//------------------------------//
// Episode 2 
// Story: As Narrated by Zecora 
// by Ayralynn 
//------------------------------//

“Seize her” cried the Mayor
“We’ll make her say
Where the princess has gone
And she’ll give back the day”

But Nightmare moon would not stop
And the guards were no match
For the lightning she called
Had left many a scratch

On the stalwart defenders
Of Celestia’s day
Then her mane swirled around
And Nightmare Moon was away

She flew through the crowd
And out into the night
Rainbow Dash soon gave chase
But could not match her flight

While up in the air
Rainbow chanced to look down
And saw Twilight Sparkle
Galloping through the town

Twilight ran quickly
She had to get home
There had to be something 
In all of her tomes

Some way to stop 
This infinite night
But without the Elements
How would they fight?

So she put Spike to bed
And started to look
Through novel and atlas
Through volume and book

When suddenly in came 
The loud Rainbow Dash
Her tone was accusing
And her words very rash

For Twilight had known
All about Nightmare Moon
Was she some sort of spy?
Or Nightmare Moon’s goon?

But Rainbow backed off
Once Applejack chimed
“She isn’t a spy, 
Let her speak her mind”

So Twilight conversed
Told them all that she knew
But there was a problem
How could they pull through?

The Elements were lost
And they had not a lead
But then Pinkie Pie giggled
Come and look under ‘E’

For she found a book
That could offer a fix
And it said that the Elements
Were numbered at six

There was kindness and laughter
Generosity came next
Then honesty and loyalty
But she was perplexed

There was no sixth name
For it was unknown
But the location of the elements
Was afterwards shown

To be the old run-down castle
Of the rulers of past
The two pony sisters
And where they lived last

Was deep in the forest
That was now Everfree
But what none of the mares
Or the dragon could see

Was the cloud of blue mist
Just outside of the room
It was listening in
To prevent its own doom

For now Nightmare Moon knew
Where the elements hid
And once she destroyed them
She would finally be rid

Of all that could stop her
So quickly she flew
Out into the forest
Now back to our crew

The mares had all gathered
Outside of the wood
But Twilight was flustered
If only she could

Ditch the rest of these mares
And go it alone
She knew she could do it
If she went on her own

But they would have none 
Of her solo routine
They would stick by her side
And get through this bad scene

So Twilight resigned
Herself to her fate
And she followed them in
There was no time to wait

Into the woods
They started to walk
And as they moved forward
They started to talk

About the Everfree Forest
And all of its woes
Then Nightmare came back
And at that moment chose

To send our brave mares
Falling right down a hill
The pegasi were fine
But the others were still

Heading right off a cliff
As they tumbled and fell
Rainbow saved Pinkie
And Fluttershy quelled

Her large sense of fear
And caught Rarity’s tail
Applejack saved herself
But Twilight was pale

For she found herself hanging
Right over the ledge
Applejack saw her
And came towards the edge

She grabbed onto Twilight
But then looked around
There was nowhere to put her
Just a drop to the ground

But then she saw something 
That gave her some hope
“You have to let go now”
But Twilight said nope

“Just trust me” said Applejack
“I won’t lie to you”
So Twilight let go
And down quickly she flew

But then she was saved
By the two pegasi
Applejack jumped down
And Twilight couldn’t deny

That without them her journey
Would have been short indeed
But they had to move on now
They had to proceed

So deeper into the forest 
They walked
But soon they looked up 
To find their way blocked

By a large manticore
Made from lion and bat
With a scorpion tail
And it did not want to chat

They quickly attacked
But nothing they did
Seemed to hurt the large beast
Until Fluttershy bid

That they all stop the fighting
And while they were in shock
She walked up to the monster
And proceeded to talk

She calmed down the creature
And looked at its paw
She pulled out a thorn
Then it opened its maw

And proceeded to cuddle
With cute Fluttershy
She showed it some kindness
And it let them go by

As the tree cover closed
Their vision grew low
They stumbled and tripped
And their progress was slow

Then out of the dark
Came a face so bizarre
It was the scariest thing 
They had all seen so far

The trees were alive
And they started to close
In a closely-knit circle
As our heroines froze

All except one
The pinkest of all
For unlike the others
She was having a ball

She giggled and chuckled
Like a jolly old king
Then to the shock of the others
She started to sing

They could hardly believe it
How could she be glad?
But by hearing her tune
Everything got less bad

The trees were just that
Only trees, nothing more
And everyone giggled
Right down to their core

Then they laughed and guffawed
Through the forest of shade
Until arriving at last
In an open-air glade

A river was running
To rough to get by
It seemed that they were stuck
Then they heard a loud cry

