ribbons.

The two walked for a while before they finally came across somepony who seemed to be in charge. A yellow earth pony stood on top of a ladder, putting ribbons in a tree. Her straight, red mane hung past her shoulders, and a hammer adorned her flank.

Spike sighed. As expected, he would have to talk to ponies again. He approached the tree the pony was in and called to her, "Um, excuse me I'm from Canterlot; the Princess sent me. I'm here to see how the decorations are going."

"Be with ya in a moment," The pony called as she used her hammer to put a nail into the tree and pin up the ribbon. She slid down the ladder with ease and turned to face Spike and Twilight. "Now what can I do for yaaaaa...wow."

The purple dragon rolled his eyes. "I'm Spike, and this is my assistant Twilight. As I said, the Princess sent me to supervise the Sun Celebration. And unless I'm mistaken, this is where it's taking place."

The pony stood up a little straighter. "Of course, you just startled me, that's all. Ah'm Apple Bloom, and I run Sweet Apple Acres. You said you were here to see how the decoration’s comin’ along? Well let me show you."

Spike and Twilight followed Apple Bloom through the orchard. "The ribbons are arranged to lead the ponies to the barn, which has been spruced up for the celebration." She looked at Twilight for a minute before saying, "Yer Twilight, right? Ah have a sister about your age. Boy, can she be a hoofful sometimes."

"Aren't all fillies?" Spike asked.

Apple Bloom nodded. "They sure are. You would like mah sis, Twilight, she's a real nice pony. Her name's--Applejack!"

They had just walked into the barn, where an orange filly in a brown cowboy hat that was two sizes too big for her was hanging black ribbon from the wall. Her yellow mane and tail were tied up in pony tails. She looked behind her as her name was called.

"Applejack," Apple Bloom repeated, running towards the filly. "Don't hang the black ribbon; that's for funerals. And what did Ah say about wearin’ daddy's hat?"

"'Don't wear it 'til the festival,'" The little pony said, looking at the ground. "But Ah just really wanted to wear it, Apple Bloom."

"Well, you can't yet. It might get dirty or damaged and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Applejack shook her head. Then she saw Spike and Twilight and changed the subject. "Who are they, big sis?"

"This is Spike and Twilight," Apple Bloom introduced them. "They're from Canterlot. The Princess sent them to see how we're doin'."

"What kind of pony is Spike?"

"I'm not a pony, I'm a dragon," Spike answered.

"Ain't dragons bad, Apple Bloom? They burn crops."

"Not this dragon. He's from the Princess."

Applejack apparently decided that was good enough, because she then walked over to Twilight and started talking to her. "You don't have a cutie mark? Neither do I! Look!"

As the fillies talked Spike, turned back to Apple Bloom. "So, do you run this farm with just you and Applejack?"

"Shoot, no," Apple Bloom chuckled at the thought. "Ah would never be able to do it on my own and watch Applejack at the same time. Naw, ah’ve got mah big sis Smithy. Hey, where is Smithy?" Apple Bloom started looking around, as if her sister was about to appear out of nowhere. "Smithy!" she called, with no response. "'S'cuse me for just one second." She went inside the house that was next to the barn. She was only in there a moment before coming out with another pony in tow.

The other pony was slightly bigger than Apple Bloom. She was a green pony with a yellow mane and tail that were tied into braids. She had an apple pie cutie mark on her flank and a little red foal on her back, playing with her bonnet.

"This is mah older sis, Smithy," Apple Bloom nodded at her, "and mah brother Lil' Mac."

Smithy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Who are they?" she asked.

"Smithy, this is Spike and Twilight. The Princess sent ‘em to see how we're doin’ on the decorating."

"The Princess?" Smithy asked.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... yeah, Princess Luna sent me and Twilight here to supervise the Celebration."

"Well it's good to meet ya then, Spike. As Apple Bloom said, ah'm Smithy and this is little ol' Mac. Say hi, Mac." The little colt waved his hooves in the air and babbled something.

"Do y’all want to stay for lunch?" Applejack asked. She had finished talking to Twilight and now both fillies were standing there, listening. "Smithy can cook really well, but not Apple Bloom, she'll just burn all the food."

Apple Bloom looked at the ground. "Ah didn't get mah cutie mark in cookin’," she admitted.

"Can we, Spike? Can we? I'm really hungry," Twilight begged.

"Alright," Spike agreed. He was getting pretty hungry, too. "But we can't stay too long."

"Alright then," Smithy said. “Let’s get inside and ah'll whip up some pie."

Spike smiled as he followed the Apple family inside. Maybe these ponies weren't so bad, after all.

Pegasi and Unicorns

Spike and Twilight walked along the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. They had eaten a delicious meal and were now pleasantly full.

"So what's next on the list?" Spike asked his assistant.

Twilight looked at her checklist. "We need to check on how a Pegasus named Scootaloo is doing at clearing the skies."

Spike looked up to cloud filled sky. "She's not doing that well," he commented. Just then, something slammed into Spike. He stumbled, but managed to catch himself before falling.

He looked to see what had hit him and saw a Pegasus filly. The blue filly flew up to his face and asked, "You're a dragon, aren't you?" She was about Twilight's age, with a frizzy rainbow mane and tail. She was glaring at Spike suspiciously.

"Yes, I am,” he answered, trying to be polite. “Why did you crash into me?"

The filly ignored him. "Are you a spy from a secret dragon army? Have you come to eat us?"

"No," Spike took a step back from the blue Pegasus. "I'm Spike. Who are you?"

"I'm..." The filly started before she was interrupted by a voice behind them.

"Rainbow Dash!"

They all looked up toward the sound and saw an orange Pegasus, with purple hair and a skateboard cutie mark, descending toward them. "Rainbow, what did I say about doing stunt tricks without supervision?"

"Sorry, Scootaloo. But this dragon is a dangerous spy!" Rainbow Dash tried to defend herself.

"Somehow I doubt that," Scootaloo muttered under her breath.

Happy to meet a pony who had some sense, Spike introduced himself. "I'm Spike. And this is my assistant, Twilight Sparkle. You're Scootaloo?"

"The one and only." Scootaloo ruffled the rainbow filly's hair. "This rascal is Rainbow Dash. Why? Have you heard of us?"

"Princess Luna sent us to check on the Summer Sun preparations," Spike explained, "and our list says that you're supposed to be clearing the sky."

Scootaloo pawed at the ground, "That's right, but you see, it's taking so long because Rainbow Dash here is my adoptive sister, and she and my other sis wanted to help me. Which reminds me," she looked around. "Where is Fluttershy? Fluttershy!"

A little yellow filly with a long pink mane and tail descended from the clouds. Three butterflies adorned her flank. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo. I saw this really pretty butterfly and I just had to follow it." Fluttershy's eyes landed on Spike and she tensed up before squealing, "Dragon!" and hiding behind Scootaloo.

Scootaloo blushed slightly before saying, "Sorry, it's nothing personal. Flutters is my adopted sister, too, and she had a bad experience with dragons when she was younger." She turned to Fluttershy, still cowering behind her. "It's okay, Flutters. This is Spike. Princess Luna sent him."

"Bu...bu...but dragons...eat...eat ponies," the frightened filly stammered.

"Spike has a pony about your age as an assistant. Do you think she would be here if he ate ponies?" Scootaloo asked her.

"What if he only...likes Pegasi?"

"Dash just crashed into him," Scootaloo pointed out. "He would have gobbled her up if he ate Pegasi."

The little filly just whimpered and hid her eyes with her hooves.

Scootaloo sighed, "Sorry about that. She's timid at the best of times."

"It's okay," Spike reassured her. "I'm used to it. How were they helping you?"

"Well, Flutters makes sure that there aren't any animals like butterflies or bats in the clouds, and then Dash breaks them apart. I gather all the things Dash missed. You would think it would go faster, but these two get distracted easily."

"Can we see you do it?" Twilight asked.

"Sure! Dash, no stunts this time." Scootaloo added as she prodded Fluttershy. "Hay, come on Flutters. The dragon won't get you in the sky."

"How do you know?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"He doesn't have wings." Scootaloo gestured to Spike and Fluttershy looked at him with wide eyes.

The little pony unfurled her wings and flew into the air, keeping close to Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash followed, rolling her eyes and muttering, "He doesn't even look that scary."

