When a new villain threatens Canterlot and renders the Elements of Harmony useless, Twilight and her friends must find a way to recruit the experiment Stitch from Hawaii. And after they worked so hard to get rid of him the first time, too.
A few months after the events of Six Two Six, peace has returned to Ponyville, and things have returned to normal. But this is Equestria, and in Equestria, things never stay calm for very long.
After a mysterious attack on Canterlot, Twilight and her friends are determined to get to the bottom of it. But even their combined strength might not be enough, and they're going to need all the help they can get. Including help from a little blue alien they rather hoped they'd never have to see again.
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
*Human tag only due to Hawaii being a small plot device and making minor appearances. Disregard human, post pony.
**This story is dedicated to Silver Flare, as thanks for being such an amazing help during Six Two Six. Catching silly mistakes, grammatical malfunctions and continuity errors, I thank you.
Well, that was certainly an underwhelming start to the story, wasn't it? Yes, the moon was rising, just as it had every night of every week of every year for longer than anypony cared to count. And with only the exceptional event or two, the moon was really nothing all that special or dangerous. Princess Luna emerged onto her balcony as she always did, and shortly after the moon began to rise, gently guided on its nightly trajectory across the cosmos.
On this particular night, the moon was full, and cast its warming glow across Canterlot to light the way for those who happened to have night shifts, or even perhaps just to touch the hearts of the couples who happened to be out late together. Either way, it was a spectacular moon, yet sadly one that nopony really paid much attention to. Princess Luna, out on her tower balcony, smiled in satisfaction and disappeared into the depths of the castle to catch up on some overdue reading.
It was a quiet night, gentle and still. The young ones were all asleep, preparing for another day of school which would begin in the morning hours. The adults were mostly asleep, at least those were who had to get up even earlier and ensure that the aforementioned children actually got up in time to make it to school in the first place.
The night was perfect. Which made what was about to happen all the more unfortunate.
As the moon rose, its light spread across an increasingly large distance. What was once dark was gradually illuminated by the glow of the full moon, which, save for the elusive were-ponies of the Everfree forest who operated under a very strict and very complicated peace agreement, was a fairly magical and calming event.
This moon, however, just so happened to be the one thousandth full moon following a particular event that had happened quite some ago while Nightmare Moon was still trapped in her Lunar prison. The event had nothing to do with Nightmare Moon, really, nor anything to do with Luna, who hadn't been there for obvious reasons. And in part due to Luna's condition, Celestia had never spoken of it so as not to cause any worry. The event had climaxed in a battle,from which Celestia had emerged magically drained, but victorious . And, as so often happened when Celestia won, the threat had been sealed away and forgotten, fading into legend. Time moved on, and Celestia forgot.
But he didn't.
The light of the moon spread slowly, he could feel it. It was infuriating, knowing he was so close to his revenge, yet so helpless to speed up the process. He'd waited this long, he could wait a little bit more. He remained in a deep, unused section of the Everfree Forest, where Celestia had once ensured that he would never be found. A threat, she had called him. Banished him from society.
A disgrace.
The moonlight fell upon his prison, and the effect was immediate. He felt his bonds weakening, magical energies snapping like frayed ropes. He wasted no time in bursting forth from his prison the very second he was able to, stretching his limbs and snarling. There was no time for coherent words, not now. For he had waited so very long, and planned so very carefully. There was no time for mistakes.
He was returning to finish what he started all that time ago. ***
Princess Celestia should have been in bed five hours ago. She was tired, and slightly irritable, and technically she was off the clock. The night was not her domain anymore, a burden which she was thankful to have lifted after a thousand years of raising the moon. But despite her reservations, and despite her fatigue, she simply didn't have it in her to say no to a friend.
Especially one who had helped her out so many times before.
She was in her study, a room with many tables and even more scrolls. She stood across the table from an orange earth pony who for some time now had been studying a map of zoning ordinances and expansion regulations. Her brow was furrowed in concentration.
"Are you sure you are not exerting yourself in this late hour?" Celestia asked kindly. "It has been quite a while since we started." She said this in a very gentle way, not wanting to give the impression that she would rather be somewhere else. Such as in bed.
