(In this chapter, all mane six characters are the original versions of themselves.)
*****
"Come on girls we're almost home!" Twilight Sparkle Yelled back to the rest of her friends as they galloped through the Everfree forest. She could see faint buildings in the distance to indicate they were almost out. Rainbow Dash was flying above them at the same speed the rest were running at.
It was still the darkness of night and the moon was high in the sky, giving the six the light required to see where they were going. It was a rather uneventful run through the forest. No creatures tried to harm them, nor did they get lost. The group was basically worrying about a copy of themselves running amuck, tainting their names and reputations that they weren't even concerned with the Everfree Forest's terrors.
They finally exited the forest and were in a grassy clearing. They all stopped and plopped down to the ground laying on their belly. They were all gasping for air, trying to regain their energy. However after being awake for so long, not eating and going through an undoubtedly large amount of stress in the past day took their toll.
"We can... Sleep here... Can't go on... Anymore!" Said Rarity who was still looking like a living pile of dirt that walked.
"Fer once ah agree with Rarity." Said Applejack. "I'm tired n' hungry, we can't go after our copies if we're all tipsy-con-korted." She said as she lay on the grass still.
"I vote for rest." Said Fluttershy sounding rather exhausted.
"Whatever, I missed my scheduled weather duty yesterday morning anyway. Who cares about the next one?" Said Rainbow.
Even Pinkie wasn't energetic anymore. The depletion of sugar from her body showed and she was just lying there with her eyes closed half asleep.
"It's just a little ways to town girls, we can sleep in my house until tomorrow." Said Twilight.
"Dang it Twi! Just rest here! Ah can't take another step!" Applejack yelled rather uncontrollably at Twilight. Twilight's ears went down and she shrunk where she was sitting. Applejack closed her eyes and sighed, "Sorry Twi. It's just been a rough couple o' days. Now rest up for tomorrow." She rolled to her side, the grass was her bed tonight.
Twilight decided every pony else was right and rolled over on her back with closed eyes. She opened them and saw the blackness of space above her with Luna's stars faintly shining light years away. She has stargazed and studied the universe before, but never actually slept beneath them nor just appreciated their sheer beauty for joy. She looked over to her friends who were already sleeping due to them being completely wiped out. She looked back up and saw a single streaking shooting star fly across the black sky. Twilight shook her head in a daze and remembered she had a big day ahead of her, and closed her eyes, drifting off to a welcoming unconscious state.
*****
Fluttershy awoke first, to see all her friends still peacefully sleeping. Rainbow Dash was the only one there who was snoring quite audibly, but the rest were too tired to take notice and slept right through it. Fluttershy's stomach growled and reminded her that much like her friends, she was in desperate need of nourishment. She looked back towards the Everfree Forest and saw some shrubs just at the edge of it. She slowly walked over towards them with a yawn and rubbed her eyes.
*****
The sun was slowly getting higher and higher in the sky while the others kept sleeping. It must have been almost noon until the rest were waking up one by one. A big red blob caught their attention sitting on the grass. They all looked over and saw the blob was in fact a big pile of wild berries sitting there. Fluttershy winked at them. "Have some breakfast." Was all she said.
It took a moment, but all of them walked over and started gracefully eating. The graceful eating turned into full fledged gluttony as their hunger got the best of them. They were all stuffing their faces except for Rarity who kept eating the berries one at a time, not cramming a hoof full in her mouth.
Eventually they all stopped and blushed a bit, noticing they acted like pigs.
"Our job sill isn't over." Said Rarity who waved a hoof.
"So what do we have to do in order to beat these nasty meany-weenie bad guys?" Pinkie spoke up.
"Well we'll need to harness the Elements of Harmony like we did with Nightmare Moon and Discord!" Twilight said. "So we should get going. Oh and thanks Fluttershy for getting berries. They were delicious." All the friends gave their thanks and trotted towards town. They could see smoke rising up from some buildings and the entire place looked like a complete disaster. "Oh no. I think we're too little too late!"
The trot turned into a full gallop when Twilight put out a hoof which stopped them all. She didn't say a word but instead pointed to a piece of paper stapled to a tree. Twilight looked up in horror with her friends following suit. "I can't believe it." Twilight said.
"We're... We're!..." Was all Rainbow Dash could say.
"Criminal scum!" Applejack finished.
