//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Friendship is Magic - Part 2 // Story: Friendship is Magic: Reversal // by Trail Grazer //------------------------------// The room was filled with terror and malice; a towering alicorn of infernal hair and nature cackled wildly as she made flames dance around the room in a fury manipulated by her sheer force of will. As the flames rocketed from outside the roof of the chamber, the sun pulsed with a scorching flame, encompassing all within its light in a sweltering heat that raged to no end. The five ponies huddled around their weakened friend, but couldn't help shuddering in fear, not at what was before them but by what they'd done. The idea that these six, these ponies who'd come all this way to save their home ultimately doomed it instead, was full of the most vicious irony and it just stung them all the more. As the fiery alicorn continued to cackle, Sunset slowly regained her strength and returned to her hooves, with help from the others. "Are you alright, Sugar?" Apple Pasty asked as Snow Banks helped Sunset get back up on her hooves. "Ugh," she grunted. "I'm fine... But, Equestria, I'm not so sure..." As the laughter of the alicorn died down, she then stared ferociously at the group of six ponies in front of her, as they shuddered in fear of the death that could be seen in her eyes; horrified of what she would do to them next. "Oh, how rude of me," she said. "It is not fitting for a ruler to neglect to properly introduce herself before her subjects. Rejoice, my people, for your one true leader, has returned, for I am..." Before she could finish, Sunset took a step forward. "Day Blight!" She interjected, catching the flaming mare's surprise. "The Scorcher! Supreme Flamelord! The Fire of Vengeance! The Incinerator of Civilizations..." As the others leaped forward to pull their friend back, to everyone's surprise, Day Blight's face turned from one of anger instead of to one of amusement. "Thou art correct, my little pony," she grinned devilishly, steam coming out of her snout as she spoke. "I had feared my absence would've left me all but forgotten in the hearts and minds of my beloved subjects, but it brings me to rejoice to see that is not the case!" The towering mare stretched and let out a sigh of relief as she released the tension in all her joints with thunderous cracks. "One thousand years trapped within that accursed moon! How ironic it is that the second moon I gave to my wretched little sister as a gift would be used against me in her hour of need. Truly sister, thou art a very treasonous wench..." The flame-haired enchantress' eyes wandered around the chamber, looking upon the significant moments in Equestria's history, but put on a face of pure rage as they rested upon the slab depicting her banishment all those centuries ago. "RRRRRAAAAAAAH!!!!" She cried out as she blasted away the entire section of the wall, turning nearly every hieroglyph on it into smoking rubble. "But, all thy efforts have become in vain! For I have finally returned, and in doing so shall fulfill my promise to the world, and purify it of all traces of your wretched night!!!" As the flames burst from her hair and wings at that cry, Sunset only clenched her teeth at her arrogance, using every ounce of her strength to keep herself from doing something reckless and stupid. "Just what are you going to do?" exclaimed Snow Banks. "What's gonna happen to Equestria?!" The blazing alicorn only cackled all the more before giving an answer. "If thou know of me," she replied. "Then I am sure thou know of my final decree, before my thousand-year imprisonment! Shudder not in fear, my little ponies! For this is a day of awakening! For never again shall the darkness threaten our lives with fear and shadow! For I shall bring forth the never-ending light of day, and a new millennial reign of prosperity and happiness for all of Equestria!!!" As she let out one more villainous cackle, Day Blight turned her attention to the great machine that released her, eying its spherical treasures with a smirk. "But first, I must ensure that there is no one or thing, left to stop me!" Day Blight's horn gave a villainous yellow glow, just before levitating the orbs around her. “My dear sister, so proactive you were to lock away the Elements of Harmony for safekeeping, and yet how foolish you were not to have taken the proper measure to keep them secure, as these six were what aided in my eventual escape because of it!” “Wait, you mean those stones are the Elements of Harmony?!” Lulamoon interjected. “What did thou believe them to be?” Day Blight responded. “Souvenir trinkets?!” "Watch what you guys are thinking!" Party Favor whispered. "She can read minds!" Everyone just became a touch confused, while Lulamoon rolled her eyes. “No,” she said. “Though, to be honest, with how they were talked about, I was expecting something a little more...” “Impressive,” Flash Warp said, finishing her thought. “Do not be fooled,” Day Blight stated. “Though they are not as awe-inspiring in their current dormant state, these five, along with the sixth, once held a beaming presence whose combined might be great enough to lock away that of an immortal such as me. Though, no longer! I shattered the hidden sixth element during the battle with my sister, just before my millennial imprisonment, and it is here and now THAT I FINISH THE JOB!!!!!!” The flame-haired demon made a massive slam on the floor as she let out a fiery blast, setting the five stones aflame as they began to blacken and crackle. “NOOOOO!!!!!” Sunset cried out attempting to dash ahead to stop her, only for her friends to grab hold and stop her in her tracks. They all could only watch in horror as what may have been their only hope of survival burned away before their very eyes. As the last few cinders fell to the ground, Sunset began to tear up at the thought of how their... No, her ambition had lead to unleashing this threat upon their world. “They’re gone... Our last chance is gone...” Her friends attempted to comfort her, to reassure her it would be alright, but they couldn’t fool her when they all knew it likely would not. “After a millennium of waiting, the Elements of Harmony are finally no more!” Day Blight bellowed. “Now, there is only one thing remaining, that could stand in my way...” Sunset’s tears soon came to a sudden stop as she looked up to see the magmatic menace walking up to them, causing them all to begin to cower in fright. “The Elements may be gone now, but it was you six who allowed them to be reawakened to free me. It would be counterproductive for me to begin my return, and my new reign as the Eternal Solar Queen, by eradicating those who so generously aided me in my escape. But, I will not make the mistake of permitting you all to roam free, so you may attempt to stop me!” A bright yellow aura began to glow from her horn, just before sending out a sudden blast, knocking back Apple Pasty as it hit her. When she stopped, a large electrified yellow bubble surrounded her, surging with electricity as she became trapped within its radius. “Wha?! Hey! Ah can’t move!” she cried out. “Ah’m stuck!” Everyone began to shake and scatter, as she began blasting everyone else into similar bubbles. Sunset began to shake as she saw everyone around her becoming trapped and helpless. Just then, a large shadow loomed over her as she whipped her head back to see Day Blight holding the most villainous grin, just before entrapping her as well. "Worry not, my champions," she said. "For I do not intend to leave you here after all that you have done to aid me. I shall see to your release, but only after my mission is complete!" The flaming alicorn opened up her wings as she began to walk out the stairs of the chamber. "I do hope thou art prepared dear sister, for I intend to exact the most agonizing vengeance upon thee, greater than this world has ever known before!" The infernal tyrant gave out one last loud and fiery cackle as her flames pulsed into one great torrent, rocketing her into the sky out of everyone's sight. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The chamber doors had closed, cutting off any source of light from the outside, and any chance of anyone hearing them from within. Most of the group was just floating around, doing everything to call to the outside for help, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Lulamoon and Sunset were doing everything they could to break the entrapment spell they had each been encased in, though they were not having any more luck than the others crying out. "Hmmnnnnnn," Lulamoon strained, charging up a spell from her horn. "HA! AH!" However, it didn't go as well as she'd hoped, and the spell began rebounding all over the sides of her bubble. "AH! HA! UH! AH! AAAH!!!!" Eventually, it stopped ricocheting and had hit her right in her face, leaving her mane frizzled and her head covered in smokey black ash. "Cough Well, now we know break spells won't cut it. Speaking of cut, how's that cutting torch spell you mentioned, Sunset?" Sunset was leaning down toward the bottom of her bubble, charging up a small stream from her horn that resembled a welding torch. "If I can just, get a fix on the corner," she said to herself as she sparked a proper stream. "Aha-uuuuuuuaaaahhhaaaahahahah!!!" Unfortunately, this went about as well as Lulamoon's last attempt, causing her to spin around and around in all directions from her lack of friction and propulsion coming from her horn. Eventually, she stopped casting the spell and managed to slow herself down, her head spinning and her stomach churning at an uncomfortable pace. "Uh... Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick!" Sunset began to heave forward, about to gag, until she swallowed and held it back. After shaking off the initial dizziness, Sunset levitated a book out of her bag and began skimming through it. "There has to be something we haven't tried! Um, uh, Somnambula's Energy Dissipator?!" "Tried that, it just gave us a nasty shock," Lulamoon replied. "Well, how about, Rockhoof's Amassing Addendum?" Sunset asked, getting twitchier. "The feedback nearly crushed us," Lulamoon said. "Mist Mane's Elemental Disintegration?!" Sunset said beginning to panic. "That's the one we just tried!" Lulamoon snapped. Sunset clenched her teeth just before letting out a shout of frustration and throwing the book to the ground. Lulamoon gave a glum expression before speaking."Sunset, it's no use. These fields were specially designed to prevent escape by magical means." "There has to be something!" Sunset exclaimed. "We have to hurry! The Princess is gone, Day Blight's going to take everypony by surprise, and there's no way anyone's a match for her!" "I know, believe me, I know," Lulamoon replied. "But, there's no magic we can do that will make a dent in this forcefield, it's just too powerful. We may have no choice but to wait until someone can find us." "Who's gonna find us?!!!" Sunset exclaimed. "Nopony can hear us out there, and the only one who knows where we are is Day Blight!" "Well, we can't keep this up!" Lulamoon exclaimed. "Our spells are only making things worse! If we try the wrong spell, getting out will be the least of our problems!" "This is so bogus, Dude!" Snow Banks said in a panic. "There's nothing we can do, we can't touch the ground, we can't go anywhere! I need to be able to move! If I can't move then-then-THEN! DYAHAHA!!!!" Snow Banks began to freak out, much to everyone's chagrin, which made Party Favor roll his eyes and shake his head. "Yeesh, and you guys think I overreact a lot?" he said, begrudgingly. "It's true, but at least when I do it I'm not screaming like a drowning cat." "Yesterday, when Ah brought you Zapples to bake with," Apple Pasty began. "You got all giddy after you screamed because you said you pulled off the perfect drownin' cat impression!" Party Favor's face suddenly went blank as he went mute. "Ah crud, you got me in a box!" He said, pouting. "And I'm already in a bubble!" Sunset's lip began to quiver, as she started to consider what they were saying. Were they right, were they just stuck? "This-this can't be it," Sunset muttered, struggling to hold back tears. "I can't be responsible for this, not again... There has to be something else-There's just gotta-gotta..." Sunset tried to figure out something else but became distracted by the grunting sounds echoing in the chamber. "Who is doing that?! I can't concentrate with all that noise!" She turned to see Flash Warp, stretching his limbs and doing everything he could do to reach the edges of the bubble. "Flash, what are you doing?" "What's it look like I'm doing?" he asked. "I'm trying to break out! Just-gotta reach-the edge!" Flash strained to reach the edge of his bubble, while Sunset just shook her head. "Flash, you can barely touch the bubble at all," Sunset said. "It's useless, we have to figure out something else." Sunset continued to flip through her other books, but Flash wouldn't listen, he wouldn't have it. "Hey, you said it yourself, there's nopony else," he replied. "We're our only shot of getting out and stopping Day Blight! So, I'm not giving up, a real knight would never quit so easily!" Flash began heaving himself to the edge, giving everything he had to hit it hard enough to break out but had no effect. Flash recoiled his limbs for a minute and took another look at his bubble. He began to notice the electrical surges that were flowing through it, all tended to come and go in the same directions. "Hmm, I wonder..." An idea sparking, Flash stretched his hooves as far as he could until he touched the surface of the bubble. Spreading his wings, he began to spin himself, gradually picking up speed. "Flash, are you even listening? I asked you to be qui..." Sunset stopped short, surprised by what she was seeing. Flash was now doing cartwheels inside his bubble, causing sparks to fly along the edge as he spun, and the faster he spun the more that flew out and the more unstable his bubble was becoming. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAWHOA!!!!" Flash exclaimed, just as he started to feel like he was going to be sick, his bubble burst into a shower of sparks, sending him flying across the room. As he shook off his initial dizziness he jolted onto his hooves. "Yes! It worked! You just have to spin as fast as you can in the direction of the electricity, and the bubble will fall to pieces!" "Oh! Of course!" Lulamoon said, facehoofing herself. "It's a friction field! It traps you by making you immobile, but if it's overloaded it becomes unstable and breaks down!" "Well, you heard her!" Sunset shouted to everyone. "Everypony spin!!!" Everyone began following Flash's lead, stretching and spinning across the edges. Pretty soon, sparks were flying everywhere as the bubbles burst all around them. "It worked!" exclaimed Apple Pasty. "We're out!" said Lulamoon landing on her feet as Sunset followed. "Ground! Sweet ground!" Snow Banks began shouting as he started to hug and kiss it just a little, kind of weirding everyone out. "I'll never leave you again!" As he continued his make-out session, Party Favor was the only one who had yet to escape. "WEEEEEEEEWEEEEEEWEEEEEEWEEEEEEEEEEEE!" though, from the way he was screaming, he was probably trying to prolong it from the fun he was having. "Thiiiiiis iiiiiis aaaaaawesooooooome!" "Alright, Party, that's enough," Lulamoon shouted. Though Party Favor didn't respond and continued to scream in glee. "Party? Party Favor?" Apple Pasty shook her head as he began to work her last nerve. "PARTY!" she shouted. The shock caught Party off guard, and suddenly his bubble not only popped but he was sent flying through the air. Snow Banks had just finished kissing the ground and didn't entirely realize what was happening. He turned his head, and at that moment was run over by a cartwheeling blue earth pony that came out of nowhere. As the eyes rolled around in both of their dizzy skulls, Party Favor shook his off and only had one thing to say. "Can we do that again?!" Everyone rolled their eyes, while Sunset face-hoofed herself for what seemed like the dozenth time that afternoon alone. From the outside, the door to the chamber suddenly began to shake and crumble, every other moment like the knock on a door. Until a second later when it completely broke apart into a massive pile of rubble and dust. Out of it walked Sunset and Lulamoon with smoking horns as most everyone else ran and flew out as quickly as they could. "Freedoooom!" Snow Banks exclaimed. "Just remember," Party Favor began. "If you're ever locked in a dark and creepy old chamber again, you can always just MAKE an exit!" Party Favor bounced off as Lulamoon snickered at the joke, while Sunset just smiled a bit. Flash came up from behind and began to walk past her, but she stopped him before he could. "Flash, wait," she said. "How did you know that would work?" "Well, tell you the truth, I didn't," Flash said, shrugging. "I just had a feeling, and I went with my gut." "B-but what if it hadn't worked?" Sunset replied, confused. "Then I would've tried something else," he replied. "And again, and again, until I found something that did. We can't just give up when things start to get hard, we just have to keep trying." Flash walked