The three ponies flew up into a cluster of clouds. Fluttershy would reach into one to check that it had nothing in it before continuing to another cloud. Rainbow Dash would burst through the checked clouds, and Scootaloo would clean up whatever bits of cloud were left over.

Twilight and Spike watched the process with wide eyes. When the group got into a comfortable rhythm, the Pegasi flew through the air with expert timing. Fluttershy even found some butterflies in a cloud and helped guide them to safety before continuing.

Rainbow started to fly fancier, going into a circle while hitting three clouds. Then she got really brave and tried to do a loop-da-loop. It started out fine, but when she got to the middle of the trick, she stopped upside down and fell. The little filly flapped her wings, but didn't seem to know how to fly upside down or turn herself over.

"Dash!" Scootaloo called, diving after the falling filly.

Spike could tell that she wasn't going to get there in time, so he rushed forward and caught Rainbow before she hit the ground. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash panted. "Thanks."

"Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo sighed, relieved. "This is why I didn't want you to do tricks." She turned to Spike. "Thank you so much for saving her."

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy had come down and was circling Rainbow Dash. "I was so worried, you were falling and you could have been hurt. You aren't hurt, are you?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash waved a hoof, trying to sound brave, but her voice was still shaking.

"Um..." Fluttershy slowly turned to Spike. "Thank...thank you for saving Rainbow Dash."

"That was so great, Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, "You were so fast!"

"Yeah," Spike blushed a little from all the attention. "I think we should go now, have to finish checking on the Celebration. Princess’s orders."

"Will I see you around?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sure, probably," Spike told her.

"We definitely will," Twilight reassured her. As soon as they were out of earshot, Twilight said to Spike, "See? The ponies here are nice."

"Yeah, I guess," Spike agreed.

************************************************************************************

Spike and Twilight walked back into Ponyville. The next pony they had to find was in charge of the music for the festival. Twilight was having trouble reading the map, though, and the two were getting thoroughly lost.

"Twilight," Spike sighed, "could you just give me the map?"

"No, no, I know where we're going," his assistant reassured him.

Spike rolled his eyes, but continued to follow the little filly. He wanted to suggest asking somepony for directions, but didn't bother for two reasons. One was that Twilight would just dismiss the idea. The other was that the only ponies around were a light purple unicorn and a grey filly. The filly had weird eyes and Spike got the creeps just looking at them. Suddenly, he started to hear a tune in the air. "Twilight, did you hear that?"

Twilight looked up from the map and listened. "Is that music?"

"Yes, and I think it's coming from this way." Spike walked off in the direction of the music, with Twilight following close behind.

They followed the music to a house near the middle of town. The window was open, and they could hear a beautiful string of music before it stopped and was replaced by a soft muttering.

"Do you think this is the place?" Spike asked Twilight.

"Well, we are looking for a pony in charge of music," she pointed out.

"Good point." Spike knocked on the door.

It was opened a short time later by a white unicorn filly with purple hair and three gems as a cutie mark. She stared at Spike for a second before shrieking, then pulling him through the door. "Sweetie Belle!" The little filly yelled, clutching Spike. "You have to see what I found!"

Another white unicorn mare came from the other room. She had purple and pink hair, with a song note for her cutie mark. "What is it, Rarity?"

"I have a dragon and he's going to take me to his treasure!" The filly, Rarity, told the mare.

Sweetie Belle looked at Spike for a moment before replying to the filly, "Are you sure he's old enough to have treasure?"

"I don't have any treasure," Spike told them, trying to pull Rarity off of him, but failing. "I'm here on business for Princess Luna. This is my assistant, Twilight.” He finally gave up on freeing himself from the little filly and looked at the mare. “Are you Sweetie Belle? The one in charge of music?"

"Yes," The white mare confirmed. "Rarity, you can release him now."

Rarity let go of Spike, grumbling that all dragons should have jewels. Twilight went over to talk to her as Spike conversed with Sweetie Belle.

"Is Rarity your sister?"

"Yes,” Sweetie Belle answered, smiling. “She's a neat freak, and can be pretty bothersome sometimes."

Spike laughed. "At least she isn't buried in a book twenty-four seven. What does Rarity's cutie mark represent?"

"That she likes putting jewels on things. That's why she was attacking you; dragons usually have a hoard of jewels, but I’m sure you knew that. She only got her mark a while ago, and she's very proud of it."

"I can believe that. May I hear what you're working on for the celebration?" Spike asked.

"Sure, follow me." Sweetie led Spike into another room were a piano was set up. Spike had no idea how ponies played the piano with hooves, but Sweetie Belle made it look easy. She played a melody and then stopped, making a change on the music sheet in front of her.

"Are there any words in the song?" Spike asked.

"Oh no, I'm just writing what the orchestra will play. No one's going to sing." Sweetie sighed a little and looked down as she said that.

"Do you like to sing?" Spike asked the unicorn.

"Oh yes, singing is so wonderful. My talent involves all music, but I like singing the most."

"Well, why not sing something right now?" Spike asked.

"Um, sure." Sweetie agreed, blushing slightly. She went over to a dresser and ruffled through some papers. "Here's a nice one." She started singing, looking at her music sheet. “I'm just a little bit caught in the middle. Life is a maze, and love is a riddle. I don't know where to go, can't do it alone. I've tried, and I don't know where I am." She stopped and smiled at Spike, "That's one of my favorite songs."

She really had a beautiful voice, and Spike felt inclined to tell her that.

"Yeah, music is my special talent. I've been singing since I was a little filly."

"Spike!" Came a wail from the other room as Twilight tore in, her eyes glistening with the start of tears. "Spike! Spike! Rarity.....Rarity said that blank flanks aren't special!" the purple filly wailed, burying her face in Spike.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Rarity came in after Twilight, looking just as upset. "It just slipped, I'm sorry Twilight!"

"Rarity, you need to watch yourself more,” Sweetie scolded her. “Just because you got your cutie mark doesn't mean you can make fun of other fillies."

"I know," Rarity hung her head. "Can I try to make it up to you, Twilight?"

The purple unicorn sniffed and nodded.

Rarity ran off to her room.

"I'm sorry about Rarity," Sweetie apologized. "She can be a little insensitive some times."

"It's alright," Spike reassured, cradling Twilight. "It’s just that Twilight's sensitive about her cutie mark."

Rarity came back a moment later with a purple necklace adorned with red jewels.

"Oh, Rarity, it's so beautiful," Twilight said, admiring the jewelry.

Rarity's chest seemed to swell at the complement. "Thanks. I made it in case I was invited to a fancy party, but I want you to have it."

Twilight took the necklace with her magic and secured it around her neck. "Rarity, it's so wonderful. Thank you so much."

"Do you forgive me for making fun of your blank flank?" The white unicorn asked, her eyes pleading.

Twilight nodded, staring at the necklace.

"I think we should go now. It's been nice talking to you," Spike said, gesturing Twilight towards the door. "You finish that piece, Sweetie Belle."

"I will, goodbye Spike."

"Goodbye! Take good care of that necklace!" Rarity called after them.

"I will, thank you again!" Twilight called back.

"Did you like Rarity?" Spike asked Twilight when they were out of earshot.

Twilight nodded, staring at her necklace. "She can be rude, but she's really nice."

Spike nodded. "The ponies here are very friendly."

Twilight pried her eyes from her necklace to Spike, a grin across her face. "I told you they would be."

Spike just rolled his eyes. "Where to next?"

Through the Everfree

The fillies were bored and worried. And when you have that combination, you start doing things to entertain yourself. Each of the fillies had their own way to "busy" themselves; Rainbow Dash flew around the room lazily while Fluttershy hid under a blanket. Pinkie was making plans for a 'You saved Equestria' party, and Twilight was studying the Elements of Harmony book. Applejack was pacing with worry and trying to block out Rarity, who was having a fit.

"Why did they have to go!?" she cried. "The Everfree is so dangerous and dirty! Something horrible is going to happen! And then who will sing me to sleep?! We're DOOMED! DOOMED I say! Who cares if the sun stays up?! Then we won’t have to go to bed! WHY? I want my sister back!"

"SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You're scaring Fluttershy."

The filly in question was now crying softly under her blanket.

"It's okay, Sugarcube," Applejack cooed gently, moving next to Fluttershy. "They'll be fine. You'll see."

