__________Gathering the Elements__________
Rarity had gathered up a crack team of ponies. These ponies were herself, Ditzy Doo, Vinyl Scratch, Bonbon, Octavia, and Doctor Whooves. These are the ponies that Celestia herself suggested she bring.
As they stood on the edge of the Everfree Forest, millions of thoughts raced through their heads. What will the elements do? What do they look like? And most importantly, where were the elements? The plan was to look in the Castle of the Sisters.
"Well... Is everypony ready?" Rarity asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Bonbon replied.
"Yeah, this should be cool." Vinyl added.
"We DO get muffins after this, right?" Ditzy put in.
"Yes, I do believe so." Octavia stated.
"Alon-zy!" Doctor Whooves yelled, leading everypony into the Everfree Forest, unknowing as to what horrors they would see there.
----
So far, nothing bad had happened. The forest was clear of anything that could be considered dangerous. And when they walked far enough, it was clear of trees as well. There was a horribly loud roar, and everypony turned in its direction.
There in front of them was a huge manticore, and it looked pissed. It started to charge at them.
"Everypony! Keep going! I'll settle it down!" Octavia yelled as she took out he cello.
"No! We have to stick together!" Rarity yelled.
"I know what I'm doing! Just go!"
"But..."
Vinyl put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "She knows what she's doing. Let's go."
With that, they turned and left, a beautiful sound playing behind them.
----
The group had gotten far away from the manticore, but there was still no sign of Octavia.
"D... Do you think she... She's... D-" Rarity started.
"No! She's not! She can't be!" Vinyl yelled, although she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than she was Rarity.
That's when Octavia walked back. She was covered in cuts, scars, and a sticky red substance.
"TAVI!" Vinyl yelled. "Tavi, what happened?! You look terrible!"
"I... I stopped... Playing..." Octavia replied. Than she collapsed on the ground.
Everypony quickly gathered around her. Doctor Whooves put a hoof on her neck and shook his head solemnly.
"I'm afraid she's dead... There's nothing we can do..."
Ditzy quickly ran over, and whispered something in whooves ear. The rest of them were in too much shock to pay any attention, but Rarity could of sworn she heard something about time machines and fixed points. He looked very solemn.
Ditzy saw the look of sadness on his face, one that she had never seen on him before. She decided it was best to leave him alone for now.
They buried Octavia and held a small funeral in the forest. They continued on solemnly.
----
It was darker than usual in this part of the forest. There were a lot more trees, too.
Nopony there could see a thing in front of them. That's when Bonbon screamed.
"Bonbon! What is it?" Rarity was quick to ask.
"It... It's... The trees have faces!" Bonbon replied, causing everypony to look around.
The trees did, in fact, have faces.
"Don't worry, it's not like they can do anything. It's just faces." Doctor Whooves replied, taking out a cylindrical device with a blue light on the tip. It lit up and emitted a high pitched sound and Doctor Whooves looked at it. "No, I was wrong. they can do a lot. They're a breed of weeping ang... Monsters. I mean monsters. Just, whatever you do, keep looking at them, don't blink. They will not hesitate to kill you."
"What?! They're going to KILL US?!?!" Bonbon yelled.
"No, not so long as you keep looking at them."
"D-Doctor! W-Why are they moving???" Ditzy asked.
"What?! NO! Ditzy, it's your eyes! They don't know you can see them! Everypony, look toward Ditzy!" Doctor Whooves yelled.
It was too late. As soon as they turned, Ditzy was nowhere to be seen. The trees had gotten her. For some reason, the tree's faces disappeared. The remains of the group continued on hesitantly.
----
Their spirits down, the four remaining ponies continued along the path to the old castle. They came across a raging river, one that seemed impossible to cross.
"How could we have come this far only to be stopped by a little river..." Rarity sighed. Her mane was entirely frizzed, many hairs out of place.
Something in the river moved. Rarity, with her eye for detail, was the only one to see it, although she dismissed it at first.
Than it moved again.
"Did everypony see that?"
"See what?" Bonbon asked.
"Something... In the water. It moved."
The thing in the water moved again.
"I saw it! But... What is it?"
Suddenly, a giant serpent rushed out of the water and it...
Cried...
About its mustache...