"There's jes' so much tah go over," the mare sighed. Yes, it was one of those meetings. "Rules say ah gotta go through the proper channels if ah'm gonna expand mah land, and ah surely do appreciate yer seein' me on such short notice like this. Buckin' season comin' up an' all."
"Of course," Celestia said. "The problem is that you're bordered by the Everfree here, and here," she said, gesturing. "I'm afraid even I can't do anything about that. The forest cannot be moved or claimed."
"Well then ah'll jes' have to expand to th' east if ah want to plant more crops, but that would invade Melon Sprout's melon farm."
Celestia frowned. "There is an open patch of land to the south of Melon's farm, perhaps we can ask her permission to grant her more land to the south so you can move to the east. I'll make a few arrangements, and-"
There was no warning, he came on the wings of absolute silence. None could have anticipated his presence, nor known that he would appear in the open window. No alarms, no screams, only a wicked grin. Celestia saw him first, and felt her heart momentarily stop. No, it couldn't have been a thousand full moons already. It was impossible, could she really have overlooked it?!
Applejack, not knowing anything about what was going on, instinctively took a fighting stance in front of Princess Celestia. A swift kick of her back legs knocked over a table, creating a barrier between herself and the princess.
"Celestia! Out!" She demanded.
Celestia didn't move, only flared her wings in a gesture of intimidation. "No, this is not your battle to fight. Although I appreciate your enthusiasm." Turning her gaze to the newcomer, she glared at him. "You are committing an act of aggression against Canterlot. Tell me what you want, or leave immediately."
Another wicked grin, and a deep laugh.
"What I want? I want to play a game, pretty princess." He snarled, and swooped forward. Celestia's horn flared, but was unprepared, and strong magic took a few seconds to warm up. A few seconds that they didn't have.
A blinding white light enveloped both Celestia and Applejack, and nopony heard a thing. ***
The first sign of trouble came when the moon began to lower in the sky. Normally, around this point, the sun would make its appearance and signal the beginning of sunrise. But no such things happened on this morning. Celestia had never missed a day before, so it was quite awkwardly that a Royal Guard pounded on her study door. Having already tried the bedroom, and finding it empty, the study was the next most logical place.
"Your... Highness..." His voice caught in his throat, what exactly was the protocol for telling a princess she had made a mistake? He pushed the door open a bit wider, daring to enter. At first glance he saw Princess Celestia standing by the window, and a sigh of relief came over him. She was already up.
"Thank goodness, we were beginning to worry. We-" he paused. He'd gotten close enough to see that something was not quite right. And when he saw exactly what that something was, he stumbled backwards in fear.
To hell with protocol.
He burst out of the room as if his tail was on fire, the door slamming behind him. He grabbed the nearest Guard he could find, and looked straight into his eyes.
"Wake Princess Luna," He demanded.
The other guard looked annoyed. "I'm a rank higher than you." He did not appreciate being ordered about, especially by an inferior position.
"Do it!"
The second guard frowned. The fear and urgency in the voice of the first guard led him to trot to the cracked door, and peered into the room from which the first had just ran. It took only a moment to decide that waking Princess Luna would be a wise move indeed, and both guards magically sealed the door before galloping down the hallway.
Twilight was alone in the first of several train cars, all hooked together on its way to Canterlot. The five of them had been called to Canterlot on an emergency assignment, although none of them yet knew what it was. The mystery and urgency of the sudden call bothered Twilight, as usually the Princesses were right up front with her, honest about everything. That was part of the reason she was so bothered. The other part was that it was Princess Luna herself whom had done the summoning.
Twilight didn't have anything against Luna, of course, but her paranoid nature couldn't help kicking in. Why had Celestia not summoned for her? Why had she not heard from Celestia yet regarding the matters of whatever was going on? She was supposed to be Sunbutt's favorite student, wouldn't it make sense that she should have been-
No. She was getting herself all worked up again. But still she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, very wrong. She really shouldn't be worried, it wasn't as if Celestia was alone, or even needed extra protection. But she took comfort in knowing that Applejack was already in Canterlot on family business, so the emergency came at a time of convenience, as far as that was concerned.
