//------------------------------// // Chapter 16. Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1 // Story: Welcome To Sweet Apple Acres // by Phantom Writer //------------------------------// Chapter 16. Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two weeks passed, Matt enjoying every minute of it as he finally got the cast taken off his leg freeing him to walk again. Sadly, Applejack fought him on walking so soon and had been hounding him over how fast he should walk or to take it easy. Matt knew she was worried and didn't wish upset her. In the two weeks he was bed ridden he helped Apple Bloom master her element, and soon enough she too was able to fight back the dark. Sadly, her element hadn't yet located the other elements needed to help fight the Darkness. With Matt no longer strapped to a wheel chair or a cast he tried to help Applejack out with this year's Summer Sun Celebration but was shooed away by Applejack. He didn't fight with her as he knew once her mind was made up, There was no changing it. It was a Monday morning when he found himself on a train set for Canterlot as Twilight had asked her friends an along with Matt to come to Canterlot. Matt wondered why Twilight would ask them all to go to Canterlot when she was at the library here in Ponyville. Applejack had informed him that she went to Canterlot a week ago and has been there So here Matt sat on a train sitting next to Applejack as her friends chatted with each other. Then Matt noticed something off, "Where's Rainbow Dash?" "She went ta Canterlot a week ago," Applejack said. "Why?" Matt asked. "With Twilight being busy searching for Applejack, her duties have been put off along with some.. Training," Rarity said cutting in, "and Rainbow Dash was training her until Applejack disappeared on us." Matt raised an eyebrow, "Why is Rainbow Dash training her?" "She can't fly yet," Pinkie Pie said, cutting in, "Rainbow Dash is teaching her!" then Pinkie got right up close and personal making Matt wish he could scoot back, "Can you fly?" Matt blinked and thought back on his journey, "If falling out of the sky or gliding count," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "otherwise, no." "Then Rainbow will teach you!" Pinkie said, bouncing away. "I'm good," he said, "I would rather stay grounded, thank you very much." Applejack chuckled, "Yer just afraid ta fly since yer scared of heights," she whispered to him, making him glare at her. "Don't ya glare at me," she warned. He glared a little longer, then looked out the window, "Rainbow is the best flyer in all of Equestria!" Pinkie said. "S-she is," Fluttershy said. Matt noticed she was hiding in the corner of the train. The train came to a halt as Matt checked who he was with again to make sure he didn't misplace one, "Rarity.. Check. Pinkie Pie... Check. Applejack... Check. Fluttershy... Check. Okay, So Rainbow Dash is with Twilight... Strange, wonder why she didn't just have us go with her?" He thought as he followed Applejack and her friends through Canterlot. "You're going to enjoy Canterlot darling," Rarity said, smiling. "So many places to shop!" "I've been here before. If memory serves, there's a book shop just around this corner," he said as they turned to see a book store right where Matt said there would be. "H-How did you kno-," Rarity was cut off by Matt. "I was here in the past, saw a lot of this city when I got a break from research," he said as they continued to walk. They walked into the castle grounds and noticed Twilight slowly taking off as Rainbow Dash floated in the air, "You gotta really flap 'em hard," she said. Twilight grunted as she flapped her wings hard and she went flying into a tree. "Uh, maybe not that hard," she said. Twilight nodded and went to try it again, ending with her falling. Applejack walked over towards Twilight and helped her up, "Lookin' good up there, Princess Twilight," she said. "Applejack, you know you don't have to call me that," Twilight said, dusting herself off. Rarity walked up, "Why do you protest so? You've already given up wearing your crown all the time. The least you can do is embrace your new title," she said. Twilight just looked at her friends, "If other ponies want to address me that way, I suppose it's fine, but... not my friends. It just doesn't feel right," she sighed. "And neither does all this flying business. The Summer Sun Celebration is only two days away, and I'm never gonna be ready to perform my part," she moaned as Rainbow Dash landed next to her. "Not if you spend all your time down here, you won't! Now get up there and show everypony the big finish!" Rainbow said. Twilight nodded and took off as the group cheered. Matt watched, noticing that she looked to have the hang of flying, up until she flew right into some clouds and started free falling. She twisted and caught the wind in her wings and flew again as they all ducked down when she flew over them, did a few spins and crashed. They all rushed over and looked into the hole she made, "Wow! That was a big finish!" Pinkie Pie said, her head popping up. Twilight groaned as she flopped her head back into the dirt. They helped her out of the hole as she dusted herself off once