//------------------------------//
// Discovery 
// Story: Happiness 
// by Protector of Light 
//------------------------------//

	Color, color, returns and darkness fades, I find myself standing by the van at the side of the road. I don’t remember getting the car to the side, nor what happened to the other vehicle. I look up at everyone. Everyone is staring. “Is everyone alright?” my voice asks, as I am still in shock and cannot. There is a chorus of yeses. But why is everybody staring? Snap out of it Rachel. I’m not good at pretending to be you. They’re on to me. Oh. Oh! Alright then, wake up! ”What’s everybody staring at?” Good one. That’s exactly what I was thinking. I know. Wake up, dammit! I return to my own thoughts as they continue to stare. “Really, what’s wrong?”
Teresa is the one that speaks. "I think that you used your magic to stop our car from careening off that cliff after the car that was ramming us!”
Huh? “What do you mean? I can’t remember what happened after we started to fall. I think that adrenaline took over.”
“We started to fall off of the cliff,” Farah says.
Penelope takes over. “Then, everything was all weird and we were surrounded by a sparkly aura, like surrounds things that unicorns are using their magic on back in Equestria! And then whoosh! Just like that we were here on the side of the road, safe and sound!”
“That’s odd, but I guess it’s a really good thing that it happened. It saved our lives more than likely. It’s unlikely that anybody could survive a fall down a cliff like that,” I state.
“Why were they trying to knock us off of the road anyway?” asks Rhyan.
I pause, trying to remember exactly what happened. “If it wasn’t my imagination, it was ‘Mr. Roy’ behind the wheel.” There is a chorus of gasps. “Was anybody else awake to see what the person in the car looked like?”
“I was,” says Spike. “But I wasn’t paying much attention. All I noticed was that the driver had grey hair and a goatee.”
“That sounds like it could be Mr. Roy,” says Teresa. “But there’s really no way to tell for sure. We should call for help, nevertheless, but probably just put in an anonymous tip. We don’t have time to stick around here, so long as the van is in running condition.”
“Can someone else drive?” I ask timidly.
“Of course, Sugarcube. That had to scare the living daylights out of you,” Jackie says kindly. “It’s almost my turn to drive anyway, so what could it hurt for me to take a turn at the wheel?”
Teresa shakes her head. “Actually, Jackie, I was thinking that it would be a good idea for Rachel to be the primary driver. She did save us by quick reflexes, after all.”
“That ain’t fair! I’m gonna take a turn at driving, and that’s all there is to it!”
“Thank you, Jackie. I appreciate it more than you could know.” I pause. “And thanks for standing up for me. You’re a great friend.”
“Ah, shucks Sugarcube. It was nothin’.”
“I agree with Jackie,” Spike says. “It isn’t fair for someone to have to do all of the driving. I mean, what if Rachel was to get too tired to pay attention and there wasn’t some miraculous use of sudden magic to save us?” Farah nods in agreement.
“It wouldn’t be very nice, either. We all need to do our fair share!” Penelope adds.
“Yeah, Teresa. I know that your egghead ideas have gotten us out of trouble before, but this time, I think that we’re all in agreement that this one doesn’t make much sense in practice. We can’t afford to make stops, and Rachel’s got to sleep sometime,” Rhyan says, making the motion nearly unanimous.
Teresa sighs. “Alright. You guys are right. Let’s just keep going along with the original plan. I’m just worried is all. And we aren’t even sure whether the car will still run or not!” Just then, the engine roars to life.
“You were saying?” asks Jackie, with a tinge of sarcasm.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
“Thank you, everybody, for understanding,” I say as we proceed into the vehicle, Spike making a quick phone call to the authorities to take care of the car that careened off of the cliff.
Then once again, just like that, our journey continues.

Once there was a girl
A girl that hated the world
Until she escaped the pain
Of the fire and the rain.
One day her heart gained wings
Her soul took to flight
That’s how she escaped the pain
Of the fire and the rain.