Twilight laid her head back on the seat, staring at the ceiling and just hoping that everything would turn out alright. Even though her gut feeling told her that something was incredibly wrong. And it was usually correct.
In the next car, Rarity was busily humming to herself and sewing. She wasn't as preoccupied with worrying about things as Twilight was, preferring to look on the positive side of things. In the months following what had widely becoming known as 'The Spaceboat Incident', sales had skyrocketed. Never before had Rarity considered bright blue a dominant color, but seeing how well it worked on Stitch had given her inspiration. Rarity had almost immediately afterward launched a new fashion line she called Stellar. The line was based on an intergalactic theme and had a very futuristic look to it. Open collars were once again in, and sales had gone through the roof shortly afterward.
The downside, of course, was that she was working overtime almost every night to fulfill such substantial demand, and as such had leaped at the opportunity to accompany Twilight to Canterlot. While she was there she could, after all, order more supplies, and perhaps even ask around about what high society ponies thought about 'That groundbreaking young lady from Ponyville.' Yes, that would do nicely.
The next car beyond the two front passenger cars was the dining station, in which a fairly loud commotion was being raised. A cider drinking contest, much to the amusement of the other passengers. They had never seen anything quite like what was going on.
At the table sat two ponies, one bright pink, another light blue. The blue pegasus was rapidly downing pint after pint after pint of apple cider, a result of having been challenged to not being able to hold down a drink. Which was absolute nonsense, and if anypony had the nerve to accuse her of flaking out of a competition, it wouldn't be today.
Rainbow Dash, for who else could it have been, was as stubborn as ever.
"Ha! Is that all you have, Pinkie?! I've seen bees suck up nectar faster than you!" It sounded meaner than it actually was. The two had been exchanging playful insults, as they'd been at this for several minutes now and she really was starting to feel rather unpleasant, due to the trains habit of violently bumping up and down.
"Never!" The pink pony, meanwhile, had her muzzle wrapped around the faucet of an entire barrel of cider, and showed absolutely no signs of slowing down. She'd been drinking constantly for the last ten minutes, a never ending stream of cider pouring into her mouth. The crowd grew even more rowdy as the stream gurgled and gave out, the barrel having finally run dry. The pink pony slammed her mug down on the table, a wild grin on her face.
"And that's how Equestria was made!" She announced.
"But...how...where did you even..." Rainbow Dash turned green, and raced out of the dining car towards the back.
"Whee! That was fun! Let's play again!" Pinkie chimed.
The pegasus raced through the back door and through the final car, nearly knocking over its only occupant, a quiet yellow mare, who squealed in sudden fright.
"Eep! Excuse me!" Fluttershy glared at the pegasus who'd charged through.
"You know, I would have moved, if you'd just asked..." She said quietly. "Was I in your way? I'm sorry..."
Fluttershy, unlike the other four, was not particularly here willingly. She really did not leaving her home behind, and the only reason she was here because of Rainbow Dash. Upon learning that Fluttershy wanted to stay home and was refusing to leave her house, Dash had given her a kind reminder that they didn't know exactly what the emergency was. Not only were they all friends and needed to stick together, for all she knew there was a puppy stuck in a well somewhere.
A bit of a dramatic example, but Fluttershy had agreed immediately.
The five ponies had continued going about their lives as normally as possible since Stitch had left, and with the exception of Rarity, none of them really seemed all that different from having encountered him. Although it had certainly triggered a renewed desire in Twilight to study the stars, she had thus far had absolutely no luck in locating any additional interdimensional barriers.
Nor had Rainbow Dash any luck in breaking through them.
All in all, things had finally begun to settle down. But as fate would have it, that's just when things would start to heat up again.
The train chugged to a halt, and a booming voice echoed from the front.
"Canterlot!"
Twilight was off the train first, followed by Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was last, a bit wobbly but otherwise recovering, and quickly caught up to Pinkie.
"Where do you put it all?" Rainbow asked in amazement.
"In my cider compartment, silly," Pinkie said. "Duh."