"Yeah, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash interjected. "Scootaloo is the fastest flyer EVER. Nothing in that forest is going to catch her."

"An' Applebloom's a strong fighter," Applejack added.

"Sweetie Belle is good with magic," Rarity admitted.

As the other fillies comforted her, Fluttershy grew calmer and stopped crying.

She was almost smiling, but then Twilight muttered, "That's bad," and Fluttershy's eyes grew wide.

"Of course it is!" Pinkie exclaimed, before anypony could say anything else. "How am I supposed to get balloons for the party if I'm stuck here? This...Is...Tragic!"

"Huh?" Twilight looked up. "No, no, it says here that Solar Flare can create yellow mist that can change shape into anything."

All the fillies gathered around Twilight, trying to see what she was reading. "So what does that mean, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"It means that they can run into anything, and I mean ANYTHING. From evil creatures to temptations to natural disasters. It's going to be hard for them to get anywhere if Solar Flare is watching."

Fluttershy backed away and started whimpering again.

"I'm not worried!" Pinkie declared. "Pound is super strong and Pumpkin's smart. They'll be fine and get past any danger."

"I'm sure they will," Twilight agreed, but she sounded distant, like she was thinking about something.

There was a knock on the door then, and Applejack's older sister Smithy came in with Lil' Mac on her back.

"Applejack," Smithy huffed. "Glad ya stayed put. Apparently Applebloom went on an adventure and left me babysittin’ everypony."

* * *

After the cliff incident, everyone was on edge. Trying to release the tension, Scootaloo retold how she and Pound had saved everypony.

"And then, it was so awesome how Spike almost fell to his death but then Pound swooped in and caught him at the last second. Then I went and rescued Pumpkin from that cliff and everyone was saved."

"Yes, Scootaloo," Spike said, slightly annoyed. "We know; we were all there."

"Well yeah, but you weren't everywhere, so you don't know all the details," Scoot argued.

Spike rolled his eyes and was about to say something else when another rumble shook the ground and stopped the group in their tracks.

"Is that another earthquake?" Sweetie wondered.

"I don't know," Spike said slowly. He didn't like the sound of that rumble; it was more all around them than just in the ground. "We’d better keep going, though."

They kept walking, everyone tense and watching their backs. No one talked anymore. After a while without anything happening, the group started to relax just a little. Then they heard the sound again, but this time it was less a rumble, and more like an animal’s roar.

The six glanced at each other nervously, but continued onward without saying anything. The trees started to thin out a little, and sunlight peeked through the branches.

There was a lot of light up ahead, and Spike pointed it out nervously. "That's probably a clearing."

The group entered the clearing and, after their eyes had adjusted to the sudden light, they saw that the sun was beating down on a grassy clearing with flowers in it. In the middle of the clearing was a Cerberus, blocking the way to the other side. The thing looked just like a giant Rottweiler, except it had three snarling heads.

"That's...that's a Cerberus," Spike stuttered in shock.

The Cerberus seemed to sense the group at that moment. It turned and snarled at them before charging forward, spit flying from its teeth.

"Move!" Spike yelled, and the ponies ducked away from the oncoming Cerberus as quickly as they could. The massive dog skidded to a stop and looked around, trying to decide which of them to follow, then was met by a kick in the face from Apple Bloom. The one head was dazed, but the other two snarled at her and batted her aside.

"Guys," Sweetie Belle called, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Oh, no you don't!" Pound shouted, jumping on the Cerberus's back and kicking it.

The Cerberus started bucking and whirling around, trying to shake Pound off. Pound held on as long as he could with his powerful front legs, but he couldn’t last forever and was soon thrown to the ground.

"Guys!" Sweetie cried out louder.

"Now it's my turn!" Scootaloo cried before dive-bombing the beast. She flew circles around it, trying to make it dizzy. It almost worked, but the Cerberus got a lucky swing with its paw and knocked Scoot out of the sky.

Spike tried to use magic, he made the air around the Cerberus hot and the sudden temperature change stunned the giant dog for a moment, but the Cerberus just shook it off and seemed to become more irritated.

Spike looked at Apple Bloom, Pound and Scootaloo and, seeing that they were not terribly hurt but only scratched up, he suggested, "Let's charge it together."

The group nodded and they all started to run at the Cerberus before Sweetie Belle jumped in front of all of them and shouted, "Guys, stop, STOP!"

The charging ponies stopped and stared at Sweetie as she turned to the giant dog and started gently singing to it. The song seemed to calm the beast down and it let her approach. "That's a good boy," Sweetie cooed.

The Cerberus let her stroke him, and Sweetie said, "Are you tired? Did someone wake you up from a nap?"

The Cerberus whined in response.

"Why don't I sing you a lullaby, then." Sweetie Belle began gently singing to the three headed dog.

The Cerberus slowly closed its eyes and lay down.

The group moved through the clearing without any trouble, and Sweetie finally moved away from the dog when all three heads had started snoring gently.

Spike asked her, "How...why did you do that?"

"He didn't really seem angry, just annoyed," Sweetie explained. "I wanted to see if I could just get him to calm down by showing a little kindness."

* * *

"So...Spike," Pumpkin asked as the group headed deeper into the trees. "How did you use that magic back there?"

"Oh, um…" Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "That's dragon magic. I can basically make things hotter. Like with fire but through the air. Princess Luna taught me how to control it."

"Dude, that's awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Not only can you breathe fire, but you can manipulate it, too? That's like, double the awesome!"

Spike blushed slightly at the compliment. "It's not that big of a deal… I don't like to talk about it because ponies seem to blow it up into something huge. It's really simple, and not a big thing."

"And how ain't that a big thing?" Apple Bloom asked. "You can practically do magic."

"I'm sure other dragons can do it too. It's not some big special thing," Spike insisted. "I admit it's useful, but it’s nothing like unicorn magic. Look, can we just drop the topic please?"

The ponies wanted to continue questioning Spike on this newfound trivia, but the dragon seemed very stressed all of a sudden, so they didn't say anything more. The six friends moved through the darkening forest in silence, each of them lost in thought.

None of them noticed that the forest was almost getting too dark to see, or that there was a putrid odor in the air, steadily getting stronger. They didn't notice, that is, until they saw a glowing light up ahead.

"Guys," Spike said, "I see a light up ahead. Maybe we’re getting close to the castle, or another clearing."

"That's a nice theory, Spike," Pumpkin commented, "but, unless I'm mistaken, sunlight doesn't move."

The light was indeed moving. It was just two tiny specks of light, and they were now slowly circling the group. Then two more appeared, joining the ring. Then more and more until the little group was completely surrounded by lights. Then the smell became apparent; the putrid stench engulfed the band and left them all gagging in disgust.

"Is that...what Ah think it is?" Apple Bloom asked through her gagging, fear creeping into her voice.

A growl arose, and Apple Bloom’s suspicions were confirmed when out of the gloom stepped an animal made entirely out of plants.

"Timberwolves!" Sweetie Belle gasped and stumbled back.

The group was surrounded by a whole pack of timberwolves, snarling and barking at what looked to be their next meal.

Everyone backed up as far as they could and started quivering with terror. Everyone, that is, except Pound. The Pegasus bravely flew up to one of the Timberwolves, looked it squarely in the eyes...and bopped it on the nose before rolling over with laughter.

"Pound!" Spike called as the Timberwolf shook itself and stared at the laughing pony at its feet. "What are you doing? Get over here!"

"Oh guys," Pound said exasperated. "Don't you see?" Suddenly music started playing from somewhere and Pound started bouncing to the beat.

"When I was a little colt and the night would overtake," Pound sang.

"Is he...singing?" Spike asked, glancing at the wolves only a couple of yards away. They were just staring at the singing pony with as much confusion as his friends.

"The shadows and the monsters, they would always make me quake."

"Yes… yes he is," Pumpkin Cake reluctantly admitted.

"I'd hide with my dear sister from what we thought we saw. But Grandma Cake said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all!"

"Then what is?" Scootaloo asked, only mildly interested in the answer.

"She said 'Twins! You got to stand up tall. Learn to face your fears! You'll see that they can't hurt you; just laugh and make them disappear.'" Then the Pegasus walked up to a couple of Timberwolves and laughed in their face.

