Meet the Ponies Part II
“ARGH!!!” Twilight groaned angrily. She didn’t understand any of what she was reading! The words were hoofwritten so badly (probably by an Earth pony) that some were impossible to make out. She was at a really important part, too—the book was describing exactly what the Elements of Harmony were.
Twilight glanced anxiously at the window of the library. It was dark out. No doubt the sun would be rising soon. She needed to hurry, or else she would be late.
Suddenly, the door to the library opened and a purple dragon waddled in. “Hey, Twilight! The sun’s about to rise!”
The unicorn face-hoofed. She was too late. Her mentor would definitely notice her absence at an event as significant as that, so she couldn’t skip. She sighed before pushing the book into her saddlebag. After making sure the lights were out, the unicorn and dragon walked out together.
“Say, Twilight…” Spike glanced around, holding his claws tightly. “You know how you sent me to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration?”
Oh sweet Celestia, please tell me he did it. Twilight thought before nodding briskly.
“Well, I met the most beautiful mare I’ve ever seen in my life!” Spike rattled on, “Her name’s Bon Bon and she was helping somepony with the food! They mostly made apple stuff, but anyway, she’s the best. I can’t wait to see her at the Summer Sun Celebration!”
The unicorn stared at the purple dragon in surprise. “You have a crush on Bon Bon?”
Spike blushed, but did not try to deny it. Instead, he avoided the question with another. “You know Bon Bon?”
Twilight dismissed the attention with a hoof. “She showed me where the library was. You were able to get everything ready before Princess Celestia arrived, right? And why were you so late in coming to the library?”
“I haven’t actually seen Princess Celestia yet, and I was late because I helped get the food set up.” Spike shrugged his shoulders as if it weren’t a big deal, but his blush gave him away. Twilight had a feeling he was just trying to spend more time with the candy mare.
The unicorn didn’t reply and simply made her way to the location this year—Ponyville’s city hall. (Supposedly where all the ponies were walking to.) It wasn’t too far from the library, so it was a convenient walk.
The minute Twilight stepped through the door she was bombarded by a certain pegasus. “Heya Twilight Sparks! I found your baby dragon!”
Derpy Hooves held up what looked like a baby alligator without any teeth. Twilight stared, wondering how she thought that was a dragon.
“Um, thanks…” She took hold of the alligator in her magical grasp and, when Derpy wasn’t looking, let him wander off through the crowd. A lot of ponies had gathered already; Twilight could see Spike tripping over his feet in his rush to Bon Bon.
“It’s no problem! I haven’t ever actually seen a dragon, so I wasn’t sure what he looked like.” Derpy smiled widely. “I am glad I could help you.”
Twilight’s ears perked when she heard music playing. The unicorn looked over to where it was coming from to see Octavia playing. The gray mare was holding a rather large cello this time, and it sounded beautiful. Her hooves moved expertly over the strings and Twilight found herself lost in the music. She wasn’t the only one, though. Other ponies stopped talking to listen to the melodic tune.
“Pssst. Hey, Twilight. It’s me.” Somepony prodded the unicorn’s side, breaking her spell. Twilight shook her head and looked to see who it was. Spitfire was wearing a long trench coat and was almost unrecognizable underneath it. The disguise worked well.
“Uh…I don’t want to be blunt or anything, but that doesn’t look very good on you.” She pointed out critically. Spitfire had a straight face, but half a second later she was laughing.
“Pfft, of course not! If I looked good I’d draw too much attention to myself, and that’s not what I need. Haha, you’re hilarious…!” Other ponies turned and glared in annoyance at the pony that was interrupting the beauty of the music. Octavia hadn’t once stopped her playing, nor had she made a mistake that Twilight had caught.
Spitfire didn’t even seem to acknowledge that she was irritating everypony else. The ones around them even started to glower at Twilight. The unicorn blushed in embarrassment and tried to look like she didn’t know who this mare was.
Everypony’s attention was drawn to a balcony where Princess Celestia was going to be making her appearance. Octavia’s music grew quieter and quieter until it stopped. She opened her eyes and nodded to somepony up on the balcony. Lyra had a big smile on her face when she pulled the rope that opened up the curtains. Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen.
Everypony in the room, including Spitfire, gasped. A sense of dread grasped at Twilight’s heart. I knew it. This is bad, this is bad… Nightmare Moon is returning…!
“Where is Princess Celestia?!” Somepony shouted. Everypony looked at the royal guards for answers, but they looked just as confused as them.
Out of nowhere, somepony started laughing ten times louder than Spitfire had, and it sounded much more sinister. An alicorn appeared where Princess Celestia should have. Her coat was black, almost as dark as night itself, and her mane looked as if it had stars attached to it. The alicorn’s cutie mark matched her night-like appearance.
“Hello, my little ponies!” She said smoothly, “I’m sure you have missed us.” Nopony made a move that showed acknowledgement that they had heard the mare.
She still sounded amused. “Are all of you ready for eternal night? We should hope so.”
Spitfire seemed to recover from the shock when she flapped her wings, shedding the trench coat she was wearing. Some ponies looked in surprise at the sudden Wonderbolt’s appearance.
“Who the hay are you? And where is Princess Celestia?” She glared.
Nightmare Moon stammered, “Y-You do not recognize us?” She stomped a hoof angrily before scanning the crowd calculatingly. “None of thou recognize thee?!”
Everypony remained silent. Twilight swallowed her anxiety before raising a hoof timidly. “I-I…I know who you are…You’re Nightmare Moon.”