off to meet the others, leaving Sunset just the littlest bit stunned, until she snapped out of it and joined them. They all walked out of the shade to find the sun shining brighter than it had been all winter, which wasn't very reassuring since not more than an hour ago it was pitch black. "We need to hurry," she said. "Now, we just have to figure out where Day Blight went. Let's think, where would she go to make sure she could create a never-ending daytime?" "To find something that could help her?" Lulamoon said. "There are plenty of relics or talismans across Equestria that could help her." "Or, maybe someone?" Apple Pasty interjected. "Before she left, Ah heard her mutterin' to herself about revenge on her sister." "Um, am I missing something?" Snow Banks said. "Didn't her sister live a thousand years ago? Isn't that, like, a pretty long time ago?" "Yeah, but in all the adventure books I read, villains usually try to get revenge on the people they think wronged them," Sunset answered. "She might be going someplace where she can destroy something that belonged to her, something important." "You mean something like the thousand-year-old castle that's currently in the center of Everfree Village?" Party Favor asked. "Yes, perhaps," Sunset replied, but suddenly jumped as a thought raced through her mind. "Wait, Party, why did you say... Is that my telescope?" She turned to see him looking off into the distance with a telescope in his hooves. "Where did you get that?" "From your saddlebag," Party answered. "You should really be more careful, no telling what kind of weirdos are out here." Sunset only deadpanned at the irony of what he just said. "But, you guys should know I can see the village from here, and there's a whole lotta smoke coming from it right now..." he said. Everyone suddenly became panic-stricken and ran over to try and see what they were talking about. Sunset took the telescope from Party Favor and instantly became scared of what she saw. Smoke, coming from the houses in the village, and explosions going off around the castle. "Oh no, he's right!" she exclaimed. "The town! Gasp My brother!" She threw the telescope back into her saddlebag and began to run off. "He's in danger, I have to save him!" "I think you mean we have to save them!" Snow Banks proclaimed, causing Sunset's eyes to widen. "What?!" she exclaimed, screeching to a halt. "No, no, no, no, no, no! I work better alone. We can't-You shouldn't..." "Better alone?" Apple Pasty questioned. "Sugar, Ah don't know what'chu thinkin', but you ain't the only one with family in that town. We can't just sit by and let 'em get fried like kettle corn on a hot day." Apple Pasty flew past Sunset as the rest of the group began to follow. "I'm working to become a member of the guard," Flash said passing her. "What kind of knight would I be if I left a citizen to do it?" "Besides, no bra of mine is gonna swing a curl without me there for the shred!" said Snow Banks. As the rest of the group all trotted past her, Sunset was left there stammering for a moment before she let out a big sigh and conceited. "Fine, let's just get this over with," she grumbled to herself as she followed along. "I need to save my brother!" ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The six ponies walked through a large and mysterious wood. Though it was no longer as dark as it was before, there were many shadowy places created from the dense treetops and many ominous wild sounds could be heard, most likely agitated from the sudden shift from night to day. Most everyone was calm as they walked through the brush and bramble, except for Lulamoon, whose fear of the wilderness kept getting to her. With the sound of a twig snap behind her, she jolted forward, right next to Apple Pasty. "So, do we actually have a plan?" she asked Apple Pasty. "What do ya mean?" Apple Pasty asked. "Stop Day Blight, and save the town!" Party Favor Interjected. "Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!" "That's more of a goal than a plan," Lulamoon said. "Shimmer, I think she's talking to you!" Party Favor said, bouncing by, leaving Sunset confused. "Sunset, tell me you actually do have a plan?" Lulamoon asked. "Lulamoon's right, Sunset," Flash interjected. "We can't just go up blindly without some idea on how to stop her." "As a matter of fact, yes," Sunset assured. "I do actually have some sort of a plan. First, we make it back to town, using everything we used to get up here; the train, buses, taxis..." "That one weird haycart pulled by those goats," Snow Banks said casually. "Wait, how did you..." Sunset asked, very surprised. "Nevermind! Anyway, for what Day Blight has planned she'll most likely be in the castle; I've read enough adventure novels to know where the bad guys go. So all we have to do is sneak through town, make our way into the castle from the back door, catch her by surprise and-a-and... Party, are you scrapbooking my plan?!" Lulamoon turned her head to where Sunsets was and became just as surprised by what she saw; Party Favor lying on the ground surrounded by arts and crafts supplies. "What?! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Party Favor replied. "Sunset, don't be silly, you don't scrapbook at a time like this! This a diorama, there's a difference. Check it out, it's us standing triumphantly over Day Blight, and everypony in town is carrying us on their shoulders!" Party Favor then pulled a small cord in the back that played a recording of a cheering crowd, just before it burst out a large cloud of confetti right into Sunset's eyes. "DAH!" She exclaimed. "Confetti?! Again?!" Sunset quickly brushed everything out of her face, while everyone else laughed a bit before becoming serious again. "Okay, well, let's say she is in the throne room," Lulamoon continued. "I may know another way into the castle once we get there, but how do you plan on actually stopping Day Blight" "Day Blight cast a powerful spell to keep us trapped," Sunset replied, spitting out the last bit of confetti. "That means any of us is a threat to her plans, and she knows it, otherwise she would've just left us. That means there is a way we can stop her!" "Okay," Apple Pasty said, going along. "But, what exactly do we have that'll let us stop her. Ah'm just a farm girl, Ah don't know anythin' 'bout fightin'." Sunset levitated her bag up and directed their attention to what was inside. "I thought this might help even the odds," Sunset levitated her bag to show a large pile of dust and ash. "A pile of dust?" Flash asked. "Sunset why do you have a pile of dust in your..." "Wait a minute," Lulamoon interrupted. "Are those the Elements of Harmony?!" Sunset gave a big nod and proceeded to put them away. "I swiped them just before we blasted our way out," Sunset explained. "Figured they might be able to help." "Sunset, they're ash! We saw Day Blight destroy them right in front of us," Flash stated. "What makes you think they can do anything anymore?" "Check it out," Sunset pulled out another book from her saddlebag and flipped through it. "What's that?" Snow Banks asked. "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide," Sunset explained, confusing a few of them. "What? You didn't think I came all the way out here unprepared, did you? Anyway, there are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Compassion, Selflessness, Honor, Perseverance, and Creativity. Used in the ancient battle against Day Blight, the Princess of the Night used them all to imprison her by merging the two moons of Equestria into one. However, before she was locked away, Day Blight used her immense power to destroy the sixth before the spell could be completed, leaving a potential opening for her to be released in the future. The destroyed element is unknown, and its name has been lost to time." As Sunset finished reading, everyone began to show faces of concern. "So, you're saying the whole plan is to walk up to Day Blight, and hope there's some way to get the Elements of Harmony to work?" Lulamoon said, rubbing between her eyes. "Um... Maybe," Sunset said, unsure of how to respond. Everypony just exchanged iffy looks and struggled in silence to figure out what to say. "Yeah, um... No offense, Dudette," Snow Banks said, breaking the awkward silence. "But that's not much of a plan." "Well, I don't see any of you coming up with anything original," Sunset snicked. "Aw, come now, no need to get testy, Sugar," Apple Pasty replied. "We just think we should have something a little more... solid," Lulamoon replied. "Look, the elements were the only thing that could stop Day Blight a thousand years ago," Sunset began. "They're the only real