The two Timberwolves looked at each other before turning and disappearing into the gloom.

You can expect that everyone was surprised. They all gasped as Pound continued his song and kept laughing at the Timberwolves. The rest of the gang soon joined in and one by one the beasts disappeared.

Pound ended the song with a rapid stream of words, "And tell that big dumb Timberwolf to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you he's got another think coming so.....LAUGH!" Everyone was rolling on the ground by then, laughing will relief that that fright was over.

"How..." Spike asked through chuckles, "how did that even work?"

Pound had a dopey grin on his face and shook his head at Spike, "Oh you silly dragon, Timberwolves are attracted to fear. No fear equals no Timberwolves. And the best way to get rid of fear that I know of is to laugh." He paused for a moment. "That and baffle everyone with a random song. No one is scared when they're pleasantly confused or hear music."

"That's right! How could Ah forget such an important piece of info?" Apple Bloom said, slapping her forehead. She looked at the others’ confused faces and continued, "Not the song thing, the fact that Timberwolves can only smell two things through their own stench: Zap Apples, and fear."

"But, why did they just leave?" Sweetie asked. "Couldn't they see we were still there?"

Apple Bloom shrugged, "Ah guess if they don't smell the fear, they don't think we're prey. They're sorta dense like that."

"That makes sense," Scootaloo remarked. "I mean, prey would be afraid, and if we aren't afraid then we must not have a reason to be."

"When did you become so knowledgeable in animals?" Sweetie Belle asked her friend.

"Fluttershy, blame Fluttershy."

"Well," Spike took charge again. The remark about Fluttershy had reminded him of Twilight, and even with the five ponies with him, he was starting to miss her companionship. "We better get out of here and back home before anything else decides to attack us."

The others did not complain, and they were soon on their way again.

Fashion and Fog

As Smithy started to entertain the other fillies, Twilight continued poring over her book, searching for any info that might help Spike and the others. If she could do even the smallest thing to make sure they were okay, she would do it. But so far, there wasn't much that was useful.

"Why do you keep reading that book?"

"AHHHH!" Twilight screamed, now aware of the sudden presence of another filly right in front of her.

"Your face..." Rainbow Dash snickered, "…was hilarious!" she nearly fell over in a spasm of laughter. As it turned out, she was the one who had interrupted Twilight, which was apparently the funniest thing in the world.

"I don't like being interrupted while I’m reading," Twilight told the rude filly, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"What are you reading, anyways?" Rainbow Dash asked as she picked herself up and wiped a tear from her eye.

"The Story of Sinking Sun- well, actually, it’s Solar Flare since she changed her name, but some ponies like knowing both of the names of-"

"Really? I'm not a big fan of reading myself," Rainbow Dash admitted, interrupting Twilight’s run-on sentence. "Scoots keeps saying I should read more, but I don’t see myself using any of that stuff when I’m super famous!”

"No use for reading?" Twilight was appalled that anyone could think that, regardless of what their occupation may be. "Reading is the greatest thing in the whole world! I don't know what I would do if I couldn't read." Rainbow still looked doubtful, leaning away from the book ever so slightly.

"Well, you could probably go outside and play instead of being locked up,” she suggested. “I might try reading, maybe, if I could find an awesome book with action and stuff, but that kind of learning junk..." She gestured to the book in front of Twilight. "…that just looks boring."

"It's not!" Twilight reassured her. "No book is boring. Here, let me read a chapter or two to you so you can see how great it is."

Rainbow simply shrugged. "Alright, there's nothing better to do anyway."

Twilight started reading, and as the story progressed, both fillies started to be drawn into it, becoming distracted from fear for the welfare of their guardians.

* * *

"What is that?" Scootaloo hissed.

The group was hiding in the shadows, watching something surrounded in flames, shooting random fireballs and making the most ridiculous sounds, which seemed like something between a roar and a whine.

"I think…" Sweetie said, pausing to squint at the creature, "…it's a dragon."

"Well, why is it so upset?" Scoot demanded, simply wanting to get through this obstacle and continue their trek through the forest.

"Let's go ask it!" Pound exclaimed. He began to walk out of their hiding place before his sister dragged him back.

"Are you crazy!? We can't just walk up to a raging dragon! It'll burn us to a crisp!" she said, displeased with her brother’s rather straightforward approach.

"It won't burn Spike," Apple Bloom pointed out. All heads turned towards the dragon in question, an expectant look on each.

"What?? I can't go talk to it!" Spike exclaimed, flabbergasted that they would suggest such a thing. "I've never even seen another dragon before, much less tried to calm one down!"

"Well, it's blockin’ our path, and if we don't get it tah move, we can't continue," Apple Bloom reminded him.

Spike shook his head determinedly.

"Just go already!" said Scootaloo, pushing Spike out of cover and into full view of the other dragon.

"Who's there?" The other dragon called. Spike guessed that, from its voice, it was a girl dragon.

"Um, hi," Spike called, feeling emotions of both fear and embarrassment. "I'm Spike, and I was just wondering if you could possibly move so I can get through," he said, uncertainty abundant in his voice.

"No!" cried the dragon. "I'm too rife with devastation to move even an inch!"

Spike could see her clearly now; she was about half grown and was much bigger than Spike, covered with fiery red scales.

"Why? What's wrong?" Spike asked.

"My..." The dragon sniffled a little as she recalled the memory. "My HAT!" She exclaimed, pointing to the top of her head where there was an absence of any sort of headgear. "A gust of wind came and blew it away!"

"What!?" Scootaloo shouted, not being able to contain herself anymore as she flew over and landed next to Spike. "That's what caused all these fireballs? A HAT!?"

"That does seem a little overdramatic," Sweetie agreed, joining them.

One by one, the ponies came out of hiding and joined their companions and the mystery dragon.

"Can't she live without a hat?" Pumpkin asked. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Now ya'll are just bein' inconsiderate," Apple Bloom declared, stepping forward. "Of course her hat is important; just look at her!" She gestured to the dragon as she turned to face her fellow ponies. "She's got beautiful red scales."

"Yes, I do take pride in my scales," the dragon commented.

"And she’s got those lovely eyes!"

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" The dragon fluttered her eye lids.

"And none of it does anything without a good accessory! A good accessory can get anything looking ten times better."

"It's TRUE!" The dragon agreed.

Apple Bloom turned to her and with one quick motion whipped the bow off of the back of her head, then tied it around the dragon’s head.

"Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle gasped. "That's your special bow!"

"Ah know," Apple Bloom said, staring at the ground, "but Ah can always get another one."

"Oh, thank you so much, little pony!" The dragon cried, clapping her claws together in ecstasy. "I'll be off now with my new bow!" She then turned and flew away into the sky.

"Well, that was...strange," Spike commented after a few moments of silence.

"I think it was a nice way to solve the problem," Pound put in.

"Why do all these adventures end so sappy?" Scoot wondered.

"Let's just keep going,” Spike said, stepping forward with a sigh. “I want to try to avoid any more trouble."

Sweetie Belle stopped to talk to Apple Bloom as everyone else continued forward. "Are you sure you're going to be OK?" she asked, concern in her eyes.

"Ah really am fine, Sweetie," Apple Bloom reassured her, placing a hoof on her shoulder for a moment. "Come on, we better not get left behind."

* * *

The adventuring group moved silently through the woods. Each of them was tired of all the problems they’d been running into, becoming flustered and slowly losing confidence every minute that went by. They just wanted to get this quest over with and go home to the fillies waiting for them, but unbeknownst to them, this forest would make one more attempt to keep them from reaching their goal.

As the leaves crunched beneath their hooves, the air around them began to grow moist. Small flecks of white entered their vision and steadily began to grow larger. They didn't stop to question it, instead opting to just keep plowing ahead, hoping they could simply move past the descending mist. The white soon grew denser and thicker until no one could see past their noses and they were forced to stop.

Spike sighed, annoyed at the latest of their constant delays. "I really don't want anything to pop out of this annoying fog; the last thing we need is another distraction. Pound, Scootaloo, can you clear this?"

"Yes sir!" Pound called out from the gloom. There was a rush of wind, signifying that he had taken off.

Scootaloo was about to follow him and leap into the clear sky when something stopped her. Out of the gloom came an eerie voice, soft at first and slowly getting louder. "Scootaloo...Scootaloo."

