//------------------------------//
// Princess Twilight Sparkle 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S4 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Its amazing what can happen in one year.

The return and defeat of four ancient threats, an attempted coup, a wedding turned invasion, the restoration of a long lost city, the reformation of two former enemies and of course, the coronation of Equestria's newest princess. Yes, Equestria certainly was entering a new era.

The first story of that new era begins in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle, as the ponies were now making preparations for this year's Summer Sun Celebration. This year, the celebration was being held in Canterlot.

And as the preparations made their rounds, we find our heroes watching their friend Twilight learn to use her new wings. Even though she had had them for a few weeks now, Princess Twilight Sparkle still hadn't properly yet learned how to fly. Her wings had now finally gained enough muscle to hold her up for more than a few moments, so she was now getting lessons from Rainbow and Flash. Right now, it was Rainbow's turn to give her directions while Flash watched to try and see what Twilight was doing wrong.

The rest of their friends were on the ground, simply watching as Twilight wobbled through the air. It was here that Rainbow floated right by Twilight as she said, "You're doing okay, but you gotta really flap 'em hard."

Twilight nodded, soon beating her wings as hard as she could. But as she did, she let out a yelp as control was suddenly lost, causing her to go spiraling towards a tree. "WHOA!" She screamed before crashing into it, getting a bird's nest as a new head piece.

"Uh...maybe not that hard."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she hopped back up, Fluttershy taking the bird nest off of her as Twilight took back to the air. Her wings started clumsily flapping again, her aerial balance barely existent as she tried to gain altitude. Flash just blinked at this, only to clap his hooves before flying up to her. "Alright, I think I see the problem. "

"You do?" Twilight asked, almost losing control as she tried to hover.

"Yup. Go ahead and land and I'll explain." He heard Twilight whisper 'thank Celestia' before following him to the ground, shakily landing with a stagger.

Twilight then patted her wings as she asked, "So...what am I doing wrong?"

Flash smiled at her before looking at Rainbow, "See if you can notice Rainbow." He turned back to the newest princess. "Flap your wings, but don't actually take off." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, but did as she was told as she spread her wings before beating them up and down as Flash asked Rainbow, "You see it?"

Rainbow stared at Twilight, but shook her head. "No, she looks fine to me."

Flash just rolled his eyes at this. "Alright then, come stand by Twilight and do what she's doing." Now, Rainbow raised her eyebrow before flapping her wings right by Twilight. Everypony watched this and slowly tilted their heads in confusion.

"Something does looks different between those two," Pinkie commented.

"Though I can't figure out what," Rarity finished.

"Me neither," Applejack added.

Fluttershy just blinked at it, soon clapping her hooves. "Oh! That's what it is!" everypony all glanced at her, causing her to gulp and blush before pointing at Twilight, "Um...its just that...Twilight's not synchronizing her wing beats."

Flash smirked and nodded. "Exactly." they turned back to the two, now seeing that Rainbow's wings were flapping up and down at the same time while Twilight had one wing going up while the other was down. The reason they could see it was because of how fast both wings were flapping. Seeing this, Flash continued, "Twilight's trying to fly the same way she walks."

Twilight then turned to Rainbow, a glum look on her face, "I see..."

"What's the difference?" Rainbow asked as she looked Twilight over. "Isn't that natural?"

"No. There are lots of differences of how you flap your wings compared to mine." Twilight replied as she watched Rainbow flap her wings. She then looked at her hooves, slightly sighing, "When you walk, you have one hoof moving while the other one isn't. I must be subconsciously doing the same thing with my wings."

"I guess that would make sense. You did go from being somepony who could only walk to somepony who can walk and fly." Flash commented as he tapped Rainbow, telling her to stop flapping, "Pegasi don't have this problem because we've been doing both since we were born. We're hardwired like that."

"So does that mean we need to rewire Twilight's brain?" Pinkie happily asked.

Everypony rolled their eyes as Twilight shook her head. "No Pinkie. It just means I need to learn to synchronize my wings before actually trying to fly."

"How ya'll gonna do that?" Applejack asked next.

"The same way a dancer learns how to dance, darling," Rarity replied as she waved at Twilight. "Constant repetition until its as simple as breathing. The same thing happens when we unicorns use our horns."

"Except I don't have the time for that," Twilight grumbled as she crossed her hooves in frustration. "My part in the Summer Sun Celebration requires me to fly."

"I'm sure you'll get it," Spike added as he patted her side. "Don't worry so much."

"He's right sugarcube," Applejack continued as she gave Twilight a half-hug. "Just wait, you'll show everypony what Princess Twilight can really do."

Twilight let out a low growl, "Applejack...you know you don't have to call me that."

"Why do you protest so?" Rarity asked next. "You've already given up wearing your crown all the time. The least you can do is embrace your new title."

Twilight shook her head at this. "If other ponies want to address me that way, I suppose it's fine, but...not my friends Rarity. It just doesn't feel right." She sighed once again before looking back at her wings. "And neither does all this flying business. The Summer Sun Celebration is only two days away and I'm never gonna be ready to perform my part."

"Not if you spend all your time down here, you won't!" Rainbow told her before pointing to the sky. "Now get up there and show everypony the big finish!"

Flash nodded in agreement as he started to hover, "And remember, beat your wings in sync."

Twilight nodded before leaping up in the air, her wings flapping as hard as she could beat them. She then slowly got higher, only to do a loop, "Woo-hoo!" She screamed in exhilaration, but doing so made her lose focus. That act alone made her wings lock, causing her to yell, "Aaaaahhhh!!" her form now losing control before nose-diving towards the ground.

