CHAPTER 1: THE SCROLL
“And that was the legend of Gusty the Great!” shouted Twilight Sparkle, as she stood with a book in front of the hospital’s sick foals. “Are there any questions?”
A sick filly raised her hoof. “Is Grogar a real creature?”
“Of course not,” Twilight chuckled. “Grogar wasn’t real, and he will never be real. Now, that’s it for storytime.”
Nodding, the filly and her friends got into their hospital beds; Twilight exited the room behind her. “Thank you, Princess Twilight,” Nurse Redheart said, approaching Twilight, “it’s not often that somepony comes by and reads to these foals anymore. It’s sad, really.”
“Of course, anything to help with the community. Besides, with all the work I have as ruler, it’s quite nice to get a break every so often.” Twilight exited the door and shed a tear. “Especially when you don’t live near your friends anymore.”
Twilight cried as she flew toward a newly built Canterlot Castle, before landing in the courtyard. Opening the large castle doors, Twilight was greeted by her royal guard captain. “Your Majesty. Are you alright?” asked the captain, saluting.
“At ease, Tempest. I’m fine. Just having a few memories.”
“About your friends?”
“Yes, Tempest. You’re a good friend and a great captain.”
“Thanks, Princess.”
“Please, Tempest, we’ve been over this, call me Twilight.”
“Maybe after my retirement, Princess.” Hearing this, Twilight chuckled.
“You always were a stubborn mare. I’ll see you soon, Captain.”
Twilight flew toward the throne room. It was decorated with stained-glass windows that resembled the Legion of Doom’s defeat. Approaching her throne, she sat down and met with her royal advisor. “Hello, Spike.”
Spike flew over to hug Twilight. “Hey. Did you have a fun time with the foals?”
“I did, Spike. And I think we should talk over some hot chocolate,” Twilight said as she got up from the throne and walked into the hall. A few minutes afterward, Twilight came out of her kitchen with hot chocolate. Smiling, she and Spike sat on their respective thrones.
“What story did you tell the fillies?” Spike asked—curiously tilting his head.
Twilight flashed an enthusiastic smile before informing him: "The Legend of Gusty the Great!”
“Hmm, that reminds me of something,” Spike mused.
“What?”
“The battle.”
“What battle?”
Spike frowned. “You know? The super-epic battle against Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow?!”
“Can you believe it’s been over three years since then?”
Spike looked down and closed his eyes. “No, I can’t. It seems like only yesterday we met those five ponies. The truth is, I keep sending letters to Rarity—trying to tell her how I feel—but I can never find the words. If there was one thing I could do, it would be to see her one more time.”
“Spike,” Twilight softly replied. “I wish we could see them all. But you know that with my duties as ruler of Equestria, and your voyages to the different lands, we can’t.”
“I know, Twilight!” Spike snapped, tears forming in his eyes. “But why can’t we take just one day to visit them? Why can’t we ever just stop, Twilight? Don’t you ever just want one day with them?!”
Twilight jumped back at hearing this. “Of course, I do, Spike! I want to see them, but Equestria won’t function without a ruler. I’m sorry, okay?! I’m sorry.”
Spike grabbed her right foreleg. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I just wish that we could go back to how things were before the Legion of Doom were formed.”
Spike felt a rumble in his stomach and burped up a scroll. Twilight grabbed it in her magic. Reading it, she gasped: “It’s from Ponyville!”
“What does it say?” Spike asked, with a concerned look on his face.
“It says that our friends need us… now!”
“But what about the castle?”
“I think I have that covered.” Twilight ran to Tempest and put her in charge of the castle.
Twilight and Spike both ran from the throne room and flew towards Ponyville, after leaving Tempest in charge.
Standing in the town square, the two looked around before hearing a familiar voice: “Twilight! Spike! Over here!” Looking over, the two saw three mares: Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack.
“Girls!” Twilight shouted. Running to her friends, she and Spike both embraced the ponies. “What’s wrong? Why did you call for us?”
The three ponies looked at each other and found themselves speechless. Rarity—finding the words—looked toward Twilight. “Darling, there’s been a certain… situation with the Castle of Friendship.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked—obviously concerned. “What kind of situation?”
“It might be better if ya come check it out yourself,” Applejack replied.
“Usually I’m excited about things, but not right now,” Pinkie said.
The four ponies and the teenage dragon walked together to the Castle of Friendship, where they met up with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “Guys! I see you came,” said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight ran to Rainbow and Fluttershy and hugged the two. After a long embrace, Fluttershy took Twilight through the halls to the Cutie Map. “Twilight, the map has been doing… this,” Fluttershy said.