"Who's there?" Scootaloo demanded, whirling around, trying and failing to glimpse something through the blinding mist.

"Oh, Scootaloo, aren't you tired?" The voice asked, ignoring Scootaloo's question. It was so odd, neither stallion or mare, young or old, or maybe all of them at once.

"Tired? Tired of what?" said Scootaloo, a forceful tone in her voice as curiosity got the better of her.

"Of trying too hard," it replied. The voice had become warm, like the summer sun, and made Scootaloo want to listen to everything it had to say, and to trust it. She had completely forgotten the cold tone it had carried only seconds earlier. "Helping these ponies that don't...deserve it."

"Everypony deserves help," Scootaloo protested, questioning the voice’s words. “…Don’t they?” she added uncertainly. She was slightly confused; the voice was washing over her like warm water, making her mind fuzzy.

"Sometimes," The voice admitted. "But others can help them, can't they? You don't always have to. I can take you away from here, Scootaloo, to a place where you won't be harmed by the forever day. You, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and your close friends will all be safe. You won't have to worry about anything anymore."

"But..." said Scootaloo, trying to protest. As she tried to think of what to say, she noticed that she could hear something...it was faint, as if it was being blocked out by something, almost like it was coming from behind a wall. It was a distant shouting. Her friends were probably wondering what was taking her so long.

"What if this silly quest fails?" The voice demanded, drawing back her attention. "You will put everypony you love in danger for no reason. You might not even come back from this ridiculous adventure. You don't want to leave the fillies, do you?"

Scootaloo thought about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy at home. If they didn't stabilize the day and night, it would greatly harm the two fillies under her care. If she didn't come back, they would have no one to take care of them. This warm voice was giving her a way to guarantee their safety and her friends' well-being. Should she really pass up this chance for the slim possibility that the little group of six she was with could defeat Solar Flare? Somepony who could kidnap the Princess with no trouble at all, while they could barely survive this forest?

Then she thought of all the ponies that would be harmed if she took the coward's way out. They would all have to suffer because she didn't want to risk anything. They would all have to pay because she wasn't strong enough to even try to save them. She couldn't let that happen to the ponies of Equestria. She couldn't let that happen to anypony.

"Thank you," Scootaloo called out when she had made her decision.

"You will come with me?" The voice asked, almost hopefully.

"No. Thank you for the offer, but I just can't leave all the ponies to suffer without even trying to help them." With that, Scootaloo flew up out of the fog and met Pound Cake in the clear air.

"There you are!" he exclaimed. "Where were you? Did you forget which way was up?" he asked, giving a playful nudge.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I got a little distracted down there."

"Well then, get your head out of the clouds and help me move this one."

The two Pegasi flew around and around the fog until it started to thin out and rise into the air as a regular cloud.

"What took you two so long?" Spike demanded when he could finally see the Pegasi again.

"Scoot was daydreaming," Pound informed the dragon, cracking a smile at the orange filly. "She forgot which way was up."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the ridiculous remark, which Spike had clearly taken literally, as he was staring at her like she was crazy.

"You were... at a time like..." Spike groaned and slapped his forehead. "Fine, whatever, let's just go! The castle should be right ahead; we'll get there soon."

They continued forward as a wisp of yellow smoke collected itself together and disappeared into the forest, moving in the same direction as the party of six.

The group had only walked for a couple of minutes before Scootaloo saw the top of the castle peeking over the trees ahead. “There it is!” she cried, alerting the others.

They started into a gallop, and soon everyone could see the old ruins. Spike led the charge, running towards the end of their quest as fast as he could…

…Only to screech to a halt at the edge of a cliff. Two support beams with rope attached marked where a bridge should have been hanging over the gap to help them reach the other side. But that bridge had few boards left on it; most were missing completely and a few were broken away. It was as rickety as a rotting skeleton, and gave off an eerie cackling sound every time it rocked in the wind. The thing seemed far more like an unfinished project than it did an actual bridge.

Spike took a step back as this thought crossed his mind.

“Is that thing safe to cross?” Sweetie Belle asked, eyeing the bridge suspiciously.

“That thing don’t look like it could hold an apple, let alone a pony,” Apple Bloom answered as she inspected it.

“It’s our only way across.” Spike sighed; he really didn’t want to risk the rickety bridge, but it seemed unavoidable. He took a tentative step onto a board and held his breath. The board held.

The others slowly followed Spike, each one stepping as lightly as possible, trying not to look down at the impending darkness below. The small group had gotten halfway across the chasm when there was a sharp snapping sound. Spike and the ponies behind him either stared at the wood under them or looked back to make sure the others were all right.

“What was that?” Pumpkin asked, her voice full of worry.

“Let’s hope it was nothing,” Spike said.

He shakily took another step, and another snapping sound echoed out. Followed by another, then another. Suddenly, the whole bridge tore free from the ledge they had started from, tipping the group forward.

Pound and Scootaloo instinctively took to the air as the bridge collapsed below them. The ones who could not fly simply had to hang on as the bridge swung forward and collided with the opposite cliff wall.

The impact knocked the breath out of Spike’s lungs, and he took a few seconds to collect himself as the bridge stopped swaying. “Is everyone alright?” he asked.

There was a mix of pained and annoyed grunts from below, telling Spike that the ponies hadn’t fallen off.

“Alright, I’ll start climbing and then help the rest of you up,” Spike called, slowly starting to climb the rickety boards. When he got to the cliff edge, he hoisted himself up and turned back to help the others. Pumpkin Cake was right behind him, holding onto one of the ropes with her teeth for dear life.

Spike was just reaching down to help her up when he heard an ear-piercing scream. He leaned forward to see past the peachy-coated unicorn and found that Sweetie Belle had lost her grip and was now falling into the abyss.

“NO!” Spike shouted, watching the white unicorn fall down into the black shadows below.

The Final Stand

"NOOO!" Spike screamed as he watched Sweetie Belle plummet into the dark chasm. He stared into the blackness, his body shaking with something he never felt before. Then, suddenly, he saw her again. Scootaloo flew out of the shadows, carrying a dazed Sweetie Belle in her hooves. Spike breathed a sigh of relief before turning to the two mares still on the bridge. "She made it." he told them.

"That's great Spike," Pumpkin agreed quickly, fear plaguing her voice. "Now can you help me up before me and Apple Bloom fall off too?"

Spike reached down, grabbed her hoof, and pulled the unicorn to safety. Once Spike had gotten Pumpkin and Apple Bloom onto solid ground again everyone looked to see if Sweetie was alright.

She was gasping for breath and thanking Scootaloo for saving her life.

"Come on now," The orange Pegasus told her, "I would never let my friend fall. Or anyone for that matter.” Her voice was confident but her eyes glimmered with worry, “Just don’t fall off any more cliffs.”

"Still, thank you so much." Sweetie Belle said, "That was terrifying."

"At least we got off on the right side." Apple Bloom said, "Now, where is the castle?"

"Right there," Pound said, pointing towards a massive pile of rocks.

Everyone had to take a second look to realize that the pile of rocks was actually the entrance to the castle. The structure was falling apart, the old stone was worn away by time and left some giant holes in the roof and sides. A couple rooms looked like they had caved in on themselves. It was very large and looked like it had been a grand sight in its prime.

"Well, we might as well go in." Spike said, taking a brave step forward.

* * *

“Rainbow Dash, are you listening?”

Rainbow awoke from her nap at the sharp accusation. “Hu? Oh, ya Twilight.” She reassured the unicorn. “You were talking about why Luna banished Solar Flare to the moon.”

Rainbow thought she actually heated up when the unicorn glared at her, also coming to the realization that they were NOT reading about that.

“No, Rainbow.” The purple filly huffed. “That was a long time ago. We’re on the Elements now.”

“Rainbow always falls asleep during story time, Twilight.” said a new voice to Rainbow’s left.

The blue Pegasus jumped in the air at the sudden voice, but then relaxed again when she realized it was just her sister.

“Fluttershy? When did you get here?” Rainbow stared baffled at the other Pegasus.

“She’s been here for a long time.” Another voice, this time the the right spoke out.

Rainbow turned at saw Applejack smiling at her.

“Wa, hu?” Rainbow said in confusion, she looked and saw that all the fillies and Smithy were huddled around. “When did you all get here?”