Flash saw this and leapt at her, the two colliding midair with Flash being pushed back into the ground. They landed and slid along the grass, Flash being sandwiched between Twilight and the dirt as they dug a small trench. The duo then came to stop as Flash groaned, "Ugh...you okay?"

"Yeah...I think so." Twilight replied as she opened her eyes. Doing so caused them to blink at each other, now seeing their snouts right on top of each other. Their faces instantly turned red as Twilight quickly jumped off of him, "Aaahhh!" she yelped as she hopped out of the trench while Flash just laid there, his blushing face now turned and looking at the dirt.

"You two alright?" Applejack asked as they all started to walk over to the crash landing.

"We're fine!" They both replied, both at a louder volume than usual.

"Alright...though that didn't look like a mighty good landing."

Twilight shook her head at this, looking away from her friends as she did so. "I uh...I think that's enough flying for today."

"Seconded," Flash added, grumbling as he got up.

"So what do we do now?" Spike asked next.

"Our train to Ponyville isn't for another two hours," Rarity added before a bulb went off in her head, "Oh! I know what we should do! Let's go see the new stain glass window. We haven't had a chance to really see it since its unveiling."

Twilight groaned at this, but nodded anyways. "Alright." Rarity squealed before rushing off, the others following her up to Canterlot Tower.





Soon enough, the eight of them were in the stain glass window room of Canterlot Castle. The group were now walking down the hallway, seeing the major events of the past. There was Discord's reign and defeat, Nightmare Moon's banishment, them getting the Elements, the Wedding Invasion, the freeing of the Crystal Empire and the Royal Knights versus Doom.

Finally, they arrived at the newest window, one that showed Twilight as an alicorn. As they stared at it, Rarity put a hoof on Twilight, "You look amazing, darling. They've really captured your regality."

Twilight just bit her lip at this, "I...I suppose."

"Oh, don't be so modest." Rarity said with a tap on Twilight's shoulder, "Its everypony's dream to someday wear a crown and have their coronation ceremony preserved in stained glass for all to see!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at this, "I don't know if that's everypony's dream."

"Most of my dreams are about frosting!" Pinkie chimed in before licking her lips, "Yuuuummmm…."

Flash just chuckled at Pinkie, waving his hoof at her, "Frosting's fine, but as soon as whipped cream shows up, you might wanna see a therapist."

Everypony laughed at this as Fluttershy stepped over to Twilight. "I'm sorry Twilight, but we'd better get going. We don't want to miss our train."

Applejack nodded at this. "Fluttershy's right. Don't know about y'all, but I've still got bushels to do to get ready. The official celebration may be here in Canterlot, but hoo-wee has the Mayor put us in charge of one heck of a party back home." It was here that Applejack saw Twilight frown, "Aw, don't look like that, sugarcube." She then hugged a hoof around Twilight's shoulders, "You get to be right there with the other princesses when Celestia raises the sun."

"And I'm honored. Really, I am." Twilight replied as her wings slumped down, "Its just...well, its just that the Summer Sun Celebration is what first brought us all together. It just doesn't feel right, you know? Not getting to spend such a special day with my Ponyville friends."

"It doesn't feel right to us either darling," Rarity told her as she batted her mane back. "If the Mayor wasn't so desperate for our assistance, we'd most certainly stay here in Canterlot. And of course, we understand that your royal duties must come first."

Flash nodded at this. "I'm also sad that I won't get to spend the celebration with Springer and Scootaloo, but my job is to keep an eye on you. Springer needs to keep things in order in Ponyville while Scoots' got school, so it can't be helped." Flash then winked at the princess, "Besides, just because we're not together doesn't mean we're not thinking about each other."

"Flash is right," Applejack told Twilight as she ended the semi-hug. "The Summer Sun Celebration may have brought us together, but it's something much bigger that'll always keep us connected." She then pointed at the glass windows. "Exhibit A: The seven of us are united by the Elements of Harmony. No amount of royal duties is gonna change that, right everypony?" Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and Flash all nodded and mumbled their agreements. Only one pony didn't answer. "Right, Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie was to the side, drool spilling out of her mouth. "Creamy, creamy frosting."

Everybody chuckled at this as Fluttershy pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the party pony's mouth. "You should take that as a yes."





One transition to the train station later...

The gang didn't have to wait long for the train. Barely a minute after they arrived, the train pulled into the station and the girls began to load their luggage inside. "We're gonna write to you and give you so many details," Pinkie explained as they were saying their goodbyes. "It'll be like you're in Ponyville with us, right girls?"

Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity all began to perform a familiar motion. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Twilight giggled at this as Rarity spoke up, "And you will be with us right after the Celebration." She then magicked out some measuring tape and a notebook. "After all, we already have an appointment on the books to discuss the royal upgrades to your loft and décor."

"Just stay away from my comics," Flash warned her. "Also, do me a favor and check on Springer, Iron and Lightning. With Springer's new abilities and Lightning still adjusting, I'm getting worried about not being there." He glanced at Fluttershy, "And you know, the usual with Iron."

"Of course." Fluttershy replied, nodding.

"We gotcha covered," Applejack assured them, only for the conductor to suddenly call out for everypony to board. Everypony quickly hopped onto the train, only for Pinkie and jump back out and give the duo a quick bone crushing hug. Moments later, the party pony got back on the train as it pulled away into the distance.

Seeing this, Twilight let out a long sigh as she turned to Flash and Spike. "Aww...they've only been gone a minute, and I already feel like I'm missing something." It was in that moment that a mail pony stepped out onto the platform, a letter in his hoof.

"For the princess," he said as he gave the letter to Twilight. She took it in her magic and gave it to Spike, who read it aloud.

"Dear Twilight, you aren't missing anything. Your friend, Pinkie Pie."