again. "Your flying is getting better," Fluttershy said. "That was flying? I thought that was more 'falling with style'." Matt said. Applejack jabbed him in the ribs. Matt felt the pain of the bruise she hit rush through his body, making his eyes water and reminding him that his ribs were still bruised from the fight with Darkfire and the evil mane six. "She was flyin'!" Applejack said glaring at Matt. She noticed the pained look and the tears in, "Oh! I'm sorry! Ah hit yer ribs, didn't Ah?" she asked. "Y-Yes." He wheezed, calmly. "He's right, that wasn't flying," Twilight said, looking at the pair. "He didn't mean that," Applejack said glaring again. "I did," he said, "but only to help you." He looked at her as he felt the pain in his ribs slowly fade, "I may not be able to fly like Rainbow Dash here, but I know that not everyone is the same. It may take you months or even years before you can master flying." "The Summer Sun Celebration is three days away! I need to learn how to fly before then!" She said, panicking. "Then practice," he said, "don't stop till you master it or, at least learn the basics." Twilight blinked, "I-I think I will." "And, if you need help, I'm here for you!" Rainbow said with a smile, making Twilight smile. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Day Before The Summer Sun Celebration Matt waited at the train station for Applejack and the others to show up after they said their goodbyes to Twilight. He didn't know why he was told to wait by the train but he figured it was for the best. He just sat there, bored out of his mind, and waited. "I hope you haven't been here long," he heard a female voice. "No, I just got her-" his eyes went wide as he saw Princess Celestia standing there with her royal guards keeping a close eye on her, "P-Princess... W-What are you doing here?" She smiled and walked up to him, "I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to thank you for protecting Applejack and the others," she said. "I-It's nothing. Anypony would have done the same thing if they were in my shoes," he said. This made her chuckle, "Not many would, you're one of a kind Matthew. I saw it when I first saw you." Matt blinked, "Um... W-We've just met." He said. She started to walk away, "You may just have met me, but I met you a long time ago," she looked back at him and saw his face full of confusion, "Our path's will cross again, and this time, you won't be breaking into my castle to search for a room full of mirrors," she turned and left, leaving him with wide eyes as he mulled over what she meant. He then heard giggling, turned to look at it and saw the girls walking toward the train. This brought a smile to his face as he saw how happy Applejack was with her friends. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt yawned and fell off the couch with a painful thud. "I hate the couch!" he screamed in his mind as he got up off the hard cold floor. Looking out the window, he noticed something odd, "Is this part of The Summer Sun Celebration?" he asked himself as he walked to the window and saw the sun and the moon in the sky together. He then spotted the strange vines emerging from the ground and the forest, "Something tells me I should have stayed asleep today." "Matt? You up?" He turned his head to see Applejack walking down the stairs. "Yeah... Um... Please tell me this is part of the Summer Sun Celebration," He said pointing out the window. Applejack walked towards the window and her eyes went wide "I take you're shocked look as a no." He said with a sigh "I really wish I stayed in bed today." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt walked alongside Applejack as they made their way into town. "Something very strange is going on, and- EEK! I for one would appreciate an explanation!" Rarity said. Rainbow Dash lowered and looked at Rarity, "All I know is the sky's split in two, and these clouds moving in sure aren't from around here," she said. Applejack tried to pull one of those vines again to see if she could get rid of it but it was no use "Neither are all these crazy plants! They're comin' from the Everfree Forest! And try as we might, us Earth ponies can't do anythin' to get rid of 'em! Don't suppose you know any magic that might stop 'em from spreadin'?" She asked walking up towards Rarity. Rarity's horn gave a light blue spark and faded, "Alas, this whole raging forest situation seems to have left my horn on the fritz!" she said, frowning. "We have to figure out something! I don't know how much more of this Ponyville can take!" A vine wrapped around Fluttershy's leg and she yelped as Rainbow Dash sliced through it, "I don't know how much more I can take!" "The forest is expandin' y'all, and judgin' by how fast it's movin', it doesn't seem content just takin' over Ponyville... Ah reckon before long, it'll cover half of Equestria!" Applejack said as they all looked to see the vines moving out of the Everfree forest. "Can't you do something Matt?" Rarity asked, "You do have three elements." Matt looked out at the forest, "I'll try, But I don't think my elements can do a thing." Matt walked up towards the vines as he closed his eyes as he summoned his elements. His body started to glow as he let loose a shock wave. When he opened his eyes as he saw the plants still there, "I tried," he said, walking back toward the group, "Any other idea's?" "Let's go to the library!" Applejack said, "We might find somethin' there!" The all rushed off to the library. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matt sighed and rubbed his hooves to his head as a headache built from all the books, "I don't know how she does it," he said blinking trying to the tiredness from his eyes. A pink light and a purple mare came flying through the door and that was the last thing Matt saw or heard before slamming into a stack of books. "Oh, thank goodness!" Rarity said, glad to see Twilight was unharmed. "Oh, I hope you know we wouldn't normally go through your books without permission," Fluttershy said. Matt's head popped out of the stack of books as he spit out a book. He went to speak when the door burst open, "Sweet ground!" Spike said kissing the floor, "Sweet, sweet, wonderful ground!" The door slowly closed as Matt sat there feeling pain in new places, "Today is going to be a bad day," he thought as he fell backwards. "Okay, I get it! I need to work on my flying!" Twilight said, getting out of the stack of books. "I dunno if you've noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just a teeny-tiny bit out of control," Pinkie said as her tail began to twitch. She quickly moved out of the way just as a vine erupted in, knocking Rarity over. Matt finally sat up, just in time to see Rarity before he was reunited with the ground with a thud. She got back up and dusted herself back off as she walked back over to her friends. Applejack stood at the window the vine burst through, "Guess it turned out you were missin' something here in Ponyville after all," she said, slamming the window and cutting the vine. "But perhaps you already know what's causing all of this calamity. Has Princess Celestia sent you to dispel it posthaste?" Rarity asked. "Not exactly. You see, Princess Celestia is, well... she and Princess Luna are both..." Twilight was cut off by Spike, "GONE MISSING!" he yelled, jumping into the air. Matt removed a book from his head as he heard them all gasp, "Great, the princesses have gone missing," Matt sighed. "Next we're going to find out that Twilight is really a queen." "I don't know who has taken them, but I've got a hunch we're going to need the Elements of Harmony to get them back," Twilight said, using her magic to give the girls their elements. "Oh, Yeah! Just like old times!" Rainbow Dash said. "A-BOO-YAH!" Pinkie said, giving Twilight a bro-hoof. "I told ya we'd always be connected by the Elements," Applejack sighed. "Now we just gotta figure out who to aim these bad boys at so we can get Celestia and Luna back and keep the rest of Equestria from becoming plant food!" she smashed a vine sneaking up on her, "Any ideas?" she asked. Twilight placed hoof to her chin as she thought about it "Hmm." "I haven't found squat in any of the books I've been looking through!" they all looked at Pinkie Pie who had a coloring book, "Oopsies! Missed a spot!" she picked up a crayon with her mouth up and colored the spot she missed. Matt sighed, "I knew she wasn't helping!" he walked over to the girls as Applejack looked at him, "Ya alright?" she said. "Fine. You?" "Worried." "Me too." Twilight walked over to the window as she looked at the sun and moon in the sky, "Half day, half night... strange weather patterns... out of control plants. I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of who we're up against," she said. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They all walked to the outskirts of town and arranged themselves in a circle. Matt watched their elements begin to shine bright as a rainbow connected them together and the elements of Harmony grew brighter, blinding Matt. When the light faded Matt blinked to see... Well he didn't know what he was looking at. "Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap-ooh!" the thing sang, getting out of the bath tub as he looked at the girls, wrapping a towel around his waist, "Now, Twilight, you know Princess Celestia said that you were to give me a heads-up before you summon me with that little spell she gave you," he said as the bath tub disappeared. "In case you haven't noticed, I was in the middle of a particularly invigorating shower," he said, moving back and forth his towel. Twilight used her front hoofs as she pushed him back, "Enough! Release Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and stop the Everfree Forest from invading!" she yelled. A vine wrapped around Twilight then turned into that thing again as he spoke, "Why," he chuckled "whatever are you talking about?" Applejack stepped close to Twilight and this thing, "Don't you play dumb with us, Discord! We know you're the one behind all of this!" she said. "That's Discord? Thought he would be... Taller?" Matt thought as he watched the three. Discord removed himself from Twilight and poofed to a building, "Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love what you've done with the place," he said taking pictures. He then appeared right next to Fluttershy. "But I couldn't