If, Wherever We Go

What if one day, things just got real?

Hi, I'm Spike.  Everyone in Equestria knows me:  Brave, handsome, heart-throb to every chick in a ten-mile radius (even if they don't admit it) and when they don't want me for my good looks they want me for being a cute widdle baby dragon.  Hey, I'm not picky.  If they like me, they like me.  Anyway, I spent most of my young life as apprentice to Twilight Sparkle.  As you probably know by now, Twilight Sparkle is the most magical and talented unicorn in the land, a student under the care of Princess Celestia herself!

You can bet that Twi hangs with an elite crowd:

Rarity, the--sigh--beautiful.

Fluttershy, the gentle.

Rainbow Dash, the awesome.

Pinkie Pie, the hilarious.

and Applejack, the strong.

You might've heard of these ponies.  By now, everyone knows about their battle against Nightmare Moon.  What I'm gonna tell you is something that happened awhile after that, where the ponies truly became legends.  What did they do?  Oh, not much... just saved all of Equestria!

What happened was this:  one day Twilight was busy studying as usual when there was a knock on the door.  So she said "Come in!" and I opened the door for our guest.  Right off the bat, I knew something was weird:  our guest was wearing this gray cloak.  All I could make out was that she--I somehow knew it was a she--was big, and her hooves were a deep blue.  But even though I couldn't make out much, I got the feeling I had seen her before.

Our mysterious guest quickly came in, and asked for Twilight Sparkle.

So my main unicorn said "That's me."

And our mysterious guest said "Ummm... You're the leader of the ponies that defeated Nightmare Moon and rediscovered the Elements of Harmony, right?"

"I-I wouldn't say I was their leader... but I was there, yes."

And then our guest threw off her cloak, and we gasped in awe:  It was Princess Luna!  Just as Twilight was about to bow, Luna held up a hoof and said "We have no time for formalities!  Do you know the whereabouts of the five who were with you on that journey?"

"Of course.  They all live here in Ponyville!"

"Could I trouble you to gather them here, for me?"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!  But what's going on?  Where's Princess Celestia?"

"That's... that's what I need to tell you all about.  Please, go find them!  Hurry!"

And so, after only a moment's hesitation, Twilight set out to gather her friends.  As she was running over Ponyville, the camera pulled away and showed a wide, panoramic shot of the landscape in the dazzling morning light.  And, over this wondrous visage, a logo appeared.

The logo said:

My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic

Storyline by NoGiantRobots1983

based on characters created by Hasbro

Then all that shimmered away, and in its place appeared the following:

Chapter 1

~ If, Wherever We Go ~

And all the while, the theme song played, and kept playing as the camera zoomed back in on Twilight Sparkle, showing her meeting her friends in and around town, and eventually leading them all back to her library, where they all bowed before Luna.

Errr... Sorry about that.  I have no idea what I just wrote down, but for some reason every time I try to mark it out and write something else, I end up writing that all over again.  A weird sort of magic was released during this time and I guess some of it is still around.

Anyway, getting back to what really happened:

"Now," Twilight said, "You were going to tell us about Princess Celestia?"

Luna made one of those 'I'm thinking about something' looks, and then said "Gather around me, ponies.  You too, dragon."

We looked at each other, and I guess we were all asking the same thing, but we did it.  Then Luna's horn glowed, and a magical bubble came from it and enveloped us all.  Each of the individual ponies shined a dark blue luminescence for just a second, then came back to themselves.  I think I shined too, but nobody told me so.

I looked at Twilight and said "Yeah, that was pretty weird, wasn't it?"

Twilight looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

So I asked, "What?"

"Spike... I didn't say anything."  Then Twilight looked at Applejack and said "Oh come on, magic actually makes sense if you give it a chance!"

And the two stared at each other for a moment, at first looking a little miffed, and then confused.  Especially when they noticed everyone else was just staring at them, wondering what the stare-down was about.  Applejack was the first to say "Sorry ya'll had to hear that."

Rainbow Dash asked "Hear what?  All I got was you babbling about not liking magic, then you and Twilight started looking at each other!"

Then Fluttershy said "I heard Twilight giving her a lecture!"

"Ladies!"  Luna gently tapped the floor to get their attention.  "This is entirely my fault.  Thanks to me, you're all telepaths.  I was stupid, I should've asked first.  Oh..." Luna lay flat and covered her shaking head.  "The most important mission of your life and you've already done something stupid.  Stupid, stupid Luna!"

"You're not stupid!"  Twilight tried to reason with her.  "But I do want to know why you thought we needed telepathy, and what this has to do with Princess Celestia?"

Luna looked up at Twilight, then at the inquisitive faces of the other ponies and myself.  Finally, Luna sat up, cleared her throat and said "I suppose now that I've done it, I better use it for something.  Try to clear your thoughts.  I'll project my memories directly into you."

