Twilight Sparkle was happily walking through Ponyville with her dragon assistant, Spike, sitting on her back.
"So, where are we going?" asked Spike.
"Well," Twilight said with a smile on her face. "You have been such a big help this week, helping me clean up the library and stuff, that I decided that my number one assistant disserves a little reward. So, I talked to Pinkie Pie and she has made a special treat for you at Sugarcube Corner."
"Wow! You're the best, Twilight," Spike said as he hugged Twilight's neck.
The two finally arrived at Sugarcube Corner and as they entered, they saw Fluttershy standing by the front counter.
"Hi, Fluttershy," said Twilight. "What brings you here?"
" Oh, hello, Twilight. Hello, Spike," Fluttershy said in her normal quiet voice. "I'm just here to pick up some carrot muffins for Angel. He has a bit of a cold and I thought maybe some treats would cheer him up."
At that moment, Pinkie Pie came out of the back room with a white box on top of her head.
"Here you go, Fluttershy," she said. "I added some extra carrots in them just for Angel. Hope he gets better."
As she placed the box of muffins onto Fluttershy's back, Pinkie smiled as she saw Twilight and Spike.
"I bet I know why you're here," said Pinkie as she pointed at Spike. "You're here for your treat, aren't you?
"You bet," Spike said as he jumped off of Twilight's back. "So, what is it?"
"Well," said Pinkie, still smiling. "Do you remember that sapphire cupcake that Mr. and Mrs. Cake made for you for your birthday?"
"Oh yeah," said Spike, licking his lips as he couldn't help but visualize that delicious cupcake he had.
"Well, here is another one for you, only with different gems this time," said Pinkie as she presented the young dragon with a cupcake.
Unlike the other one, which had blue frosting and was covered in sapphires, this new one had red frosting and was covered in rubies.
Spike's eyes lit up and his mouth began to water as Pinkie handed him the baked good.
"Wow, thanks Pinkie," he said. "This looks so pretty. And so delicious. I wish I could treasure this forever."
Spike was silent for a few seconds until he stuffed the cupcake in his mouth and swallowed it before saying, "And what better place to keep it safe than in my stomach."
Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie all giggled at what the little dragon had said.
"Well, I better get going," said Fluttershy. "Angel will be wanting these muffins."
But just as Fluttershy was heading for the door, a blue figure flew into the store and bumped right into her. The muffin box flew off of Fluttershy's back and was about to fall to the floor when Twilight quickly used her unicorn magic to stop the box in midair and place it gently on a near by table.
As Pinkie Pie and Spike helped Fluttershy to her hooves, they saw that the figure that hit her was none other than their friend, Rainbow Dash, who was rubbing her head before she saw who she flew into.
"Oh my gosh. I am so sorry, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said. "I didn't see you there. Are you okay?"
"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, I'll be fine," said Fluttershy.
"So, what brings you here?" Pinkie Pie asked Rainbow Dash. "Did you hear about the ruby cupcake I made for Spike and want one too? Wait, that can't be it. You're a pony, not a dragon, and if you did eat that cupcake, it would give your mouth a lot of ouchies."
Rainbow Dash was silent for a moment until Pinkie stopped her rambling so she could talk again.
“Actually, I was going to ask if any of you have seen Scootaloo," she said. "I just talked to her mom and she said that Scootaloo didn't come home for lunch and I've been helping her look for her. But I've looked all through town and I can't find the little pipsqueak anywhere."
"Scootaloo is missing as well?" asked a voice from behind the ponies.
They all turned around and saw that their two other friends, Applejack and Rarity, had just entered the store with worried looks on their faces.
"What do you mean by 'as well'?" asked Twilight.
"I'm afraid that Sweetie Belle is missing too," said Rarity. "She was suppose to come to my boutique to have lunch with me, but that was over an hour ago and she never showed up. It's not like her to be late."
"Apple Bloom is missin' too," said Applejack. "And I know something has happened to her because I made her favourite food, apple dumplings, and she has never missed a day I made them."
"Relax, girls," said Twilight. "They probably just lost track of time."
"Yeah," said Spike. "Those little fillies are probably just off doing another crazy stunt to try and get their cutie marks."
"Yeah. Like tree climbing," Pinkie Pie said. "Or treasure hunting. Or alligator wrestling."
Pinkie then noticed that everyone was giving her strange looks when she said that one, so she let out a nervous chuckle before saying, "Okay, maybe not alligator wrestling."
"We'll help you look for them," Twilight told her three worried friends. "We might find them quicker if there are more of us."
"Thank ya kindly, Twi," said Applejack.
"Well? What are we waiting for?" said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go."
The seven friends all walked out of Sugarcube Corner, but just as they were about to start their search, they saw a golden chariot being pulled by two white colts in golden armor coming towards them. The chariot stopped right in front of them and the ponies all bowed when they saw that it's rider was none other than Princess Celestia. The princess got off her chariot and walked towards the ponies.
"Hello, Princess," said Twilight as she and the others got up from their bows. "What are you doing here?"
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle," said the princess. "I'm afraid I have some terrible news."
But before Celestia could explain her problem, a small raindrop hit her snout. Then two more drops landed on Twilight's snout and then it came down in buckets.
The ponies soon noticed that this rain was a little different. Instead of blue, like most raindrops, these were brown.
