Team Dragos, returning to Ponyville...
Nathan's group was heading towards town after their little light show to first return the books that they "borrowed" and to check out the Summer Sun Celebration. Michael, being more of a fan of the night than the daytime, decided to look up at the moon he liked to see. His face looked surprised as he got the rest of the guy's attention. The rest looked at him, then Michael pointed up to the moon. The group looked up to see the moon from their dream before they came to Equestria.
"What...? But...what does this mean?!" Thomas was scared about this, this seemed like way too much of a coincidence. That moon proves that they was brought here not by chance, but for some special reason.
"I don't know, but maybe we'll find answers in the festival." Michael suggested that they carry on with their original plan and they started to continue walking.
The town was practically empty as Nathan and his friends walked into Ponyville, so they were easily able to sneak back into the library and put the books back where they belong, they managed to sneak back out without any problems or being spotted, with that out of the way, they started to go to the big building that everyone in town was going inside. Nathan decided to remind the group to use their new names when speaking to other ponies or near them. The rest nodded as they went in.
Inside, the boys will now use their new names for now...
Sorin's group walked into what they assumed to be the town hall when they saw the inside, they saw so many ponies gathered there so this seemed a lot more important to the inhabitants than they originally thought, the team found a nice spot to stand in the crowd. Luckily, since they were so many ponies, they didn't attract much attention with being new, they each patiently waited for whatever was supposed to happen. They were struggling to be patient however, since they heard someone in the crowd near them constantly chattering away, the boys looked towards where the sound was coming from and they saw the pink pony from earlier who they remember was named Pinkie Pie. Sorin saw that she was talking to a purple unicorn.
"Isn't this exciting?! Are you excited, cause I'm excited! I've never been so excited! Except for that time I saw you walk into this town and I went (Gasp) but I mean really who can top that?" Pinkie was saying to the unicorn quickly. She was speaking so fast that the boys barely understood what she was saying.
"She has....quite a bit of energy, surprised I didn't get annoyed earlier with her." Shadike said while rubbing his head.
Just then, the bird choir run by a yellow Pegasus from what Eclipse saw, started singing. In Gale's opinion, it sounded quite nice and it also surprised him that someone could train a flock of birds to sing in rhythm, Shadike however thought this was going to be a waste of time. After the singing stopped, a spotlight shone onto an elderly looking mare who started an announcement for the crowd.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts..." Shadike and Eclipse immediately wanted to headbutt a wall with that pun.
"As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun celebration!" The crowd started cheering except Team Sorin, not knowing that much about what was going to happen and Twilight, who was worried about the legend of Nightmare Moon returning. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!"
"The magic of the sunrise? The longest day of the year? What's so magical about it other than looking pretty?" Sorin's thoughts were getting filled with similar questions, but he still decided to continue listening to the mayor's announcement.
"And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon every single day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria...."
"Jesus! GET ON WITH IT!" This announcement was starting to annoy Shadike, he thought that the mayor was dragging this out longer than necessary. Arcane noticed that while the mayor was talking, the purple pony was looking incredibly worried about something, but wasn't sure about what it was.
"Princess Celestia!" At that signal, a white unicorn that Nova could see a distance away pulled a rope, opening the curtains as a spotlight shone on the balcony, however no one was standing there except Rarity.
"This...can't be good." Twilight said to herself and Team Sorin realized that something seemed wrong. The crowd started to worry, but the mayor was trying to keep them calm, saying there must be an explanation for this, with that, Team Sorin figured out that this wasn't supposed to happen.
"Something's definitely wrong." Gale said, with Eclipse giving him a no-shit Sherlock look. Rarity tried to look for the princess but couldn't find her, making all the crowd gasp in worry and panic.
"Where is the Princess?! What's going on?!" Was only some of the questions that the crowd was shouting. The mayor was trying desperately to keep the rest calm. Sorin started to get a bad feeling and started looking around the room, apparently he wasn't the only one to do so, since Twilight was starting to as well.
"What the fuck is going on...?! What's this bad feeling?!" Sorin thought to himself, he KNEW that something bad was going to happen. He was ready to draw his sword if necessary. Eclipse then noticed something that didn't look good.
"Guys! Up and at em! Look there!" Eclipse pointed up near the balcony, where some dark navy mist was gathering up. The mist came together to form a tall pony with both a horn AND wings, Twilight had a look of shock, not that anyone else noticed. All of the ponies in the town hall were confused and scared, as the mysterious pony spoke.
"Oh...my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I saw your precious sun loving faces." The last part of that sentence seemed to have a slight hint of disgust in her voice. Eclipse however, decided to be sarcastic in this situation.
"So. Nice princess, right guys?" With a quick glare from Sorin, Eclipse chuckled and looked prepared for a brawl. Shadike also looked like he was prepared to fight, since even though she said the word subjects, he didn't think she was the same princess that Pinkie mentioned since the crowd looked mostly scared.