"THAT'S ME!" They heard Pinkie screamed from the still vanishing train. This caused them all to laugh as Flash turned to the mail pony.

"Let me guess, she gave you specific instructions not to show yourself until Twilight said she was missing something?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Because its Pinkie," Flash chuckled as the trio headed back to the castle.

But as they walked, Twilight's face returned to a frown. "But I am....I just know it."

Flash patted her on the back. "Probably best not to think about it. I'm sure all those duties you've been entrusted with will keep your mind off it."

"Maybe you're right," Twilight replied before turning to Spike. "You got the list?" Spike nodded before pulling out a scroll, which unfurled into an almost unending rolling piece of paper.

"Yup. That should keep the bookworm busy for a while." Flash commented, only for a get a magic tug on his ear. "Ow!"





Several hours later...

As Princess Celestia began to lower the sun, we find Flash standing outside Twilight's room. Ever since what had transpired at the Princess Summit, Flash had chosen to get off his flank and take his role as Twilight's protector seriously. He had kept his role as bodyguard to as far as possible, now standing in the hallway as both ears were spiked to hear any and everything.

At the same time, Twilight and Spike were inside, going over the duties they were going to do over the celebration. "Check, check, check, check, and...check! Huh, whaddaya know? We're way ahead of schedule! I credit your extremely competent assistant."

"So do I," Twilight replied with a giggle.

"The Celebration isn't until the day after tomorrow," Spike went on. "We could still fit in a quick trip to Ponyville and be back in plenty of time to finish off these last few things before the main event!"

Flash then heard Twilight let out a long sigh. "That would be nice Spike, but what if something else came up while we were gone? What if we were delayed getting back and I wasn't able to finish everything on that list? What if we lost the list on the way to Ponyville and then couldn't remember which things we'd done and which things we hadn't done, and then spent so much time trying to figure out what we hadn't done and what we had done, and we ruined the entire Celebration by not doing the one really important thing that we were supposed to do?!"

THUD!

Flash's head shot up at this sound, causing him to slam the doors open as he exclaimed, "Twilight?! You okay?!" He then started looking around, only seeing Spike, "Spike, where is-"

"Up here." interrupted a voice above them. Flash glanced up and saw Twilight, a pained look her face. She was slightly hovering, causing Flash to fly up and help her down.

"You okay?" He asked as they both landed.

"Yeah, just a little...frazzled. Thanks for helping me down."

"No prob."

"So I'm guessing that's a 'no' on the trip?" Spike asked in a glum tone.

Twilight sighed again, "Spike...These are the first royal duties Princess Celestia has given me. I can't risk letting her down!"

"And I'm sure you won't." The three spun around and saw Princess Celestia, standing at the door with a smile on her face.

"Your highness!" Spike gasped as he and Flash both bowed. But when Twilight went to, Celestia stopped her.

"You no longer need to do that now, Princess Twilight."

"Sorry..." Twilight replied as she stood back up.

Celestia then giggled, something Flash had rarely ever seen her do. "No need to apologize."

"Sorry! I'm sorry....so sorry." Twilight repeated as she stared at the floor, her whole form shivering as Celestia kept giggling.

Flash just facehoofed at this while Celestia stepped over to a nearby window. "I must admit, it is truly wonderful to actually be looking forward to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"What do you mean?"

Flash looked out the window and spotted Luna on a balcony across from them, raising the moon into the sky. Something clicked as he saw this and commented, "Of course. I can see why that would be upsetting."

Celestia nodded as continued to stare at her sister. "For my subjects, it has always been a celebration of my defeat of Nightmare Moon. But for me..." she let out a long sigh, "It was nothing but a terrible reminder that I had to banish my own sister."

Both Twilight and Spike gasped at this, now realizing what they meant as Twilight showed a glum frown, "I'm sorry Princess Celestia, I guess I never really thought about it that way."

Celestia shook her head at this, now shining a giant smile, "Don't apologize Twilight. This day has now become a wonderful reminder of her transformation back into Princess Luna, and our happy reunion. Not only that, I'm so pleased that you will be playing a role in the festivities," she said as she placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I know it must have been difficult to see your friends return to Ponyville without you."

Twilight looked away. "Maybe a little...."

"You may no longer be my student Princess Twilight, but I hope you do know that I will always be here if you need me." Celestia then crouched down to Twilight's eye level, "Just as I hope that you will always be there when I need you." She rubbed her head against Twilight's, causing the two princesses to smile at one another.

Flash blinked at the sight, happy knowing that Celestia could always get Twilight out of her funk. But as this happened, Spike cleared his throat, causing them to turn and see another mail pony next to him. "I think this guy needs you."

"Uh...a message for Princess Twilight." Twilight took the letter as the mail pony flew off, soon opening it. What she got was a loud popping sound as confetti shot out of the envelope.

Celestia giggled at this. "A letter from Ponyville, I presume?"

Twilight did a low chuckle as she teleported the letter to who knows where, "Nevermind, its not important." She then looked down at her dragon assistant. "Spike, where were we?"

"About to call it a night?" He replied in a hopeful tone.

Twilight gave him a coy smile, "No. Actually, we should probably go over the checklist one more time."

Spike rolled his eyes as he pulled out the scroll again. "I knew you were gonna say that."

"I'll leave you to it," Celestia commented as she and Flash then left the room.

Once they were in the hallway, Flash turned to Celestia. "Thank you, your majesty. I'm not sure I would have been able to get her out of that one."

Celestia just shook her head at this. "No need to thank me Flash, and its no problem at all." She then patted his shoulder, "And much like Twilight, I hope you can also count on me to be there when you are in need and vice versa."

Flash bowed instantly, "Of course your highness. After everything you and Grand Hoof have done for me, I'll always be indebted to you."

