Part II
Twilight galloped as fast as she could, away from something that was chasing her. She found herself, completely surrounded by Metusonians.
Your friends blamed you.. They oppressed you yet you still back them up.. This party was suppose to be perfect..right..? Now how did that turn out..? Now you have no pony..! You're alone and continue to be alone..!
You’ve done a terrible job with this party!
You’re a terrible princess!
The words by the Empress and the harsh criticism by the Ponyville ponies haunted Twilight. She began to lay down and tried to cover her ears, but she could still hear those words over and over again. As Twilight laid down on the floor, the Metusonians then laughed at her, throwing things at her like tomatoes and rotten fruits.
The Metusonians then vanished and Twilight heard something else at the distance.
Twilight!
Twilight!
Twilight!
Wake up!
It was only a dream, but Twilight couldn’t recognize the pony that was trying to wake her up as she was still in a trance.
Her vision slowly began to clear up. “Shining Armor? Is that you?” Twilight asked, still a little dazzed and confused from the dream she just had.
However, it wasn’t Shining Armor that had woke her up and Twilight’s visions started coming back to her.
“Shining Armor? I look nothing like your brother. It’s me, Jazz. Remember?” Jazz said.
“Jazz? You? How? You came back,” Twilight responded, eagerly relieved to see her friend once again.
Jazz helped her get on her hooves and said, “It’s good to see you ponies too. Are you alright? You were murmuring something while you were fast asleep.”
Twilight wanted to lie and say everything was fine, but she couldn’t. “No. Everything’s not alright. The Empress! She’s going to take over Equestria!” Twilight panicked.
“Yes, I know. The Princess told me everything. I don’t exactly know who they are, but we will get Equestria back. Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll find a way to stop them,” Jazz replied back.
“The Princess sent you?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah. I was pretty confused too. I don’t really know why she decided to send me. I’m not exactly capable or experienced in these rescue operations,” Jazz responded.
Jazz looked at the other ponies, who were still fast asleep and walked to them. “We better wake them up.”
Both Twilight and Jazz gave their friends a little shake to wake them up. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy gave out a long yawn. Twilight proceeded to wake up Pinkie Pie, who was dreaming and murmuring about cupcakes and chocolate.
As Jazz went to wake up Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash panicked and flew straight up and shrieked, “Stay away from me you Metusonians!”
Jazz tried to calm her down by revealing himself to her. “Relax Rainbow Dash. It’s me!”
The Mane Five looked pleasantly surprised to see Jazz in the cave with them.
Pinkie Pie began bouncing all around her friends. “Hey, it’s Jazz! My old buddy! What brings you here!?”
“It’s good to see you ponies too! But this isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said I would come back to see you ponies again!” Jazz chuckled.
Applejack giggled. “You got that right.”
Rainbow Dash also agreed. “Neither did we.”
“Yeah! How did you manage to find out in the middle of the desert? Unless if this is all a dream right now and I am still fast asleep..” Rarity questioned.
“Look, I know you ponies may have a lot of questions right away, but to keep the answer short, I was sent by the Princess to come rescue you ponies,” Jazz answered.
“Wow, that’s awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she flew around the small cave in joy. “But wait a minute. How did you exactly manage to find us?”
Jazz was about to answer that question, only to realize that he forgot to call in Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to tell them he found the missing ponies. “I’ve completely forgotten! I had help from Shining Armor and Cadance! Twilight, your brother and Princess Cadance came along with me as well!” Jazz then headed out the cave and used his magic to send a signal to them of his location.
Twilight and her friends anxiously waited for their friends to come back to the cave, but all they saw was large amount of dust that breezed throughout the desert. Twilight seemed most eager of all, waiting to see her brother and sister-in-law. Twilight friends then realized they had almost forgotten to tell Twilight the truth of what really happened during the Ponyville party disaster.
“Twilight! The Ponyville anniversary!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Please, don’t remind me of that..” Twilight mumbled.
“No, listen! It wasn’t your fault!” Rainbow Dash continued.
“What? How?” Twilight inquired.
“It was those brutes, dear!” Rarity added. “Those Metusonians were the ones who wrecked the party!”
“Rarity is right! It was all part of their plan,” Applejack revealed.
“They ruined such a perfect party too!” Pinkie Pie cried out.