Twilight scowled at her, “How long have you been asleep? They came to listen after the first chapter.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck, looking at anything but the angry unicorn. “Sorry, guess I kind of dozed off. I’ll stay awake from now on.”

Twilight glared at her in disbelief, but continued to read her book to the ponies settled back down again. She had not so much as read two pages when she gasped in shock and dropped the book.

The sudden noise roused Dash from the drowsy state she was falling into. “What? What’s happening?”

“What’s wrong dear?” Smithy asked Twilight, who was now hurrying around the library collecting paper and quills.

“Spike forgot to read that part!” Twilight exclaimed, “I need to tell him about it.”

“About what? What part?” Applejack asked, visibly confused.

“How to activate the Elements of Harmony.”

* * *

As the group of travelers entered the crumbling castle, they looked around anxiously, searching for any signs of danger. Even in the burning daylight the shadows cast by what remained of the ceiling gave the castle a gloomy feel. The musty smell and the occasional sound of falling stone did nothing to lighten the atmosphere.

“Kind of creepy in here.” Apple Bloom commented, looking at the spiderwebs lining the walls.

“Ya.” Spike agreed, only half listening. “Wait a second.” There was a churning sensation in his stomach and a hotness that rose slowly up his neck to his mouth. He clutched his stomach for a moment, dreading the feeling whenever this happened. He knew what was coming next, but it still surprised him when he burped green fire that materialized into a scroll.

“Wow.” Scootaloo said, taking a couple of steps back. “Now that’s creepy.”

Spike ignored her and read the scroll.

“It’s from Twilight!” He declared, shocked that she would send him something.

His eyes grew wider as he continued to scan the page.

“How did you just burp a scroll from Twilight?” Pound asked, unable to keep from laughing as he asked. It was an unusual thing, but it was a funny unusual thing.

Spike simply smiled and muttered, “Good girl Twilight.” Then he said louder, “Twilight found out how to activate the Elements.”

“Really? How?” Sweetie asked.

“A spark. Just one tiny spark and it will activate all of them.” Spike grinned, “And I can do that easily.” Walking further into the castle, they entered a large dome, which wasn’t in much better condition than the rest of the castle, and had multiple parts collapsed in. The sun shone in through the broken parts of the room, seeming to make the intact parts of the room dark and the broken ones light. In the center, the Elements of Harmony sat on stone pedestals. They were jutting out from a central, larger pedestal, and the structure made Spike wonder how it hadn’t been the first thing to collapse after the place was abandoned.

Spike ran over to the Elements with the others closely following. Luckily, the pedestals weren’t very high, the ones that were being attainable by climbing the fallen pieces of the structure. The elements were easily retrieved one apiece by each pony.

"What do you do now?" Pumpkin asked Spike, looking at the stones once they were set in a pentagon, just like in the book.

“I need to create a spark to activate them.” The dragon told her.

"Maybe we should give you some room." Pumpkin told him, ushering everypony else out of the castle.

Spike stared at the five stones before him, willing his flame to come in a tiny spark. The task proved to be more difficult than Spike had originally thought, but he dismissed this and concentrated harder. As he tried to summon the spark, the light in the room seemed to become brighter, and kept on doing so until the entire room was empty of shadows, the openings letting in light at every direction. Suddenly, there was a deafening boom and a flash of pure light, and the form of Solar Flare appeared in the middle of a storm of flames, blocking every possible exit with it.

“YOU TEST MY PATIENCE, DRAGON!” she boomed, the entire room seeming to quake at her voice. “IF YOU WILL NOT GIVE UP, THEN I WILL TAKE MATTERS INTO MY OWN HOOVES!” Her horn began to glow, and though it was starting to get hot even for Spike, he jumped into the heart of the storm just as it came in on itself.

Spike opened his eyes as the heat departed and looked around. He was in another part of the ruins, higher up, with tree branches jutting through the wall. Solar Flare was standing at the far end of the room with the Elements laying in a circle around her.

“Give me the Elements back!” Spike cried at the white alicorn.

“Why, of course I’ll give them back to you after I just took them away.” Solar Flare mocked.

“If you won’t give them back, then I’ll TAKE them back.” Spike declared as he jumped at Solar Flare, shooting a ball of green fire in in front of him.

Solar Flare was surprised by his sudden attack but quickly shot a searing hot white ball to defend. The two fireballs collided and made a blinding flash of light followed by a dark smoke that engulfed the room. Before it could cloud his vision Spike saw the Elements shatter due to the force of the shock wave.

Spike sputtered for breath as the smoke surrounded him. His eyes tried to penetrate the thick clouds but all he could see was black. The chilling sound of Solar Flare laughing filled his ears.

“Foolish dragon, the Elements have been destroyed, don’t you see that there is no need for this trivial fighting.” Her voice bounced off the walls, making locating the source difficult. “You and I should join together.”

“Why would I join you?” Spike shot another fireball into the smoke, hoping to dispense it a little.

“Because I can help you.” She paused to let those words sink in.

Spike took the bait, “How can you help me?”

“Aren’t you tired?” She said, her voice becoming singsong like. “You’re always looked down upon, discriminated. If you joined me then you could the power to have everyone respect you. No one would run away from you or make fun of you or reject you anymore.”

Spike is not proud to admit he considered it. He had always been left out of things and shunned because he wasn’t a pony. He longed to be accepted and appreciated for once in his life. Why shouldn’t he take this opportunity to achieve power and acceptance?

Then he remembered the gut wrenching feeling he had felt when he saw Sweetie Belle fall off that cliff. The need to save her and the horror that he couldn’t. He never wanted to feel that again, that helplessness. Why had he felt that though? He had never really felt a need to protect anyone but Twilight. He thought that was just a sibling like connection. Why did he feel the same way about Sweetie Belle? Was he in love with her? The thought made his heart drop. No, he felt the same way about everyone in the group. He never wanted to see any of them hurt but he wanted to stay with them, not disconnect himself. If it wasn’t a family like bond and it wasn’t love then what was this feeling?

The dragon hear a faint cry at that moment, the sound of voices. They steadily grew louder and Spike could soon distinguish each individual voice of the five ponies who had come on this quest with him. As he heard each voice something inside him clicked. No, it wasn’t a click. The feeling was more like a.......spark!

“Sorry, Solar Flare,” Spike called out. “but I’d never join you.” He dispersed a wave of heat that pushed back all of the smoke and also knocked Solar Flare backwards.

“Spike, are you alright?” Apple Bloom asked as the ponies entered the room.

“Yes, and I know how to defeat Solar Flare.”

“FOOLS!” The alicorn cried. “The Elements are destroyed, there is no way to stop me!”

“They aren’t.” Spike declared. “The spirits of the Elements of Harmony are here.”

“What?” Solar Flare scoffed.

“What?” The five ponies asked.

Suddenly the shattered remains of the Elements began to glow and flew over to the group of six, circling them.

“Pumpkin Cake,” Spike started, gesturing to the orange unicorn, “who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty.”

Shards of rock wrapped in an orange glow started to revolve around Pumpkin.

“Sweetie Belle,” Spike continued, feeling more confident than he ever had in his life. “who tamed the Cerberus with her sweet words, represents the spirit of Kindness.”

White glowing rocks surrounded Sweetie Belle.

“Pound Cake, who helped us escape the Timberwolves when he laughed in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter.”

The rocks the circled him had a brown glow.

“Apple Bloom, who helped the distraught dragon, represents the spirit of Generosity.”

Red rocked circled around the Earth Pony.

“And finally, Scootaloo, who...” Spike stopped and looked at the Pegasus. “What did you do exactly?”

“I got tempted in that fog.” Scootaloo told him. “I didn’t do it though.”

Spike nodded, “Doing that, Scootaloo represents the spirit of Loyalty!”

Thankfully purple encased stones did surround her.

“The spirits of these five ponies got us through all the challenges we had to face to get here.” Spike finally finished.

“You still don’t have the sixth element though.” Solar Flare stammered, “The spark, it didn’t work.”

“When I heard your voices I realized something and the Spark alighted inside of me.” Spike said to the ponies surrounding him. “I realized how much I cared for all of you, wanted to stay with you. I realized that you all.....are my friends!”

A flash of light and another stone appeared directly above Spike’s head.