"I wouldn't say that. The things you've done since helping to save my sister should put not just me, but all of Equestria in your debt."

Flash blushed at this, scratching the side of his head in embarrassment, "I was just doing my duty."

Celestia nodded again. "And that is why you'll one day make not just a splendid Royal Knight, but possibly one of the best." With that, the princess of the sun trotted off, leaving the young pegasus with a massive smile on his face.

For the next few hours, Flash continued to stand guard outside Twilight's door. It wasn't until the princess stepped out to use the bathroom, the fact that Flash intended to follow her was an issue for later, that she found that Flash was about to nod off. She then patted him and ordered, "Go to bed Flash. We've all been going all day. Go ahead."

"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this, "You won't be able to do that when you fall asleep on your hooves. I'm not a filly Flash, I can look after myself. Now go to bed. Don't make me have to actually order you to do it....even though I kinda already have."

Flash glared at her for a moment, only to let out an unintentional yawn. That alone made Twilight smirk and Flash roll his eyes as he sighed, "Fine. But if anything happens-"

"I'll yell," Twilight interrupted as she turned around, now heading towards the bathroom before going to sleep.

Flash sighed again as went to his room, conking out the second his head hit the pillow. He didn't remember what time it actually was, so he wasn't sure how long he slept for when his bladder told him to wake up. And as he went to the bathroom in a slight sleepwalk, he did his...unmentionables before washing his hooves and heading back to his room.

It was here that his brain finally woke up, the cogs slowly turning as he passed a window. "What the-" he barely said as he looked back at the window, only to go wide eyed. "What in the name of..."

The sky was both day and night, with the sun and the moon floating side by side.

"What is...going on?" His question went unanswered, as another door suddenly slammed open and revealed Twilight and Spike.

"Flash! Where are-oh! Thank goodness, you're already awake."

"Twilight? What the-what's going on?"

"I don't know, but we need to find out. Come on, we have to find Celestia and Luna."

"Right!" Flash quickly grabbed his Celestic Gear and strapped it to his side, the trio now making their way out of the tower. And as they reached the exit, they found themselves in front of a horde of panicking ponies.

"What do you think it means?!" A pony Flash recognised as Primrose cried.

It was then that another pony, Royal Ribbon, spotted them and pointed. "Princess Twilight will know!" With that, the crowd quickly ran up to them.

Knowing Twilight would likely panic from all the attention, Flash flew above her and pulled out Lightbringer before illuminating it. This caused the ponies to stop, all blocking their eyes from the light as he yelled, "Listen! I know you're all panicking, but gathering around Princess Twilight will not help the situation. Please stay calm and we will tell you all what you need to know when it is the right time!"

The crowd quickly calmed down and began whispering between themselves, as Flash looked down at Twilight. She mouthed a quick thank you, which her replied with a nod as a royal guard ran up to them. "Your Highness! You must come with us!"

Twilight nodded at this, the trio following him to the main section of the castle. It was there that they spotted Flash's mentor Grand Hoof, along with another guard. "Twilight," he spoke up when he saw them, "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Why wouldn't she be alright?" Spike asked with crossed arms. "And what the heck is going on with the sky?!"

Twilight blinked at this, expecting to see Celestia and Luna with Grand, only for him to sigh, "Twilight...I hate to be the one to tell you this but, Celestia and Luna...are gone."

The room went deathly quiet as the three of them processed the news. That is, till Twilight let out a shriek, "WHAT?! But that's....where are they?!"

"We don't know. It seems that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have simply...vanished."

"Vanished?!" Spike hysterically replied before fainting, Flash grabbing and slowly placing him on the floor with his wing.

"How can two ponies with like...a bazillion guards, just vanish?" Flash asked as he stood back up.

"We don't know," Grand replied before stepping up to Twilight. "I know this is a lot to take in, but you have to act. With Celestia and Luna gone and Cadance in the Crystal Empire, you are now the highest authority in Equestria."

"ME?!" Twilight asked in horror, only for Spike to wake up and faint again. "I can't be in charge!"

"Can't you do it Grand?" Flash asked before turning to his best friend. "No offense Twilight, but Grand has more experience leading a ton of ponies."

"None taken, and you're right," she said with a nod before looking back at Grand. "Can't you take command?"

Grand shook his head at this. "I can only take emergency power if all the princess are unable to lead. Otherwise, I-"

"Or a princess specifically orders you too," Twilight interrupted as she pointed at him. "And as princess of Equestria, I give you full command of...whatever you need to take command of."

Grand did a slightly glum frown before nodding. "If that's your wish. But as long as you're still in Canterlot, I'll still need to run the big decisions by you."

Twilight crossed her hooves at this. "Fine. I trust you to do what needs to be done. Though right now, we need to focus on finding Celestia and Luna."

"Agreed. I'll have the guards split up and search the city for clues."

"You might wanna do something about the crowd outside as well," Flash spoke up as he pointed to the hallway they had just gone down. Grand nodded and got to work, the trio all sighing in relief as he left. It was here that Flash decided to tempt fate as he asked, "Seriously, what else could go wrong right now?"

"Your highness!" Another guard cried as he rushed into the room.

"I had to ask."

"Yeah, you did meathead." Twilight grumbled before turning to the guard. "What's wrong?"

"News from Ponyville! It seems the...well, the Everfree Forest appears to be...invading."

"WHAT?!" Flash yelped as Twilight gasped and Spike fainted for a third time.





Ponyville...

Springer wasn't having a good day...night...whichever. First, Flash and Twilight were away, so he had to be in charge of Scootaloo again, which was a task in of itself. But he also had to make sure Iron and Lightning didn't kill each other, while also making sure Ponyville didn't end up being destroyed.