The wheels just keep on turning. Rolling, rolling along. Our journey has progressed with little interruption and is continuing on smoothly to this very moment. We’ve kept to the turns schedule and we have reached the boarder of Alaska. I haven’t had the courage to ask how we are going to find the Elements once we reach Anchorage, but I guess that someone has to and it may as well be me. Just not at this very moment. Teresa is driving now, and I wouldn’t want to distract her. In a few minutes, there is a rest stop where we will switch places. Little can be said as it is. Teresa is very easily distracted, and she and I are the only ones currently awake. I wonder if she holds a grudge over the discussion after the accident. Surely not, though. That wouldn’t be like Twilight Sparkle. But would it be like Teresa Simmons? I’m not entirely sure.
I’m just getting more and more used to the idea that I was once a pony and will be one once again very soon. Little old me, Rachel O’Conner, being somepony glamorous and sophisticated as Rarity. I guess that it’s always been my dream that I could be her. I wonder what it would be like to be her again. Will it be the same? Will it be different? What do you think, Misery? I think whatever you think, Rachel. And you think that it will be different. But different isn’t necessarily bad, is it? If things aren’t different, then I won’t be there for you, and you said yourself that you didn’t want that. Very true. Then again, what you say always is true to some extent. If I feel like I’m worthless, that’s what you tell me. If I think that things are going to be different, I guess that you tell me that too. Pretty much. 
Well, here we are. Time for everybody to switch places. What fun. At least it gets us out of the car, if just for a moment. Someone goes to get food each time we are at a rest stop, even if that food just comes from a vending machine.
No time like the present, may as well ask. “Teresa…” I begin.
She sighs. “What is it Rachel?”
“Oh, I’m not trying to bother you or anything. I just was wondering how we are going to find the Elements once we get there.”
She sighs again. “I don’t know. That’s what’s bothering me, not you. I’m sorry about my plan back at the side of the road. I was being unreasonable. I know that you can’t handle everything. I just thought that maybe you could protect us.” She pauses. “I’m scared. What if we don’t find the Elements in time, what if they don’t work? What would we do?” She hasn’t looked at me yet; she just stares off into the distance.
“I guess that there’s two of us, then. I was worried that I was the only one who thought that far ahead. Everyone else seems down, but I figured everyone’s just tired. Nobody is made to travel this far in this amount of time.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry that I’ve pushed everyone this hard. But I just don’t know what else to do. There isn’t time to sit back and plan. And I hate it when I don’t have a plan. I’m so used to my lists, following them to a tee. I’m so used to order in this life and now it’s gone. All of it taken away by Mr. Roy. If he had never attacked me, I never would have realized that we had all been ponies. I would be back at home on summer break rather than going to the ends of the earth in search of magical objects from a world far different from ours. I wish that we had never left Equestria. I would never have missed a normal life if I hadn’t been given one. You and Penelope have such a different view of this world that any of the rest of us. You guys didn’t have the perfect life that I had. You had actual experiences. I guess I’m just spoiled and over privileged in this life.”
“I hate that you have to do this. I’m sorry that we ever had to stop being ponies. I wish for all of our sakes that Trixie would have just come to us for forgiveness rather to casting a spell that changed all of our lives forever. But she did. You can’t feel sorry for how your life here was any more than I can. You aren’t any worse for the life that you had here, if anything it will be for the better. At least we are on the right track to go back to Equestria. I’m not really sure any more what had me so reluctant to go.”
“You were confused. It’s our fault, really. We should have let you know from the start that we weren’t offering something that wasn’t real. For all you knew, we could end up destroying ourselves. For that matter, I guess that we still could. How can we really know?”
“We just have to try and find out for ourselves. What will be will be. We cannot predict the future, nor can we erase the past. We best just keep moving forward; turning back could destroy us all. Who knows how long we even have to return?”
“There are so many ‘what if’s that I can hardly stand it. I wish things were just simple, no mind games. I just want everything to be back to normal.”
“As do I.”
Teresa smiles and heads back to the van. Reluctantly, I and the rest migrate back to the vehicle as well. Joy oh joy, more traveling.

What's a little argument between friends?
Is it the end of the world?
Or do we just pretend
That it’s nothing?
It is something
But not something so great
As to be irreversible.
So friends go on together.