"What did you do with our princess?!" Sorin and his friends turned to see a rainbow maned Pegasus trying to fly at the dark pony, hoping to attack her, with another orange pony trying to hold the Pegasus back. The mystery pony laughed at this, but then started to look insulted.
"Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" To Shadike's annoyance, Pinkie started talking non-sense again, trying to guess the pony's name, with silly ones he might add, so he decided to stuff an apple in her mouth to shut her up, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash giving Shadike a annoyed look, even though they had no idea who he was.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" Team Sorin after hearing that were instantly confused on how ANYTHING could live for a thousand years, never mind on the MOON!
"Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
"I did! And I know who you are!"
Everyone in the hall turned to see the one who said that, it was the purple unicorn who was talking to Pinkie. "You're the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon!" The crowd instantly gasped at this, leaving Team Sorin completely in the dark on what is going on. Nightmare Moon on the other hoof, was amused that somepony actually remembered her and asked Twilight if she knew why she was brought out of the moon, to which Twilight did not answer, Nightmare Moon simply chuckled to herself again, but it was obvious to Team Sorin that the purple unicorn knew WAY more than she let on.
"Remember this day little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last FOREVER!" Nightmare Moon laughed, the mayor, wanting to know where their ACTUAL princess was, sent out her guards to seize Nightmare Moon. With no effort whatsoever, Nightmare Moon simply blasted the guards away with powerful lightning magic, leaving the guards injured. Eclipse then suddenly whispered to Shadike.
"Shadike, let's go!"
"Got it!" Shadike and Eclipse drew their blades and with a loud battle cry, rush at Nightmare Moon at a fast speed. Twilight looked shocked seeing somepony attempt to challenge Nightmare Moon and tried to warn them not to.
"NO! STOP!" Eclipse just chuckles as she says that, confusing Twilight as Nightmare Moon prepared another lightning bolt and blasted it at the two boys. Luckily though, since they were expecting it, managed to dodge the blast and continue rushing toward her, ready to strike. Nightmare Moon was took by surprise, but was able to put up a magic barrier which deflected away Shadike and Eclipse's strikes away, sending them back down.
"What the...what the wha...?! Cheating BITCH!" Nightmare Moon looked curiously at Eclipse and his friends before turning into mist and began floating away, Rainbow Dash tried to follow it but soon lost sight of it. She then saw Twilight running out of the town hall. Suspicious of where she was going, Dash decided to follow her to see what Twilight was up to. Back inside the hall, Gale was getting worried.
"Mi...Shadike! Eclipse! Are you alright?!" Shadike and Eclipse both told the group they were just fine, Arcane then noticed that Pinkie and a few other mares were running out of the town hall, when he brought this up to the others, they decided to follow them and get answers for what's going on, since they suspected that Twilight knew way more than she showed. They managed to catch up to the mares as Applejack noticed the boys following them.
"Who in the hay are you guys, never seen you round these parts before!" Applejack asked them, Sorin decided to speak for the group when replying to her. Applejack then saw Shadike and Eclipse.
"Hey, y'all were the ones that tried to attack that Nightmare Moon pony! That was mighty gutsy of ya!" Eclipse just smirked in response. Sorin decided to get the group back to the matter at hand or hoof.
"Introductions should wait later! (Pant) We're all heading the same way right? You girls thinks that unicorn knows something more too?" The mares simply nodded and continued running, the boys overheard Pinkie being excited about being ready to make a welcome party for the new boys in Ponyville, with Rarity trying to get Pinkie to focus.
Twilight's Library...
After tucking Spike in bed, Twilight frantically searched for her book about the Elements of Harmony. While looking around the library, Twilight got surprised by Rainbow Dash, who was accusing her of being a spy, since she knew about Nightmare Moon and tried to tell Shadike and Eclipse to stop when they tried to fight Nightmare Moon. Rainbow Dash was then yanked away from Twilight by Applejack and Eclipse, with the rest entering the library. "Yes miss, cause the one who shouts out the name of the scary looking pony in front of EVERYone at the town hall is TOTALLY a spy!" Eclipse said to Dash, Dash soon managed to calm down a little when Eclipse said that. Applejack then turned her attention towards Twilight.
"Simmer down, both of y'all. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on, don't ya Twilight?" Twilight was starting to get worried, she didn't want anypony to get dragged into this situation. But here are the mares she only barely knew and six boys she didn't know at all, thinking about it a little more, Twilight figured in her head that these must have been the six new ponies that Pinkie mentioned back at her party in the library.
"So you know her?"
The girls turned to Arcane, who was the one who asked the question, "We all met her recently, what about you guys, who are you? And why do you all have weapons on your backs, you don't look like guards. You guys have something to do with this?" Rainbow Dash asked the six boys with a accusing look on her face. Sorin, not feeling affected at all by Dash's attempt at intimidation, decided to answer.