All the ponies Twilight had gotten acquainted to the previous day stared in surprise: Bon Bon, Lyra, Derpy, and Spitfire. For some reason Octavia didn’t even look phased.
“Indeed. So I am not completely forgotten…” Her voice took a bitter tone. “Your lovely Princess has taken to retirement, I’m afraid. I hope you do not mind the darkness, for this time all my little ponies will love the night.”
Nightmare Moon let out a hearty bellow. The Royal Guards finally figured out that this mare was dangerous and threatening their princess, so they took action. The armored pegasi lurched at the enemy, but she disappeared. The attacking ponies hit each other head on and were dazed.
A mist that looked like Nightmare Moon’s mane started to float away. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” Spitfire shouted, “I place this on my honor as captain of the WONDERBOLTS; you will not escape!” She flapped her wings furiously. Twilight had a weird sense of déjà vu. The captain took off faster than Twilight had ever seen a pony go before, and a trail of fire followed her. What a temper… Twilight thought, she seemed so cool-headed before.
The mist wasn’t fast enough. Spitfire caught up and latched on with her mouth. She started to slow down, but the haze was pulling her along. An audible snort rang out from her, a visible sign of effort, but the mist launched her back towards Derpy (who was on her way to help) before disappearing out the door.
Twilight didn’t look back—she was running. Not to Nightmare Moon, no, she needed to figure out what the hay these Elements of Harmony were, and where she could find them.
She cantered to the nearest light source—a street lamp not far from the town hall. Immediately she pulled out the book she needed. Hoofs shaking, and magic much the same, she opened the book as fast as she could. But still, she couldn’t read the shaky words.
“Come on!” Twilight stared hard at the words, willing them to change form. “The Elements of Harmony are…? Ugh. Is there a spell for this?” The unicorn focused her magic onto the page, imagining the words in her neat hoofwriting. The spell wasn’t that hard, and when the lavender mare opened her eyes, she could read.
“Finally…Should’ve done that earlier…” Twilight mumbled, satisfied. “The Elements of Harmony—oof!” She found herself upside down with the air knocked out of her. The book flopped helplessly to the ground.
“I was looking for you, Twilight Sparkle!” Spitfire still looked angry, but more so at herself. Her mane almost looked like it was on fire with the rage. “You knew about that mare, right? As captain of the Wonderbolts, and one of Equestria’s fastest flyers, I need to know what you know!”
“There isn’t any need to be rough.” Octavia’s musical voice rang out. Twilight glanced to the side, and to her surprise, the gray mare had her violin case instead of the cello. The unicorn's eyebrows knitted in confusion, but she was alerted of the pegasus’s presence above her by her snort.
“I wasn’t trying to be. It’s just… Do you know what ‘Spitfire’ means? It’s a name for ponies with a fierce temper, that’s what.” She took a shaky breath. “Sorry. When I lose my cool I just…blank out.” The captain stepped off of Twilight. The unicorn stood up and saw Derpy, Lyra, and Bon Bon cantering towards them. She wondered how Octavia had gotten to her so fast, and where the cello had gone.
Twilight magically picked up the book and sat on her haunches. The three that had just arrived were catching their breath, so Spitfire spoke up.
“What do you know about this ‘Nightmare Moon?’” Everypony was watching her calculatingly, so Twilight flipped to the page she left off on before explaining.
“Nightmare Moon used to be an old pony’s tale, but long ago, because of her evil she was sealed in the moon by Princess Celestia herself. She vowed to bring Equestria into everlasting night when she returned. The Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her. Apparently,” Twilight began to read from the book now, “There are six elements, but only five are known. There is…Loyalty, generosity, honesty, laughter, and kindness. The last one was forgotten long ago, but the last known location of the other elements was in the Everfree Forest.” She looked up after finishing.
Lyra was holding hoof up like she was in school. Twilight nodded to her awkwardly. “I have a question about this Nightmare Moon pony. Why does she say ‘we’ and ‘us’ when talking about herself?”
Twilight paused to contemplate the answer. “I…I’m not sure.”
“I’m not usually one to stop friendly conversation…” Bon Bon spoke for the first time, “But I really do think we should be going. The situation is kinda dire, right?”
“That is correct.” Twilight hesitated, “Does anypony know where the Everfree Forest is?”
Both Bon Bon and Lyra raised their hoofs immediately while Derpy nodded with enthusiasm. “It’s just right outside of Ponyville. It’s not very safe, though.”
Twilight began to walk towards where she figured the forest would be, but Derpy tapped a hoof to her shoulder. “I don’t want to be mean or anything, butttt…you’re kind of going the wrong way, Twilight Sparks.”
The unicorn blushed lightly—she never was any good with directions. The other ponies followed Twilight without hesitation, and apparently without any intention of leaving. The lavender mare wondered how she was going to tell them that she needed to do this alone.
And the next thought caught her by surprise—why was it so quiet? Only Bon Bon and Lyra were talking to each other. Twilight realized something; these ponies didn’t know each other. Spitfire and Octavia didn’t even live in Ponyville, while Derpy…was apparently just Derpy.
“Umm…” She started, and everypony paid attention to her. It added to her nerves—did they all respect her so much? “Do none of you know each other?”
Derpy jumped up and answered first. “I know everypony! Kinda. Um…I know Bon Bon, Lyra, and Twilight Sparks, I’ve seen Spitfire before, but…er…I’ve never met you before.” She glanced at Octavia.