The other ponies and Spike gathered around the Cutie Map as well and noticed the site of the Legion battle glowing with yellow and black magic.
“What do you think it means?” Twilight asked, looking at her friends.
“We don’t know, sugarcube,” Applejack replied, “that’s why we called for you.”
Suddenly, the seven heroes noticed their marks on the map around Canterlot Castle.
“Wait, why are the Cutie Marks around the castle? We just came from there,” Spike asked.
“The last time this happened was years ago,” said Rainbow Dash. She flew into the air and raised her hoof to the air. “I hope there’s a supervillain we need to fight!”
“I hope not, why would you even say that?” Twilight replied.
“Because a villain to defeat would be totally awesome!”
Twilight—brushing off the comment—teleported the heroes into Canterlot Castle.
“Twilight, you’ve gotten better at doin’ that teleportin’ spell,” Applejack said, “and it teleports all of us, too.”
“I agree with AJ—it’s been a while since you’ve teleported all of us; you’re getting stronger,” Fluttershy said.
“Thanks, girls. Now, I’ve also been working on a spell that can teleport right to the source of a friendship problem!”
Magically appearing at the location, Twilight and her friends arrived at the Canterlot Archives. Entering, the seven heroes looked around.
“Why do you think the map wanted us here? There’s nopony in here,” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know, but I guess the map wants us to read something about that cloud of magic?” Twilight replied.
After a few hours of looking through book after book, Twilight and her friends were almost ready to give up. Just then, Twilight saw a yellow and blue book. “I have an idea!” Taking the pair of books in her aura, Twilight pulled them from the shelf and opened the door to the restricted section.
“Whoa, when did you learn that?” Spike asked.
“A few years ago, when Sunset Shimmer had that ‘memory stone problem.’”
“And you’re only using it now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’ve never needed it until now.”
“Well, darling, what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” Rarity remarked.
Entering the section, the ponies began reading and looking around for clues about the magic, only to find nothing. Just then, Rainbow Dash flew through the bookshelves and knocked down a banner with a depiction of leaves in the wind. Looking behind it, she discovered a secret door.
“Woah, guys! You’ll want to see this!” she shouted.
Approaching the door, the ponies looked down and saw torches eerily light up a staircase.
“What do you think is down there?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m not sure I want to find out,” Fluttershy muttered.
The seven heroes walked down the staircase and noticed banners depicting Grogar’s defeat.
“These banners predate the founding of Equestria!” Twilight explained.
Looking at the one with Grogar, Fluttershy jumped back. “Is that… Grogar?!”
“Guys, this looks… new.” Rainbow Dash pointed to a scroll.
Taking the scroll in her magic, Twilight tried to open it, but to no avail. “It’s protected by some kind of magical seal.”
“Then how do we break it?” Spike asked.
“Maybe we throw it in a cannon and launch it into the sky! Then the seal will be eaten by birds, and we can read it!” Pinkie suggested.
Immediately stopping, the other six gave confused stares at Pinkie before Twilight brushed it off. “Only you, Pinkie… only you. But no, this seal can only be broken by powerful magic, and who knows more about powerful magic than anypony?”
“You?” the ponies asked.
“No, I may know about powerful magic, but who can do the most powerful magic?”
“You.”
“No! Star Swirl!”
“Oh.”
“Wait,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Twilight, Star Swirl went to the Crystal Empire to have some ‘peace and quiet’, so wouldn’t this… not be what he was looking for?”
“I know, but I’m sure Star Swirl won’t mind if we pay him just a little visit. Besides, his magic is the only magic strong enough to break a seal like this one. I’ll send him a scroll to let him know we’re coming too!”
“Then we’re with you, Twi,” Rainbow Dash responded.
“Yeah, maybe goin’ on an adventure will be kinda fun. Who knows?” Applejack assured.
“I am so nervouscited right now!” Pinkie shouted.
“We all are, darling,” Rarity replied.
“Don’t forget about me!” Spike playfully exclaimed.
“Yay!” Fluttershy yelled—only to receive shocked looks from the others. “Oops. I mean—yay.”
“Alright, now that we’re all in, it’s time to go to the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said.
The ponies and Spike hurried to the train station. Afterward, they got on the Friendship Express. “Next stop: Crystal Empire!” shouted the conductor.
Looking out the window, Twilight whispered to herself: “I really hope Star Swirl can figure this out.”