Up on the tree trunk was a picture of all six of them, currently known as Equestria's worst fugitives. They all stood there in silence, jaws agape. According to every pony around, Twilight and company were tyrants. Rarity spoke up to read the wanted poster out loud. "Six ponies by the names of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie are hereby wanted for the devastation caused to commercial and private property. However the six fugitives pulled off the biggest heist in Equestrian history when the Ponyville bank was robbed, with the six successfully getting away with a substantial amount of bits then destroying the bank shortly after. Princess Celestia is giving the award of ten-thousand bits for the capture of each fugitive." She stopped reading and fell to her haunches.
"Princess Celestia? My mentor! My proactives! My future! It's all gone!" Twilight was tearing up and fell over to her side.
Applejack walked over to comfort Twilight and took her hat off, holding it against her with a hoof. "Guess it's up to us to capture these here disharmonic elements." She said.
"Well now how do we get the Elements of Harmony? We can't exactly walk through Ponyville to get to your library Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said floating a few feet off the ground.
Twilight sat up and just stared at the poster. Her tears went away and her face was soon replaced by anger. She stood up and turned to her friends. "I've had enough of this, even if it has been just a day since they've awakened!" She angrily said making Fluttershy hide behind Rarity. "They singlehoofedly destroyed our lives and our homes! I'm not sure about you, but I want to turn them into stone slowly enough so they realize they'll be encased for all eternity!" She slammed her hoof on the ground.
"Well, what's the plan then?" Asked Applejack.
"Hide?" Was all Fluttershy contributed.
"You know that's a good idea." Said Rarity. "We need a spot temporarily just to get our bearings and a plan together."
"Yeah, it's a miracle no pony found us sleeping out here in the open last night." Said Applejack.
They all scanned the land around them looking for a hidden spot they could use for a short time home. Rainbow just shrugged and pointed towards the Everfree forest. "No pony is crazy enough to go in there... Well, except us. We should find a spot in there maybe?"
"You know, we don't have many options." Said Twilight. They all trudged over to the forest again, and entered the same place where they left. They were all walking slowly, scanning their surroundings for any type of hidden shelter. Just a little while later they were deeper in the forest, but could still make out the town in the distance. Pinkie bounced up and down while pointing excitedly to a massive shrub that had an entrance to go inside.
"I don't know Pinkie, that looks occupied." Said Twilight unconvincingly. The party pony bounced over to the bush and hopped right in. They all cringed and noticed Pinkie wasn't making any noise and she hadn't come out.
"Pinkie!" Dash flew in there at full speed. A couple moments later she poked her head out and gave a smile, then waved the rest of them to come inside. They all walked inside carefully and noticed it was hollowed out and seemed to be perfect for hiding in. A little bit of sunlight was making its way inside. The ground was surprisingly bare, it was just flat dirt with a few pebbles here and there but also had three gemstones tucked into the branches.
"I wonder if there's any chance this is some ponies or something's home?" Applejack asked herself out loud eying the gems.
Rainbow Dash was busy sealing up the entrance by placing branches of trees and leaves in front of their little hiding spot. "I can't stay cooped up for too long in here." She said. "My wings get very sore and itchy if I don't fly. I honestly don't know how you do it Fluttershy." The yellow pegasus gave a little blush.
"Alright lets see." Twilight started as her five friends gathered around her. "One: The Elements of Disharmony has pretty much made us the most infamous ponies to date." She turned her head to look the other way. "Two: We need our Elements of Harmony for a chance to set things right." She looked back again. "Three: All the while Princess Celestia has to know it wasn't us, but imposters. What's the point of turning them into stone again if our reputations remain tainted?" They all nodded in agreement. "Four: We must remain undetected." She sat there for a while before speaking again. "This is quite the conundrum girls."
The branches and leaves Rainbow just recently placed at the entrance were getting thrown off to the side from something on the outer region. They could all hear mumbling and became as silent as space. They were sick to their stomachs. "Oh no, some pony saw us!" Twilight thought to herself.
"What's all this doing here?" They heard a familiar voice come from the entrance. Just then a purple and green figure walked in holding a few gemstones. He dropped them and walked backwards slowly, unsure of what to make of this situation. Spike stammered and tripped over his own feet and landed on his back.
"Stay back! Especially you Twilight!" Spike got up angrily and was ready to run out of the shrub, but Twilight surrounded him with her magic and levitated him back in the place. Spike started screaming, "Help! Some pony help!" But a cyan hoof covered his muffled screams.
"Spike, we're not fugitives!" Twilight said to him.
Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from Spike's mouth. "Yeah right like I'm going to believe that!" Spike said with a growl.