Bon Bon raised a hoof guiltily. “I’m the same as Derpy.”
Lyra had a wide smile plastered on her face. “Not me! I know Bon Bon, Twilight, and Derpy. I’ve seen Spitfire at shows and stuff before, and Octavia…” Lyra had sparkles of admiration in her eyes when she spoke. “I’ve heard so much about her. And some of her music, too. As you can see, my cutie mark is also music-related, so it’s my passion. I wish I was as good at it as Octavia though. She can play, like, any instrument!” The two music ponies shared a smile, although Octavia’s was admittedly smaller.
Spitfire glanced from side to side. “Honestly, I know Twilight, and have only heard of Octavia. The rest of you…Nothing.” She shrugged.
Octavia still held her violin case gingerly. “I’ve only recently met Miss Sparkle, but I’ve seen and heard things about her in Canterlot quite often, so I’m more acquainted with her than the rest of you. I’ve heard of Spitfire, but never have I seen her before today. I’m surprised she would make an appearance at Ponyville. As for the rest of you… Seeing as I’m from Canterlot, I haven’t known of you beforehoof.”
They looked at Twilight expectantly. She didn’t think they’d want her to answer the question, too. “U-Uh… I knew who Spitfire was a long time ago, due to her status as a Wonderbolt. I’ve seen Octavia in Canterlot before, I’m sure, but I don’t exactly remember. The rest of you; Bon Bon, Lyra, and Derpy…I didn’t know of any of you before coming here.”
“Hey, hey, you know what’s funny?” Lyra asked with a bounce in her step. “We three Ponyville ponies know each other pretty well, while you three big-time Canterlot-slash-everywhere ponies know each other. And, and, you know what else?” Bon Bon let out an audible sigh, about to quiet down her exuberant friend, but Lyra jumped away before a hoof could cover her mouth. “Each of these groups has a unicorn,” she pointed out to herself and Twilight, “A pegasus,” she emphasized Derpy and Spitfire, “And an earth pony!” She poked Bon Bon and looked at Octavia meaningfully. “And, we’re ALL mar—“Bon Bon finally succeeded in covering Lyra’s mouth with a hoof.
“Come on, Lyra. We still have to save Equestria. Stuff like that can wait, ya know…” Lyra scowled a little, but couldn’t keep up that front. She laughed a little and pushed her friend’s hoof away.
“Geez, Bon Bon. Just ‘cause we’re doing something this important doesn’t mean it has to be so serious.” Lyra remarked jokingly.
Octavia remained passive the entire walk, seeming more of a listener than a speaker. Spitfire continually urged them to move faster, but she did so coolly. She usually flew above them, guiding them to where the forest seemed to be. Of course the three good Ponyville friends were still talking. Twilight didn’t say anything until they got to the Everfree Forest.
“Okay everypony.” The unicorn spoke nervously, “This is far enough.” All the mares looked in puzzlement at Twilight.
“This is something I need to do for myself.” The lavender pony took a step into the wood, “You should all go back and wait in Ponyville. I should be back soon.”
Derpy flew in front of Twilight and thrust her hooves out. “Nono! Twilight Sparks, there isn’t any way you are going to the Everfree Forest by yourself. I won’t let you.” She had a determined expression.
Somepony pressed a hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder. She turned away from the gray pegasus only to be faced with another gray pony. Octavia spoke with a firm tone, “I’m afraid there isn’t any way I could let you go in there in good conscience, especially when I myself do not even know what is in there. We may not know each other very well, but I refuse to let a fellow pony try to save the world themselves.”
Twilight didn’t get a chance to reply. Spitfire spoke with practiced chivalry, “Sparks. Nopony gets all the glory. Not even me.”
Bon Bon and Lyra both nodded vigorously, showing their agreement. Twilight sighed in defeat.
“Fine, all of you can come…But don’t hold me responsible if you get hurt.” The unicorn already knew that if somepony got hurt in this expedition she would hold herself responsible anyway. Honestly, she probably wouldn’t ever live it down; she could already imagine the guilt welling up in her at the thought of somepony’s broken appendage.
She began trotting into the woods with the ponies following closely. Why had five—strangers at most—want to risk their lives to help Twilight in her quest to save Equestria? Well, when put that way she figured it wasn’t a big mystery, but most ponies would flee in terror at the prospect. So why…?
“If you don’t mind me asking…” Twilight began, “Why is the Everfree Forest considered dangerous?”
In less than a second, Bon Bon and Lyra were on either side of Twilight. The unicorn had to look left and right comically to listen.
“They say,” Lyra began conspiringly, “That nopony who goes in comes out.” The lavender mare gulped.
Bon Bon continued for her partner-in-crime. “The monsters that live in the Everfree Forest are also said to be unimaginably huge! Apparently, I’ve heard, an Ursa Major lives in here!” Something felt like it brushed against Twilight’s flank, and it didn’t feel like a pony.
“Boo!” Lyra jumped onto Twilight in the same second that Bon Bon’s sentence was finished. The unicorn jumped with a shriek and a bolt of magic shot into the sky. She cowered, shivering. Twilight wasn’t exactly a scaredy-pony, but she didn’t have nerves of steel. Especially when things jumped out at her. The already scary scenery of the forest didn’t help, either.
“Ugh, Lyra, I told you we shouldn’t do it. Look at her!” Bon Bon frowned disapprovingly, even though she had a hoof in the prank.