thing we know that can stop her now!" "That is, if they didn't look like that batch of cookies I forgot were in the oven last month," Party Favor interjected. "Hoo-boy, those were crispy." "I'm working with what I've got," Sunset said through her teeth. "When you're up against a thousand-year-old fire sorceress that nopony has prepared for, you play a few hunches!" Sunset lowered her head and began to walk away from the group. "Sunset, calm down," Apple Pasty said. "We ain't tryin' to pressure ya none, but yer probably the only one here who may know what to do." "Oh, so now everyone wants Daydream and her crazy ideas around," Sunset muttered to herself. "What was that?" Apple Pasty asked. "Um, I-I said it doesn't matter what we do to try and stop her," Sunset stammered trying to cover up what she really said. "We're a really long way away from the Everfree Forest, so all the planning in the world isn't gonna matter if we can't..." Reeaaah! Reeaaah! Sunset's train of thought was suddenly brought off track. "Look, Sunset," Lulamoon began. "We didn't mean to..." Before she could say anything reassuring, Sunset abruptly shushed Lulamoon. "Wha, she just shushed me!" "Well, she probably just mea-," before Apple Pasty could continue Sunset abruptly shushed her as well. "Okay, we're tryin' to be corjial her, Sugar, but if yer gonna keep..." "Will you all quiet for a sec and listen?!" Sunset irately whispered. Everypony stopped talking and kept their ears open for a moment. Reeaaah! Reeaaah! "There! There it is again!" A strange screeching sound could be heard somewhere out in the distance. "What is that?" "Sounds like some kind of an animal," Flash Warp stated. "A-Animal?!" Lulamoon said in fear. "W-w-what kind of animal?! Something f-f-f-f-ferocious?!" "Whatever it is, it doesn't sound too happy," Snow Banks said. Party Favor stuck his head out and began to search around, his ears turning this way and that, until they pointed him somewhere to the east. "Whatever it is, it's coming from thataway," he said. As he pointed in the direction of the sound, Sunset suddenly dashed off leaving the group behind. "Huh?! Hey, wait! Sunset there's more!" "Come on, let's go get her!" Flash Warp exclaimed leading the rest of the group in the same direction. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunset continued to run through the woods, jumping past branches, small animals, and even some very large fruits and vegetables the further she went. Though, the thick bramble of the forest made it hard for her to see what was ahead of her. Eventually, she came to a bright clearing, which blinded her for a second, as she stopped short of running directly off a cliff. As Sunset stood there trying not to lose her balance, just as she began to fall forward, Flash Warp flew up from behind her and grabbed her by the back, pulling her to safety. As the others quickly ran over afterward, Party walked over dead last, out of breath. "I tried-Hah! To tell you-Huff!" he panted. "I could hear the sounds of water-huff... Beating against a cliff-hooy!" Party stood there struggling to catch his breath, Snow Banks patting him on the back. "What were you thinking, Sunset?!" Flash interjected. "You could've run straight off the edge!" "Well, I had to see where that noise was coming fro..." Before Sunset could finish her thought, the screeching started again. Down below them was a large river with icy edges, and stuck underneath the cliff, tangled in a bunch of rocks, was some kind of a small ray-like creature with a dorsal fin, trapped in a net of some kind and struggling to get out. "Heavens to Luminara, what is that?" Apple Pasty exclaimed. "I know this creature!" Sunset interjected. "I've read about them in tons of my adventure books!" Sunset then pulled out yet another book from her saddlebag, which made Party Favor curious. "Just how many books can fit in that lil' bag o' yours?" he said. "Will you just shut up for a sec and look," Sunset said turning to a page in her book. "Aha! I knew it! It's called an ashray! It's a type of translucent creature that swims in all kinds of water! But, it says here they're nocturnal." "Well, it was the middle of the night just an hour ago," Lulamoon said. "Lil' critter looks like it's just a youngun," Apple Pasty said. "Poor thing, the sudden change must've gotten 'er all out of sorts." "Oh no, this isn't good," Sunset said, worried. "Ashrays are vulnerable in daylight, if they're captured in any way their bodies start to melt, and they turn into a puddle of water!" Everyone gasped in alarm at the sound of that. They looked down and could see the effects of the net starting to turn it into water. "Dude! We gotta do something!" Snow Banks exclaimed. "Okay, nobody panic," Flash said, trying to calm everyone down. "Pasty and I can fly down there, but that rough water's gonna make it hard. So, you guys find anything you can use to propel yourselves down, and we'll..." Before Flash could finish elaborating his plan, Sunset threw off her winter wear and saddlebag and dove off the cliff. "Sunset, NO!!!" Sunset had already lunged far off the side and into the freezing water below. She had lept far away from the cliff, so she was safe from the rocks, but the water was rough and she had to double back. She surfaced and coughed out some drops of water she accidentally inhaled but was otherwise okay. Taking a deep breath she dove back down below the waves and swam towards the rocks. "Pasty! Come on! The rest of you, find a way down there!" Flash exclaimed as he and Apple Pasty down after her. Most everyone else looked down, struggling to figure out what to do. "They're not gonna be able to fly down there long with those waves hitting them so hard," Lulamoon said, beginning to panic. "Well, what can we do, Dudette?" Snow Banks asked. "If I had my board, I could probably surf the curls enough to stay on top, but I left it at home!" "Hey, guys!" Party Favor interjected. Lulamoon and Snow turned their head to see Party pulling on a vine connected to the top of what seemed to be a giant calabash gourd, bigger than all three of them. "I may have an idea, but it's a bit gourd-y!" Meanwhile, down below, Sunset had reached the rock the Ashray was stuck to but it was beginning to become very jiggly and it was scared. "Hey, hey! It's okay, I'm a friend," she said trying to calm it down. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here, but I need you to calm down." Sunset continued to speak in soft tones and gently let the ashray know it was going to be okay. "It's gonna be alright, just stay still. I'll be right back." Sunset took a deep breath and dove underneath the water again, swimming towards the net which had snared itself pretty tight around the rock. Sunset struggled to untie it with her hooves and magic, but it was no use, it was far too tangled. Sunset surfaced, grabbing onto the rock and taking several deep breaths, the ashray beginning to freak out a little again. "Hey, hey, hey, don't you panic, okay! I will get you out of this, I promise!" "You mean we will get them out of this, right?!" Sunset looked up to see Flash and Pasty hovering above them with ropes. "Here catch!" Flash tossed down a small green pocket knife, that Sunset caught with her magic. "You didn't think you were the only one who came prepared, did you?" Sunset chuckled a little bit before extending the blade. Though she tried her best to cut through the net, the beating of the waves made it hard for her to focus without hurting herself or the ashray. "It's getting a little chilly down here!" She exclaimed as best she could. "Can you guys come any closer?!" "The water's too rough, if our wings get too wet we'll fall in," Flash explained. "Just keep it up!" Apple Pasty Interjected. "If you lose yer grip, grab one o' the ropes and we'll pull ya back!" "Okay, but this it's getting really hard to, WHA!" Sunset got hit by another really big wave, knocking her against the rock. "SUNSET!" the two pegasi shouted in panic. The water went back down, and Sunset was still there, but she was struggling to hold on. "Cough Cough, I'm okay," she cried out. "But... Oh no! I lost the knife!" The two pegasi attempted to fly a little closer to help, but the waves were just too rough for them. "It's no use, Sunset!" Flash exclaimed. "Grab onto the ropes, we need to pull you up!" Flash lowered his rope more, but Sunset was unwilling. "What?! No! We can't give up!" she shouted. "What happened to never quitting?!" "I didn't say we were quitting," he replied. "But safety comes first! This isn't working! You're cold and freezing, if you stay in any longer you'll lose your grip! We have to find another