All the ponies in town hall had lost their composure and had begun a mass panic. Rainbow Dash went flying after the blue streak of smoke. "Come back here!" she shouted. Twilight managed to get Spike to wake back up. The little dragon returned to his place upon her back.
"We have to get back to the library. The answers have to be in there, especially now since Princess Celestia has gone who knows where." she said, addressing me. I nodded and ran after her as she led the way back to the library.
Very little was said between us on the way there. Every now and then, I had to help stop Spike from falling off of Twilight due to fatigue. He'd been up all night like the rest of us, yet his fainting spell had allowed him to sleep just a little. And once sleep had begun, waking up so soon afterwards was like trying to stay awake after being given a general anaesthetic.
When we got inside, Twilight placed the little dragon into a makeshift basket bed. The poor thing was half asleep already. "We gotta stop Nightmare..." he drowsily muttered before finally letting sleep overtake him. Twilight threw a small blanket over him.
"You've been up all night, Spike. You are a baby dragon, after all." she said, turning to see me waiting by the doorway. I moved to let her pass before flicking off the light and closing the door behind us.
"I'll go make us some coffee. I have a feeling we'll be here a while. I'd say all night, but..." I trailed off, hoping my joke would put her at ease even a little. It seemed she wasn't even listening as she began to go through book titles like a thing possessed.
"Elements, Elements, Elements. Ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?" she began.
Suddenly, she had a face full of rainbow. "And just what are the Elements of Harmony?" she demanded, pushing further and forcing Twilight to backpedal. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" she asked accusingly. Before I could ream Rainbow Dash out for making such accusations without proof, she was yanked back by Applejack who had a mouthful of her tail. A recurring theme between them, I should think. 'Perhaps I should make a count of how many times it happens. So far we're at two that I've seen.'
"Woah. Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you Twilight?" Applejack asked, joined by a small group of mares. Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash took position behind her above Pinkie, that suspicious glare never leaving her face.
Twilight had inadvertently backed up into a corner beside me. I placed a wing over her back to try and reassure her. With a deep breath, she began to tell the girls what she knew. "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only thing that can stop her. But I don't know what they are, or where to find them. I don't even know what they do."
"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Pinkie suddenly said, all eyes turning to her. In the blink of an eye, Twilight was there, visibly mowing Pinkie over to see where she was looking. I fought off a chuckle as Pinkie went flying.
"How did you find that?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie began bouncing past as she replied in a singsongy voice. "It was under 'E'!"
"Oh." Twilight blushed. 'You seriously didn't think to look under "E"? I can't read, what's your excuse?' I thought, holding back the urge to protest. It seems that in Twilight's case, the simpler things are, the harder it is for her to comprehend. A serial overthinker. Useful for trying to take over the world, not so much for trying to save it. Twilight pulled the book out; it was red with a golden inlay, the image of a unicorn's head printed on the cover surrounded by a ring of six diamond shapes. "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..." there was a pause. Somehow, we'd found our way to the edge of... "The Everfree Forest?!"
"I remember Nurse Redheart mentioning the forest. A mysterious place where magic runs wild and the weather is uncontrollable." I said, playing the foreigner card.
"That about sums it up, Sugarcube." Applejack replied.
Pinkie was irrationally excited to be going into the forest. "Whee, let's go!" she said before moving to take a step in.
Twilight however, had other plans. "Not so fast. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own." Well that was never going to happen. 'I'm too invested in you to let you die in there, Twilight.' I thought to myself.
"No can do Sugarcube. We sure ain't letting any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're sticking to you like caramel on a candy apple." Applejack replied, earning a chorus of agreements from the others and a comment from Pinkie which I chose to ignore.
"You didn't really think I'd let you go in there alone, did you?" I asked, looking at Twilight. She didn't respond. She just looked ahead, a worried expression painting her features. "Besides, I have a feeling about those girls. They may prove useful yet." I said, resting a wing over her back and leading her in. With a sigh, she followed alongside me.
"So, none of you have been in here before?" Twilight asked as we walked carefully and quietly through the mysterious forest.
Rarity was the one to answer. "Oh. H-heavens, no. Just look at it. It's dreadful!" her voice began to take on a whimpering tone.