I concentrated, hard.  It wasn't easy, and I don't know how well the pony gang managed.  I'm guessing Twilight at least managed to get everything I got.

What I got was an image of Canterlot.  Luna was in a library.  I recognized it as the place where Twilight used to go to study back when we lived there.  Just seeing it made me a little homesick.  But anyway, Luna was trying to catch up on a thousand years of progress, when suddenly there was a bunch of screams.

Luna ran outside, and saw one of the students sinking!  Two girls were trying to pull her out, but it was doing no good.  And what was she sinking in?  Some sort of pool of black water.  Luna ran to her and bit down on her mane, got a grip and with the other two ponies, pulled with all her might.  She even tried to cast a levitate spell!

Finally, they got the pony girl free.  But it wasn't to last:  The girl's hind legs were completely soaked in this black, paint-like gunk, dripping off her body.  No, wait!  It wasn't dripping... the filly was melting!  Ohmigosh!  And as she melted, the black drops went back to their source, and then the black pool just suddenly expanded until it was under her again!  Luna--and I--had to hear that poor pony's anguished screams until finally, they stopped, and she was gone.

The pool just stayed where it was, not expanding or doing anything.  The two girls both started crying.  One tried to reach in, but Luna stopped her.

Then Luna said "You two keep watch, I'm gonna go tell Princess Celestia!" and she opened her wings and flew for the palace.  But while flying, she saw the true terror:

The pools weren't just in one place, they were all over!  Some had appeared on the tops of terraces and were dripping down below, getting in the hair of innocent ponies who proceeded to melt into black ooze and become their own pond.  She saw a guard run away in pure fright, while an innocent shoe salespony tried desperately to pull an old stallion out of a pit.  The story was no different inside the courtyard, where a pillar had lost its foundation and fallen on top of some would-be rescuers.

Watching it all from a high balcony was Princess Celestia, a worried look on her face.  Luna came to her side, but she didn't need to say anything.

Celestia promised "Together, we can beat this."

And so, the two combined their unicorn powers, sending all the magic they had at the pools.  A beam of light and dark combined hit one, and then another, causing them both to shrink!  The celestial sisters piled on the attack, and closed one pool!  Yes!  Victory was within our reach!

Then suddenly Celestia cried out.  Luna turned, and saw that of all ponies, Princess Celestia herself had been caught!  How did this happen?  All we could guess was that another pool had sprung up right below.  Whatever the cause, Luna grabbed Celestia's mane, tried to pull her out, tried to use the same levitating trick she had used with the young pony from earlier, but it was no good.  She was spent from battle, and Celestia was far heavier.

I had to cut myself off from the telepathy.  Seeing Celestia melting like that, all that anguish and terror... I couldn't stand it!  I ran to the next room, crying out "No no!  Celestia can't be gone!  She can't be!  She can't be!"

I don't know if anypony even heard me.  Fluttershy had fainted, Pinkie Pie was twitching like her brain had suddenly frozen, Twilight was crying, Rainbow Dash had just frozen with a blank expression on her face, and Rarity was hyperventilating.  About the only Pony that seemed to still have her nerves together was Applejack, and only because she wanted to march to Canterlot and kick the ptooie out of these black pools.  I think she was just trying to act gung-ho so she wouldn't have a nervous breakdown like the rest of us.

Luna stamped the floor twice, hard, and yelled out "Celestia's not gone!"

I poked my head back in the room.  Everypony perked up.

"I know she's not.  Because you see... just like I now have a psychic connection to all of you, I have one to my sister.  Only ours is deeper... it existed the moment we were born.  And even now, in this very room, I can hear Celestia's voice.  She's calling my name, even as we speak.  And she calls for you too, Twilight Sparkle.  If you stand really close, you can hear it.  Come."

Twilight bucked up, stopped crying and got closer to Luna than she had ever dared, to the point where they were nearly nuzzling each other.  When that wasn't enough, Luna pulled her closer still.  Twilight's pupils dilated.  "Yes... I hear it!  She's calling my name!  Now she's saying... 'Canterlot'."  Twilight pulled away and all of the sudden made the most dead-serious I'm-gonna-do-this face in history.  "All right.  If Celestia needs me, I'm there for her!"

"That makes two of us!"  Rainbow Dash saluted.  So did everyone else.  So did I, even.

Luna gleefully tapped the floor, and squealed "Yes!  I knew I could count on you!  All right everypony, let's go save Celestia!"  Then she looked around, and said "Let's sneak out the back way.  I don't like being seen in public.  Some of the ponies still think of me as Nightmare Moon..."

Fluttershy nuzzled Luna and said "We understand."

Luna put her cloak back on, and Twilight pointed out the back door which we practically never use.  Twilight herself was the last to come out though, because being as organized as she is, she had remembered to get something very important:  her Element of Harmony.

Rainbow Dash sorta smiled, and said "Oh yeah, I guess we might need those things.  Hey, I'll right back!"