way!" Sunset heard him, but her heart wouldn't listen. The ashray was coming that much closer to turning to water, she couldn't just leave it. "There's no time!" she shouted. "If we don't get it out now it'll be too late! I can't just leave her!" "I feel ya, Sugar, I do!" Apple Pasty shouted. "But the water's too rough fer us to come down and help ya! And it's not like any of us packed a raft!" Just as Pasty finished shouting that, a large splash of water drizzled on them from the middle of the river. The three of them looked over and from under the water, in a huge forcefield, popped out Party Favor and Lulamoon in half of a hollowed-out calabash gourd. As Lulamoon lowered the forcefield Party began tugging on this tail. When he finished a motorboat-like sound started as his tail began to spin around in the water, propelling them towards the rocks. "All ashore who's going ashore!" Party Favor joked as they came closer. As they reached the rocks where everypony was, Lulamoon then raised a couple of forcefields around the side, to keep the waves from interfering too much. "Come on in, the water's not fine!" Party Favor joked again as he extended his hoof and pulled sunset onto their raft, which caused it to become a bit crowded. With the waves no longer a problem, Flash and Pasty came down and pried apart the net from where Sunset had started cutting, and at a moment's notice, the ashray flopped out of the net and back into the water as it finally stopped changing. Everypony was relieved that they were able to get her out in time and with that, Lulamoon lowered the forcefields and Party Favor started steering them out of the watery crags. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ They made landfall on the side of the river where the cliffs had finally leveled out. Snow Banks ran down to meet them, and by the time he came down Lulamoon had conjured a small fire as Flash wrapped Sunset in a large blanket to warm her up. "Here ya go, Sugar," Apple Pasty said, handing Sunset a thermos. "Hot Zapple Cider, good to help cure what's ailin' ya." Sunset shivered as she reached out and took the thermos from her. "Th-th-th-th-thanks," she said through her chattering teeth. She took a sip followed by a big gulp and a slight cough. "Whoooooaah! Cough That stuff really has a kick!" "Ah told ya it was good fer what's ailin' ya," Apple Pasty said with a smirk on her face. Snow Banks walked over, carrying Sunsets things from on top of the cliff. "Here Dudette, I got your scarf and hat back to warm you up," he said as he set her bag down and handed Sunset her winter wear. "Thanks, Snow," she said, wrapping herself up as she took another sip of the cider. "No big," he replied. "But, now that everything's okay, can I just say how totally rad that was?! I mean jumping in to save that little guy! Fighting the current to get to them in time?! That was the-most-bodacious-thing ever!!!" Sunset smirked a bit at how excited Snow was getting from her stunt. "Ah gotta admit, Sugar, that was awful brave," Apple Pasty agreed. Sunset blushed a bit, but Flash only wore a frown on his face. "Yeah, brave and foolish maybe," he said, sternly. "Sunset, you could've gotten yourself hurt, or worse." Sunset's smile gently faded. "I know you wanted to help, but don't you dare do something that headstrong again!" Sunset didn't know what to say, she just looked down into her drink, but she knew he was right. "That said... You were pretty fearless out there." Sunset looked up and saw a playful little smile on Flash's face as he gave her a friendly nudge on the shoulder, which brought her smile back to her own face. "Sorry, I guess I've always been kinda reckless, just ask my brother," she chuckled, making everyone else chuckle along. "Old habits die hard, but if it means helping someone in need... I'd do it again." Sunset took another sip as some splashing came out of the water. "Well, speak of the Jauntsey Devil, we were just talking about you. The ashray had come back and was happily flipping around in the water. As it kept leaping about, two more ashrays swam up behind it, they were much larger and had special spots and marks on their backs. The small one then swam up to them, nuzzling each one on the cheeks before going back to play. "Thank you ever so much for saving our daughter," the first one said. The fact that it spoke caused everypony to jump back a bit in surprise. "Wha-the... You guys can talk?" Party Favor interjected. "Heh, better than you, Curley!" the other one said in a rather gruff voice. "Tide, play nice!" said the first one. "Apologies, he jokes, usually inappropriately. I'm Pool and this is my husband, Tide." "Well, the books sure didn't say anything about this," Sunset said to herself as she got up. "Nice to meet you, and we're glad she's okay." "You can't imagine how worried we were," Pool replied. "We were all out looking for lunch when suddenly the moon disappeared and everything became so bright." "Dewey has never even seen the sun before," Tide continued. "She must've gotten scared and swam off. From what she tells us, y'all were pretty brave to rescue her." Everypony smiled a bit in gratitude for their nice words, but Sunset's smile only faded from her face as she thought about what they said happened. "Blight," she muttered. "This was her doing, and Luminara knows how many other creatures are getting hurt by this." Sunset took off the blanket and put her winter clothes back on. "We've lost enough time, we need to get a move on, it's still a long way to Everfree Village." Sunset grabbed her saddlebag and began to walk ahead as everypony else began to pack up. "Everfree Village?" Pool asked. "We know that place, it's just upriver from here." Sunset stopped for a moment and turned around to face them. "Did you say upriver?" she asked. "As in this river?!" "Yeah, this river connects to all kinds of little streams, creeks, and water holes," Tide said. "We've been through the river of this Everfree Village place loads of times, and we always remember our way 'round." "If you're all needing to get there we'd be more than happy to show you the way," Pool continued. "It's the least we can do after what you did for our daughter." "Spell, we'll even give you all a lift there ourselves," Tide concurred. "It's sure a lot faster than walking." Sunset began to smile bigger than she had all day, and everyone else was definitely feeling the same. "Uh-y-yes, absolutely! Thank you!" she said, excited. "You hear that everypony?! We have a way back!" Everyone began to jump up in excitement, knowing they had a quick way to get home and stop Day Blight was a great feeling. However, just a moment later, Snow Banks stopped jumping for a sec and noticed something. "Hey, wait a minute Dudes and Dudettes," he said, grabbing everyone's attention. "I was never big on math in school, but six of us, only two ashrays." Everyone stopped for a moment and realized he had a point, the ashrays were only big enough to hold one pony at a time, and Dewey was certainly too small to hold anyone. "Okay, yeah, this might be a problem," Sunset said, breaking the silence. "Well, Pasty and I can fly ourselves," Flash interjected. "But, that still leaves two ponies." As everyone looked around, trying to figure out what to do, Party Favor walked over with a big grin on his face. "Hey guys," he said grabbing their attention. "I may have an idea, but it's a bit... Gourd-y." Lulamoon and Snow Banks deadpanned for a moment. "You said that already," they said in unison. Party Favor paused for a moment, just as it clicked in his head that he had indeed said that very line earlier. "Oh yeah," he muttered. "Ah, ponyfeathers! But, I still have an idea!" ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Twenty minutes later the team was racing up the river, though no one on the shore would know what to make of it. Utilizing the two halves of the calabash gourd Party and Lulamoon had hollowed out, they had fashioned special harnesses out of sticks, reeds, and vines for the ashrays and tied the ends to the gourds to use as boats. Allowing the four non-pegasi to ride high speed upriver with the two pegasi flying in tow. "This-is-AWESOOOOOOOOME!!!!!" Snow Banks shouted. As a sport pony, he was having the time of his life, but behind him in the other half of his gourd, Lulamoon was not as much. "Doh-DOH! Another bu-URP-bump," she groaned, nauseated. "Just tell me when it's over..." Lulamoon just curled up into a ball and prayed to Luminara for this trip to be over. Meanwhile, in the other gourd boat, Party Favor was reimagining an old scene from an Equestrian classic. "I'm the KING OF THE WORLD!!