//------------------------------// // What's Most Important // Story: The First Pony to Time Travel Without a Spell // by Razor Blade the Unicron //------------------------------// "20 parts unicorn?" asked Fluttershy. "5 parts dragon?!?" asked Spike. "20 parts alicorn?!?" asked Rarity. "You're kiddin'!" said Applejack. "No..." said Twilight staring intently at the screen. "I have dragon and alicorn magic in me?!?" asked Rainbow, looking oddly at herself, "That... actually explains a lot..." "Ooh!" said Pinkie, not fazed in the slightest, "What does it explain?" "When-" Rainbow flinched again as more magic sparks of pink and blue jumped up from her, "Never mind, that hurt!" "This doesn't make sense!" yelled Twilight, "How could you have gotten alicorn magic in you? The only alicorns are Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence!" "Don't forget Princess Luna!" snapped Rainbow. "Princess Luna?" asked Rarity, "You mean Princess Celestia's sister in that old pony's tale? Darling, she isn't real." "Yes she is! She was corrupted by shadows that fed off her jealousy, which caused her to turn into Nightmare Moon! So Princess Celestia had to use the Elements of Harmony to send her to the moon for one thousand years, and she'll return on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration because that will be the longest day of the thousandth year!" "Wait, you know about that, too?" asked Twilight, seemingly forgetting about the magic that had been in Rainbow. "Who do you think saved my life when I was in space?" "Saved yer life?" asked Applejack. "Yeah!" "How did Princess Luna, um, save your life?" asked Fluttershy. "Ooh! Ooh!" said Pinkie, raising her hoof into the air, "Rainbow was in space, even though that should be impossible, but then there was a malfunction with her space suit and she got frozen in ice, even though that's also impossible, and she was frozen in the ice for a reaaaaaaaally long time before floating near the moon, which should have also been impossible, and Princess Luna flew up and saved her from being hit by something and brought her back down to the moon and put her in a special bubble to give her air that she changed to a coating of magic so they could race on the moon, which I think should have also been impossible, and sent her back to Equestria a few years later because she knew that she was going to return as Nightmare Moon!" Everypony (and dragon) stared at Pinkie in complete silence as she stood, smiling. "... How did you know that?" asked Rainbow slowly. "Just a hunch!" said Pinkie happily. "But-" "Trust me," interrupted Applejack in a whisper, "Ya don't want ta ask any further." Rainbow glanced over at Pinkie, who was stilling smiling, before giving a nod towards Applejack. "Okay, we apparently know how Rainbow got into space, thanks to Pinkie," said Twilight, also glancing at Pinkie before turning back towards the others, "But we have a larger problem at hoof. The Mare in the Moon, aka Nightmare Moon, will be returning tomorrow during the Summer Sun Celebration, and the only way to stop her from causing eternal night is to use the Elements of Harmony." "Which are located in the Everfree Forest." added on Rainbow. "The Everfree Forest!" cried out Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy in shock. "Isn't that place filled with dangerous monsters or something?" asked Rainbow. "It's not just that..." said Rarity ominously. "The weather occurs..." said Pinkie. "The plant grow..." said Applejack. "And the animals are taken care..." said Fluttershy. "All on their own!" they all finished. "Yeesh, that is creepy!" said Spike, shuddering. "Wait, seriously?" asked Rainbow. "What do you mean?" asked Twilight, "It is really creepy and weird!" "You have got to be kidding me! That's creepy? The only thing dangerous about the Everfree Forest is the monsters! Weather happens by itself already! Plants grow on their own! Animals take care of themselves! Why is any of that stuff creepy?" There was a few moments of silence before Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, Rainbow, weather doesn't happen by itself. It's made in Cloudstale, remember? And plants do grow by themselves, but we make sure they get trimmed and stuff. And animals usually need help." "Weather is made? Since when?" "Since forever!" said Applejack, "What, are you from the past or somethin'?" "Yes, yes I am." "What?" "And I would love to tell you, but I can't. How about we focus on getting the Elements of Harmony?" "Good idea," said Twilight, "Now, there has to be a book on them somewhere in the library..." "'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide'!" said Pinkie, looking at a bookshelf. "How did you find that?" asked Twilight, running over to grab the book. "The library is arranged alphabetically," said Rainbow, "Which is a really stupid way to organize books." Twilight seemingly ignored Rainbow as she opened the book with her magic and flipped to a certain page. "Okay..." she said after a few seconds, "According to this book, the Elements are in the Castle of the Two Sisters, and there are six of them: Empathy, Trust, Selflessness, Positive Energy, Loyalty, and the sixth Element is unknown." "Unknown?" asked Rarity, "That's not very helpful..." "It also says that the sixth Element can be found by a spark that occurs when 'all becomes clear'." "So, are we gonna go get 'em?" asked Rainbow, flying into the air excitedly. "No so fast, sugarcube," said Applejack, "As much as Ah don't want Equestria to fall into eternal night, doesn't this all seem a bit far-fetched?" "Um, it is a little unbelievable..." said Fluttershy, barely audible. "Plus," said Pinkie, "If we go and look for the Elements, how am I supposed to..." the lights suddenly went out, before turning back on to reveal party decorations and many ponies, "Throw you A PARTY!" "What th-?" yelled Twilight before being drowned out by music and cheers. "Do you like it? Huh? Do you?" asked Pinkie, bouncing in excitement, "It's a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!" "Pinkie, I don't think that it's a good-" "Cupcake?" Pinkie offered up a tray filled with cupcakes. "No, I'm good, but Pinkie, I really-" "Who wants to play Pin-the-Tail-On-the-Pony?" "That sounds like fun..." said Fluttershy. "Count me in!" said Applejack. "Can I have the purple tail?" asked Rarity, as the three of them followed Pinkie over to where the game was. "What just happened?" asked Rainbow, landing on the ground. "I think Pinkie managed to set up a party without anypony noticing..." said Twilight in surprise. "So what do we do now?" asked Rainbow. "Well, Pinkie set this party up for me and Spike, so it would be rude if I didn't participate in any activities." "Suit yourself, I'm going into the other room to read more the Elements and Nightmare Moon!" Rainbow grabbed the book out of Twilight's magic and flew into the other room. Twilight stared at where she had gone for a moment before walking over to join the others in playing Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Pony. Princess Celestia had said that the legend was silly, so why was she one to argue? For a moment, she remembered the image she had seem in the book of the Elements, but shook it out of her head. Now was time to relax. Still, there was something about the colors...