"Spike, it's the truth!" Applejack spoke up.
"You're all crazy! Let me go!" Spike struggled, but Twilight's magic was too strong for him to escape.
"Whatever you heard or saw us do, well... It wasn't us!" Twilight said trying to convince her assistant.
Spike stopped struggling and burst into tears which caused the ponies to retract a bit, thrown off by the sudden burst of emotion from the baby dragon. They were all silent and looked at each other, then Spike looked up at Twilight with watery eyes. "Why don't you love me anymore Twilight? What did I do?"
Twilight looked at Spike with concern. "Spike of course I love you. You're family to me, and I love you with all my heart." She took a hoof and wiped away some of Spike's tears. "Why on earth would you think differently?" She released her magical hold against him and he landed on the ground softly.
"Why? Well you said it yourself Twi." He sat there slumped forward.
"Listen to me Spike, that was not me."
Spike looked up, looking more confused than sad now. "How could it not be you? You were right there when you said it!"
"Remember the quest to find the Element's of Disharmony we all went on Spike?" Spike shook his head slowly. "Well, we found them. However we awoke them, and-"
"We awoke them?" Rainbow blurted out. She then cowered when everyone looked at her. "Sorry."
Everyone returned their attention to Twilight. "Anyways, they're powerful beyond words. They duplicated themselves to look like us, and now our identities are tainted."
Spike looked up to the ceiling and put a hand on his chin and rubbed it. "You know Twilight, that kind of makes sense. I had a feeling something was wrong with you... Well not you, but, well you know what I mean." He stood up and turned around to face the rest of them. "So all of you that basically destroyed a good chunk of Ponyville last night, wasn't you?" They all nodded. Spike put a hand on top of his head and ran it down his spikes. "Oh thank Celestia. I thought you all just lost your mind." His tears stopped and looked normal again.
"So you see Spike, this is us. We've just been framed for a huge crime." Twilight said, then she perked up just thinking about something. "I've got a plan!"
The rest all leaned forward. "What is it Twilight?" Asked Rarity.
Twilight looked down at Spike and grinned. She then looked at the rest of her friends. "Spike can bring the Elements of Harmony to us here! That way we don't have to risk getting caught if we went to get it ourselves!" They all murmured in agreement and Twilight turned towards Spike. "What do you say number one assistant? Care to help?"
Spike pumped out his chest and gave a salute. "You can always count on me Twi!" He was ready to walk out the shrub, but then he stopped and turned around. "Um Twilight, actually, all of you."
"What is it Spike?" Twilight asked.
"Maybe we should come up with a secret word. You know, just so I know it's you and not the other you's." He explained.
"Well if it makes you feel secure partner, ah think that's a swell idea." Applejack interjected.
"Cotton Candy Swirl Cherry Chunga Chimney Thinking!" Pinkie said enthusiastically, jumping just low enough to not hit the ceiling of the shrub.
"I don't know Pinkie." Dash said. "No really, I don't know. I already forgot what you said."
"How about 'element'?" Rarity said.
Twilight put a hoof to her chin then shook her head. "No, the word should be something not used frequently. It should be out of context."
"How about, 'pancake'?" Spike suggested.
They all nodded until Pinkie said something. "Ooo! I love pancakes! Especially with sugar!" They all just stood there looking at Pinkie.
"Yes, pancake is our secret word." Twilight said. Spike nodded then left then came back again. "Is there anything else you want while I'm gone?" Spike asked.
"Actually a little food would be great for the future." Twilight said.
"No problem. Pancake, don't forget!" He pointed at them then walked out from the shrub towards town.
Rainbow Dash was lying on the dirt floor holding her head up with a hoof. "Well, now what?" She asked looking a little bored. "Does Spike even know what book our elements are held in?"
"I think so." Replied Twilight. "He must. He saw it when you all were playing keep away with it." She shot a glare towards Fluttershy who blushed again. She waved a hoof in the air. "but that's all ancient history and Discord's doing." She said trying her best not to make her friends feel guilty about that ordeal.
Rarity lifted her mane with a hoof to inspect it. It was all over the place and covered in caked up mud and dirt. She was still a big mess. Rarity sighed to herself. "You know, we better get somewhere soon. I don't think I can hold on much longer being icky like this." She stared at the ground then back up at Twilight. "I should have had Spike fetch me a bucket of water and soap."