Hey Rachel? I hear Misery speak quietly into my mind. It wakes me from a deep slumber. What is it?
I don’t think that the Elements of Harmony are in Anchorage. It just doesn’t seem right. How could nobody notice jewelry in the middle of a city, no matter is it is relatively small. It might even be more noticeable in a smaller area. Then again, we’ve never been to Alaska to even know what size the city is. I understand your concern. I’ve been wondering that too. Well, I guess that since I’ve been wondering, you have as well, but details, details. I guess that we just have to find where they are.
Just then, my attention is drawn away from the car. There is a strange feeling in my head. There is a faint haze of color and I see a glowing blue aura pointing in a direction. It feels like my jewel locating spell. Everyone was awake but me in the first place, so I can voice my concerns without being a bother. “Excuse me everyone,” I say. “Sorry to disturb the silence, but I have to say something. I think that my magic is working again.”	
“Huh? What do you mean?” asks Penelope.
“What I mean is, am I the only one who can see a blue path when you look out the window to the left?” Everybody looks. 
“I see something,” Jackie says. “Couldn’t tell you what, but I do see something.”
“Look everybody!” exclaims Farah, pointing.
Spike, the driver, pulls to the side of the road so that he can look. “Yeah, I do see something.”
“What were you thinking about when this happened?” asks Teresa.
“Well,” I begin. “I was thinking about how it doesn’t really make sense for the Elements of Harmony to be in a city. Somebody would surely have found them. I was just thinking that we’d have to find them, no matter where they were, when my head got all fuzzy and my vision glowed. Then I looked out the window and saw this. It feels like my jewel locating spell.”
“Who votes that we follow it?” asks Penelope.
“I do,” Rhyan says. “I’m up for a little adventure after all of this riding.”
“What else could we do? She’s right that the Elements might not even be in Anchorage. We’re close by, and that fancy stone of Tracy’s can’t be accurate to a precise location on such a big map,” Jackie says.
“She has a point.” Farah says in her usual, quiet way. Spike and I both nod.
“Well, I guess we’re all in agreement then. We follow that path,” Teresa says, seeming excited for once. The path follows a road so far, thank goodness, if it is a narrow one. So we set off, our journey continuing.
The blue path takes us off of the main highway onto a gravel drive way. We follow it towards the sun as it sets below the horizon. The trail is easier to see in the darkness, but the terrain is more difficult to traverse. The foliage grows denser as the road comes to an end. The path still goes on, through up the mountain, towards a cave.
“Do we still follow it?” Farah asks.
“It doesn’t go much further. Just up to that cave,” I respond.
“Let’s vote,” Teresa suggests.
“I’m in,” says Rhyan.
“Oooooh! So am I. Sounds fun!” Penelope inputs.
“I can’t see the harm,” Jackie replies.
“What else can we do at this point?” Spike asks.
“I’m game,” Farah squeaks.
I simply nod.
Teresa nods as well. “We should wait until morning, though, for safety’s sake. Let’s go back to the van and get some rest.”
Reluctantly, we do just that.

Just one step away from happiness,
Just one night away from rest.
Your battle may come to a close,
But is it for the best?
You were always the happy one,
Near or far,
Here or there.
But not truly.
You were a fake
You were a fraud.
You gave what they would take.
Remember that there is Equestria,
Somewhere far beyond.
Your life will be at peace.
Your mind at ease
You’ll never leave.

I cannot sleep. I realize that the Elements of Harmony may well be just over that hill, yet I am reluctant to reach them if they are. I was finally happy in this life. I thought that it was all that I needed. But now here’s Equestria, my one escape, within reach. Why am I reluctant? Why am I afraid? I do not know. I will be happy there. So will everyone else. And if my friends are happy, then I am happy too. Right? Only you can know, Rachel. Only you can decide. Your happiness is where you want it. But you need to use the Elements no matter what. It’s not only you at stake. I know, Misery, it’s just that I’m so tired. I’m so lost. All I’ve known is pain. When all you have ever had is pain, you don’t want to leave it behind. That’s not healthy.
I know, I know. I guess I just… I just…

It’s morning. I dreamt of Discord. And Mr. Roy. But they were one and the same. And they were coming to get me, to play with me, to manipulate my weakened mind. But I was stronger than them, I knew their game. I fought and I won.
Anyway, everyone else is waking up now. I guess we just get up there to that cave now. But will we do when we get there? What if the Elements aren’t there and it’s just a bunch of diamonds or something?  What then?
Ugh, I need to stop worrying so much. We’ll find out when we get there. I’m turning into Twilight, what with all of the worrying and obsessing. 
We don’t have anything to use for breakfast. We had planned to stop at one more rest stop last night before we started following the blue trail. Stomachs are growling, people are mildly complaining, but there is hope. We can only hope that the Elements are up there in that cave, and that keeps us going.
“Well,” I say. “Shall we?”
Everyone nods. We proceed to follow the blue path up a mountain trail. Luckily, it isn’t very far to the cave. We reach the cave.
Inside is the case in which the Elements were kept by Princess Celestia. Teresa walks up to the case and opens it. Luckily, unlike in our battle with Discord, the Elements are inside, safe and sound. We stare in wonder for a moment, before Twilight picks up the case and carefully picks it up. “We need to get back to civilization before we use these” Teresa says, logically. “We don’t want to be completely lost, and if my theory’s correct, Sweet Apple Acres is in Ponyville, and that would be an easy place to start.”
Everybody looks at each other. The others all look so weary, so ready to be back home. “If you say so, Teresa,” Jackie says.
And so, reluctantly, we pile back into the van and set off back to Sweet Apple Acres.