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "WHOOOHOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Sunset sat in the back of the boat and couldn't help but chuckle at his playful nature. Though she didn't want to spoil his fun, there was something on her mind that was nagging at her to ask him. "Hey, Party!" she shouted trying to get his attention. "Party Favor!" Party suddenly stopped in the middle of a shout and turned his head around, all the way around like an owl. "Yes, M'lady?" he asked in a satirical flirty tone. He then proceeded to sit down, but somehow seemed to hover in mid-air for a sec as his body turned to realign with his head, just before plopping down. Sunset blinked in shock for a second but quickly shrugged it off. "I was wondering something," she began. "How did you come up with this? This, this, um... What did you call it again?" "The HMS Cornucopia, and her sister ship, Milly?" he said in a jocular way. "Um, yeah, that," Sunset stammered. "Well, w-what exactly gave you the idea to use these gourds as boats in the first place? Have you done this before or something?" Party looked up pondering for a second before giving out a small grunt and a shrug. "Meh, not really, I just improvised," he replied. He then put on a fake mustache of some kind and pulled down the screen for a slide projector from out of nowhere, and began to talk in what seemed to be a mock German accent. "You see my dear, frauline, ze lagenaria frosto siceraria, or Wild Winter Calabash as it's more commonly called, has a thick un durable husk but is hollow on ze inside. Zerefore, when cut open and stripped of its innards, ze veggie's buoyancy ratio greatly increases zus making for a suitable floatation device." Party took off the mustache and flipped up the screen, but Sunset only remained there stunned at what he'd just said. "Vat? Ahem I mean, what? I read." Sunset was a bit surprised to hear that response but was still a bit confused. "But, so, you mean you just came up with this out of nowhere?" she asked. "You haven't done it before or read about it in a book or something?" Party began to put on the mustache again but was interrupted before he could speak. "Hehe, okay Party, enough of the mustache, okay? Come on, be serious with me." Party put away the mustache and thought for a moment. "For real," he started. "Yeah, pretty much. I've always been really good at seeing weird things in everyday stuff. Like, I see a pumpkin and I don't just think Jack-O-Lantern, pfft, too easy! I see a whole chandelier, with creepy carvings on the side, and tiny little pumpkin candle lights hanging all around! You know what I mean?" Sunset only sat there dazed for a sec. "Okay, so you don't... What I mean is I just see things differently, and when I do, I go big or go home, that's my motto." Party Favor laid back down and relaxed as the ride continued, but what he said definitely stuck with her. Whatever she was thinking exactly, she had the whole trip to dwell on it. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A few hours had passed, and the sun was still high in the sky. The light had begun to take a toll on the local wildlife, agitating them out of their good night's sleep and the heat making them antsy as they were still prepared for winter. The team had made it to a rather large waterfall, very high and with a very powerful current. Flash had just set down Snow Banks on top of the cliff with Lulamoon and Party Favor, while Sunset and Apple Pasty remained at the bottom of the falls with the ashrays. "Yer sure y'all won't come with us?" Apple Pasty asked. The ashrays only shook their heads. "Sorry mates," Tide replied. "These falls are too strong and too high for Dewey to climb up with us, and we can't just leave her down here on her own." "Yep, I'm afraid this is where we must be off," Pool said. "Time we found shelter for the day until it's dark and safe for us to come out again." "If it even will be dark and safe for you again," Sunset muttered to herself, concerned. "It should be, more or less, a straightforward path to the village from here though," Pool said. "Just keep following the stream and you'll get there eventually. You all take care now." "And good luck to ya," Tide replied as they took off. Dewey flipped around and screeched one more time to say goodbye as the three ashrays swam off into the distance. "A'right, Sugar, just hold on tight," Apple Pasty said. She wrapped her hooves around Sunset's waist and flew her up to join the others. As Apple Pasty set her down, Sunset straightened up her attire and took a deep breath. "Alright, Everypony," she said grabbing everyone's attention. "The ashrays bought us some time, but we still don't know how much we've got. It's all upstream from here, but we've still got a long way to walk. Let's move out!" Sunset took the lead as everypony followed behind. Lulamoon, however, was treading behind, still dizzy from the bumpy river ride she had just endured. "You okay, Sugar?" Apple Pasty asked, flying back to check on her. Lulamoon made a slightly confused sound in her dazed state but shook her head to snap herself out of it. "Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she replied, rather clearly lying. Party Favor bounced backward and joined them for a moment. "You know," he began with a bit of a devilish smirk on his face. "Whenever I'm trying to get over the crummies in the tummies, I find a good scare always helps snap me out of it." Apple Pasty looked at Party and shook her head, but he wasn't listening. "Um, no thanks, Party," Lulamoon responded. "I think I'll just wait it out." "Oh, okay," he replied. "So then I shouldn't bother letting you know about the big ominous shadow behind us that's probably a vicious wild animal." Lulamoon only rolled her eyes. "You're gonna have to try harder than that," she said, still dazed. HRAAAAAAAAAAAHR!!!!! "YIPE!!!!" Lulamoon jumped forward at the sound of a large roar. When she calmed down, she turned her head back and saw Party and Snow snickering, clearly having orchestrated the entire thing. "Oh, very funny! Hardy har!" "Um, Lulamoon?" Flash said. She looked back to find she was gripping Flash's back very tightly. "You can let go now." Lulamoon gave an awkward grin and quickly let go, dropping back onto the ground. She was embarrassed, but at least her nausea finally settled down. Feeling better, she remembered a thought that had crossed her mind earlier and ran to catch up to Sunset. "Hey, Sunset, I've been thinking," she started. "You think the Elements may be our best bet, even though they're toast." Sunset saw where this was going and rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get it, it's a daydream, right?" she sneered. Lulamoon was a bit taken aback by that remark. "Um, no," she started. "Actually, I was gonna say I think you might be right." Sunset's ears perked up in surprise. "Wait, what?" she exclaimed. "Yeah, I've been thinking," Lulamoon continued. "The Elements of Harmony are like the most ancient and powerful magic known to pony kind. But, one thing I've learned from Luminara is that magic can only be destroyed by magic. Powerful relics like those could be dented, burned, or even destroyed physically but to actually destroy-destroy them, magic and all, the only way to make that permanent is with magic itself. Day Blight may have incinerated them but that fire, while magically conjured, isn't magic itself, it's just fire." Sunset was surprised to hear what she was hearing, if her past mistakes were any indicator she was sure she would've just been ridiculed. Instead, there was somepony genuinely considering her ideas. "So, if I'm right, that means the Elements could still exist, just in a different form. Like what Day Blight said in the chamber, they were in a dormant state when we found them, so maybe they could still be reactivated. But, if there is a way to, it's with magic way beyond what I know. Are there any other clues in that book about them?" Sunset took the book back out and started flipping through it. "Well, I did go through it a couple more times on the ride here," she began. "The only way we can stop her is with the power of all the Elements, but the sixth was destroyed a thousand years ago, right? I did a little more digging and found one mention. It says The sixth and most important is the elemental nexus: the keystone to uniting the power of all the Elements into one. Its true spark can never be extinguished, for when Equestria needs them most, that spark will awaken its power once again." Lulamoon heard what she said, but didn't really know how to respond to it. "Okay, any idea what that means?" she asked. Sunset