"And it ain't natural. Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria." Applejack added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight inquired.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash emerged from the shadows, a scary look on her face. "No pony knows." she began, landing on the ground and beginning to stalk towards Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie like a predator. "You know why?"
"Rainbow, quit it!" Applejack exclaimed, trying to spare the girls the unnecessary fright.
"'cause every pony who's ever come in has never come... OUT!" Rainbow sprung up out of nowhere. Suddenly, the ground broke from underneath and the girls were sent tumbling down with the exception of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Despite my sudden rush of fear, I noticed an eerily familiar plume of blue smoke emerge from the now broken ground and escape behind the pegasi.
It wasn't a steep drop, but more of a steep slope. We were all sliding down towards the edge, where a long drop would surely kill us. I watched as Rainbow managed to grab Pinkie and Fluttershy managed to get Rarity's tail. Applejack caught a tree root in her mouth, but Twilight and I were still sliding down. Just as we made it to the edge, I managed to hook my hoof with Twilights, my other hooked on a convenient rock. I was never physically fit, so holding a dangling unicorn in one hoof whilst trying to keep my grip on a stone was pushing my strength to the limit.
"Applejack, I need your help. I can't hold Twilight by myself." I called over.
"Are you calling me fat?!" Twilight yelled.
I groaned at the question. "No, I just don't exercise enough." I replied.
"Can't you fly us to safety?" she asked.
"I'm fresh out of hospital! Doctors didn't recommend flying. Even then, I'm a weak flyer. I couldn't carry you at my best." it was embarrassing to say, but it needed to be said. Outright refusal to help would end our blooming friendship and I'd be back at square one whereas no explanation would label me as lazy and a detriment to the safety of this group.
"Hold on. I'm a-comin'." Applejack said, stopping next to me. I tried to swing Twilight towards her so she could grab our friend. Fortunately, it succeeded.
I was at a loss. " Applejack, what do we do?" Twilight asked, the panic clear in her voice. Applejack seemed to struggle for an answer until she looked up, seeming to reach a conclusion. It certainly wasn't one I was expecting.
"Let go."
"Are you crazy?!" Twilight shouted.
"No, I ain't. I promise you'll be safe." I wanted to retort, I wanted to convince her to hold onto Twilight... I wanted to ask if she had any depth perception, but something in the way she spoke. Soft and calm, like she knew something Twilight and I didn't.
"That's not true." Twilight begged.
Applejack's expression changed from soft to stern, yet her voice remained the same. "Now, listen here. What I'm saying to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe." I looked into Twilight's eyes and I could see the uncertainty waver as Applejack's words reached her. I could tell she wanted to believe her. And so did I. Twilight looked over to me and our eyes met. We both nodded to each other and took a deep breath. Then we let go.
As Twilight's body began to fall, that's when I saw them; Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy zooming in from below and climbing to catch a falling friend. Unexpected relief hit me and I relaxed a little. However, I was woefully aware that if I relaxed too much, my grip on the rock keeping me from falling off the edge would slip, and what Twilight and I feared would happen to her, would instead happen to me.
"Lelouch, over here." Applejack called out, diverting my attention. She pointed a little left of our position to a bunch of rocks jutting out from the side. Stepping stones. The farmer lead the way with me close behind her.
"You did good, Applejack. I'm sure Twilight is very thankful you came along." I said. "I know I am." I added, making sure she knew I was just as grateful. The only response I got was a chuckle, which I assumed meant everything was good.
Some minutes later, our trek had continued. Rainbow saw fit to recap the situation, as though somehow we'd have missed it. "And once Pinkie and Rarity were safe, - whoosh! - me and Fluttershy loop-the-looped around and - wham - caught you right in the nick of time."
"Yes, Rainbow, I was there, and I'm very grateful. But we got to-." A group of gasps escaped the mares mouths as a creature suddenly landed in front of us with a *thump*. "A manticore!" Twilight cried out. As if to respond, said manticore stood as tall as it could and roared as loud as possible. "We've got to get past him." Twilight declared.
