"Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces." chuckled Nightmare Moon as she gazed at the ponies around her.
"What did you do with our Princess?!" a blue rainbow maned pony yelled as she flew towards Nightmare Moon.
An orange pony wearing a cowboy hat quickly bites into the rainbow pony's tail.
"Whoa there, Nelly," she grunted as she held her back.
"Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" sneered Nightmare Moon.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
"I did," Twilight answered, "And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!"
*GASP*
"Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here," insinuated Nightmare Moon.
"You're here to... to... " Twilight gulped.
"Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" cackled Nightmare Moon as thunder crackled around her.
"... that's it?" I asked.
Everypony including Nightmare Moon then proceeds to stare at me. I mean it sucks that I can't be in the sun, but it's not like eternal night is gonna kill me.
"I mean, is that the only thing you gonna do? Like no world domination, no giant massacre, just eternal night. It doesn't seem to be very evil to me," I said.
"... do you doubt my power you foal," hissed Nightmare Moon.
" No, just pointing out how dumb your evil plan is," I stated.
"Then be the first... TO FEEL MY WRATH!!" yelled Nightmare Moon as she shot out a lightning bolt straight towards my face.
Alright, now this the part where I miraculously dodged this by jumping out of the way... is what I want to say. Unfortunately, my mind was to busy thinking oh [bleep] as I stood still. Basically, I got lucky. Just simple luck. As the lightning bolt streak towards me, I closed my eyes and raised my right hoof in a futile attempt to block it.
*Shing!*
"Wh-what!?" gasped Nightmare Moon.
I opened my eyes again, and I was fine. No burns, smoke, nothing. I was unscathed.
"Huh?" I muttered absolutely confused about what just happen.
"Bah! No matter, I have much more important matters to attend to." Nightmare Moon declared as turned into mist and sped off into the forest.
"Come back here!" yelled the rainbow maned pony.
"Huh? Hey Twilight! Where're you going?" I called out to her as she galloped out of the town hall.
Golden Oaks Library
I made my way back to the library to see Twilight rummaging through the shelves and tossing books haphazardly around the room.
"Elements, elements, elements... Ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?" she muttered to herself as she skimmed through books.
"Um, Twilight?" I interrupted.
"Try looking under—*oof*" I grunted as a certain rainbow-maned pony knocked me down as she flew into the room.
"And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" accused the pony as she glared at Twilight.
"Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?" the orange-colored pony inquired as she walked in with Pinkie Pie and three other ponies.
"Wait! Freeze! Timeout!" I yelled.
"I already know who Twilight and Pinkie Pie are, but who the heck are you guys?" I asked exasperatedly.
"The pony with the rainbow mane is Rainbow Dash, the orange one is Applejack, the white one is Rarity, and the yellow one is Fluttershy," Twilight hurriedly introduced.
"Great, now that introductions are out of the way," I stated, " the book you're looking for is under—"
"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." interrupted Pinkie Pie as she held the book.
"... never mind, Pinkie Pie already found it,"
"Alright," began Twilight as she opened the book, "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now--"
"The Everfree Forest!" gasped everypony as they gazed at said forest.
"Whee! Let's go!" Pinkie said excitedly.
"Not so fast." Twilight interjected, "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own,"
"Yeah no," I said firmly, "Going in there alone is a death sentence, it's better you go with a group,"
"Besides, I'm pretty sure everypony here is still gonna follow you," I added.
"... fine" sighed Twilight.
Everfree Forest
Why does this forest look extra creepy now? Compare to before, it wasn't that bad, peaceful even. But now, it looks like something out of a horror story. And I HATE horror stories.
"So, none of you have been in here before?" Twilight asked while nervously looking around her as we walked through the forest.
"Ugh, heavens no! Just look at it - it's dreadful," Rarity said with disgust.
"And it ain't natural," added Applejack, "Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria."
"What do mean by that?" I asked with intrigue.
"Nopony knows. You know why?" Rainbow Dash asked with a mischevious face.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked confusion clouding her face as we stopped near a ledge.
