Twilight and her friends climbed up the steep side of the mountain. "I don't understand why we couldn't jus' go ta' the rocky side o' the mountain. It's easier ta' climb!" Applejack ranted.
"B-But...it's dangerous there," Fluttershy pointed out.
"So is this steep cliff!" Applejack added.
"I'll check ahead," Rainbow Dash said after a few moments of silence.
"Wait, Rain-" Twilight began, trailing off. The fast pegasus already flew up the side of the mountain.
"I hope we get through this mountain soon!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced over a boulder. The rest of the ponies trotted around the boulder.
"All of us do..." Twilight said.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash landed in front of the group.
"Nothin' dangerous up ahead," the blue pegasus declared.
"Good," Rarity sighed in relief.
"Hey, a c-cave..." Fluttershy whispered, looking at a small cave.
"Let's look inside. It looks like only one pony can fit in it," Twilight guessed.
"Allow me, dears," Rarity said as she flipped her mane gorgeously and trotted towards the cave. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Sometimes that pony never gets it," Applejack muttered to Rainbow Dash. Applejack and Rainbow Dash snickered at Applejack's statement, then stopped when Rarity's scream echoed from the cave.
"Bats!" Rarity yelled. The fashionista abruptly burst out of the cave, continuously screaming as a group of bats chased her.
"Haha! She's scared of bats!" Rainbow Dash chuckled.
"That ain't funny! We gotta save her!" Applejack scolded. Rainbow Dash stopped laughing.
"Fine," she said. Rainbow Dash looked at the bats, determined. "Get away from her!" she shouted confidently.
The blue mare flew after the bats, then blocked their path. Rarity stared at Rainbow Dash and galloped off to Applejack fearfully. "Get back in your cave, and nopony gets hurt!" Rainbow Dash threatened the bats. The bats squeaked in fear, then raced back into the cave. "There," Rainbow Dash said. She walked back to her friends.
"Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said gratefully.
"No problem, Rare," the brave mare said.
"Come on, we have to keep going," Twilight reminded her friends, then she limped away slowly.
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie chimed, leaping away. The rest of Twilight's friends followed Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy slowed down and let Twilight catch up to her.
"I-Is your wound okay?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"It's fine. It just stings occasionally," the alicorn explained.
"Oh...okay...Did you use your magic to heal it overnight again?" Fluttershy queried. Her eyes were full of worry and curiosity.
"Yes," Twilight replied quietly.
"O-Okay..." Fluttershy responded.
There was silence for a moment.
"Thanks for being a great friend, Fluttershy," Twilight thanked the yellow pegasus.
"Oh...you're welcome," Fluttershy replied, smiling.
"Stop!" Applejack suddenly shouted, causing Twilight and Fluttershy to both jump in surprise.
"What is it?!" Twilight demanded.
"It's a gap, ya'll. We gotta jump," Applejack explained.
"Oh...right..." Twilight responded.
"A...g-gap?!" Fluttershy said, scared. The scared pegasus remembered when she had to cross the gap during their journey to find the sleeping dragon.
"Eeyup," Applejack replied. The farmer pony bravely leaped over the gap. "C'mon, ya'll! Jump!" she encouraged the others.
"Aww, yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. The blue pony easily flew over the gap and landed on the other side.
"Eek...!" Fluttershy squealed.
"Oh, it's not that bad, darling," Rarity reassured the frightened mare. Rarity gracefully jumped over the gap.
"Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced over to the other side. Fluttershy reluctantly spread her wings and slowly flew over the gap. "You did it, Fluttershy! Yay!" Pinkie Pie cheered again.
"I did...thanks, Pinkie..." Fluttershy murmured.
"You're welcome, Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie responded, bouncing in place.
"C'mon, Twi. Ya'll can do it," Applejack encouraged the princess.
"Okay..." Twilight replied nervously as she spread her wings. The purple pony glided over to the other side and closed her wings. "Whew..." Twilight sighed in relief.
"Let's go!" Rainbow Dash said eagerly, flying away.
The others followed her. By now, they were all at the peak of the mountain. Rainbow Dash flew down the other side, then Applejack slid down after the rainbow-maned mare. Pinkie Pie jumped down the rocky side of the mountain.
"So...filthy!" Rarity stated in disgust.
Fluttershy simply trotted past Rarity and flew down the rocky surface. "Oh well..." Rarity murmured, running down the rocky side. The last pony to go down the rocky side of the mountain was Twiight. The purple mare glided down past the rocks jutting out of the side of the mountain, then landed.
"Oh, we were gonna go back up and h-help you..." Fluttershy said, landing.
Rainbow Dash landed as well. "Yeah!" the blue mare exclaimed.
"Well, I managed," Twilight pointed out.
"Hey! I can see the tower from here!" Pinkie Pie stated. Twilight could see it too. It was the same tower Twilight and her friends went to when they were going to defeat Nightmare Moon several moons ago.
"Memories..." she sighed.
The group approached the tower. They entered the tower cautiously, then raced up the stairs to the top room, right where they had defeated Nightmare Moon in the past.
Just then, the room grew dark as it abruptly turned to night time. "What?! It's not supposed to be night time yet!" Twilight pointed out in confusion. Her friends were completely dazed as well. Laughter suddenly rang around the room. Twilight looked around rapidly. None of her friends were laughing, not even Pinkie Pie. "Who's there?" she demanded, raising her voice over the menacing laughter.
"How could you not know?" the voice scoffed.
Twilight froze as she realized the voice was extremely familiar, and so did her friends. Blue smoke suddenly appeared in front of her, and a shadow formed in it. It was a tall figure. Twilight let out a gasp as the smoke dissipated, revealing Nightmare Moon. Twilight paused as silence broke across the room. "It's too late..." Nightmare Moon laughed, stopping the silence. Twilight simply stood there silently, scared, as her friends yelled in disbelief. She felt the voice of her friends quieting down, and her vision getting blurry.
"No..." she whispered to herself.