Twilight was frowning. "Girls, settle down. Come on. We have a job to do. Then we can have fun."
"Fun?!" Pinkie perked up.
***
The rest of the short journey to the castle had been uneventful. Entering through the Canterlot Castle gates, the five were personally met by Princess Luna.
"I'm sorry to call you all here under such dreary conditions," Luna said. "There are many things which must be discussed."
"Is one of them how to make a blackberry pie?" Pinkie asked hopefully.
Luna allowed herself a smile. "Sadly, no."
"Aww..."
Twilight looked onward. "What exactly is the matter, Princess?"
Luna frowned. "I think I'd best show you. Follow me."
She led them through several winding hallways, and up the stairs of a tower. The mood had gone from upbeat to sour in a matter of moments. Luna brought them to a large door, in front of which stood five guards who all moved aside on her approach.
"See for yourselves. I warn you, it's not good. Prepare yourselves."
Twilight swallowed the rock that was forming in her throat and entered through the doors. It was some sort of waiting chamber, decked out in elaborate displays. A guard was standing near a closed window, with the curtains drawn. In front of the window stood Princess Celestia.
Twilight approached, cautiously.
"Princess?" She asked.
No response.
Closer. The guard gave her a sympathetic look as Twilight finally realized what she was looking at.
"She's... stoned..." Twilight took a few steps backward.
Pinkie snorted. Rarity glared at her.
"I'm sorry," the guard said.
"Is she..."
"Alive," Luna said, coming to stand next to Twilight. "But in stasis, of sorts."
"How?"
"We don't yet. It would take powerful magic to do this. I'm sure you noticed the moon and stars in the night sky?"
Twilight looked confused. "Well yes, of course. But I don't see what that-"
"I don't suppose you also noticed that it's the middle of the afternoon?"
"..."
"Whatever magic my sister has, it has been frozen with her. Canterlot has been plunged into eternal night... however temporarily. The irony has not been lost on me."
Twilight was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry. That must be hard. Can't you..."
Luna shook her head. "Celestia has a thousand years of training that I did not have, I tried to raise the sun, to no avail. This was either deviously planned, or an incredible accident. That's one of the reasons I called for you."
"One of?"
Rainbow Dash's voice came from the other side of the room. "Twilight? You need to see this."
Twilight turned, hoping for better news, but only found worse instead. Her remaining friends had gathered near a smaller figure, equally frozen in time.
Twilight could not remember the last time she was this upset. Not even when Spike had nearly burned down her Library in a jealous effort to frame her pet owl. She had been angry then, yes, but this was different. This was rage. Somepony had not only committed a criminal act against Princess Celestia, but against Applejack as well. She barely even felt the hoof on her shoulder.
"You're shaking, darling." Rarity said gently, and tried to lead her away from the grim scene. "Come. Let us leave this dreadful room and plan what we are going to do to make it right again. That is what friends are for," she said.
Fluttershy spoke, clearly worried as well. "Can't we just use the Elements to fix them?"
Princess Luna shook her head. "Normally, yes. But with Applejack in her petrified state, the Elements have been rendered useless. They will not function unless all members of its team are present."
"So we add a new Element!" Pinkie offered. "Just a teeny weeny temporary position."
"I vote Trixie," Fluttershy said. "She's such a nice pony."
The room went quiet, and Fluttershy squeaked as she realized everyone was staring at her.
"Are you loco in the coco?" Pinkie asked.
Rainbow Dash had facehooved. "You want THAT loudmouth on our team? Have you been reading my fanfics again?"
Rarity looked surprised. "I didn't know you wrote-"
""ENOUGH!" The Royal Canterlot voice was enough to get anyponys attention, and everyone turned their attention to Luna.
"Your efforts are valiant, and I commend them. But the Bearers of the Elements have been chosen, They are not interchangeable until the time comes when a new generation must be selected. I'm afraid they are simply not an option here. What other talents do you possess that might be useful?"
Twilight thought a moment. "I have a dragon, I have fire," she offered.
"And I have wind!" Rainbow Dash added, zipping in a circle around the room.
"I have water balloons!" Pinkie chirped.