"Cause everypony who's ever come in has never come out!" Rainbow Dash finished in a spooky voice.
"Oh wait, this is the same forest I woke up in," I said realization dawning on my face.
"... I'm sorry, did you say you woke up IN the Everfree Forest?" Rainbow Dash asked with a shocked expression.
"Um... yeah,"
"Why you were in the forest anyway?" she asked again suspiciously.
"Well to be honest, I have no ide—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed as the ledge suddenly collasped beneath us.
"Fluttershy! Quick!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew down to catch us.
"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" gasped Fluttershy as she followed Rainbow Dash.
I was proud to say that I had some sense of calm as I quickly angled my hooves to the ground and slowly skidded to a stop. right behind Applejack as she hanged from a stray root sticking out of the ground. Twilight, on the other hoof, was hanging from the cliff's edge desperately trying to climb up.
"Hold on! I'm a-comin'!" Applejack called to Twilight as she let go of the root.
"Hey! Wait for me!" I said as I slid down to help Applejack.
"What do I do?" Twilight asked fearfully as we held on to her hooves.
"... let go," Applejack said after a quick glance at the sky.
"What?! You can't expect her to... ohhhh I see. Don't worry, you will be fine Twilight, " I said after I took a quick peek at the ground.
"Are you crazy?!" Twilight screamed.
"A little bit? The point is you can trust Applejack, even though I just met her approximately 5 minutes ago." I said as I shrugged my shoulders.
"Not helping Mason!"
"Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe" Applejack reassured Twilight.
After giving us a pleading look, she closed her eyes and let go.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed as she plummeted to the ground.
Luckily, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy caught her midway down and gently brought her down to the ground. As for me, I followed Applejack down a series of small ledges jutting out from the cliff, hopping from each one until we reached the ground.
"And once Pinkie and Rarity were saved, whoosh... Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time," rambled Rainbow Dash as she brags to Twilight about her rescue.
"Alright alright, we get it Rainbow Dash," I said while looking at her exasperatedly.
"Now we better—"
*SLAM!*
"A manticore!" gasped Twilight as it appeared out of the darkness.
"We've gotta get past him!" she then declared as the showdown began.
"Take that, you ruffian!" said Rarity as she bucked him the face.
In response, the manticore roared back, thoroughly messing up Rarity's mane.
"Wait," Fluttershy mumbled as she stood from the side.
"YEE-HAW! Git along, little dogie," whooped Applejack as she leaped on the manticore's back.
"Wait" Fluttershy mumbled again more urgently.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Applejack as the manticore managed to throw her off
"All yours, partner," Applejack gestured to Rainbow Dash as she sailed past her through the air.
"I'm on it," Rainbow Dash replied back as she then flew around the manticore at high speed in an attempt to make it dizzy.
The manticore however merely stuck out his tail and knocked her out of the air.
"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out as she watches Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop in front of her.
"Wa—" Fluttershy started again before I held my hoof to her mouth.
"Let me try," I said as I watched the standoff between the manticore and the rest of the ponies.
"*deep breath*, HOLD IT!!!" I roared, freezing both manticore and ponies in mid-charge.
"Shhh... It's okay. Oh, you poor, poor little baby" said Fluttershy sweetly as she walked over the manticore.
"Oh, I see. This might hurt for just a second," Fluttershy said as she spotted a thorn sticking out of its paw.
*ROAR*
"Fluttershy!!" everpony screamed with fright on our faces.
We then heard purring as we see the manticore gently licking Fluttershy.
"Aw you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are," cooed Fluttershy as she petted the manticore.
As we quickly moved past the manticore, Twilight asked Fluttershy, "How did you know about the thorn?"
"I didn't," Fluttershy replied as we continued on, "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness,"
"That's a nice moral to have," I commented.
"Oh thank you," Fluttershy replied back while shyly looking at the ground.
Ok, now I may be an idiot, but I could tell something strange is going on here. Of course, there would be problems when trekking through the Everfree Forest. But already, we were faced with a couple of problems in a span of approximately 3 minutes. None of these events could have happened naturally. Something, or someone, was messing with us here. Of course, I had no concrete evidence to support this theory, so I dismissed it as me being delusional.