Rainbow dashed off, flying at top speed straight to her cloud-house where, upon stepping into her own private chamber she was surprised by a little voice that said "HEY RAINBOW DASH!"

Rainbow looked around for a minute then, scruffling the filly's hair, said "Hey Scoots."

Scootaloo chuckled and said "Hey, I learned a new trick!  Wanna see it?"

"Don't have time."  And Rainbow Dash found and put on her Element of Harmony.  "I've got somewhere to be.  Actually, Scoots, I might be gone awhile.  You see, ummm... the Wonderbolts are holding auditions up in Canterlot."

"Really?"

"Yeah!  And this may finally be my chance.  But they've got a lot of applicants!"

"How many?"

"A million!"

"A million?"

"Mm-hm!  So I gotta move fast, or I'll be at the very end of the line!  But hey, you keep practicing and trying to find your cutie mark!  I wanna see it when I get back!  Promise?"

"Promise!"

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo saluted each other, and then Rainbow Dash flew off.

Applejack had also made a quick trip home.  Applejack doesn't keep very many things so she had no trouble finding her Element of Harmony.  She also had no trouble finding Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh or Granny Smith.  She gathered them all together, and said "Granny, siblings, I might be gone for awhile."

"It's something serious, isn't it?"  Apple Bloom asked.  She couldn't help but keep glancing at the Element of Harmony.

"Yes, yes it is, young'un.  Some kind of situation sprang up in Canterlot, and I've been called on to help deal with it.  Now, I don't know how long it's gonna take.  I may be back tomorrow night, or I may be gone for a long time."

"But we need you around the farm!"  Big Macintosh complained.  "They got soldiers and unicorns up there, what would they need you for?"

"And who's gonna do all the apple buckin' while yer gone?"

Applejack fought to keep her mouth closed.  She desperately wanted to blurt out the entire situation, but through telepathy Luna kept telling her that would be a bad idea.  So all Applejack could manage was "Sorry, kin.  Look, if you can't manage the farm by yourselves, you can use my part of the earnings to hire some help."

"But Applejack--!"

"Not another word about it!  My mind's made up!  I'm going!  But don't worry, I'll be back sometime!" and then she ran off.  As they watched her go, Apple Bloom's eyes watered.

Rarity and Fluttershy left together because they were going in the same direction.  First, Fluttershy accompanied Rarity to her clothing shop.  Sweetie Belle was there all alone, and fortunately she hadn't destroyed anything yet.  Rarity walked to her room and stopped for only a minute to admire her secret photo of me (suddenly my editor scruffled my head and told me I should stick to the truth from now on) then found her Element of Harmony, and when Sweetie Belle saw it she said "That's one sweet jewel you've got!"

"Why, thank you.  Sweetie, your big sister is going to be away from town for awhile.  There's a..." Rarity thought up a lie, "...fashion show I want to attend!  It's going to last a long time, maybe even a whole month!"

Sweetie Belle made one of those I-don't-believe-that-for-a-minute faces.   She, like Apple Bloom, kept looking at her big sister's Element of Harmony.  But, despite whatever suspicion she must've had, she only smiled and said "Okay!  But... you want me to run the store while you're gone?"

"NO!  Oh, I mean, no thank you, Sweetie Belle.  Just hang up a sign that says 'Closed'.  If anypony asks, tell them I'm on vacation."

Fluttershy then said "Oh, what a coincidence, I'm going away for awhile too.  And I need somepony to watch my animals while I'm gone!  Sweetie Belle, could you?  That is, if you don't mind..."

"You want me to do it?"

"Well, why not?"

"But last time I tried to take care of your animals, we nearly got turned to stone!"

"Well, we all have our bad days.  Just be sure to feed and water them and everything will be all right."

"Sure, I guess I could do that."

"All right, I'll go to my place and get things ready for you.  The key is under the welcome mat.  Goodbye, Sweetie Belle!"

"Bye Fluttershy!  Bye big sis!"

As the door closed behind them, Rarity asked "You think I'm going to have a shop when I get back?"

"You think I'm going to have any animals?"

Pinkie Pie had it easier than all of them:  she just ran in her house, dashed up the stairs got her element and told Mr and Mrs. Cake "Hey I'm gonna be away for awhile some super-exciting top-secret stuff is going down in Canterlot and I'm so totally not supposed to talk about it but anyway they need ME and my Element of Harmony because well super top-secret I might not be back for awhile but you'll understand I mean I hope right byeeeee!" and then she dashed off.

I imagine it took the Cakes awhile to figure out what had happened.

And then, the eight of us finally set off for Canterlot!

Finally, we're going to see these black pools for ourselves!  We'll also discover a long-buried family secret!  It's all here in Chapter 2, "The Glass Book."  We'll see ya there!

"They shoulda let me go too!  I mighta got my Cutie Mark!"

• Apple Bloom