And this was shaping up to be a dark chapter, too...
"Oh, deary me! My gorgeous mustache has been destroyed by something traveling this way!"
Bonbon just stared at the large serpent, Doctor Whooves and Vinyl Scratch were off looking for another way around the river.
"Is that it...?" Rarity asked.
"What do you mean?! My mustache is my prized possession!"
Rarity sighed. She used her magic to lift a pair of scissors out of her saddlebag which she used to snip the hairs on her tail off. She levitated the tail to the serpent.
"Are you sure? You want to give this to me? To replace my mustache? Oh, thank you! I'll tell you what, since you've been so kind, I will help you cross this river!"
Rarity and Bonbon cheered. Something actually went their way today.
"Doctor! Vinyl! Come over here! We have a way over the river!" Bonbon yelled.
As soon as the two ponies got back, they all crossed. Bonbon had offered to go last and received much objection from Doctor Whooves. Bonbon won out eventually.
Everypony was already on the other side when Bonbon started crossing. The three others made it across without a problem, so why wouldn't she be able to?
As soon as she made it half way across, a large felled tree floated violently down the river. Bonbon froze as she saw it. It struck the serpent making him shake and causing her to be knocked into the rough rapids below.
Rarity, Vinyl, and Doctor Whooves lost all hope when they looked over and saw the rocks next to a waterfall covered in red. By now, they were all used to this.
They continued on ahead.
----
There was a thick fog covering the ground, but the group of three could still see in front of them. They exited a jumble of trees to find that the old castle was withing sight. They trotted as fast as they could in the direction, but quickly stopped. The fog cleared and they saw that there was a large gorge with a broken bridge blocking their way.
"NO! ENOUGH WITH THE OBSTACLES!" Rarity yelled to nopony in particular.
Vinyl put a hand on Rarity's shoulder.
"Don't... Don't worry... I'll hold the bridge up..."
Rarity facehoofed. Of course... she thought My magic wouldn't be strong enough, anyway...
Vinyl's horn started glowing and the bridge supported itself once more.
Little did they know that a team of pegasi were watching them.
"Rarity, you go first." Doctor Whooves offered.
She crossed.
"All right, Vinyl. You cross now."
"Can't, Doc. I gotta hold it up."
Doctor Whooves sighed as if he already knew what would happen. He crossed solemnly.
All right, Vinyl... You can do this... Just keep your focus... Vinyl thought to herself.
A group of dark pegasi swooped in right in front of Vinyl. She lost her focus for a second. That's all it took.
Her magic lost effect on the bridge and it fell apart once again. She started falling into the chasm. Her glasses came off, revealing her vibrant red eyes. She did not scream as she fell.
"NO! VINYL!" Rarity yelled. Her hair was beyond saving at this point, and so was her sanity.
"There was nothing we could do, Rarity..." Doctor Whooves stated, as if reading Rarity's mind.
It was my fault... I brought them here... she thought.
The two continued to the castle to collect what they were venturing for.
----
"Foals! Did you really think that you could beat me, Nightmare Moon, the the elements of harmony?"
Rarity and Doctor Whooves stared in disbelief.
"No! We came here for the elements, ponies DIED today to get these elements... And I am willing to FIGHT TO GET THEM!" Rarity yelled.
Doctor Whooves lightly pushed rarity back and trotted up to Nightmare Moon, mouthing "I'll handle this..."
He took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at Nightmare. Her horn glowed and it shot a bolt of energy at him, knocking the sonic out of his mouth. He was knocked back slightly, a lot of energy taken out of him after only one blow. He got up and started trotting toward her again.
"What?! That would be enough to kill any normal pony!" Nightmare yelled.
"I... I'm not... A normal... Pony..." Doctor Whooves replied. He continued moving toward her.
She shot another bolt of energy. This knocked him down. His body began to glow, and particles were flowing off of him. He turned to Rarity.
"Have... Have fun... At the Gala..."
He was hit by a third bolt of energy, which caused him to lay motionless on the floor.
"Now, if there won't be any further interruption, I am going to take what I came for." Nightmare Moon levitated a stone with a gem engraved on it and she teleported away.
Rarity was now on the ground herself. However, she was still alive. But she wished she wasn't.
What she really needed right was some more pet cats.