Octavia walked up to Twilight with an expression between sympathy and irritation, but strangely, she looked as calm as ever. She laid a reassuring hoof onto Twilight’s still shaking shoulder, “Twilight Sparkle. There is no reason to be afraid. I’m not happy to admit it, but some ponies in our party have conspired in a harmless prank against you.” She leaned a little closer so only Twilight would hear her. “And, if I were you, I would definitely have vengeance in a most…refined manor, if you will.” Her eyes twinkled in some sort of repressed amusement. Twilight swallowed her pride and was about to get up when she heard Bon Bon speak.
“Umm…what happened to the two pegasus-es?” Everypony looked up at the prospect of the question. The sight appalled Twilight—or, lack thereof. Nopony was in there.
“W-Where are they?” Lyra whispered, and everything suddenly seemed so much darker in the forest. Octavia’s hoof unintentionally put some extra pressure onto Twilight. Apparently she wasn’t as composed as she made herself out to be.
“H-Help!” A strangled and mangled cry for help made itself known from somewhere in the darkness. “S-Spitfire, the W-Wonderbolt, she—she…” It was Derpy speaking, sounding close to tears. Everypony cantered as fast as they could towards the voice.
Derpy was crying. Spitfire was knocked out and smelled reminiscent of a barbeque.
“What happened, Derpy?” Twilight immediately asked, flipping Spitfire over so she was face-up.
“S-Spitfire was flying high up to look for the u-um, Elements, and I didn’t think it’d be very smart to go up there a-alone, so I followed her. T-Tried to, I mean, she was pretty fast, and out of n-nowhere a lightning bolt flew up and hit her t-there.” Derpy was stuttering uncontrollably through the water leaking out of her eyes and pointed to the Wonderbolt’s chest. There was soot all around the spot and her right wing, and Twilight knew they needed to work fast. Dread gripped her heart when she remembered the past five minutes.
“I think…I think my magic skewered her…” The unicorn muttered.
“T-That would mean…” Bon Bon said, sounding just as guilty as Twilight felt. “When we scared you, and your magic shot off…”
Twilight only nodded briskly, feeling numb. She had studied medical science briefly with Princess Celestia in Canterlot—it was one of the first things her mentor stressed she needed to cover. They spent extra time on magical-caused injuries, such as the one at hoof. She could handle this. If she only had the tools…
“Is there…Is there any chance that somepony has a first aid kit? Or something?” Twilight glanced back at the other ponies. Octavia pulled out her violin case and opened it, revealing quite a bundle. Apparently she had only used the case to fill it up with the necessities for survival—water, food, bandages, and even some painkillers. The supplies were limited, however, as the case wasn’t very large.
“O-Octavia, how did you…?” Twilight looked at the other mare incredulously as the gray mare sat down next to her.
“We mustn’t spend much time talking,” Octavia said gently, “Miss Spitfire needs medical attention right away.” Twilight nodded and, berating herself for not checking earlier, bent her head to check the pegasus’s pulse. Strong. She wasn’t in a life-threatening situation, but it could get worse if left untreated. Twilight credited the still-beating heart to Spitfire’s airborne tricks and physical perseverance.
The unicorn lifted the injured wing gently to make sure no bones were misplaced, but it seemed okay. Twilight was about to ask her ‘assistant’ for the bandages, but Octavia was already hoofing the roll to her.
The injured pegasus twitched when Twilight began to wrap the wounded wing along with her chest. The unicorn was so focused on making sure Spitfire was okay that she wasn’t sure where the other three ponies were, and she honestly didn’t care—not when somepony was hurting because of her.
Octavia gingerly fed the Wonderbolt the painkillers along with water. She was going to need them.
“W-When will she wake up?” Derpy, glassy-eyed, asked like it was her fault.
Octavia frowned and spoke, seeming to have heard the tone in which the pegasus used, “Miss Hooves, I feel the need to stress this to you—Miss Spitfire did not fall because of you, nor is it any other pony’s fault. I believe it was simply bad luck, or perhaps being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The musician once again laid a hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder. “I must specify to you most, Miss Sparkle. It would not be right to allow you to scold yourself for this. Miss Spitfire will be fine, I assure you. I’m sure she, too, would not wish for you to be upset. Although I have not known her for very long, nor you, for that matter, I have a sharp eye for details and a pony’s personality. Please do not fret.”
Twilight did feel a little better. Spitfire’s eyes were starting to open again. “Urgh…” Everypony gathered around.
“What the…” Spitfire struggled to sit up. “What the hay happened…?” She winced when she tried to open her wing.
Despite Octavia’s little pep talk, everypony adopted a guilty expression. Lyra was the one who answered her. “You see…Me and Bon Bon kinda pulled a fast one on Twilight, but it scared her and a magic bolt flew out into the sky. Derpy was in the air with you and apparently the same magic bolt hit you, so you fell down. She was able to help you, and when the rest of us found you Twilight and Octavia had to do first aid on you.”
Spitfire pressed a hoof to her head. “Ugh… And I thought my crashing days were over…” She stood up and flexed her unhurt wing before trying the bandaged one again. She grimaced and did not try again. “Great. I’m out of commission guys.”
Twilight frowned. “I’m sorry that I did that to you. I really didn’t mean to; it happened out of nowhere when something weird touched me.”
Spitfire managed a smile. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll be okay. I guess I’ll just take a few days off ‘em.” Octavia packed up her violin case and spoke.
“Will you be okay to walk?” Spitfire tested her hooves and walked a few steps, but didn’t have a limp or a pained exression.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just this wing.” She nodded back to the injury.