He felt that last job should have been the easiest, but here he was. The sky was split in two, while also being filled with weird clouds that were covered in spikes. The ground was also sprouting dark vines, all that were growing rapidly around the town.

"Steel Paw!" He yelled in his battle form, slicing up the vines along the edge of the forest. And as he kept cutting them down, he looked back at the weeds he just slashed, only to see more and more growing back. "Oh come on! Give me a break...." he muttered as he putt his paws together. "Aura Force!" He then unleashed a beam of energy, the beam vaporizing all of the roots in one go.

"HA! How'd you like that?" His answer came when more roots shot out of the ground, growing even faster than before. "Oh, COME ON!" He then slapped another vine away, "Iron...where are you to help me?! The town's under attack!"





As for Iron Core, he wasn't doing much better.

He had been awoken by the sound of animals rushing around just out outside of his house. The defender then walked out and saw all of them rushing by Fluttershy's cottage, all of them panicking as he then noticed the divided sky. "What the heck?!" he yelped before seeing a series of vines fly out of the ground. "Oh no!" he gasped as he pulled out Piecemaker and started doing some extreme weed whacking.

As he did this, he heard Fluttershy scream, "Iron!" She rushed over to her door, which was tricky considering how jam packed the place was with animals, and opened it up. "Get in! Quickly!"

"No! You and your animals need to get out of here! You'll eventually be trapped if you don't."

"But where can we go?"

"Get into town. At least you won't be alone there. I'll try and clear you a path." Fluttershy nodded before moving back in to inform her animal friends. As she did this, Iron pointed his Celestic Gear at the weeds. "Iron Force!" The metal laced tornado shot out the weapon, drilling through the invading foliage until a path towards town was cleared. "NOW!"

Fluttershy's door banged open before she and her many animals rushed outside. The creatures quickly made their way down the makeshifit path, Iron using Iron Saber to cut down anymore plants that tried to attack. As he did this, they soon got into town, Iron staying behind to destroy the last of the vines. And when he sliced the last one, he let out a growl, "What the heck is going on?! And why do I get the feeling Sentry will know?!"





Meanwhile...

Lightning was in the town center, having been awakened by the commotion, causing him to rush outside. "What's going on?" he asked as he looked up at the sky, now seeing both the sun and moon.

"Oh no you don't!" said another voice, which he turned to and saw Rainbow trying to chase off one of the strange clouds. "This is Ponyville territory, and we aren't due for rain until after the Summer Sun Celebration! You Everfree clouds need to just head on back to where you belong!" With that, she bum-rushed the cloud, only to bounce off like a ragdoll. The impact made her go sailing towards the ground, her hooves barely stopping her from crash landing. "Whoa!"

Lightning rat up to her with his horn flaring. "I got this!" With that, he unleashed a bolt of lightning at the cloud. Usually, this would cause the cloud to disperse, but this time, the cloud absorbed the bolt, causing it get bigger. "What the-"

KA-BOOM!

"WHOA!" The duo both yelped as they barely dodged a bolt from the cloud. Rainbow then glared at Lightning as she grumbled, "Nice one."

"How was I supposed to know it would do that?" Lightning growled back, only for his face to suddenly scrunch up. He then looked up, soon seeing his horn sparking, "What the-ah!" The next thing he knew, bolts of lightning shot out of his horn, blasting the streets.

"HEY!" Rainbow yelped as she took to the air. "What are you doing?!"

"I don't know!" Lightning cried as he closed his eyes, sweat now appearing on his face as he started to turn off his horn. "Ugghh….come on." It was here that the horn stopped glowing, causing him to moan, "Okay...that hurt. What is up with my magic?"

"I don't think its just your magic," Rainbow commented before pointing to something. Lightning followed her gaze and then went wide-eyed.

"Waahh! HELP!" A certain unicorn was yelling as five puppets were chasing him. It was Wild Smile, who's horn was also sparking. "Stop it buddies! Stop it!"

And as he ran up to Lightning, a pink blur suddenly shot out of nowhere with a large sack in hoof, scooping all five in one go. "Gotcha!" she said as she tied up the bag. "Sorry buddies, but its for your own good."

Wild breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Pinks."

"No problem," Pinkie replied with a half-salute.

"What the heck just happened?" Rainbow asked next.

"I don't know," Wild replied as he pointed at the bag. "They just...I don't know, lost control of themselves. They don't even know why."

"I get the feeling it has something to do with the weather and these weird plants," Lightning commented as he pointed a series of vines down the street. It was in that moment that the door of Rarity's shop flew open before she and her sister rushed outside while being chased by a floating curtain. "This is gonna be my whole day, isn't it?"





Back in Canterlot, Twilight had just ran out of the castle with Flash and Spike on her tail.

"Twilight! You need to slow down!" Flash called out.

"We can't!" Twilight screamed back, "the Everfree Forest is...'invading'. Whatever is going on, I'm sure we're going to need our friends and the Elements of Harmony to stop it!" She then past over a bridge as she came to a slight stop. "I just hope we haven't missed the train."

"Twilight!" A panting Spike said next as he ran up to her. "There is another way for us to get to Ponyville, remember?"

"There is?" Twilight pulled herself to a full stop in the middle of the bridge, causing Spike to crash into her side and almost bounce into the river before grabbing Twilight's wing.

"You can fly!"

Twilight's eyes went wide at this, "Oh...right."

Flash facehoofed before grabbing Spike and putting him on his back. "Come on, time's a wasting."

"Right...yeah." Twilight replied before shakily flapping her wings. "Synchronised wing beats, gotta remember that." she muttered to herself as she began to raise her wings up.

"Well, if anything, at least this'll give you plenty of practice." Flash then took to the air, motioning Twilight to follow, "Come on, we need to get going."