Pinkie Pie then stuck out her tongue, caught some of the drops on it, tasted them and said, “Mmm, chocolaty.”
“D-d-did you say ‘chocolaty’?” Fluttershy nervously asked.
The ponies all looked up in the sky in terror as they saw the chocolate raindrops were coming out of a pink cloud.
"No. It can't be," said Twilight.
They all soon started to hear a booming, evil laugh that could be heard all around them. Just then, a huge bright light burst in front of the ponies and in it's place, with a huge smile on his face, was a creature they thought they would never see again.
"DISCORD!" the ponies all said in unison.
"Hello, my little ponies," Discord said in a cheerful tone. "Did you miss me? Because I sure missed all of you."
"Yeah, I missed you like I miss the stomach flu," said Rainbow Dash.
"Aren't you suppose to be a lawn ornament right now?" asked an infuriated Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh, I wasn't a lawn ornament this time," said Discord. "Care to explain that, Celestia?"
The others looked up at their princess who had a sadden look on her face.
"After you six defeated Discord," she explained. "I tried to take precautions to make sure he would never escape again. So I placed his statue in the underground caves of Ponyville, hoping that he would never be free."
"But unfortunately for you, I did escape,' said Discord. "With a little help from my new friends, the Diamond Dogs."
Discord then gave a mischievous look to Rarity and said, "You should know about them, little miss, 'but I thought you wanted whining.' All they wanted to do was get you to find a few gems for them and all you did was complain and try to make them your slaves. And I thought I was cruel."
"That's enough, Discord," ordered Princess Celestia. "What do you want?"
"Easy, Celestia," said Discord. "I just came by to have a little conversation with some old friends."
"We're no friends of yours," shouted Applejack. "You're nothing but a manipulative, lying snake in the grass!"
"Oh stop," Discord chuckled. "You're making me blush. So, what have you ponies been up to recently?"
"That is none of your business," said Rarity.
"Looking for a few little fillies by any chance?" Discord asked.
The ponies were silent when Discord said that until Twilight asked, "How did you know?"
"Why don't you see for yourselves," said Discord.
He then snapped his fingers and the chocolate rain cloud came down from the sky and floated in front of the ponies. It then swirled around until it started to show an image that shocked them all. In the image, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were all trembling with fear as they sat inside a dark cave with the three Diamond Dogs watching over them with evil looks. The cloud then popped and the image was gone.
The ponies then all glared at Discord, who just looked at them with an innocent smile.
"How dare you abduct my sister and her friends and take them somewhere so disgustingly filthy," said Rarity.
"What gives you the right to kidnap innocent fillies like that?" said Fluttershy in a quiet, but angry tone.
"You have gone too far this time, Discord," said Princess Celestia. "As ruler of Equestria, I order you to let those young ones go."
"Sorry Celestia," said Discord. "But I don't take orders. I just give them."
“If you lay one paw on those fillies, I’ll…” Rainbow Dash said before Discord shushed her by placing one of his fingers over her mouth.
"Relax, I'll let them go," he said. "For a price."
"What do you want?" asked Pinkie Pie. "You want some candy? I got tons of that in the shop? Or how about some cake? I got lots of those too."
"Sounds tempting," said Discord. "But I want something more than just sweets."
"What is it?" asked Twilight impatiently.
“Oh not much," said Discord. "Just the Elements of Harmony."
"WHAT?" yelled all of the ponies
Discord let out a devious smile and said, "You heard me. Give me the Elements, and I'll let your little friends go."
"That is low. Even for you," said Spike.
"That is my offer," said Discord. "When you decide to give them to me, head to the deepest part of the woods. The Diamond Dogs have already made an entrance to their caves for you. Go down it and meet me there. Bye for now."
Discord then let out a huge evil laugh before disappearing in a bright light.
"Twilight? Do you still have the Elements with you?" asked the princess.
"Yes I do, Princess," said Twilight. "Follow me, girls."
Twilight led her friends and the princess all the way to her library. As they went inside, she asked Spike to find the element book. Spike climbed his small ladder and found the book he was looking for on the top shelf and handed it to Twilight, who opened it with her magic and inside were all the Elements of Harmony. The five necklaces that represented kindness, loyalty, laughter, generosity and honesty, and Twilight's tiara which represented magic.
"We can't just give these to Discord," said Spike.
"You're right, Spike," said Twilight. "These are the only things that can defeat Discord and if we give them to him, there will be no stopping him."
"But we've got to save the youngins," said Applejack. "If anything happens to Apple Bloom, I'll never forgive myself."
"And poor Sweetie Belle must be scared to death," said Rarity.
"And there is no way I'm going to let that jerk Discord harm my biggest fan," said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight walked up to her mentor, Princess Celestia, and asked, "What should we do?"
"I don't know, Twilight," said the princess. "I'm afraid this is a decision that you must make on your own."
Twilight was shocked when she heard this. Ever since she was a student at the school for gifted unicorns, she always thought that Princess Celestia would always have the answer for everything and to hear her teacher say that she had no idea on what to do made Twilight feel that all hope was lost.
Every pony in the room was silent, with the exception of the small sobbing coming from Rarity, who was still worrying about her little sister. Just then, a smile appeared on Twilight's face.
"I've got an idea," she said as the other ponies leaned in close to hear what she had to say.