"Honestly Rarity, we don't care. Especially at a time like this." Rainbow Dash retorted. "Now, I think I'll take a nap waiting for Spike. I had a rough sleep last night."
Twilight created a temporary hole in the shrub by opening one with her hoof and peered out towards town. She saw Spike in the distance still walking towards town. "hmm, maybe I should have told Spike to run." She put her hoof back down causing the shrub to fill in the hole immediately.
*****
Spike walked in the shrub when the sun was just starting to set. "Sorry I took so long guys. I just couldn't find the book considering the shape of our home Twi."
Twilight looked up with smaller pupils than normal "What?! What happened to our tree house Spike?" She asked sounding a little panicky.
"It's just that evil Twilight pretty much emptied all the shelves onto the floor." He was about to hand Twilight the book but then put it behind his back. He waved a finger in front of him. "Uh uh uh! Not until you say it."
"It?" Twilight asked herself before realizing what Spike meant. "oh right!" She looked at him and winked with a small smile. "Pancake." Spike gave the book to Twilight and she put it on the ground in front of her. "Finally to fight fire with fire!" She said happily and unlocked the snaps to the book. Every pony face turned to horror as they saw the elements were not in the book! There was only a piece of ripped paper with a short sentence on it. 'The Elements of Harmony are now ours!' Twilight looked straight up and snapped the book closed with authority. She then face hoofed herself and clinched her eyes shut. "Of course. They have our memory and knowledge. They knew we were going after them!"
Spike put a basket down on the dirt floor. Inside was assorted types of food. However no pony had an appetite at the moment.
"Well, now what?" Applejack wondered.
Just then all of their ears perked up. "What the?" Rainbow poked her head outside and came back in quickly. "TIME TO GO!" She screamed panicky. The distant noises they heard were getting louder. Twilight opened the shrub again and turned completely pale.
In the distance was a mob of ponies. They were all angry and were storming towards their hideout. Twilight quickly closed the hole up. "The jig is up! It seems like the entire town is coming at us!" Out in the distance she could hear that they followed Spike, knowing he would lead them towards the framed fugitives. "Spike they followed you!" Twilight turned towards her assistant. "You didn't..."
"Of course not Twi! I wouldn't purposely bring them here!" Spike said rather loud.
"Whatever, we're goners now!" Said Rainbow Dash.
"No we aren't! Good thing I haven't used a substantial amount of magic for a while! Hang on!" Her horn started glowing a bright white light. She groaned and started sweating. "Come on, come on!" She was grimacing just saying that.
The mob of ponies was now just a few trees away from raiding their hiding spot. Just then a brown colored pony with a sand timer cutie mark poked his head in the shrub. "We got you now!" He said as he reached in. Just then a huge flash of light exploded from within the shrub, causing most of the mob to fly backwards from a shockwave of magic. The shrub itself blew apart into pieces and all that remained was a small crater where the seven of them used to be. The mob got up all confused and looked around the surrounding area, but couldn't find any of them.
All seven of them reappeared out in the middle of no where, all fizzled and burnt. Twilight immediately fell onto her stomach and was knocked out from sheer energy loss. The rest of them shook hard enough to get the burn remnants off their bodies and saw Twilight just lying there.
"What is Equestria did she do?" Applejack asked.
"Being a unicorn myself, I think I know." Rarity said. "She exerted so much magical energy, her body is now physically drained." She looked around. "No wonder she's out cold, she teleported a total of six ponies and one dragon way out here!" She pointed a hoof outwards. The rest looked around. They were in the middle of a desert with rocky mountains around the landscape and no town in sight.
"Twilight teleported us all the way out here?! Geez!" Rainbow said taking to the air. "She was out for a few minutes just teleporting us away from that Manticore, I can't imagine this."
"Well, we best be going then. At least out here there's no threat of any pony searching for us. At least ah hope." Applejack said. She flung Twilight's unconscious body over her back and could feel her inhaling and exhaling, a good sign.
"Umm, which way to the nearest... Whatever it is we're looking for?" Fluttershy quietly asked.
Spike looked up skywards and noticed the sun was starting to set behind the distant mountains. "We should find some shelter. I read that it gets really cold out here at night time." He said.
Rainbow Dash just shook her head towards him. "Nah you got it wrong Spike," she closed her eyes contently. "It gets chillier when you go higher, not night time in the desert."
*****
"Guys, I'm cold." Rainbow shivered. Spike just rolled his eyes. He was sitting beside the still unconscious Twilight Sparkle, clearly worried about her. Rainbow saw this and walked over and sat beside Spike. "Don't worry Spike. Twilight's a tough pony, she just needs all the rest she can get."
