"Hello? Anyone here?" Ness asks as he opens the door to the building.
"Who are you? How'd you get here?" A blue skinned girl with rainbow hair responds.
"Rainbow Dash, where are your manners? That's not how we treat our guests." A familiar white skinned girl responds, turning towards the door, "Sorry about that, how are you? My names Rarity." She points to the others in the room. "This is Fluttershy, that's Applejack, you've already met Rainbow Dash and that's-"
"Hi! My names Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie exclaims in her usual flamboyant manner.
"Yes, thank you Pinkie Pie. And Sunset should be around somewhere. I think she stepped out to go look for Twilight." Rarity says finishing her introductions.
"Hello, my name is Ness, and this might be awkward but I'm here with Twilight."
"Twilight!" The girls exclaim as one as Ness steps aside and Twilight enters the room behind him.
"Hey girls!" Twilight replies as she pushes her glasses up her face.
"Why are you wearing pajamas?" Pinkie asks excitedly. "Are you here for a sleepover?! I'll go get some sleeping bags!"
"I'm not here for a sleepover." She looks down at her pajamas. "I woke up here dressed like this." Twilight points to Ness. "Ness here says that Midnight is somewhere around here and that I have to face her once and for all."
"Sounds like fun! Can we go with you?!"
"I don't know. I don't want you five to get hurt."
"Uh, Twilight? Can I talk to you, alone?"
"Sure Ness."
The two go to a corner to talk privately. "Twilight, they're not real." Ness whispers. "They're illusions, created by your mind. Even if they get hurt here, it won't affect your friends in the real world. If they all really want to come with us, and if you want to them come along, then you should let them join us. Even if you only allow them to come to provide emotional support. And I'll protect them if you don't want to see them get hurt."
"You promise?" Twilight asks quielty.
"I promise." Ness replies just as quietly.
Twilight and Ness turn back towards the others. "Are you sure you want to come with us?" She asks Pinkie.
"Absolutely!" Pinkie replies almost instantly, jumping up and down.
"And the rest of you?"
The others turn towards and whisper to each other for a moment before turning back to Twilight and nodding in affirmation.
"Then we'd better head out, Twilight." Ness says.
"But shouldn't we wait for Sunset?" Fluttershy asks.
"Rarity said that Sunset went out looking for Twilight, right?" Ness asks. Rarity nods, confirming Ness's question. "We came from the east, and we didn't run into her, and you can't head any further south or west, so she's probably be somewhere north of here. We'll stop if we find her, and she can come too, that is if she wants to. Sounds good?" The others nod, and Ness turns for the door. "Then let's go."
The group heads to the edge of the clearing, and starts off on their path. They were on the path for less than a minute when the group of seven got ambushed by a group of enemies.