"We're some guys that want to help out with whatever's going on, these weapons are for self defense and no, we didn't know anything about this. We don't even know anything about Nightmare Moon."
Hearing that, the mares looked confused, how did ANYpony not know the story of the two regal sisters? They ignored this however, when Twilight started explaining what she knew, including reading the prophecy, learning of the Elements of Harmony and how they are the only things that can stop Nightmare Moon.
While Twilight was explaining, Pinkie found the reference guide for the Elements of Harmony, the same book that Twilight was looking for, she quickly got the book from the shelf, knocking Pinkie out of the way in the progress, much to Sorin and Eclipse's annoyance and Shadike's amusement. Twilight read from the book to the rest of the group.
"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty." Hearing that made Shadike confused about the element names.
"Laughter? Why is there an Element of Laughter?" He asked.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to read." Twilight didn't like the way that Shadike was interrupting her reading.
"No, I don't mind at all." Shadike answered with a smirk, Twilight groaned at this and continued reading.
"The sixth is a complete mystery, it is said that the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is now located in which is now...the Everfree Forest." The mares immediately scared when the name of the forest was said. Shadike then decided to ask about the forest, wondering what all the fear was about.
"What's the big deal, it's just a forest. Why do you girls look scared shitless?" Gale quickly glared at Shadike, since he was swearing quite a bit. Shadike just shrugged and listened to what the mares had to say about the forest. Fluttershy was the one to nervously answer.
"It's...scary...there's dangerous creatures in there that aren't like other animals...these ones, they...hurt ponies. Everypony stays away from there..." She looked scared just thinking about the horrors of the forest, Eclipse patted her on the head, hoping to comfort her, telling her that it's alright. Fluttershy felt a little better, but backed away from Eclipse shyly since she didn't know him. Eclipse backed away too, not wanting to appear threatening to the girls.
"So we need to get to this forest and get these Elements, eh? Alright, let's go!" Sorin said with confidence, Twilight however didn't look as happy as Sorin did, she had planned to do this alone, thinking it's HER duty and hers alone. Twilight decided to ask the other mares if they could take her to the forest. Rainbow Dash said yes, and the group, including the boys started walking to the entrance of the forest.
At the entrance at the forest...
Most of the mares sounded worried while standing at the entrance of the dark forest, not that Team Sorin could see why so far. Pinkie, however, seemed excited and raring to go, she was about to step in the forest, until Twilight stopped her, causing a lot of confusion within the team.
"What's wrong, Twilight? Something on your mind, darling?" Rarity asked Twilight, Nova raised an eyebrow on the fact that Rarity just called Twilight darling, but just shook his head and decided to just ignore it. Twilight looked worried for a minute, afraid that the next thing she says will offend the rest of the group.
"Look...I appreciate the offer...but I'd really rather do this on my own." Just like Twilight was afraid of, the group responded negatively. The mares began walking past Twilight, since they were going to help, whether Twilight wanted them to or not.
"No can do, Sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin any friend of ours step into any creepy place alone. We're sticking to you like caramel on a candy apple." Applejack said to Twilight while walking in the entrance. Pinkie smiled when Applejack said the words candy apple and commented how good they tasted.
Twilight sighed and noticed the boys hadn't followed the girls yet, so she went towards them, hoping to persuade them to change their minds about coming with her. "I'm sorry, but I don't really want to get anypony else mixed up in this. You understand, don't you?" Twilight was nervously smiling, hoping they'll leave. After all, she knew that this whole situation didn't have anything to do with the boys, she knew that they had no reason to help, so why should they?
"You really think we're gonna leave?" Eclipse said this with a bored look on his face as he tipped his hat. Twilight was confused as soon as he said that.
"But why? There's no reason for you to....."
"We don't need a reason to help someone in need." Nova was the next to speak.
"But, it might be too dangerous for the little...." Twilight was about to say while looking at Gale.
"Don't even finish that sentence, I'm better than I look, even though I'm younger than the rest of you." Gale said with a grin.
"But I don't know you and you don't know me!" Twilight looked very nervous that they wanted to help out so much.
"Why does that matter? Those mares didn't know you very well, look at them." Shadike pointed out.
"You saw what Nightmare Moon's power is like, remember what happened to those guards?!"
"All the more reason to help you out!" Arcane started seeming annoyed that she wouldn't accept the help.
"Face it Miss...Twilight wasn't it? You're stuck with us. No one has to do anything alone." Sorin finished and told the group to follow him into the Everfree Forest to catch up with the rest of the girls, Twilight just groaned that she had to be stuck with all of these ponies that she barely knew and reluctantly followed the group. While walking, she thought about that one sentence that Sorin said.
"Nopony has to do anything alone...I don't know..."