Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all walked in to Twilight's dark library. It was ten o'clock at night, and every other pony in Ponyvile were either asleep, or in their house doing late-night work.
"Why do you think Twilight asked us to come this late?" Fluttershy asked herself more than the others.
Applejack was the first to respond. "Ah don't know, sugar cube. Ah sure hope nothin's wrong."
"Well, it better be terribly important to keep us up at this hour of night!" Rarity complained. "I need my beauty sleep, after all!"
"What if it isn't really important! What if it's really scary too!" Pinkie Pie randomly said, hyper as always.
"I doubt that Twilight would tell us to come here late at night just to play a prank like that," the cyan pegasus replied.
"Well everyone likes pranking, Dashie. And it may not be a prank!"
"Girls, please, settle down." A voice uttered from the darkness.
"Twilight!" All of the others said in unison.
Suddenly, a few of the candles strewn around the library were lit, revealing the room before the five mares. Twilight Sparkle was standing in the center of the room. Her face was very serious, but still happy to see her friends.
"I'm glad that you all decided to come," she said, "and I apologize for telling you to come over so late.
"Are you kidding, Twilight? We'd never leave you hangin'." Rainbow Dash told her purple friend.
Twilight grinned and nodded her head, obviously glad that she had such. Her face switched back to a serious mood right away though. She turned around and waved her hoof in the direction of the staircase. "Please, follow me."
"Again, I apologize for telling you all to come at ten o'clock at night, bet it is imperative that no one else hears of this but us. Sadly, not even my assistant Spike can know."
The ponies reached the top of the staircase, and Twilight walked over to the back of a table littered with maps, notes, and a single paper file with "CLASSIFIED" stamped on the cover in blood red ink. "Please girls, gather around." Twilight grimly said.
The five other mares gathered around the desk, looking at each other with questions in their eyes.
"So, w-what is it Twilight?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"What could possibly be so important that not even Spike could know about it?" Rarity added.
Twilight began talking. "As you all know, it was five years ago that I learned and mastered all there is to magic and became an alicorn. I had thought that my studies had ended there. But two days ago the Princess sent me a letter instructing that I start exploring a new field of mystery." Twilight opened the file on the table with her magic and laid the pictures out on the table. "Cryptozoology."
"Crypto- what now?" Rainbow Dash questioned, confused. She and the other ponies then looked down at the pictures and gasped.
There were four photos spread out on the table, along with a pile of documents. The photos each illustrated sights that just brought more questions than answers into the group's thoughts. The first showed a long, orange, writhing tentacle splashing on the surface of a lake or sea. It was clearly still attached to something much bigger, concealed below the murky depths. The second pictured what looked like a hoofprint in snow, but was too large to belong to any living pony, and the third a foggy photo of a long-necked creature on another lake. The last one was the most terrifying. The picture was torn in one corner, and had a scratch-mark near the top. A dark gray pony with slit, deep silver eyes and horribly long fangs was lashing out at the camera, mouth agape. The background was completely dark, except for two large bat wings on each side.
"So, w-we're going to be m-monster hunters?" Fluttershy stammered.
"Yes. Technically." Twilight responded.
"But Twilight! Think of all the consequences!" Rarity argued. "We have absolutely no experience, any one of us could be seriously injured or worse, and not to mention the filth these creatures must live in."
"Look, I know this is dangerous, but Princess Celestia's letter has instructed me to start studying in this practically unexplained field." A look of hopeful pleading spread across Twilight's face. "And she said that only you five could help me in this search."
"But why would tha' princess wanta keep this all so locked up?"
"To be honest, Applejack, I don't even know. Nothing in her letter. or any of these documents say why she would want to keep this so secretive. But her instructions were clear enough. So," Twilight paused to momentarily lock eyes with each of her close friends, "will you assist me?"
There was a long silence between all six mares. Each of them stared at each other, wondering what to say.
"... I'll help you Twilight. I'd be more than happy to." Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up.
"Ah'll go too. Helpin' with hardships is something friends should do fer each other." Applejack was next to join in the quest.
"Me too! It might be scary, but it could be fun!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully said.
"Twilight, it may be dangerous and- eugh- horribly filthy, but I will assist you as well." Rarity assured her friend.
Fluttershy had not yet spoken. She looked like she was both fearing something and contemplating something all at the same time.
"Fluttershy, we might need your kind nature and ability to communicate with animals on this perilous journey. I really don't want to pressure you, but you'll be a bigger help to me- to us, than you may think." Twilight tried to convince her shy friend.
"I- um.. well if I'll help you that much, then I'll go too." Fluttershy reluctantly muttered.
"Oh, thank you all so much! I can't thank you all enough for assisting me!"
"So, where do we start, Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"Hmm.." They all looked down at the map of Equestria that was laying on the table. Twilight stayed silent for a while, wondering which cryptid to track and record first. "We should start with..."