Rarity rolled her eyes. "With your powers combined, we are... "
"...Completely screwed," Fluttershy squeaked.
Princess Luna smiled weakly. "You ponies may want to use the Castle Library, perhaps you may find something there to help you in your quest."
Twilight brightened up considerably. "That's a great idea! There's always information in research! Come on!" She galloped out of the room, with Rainbow Dash darting behind.
"Reading? I love rea- I mean... aw, come on, do we have to?" She asked.
Rarity was below with the others, and just shook her head. "Smooth, Rainbow Dash. Smooth." ***
The five ponies were gathered around a table in the Library. Twilight and Rarity on one side, Pinkie and Fluttershy on the other. Rainbow Dash was flying restlessly in the air overhead, unable to sit still. Nothing new there. The table which they surrounded was completely covered with books about old, terrifying creatures.
"So why did we have to do all this research anyway?" Rainbow Dash complained. "Something is threatening Ponyville, big whoop. That happens all the time. We go in, I give them a taste of blue justice, BAM!" She punched the air in front of her. "We get out, we're home in time for dinner."
Fluttershy peeked out from under the table, Rainbow's sudden exclamation had caused her to jump. "I really don't think it's that-"
"It's not that easy!" Twilight interrupted. "We all heard Princess Luna. Whatever it is, this thing attacked Princess Celestia, and even SHE couldn't handle it. What if it's a basilisk? We can't afford to go in unprepared."
Fluttershy spoke up. "Actually, basilisks only live deep in the Everfree Forest or in the pipes of really old schools. One would never be able to get through Canterlot Castle unseen."
"Do we even know what we're up against?" Rainbow asked. "At all?"
"Something ghastly, I've no doubt," Rarity said, accenting her point with a toss of her mane. "It's probably just upset because it hasn't had a proper spa treatment. The poor thing."
Twilight continued. "I've narrowed down our options using graphs and pie charts-"
"OOOOH! What kind of pie charts? Blueberry? Raspberry? Apple? Coconut? Oh! Oh! I know! Blackberry!" This exclamation came from Pinkie, who had suddenly perked up.
Twilight facehooved. "No, just no, Pinkie. AS I was saying, our best chance of success may hinge on doing something that none of us are going to enjoy very much."
"Please tell me it doesn't involve going to the DMV, they've SUCH horrid attitudes there," Rarity whined. "When I went to get my horse drawn carriage license, they made me stand outside in the sun for four hours. I was sweating, Twilight!" The unicorn shuddered.
"...No." Twilight said. "We need Stitch."
Rainbow Dash stared at her. "You have to be kidding right? After all the work it took to get rid of him the first time? How are even supposed to get to him? He crossed the dimensional barrier, remember? It's not like any of us can just go over there and get him."
Twilight sighed, and very slowly her gaze wandered across the table, locking onto someone she'd desperately hoped she wouldn't have to use again. "That's not necessarily true," she said.
In the middle of chewing on her mane, Pinkie stared back.
"...What?"
Rainbow Dash caught on first, and instantly shook her head. "Oh, no. No. No. No. No. You are NOT brewing that potion again. Are you actually suggesting you send one of us back to that awful place?"
"I know it's not exactly an ideal plan, but as much as we don't want to admit it, Stitch would be an ideal ally. During his last visit he demonstrated super strength and extreme resilience. Those are qualities that we need."
"And how exactly do you plan on retrieving Stitch, darling?" Rarity asked. "The last time you made that awful potion, Ponyville was completely destroyed."
Twilight sighed. "THAT was become somepony foolishly insisted on performing a double rainboom in the middle of town," she said. At this, Rainbow Dash turned red and shrunk a few inches closer to the floor. "We don't need anything like that this time. I still have a few strands of Stitch's fur locked up in a vial. I can use them to retrieve his genetic calibration. With that, the potion should lead us right to him. We send somepony in, get Stitch, bring him back here."
"But that still doesn't solve our monster problem," Rainbow Dash said. "We have no idea what's out there!"
"Princess Luna and I will work on that while Pinkie is in Hawaii," Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good enough plan to- wait, what?!"