The manticore went for Rarity first. Surprisingly, the mare was quite fast on her hooves. She ducked the beast's swipe and kicked it with her hind legs. "Take that, you ruffian!" she said, earning an enraged roar from the manticore. The wind from its roar turned Rarity's usually stylised and lengthy mane into what could only be described as a purple afro. "My hair!" she cried before she remembered the manticore and made a beat for the rear. As the manticore chased after her, I heard Fluttershy call out, but nopony else seemed to hear. Suddenly, Applejack, our saviour was on top of the beast, and began cheering as she played rodeo with the beast.
"Get along, little doggy!" The manticore began to pounce and jump in an attempt to throw Applejack off its back. Fluttershy called out again, but went unheard like before. I considered stopping the group to hear her out, but the situation was too dangerous to wait. Finally, Applejack was thrown off the manticore and sent flying a few feet away past Rainbow Dash. "All yours, partner." she said casually as she flew by.
Rainbow Dash saluted. "I'm on it." the pegasus declared before zooming past a protesting Fluttershy towards the monster. Her flying was so fast that it looked as though a rainbow tornado was surrounding the manticore. However, a well timed smack of the creature's tail dashed those plans (pun not intended).
"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed as the rainbow maned pegasus crashed and skidded to a halt before us. A look of determination donned everyone's face, including mine as what remained of the group squared off against this beast three times our size. I considered using my geass on the manticore and revealing my ability to the girls as we all charged towards it. However, before I could come to any conclusion, we were stopped by Fluttershy, whose voice hadn't been so loud for as long as I knew her.
"Wait!!" she cried, halting us in our tracks. We then watched as the normally timid pegasus walked casually towards this huge beast. As soon as she was within range, the manticore raised its paw as if to strike. As the others looked away, I was reminded of Nunnally, and the idea that I could lose another like her to such a creature filled my heart with dread. I activated my geass, but before I could use it, my brain caught up with what I was seeing, and just as quickly as my anxiety appeared, it disappeared, along with my geass. Fluttershy nuzzled the manticore's paw, and it hesitated in decapitating her. It then showed Fluttershy that same paw and lo and behold, a thorn in its paw pad.
"Oh, you poor, poor little baby." Fluttershy cooed.
The girls and I were virtually speechless, save Rainbow. "Little?" she asked. Fair question.
"Now, this might hurt for just a second." Fluttershy said, before taking the thorn in her tooth and plucking it from the manticore's paw. The manticore proceeded to pick Fluttershy up and roar at her. As the girls cried out her name, I continued to watch in awe as the manticore proceeded to lick the pegasus' face like an affectionate puppy, her mane catching on its tongue. Fluttershy for her part, just giggled. "Oh, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are."
The girls and I believing the danger to be over for now, visibly relaxed and made our way to move past the manticore while it was busy fawning over Fluttershy. When we were a safe distance ahead, Twilight and I remained nearby for Fluttershy to catch up. As she appreached, her mane slicked back, looking like she'd just come from a strong breeze, Twilight asked a question. "How did you know about the thorn?"
"I didn't. Sometimes, we all just need to show a little kindness." she replied. Words to live by. Twilight looked at me with a gentle smile.
"Aren't you glad they came along now?" I asked, earning a chuckle from her.
Some time later, as we began to move through a more swampy part of the forest, Rarity visibly and audibly shuddered. "My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." she said. No sooner had she said it, than the trees began to blot out the light of the moon. "I didn't mean that literally." she added.
"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it." Twilight complained. As if to prove her point, we all began to walk into each other, hooves were stepped on, tails were accidentally pulled, heads were butted.
"Oh wait, I think I stepped in something." Applejack's voice sounded. Next thing we heard was Fluttershy screaming, but why, we couldn't tell. "It's just mud." Applejack said, only to just narrowly avoid hitting a tree. Suddenly, she started screaming too and leaped away from the tree. Small fragments of light were getting through, illuminating the tree trunks, making them look like ghastly horrors. We were surrounded. The girls all seemed to scream in terror, save one who just laughed as if nothing was wrong. Everyone, myself included, looked over to Pinkie Pie who was preoccupied with making funny faces at the trees.
"Pinkie, what are you doing? Run!" Twilight called out.