“So it wasn’t me all this time!? I can’t believe it!” Twilight exclaimed.
“To be honest, Twilight. Whether you messed up the party or not, we will always stand by you,” Fluttershy remarked.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all nodded in agreement.
“You ponies are really the greatest friends any pony can have!” Twilight acknowledged.
The ponies rejoiced and stared at the front of the cave, waiting for their friends to come back. Jazz, Cadance, and Shining Armor then returned back to the cave. They shook off all the dust from the dust storm in the desert.
Twilight then galloped over to her brother and sister-in-law to give them a welcoming hug. “Shining Armor! Cadance!”
“Twily! I’ve missed you! Is everything all right? Have those Metusonians done anything horrible to you and your friends?” Shining Armor asked.
The ponies gathered around the campfire that Twilight and her friends had previously made when they got into the cave.
“I feel fine, but those Metusonians… They’re going to take over Ponyville… What do they want from us?” Twilight asked.
“Cadance and I don’t know who they are and what they’re capable of. And Jazz doesn’t know who they are either. All the Princess told us was that she banished them long ago because they threatened to overthrow her and rule Equestria,” Shining Armor answered back.
“Whatever they’re planning.. It doesn’t seem good,” Princess Cadance added on.
“How did you manage to find us?” Twilight asked.
“Well, we were on our way to Ponyville to look for you ponies. When we got there, we overheard the guards talk about dumping off a princess and her friends at the desert and we knew they were talking about you,” Shining Armor acknowledged.
“Yup. We then snuck onto a train that was now controlled by the Metusonians and hopped off when the train was entering the desert area,” Cadance added on.
“And I found hoofsteps on the desert soil and followed it. And that led me here,” Jazz answered.
“So what’s the plan gonna be?” Rainbow Dash asked.
There was slight moment of silence, but Jazz then thought of an idea. “You still have your elements, right? We can use –“
“But.. they’ve take our elements..” Applejack brokenheartedly admitted as she cut off Jazz in the middle of his plan.
“We tried to stop them, but they were too much..” Fluttershy murmured.
“She.. she casted a spell on us..” Rarity explained, but stopped at mid sentence, seemingly still haunted by the Empress’s spell.
“She.. she casted a spell to led you to your worst fear.. Everything just felt so.. real..” Twilight said, giving a disheartening look.
“There was nothing I.. or we.. could do to stop her,” Rainbow Dash added on.
“Look. It’s not your ponies fault for what happened. We’ll find a way,” Shining Armor said, trying to lighten up the mood.
“Well, how about the Princess? I’m sure they can help us defeat them! “Twilight suggested.
Cadance gave her saddened look in her face when she looked at Twilight. “I’m afraid that the Metusonians have captured them..”
Twilight and her friends felt crushed and defeated. They sat down and looked as if there was no hope at all. Jazz, Shining Armor, and Cadance remained silent, feeling sympathy for their friends. All of a sudden, Twilight realized something.
“AJ, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie! You said she has your elements right?” Twilight asked quickly without stopping.
Her friends all nodded “yes” simultaneously.
Rainbow Dash looked confused. “Why do you ask?”
“And the Empress is planning on using our elements for her evil plan, right?” Twilight questioned.
“That seems to be the case,” Jazz replied back.
“Look, Twilight. Where are ya going with this?” Applejack wondered.
“She never took my element! The Element of Magic!” Twilight exclaimed.
“But how could the Empress forget to take your element when you were wearing it the entire time during the party?” Rarity asked.
“I didn’t! When I left the.. party.. I went to Zecora’s place and left my crown there by mistake!” Twilight realized.
Jazz reiterated what every pony was saying. “Wait a minute. If your crown is in Zecora’s, that means.. the empress hasn’t realized she’s missing an element. And if she’s missing an element..”
“Her plan cannot work,” the ponies all said at the same time.
“That’s it!” Princess Cadance concluded.
“We need to head to Zecora’s to get Twilight’s crown before the Empress realizes that she needs Twilight’s element and starts looking for us!” Applejack exclaimed.
“Well, what are we waiting for!? Let’s get that crown!” Rainbow Dash declared.
The ponies placed her hooves together and were determined to save their land from the wicked Empress and her Metusonians.
“Yay! We have a plan!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully yelled as she continued hopping up and down.