“When the spark ignited inside of me,” It was now Spike’s turn to taunt. “It revealed the six Element, the Element of....” He hesitated and stared at the stone. Part of him wanted to say faith, for it fit the pattern of the Elements. Another part of him though, it knew that it was something those made up. Friendship? No, that didn’t make sense. Something that friendship was. “The six Element is the Element of Magic!”

Suddenly all the elements lifted everyone up condensed around their necks and around Spike’s neck. Everything grew fuzzy for a moment and Spike could only barely make out a rainbow of color.

When the world returned to normal all Spike’s friends were dazed and each had an individual necklace.

“My bow!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. He bow now sat neatly on her head as if it had never left.

“Apple Bloom that looks amazing!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, staring at the Earth Pony.

“It ain’t that amazing.” Apple Bloom said, confused by the sudden complement.

“No, no.” Sweetie Belle explained. “Not your bow, your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark.”

Apple Bloom’s necklace had a red hammer in the spot a pendent would be.

“So does yours.” Apple Bloom pointed at Sweetie’s neck, where a white bell sat.

“All of ours do.” Pumpkin stated, staring at the orange cake shape.

Spike stared up at his head. A crown that looked like it would belong to a king sat there, a green fireball as the pendent.

The room was then shrouded in a silvery glow and then Princess Luna materialized.

“Princess!” Spike said, everyone kneeled before her royalty as Spike ran to her. Luna looked hurt, there were bruises all over her body and her night sky mane was a mess. “What happened to you?”

“I’m fine.” Luna waved off Spike’s concerns. “Solar Flare imprisoned me in a place that couldn’t be opened unless she was defeated.” The Princess’s eyes wandered over to the other alicorn in the room. Solar Flare had lost all her armor and her blazing hair. She was considerably smaller than before and a plane white. Luna walked over to her and helped her up. “You need to end this here.” Luna said, “The time has come for us to rule together, sister.”

Everyone in the room held their breath as the white alicorn considered her options. Finally she broke down in tears and hugged Princess Luna, “I’m so sorry sister!” She cried.

“It’s alright,” Luna soothed her, “we can start new and you will be welcomed back into the palace. As for you six,” She turned towards her student and his friends. “you have all shown that you are brave and noble and I think you are all worthy to be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Did you know that this would happen all along? Is this why you wanted me to make friends?” Spike asked his mentor.

“Partly,” Luna confirmed. “I knew that my sister would come today and that we needed to find the Elements of Harmony. I did not know that you would be able to complete the task or what type of friends you would make but I never doubted that you would prevail.”

“Thank you Princess.” Spike said blushing a little at the praise.

“Do you know what we should do now?” Pound said excitedly.

Everyone stared at him in Confusion.

“Go and see the fillies!”

THE END

Author's Note

OK, I'll now admit I'm shipping SweetieSpike. I swear half of it wasn't on purpose though.

This now concludes this story about ponies. Shows over. Go home.

Just kidding! I'm actually planning on writing a LOT more stories in this universe so if you would like to read more like this (but better) follow me. Or look at my page once and awhile for updates.

If any of you are a pony artist and would be interested in drawing the cover page for any of my upcoming stories PM me. Also if you want to be involved in the writing process in any way, (From editing, to help story planning, revising, to having ideas of your own you simply want me to hear) PM me.

And last but not least thanks to Gilimmar and InkTapper for editing the last couple of chapters and this one!

Cake, Pie and Adventure Time.

The last thing they had to check was the food, which the list stated was kept in the bakery at the center of town. When they reached their destination, Spike was surprised to find that the Bakery was a house made entirely out of gingerbread and held together with frosting.

"Why is there a sweet shop...made out of sweets?" Spike stared at the store in front of him.

"This is Sugarcube Corner," Twilight informed him. "The Cake twins run the bakery; they’re in charge of getting the food."

Spike nodded as he opened the door to the bakery. He was immediately greeted by a mess of pink.

It was that pink filly that Spike had seen when he first came to Ponyville. She did the same thing as their first encounter, jumping into the air while gasping before running off.

Spike stared after the filly as she disappeared into the bakery's kitchen before deciding to follow her. He entered the kitchen and saw the filly trying to get a light orange unicorn's attention.

"Pinkie," the unicorn told the filly, "I can't deal with you right now, I need to finish this cake."

"But Pumpkin!" the filly, Pinkie, argued. "The official from Canterlot is here."

"You've already told me that, Pinkie." The unicorn sighed.

"No," The filly pouted, "I mean he's here here." She grabbed the unicorn and pulled her with unreal strength in the direction of Spike.

The unicorn finally noticed Spike and stared at him for a few seconds, the situation sinking in. Spike took this as an opportunity to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Spike and this is Twilight. As the filly told you, I'm here from Canterlot to check on the preparations for the celebration." Spike looked at the pink filly. "Although I don't know how she knew that."

Pumpkin looked at Pinkie, then back at Spike. "You didn't tell her?" she asked.

Spike shook his head.

"Pinkie, how did you know Spike was from Canterlot?"

"Duh, why else would a dragon and a unicorn come to Ponyville in a carriage?" The filly said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

The unicorn just rolled her eyes and turned back to Spike, "I'm sorry, Spike. I'm Pumpkin Cake and this is Pinkie Pie. She can be........odd, sometimes."

"It's OK." Spike reassured her, "I just need to check on how the food is coming."

"It's coming along great," a new voice said. Everyone turned and saw a cream Pegasus with a chocolate colored mane and tail. "I'm Pound Cake, and me and my sis run this bakery."

Spike noticed something odd about Twilight when Pound entered the room; her eyes grew wide and her legs didn't look like they could support her anymore.

Spike leaned down to his assistant. "Is everything all right?"

"He's so cute," she breathed.

Spike stared at her, then at Pound. This was strange behavior for Twilight. Spike decided to play along and whispered to her, "Maybe you should tell him."

Twilight's purple cheeks turned a little pink and she whispered, "N-n-no, I shouldn't do that."

Spike shrugged and turned back to the twins, who were fussing over a cake recipe.

The twins turned back to the duo and Pound looked at Twilight. "That's a cute necklace you got there," he commented.

The little unicorn blushed deeper. "Thank you, a filly named Rarity gave it to me."

Pumpkin nodded. "That was very kind of her."

"So Spike," Pound asked the dragon, "has this little devil thrown you a party yet?" He affectionately noogied Pinkie Pie.

Spike barely noticed the three balloons on her flank before she gasped and dashed off.

Pound smiled at Spike. "I guess that's a ‘no’. You're in for a treat; Pinkie throws great parties."

"Yeah, great." Pumpkin rolled her eyes. "As long as she doesn't destroy the bakery, they're great."

"That was only like, one time."

"Try five, and every time it happened you were somehow involved." Pumpkin glared at her brother.

Pound rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, maybe I do get too wild sometimes."

Twilight giggled.

Pumpkin rolled her eyes before turning back to Spike. "Do you want to see some of the food?"

"Yes, that's what we're here for."

***

They thoroughly checked all of the food that was prepared for the celebration. Twilight stared with googley eyes at Pound the whole time, Spike watching her in amusement, until their visit ended, and they were finally on their way to where they were staying, the library.

"Finally," Spike sighed. "After all this running around, I just want to relax and find a way to stop this coming disaster."

They walked into the darkened library. The lack of lights wasn't surprising, as they hadn't been in there to turn them on yet. Spike got an uneasy feeling, though, and turned on the lights quickly. He saw pink.

"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing around Spike. "Were you surprised? Probably not, because Pound told you that I was throwing you a party."

"I was still very surprised," Spike reassured her, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

"That's GREAT! I invited everypony in Ponyville so you can get to know them all!"

"That's great," Spike said unenthusiastically. "I would love to stay and party, but I'm really tired and I want to be well-rested so I don't fall asleep during the celebration."

The filly’s face fell a little, but she quickly perked up again and said, "Okie Dokie Lokie, we can still have the party and Twilight can tell us about you!" She bounded off to the purple unicorn, who was looking around the room in shock. She was very fond of books, and partying in a library seemed to appall her.

Spike rolled his eyes and went upstairs to his room. He would study about Sinking Sun and maybe find a way to put a stop to the upcoming disaster. How could he let himself get so distracted? It was already dark out; he had no time to lose.