Pinkie just giggled and turned to look at us. "Oh, girls, don't you see?" she asked before beginning to bob up and down. She was dancing. ♪When I was a little filly, and the sun was going down♪ she began to sing.
"Tell me she's not." Twilight said, only to recieve dead silence from the others.
♪The darkness and the shadows they would always make me frown♪ "She is." Rarity replied.
♪I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw♪
♪But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all♪ "Then what is?" Rainbow asked.
♪She said "Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall♪
♪Learn to face your fears, you'll see they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear♪ "Ha ha ha." And like magic, one of the trees had lost its frightening features and looked more like a regular tree. Or as regular as one could get in the Everfree forest.
The girls gasped. "I can't believe that worked." I said, not sure whether I should be glad or sad about this newfound situation.
♪So giggle at the ghostie, guffaw at the grossly♪
♪Crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy♪
♪Chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky♪
♪And tell that big, dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna♪ At this point, Pinkie burst into a laughing fit.
♪Laugh♪
The girls gathered around, a series of giggling fits forcing them on their backs. Thankfully, I didn't need to laugh. It wasn't really my thing. For me, laughing wasn't an expression of joy, it was to cover up my wrath, or to fend off my insanity. No, I was not a laugher. At best, I was a chuckler. Still, my lack of laughter didn't seem to bother them none.
Ten minutes later and they were still laughing. II was begging for another obstacle two minutes ago. Fortune seemed to favour me, however as Pinkie stopped the laughter train rolling. Everyone bumped into each other, stopped by the immovable object that was Pinkie. Upon inspection, the cause for the sudden stop was evident. A raging river. "How are we gonna cross this?" Pinkie asked. Before anyone could answer, we heard wailing somewhere upstream. Our investigation led us to a rather large sea serpent with violet scales like Spike, but with a ginger pompadour and half a moustache.
"Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke- *I snort in amusement* -just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off." 'I thought that was some sort of fashion statement' "And now I look simply horrid!" the serpent began to wail and flail, splashing water all over us.
"Oh, gimme a break." Rainbow groaned.
Applejack agreed with Rainbow. "That's what all the fuss is about?" she asked.
Rarity stepped in and seemed to defend the sea serpent's position. " Why, of course it is! How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely, luminescent scales."
The sea serpent sniffled. "I know." he replied.
"And your expertly coiffed mane." Rarity added.
"Oh, I know, I know!"
"Your fabulous manicure."
"It's so true!"
"All ruined without your beautiful moustache." Rarity concluded.
"It's true, I'm hideous!" the serpent wailed, trying to shield his 'hideous' face from view.
Rarity suddenly got a determined glint in her eye. "I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected." she declared. My mind began to wander as I played the last few events over and over. 'Laughing at trees and stylising a sea serpent. I suddenly wish I were back in the hospital.' It took me a moment to realise what Rarity had done. She'd pulled a scale from his body and brandished it in her mouth like a blade.
"Rarity, what are you-" *slash*
The sea serpent fainted at the sound, even though he hadn't been struck. Rarity had sacrificed her own tail, using the sharp scale to cut it off. With her magic, she lifted the severed tail hairs, and attached them to the missing side of the serpent's moustache.
Upon seeing his 'moustache' returned, the sea serpent was elated. "My moustache! How wonderful!" he actually posed to show it off. 'I wonder how long it takes for a pony like me to drown in the river?'
"You look smashing." Rarity commented.
"Oh, Rarity. Your beautiful tail." Twilight said, seeming to mourn over its loss.
Rarity just turned to face her friend. "Oh, it's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back."
Rainbow felt the need to add. "So would the mustache." I had to agree. Twilight was the first to notice the still waters of the river.
"We can cross now. Let's go. Suddenly, a series of scaly rungs rose from the water, creating a bunch of stepping stones.
It was the sea serpent. "Allow me." he offered, no doubt in gratitude for his new moustache. We each bounced across the river upon the serpent's back.
"There it is! The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We made it." Twilight said, rushing ahead.
Applejack called out to her as the rest of us hurried to catch up. "Twilight! Wait for us!"
"We're almost there." the excitement in her voice was refreshing. It would soon be over, and we could return to civilisation. "Whoa!" Twilight exclaimed, nearly dropping from view. The rest of us rushed to try and catch her before she could fall. Luckily, Rainbow was first on the scene.