"We need you, Pinkie. You do this sort of thing all the time. Interdimensional travel is extremely dangerous, and you're the only one who we know who can perform it safely."
"Alright, I'll do it!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
Twilight sighed in frustration "Please, Pinkie. You have to. Without... you... we... what." She'd sort of been expecting a bit more protest than that.
"I'm always happy to help my friends, duh. I'll have Stitch back here faster than you can say..."
Twilight blinked. "Faster than you can say...?"
"I just said it, silly! But I said it so fast you couldn't hear it! That's how fast I am!"
Twilight facehooved. "Never mind. We're going back to Ponyville. I'll get that potion made, then while Pinkie does her thing Princess Luna and I will continue searching for whatever attacked Celestia. No problem. Don't worry, girls. Everything is going to be perfectly fine." With that, Twilight raced out of the Library.
Fluttershy looked nervous. "Am I the only pony who feels uncomfortable every time she says that?"
Twilight was the first out of Canterlot Castle, with her friends not far behind. A large crowd had gathered outside the castle gates, and at first Twilight was absolutely thrilled to see this, expecting that said crowd had suddenly all come to visit the Canterlot Library.
"Girls, look! Look at all the ponies come here to learn and expand their minds! It makes me happy that so many ponies have found how much joy a little reading can-"
"There she is! Get her!"
Twilight looked confused, and only upon glancing over her shoulder did she see that Princess Luna had been swarmed by guards.
"What in heavens is this ghastly flash mob all about?" Rarity complained. "I've never seen such a mess."
A blue stallion near the front of the crowd pointed accusingly at Princess Luna. "It's her! She's responsible for this never ending night!"
Luna looked offended. "I assure all of you that Nightmare Moon is not making a return. Now, ponies, if you would just calm yourselves, I'd be happy to explain-"
"She must have gone mad again! Where's Celestia?!"
Luna's ears pinned. "Celestia? She... um... she's not available at the moment." The status of Celestia's attack had for very good reason not been made public knowledge. The members of the Solar Empire and New Lunar Republic would be having a field day with this, each one battling the other for rights to dominance.
"Yeah, because you're slipping again!" A mare called.
Luna sighed. "Twilight, I need to send you and your friends back to Ponyville before things get out of control here. I will handle this ruckus, you need to focus on putting into effect what we discussed inside. I needn't tell you that it would be most beneficial if we kept it to ourselves."
Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but Luna cut her off.
"Go home, and make your preparations," Luna said sternly, and her horn began to glow.
"Princess, wait, I can help!" Twilight insisted, and began to charge forward. The last thing she saw before colliding into the side of her own bed was a sympathetic look from the guards. ***
"Twilight, are you alright?" The voice came from Spike, who had already been up for quite some time due to being confused what with the permanent state of night outside.
Twilight, who had been teleported into her bedroom, as, she presumed, the others had been teleported into theirs, looked onward with confusion and sadness. Everything was falling apart. Princess Celestia and Applejack were in dire need of help, and as such Luna was now running Canterlot by herself. It would be difficult enough to run things with the support of the Canterlot residents, but with fear and distrust running through the streets like an airborne virus, things were spiraling out of control far too quickly.
Twilight rose to her hooves with renewed determination.
"Come on, Spike. We have work to do."
Three Days Later
With the rest of the ponies making preparations for the experiment, Twilight had been doing her own share of the work. In between researching possible origins for the attack on Canterlot, Twilight had been working one on one with Pinkie Pie. This task was more infuriatingly difficult than it seemed at first, with Pinkie wanting to touch, sniff, and taste almost everything while the unicorn was working.
"Pinkie, focus. Please. This is important."
Pinkie stopped bouncing. "What's up, buttercup?"
"From my conversations with Rainbow Dash, I have come to the conclusion that you are entering a world where ponies either do not exist, or are subjected to a subservient position in society. This makes your mission dangerous."
"Isn't Stitch dangerous?" Pinkie asked.
"No. Yes. Maybe." Twilight looked flustered, and quickly shook her head. "Never mind! You've done this once before, so I'm not worried about the effects of the potion. Assuming I did my measurements correctly. But, I mean, come on. This is me. I always do my spells correctly," she puffed up a bit.
