//------------------------------// // The Letter // Story: Into the Light // by nutcase4real //------------------------------// Fluttershy trotted down the street towards Twilight's castle at a brisk pace. Princess Celestia had already began lowering the sun for the day, and Fluttershy certainly didn't want to be outside in the darkness for her return trip home. 'I wonder where the day went. All I did today was just wake up, give food to my creature friends, help the new robin family settle into a new home, negotiate a truce between Applejack and the beaver clan, visit Barry Bear, gave lunch to my friends, read' The Complete Guide To Finding Your Assertiveness' , finished painting the new birdhouse I brought yesterday, and brought some medicine to Mr. And Ms. Shrew for their sick baby.' Fluttershy paused for a moment, 'I guess time really flies when you're having fun. As if on cue, something flew directly over Fluttershy's head startling her. She fell to the ground and covered her face with her forehooves. She decided to take a peek at what ever it might have been. When she looked up all she could see was the figure siloetted by the glorious sun. "It's only me Fluttershy." came the annoyed voice of Rainbow Dash, "Sheesh! You are such a scaredy-pony." Fluttershy tentively rose from her defensive position, "Good afternoon Rainbow Dash." she said with a small smile that found it's way to her lips. The two mares started walking together until another figure approached. "Darlings, how are the two of you doing today?" Rarity asked with a warm grin. "I'm well Rarity. How are you?" Fluttershy responded softly. "Same old, same old." Dash said. "I'm doing fabulous darling! Thanks for asking." Rarity said. The three continued down the road and eventually the group became four then five as their other friends tagged along. "Twilight said that Princess Celestia sent a letter that we all have to read together!" Pinkie exclaimed as she jovially bounced around the rest of the group, "Who knows what it could be! It could a dangerous mission! Or maybe she and Princess Luna are resigning from office and they've selected us to run Equestria! Or maybe it's arrest orders for all of us!" Pinkie theorised out loud. "And just why would we be arrested?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Well Fluttershy stole her pet, Twilight and I broke into her castle, Rarity basically made a sweatshop in Manehatten last time we all went there, you broke into a hospital to steal a book Dash, and Applejack wanted to kill off an endangered species!" Pinkie said with a big smile. "I did not make a sweatshop! Besides I apologized." Rarity explained. "I didn't know those flying varmits were endangered to begin with, also I didn't want to kill them. I just wanted them off Sweet Apple Acres." Applejack retorted. "Princess Celestia forgave me for taking Philomena." Fluttershy said quietly. "Hey! I did my community service for that!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Yeah I guess you guys are right. I mean Twilight and I didn't exactly break into the castle either I guess." Pinkie said thoughtfully. "So what do ya'll think this is all about?" Applejack asked as she adjusted her Stetson absent-mindedly. "I hope it's a mission!" Dash exclaimed with a hoof pump. "Well darlings, what it is must be Important fir it to require all of us." Rarity stated with a small smile. The friends stopped in front of the massive front door of Twilight's castle. The group exchanged glances at one another until Pinkie spoke up. "We won't find out standing out here girls!" she flings open the door, "Lets get moving!" Twilight Sparkle rested her head on her hoof. The suspense was excruciating, but she had to wait for her friends to arrive. On the envelope, that was on the table in front of her, it was clearly written that she had to have her friends present for when she opened the envelope. She levitated it up and inspected the letter for the tenth time and made the discovery that nothing had changed about the envelope in any way. She released the item, and allowed her head to continue resting on her hoof. Twilight's ears perked up when she heard the sound of the door opening. A small dragon entered the room and walked towards the table. "Oh, it's just you Spike." Twilight said with ore than just a little disappointment in her voice. "Well sorry that I'm 'just Spike'." Spike said pointedly. Twilight's head found the table again, "Spike you know I didn't mean it like that." she sighed "It's just that... I really want to know what is inside this letter." "I know Twilight. Don't worry the others well be here soon." Spike said with a grin. "Others? What others?" Pinkie asked as she hopped out from behind Spike. This startled the young drake and he leapt off the ground. He landed and clutched his chest. "You need to stop doing that!" he said to the bouncing Pinkie Pie. The door to the throne room opened and the others walked in. "Thank goodness you're all here now!" Twilight nearly shrieked in excitement. "Now we can finally see what Princess Celestia's letter says." Pinkie bounced over to Twilight and patted her head, "Silly Twilight, letters don't talk." Twilight shook Pinkie's hoof off of her head and levitated the letter out of the envelope. Carefully she unfolded the paper and read what was written aloud. 