Along the way, we saw trees with *shudders*, really ugly faces, in which suddenly Pinkie Pie burst into a song and dance, somehow laughing away all of the faces. Really wished I could forget everything that just happened. Next was a dragon? serpent? a snake-like thing, crying over his ruined mustache. Rarity quickly solved this problem by borrowing one of his scales, cutting off her tail, and used it as a replacement mustache. Finally, we found the castle as it sits on a small hill. Only thing in the way was a bridge.
"There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!" Twilight said triumphantly as she charges forward.
"Wait! I think that bridge is—" I warned.
"Whoa!" Twilight yelped as she nearly ran off the cliff.
"Broken," I finished while Rainbow Dash pulled her back up.
"Eh no problem," reassured Rainbow Dash as she flew down, grabbed the other end of the bridge, and went to the other side to tie it down.
...
...
...
What's taking so long?
"Hey Rainbow Dash! Everything okay over there?" I called to the other side.
Then the bridge slowly began to make itself upright.
"See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'," said Rainbow as she returned to us looking proudly at her work.
"We're here," Twilight said as we stood in front of the castle.
"You got everything covered here Twilight?" I asked her as I look around the castle.
"Yeah, why you ask?" Twilight asked with a look of curiosity on her face.
"Because I want to explore this place. See you guys back at the bridge," I answered as I trotted off.
It isn't every day you get to explore a ruin, so I fully took advantage of this as I admired the layout of this place. I feel like an adventurer exploring an ancient city. The only bad thing about was the countless numbers of spiderwebs scattered in every nook and cranny. Eventually, I found myself in a building with a pedestal at the far end. Suddenly, Twilight dropped down out of nowhere and landed in front me.
"What the?! Where did you come from?" I asked startled by her abrupt appearance.
Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Oh yeah, I forgot about her.
I look up to see Nightmare Moon standing on the pedestal, with the 5 stones around which I assume were the Elements of Harmony. Alright then, try to divide and conquer.
"Alright, here's the plan," I whispered to Twilight while keeping an eye on Nightmare Moon.
"I go distract Nightmare Moon while you sneak around and activate the Elements of Harmony, got it?" I asked while I prepared to charge at Nightmare Moon.
After Twilight gave me a slight nod, the battle started. I charged in fast, hopefully catching her off guard. Unfortunately, she saw right through me and immediately took to the air, flinging laser bolts in my direction. Luckily I dodged this by sliding underneath them as I run towards her. Seeing my persistence, she switched to diversionary tactics as she swooped around in the air, launching bolt after bolt at a rapid-fire pace. Seeing no way to dodge this I covered my face with my arms and braced for impact.
*Shing!*
There's that sound again as one of the bolts touched my right hoof. The rest, however, hit my body and legs. I kneeled on the ground, breathing heavily as I try to withstand the pain.
"Hahahaha! You foal! You don't stand a chance against me!" she gloated as she landed in front of me.
"Twilight! Now!" I yelled behind her.
"What?!" Nightmare Moon gasped as she turned around to see The Elements of Harmony circling her.
"Oh yeah, you're done" I thoughted as I watched the Elements spinning quicker and quicker until they suddenly dropped lifelessly to the floor, which then Nightmare Moon broke them into tiny pieces.
"Or not"
"But... where's the sixth Element?!" gasped Twilight as she desperately scanned the room for it.
"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess or your sun! The night will last forever!" Nightmare Moon cackled as she launched a giant laser beam straight towards Twilight.
"NOOO!!!!!" I screamed as I rushed past Nightmare Moon and jumped right in front of Twilight, sticking my right arm in desperation.
*Shing!*
Now this time, I was able to see what was happening. As soon as my right hoof touched the laser, it shattered into tiny glass-like shards, floating in the air before fading away.
"Twilight! Mason!" I heard the rest of the ponies quickly arrived on the scene.
"What took you guys so long?" I groaned but with a grin on my face.