Spike looked up at the cyan pegasus then looked down at the ground. "I know Rainbow. It's just that Twilight is like my big sister. She's the only family I've got."
Just then Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were in sight. They were carrying a small amount of wood with them and they dropped it in a pile when they reached Rainbow, Spike and Twilight. "Spike, will you do the honor?" Rarity asked.
"With pleasure my lady." Spike stood up and gave a proper bow and walked over to the wood. He blew a green flame onto the wood and it instantly lit up and provided a nice warm sensation that comforted them all. He walked over towards Twilight again but turned around quickly when he belched more fire into the sky.
"Whoa nelly Spike! You don't need to do that anymore." Applejack said.
When the fire dissipated a rolled up scroll appeared in the air and fell straight into Spike's hands. The rest of them looked at each other then back at Spike. "What does it say Spike?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Is it an invitation to a party?" Pinkie bounced up.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is." Rainbow said sarcastically. "It's obviously from the princess. What does it say?"
"Oh no." Spike said and turned around to the rest of his friends. He put a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat and began reciting the letter.
Dear Spike,
As you have probably heard, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have single-hoofidly became criminals overnight. I'm not sure what could have sparked this senselessness, but it would appear they have no other intentions besides spreading chaos and havoc across Equestria. As painful as this is, I have decided Twilight is no longer my student as she is hereby expelled from my teachings. Your services however are still needed, and you will be assigned to assist a new pupil eventually. Please come to Canterlot Castle A.S.A.P. without Twilight or her friends.
- Princess Celestia
"That's all it says." Spike rolled the scroll back up and placed it on the ground. He looked over at Twilight and tears formed in his eyes again. "I don't want to leave Twilight." He turned back towards his concerned looking friends. "I don't want to leave any of you either."
"Oh Spike. We can head to Canterlot and meet with the princess ourselves and tell our side of the story." Rarity waved a hoof.
"Now there you go on Rarity without a' thinkin'! We'll be imprisoned before we even get past the entrance to the city there!" Applejack said rather annoyed. "After all we're..." She shuddered for a second and gulped. "Criminals."
"Oh um. You're right." Rarity said and looked down.
"Imprisoned? I couldn't stand that. I think I'd go crazy with all the other scary ponies around me!" Fluttershy started freaking out.
Spike burped out another scroll and held his stomach from it aching. He reached down and picked up the newest scroll. He cleared his throat again and read it.
Dear Spike,
Please disregard the previous message. Stay away from Canterlot for your own safety! Twilight and her friends are here and my royal guards are having a very hard time containing them! Some of the guards have turned stance and are siding with Twilight. Just make sure you stay away! stay a!!/]/>,,./..
The letters ink seemed to trail off into nothing more than windy scribbles. "Well that throws a wrench in our monkey." Spike said.
It was quiet until Fluttershy spoke very softly. "Maybe not." She hid behind her mane after saying those words.
"What was that?" Asked Rainbow.
Fluttershy stood up and spoke clearly. "Maybe it doesn't throw that wrench at a monkey."
"How do you figure that?" Spike wondered out loud.
Fluttershy turned to face him. "Perhaps the Princess will realize what happened and will listen to us if she notices there's two sets of us. It's definitely better for her to see, because at this point she wouldn't believe we were telling the truth."
Applejack rubbed her chin. "You know, you do have a point there Fluttershy." She said nodding her head.
"One thing is really bad about this though." Rarity said. "If the evil Twilight is getting the royal guards to work for her like the princess said, won't she send them out to look for us?"
"I never thought of that!" Rainbow flew and hovered a few feet off the ground looking around nervously.
"So it wasn't a party invitation?" Pinkie asked.
All of them looked at each other again then at Pinkie. "Ah don't think you understand the seriousness of this situation we're in Pinkie." Applejack shook her head.
"Another question is, how are we going to even get to the castle?" Rarity brought up another valid point. "Without Twilight's powerful magical abilities we wouldn't stand a chance against all those guards."
"I just hope Twilight gets better. We need to all pull together as a team if we are to meet with the princess... Even if our chances are slim to nothing." Rainbow stated.
"Let's just sleep on it and figure this out tomorrow mornin'." Applejack said, seemingly taking an alpha role of the group. Without speaking a word, the rest of them silently agreed and got into comfortable positions for the horrible sleep they were bound to have.