“Are you quite certain?” Octavia looked a little concerned.
Spitfire’s eyebrow rose questioningly. “Uh, yeah. I’m alright.”
Octavia smiled, obviously relieved. Out of nowhere, Bon Bon let out a shrill scream.
“What’s wrong?” Lyra turned to her companion, looking around wildly. “I-I don’t see anything, Bon Bon!”
The candy mare rose a shaky hoof, shivering. Everypony looked to where she was pointing, but…nothing was there.
Derpy scratched her head. “There’s nothing there…!” Twilight furrowed a brow; she couldn’t see anything either.
“What?! Are you ponies crazy? I-It’s right there! Staring at us, I swear it!” She gulped visibly.
Doubt etched onto everypony’s face. Was this mare crazy? “Bon Bon, I don’t think—“”Twilight, I’m not lying to you! You guys have to trust me; I’m not joking around this time. I’m telling you—there are monsters right there!”
Twilight was a little reluctant, but she peered into the darkness for where these ‘monsters’ were. She cast an illumination spell and everypony gasped. Bon Bon wasn’t lying—a pack of dark-looking timber wolves had been stalking them. Their eyes glowed red and their wood coat was black. She braced herself and called to the others, “Get ready, everypony! Timber wolves are known for their aggressiveness…”
The first timber wolf lunged at Twilight before she could finish her warning. Quickly, she jumped out of the way and launched a ‘full-force’ spell onto the animal. The animal howled in pain as it was thrown onto a tree. Twilight risked a glance at the others. They were holding their ground, but there appeared to be more in the pack than they first anticipated. The unicorn heard snarling and turned back to her front side where three timber wolves were racing towards her.
Twilight gulped; her heart was pounding so loudly that she almost thought the ground was shaking. Or perhaps it was the sheer number of timber wolves—she couldn’t tell. As fast as she could, Twilight charged another ‘full-force’ spell. She didn’t have enough time to collect enough power to knock them all away, so when she released it only one timber wolf was blasted away.
Twilight’s other two combatants jumped over the gust of air and straight onto the unicorn. She managed to kick one of the wolves off and to keep the other from snapping its jaws into her face. More jumped onto her, causing a large dog pile. Literally.
Is…Is this how it ends? I-I’m sorry I failed you, Princess Celestia… Scared out of her wits, Twilight tried to keep the animals’ teeth away, but it was hard. Their combined weight was getting heavier and heavier, and she wasn’t getting any stronger. She wasn’t sure if the others were okay or not, but she hoped they were.
“GRRR, NO WAY! I AM NOT ABOUT TO ABANDON THEM!” Barely audible through the wolves, Twilight heard Spitfire shout. As if a bunch of trees had fallen to the ground, the unicorn felt the ground shake. Her hope rose when she came to the realization that those must have been timber wolves. Twilight wished she had time to cast a spell; she felt useless.
“HEY YOU FLEABAGS, YOU AREN’T MAKING A SNACK OUT OF MY FRIENDS! AND I WILL NEVER ACCEPT THOSE TERMS!” The lavender mare felt the weight atop her start to lessen until only the single timber wolf remained. Just as the enemy was about to sink its teeth into her, Spitfire kicked it away. Hard.
The injured pegasus turned to the other timber wolves with fire in her eyes and growled predatorily. They yelped and ran off with their tails between their legs.
Everypony looked a little worse for the wear, but they were alive. Spitfire must’ve gotten to them first. Breathlessly, Twilight spoke, “T-Thanks for saving me…And you too, Bon Bon. If you hadn’t told us…”
Spitfire took a moment to catch her breath. “It’s…cool…I’d never abandon anypony.” She threw a nasty glare towards the path the timber wolves took.
“Yeah, a-anypony would have done the same.” Bon Bon agreed, still looking shaken.
“Let’s…Let’s pay more attention and stay close, everypony, we don’t want to get caught off guard--“”MUFFIN!” Derpy shouted with a point of the hoof. Twilight quickly looked over and, indeed, saw a muffin. That was alive.
“W-Wait, Derpy—“The pegasus flew off after it. Her wings pumped fast, and the others had to canter to keep up.
“Buck it all—if I could fly I could reach her easily…” Spitfire cursed to herself. Twilight tried to use magic to stop Derpy in her tracks, but the mare was moving elusively. She was avoiding the magic so well that the unicorn thought that it must’ve been done on purpose, but had a feeling it was unintentional.
Derpy pounced on the walking muffin, limiting its movements. Twilight caught her breath, wondering why everything was moving so fast in the forest. The pegasus opened her mouth to eat the treat, but closed it instead. She looked back at everypony with guilt in her crossed eyes.
“I wasn’t trying to be selfish, honest! I really hate not sharing my muffins with anypony, and everypony looks hungry. So, I thought, I should share this muffin with everypony!” She smiled broadly. There wasn’t any room to argue; half a second later everypony had a piece of muffin.
“Umm…Thanks, Derpy. This is…very generous.” Twilight said. She wasn’t very hungry, honestly, but still ate her serving. The gray pegasus beamed from the praise, but quickly shrank down with the unicorn’s next statement. “But you really shouldn’t fly off like that. We were all a little…shaken after the fight, and when you took off it scared us.”
“I-I’m sorry. I just…Derpy loves muffins.” She sniffled.
“It’s okay. Nopony blames you. We were just a little worried is all.” Everypony took a few minutes to compose themselves and to work out a game plan on how to find the Elements of Harmony. Bon Bon showed her a map of the Everfree Forest and the group decided to check out the ruins.