possibly take responsibility. I'm reformed, don't you remember?" he said nudging Fluttershy's side. Rainbow Dash flew up right to his face and glared at him, "Yeah, right! This has got your cloven hoofprints all over it!" "I'll have you know that I have only one cloven hoof," he said as a hoof came walking up his body and kicked Rainbow Dash in the flank as he as he vanished and poofed back, walked away. "Such accusations! And here I thought we were friends," he said, looking at them with puppy dog eyes. "Drop the act, buster!" Pinkie said glaring and pointing her hoof at him, "We're onto you!" Discord placed a finger on her lips, "Ladies, ladies," he brought his hands to his chest, "I'm innocent. Would I lie to you?" "Yes!" they all yelled. "Um.. Maybe?" Fluttershy said. Discord floated in the air, "Well then, it seems we've reached an impasse. I'm telling the truth, but you think I'm lying," he drew himself close to Twilight. "What do friends like us do in a situation like this, Princess Twilight?" he put an arm over her shoulder, "Congrats, by the way, on the promotion. You totally deserve it." Rainbow glared, "I say we blast him to stone!" "Works for me!" Applejack said. "Hear, Hear!" Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash hovered in the air as they triggered their elements. "Hey! We can't do that! What if he really is telling the truth?" Fluttershy said cutting in stopping the three. Discord smiled as a halo hovered over his head. "Well finally!" Discords said, the halo disappearing, "Somepony willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. The rest of you could learn a lot about friendship from my dear friend," he pulled Rainbow Dash towards him, "Shutterfly here." "Um, it's Fluttershy," Fluttershy said, hovering next to him. He tossed Rainbow away and hugged Fluttershy to his side. "Oh, right, whatever," he said. "If you're not the one responsible, then help us figure out who is!" Twilight said. "I suppose I could, but after all the hoof pointing and besmirching of my good name, I just don't know if I'm up to it," he said and started knitting the vines. Twilight grew angry at Discord. "Why don't you ask your zebra friend if she knows anything?" he said as the group turned to see Zecora walking out of the forest will all her belongings. "Zecora!" Twilight yelled as they all ran towards her. Matt was held back by Discord, "So, you're one of the elements of light?" he asked. "Yes, so?" He said looking at Discord. "Oh, Just wondering," Discord shrugged, continuing his knitting. "Oh, you might want to stay close to them, it might help find out why this is happening," he said. "What do you mean?" Matt asked, staring at Discord. "Let's just say, an enemy you know might have had a hand in this," he replied. Matt quickly rushed to the group as he just caught the tail end of the conversation. "Princess Twilight, you can turn the potion from purple to white," Zecora said. "After a sip, you may see why the sky is day and night." Twilight's horn began to glow a dark purple and green as it hit the glass bottle and slowly turned the liquid inside from purple to white. "Oooh!" Pinkie said. Twilight used her magic to pick the bottle up as she took a sip. She placed the bottle down as she stared at them, "Doesn't seem to be worki-" her eyes began to glow bright white. Matt noticed his elements glowing as a strange surge of magic washed over him. His eyes began to glow, drawing the group's attention to him, "Uh... Why is he glowing too?" Applejack asked, looking at Zecora. "This is strange," Zecora said, puzzled as to why Matt was seeing what Twilight was seeing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight shook her head as she looked around the room. "Where am I?" "I would like to know that too," Matt said, looking at her. "M-Matt! W-What are you doing here?" she asked. "I-I don't know!?" he said. "Not... another step!" they both heard. They turned their heads to look at the source of the voice. Standing there was Princess Luna, glaring at them. "Princess Luna! I don't understand. Where are we? Why did you and Celestia disappear?" Twilight asked as she walked toward the stairs Luna stood on. Matt noticed she looked scared. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?" Luna said, glaring still. "Precious light?" Twilight asked, confused. "Twilight, something tells me we're in trouble," Matt said looking at her. Luna walked over to a balcony as she continued to glare at them, "There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be ME!" her eyes began to glow. She reared up and slammed her hooves down, shattering the stone. The wall cracked as a shadow enveloped it, then exploded inward, allowing sunlight into the room. Twilight and Matt flinched as the wood and glass rushed passed them. As Luna raised her moon into an eclipse, darkness engulfed the room, surrounding her, changing her into the very thing everypony once feared. Evil laughter was all that could be heard as Nightmare Moon set her hooves on the stone, cackling at the banished sun and dominant moon. "What did I just get myself into?" Matt thought as he slowly backed up. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Be Continued.