"Wait!" Twilight cried as she started flapping her wings, slowly taking to the air. "This is...really hard!"

Flash then went up to her and pulled her slightly up, "You'll be fine. Just try to keep your balance as much as possible."

"Okay..."

With that, the two began to make their way home to Ponyville...or what was left of it. The regular trip between the two in terms of a pegasi going at full-speed would be a half-hour trip. However, Flash couldn't go at full speed with Twilight being just a rookie flyer. As such, the trio took twice as long as they slowly made their way to Ponyville, avoiding the clouds as they got there.

And as the town came into view and their treehouse home was getting closer, they all saw how the Everfree Forest was slowly enveloping the town. Spike let out a glum sigh at this, "This is horrible."

"I agree Spike. That' why we need to get the Elements of Harmony and find the others now!"

Flash nodded in agreement. "Hopefully, we can find a way to stop this before its too late." Seeing the library coming up fast, Flash began to pull himself to a stop, only for something to click in his brain, "Uh-oh."

"What?" Spike asked as Twilight turned to him.

Flash looked at Twilight with an apologetic frown. "I just remembered something...me and Rainbow uh...well, we never got to teaching you how to do a high speed landing."

Twilight's eyes went wide as she turned back to the library, which she was seconds away from crashing into, before letting out a scream of terror.





Inside the library, we find Flash and Twilight's friends searching through every single book they could get their hooves on. However, nothing they read told them of a way to undo the forest's accelerated growth.

"Find anything?" Springer asked as he threw away another book.

"Not yet," Scootaloo replied as she and the crusaders were helping search.

"Nothing," Rainbow added.

"One of these has gotta tell us what ta do," Applejack grumbled as she started on her fourth book. Her entire farm was now covered in the weeds while Fluttershy's animals had taken refuge in the park.

"Oh...I hope we find something soon." the yellow pegasi moaned as she flipped through a fifth book. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

It was then that Wild stopped his search and looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Do you all hear that?" The others turned to him before lifting their ears.

"I don't hear-" Rainbow tried to say, only to stop at the sound of a screaming voice.

"aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

They all turned to the source of the scream and looked out the window, allowing them to see a purple comet heading straight for the building. Seconds before the meteor hit, it was suddenly enveloped by a bright flash, only to reappear inside the room to reveal a very frazzled and completely crash landed Twilight Sparkle.

"AUGH!" She cried as she flew into a bunch of books.

"Oh thank goodness, Twilight's here!" Rarity squealed as she moved over to the pile. Twilight's head then popped out, a book now impaled on her horn.

Fluttershy then walked up to the pile "Oh, um...I hope you know we wouldn't normally go through your books without permission. Sorry Twilight."

The library's door then opened as both Flash and Spike ran inside. "Twilight, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Twilight replied before pulling herself out of the pile. "Ow...stupid flying."

"Sorry about that." Flash added as he helped her up before turning to the others. "You all okay?"

In this moment, Pinkie stepped up next to Rarity. "I dunno if you've noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just a teeny-tiny bit out of control." In that moment, her tail twitched before she ducked down. Barely a millisecond later, a large black thorny branch shot in through the window and slammed Rarity to the side.

"I'd call this way more than out of control," Springer commented before he and Iron started cutting the branch off.

"Its gone completely nuts!" The apprentice knight told them as they severed the corrupted wood.

"Guess it turned out you were missin' something here in Ponyville after all," Applejack added as she shut the window to prevent the branch from getting back in.

Rarity, still reeling from her previous assault, picked herself up with Sweetie's help and looked over at the princess. "But perhaps you already know what's causing all of this calamity." She gave the three newcomers a hopeful look. "Has Princess Celestia sent you to dispel it posthaste?"

Twilight, Flash and Spike all glanced at each other with worry before Twilight replied, "Not exactly. You see, Princess Celestia is, well...she and Princess Luna are both..."

"MISSING!" Spike screamed before slapping his claws over his mouth.

Flash rolled his eyes as the others all gasped. "Way to break it to them gently." He turned to the others. "Look, this madness is happening all over Equestria and its not gonna get any better until we find Celestia and Luna."

Twilight nodded before turning to the case that contained Equestria's greatest weapons. "Flash is right. I don't know who has taken them, but I've got a hunch we're going to need the Elements of Harmony to get them back." With that, she removed the lid and lifted the elements before putting them around their bearers necks, or in Flash's case, on his head.

"Aw yeah!" Rainbow cheered. "Just like old times."

"A-boo-yah!" Pinkie cheered as she and Twilight hoof pumped.

Applejack smiled at Twilight as she placed her hoof on her shoulder. "I told ya we'd always be connected by the Elements. Now we just gotta figure out who to aim these bad boys at so we can get Celestia and Luna back and keep the rest of Equestria from becoming plant food!" A dark weed suddenly found its way into the library, only to get stomped on by the speaking pony. "Any ideas?"

"Hmm..." Twilight replied as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I'm not sure."

"I haven't found squat in any of the books I've been looking through!" They all turned to Pinkie, who was actually looking at a coloring book with a crayon next to her. "Oopsies! Missed a spot!"

Flash just shook his head and let out a moan, "Pinkie, please focus."

Twilight looked out the window, going over everything that had happened so far. "Half day, half night...strange weather patterns...out of control plants. I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of who we're up against."

Iron shined a big grin at this. "Great. Give me a name and I'll pound him into next week."

"And then I'll zap him into the next one," Lightning added.

"No. Who I'm suspecting is too dangerous for anypony other than the Element wielders." She turned towards the door and headed outside. "Come on, I have an idea." The others quickly followed, even the crusaders until they suddenly felt their tails getting pinned.