'In a time long ago after the first fall of Nightmare Moon, a society rose focused on the idea that one day she would return and once more try to bring about eternal night. However, when she did the nightmare was cleansed from my sister by you six brave ponies. You defeated Nightmare Moon and gave me back my sister, but unfortunately my intelligence agencies have discovered something horrible. Not only does this society still exist, but they have found away to reawaken the Nightmare. They plan to bring it back, and help it achieve its goal of conquering our beloved Equestria. This new threat must be dealt with post haste if we are to save our beloved nation from danger. Princess Twilight, we have no idea how far this society has spread. Anypony could be a member of this treasonous community, but we must not cause a panic in our search for answers. I trust that you and your friends, who have saved Equestria numerous times before, are willing to help put a stop to this plot before the society sees fruition of its cause. Equestria needs all of your help once more. Once every one of your friends and yourself responds with a "Yes" a new parchment will materialize, with more instructions. Twilight placed the letter on the table and looked to her friends. She cleared her throat and said loudly, "Yes. Well girls? Are you with me?" she asked all at once. "Yes!" Rainbow Dash shouted "You know I'm in." she zipped over to Twilight's side. "Yes." Applejack said as she walked over. "Yes!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced over. "Yes." Rarity said as she walked over as well. All eyes turned to Fluttershy, who gulped quietly. She began to breathe faster and faster, each breath getting deeper and deeper. "Sugarcube," Applejack started "we can't do this without ya." "We need you Fluttershy. Please say you'll help us. Equestria needs us." Twilight pleaded. "Yeah! I mean come on Fluttershy, don't you want to save Equestria and kick some major flank while doing it?" Rainbow Dash excitedly blurted out. "Of course I want to help Rainbow, but I don't want to fight anypony." Fluttershy said in as level of a voice as possible. "You won't have to fight darling." Rarity chimed in, "We may not even find anything, but it is still our duty to help." Pinkie Pie nodded her head quickly and bounced over to her yellow friend, "Besides, we are a winning team Fluttershy! We need all of us to do this!" Fluttershy took a deep breath, "Yes." The letter lifted off the table in a golden glow and began to spin rapidly. With a bright burst of light the letter disappeared and in its place was two scrolls. Twilight opened the first one since it had the royal seal on it, and read it aloud. Thank you all for agreeing to help Equestria once more in a time of dire need. In the other scroll is the last known location of one of the members of the Dark Society who has agreed to help. She needs to be found and escorted to safety before she will reveal any more information. Please hurry and bring her to a safe location. Twilight and friends looked to the other scroll. Twilight used her magic to open the scroll. Inside was a picture of brown earth pony mare with a black mane and brown eyes. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon with a series of three stars to the left of the moon. Twilight showed the picture to her friends and saw the name of the mare on the back of the parchment. "Dark Moonstar." Twilight read aloud. "What's that?" Pinkie asked out loud. "Is it candy? Cause that's a bad name for a candy. Oo oo oo is it a cupcake? Or how about a type of ice cream!" "It's her name Pinkie Pie." Twilight said with a giggle. "That was my next guess!" Fluttershy looked at the picture of the mare "Where is she?" she asked aloud. "It doesn't say?" Applejack asked as she peered over Fluttershy's shoulder. "No. All I see is a picture of her standing in a meadow." Fluttershy answered. Twilight picked up the photograph. She cast a spell that would show if any magic had been used on the photo, but it showed nothing. Rarity took a closer look as well. She pulled the paper closer to herself and closely examined it. Pinkie Pie came closer and her eyes lit up. She snatched the piece of paper away from Rarity's magic and ran. "Pinkie Pie! What are you doing?" Rainbow Dash called out as Pinkie Pie held the photo over a lit candle. "It smells like lemons!" she called out happily. Rainbow Dash took to the air and started swooping down at the pink mare, "You're gonna catch it on fi..." Dash stopped and hovered in place as she saw a message appear just below the photo. "What the?" she asked. "Me and my sisters passed notes like this all the time when we were fillies. All you need is lemon juice and water and viola!" she presented the paper to Twilight, "Invisible ink!" "Galloping Hollows." Twilight read. "Galloping Hollows? That's over by Manehattan." Applejack said thoughtfully. "Well it looks like we got to pack and purchase some train tickets." Fluttershy said quietly. "Alright girls, pack only what you need for this. We got to move fast and get Dark Moonstar back to Ponyville." Twilight started, "Lets meet up at the train station in two hours." The girls nodded resolutely and began heading to each of their homes. Fluttershy trotted at a brisk pace back to her cottage. The sun was below the horizon now, but she couldn't let her friends down now. The only problem she might have would be Angel Bunny. He hated it when she went away, but she would just have to explain to him that it would only be for a day or two at the most. 'I hope he understands.'