***

It was the next day, and dawn was drawing close. All the ponies were gathered at Sweet Apple Acres to watch the Princess raise the sun. Spike had a horrible feeling as he waited with the crowd for Princess Luna. There was something off, and though he suspected it to be simple paranoia, he couldn't shake the foreboding sense of dread that was only apparent to himself.

The music played as everypony watched the curtains draw back. What greeted them was an absence of anything except the stage. For a moment, they all mumbled among themselves when a bright, near-blinding light came out of nowhere. Everypony shielded their eyes and when they looked again, there was a white Alicorn with blazing hair and burning eyes dressed in battle armor standing in front of them.

Spike felt like he had swallowed a particularly sharp diamond as he gazed at the mare in front of him, nervousness making him scratch at his throat so hard that he had trouble speaking.

"AH-HAHAHA!“ She laughed, her very voice seeming to be on fire as she spoke.

Luna’s Pegasus guards opened their wings and flew at the intruder, but the alicorn threw a fireball at them, singeing their wings and forcing them to the ground.

"Who are you, and what have you done with our Princess?!" Scootaloo called from the crowd, being the first to voice the question going through everypony’s minds.

" Your Princess is gone, but am I no longer worthy of that title after being banished? Do none of you recognize my face?" the Alicorn asked, contempt and anger hanging in the very air around her as she spoke.

"I know who you are," Spike spoke out, having finally regained his voice. With all eyes locked onto him, he continued without a moment’s hesitation. "You're Sinking Sun."

The Alicorn snorted, "No pony knows? Only a dragon has heard of me? Disgraceful." She locked eyes with Spike. "After a thousand years I have grown tired of that name, so from now on, you will refer to me as SOLAR FLARE. Now, then. With that matter dealt with, I shall complete my duty as your new leader…to make the day last for all of eternity! For the night is a useless waste of time. I hope you've enjoyed your moon, for you will never see it again!" With those final words, she disappeared in a blinding flash.

Spike ran out of the orchard with Twilight in tow. If he was right, he explained to her as they ran, and he found the Elements of Harmony right away, he could fix this and return things to how they should have been. As he reached the library, he started rummaging through the books with Twilight’s help.

Without any warning whatsoever, a mass of blue popped up in front of his face, and a voice shouted with almost as much rage as Solar Flare had possessed. "I knew it! I knew you were a spy! That's how you know about Solar Flare!" it yelled.

"Rainbow Dash," another voice sighed as the filly was pulled away from Spike's face, "how many times do I have to tell you that Spike isn't a spy?" Scootaloo pulled the young filly back, forcibly sitting her on her haunches.

"That don't change the fact that he knows somethin','' Applebloom pointed out. As Spike faced his uninvited visitors, he found that everypony he had met to plan for the now-ruined celebration had followed him to the library, including the six foals. They looked at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation of what was happening.

Spike took a deep breath and started talking. "That pony was one of the olden time pony sisters who was corrupted into a being named Sinking Sun- well, actually, I guess it‘s Solar Flare now, but that‘s beside the point. The only way to stop her is if we find the Elements of Harmony, but I don't know what they are or where to find them- much less how to use them or even what they do!"

" ‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide’," Pound Cake read a book title, having wandered off to the side while Spike was explaining the situation.

Spike shoved him out of the way and took the book from his hooves, astonished that he hadn't found it first. "Where did you find that?" He demanded.

"It was under E!" Pound told him in a slightly sing-song voice, trying (and failing miserably) to hide his smile.

"What?" Spike said, "I can’t believe I didn’t- never mind."<(The Elements of Harmony would go under “E”, so that was the right way to look. If the title of a book starts with “the”, they’re organized by the next word. That’s why Twilight said “Oh… right” in the actual episode. She forgot to look in the right place.)> He promptly started flipping through the book, locating the page that retained the knowledge they required to defeat the white Alicorn. "It says here that there are five known elements- Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness and Laughter. The sixth and most evasive element is yet to be discovered. The last known location of their existence was in an ancient castle in the Everfree Forest."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Rainbow Dash called, zooming towards the door.

"Hold on, you," Scootaloo said, nabbing her tail in her teeth and pulling her back. "This is no place for little fillies; you stay here." She motioned for Rainbow Dash to sit, making it clear she didn't want her to come with them.

"Yes, let's stay here," Fluttershy agreed, visibly shaking in her hooves.

"Adventure time!" cried Pinkie Pie, jumping for joy.

"We can't go," Rarity huffed, "that forest is disgusting."

"Spike, it could be dangerous, you might need help!" Twilight told her mentor.

Spike hesitated for a moment- was it really such a good idea to take any fillies into that forest in the first place? In the end, he decided the most logical option was not to. "No, Twilight. That’s no place for fillies; you stay here."

"But...." Twilight started, but then stopped and nodded glumly, resigning herself to her stationary fate.

"I'm coming though, right, Scootaloo?" Rainbow half declared, half asked, obviously not wanting to truly go against her sister’s wishes.

"No, you aren't," Scootaloo said firmly. "You have to stay here and look after Fluttershy."

Rainbow Dash looked at the yellow filly and sighed. "Oh, fine! I'll stay," she said, plopping down next to Fluttershy and crossing her hooves.

"Good,” Scootaloo replied. “Now that we have that settled, let’s go." She took off low to the ground, with the rest of the adults following her.

"Smithy will come by in a little bit and keep you all company," Applebloom told them, following into the brighter-than-ever daylight.

"Be safe," the fillies called after their guardians, worry in their voices.

* * *

The group approached the entrance to the Everfree Forest, noticing that it was unnaturally dark considering the bright, blazing sun hanging in the sky.

"Listen, guys," Spike addressed the ponies with him. "You don't need to do this. I can go and find the elements by myself. You should be with the fillies."

"No way, we are definitely coming!" Scootaloo declared, not faltering for a second.

"You can't get rid of us that easily," Pumpkin told the dragon.

"Let's go, then!" said Pound, flying into the forest with the rest of the group behind him.

Spike sighed, following the group into the thick brush.

They walked a little ways until Spike broke the silence. "So...why doesn't anyone come in here?"

"It's unnatural in here," Sweetie explained. "The clouds move on their own and the animals eat each other."

"Nopony’s quite sure why it's like this, though,” Pound added in a deep, creepy voice, “because they say whoever enters... never.... comes ....OUT!" he jumped up in a dramatic pose.

"Pound, don't do that," his sister scolded him, rolling her eyes.

Pound smiled innocently, asking, "Do what?"

Pumpkin sighed as they continued walking until they reached a cliff. Beneath it, an unseen cloud of semi-transparent mist seeped into the cliff as they stopped near it.

Spike sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll-” Suddenly, the ground started rumbling, making the whole cliff edge break off, sending all that couldn't fly hurtling downwards. The Pegasi caught as many ponies as they could, but Pumpkin was stuck hanging onto a branch below, while Spike just barely managed to dig his claws into the edge before tumbling off.

"I'm coming!" Pumpkin called, sliding down and grabbing his claw with one hoof and a branch in the other. They held that pose for a couple of seconds before Pumpkin’s eyes flicked behind the dragon for a second before settling on him. With a moment’s hesitation, she said with a completely straight face, "Let go."

"What? Are you crazy?" Spike yelled at her, unsure of just what this pony was thinking.

"Pound will catch you," Pumpkin reassured Spike.

"No, dragons are way heavier than ponies. He wouldn't be able to hold me for a second!" Spike was practically screaming. Was Pumpkin Cake really so clueless?

"Yes, he will," Pumpkin insisted. "Listen, I'm telling you the complete truth here. Let go and Pound will catch you."

Spike stared at her for a couple of seconds, then sighed, shut his eyes tightly, and let go. He screamed until he couldn't feel himself fall anymore. Spike opened his eyes and found that Pound was holding him by his arms. Pound looked strained, but he was able to set Spike down gently.

Pumpkin got a ride down from Scootaloo and when she landed Spike asked her, "How did he do that?"

"I've always been really strong," Pound shrugged. "You were super heavy though, what do you eat?"

"Gems," Spike said bluntly, taking a moment to breathe. He felt extremely lucky and grateful to have had these ponies follow him now. He pondered this as they continued into the forest, wondering what had made them decide to follow him into danger, but also wondering how that cliff face could suddenly give out.