“Didn’t you say that ‘nopony has made it out of the forest alive’?” The unicorn glanced at the two tricksters. Bon Bon scuffed a hoof guiltily.
“I kinda…stretched the truth a little. But you were silly enough to believe me, right?” The other mare looked pleadingly into Twilight’s eyes.
The unicorn was a little offended by this comment. “Silly?” Lyra, however, busted into full blown laughter. Twilight became even more annoyed and insulted by this. She huffed before walking ahead. The other unicorn, still giggling, raced to be next to Twilight.
“Aww, come on Twilight! If you think about it, Bon Bon came up with a pretty funny joke. And I mean, she didn’t mean it like that. You gotta learn to laugh at yourself sometimes!” Lyra guffawed loudly, “I do it all the time. Bon Bon’s just a little rough around the edges when it comes to that. Hahaha! Come on, do it with me!”
Embarrassed, the unicorn shook her head and continued to walk. She wasn’t quite so annoyed at Bon Bon anymore, but this other mare was starting to grate her nerves. “Twilight! Laugh, laugh, laugh, you know you want to!”
Comically, as if none of the past horrors had even happened, Lyra attempted every single funny thing in history. Slipping on a banana? Check. Standup comedy? Check. Knock-knock jokes? Check. Twilight was so used to checklists that they were starting to take over her mind.
Lyra even started to sing a song called ‘Giggle at the Ghosties,’ as she had dubbed it. Twilight didn’t want to be mean or anything, but this mare could not sing. Everypony else seemed to take notice and tried not to be obvious about closing their ears. To stop the song, Twilight forcefully laughed.
“Thanks for teaching me how to…laugh, Lyra. I learned the error of my ways.” Just stick to the music you know. Twilight thought absently.
“Ohh, great! I’m glad that you found my comedy entertaining! But still, I think Bon Bon needs to apologize for offending you. Right?” She looked back at her close friend.
Bon Bon trotted up next to Twilight. “Right. I’m sorry about that…I really shouldn’t have said that. I was a little embarrassed about what you said to me, and it wasn’t right for me to direct an insult towards you. I can tell you are already a smart pony, not a silly one.”
Twilight smiled gratefully, and the ruins were just ahead. Inside, five orbs were sitting on top of a structure, and Derpy had to carry them down, seeing as Spitfire couldn’t fly at the moment.
“Are these the Elements of Harmony?” Octavia questioned, moving the violin case strap to get more comfortable.
Spitfire stared at the orbs, “One…Two…Three…Four…Five…There were six right?” She looked over at Twilight for answers.
“Yes, but nopony knows what the sixth element is. I have an idea though. Stand back.” The unicorn sat down next to the Elements of Harmony, and the other ponies obliged by walking outside to give her some space.
“Okay…” Twilight spoke to herself as she readied a spell, “The book said something about a spark bringing about the sixth element. Perhaps it means magic…”
The unicorn concentrated as hard as she could, building up the supposed ‘spark,’ and didn’t notice the gust of wind pass her and collect the Elements of Harmony. When she finally did feel a little chill, Twilight opened her eyes and shrieked at the sight. A mini-tornado was stealing the Elements! Without much time to think, the lavender mare jumped into it and was teleported elsewhere. She could barely hear the shouts from everypony else.
Twilight was dropped onto the cement again, and was coughing due to a smoky mist. When her eyes opened again, Nightmare Moon was cackling evilly with the Elements in her grasp.
Knowing that this was the only way to save Equestria from everlasting night, Twilight readied herself to charge. Baffled, the other mare took a step back.
“What? You have to be kidding me.” Twilight didn’t make any response, and instead ran as fast as she could while readying a teleportation spell. Nightmare Moon happily obliged the duel, but was surprised when Twilight disappeared out of nowhere. Automatically, the evil alicorn looked back at the Elements.
“Just a spark…I can do this…!” Twilight charged the same spell from earlier, but Nightmare Moon stopped her before it was complete. She knocked the smaller pony away and destroyed all five of the Elements completely. Her victorious laughter echoed in the building.
“And you thought you could beat ME?! The night will last…FOREVER!” Nightmare Moon continued to ridicule Twilight. The lavender mare had a heartbroken expression; one that had disbelief written all over it. She hung her head in defeat.
“Twilight!”
”Where are you?”
”She’s gotta be up here!”
Twilight lifted her head and looked towards the entrance. Those were the same ponies from before. Those were…friends. Twilight’s eyes widened with realization. Feeling victory well up within her, Twilight turned back to the evil deity.
“You think that you can defeat the Elements of Harmony like that? Well, you’re wrong! ‘Cause, the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!” Twilight’s friends stood around her with confused expressions. The destroyed Elements started to lift into the air magically.
“What?” Nightmare Moon’s demeanor changed into panic and bafflement.
Twilight continued, not at all disturbed by the interruption. The words flowed smoothly. “Octavia, who comforted me in my time of need and who was concerned about Spitfire in hers, represents the Element of…Kindness!” Shards of a broken Element flew towards Octavia as if she had a gravitational pull. She didn’t look as sure of herself as Twilight at that moment.
“Bon Bon, who warned us of danger from a pack of timber wolves even though we didn’t believe her, represents the Element of…Honesty!” Another Element revolved around the unconvinced candy mare.
“Spitfire, who saved us from certain death even though she could have easily gotten away unscathed, represents the Element of…Loyalty!” Spitfire looked proud when the shards surrounded her. Twilight didn’t stop yet, though.
