Twilight could not remember the last time she was this upset. Not even when Spike had nearly burned down her Library in a jealous effort to frame her pet owl. She had been angry then, yes, but this was different. This was rage. Somepony had not only committed a criminal act against Princess Celestia, but against Applejack as well. She barely even felt the hoof on her shoulder.
"You're shaking, darling." Rarity said gently, and tried to lead her away from the grim scene. "Come. Let us leave this dreadful room and plan what we are going to do to make it right again. That is what friends are for," she said.
Fluttershy spoke, clearly worried as well. "Can't we just use the Elements to fix them?"
Princess Luna shook her head. "Normally, yes. But with Applejack in her petrified state, the Elements have been rendered useless. They will not function unless all members of its team are present."
"So we add a new Element!" Pinkie offered. "Just a teeny weeny temporary position."
"I vote Trixie," Fluttershy said. "She's such a nice pony."
The room went quiet, and Fluttershy squeaked as she realized everyone was staring at her.
"Are you loco in the coco?" Pinkie asked.
Rainbow Dash had facehooved. "You want THAT loudmouth on our team? Have you been reading my fanfics again?"
Rarity looked surprised. "I didn't know you wrote-"
""ENOUGH!" The Royal Canterlot voice was enough to get anyponys attention, and everyone turned their attention to Luna.
"Your efforts are valiant, and I commend them. But the Bearers of the Elements have been chosen, They are not interchangeable until the time comes when a new generation must be selected. I'm afraid they are simply not an option here. What other talents do you possess that might be useful?"
Twilight thought a moment. "I have a dragon, I have fire," she offered.
"And I have wind!" Rainbow Dash added, zipping in a circle around the room.
"I have water balloons!" Pinkie chirped.
Rarity rolled her eyes. "With your powers combined, we are... "
"...Completely screwed," Fluttershy squeaked.
Princess Luna smiled weakly. "You ponies may want to use the Castle Library, perhaps you may find something there to help you in your quest."
Twilight brightened up considerably. "That's a great idea! There's always information in research! Come on!" She galloped out of the room, with Rainbow Dash darting behind.
"Reading? I love rea- I mean... aw, come on, do we have to?" She asked.
Rarity was below with the others, and just shook her head. "Smooth, Rainbow Dash. Smooth."
***
The five ponies were gathered around a table in the Library. Twilight and Rarity on one side, Pinkie and Fluttershy on the other. Rainbow Dash was flying restlessly in the air overhead, unable to sit still. Nothing new there. The table which they surrounded was completely covered with books about old, terrifying creatures.
"So why did we have to do all this research anyway?" Rainbow Dash complained. "Something is threatening Ponyville, big whoop. That happens all the time. We go in, I give them a taste of blue justice, BAM!" She punched the air in front of her. "We get out, we're home in time for dinner."
Fluttershy peeked out from under the table, Rainbow's sudden exclamation had caused her to jump. "I really don't think it's that-"
"It's not that easy!" Twilight interrupted. "We all heard Princess Luna. Whatever it is, this thing attacked Princess Celestia, and even SHE couldn't handle it. What if it's a basilisk? We can't afford to go in unprepared."
Fluttershy spoke up. "Actually, basilisks only live deep in the Everfree Forest or in the pipes of really old schools. One would never be able to get through Canterlot Castle unseen."
"Do we even know what we're up against?" Rainbow asked. "At all?"
"Something ghastly, I've no doubt," Rarity said, accenting her point with a toss of her mane. "It's probably just upset because it hasn't had a proper spa treatment. The poor thing."
Twilight continued. "I've narrowed down our options using graphs and pie charts-"
"OOOOH! What kind of pie charts? Blueberry? Raspberry? Apple? Coconut? Oh! Oh! I know! Blackberry!" This exclamation came from Pinkie, who had suddenly perked up.
Twilight facehooved. "No, just no, Pinkie. AS I was saying, our best chance of success may hinge on doing something that none of us are going to enjoy very much."
"Please tell me it doesn't involve going to the DMV, they've SUCH horrid attitudes there," Rarity whined. "When I went to get my horse drawn carriage license, they made me stand outside in the sun for four hours. I was sweating, Twilight!" The unicorn shuddered.
"...No." Twilight said. "We need Stitch."
Rainbow Dash stared at her. "You have to be kidding right? After all the work it took to get rid of him the first time? How are even supposed to get to him? He crossed the dimensional barrier, remember? It's not like any of us can just go over there and get him."
Twilight sighed, and very slowly her gaze wandered across the table, locking onto someone she'd desperately hoped she wouldn't have to use again. "That's not necessarily true," she said.
In the middle of chewing on her mane, Pinkie stared back.
"...What?"
Rainbow Dash caught on first, and instantly shook her head. "Oh, no. No. No. No. No. You are NOT brewing that potion again. Are you actually suggesting you send one of us back to that awful place?"
"I know it's not exactly an ideal plan, but as much as we don't want to admit it, Stitch would be an ideal ally. During his last visit he demonstrated super strength and extreme resilience. Those are qualities that we need."
"And how exactly do you plan on retrieving Stitch, darling?" Rarity asked. "The last time you made that awful potion, Ponyville was completely destroyed."
Twilight sighed. "THAT was become somepony foolishly insisted on performing a double rainboom in the middle of town," she said. At this, Rainbow Dash turned red and shrunk a few inches closer to the floor. "We don't need anything like that this time. I still have a few strands of Stitch's fur locked up in a vial. I can use them to retrieve his genetic calibration. With that, the potion should lead us right to him. We send somepony in, get Stitch, bring him back here."
"But that still doesn't solve our monster problem," Rainbow Dash said. "We have no idea what's out there!"
"Princess Luna and I will work on that while Pinkie is in Hawaii," Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good enough plan to- wait, what?!"
"We need you, Pinkie. You do this sort of thing all the time. Interdimensional travel is extremely dangerous, and you're the only one who we know who can perform it safely."
"Alright, I'll do it!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
Twilight sighed in frustration "Please, Pinkie. You have to. Without... you... we... what." She'd sort of been expecting a bit more protest than that.
"I'm always happy to help my friends, duh. I'll have Stitch back here faster than you can say..."
Twilight blinked. "Faster than you can say...?"
"I just said it, silly! But I said it so fast you couldn't hear it! That's how fast I am!"
Twilight facehooved. "Never mind. We're going back to Ponyville. I'll get that potion made, then while Pinkie does her thing Princess Luna and I will continue searching for whatever attacked Celestia. No problem. Don't worry, girls. Everything is going to be perfectly fine." With that, Twilight raced out of the Library.
Fluttershy looked nervous. "Am I the only pony who feels uncomfortable every time she says that?"
The rest of the ponies exchanged a glance.
She wasn't.