"Bah! It doesn't matter how many ponies are here! I will still beat you all!" she bellowed as she sends yet another giant laser beam.
"Oh no you don't," I declared as I stuck out my right hoof again, negating the spell.
"Impossible! How is my magic not working?!" she asked bewilderedly.
"I don't know? My spirit maybe?"
"That's it!" Twilight suddenly yelled as she lept to her feet.
"Huh? What's it?" I asked.
"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight began, "Well, you're wrong because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here!"
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!" Twilight continued as each said element float towards their respective wielders.
"You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare Moon rebuked.
"But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!" finished Twilight as the last element finally appeared.
Then the elements turned into pieces of jewelry, attaching themselves to their owners. A bright rainbow light burst out and circled around Nightmare Moon.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" she screamed in fear as a bright light spread around the room.
First, can I just say, never again. I swear I'm gonna need glasses after that light show. As I slowly come to, I saw the others slowly getting up as well.
"Ugh, my head," groaned Rainbow Dash as she slowly got up.
"Your head? Well, try being blasted by several lasers," I replied wincing at my injuries.
"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked as they check for injuries.
"Yep totally fine, just about thousands of burn marks from magical lasers. Nothing to worry about," I answered sarcastically.
"Oh no! We have to get you to a hospital!" cried Fluttershy.
"Later, I can manage for now," I quickly reassured them as I slowly got up
"Oh look! The Elements of Harmony look exactly like our cutie marks!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly as she bounced in place.
"Gee, Twilight! I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship" said Applejack as she admired her own element.
"Indeed you do,"
"Princess Celestia!" gasped Twilight as said princess slowly floated down towards us followed by the rising sun.
"Pst!! Dude! Bow!" hissed Rainbow Dash while doing so.
"Huh? Oh!" I said as I quickly follow suit.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it," said Princess Celestia as she smiled, her eyes filled with warmth.
"But... you told me it was all an old pony tale," Twilight replied confused.
"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart," Princess Celestia clarified.
"Well, it looks like it went all according to your plan," I commented as I listened to the conversation.
"Indeed it did, Mason Solstice,"
"Yep, now let's—wait. How do you know my name?"
"Come now, do you think walking out of the Everfree Forest in the middle of the day without a cutie mark will not draw attention to yourself?" Princess Celestia asked with a small smile
"Well if you put it like that, you have a point," I answered sheepishly.
"And thank you,"
"Huh? What for?"
"For your help, if it hadn't been for your ability, we would have lost a life,"
Oh, she's talking about when I jumped in front of Twilight to block that giant laser beam.
"Eh. no problem. Just here to help in any way I can," I said modestly.
"WHAT?! YOU DON'T HAVE A CUTIE MARK?!" Pinkie Pie suddenly screamed in my ear.
"Gah! Quit giving me heart attacks Pinkie Pie!" I yelped.
"How did we not notice such an obvious thing?" Rarity questions.
"Well to be fair, we were distracted by Nightmare Moon's traps, Speaking of Nightmare Moon, where is she anyway?"
"Actually, she's right there," gestured Princess Celestia towards a very different looking pony.
"It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister,"
"SISTER?!" everypony shouted.
"Will you accept my friendship?" Princess Celestia asked looking down kindly at the blue pony.
"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!" she cried as she hugged Princess Celestia.
"Hey, you know what this calls for?" began Pinkie Pie.
" A PART—"
"Nope," I cut her off.
"In case you forgotten, I am covered in burn marks and wincing like crazy. I need to find the nearest hospital so I can treat my wounds," I reminded her.
"Allow me," said Princess Celestia as she sends a wave of green aura from her horn that circled around me and healed my injuries.
...
If only it would have been that easy. Instead, the spell broke after the aura touched my right hoof.
"Oh dear, I forgot about your Magic Breaker," Princess Celestia said as she looked at me apologetically.
"Is that what we're calling it now?" I asked while glaring at my right hoof.
"Well, it as good as a name as any," I sighed.
...
...
...
"Can somepony please carry me to the hospital?"