"Hey!" They all said before looking up at the one pinning them. "Flash! We wanna help!"

"You can help by staying out of trouble," Flash replied as he pointed at the house's main room. "You three stay in here and don't leave unless absolutely necessary."

"He's right sugarcube," Applejack told her sister.

"You three will be safe here," Rarity added.

Flash turned to Lightning. "Stay and watch over them."

"What?!" Why me?!" Lightning yelped as he pointed at the trio. "What, don't trust me enough to help out?!"

Flash leaned up to him with a flat glare, "I'm trusting you with my sister's life. That's a lot of trust from me." He then turned to the door, "Also, if anything happens, I'll need you to teleport them out of here."

Lightning let out a long sigh, seeing he wasn't escaping this. "Fine. But when I took this gig, I didn't think it'd include foalsitting detail."

"Call it part of your probation period," Flash joked as he followed his friends outside.

Lightning then turned to the three fillies, all of them slightly cowering at his presence. That is, till he asked, "So...read any good books lately?"





Twilight lead the group to the edge of town, mainly to a spot that had yet to be completely overrun.

"Alright, let's do this." She turned to the others as they all got in a circle, Iron, Wild, Spike and Springer watching from the side. They all closed their eyes and concentrated, causing their seven Elements to glow before they were lifted into the air. From the Element of Magic, a flowing rainbow flew out and bounced from one Element to the other before eventually connecting into a circle. The Elements then unleashed a burst of color, which spiraled into a tornado. No sooner had it formed, it faded to reveal one creature of chaos...currently in a bathtub.

"Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap-ooh!" Discord laughed as he continued to scrub himself clean. He then stopped singing when he realized what had happened, causing him to cover himself with his towel. He then stepped out of the shower, making it disappear. "Now Twilight, you know Princess Celestia said that you were to give me a heads up before you summon me with that little spell she gave you. In case you haven't noticed, I was in the middle of a particularly invigorating shower."

"Please let this guy be the culprit," Springer moaned as they watched Discord snap his claws, instantly drying himself.

Iron nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Anything to turn him back to stone."

"Oh come now Iron," Discord said as a halo appeared over his head. "Can't you let bygones be bygones?"

"Enough!" Twilight yelled, getting Discord's attention before he could provoke Iron. "Release Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and stop the Everfree Forest from invading!" In that moment, one of the black weeds wrapped around the alicorn.

But in a flash, it was replaced by the master of chaos. "Why, whatever are you talking about?"

"Don't you play dumb with us Discord!" Applejack growled as she pointed at the vines around them, "We know you're the one behind all of this!"

Flash nodded at this. "Who else could, scratch that, would cause something as crazy as all of this if its not you?!"

Discord unwrapped himself from around Twilight before disappearing, then reappeared on a nearby rooftop to overlook the town. "Don't get me wrong," he pulled out a camera and started snapping photos. "I absolutely love what you've done with the place, but I couldn't possibly take responsibility." He then moved over to Fluttershy, the halo returning. "I'm reformed, don't you remember?"

Rainbow flew up to him next, tapping his chest, "Yeah, right! This has got your cloven hoofprints all over it!"

Discord let out a pout at this. "I'll have you know that I have only one cloven hoof." To show his point, he detached his leg, the leg then booting Rainbow's flank before he teleported again. "My my, such accusations. And here I thought we were friends." He then turned back to them with giant puppy dog eyes.

"Drop the act buster!" Pinkie told him as she snarled. "We're onto you!"

Wild nodded. "After what you pulled the last few times you showed your face, we'd have to be crazy to believe you."

"Ponies, ponies," Discord once again gave an innocent face, now summoning a wooden sign that said 'Please believe me'. "I'm innocent. Would I lie to you?"

"YES!" Everypony replied in unison.

"Um....maybe." Fluttershy chimed in.

Discord stared at each other the ponies before sighing. "Well then, it seems we've reached an impasse. I'm telling the truth, but you think I'm lying. What do friends like us do in a situation like this?" he then moved over and poked Twilight on the nose, "How about it Princess Twilight? Oh, and congrats on the promotion. You totally deserve it."

"I say we blast him back to stone!" Rainbow said next.

"Works for me!" Applejack agreed.

"Hear, hear!" Rarity added.

"Lock and load," Flash told them as their Elements started to glow.

"Wait!" Fluttershy said as she flew between them and Discord, "We can't do that! What if he really is telling the truth?"

"Who cares?" Iron asked, only to get a powered down stare from the pegasus.

"Well, finally! Somepony willing to give me the benefit of the doubt." Discord grabbed Rainbow, seemingly mistaking her for the one he was talking about. "The rest of you could learn a lot about friendship from my dear friend Shutterfly here."

"Um...its Fluttershy. And that's not me."

Discord looked between her and Rainbow before tossing the blue pegasus away. "Oh, right." he pulled her into a hug, "Whatever..."

"All right then..." Twilight stepped up to Discord, steam blasting out of her nostrils. "If you're not the one responsible, then help us figure out who is!"

Flash nodded at this. "Yeah! Can't you make some kind of Celestia detector or something?"

Discord gasped, causing him to drop Fluttershy as he glared at Flash. "What kind of creepy stalker do you take me for?" He crossed his arms and looked away. "I may not enjoy following rules, but I do have standards you know."

"How convenient for you."

"Besides, after all the hoof pointing and besmirching of my good name, I just don't know if I'm up to it." He grabbed a nearby weed and started knitting it, causing Twilight to growl in frustration. "Why don't you ask your zebra friend if she knows anything?" To show his point, he knitted an arrow that pointed towards the forest. Everypony turned in that direction, soon seeing said zebra friend walking out of the forest while carrying a large pack pulling a cart.