"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Rainbow asked.
"Now what?" Pinkie asked. My sentiments exactly.
Rainbow was the one to respond this time around. "Duh." was all she sait, flapping her wings to make a point.
"Oh yeah." Pinkie replied.
Our speedy little pegasus took to the air, then dove down into the clouds below, grabbing the ends of the broken bridge and lifting them, moving over to the other side. It was difficult to see, but it seemed as though something or someone had gotten her attention. Whatever it was, it seemed to put her in a fighting mood as she visibly boxed the air with her front hooves. Then she seemed to be distracted by something in the fog. Moments later, what looked like a uniformed pegasus began flying around her.
"I think someone's there." I said, pointing in the direction of Rainbow.
"Yeah, it's Rainbow Dash, silly." Pinkie replied. It was official, Pinkie Pie irked me. She was right up there with Schneizel.
"No, Lelouch is right, somepony's there with her. Could she be in danger?" Fluttershy asked, clearly wanting to take off and check on her friend, but too scared to confront whoever was there. Suddenly, there was an audible cheer from Rainbow Dash as she jumped into the air, clearing six feet before returning to the base of the bridge to tie her end off. Only for whoever Rainbow was talking to to cut her off, followed by two others.
"That doesn't seem very friendly." Rarity commented. I was of a mind to agree, however, it didn't seem that things were turning violent just yet.
"Rainbow, what's taking so long?" Twilight decided to call out. It was then we caught a good glimpse of whoever it was Rainbow was talking to before the fog covered our view of them and Rainbow. "Oh no, Rainbow. Don't listen to them!" Twilight tried to call out. It seemed as though Rainbow was done for. Only a few moments later, Rainbow returned, the fog dissipating in her wake. There was a chorus of cheers from the group as Rainbow landed on our side of the bridge, front legs up in a sort of show-pony pose.
As we began to cross the bridge, I heard Rainbow telling Twilight. "See? I'd never leave my friends hanging." and then she went to scout on ahead. Pinkie then bounced up beside me.
"Maybe it'll be your turn to deal with a situation next, Lulu." Pinkie teased. The use of that particular nickname aside, she had a point. We were faced with challenges, and each of the girls had the opportunity to use their unique talents and perspectives to solve them. Only Twilight and myself had yet to be faced with such an opportunity.
"Either me, or Twilight." I replied, earning a content bounce from the pink mare. "And don't ever call me Lulu again." I added.
Finally, we'd made it. The location of the Elements of Harmony. These ancient ruins while severely damaged, still stood relatively proud. Much of the walls had decayed and broken over time, but the layout was relatively unchanged. In the middle of the ovular entryway stood a pedestal with six orbs facing six directions, each orb had a carving of a gem on it. And each gem was of a different shape.
"Whoa." Applejack let out. "Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waiting for?" she asked as Twilight joined her friends.
Twilight smiled as she gazed upon the pedestal containing the orbs. "The Elements of Harmony; We found them." she said. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went and took two of the orbs off the pedestal. Once they were placed gently on the ground, they went back for the others.
"One, two, three, four... there's only five." Pinkie said.
"Where's the sixth?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight lay down in front of the five Elements. "The book said, 'when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed."
"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked.
"I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen." she ordered. We all did as we were told. I had an idea of what Twilight was about to try, and it seemed too simple to work. Twilight lit up her horn, seeming to concentrate.
Applejack ushered everyone outside. "Come on now, y'all. She needs to concentrate." she said.
"I'll stay with Twilight and keep a lookout while she does her thing." I said, addressing Applejack. The farmer nodded and went to wait patiently with the others. Once she was gone, I turned back to do just that. That's when I saw it. The Nightmare's smoke began to circle the Elements of Harmony, lifting them and revolving them around and around in a small twister. Twilight's magic fizzled out as she became distracted. "Twilight!" I called out. As I ran towards her, I heard the girls outside begin to panic and make their way for our location. I knew something was about to happen, and so did Twilight. She jumped into the tornado, and I followed close afterward, and the last thing either of us heard was the sound of the others calling our names before we disappeared.