“Derpy, who was quick to share a muffin she would have rather had herself, represents the Element of…Generosity!” Derpy’s eyes took their trademark position, but she did not avoid the Element like Bon Bon did.
“And finally, Lyra, who showed me the meaning of laughter and how to not be serious about some things your friends say, represents the Element of…Laughter!” Lyra giggled at this and had a huge smile.
“B-But you do not have the sixth Element! The spark didn’t work!” Nightmare Moon stuttered, looking as if she were afraid for her life. Twilight only bent her head and smiled with determination.
“But it did! A different kind of spark…” Twilight turned to the other ponies as she spoke, “When I heard you call for me, I realized something. I was so happy to see and to hear you again. The spark ignited inside of me with the realization that you all…are my friends!” Twilight turned with a huge smile on her face directed towards Nightmare Moon.
A bright light above Twilight forced her to look up, and she saw the sixth Element floating just above her. This only encouraged the unicorn to continue her speech. “You see, Nightmare Moon, when these Elements are together and the spark that lives within us all is ignited, it breeds the sixth Element. The Element of…Magic!” All the shards surrounding the other ponies lurched towards the owner’s neck to form a necklace, while Twilight’s formed a crown. Nightmare Moon screeched at this development and attempted to get away, but it was no use. The combined powers of the Elements formed a rainbow that obliterated the evil deity, and only a small mare remained.
Everypony panted for breath. “Woah!” Lyra gasped and pointed at Bon Bon. “Bon Bon! That necklace looks like your cutie mark!” The candy mare looked at the two objects and beamed.
“Seriously?” Spitfire looked at her necklace to see her cutie mark, and then noticed that her wing was completely healed. “Sweet!”
Octavia had a slightly embarrassed smile on her face. “I’m afraid I doubted you a few minutes ago, Miss Sparkle. I didn’t think that I could possibly represent an Element, and I do so apologize for that. But I suppose we really do signify the Elements of Harmony.”
“Indeed you do…” A familiar voice resonated within the building, and Twilight felt affection well up within her. Princess Celestia appeared before them, and everypony, except for Twilight, bowed.
“Princess Celestia!”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
The unicorn ran up and hugged her mentor. Bon Bon, Lyra, and Derpy’s mouths all fell open; Twilight had forgotten to tell them that Princess Celestia was her teacher.
“I knew you could do it.” The Princess smiled almost as warmly as the sun.
“But there’s something I don’t understand, Princess. Why did you tell me that Nightmare Moon was an old pony’s tale if she really did exist?” Twilight looked up at the Princess.
“I told you to make some friends, nothing more. I knew Nightmare Moon was returning, and you were the only pony who could defeat her. But you could not stop her without the magic of friendship.” She continued to smile before looking over at the former Nightmare Moon.
“Princess Luna, I haven’t seen you in over a thousand years. It’s time for us to put our differences aside and to rule together, as we were meant to, little sister.” Princess Celestia walked over to the other pony and leaned down in front of her.
“Little sister?” Twilight and several of her friends echoed questioningly.
“Yes. Do you accept my friendship, dear little sister?” Princess Celestia waited, and Twilight felt her heart pounding with longing. She really hoped that this Princess Luna would accept her sister’s apology and that they could make up.
The younger alicorn looked down guiltily, before coming to a decision. She jumped up into her sister’s waiting embrace. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister…”
The two sisters continued to hug and it made Twilight feel warm inside. It was a very adorable scene. They were to go back to Ponyville and were going to have a party to celebrate their victory.
Twilight was grinning from ear to ear. She and her friends had saved Equestria and Princess Celestia was proud of her. It was all so wonderful she was afraid she was going to burst from the attention. Upon sight Spike had immediately hugged her, and that only boosted her spirits.
Princess Luna was being held with great respect from everypony, and it seemed like nopony knew that she was actually Nightmare Moon. That was a good thing, though. She needed to regain their trust, and needed a fresh start.
A sudden realization dawned on Twilight—now that this adventure was over, she would have to go back to Canterlot and away from her friends. Sure, Octavia would be going back there, but what of Bon Bon, Lyra, and Derpy? And Spitfire was a Wonderbolt; she’d be travelling all over! The unicorn frowned and fell into a state of sadness.
Princess Celestia must have noticed, because she walked over and addressed Twilight. “What is wrong, my faithful student? Aren’t you happy that your quest is complete, and that you can return to your home in Canterlot?” Stung by the absolute opposite, Twilight recoiled slightly.
“That’s just it, Princess. I just learned how wonderful it is to have friends, and now I’m going to have to leave them…” She hung her head.
Princess Celestia closed her eyes in resignation. “Spike, take a note, please.” The purple dragon quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill already dipped with ink.
“I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, shall take on a new mission for Equestria! She must continue to study the magic of friendship and must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville!” The princess smiled as if this solved everything. Twilight smiled too, but she looked over at Octavia and Spitfire sadly. She trotted over to speak with them privately.
“Is there any way I’ll be able to see you two again?” Twilight glanced from one to the other anxiously. Octavia raised a hoof with determination flaring in her eyes.
“That won’t be necessary. I will be moving to Ponyville as well.” The unicorn’s eyes widened with unspoken questions, but the gray mare continued. “Over the course of my time in Canterlot, I have accumulated quite a bit of savings. I’ve never been friends with many ponies, but I can see that this is something I want to keep. Even though business will be slow, if there is any at all, I would like to try living here.”