"Zecora!" Twilight cried as they ran up to her, Fluttershy and Rainbow picking up her pack while Pinkie and Applejack removed her cart.

"You alright?" Flash asked.

Zecora panted as she replied. "From my home, I have had to flee! The forest has grown too wild, even for me!"

"Any idea why all this is happenin'?" Applejack asked, only for a weed to try and nab her hat.

"I'm afraid it is a mystery to me as well," she then turned to her cart. "But I may have something that, if combined with a spell." She pulled out a bottle, filled with a purple liquid that Flash recognized.

"No way! You have that?!"

"You know what that is?" Twilight asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Flash nodded again. "Yeah! Remember when I told you how Princess Celestia helped me learn about my cutie mark?"

"What are you-wait..." Twilight turned back to the potion, "Are you saying that's the potion Princess Celestia used? The one that lets you see the past?"

"Is it?" Flash asked, getting a nod from Zecora.

"That's perfect," Springer cheered, "Please tell me when can use it to see where the princesses have gone too."

"Indeed. Though I do not dare to use it myself," Zecora commented as she held the bottle to Twilight. "The results would be tragic, it only responds to Alicorn magic." She and everypony else turned to Twilight, quickly realizing what she had to do. "Princess Twilight, you can turn the potion from purple to white. After a sip, you may see why the sky is day and night."

Twilight nodded before turning to the bottle, soon sparking her horn as she let out several strained noises. Eventually, the white potion turned purple as her magic took hold of the potion.

"Oooh!" Pinkie gasped.

"Cool," Wild added.

Twilight took the potion in her magic before turning to Flash. "Now what?"

"Just drink it while thinking about what you want to see. That's what Celestia told me to do." He then crossed his hooves as a serious expression took over his face, "One warning though, you can only watch what happens, nothing else. Remember that."

Twilight nodded before taking a large gulp of the potion. Once she was done, she licked her lip and waited for several seconds. "Doesn't seem to be worki-" She didn't finish, as in that moment, she saw nothing but white.





"ing-huh?" Twilight gasped as her eyes went back to normal. She then blinked several times, soon spinning around as she saw she was no longer in Ponyville. Instead, her eyes were now looking at a castle, and she was in the throne room. Behind her were two thrones, one blue while the other was colored yellow and white. "What the-where am I? Is this really the past?"

"Not. Another. Step." yelled another voice, startling Twilight. She then turned around to see Princess Luna walk out from behind the blue throne, a look of pure anger on her face.

Twilight backpedaled at the sight as she asked, "Princess Luna! What's wrong? Why do you look so-"

"LUNA! Stop this madness at once!" screamed yet another voice, causing Twilight to hop in place. She then turned around again, this time seeing Princess Celestia enter the room. She was glaring up at Luna, a cold stare in her eyes as she continued to talk, "You must lower the moon Luna. It is your duty!"

"Princess Celestia…" Twilight whispered as she looked back at Luna, seeing the moon princess's face suddenly contort. Her expression still showed anger, but also...pain. This sight alone made Twilight go wide-eyed as something clicked in her brain. "Oh no. Don't tell me this is when-"

"DUTY?! Don't speak of such things to me!" Luna screeched back as she lifted her hooves up, only to slam them into a terrace. The blow caused the floor and wall behind her to crack, so breaking to reveal the sky. However, this time, the sun in the sky was now covered by the moon. Luna then pointed to the moon behind her, tears now dripping down her face, "I am done following your orders sister! I am done listening to you!"

Luna let out a mighty roar, her horn flaring as she shot a beam of magic at Celestia. The white alicorn then flared her own horn, quickly creating a barrier that nullified the attack. And as it disappeared, Celestia let out a small sigh, "Luna, please listen to me! You must lower the moon! I don't know why you're doing this, but-"

"WHY?! YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHY I'M DOING THIS?!" Luna interrupted, slamming her hooves down again as tears burst over her face. She then lowered her head, her chin almost touching the floor as she hissed, "Even now, you don't care. You don't care about me...about them...about anything!" She raised her head back up, her eyes slitting as she growled, "They're all gone sister! All of them!" The princess then rested a hoof on her head as she panted out, "I...I don't know who they are....but they're all gone! I know they're all gone and you don't care!!! You don't care at all!"

"They're all gone?" Twilight repeated, blinking at the now shivering Princess of the Night before turning to the Past Celestia, "I don't understand. If this is the past, I thought for sure this was when Luna-"

"Who is gone Luna?" Celestia asked next, causing Twilight to stop talking to herself as she noticed the anger on Celestia's face was now gone. Instead, it showed one that was trying to show nothing but kindness, "I don't understand Luna. Please...just tell me what happened. If you could just tell me what happened at your other place, maybe-"

"NO! You don't care!" Luna screamed back, causing both Twilight and Celestia to flinch. She then put both hooves to the sides of her head, her head now shaking back and forth as she repeated, "You don't care...you don't care...you don't care!"

"I do care about you Luna! I-"

"No you don't! All you care about is getting praised by others while I suffer! They're all gone Celestia, and I don't know who they even were! I CAN'T REMEMBER! I can't...remember...and you...don't care. You don't care and...I don't....you don't...I...I...RRAAAUUUGGHHHH!!!" And as this scream rattled through the room, Twilight and Celestia both backpedaled as darkness began to swirl around the Princess of the Night, soon consuming her completely. The darkness fully enveloped her, changing her form into one that Twilight was very familiar with. This form was adorned with light blue helmet on her head and metal shoes for her hooves.

"I...am now Nightmare Moon." she declared as her horn began to flare again, "And I will no longer let your precious sun sit upon the sky. Now, the night will reign supreme! The night....shall last forever!"