shut her eyes a moment as she closed the book. "I have my hunches," she replied. "But, if they're right, we'll only really know once we get there. I know that's not much, but I'm asking you to trust me." Sunset put the book away and just kept moving forward. Lulamoon looked down for a moment disconcerted but decided it was worth a try. "Okay then," she replied. "Whatever you say, fearless leader." Sunset jolted for a moment and turned around to face Lulamoon. "Let's get one thing straight," she said with a scowl and a stern tone. "We may be in this together, but we are not a team, and I am not your leader!" Sunset turned on her hooves and continued walking, leaving Lulamoon with a bit of a scowl herself. "Whatever you say, Sunshine," she said sarcastically. "Sheesh, who delixired her potion?" Apple Pasty grew concerned about Sunset's sudden mood swing and flew up next to her. "Hey, Sunset, is somethin' the matter, Sugar?" she asked. Sunset looked the other way with a frowned face. "Yeah, everything's peachy, okay," she snapped. "I just..." "HELP!" cried out a voice. Sunset lost focus and started searching around. "You hear that?" she asked. "Somepony, help me!!!" Sunset looked off in the direction of the voice and began to follow it, away from the river. "Sunset! Not again!" Flash exclaimed. "After her!" Everyone began chasing after Sunset, once again. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This time, Sunset walked slowly and carefully through the brush of the wood. Taking her time and making sure she could see where she was going, so as not to inadvertently run off a cliff again. The deeper she went in the more tropical the climate seemed to become, becoming so warm in fact that she took off her hat and scarf and put them away in her saddlebag. "Hello?!" she called out. "Can you hear me?! I'm here to help!" Sunset looked around, waiting to hear which direction the voice came from, but all was silent. "Up here!" Sunset looked directly up to see a stallion trapped within the teeth of what looked like a giant flytrap. "Sweet Spellbinding Circles!" she exclaimed. "Don't panic, I'll have you out of there in a jiffy!" Sunset put down her saddlebag and ran at the nearby trees. Parkouring from the trunk, to branch, to vine and so on she made her way up until she had her hooves wrapped around the torso of the giant carnivorous carnation. "I've read about these guys in my books, they even had diagrams on how to subdue them! There's a pressure point system right around the trunk, I just have to press here, a scratch there, and jab... Here!" The giant plant let out a sudden yelp of shock and suddenly went limp, relaxing every part of its body. Unfortunately, that also meant the teeth that were keeping the stallion from falling to the forest floor. "Uh oh." DYAAAAAAAAH!!! The stallion slipped out of the mouth and began to plummet to the ground, but just before he met his untimely splat, he found himself hovering just above the ground held up by a blue and orange pegasus. "Yer felkom," he said through his teeth, which were clutching onto the end of his tail. Apple Pasty flew in shortly after and flew up to help Sunset. Flash put the stallion down just as the others came by. The earth pony came to his hooves and straightened himself up. He had a cocoa-brown coat and a mane of raven black hair that swept to the back. He wore a tropical outfit with a vest over top filled with all kinds of strange tools and an explorer's hardhat. He had a cutie mark of a compass with ivy wrapped around it, and when he talked he seemed to speak with an Australian accent. "Few, that was a wallop, " he said getting himself together. "Don't know what I would've done if that Jupiter Flytrap had been able to have me for supper! Guess I was lucky your mates here came when they did." Sunset smiled for a second but faded as she turned to see Lulamoon giving her a hard glare, which she quickly reciprocated. "Um, pardon my saying so, but is something wrong?" Sunset and Lulamoon only continued to stare, beads of sweat dripping around their intense eye, until they simply turned their heads away and shrugged it off. "Nope," Sunset said, drolly. "We're good," Lulamoon continued. "O-kay then," the stallion replied. "Well, thanks a bundle, you two, I owe ya! The name's Caballeron, Dr. Ulysses Caballeron!" He extended his hoof towards Flash to shake, who gladly reciprocated. "Nice to meet you, Doc," he replied. "Sorry to save and run, but we kind of have places to be, urgently. Right gang?" Flash said that sternly, sending a look at Sunset and Lulamoon as to say "Now is not the time." Sunset only scoffed a bit of air out of her mouth before acknowledging. "Yeah, we've got places to be," she said, grumpily. Sunset began to walk off just before Lulamoon stopped her. "Um, Sunset, the river is this way," she said, pointing while holding an angry stare. "Actually, Bros, I'm pretty sure we passed that fruit tree over there when we got here," Snow Banks interjected. "Weren't that tree on the other side when we came a-runnin' in?" Apple Pasty asked. Party Favor looked all around, spinning his head several times before beginning to stumble in place. Before he could straighten up he fell on his back, his eyes still spinning. "All these trees look the same!!!" he shouted. Flash flew up high to try and get a bird's-eye-view, but in every direction, all he could see were trees, no familiar landmarks. He growled to himself just before flying down to his team. "Trees, nothing but trees as far as the eye can see!" he shouted. Lulamoon let out a growl of discontent. "Way to go, Sunset!" she exclaimed. "Me?!" Sunset shrieked. "You ran off on your own, again! And got us dragged far away from the river!" Lulamoon shouted. "Hey, I didn't ask any of you to follow me!" Sunset retorted. "I told you, I'm not your leader!" "Clearly, cause a good leader wouldn't leave the rest of her team in the lurch!" Lulamoon rebutted. "We-are-NOT-a-team!" Sunset shouted. "I came because I heard somepony in trouble! You didn't have to follow!" "You're the one carrying the bag with the Elements in it!" Lulamoon retorted. "Uh, w-well, what about you?!" Sunset stammered. "How come none of you were keeping track of where we were going?!" "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Snow Banks interjected, coming between the two mares. "None of these harsh vibes are gonna change what happened, Bros!" "Snow's right," Apple Pasty agreed. "Arguin' ain't gonna fix the saddle sores. Let's just try to find our way back now, ya hear?" The two unicorns looked at each other for a moment but each took a deep breath and stepped back. Flash looked up into the sky, taking a quick look as the sun pulsed in the cloud-free sky, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. "The heat from the sun is getting more intense," he said. "It feels like we're in some tropical paradise now." "Actually, you are," Caballeron interjected. "You're in the Tenochtitlan Basin, right now. It's hot here all year long." "Wait, the Tenochtitlan Basin?!" Sunset interjected. "But, that's on the far west side of Equestria! That's miles from where we were heading!" "Dude! You mean we were heading in the wrong direction this whole time?!" Snow Banks freaked out. "Groans The central river channels of Equestria run all around the continent," Lulamoon explained. "I've seen them on Luminara's maps, the river we were on must loop around the badlands into the tropics." "Which means we were taking the long way around anyway," Flash explained. "Which also means we're back to square one!" Sunset interjected, beginning to feel the heat. "Ugh! We can't dilly-dally anymore, we need to find a direct way back to Everfree Village, fast!" "Hey, Doc, is there any clear path near here?" Flash asked. "A train station, the main road, anything?" Caballeron just shrugged. "Uh, s-sorry, Palley," he said. "I'm just a botanist, I set up camp a few clicks from here. The nearest civilization is a remote town to the north, and it's miles away." "Rrrrrgh! We are no closer to home than we were this morning!" Sunset growled. "Day Blight has probably burned the village down by now, no telling what's happening to our families, and we're stuck here in the middle of this dense, Luminara-forsaken JUNGLE!" Sunset began to huff and puff a little bit as the sweat began to drip down her face as well. "Whoa, now, easy there tigress!" Party interjected. "Let's all take a chill pill." Party Favor bumped his flank into the side of a tree, knocking a banana down from the top. "Have a banana!" Party then proceeded to squeeze the banana and shot it right out of its peel into Sunset's