Twilight internally cheered before looking at Spitfire. “What about you, Spitfire? You’re the captain of the Wonderbolts, so there’s no way you can just abandon them…”
The pegasus had a sad smirk on her face. “That is true, Sparks. The thing is, we’re always touring different cities and towns, and I’m afraid I can’t stay in one place even if I wanted to. However…”
Twilight perked a little at the upbeat tone in Spitfire’s voice. “I’ll be able to swing by a lot. Hay, you guys can come to my performances any time ya like. I’ll make sure we have tons of them here in Ponyville so we can see each other often!” She tried to look happy, but even the unicorn could sense her discontentment with that.
“We have a bunch of breaks; I’ll move practices to Fridays and performances to Saturdays and Sundays so I can stay here for the rest of the week! Of course, some times the shows might take more time, but still. That sounds good, right?” The pegasus looked pleadingly into her eyes.
“Yes…I think that sounds great! I’m glad that you won’t be leaving us for good!” Twilight smiled the widest she’d ever done before. This was wonderful. Hay, better than wonderful! This was…This was bliss. She’d finally made friends…!
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This chapter took a long time, and a LOT of planning. I really didn't want to split this into two chapters, so I tried to cram it all in. I hope it doesn't seem rushed because of that, but please feel free to let me know. Did the characters seem okay? Was it really boring? And any comments on who got which element? Let me know if you saw any mistakes, too. That would be wonderful. And for all of you that commented that Derpy should've been different--let me know if this suits you.
Thanks for taking the time to read it, and I certainly do hope you enjoyed the experience.
I look forward to seeing what you all thought of this. Don't consider all problems presented to be resolved, however. You'll just have to wait and see about Octavia and Spitfire. 
really glad to have a second chapter :D
Dumb question time...
Does Derpy have a Dinky?
an idea along the line perhaps we can see a story wehre this mane six meets the canon mane six
Hmhm, who to ship of the new Mane6 with Twilight? Probably Spitfire since she replaces Dashie, but Octavia is also a cool pony to ship Twi with or Derpy for the D'aaaaawww factor.
Lyra and Bon-Bon are already shipped with each other and that´s kinda a law so they´re outta the picture. XD
1710031 well, it didn't feel rushed, until you pointed it out. now it feels just a bit rushed, kinda like when you speed up just a little bit crossing the street because you don't want to be rude to the person waiting for you to cross.
1710871
And I'm also happy that you liked them. I was a little afraid I wouldn't be able to 'deliver' correctly. As for the story, I'm not intending to end it here. For the moment, I think I'm going to, at the very least, finish the first season. Perhaps I'll go to the second season, but I guess it depends on how I feel at that point. 
I'm glad you pointed that out. I wasn't sure if everyone would see the personalities I picked out entirely.
1711987
That's not a dumb question. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with Dinky, but she will be in here somewhere. I don't know if I'm going to have Derpy be the mother, but if you like Dinky she'll be in the story. You'll just have to wait and see relationship-wise I guess.
1712048
I'm not going to say anything, but I have an idea for that already.
1713037
Shipping? Hmm, I'm not sure if I'm going to do that in this story. Seeing as how none of the Mane 6 in the show had really any romantic stuff other than Rarity and Spike. But yeah, if I were going to do shipping with these characters, it'd probably be between those three you mentioned. Yeah, I'd probably get attacked if I tried to ship Twilight with Lyra or Bon Bon.
1717394
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it then... Good way of describing it, though. Although, I'm glad it wasn't branded entirely as 'rushed.'
1719130
Maybe doing some side-stories as one-shots? Or letting other authors do those one-shots/short story lines which happend besides your story and you feature the links to them in your header above your original story?
Cause i think if you continue with this story regulary and gain a bigger pool of readers and up-votes, sooner or later people will think of shipping Twi with those 5 o better three ponies (given how Lyra and Bon-Bon are a couple already for many bronies) and that could give you the oppurtunity to try out how shipping Twi with Octavia would work. Or with Lyra jsut for the heck of it.
1713037 1719130 Twilight x Spitfire? I SHIP IT
but for why I am commenting,.. I am loving this fic
But just to point out, Lyra's first appearance in the show is before Spike was introduced when Twilight was still running to the library at the start of the first episode. So I have a whole dual headcanon, one is Lyra x BonBon and the other is Lyra stalks Twilight.
I accept either of these for my headcanon
1719208
That's...Not so bad of an idea. If this story gets more fans and whatnot, maybe I will do one-shots or side-stories based off of it with shipping. And if other authors really did want to try their hand at it, I'd let them.
1720540
Twilight and Spitfire? Sounds interesting.
Yeah, I know Lyra appeared before Twilight was in Ponyville. But I decided to omit that, seeing as how I wanted her to be in Ponyville. Lyra stalking Twilight? That would make one funny story
1720846 there is one for Lyra stalking Twilight, it is on EqD but I can't remember the name
if you give me like 10 minutes I will try to find it
edit: found it http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-lyrical-musings.html
Been a while -- is this one still in progress or have you switched focus to your other works?
1775419
You'll just have to wait and see.
1793963
And yes--I should be done with the next chapter soon. I am currently working on a mind-boggling six different stories so... I'm trying my best.
Aaaaaaand then a lot of shit happened
Didn't expect that. I halff expected Octavia, what with her being classy like Octavia.
You mean, refined manner.
Oh dear.
Fitting.
Well, it's better than nothing, right?
Just like Goku!
She seems like somebody who would appreciate the following clip!