From upstream it came
And they followed the sound
To a giant sea serpent
Who was thrashing around

He writhed and he sobbed
Causing all of the fuss
He had to calm down
So they tried to discuss

He spoke of a cloud
That stole half his moustache
It had ruined his look
And his well-groomed panache

The group didn’t see
What the fuss was about
But Rarity told him
“This warrants the spout

Of tears from your eyes
All your work goes to waste
If your moustache is not
In its pre-assigned place

Your hair may be slick
And your scales can shine too
Your manicure pretty
But it all looks askew

This crime against fashion
Can no longer stand”
So she pulled out a scale
From his many so grand

With a swing and a slice
She cut off her own tail
Stuck it onto his face
And he let out a wail

His moustache was whole
And he cried out with glee
And Rarity told them
“Don’t worry about me

Short tails are in now
And it will grow back”
There was no time to waste
So they got back on track

Finally they came 
To a steep narrow gap
But Nightmare was waiting
With one final trap

Across the canyon they saw
The ruins they sought
But with no way to cross
All might have been for naught

But Rainbow swooped down
And grabbed onto the bridge
She pulled it on up
To the opposite ridge

But there she was met
By a small group of three
The Shadowbolts called her
They wanted to see

If she would join them
On their world flying tour
She could be their captain
Who could ask for more?

Of course Rainbow accepted
She just had to tie
The bridge off for her friends
And then they could go fly

But the Shadowbolts warned her
It’s us or it’s them
She had to choose one
The other condemn

But Rainbow said slowly
“I’m sorry you guys
But friends will come first
They’re not worth any prize”

And she zipped back across
To her friends standing by
And they moved on ahead
With a jubilant cry

Their journey was over
The Elements were found
The pegasi flew up
And brought them to the ground

But there was only five
The sixth was not there
But Twilight remembered
That it would be laid bare

When the spark is released
So she sat down to work
And the others spread out
While the shadow did lurk

When the others were absent
Then Nightmare swooped in
She flew near the Elements
And started to spin

When Twilight saw this
She raised up a cry
Then jumped into the spiral
Which flew up on high

Then they all disappeared
Her friends couldn’t pursue
They had no idea
Where she had gone to

Then Rarity saw
A great flash of light
In one of the towers
Against the dark night

While her friends hurried off
Twilight was all alone
Except for the alicorn
High on the throne

Nightmare Moon had the Elements
So Twilight charged out
Nightmare thought she was kidding
But agreed to her bout

But before they could clash
Twilight jumped out of space
She reappeared with a flash
By the Element’s place

Quickly she charged
Her horn with a spark
But once it was free
She soared back in an arc

But her task was completed
And the Elements glowed
But then nothing happened
No energy flowed

Then Nightmare Moon laughed
And brought her hooves down
She shattered the Elements
Which made twilight frown

Their last hope had failed
What else could she do?
Then she heard the voices
Of her Ponyville crew

And she realized the spark
Didn’t come from her horn
It came from her heart
And inside her was born

So she and her friends
Stood against Nightmare Moon
And the Elements responded
Even though they were strewn

All over the ground
They started to shine
The first went to Applejack
Honesty was her sign

Fluttershy got Kindness
And Pinkie got Laughter
Then Generosity went
To Rarity soon after 

Rainbow was Loyal
But what mattered most
Was that Twilight had found
The spark and its host

When she realized that she
Missed her friends a whole lot
That she wasn’t alone
And together they fought

Then the last one appeared
Element number six
The Element of Magic
It came down to affix

Itself onto her head
In the shape of a crown
The others were necklaces
When they had settled down

Then a rainbow shot up
And proceeded to fly
Around Nightmare Moon
And she let out a cry

When the light show was over
Everyone lay aware
They proceeded to cheer
Like they had not a care

Rarity’s tail had returned
And Nightmare Moon was gone
Then they looked out the window
And saw the bright dawn

Then the Princess rode down
On a soft beam of light
From the sun where she’d spent
That extra-long night

Now Celestia was back
But there was one more
Sad pony that lay
Weeping there on the floor

Princess Luna was there
After shedding her guise 
Then Celestia came up
With tears in her eyes

All that she wanted
Was her old sister back
And Luna apologized
For her dreadful attack

For she was so lonely
Up there on the moon
She wanted her life back
She would make amends soon

Pinkie Pie threw a party
And the whole town was there
But one pony looked glum
Her emotions lay bare

Twilight Sparkle was sad
All her friends she would leave
But the Princess just smiled
“There is no need to grieve

For you can stay here
And can send me some news
On the Magic of Friendship
That is, if you so choose”

Of course Twilight accepted
And her friends gathered about
Would her new life be worth it?
Is there even a doubt?