mouth. Before Sunset could say anything, he started fanning her with a large palm frond, which seemed to help calm her down a bit. "Better?" "Yeah, thanks," she said, chewing up the banana. Party continued to try and fan off as many of his friends as he could. As he did, Doctor Caballeron scratched his chin, thinking to himself for a moment until a funny grin came to his face. "You know, if you Nippers need a way to get somewhere fast, I might know a way faster than any train or road," he said, grabbing everyone's attention. "About a mile north of here, there's a temple, The Lair of the Ahuizotl. In it, past hundreds of booby traps is an ancient relic called Ahuizotl's Puzzle-Box. Legend says every sunset it resets, but if you can solve the puzzle before it does, it'll send you on a one-way trip that day to anywhere you wanna go!" The sounds of this artifact piqued everyone's interest, giving them hope that they might still have a chance. All except Lulamoon, who had a bit of a suspicious look on her face. "How do you know so much about this legend?" she asked. "I thought you said you were a botanist." "The nearest town has all kinds of records of these kinds of places," he said with a cocksure smile. "I did my research before I came down, so I'd know exactly where not to go, to avoid any potential danger." "Well that's it then," Sunset said beginning to smile again. "That's our ticket back home in time!" Flash began to think for a moment before interrupting. "I don't know," he said. "Even if we can find it, how can we be sure this legend isn't only a legend?" "Oh, it's real alright!" Caballeron said a little too eagerly, making Lulamoon even more suspicious of him. "Loads of artifacts have been recovered from down here, and their power is all too real, I've seen them myself." Lulamoon shot him another glare. "I-In museums, on display, that is." Lulamoon continued to have her doubts, but everyone else knew there was too much at stake to not check it out. "We're running far behind, our families are counting on us," Sunset interjected. "I might be a longshot, but we have to give it a try." Everyone else nodded in agreement, and though she hesitated a moment, Lulamoon agreed as well. "It should be a pretty straight walk in that direction," Caballeron said, pulling out a parchment of paper from his pocket and handing it to Flash. "Here, take my map, just encase something happens." Flash gladly took them and nodded in gratitude. "Alright then, Everypony," Sunset announced. "Let's move!" Sunset began to lead the expedition with everypony in pursuit, though Lulamoon looked back one last time at Caballeron with suspicious eyes before she vanished into the brush. "Good luck then mates, take care!" he shouted to them, waving goodbye as they left. As soon as they were out of sight, the smile on his face turned into a rather nasty smirk. "You're going to need it..." ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The six ponies trekked forward, Flash in front navigating alongside Snow Banks who helped clear the brush. Though, as the group continued, the only thing that seemed denser than the jungle was the silence between Lulamoon and Sunset. It was pretty clear that they both felt awkward; though they weren't mad anymore they still felt a little embarrassed about their fight. Behind them, Pasty and Party exchanged glances for a moment, each of them then trotting up to the side of one of the two mares. Party nudged Sunset with his elbow for a moment and darted his eyes towards Lulamoon, while Pasty tapped on Lulamoon's shoulder and gestured with her head the same. The two of them then galloped ahead to join the others and give them a bit of space, each of them making their own awkward gestures before breaking the silence. "I just wanna say..." they both said awkwardly at the same time. "You first. No you. No You!" They exchanged competitive glares for a brief moment before they snickered and just started to burst out in laughter. After they both calmed down a bit they shared an awkward but friendly smile, signifying the tension was alleviated. "Look, Sunset, I'm sorry," Lulamoon said first. "I was way too hard on you back there." "Eh, yeah, but I had it coming," Sunset replied. "I really shouldn't have run off like that... Again... Heh." "Maybe, but I still shouldn't have said what I said," she replied. "I was hot, a-and tired, and we're still SO far from home!" "Yeah, me too!" Sunset interjected. "And, then it turns out we were going the wrong way the whole time!" "I know, right?!" Lulamoon exclaimed. The two of them stifled laughs before letting them out again. When they were done, Lulamoon looked down and her cheery mood quickly faded to solace. "You know, you're not the only one who's got someone they're worried about." Sunset looked at her and her smile began to fade as well. "I've got someone waiting for me back home, I barely had the chance to say goodbye to him before we even came out here. He's just so fragile, and vulnerable, the idea that I can't be there for him right now, knowing something bad might've happened to him..." Sunset officially felt guilty for running off, she hadn't realized that there were more consequences to her recklessness than just getting them all lost. "I... I'm sorry too," she said. "I've been so wrapped up in my own worries I didn't even think about how this was affecting all of you guys. I ran off to help somepony in need, but I ended up jeopardizing everything by getting us lost..." "Hey, but it was still a good thing that you did," Lulamoon said, reassuringly. "If you hadn't, we never would've found out that we were going the wrong way in the first place, and now we're making up for that." "I guess so," she said solemnly. "But, that doesn't make it okay, it was still pretty selfish of me. I've never really been part of a group like this before, I guess I've still got a lot to learn about being a team player." As Sunset looked downward, averting her eyes out of guilt, Lulamoon smiled and shook her head before stopping for a moment. "Everypony makes mistakes," she said, extending her hoof. "Bygones?" Sunset stared at her hoof for a second, before gladly smiling and shaking it. "Bygones," she agreed. "Oh THANK-LUMINARA!" Party Favor shouted as he suddenly popped up between the two of them, taking the two mares by surprise. "You have NO idea how awkward that was, I was afraid for a second that was gonna be the end of things for you both!" "Party Favor, were you listening the entire time?!" Lulamoon exclaimed, clearly a little more than peeved. Party just closed his mouth and froze for a moment, awkwardly snickering as he thought of what to say. "Well... Not the whole time," he said with a sheepish grin. "Just the last part, and a bit of the beginning, and... Most of the middle..." Lulamoon and Sunset only gave him glares of death as he started to quiver a bit until Apple Pasty flew in at just the right moment. "Okay, okay, let's not do anythin' rash," she said, grabbing him by the hoof and gingerly pulling him out of there. "Come on girls, we gotta catch up, Flash an' Snow Banks say the place is just right 'round the bend!" "Alright," Lulamoon said, straightening out her things. "But this isn't over, Party-Boy." She said giving him an ominous scowl before trotting off, leaving Party Favor nervously stunned. "Get along, ya Rascal," Apple Pasty playfully said nudging him to come along as she flew off. "Hehe, right," he said awkwardly before bouncing alongside her. "But ya gotta admit, this is pretty great! Makin' amends, a group of mismatched friends, all on a wild misadventure to save the world! When we get back, I'm definitely making the biggest celebration cake EVER! Maybe I'll just make one for each of us since we're basically gonna be like civic heroes or something after all..." As Party continued to go off with Apple Pasty on a ramble, Sunset took a moment to herself and just thought about that word he had just used to describe them all. "Friends..." she said to herself with a smile and a small giggle. "Hey, Sunset, come on!" Flash called out in the distance, snapping her out of it. "Coming!" she shouted back as she ran off after them. Sunset pushed aside a large plant dangling down from the tree and met up with the rest of her group, just before stopping for a moment and taking in the incredible view. Across a river, on the edge of a cliff, was a giant temple, bigger than anything Sunset could've imagined from her adventure books. "That's the place?" Lulamoon asked. "That's it," Flash said, still awestruck. "That's the Lair of Ahuizotl." "And our fastest ticket home," Sunset said, determination beaming in her eyes.