"So I just drink this, go to... um..." Pinkie faltered.
"Hay-wai-ee?" Twilight suggested. "That sounds right. Yes, Haywaiee, get Stitch, and return here. You're good at making friends, I'm sure you won't have any trouble enlisting his services. We need his help."
"Okey dokey!" Pinkie bubbled, and it didn't take much more encouragement than that to get her to drink it. Her pupils dilated, and the party pony seemed to zone out a bit.
"What do you see?" Twilight asked.
"Dalmatians," Pinkie said.
"...What."
"Lots and lots of dalmatians!"
"Pinkie! Focus!"
"Stitch! Right!" Pinkie took a deep breath, and parted the air in front of her as if drawing open an imaginary curtain. Twilight could not see anything out of the ordinary, but when Pinkie leaped through the imaginary curtain, she suddenly popped out of existence.
Just like that.
Twilight Sparkle sighed, rubbing her head with a hoof. She desperately wanted to send a letter to Celestia regarding all this, and had to keep reminding herself that Celestia would not answer. She began to make her way up the stairs when Spike's frightened voice screamed from above.
"TWILIIIIIIIGHT!"
Racing up the stairs, Twilight was instantly in over protective parent mode. She found Spike cornered by a hulking shadow of a creature, who looked ready to devour her poor dragon.
"Twilight! Help!" Spike pleaded.
Suddenly everything made sense. She had of course considered the possibility in her research, but these things were supposed to be mythical! "How did you even get in here? This isn't possible... you are not possible!" She exclaimed. "Get away from him!"
The creature turned, a wicked grin plastered across its face. Her suspicions were confirmed.
"You're a..." Twilight began.
"Shhh..." The creature growled. "Let's not spoil the fun just yet."
Twilight lunged forward, ready to defend her baby dragon at any cost. Perhaps, if she'd had just a few more seconds to think, she'd have been a bit more rational, a bit more careful. But Spike was in danger, and she was ready to protect him, no matter what it took. Perhaps that was her only mistake. But sometimes one mistake was all it took.
The last thing she saw was an overpowering white light, and then the world melted away.
The use of interdimensional travel was always a risky, dangerous thing. Celestia had banned such travel so long ago that few ponies, if any, even remembered it was once possible. In fact, such things were only briefly mentioned in the oldest of spellbooks. It was a scary thought, being able to travel to any moment of any dimension at any time, without any knowledge of where you'd end up. A large part of why it was now forgotten Dark magic.
And then came Pinkie Pie.
It was difficult to say exactly why she could see the things she did, and even then, the visions never quite made sense to her. A brief glimpse of the future might invade her dreams at night, and she'd never give it a second thought until it actually happened. Or perhaps the even less easily explained Pinkie Sense, which had been modified into a series of actions with an accompanying result. The point was, Pinkie was the best choice for the mission Twilight Sparkle required. Both of them had experience with interdimensional travel, and had some vague sense of what to expect.
Pinkie, as it was, only had to mentally visualize the description of Hawaii that Stitch had given her last time, in order to get back there. It was a basic concept, Twilight had explained, that you could not teleport to somewhere you had never seen or heard of.
"Beaches. Water. Volcanoes. Aliens. Lots of aliens. Come on, Pinkie, you can do this!" Pinkie thought to herself. Various images began to appear in her head, and a tear in reality slowly rippled in front of her, unseen by anypony but herself.
"What do you see?" Twilight asked.
"Dalmatians," Pinkie said.
"...What."
"Lots and lots of dalmatians!"
"Pinkie! Focus!"
"Stitch! Right!"
And just like that, she saw it. Deep Space, good, had to get closer. Now the inside of a spaceboat. That must be where Stitch was! Pinkie took a deep breath, and plunged through the tear in space. There was a disorienting sense of falling even though her hooves were planted firmly on the ground, and the breath was taken from her as if she'd plunged into a bucket of ice cold water.
Pinkie found herself in a large room. There was an enormous display of controls and blinking lights on one side, over which was set a huge window overlooking a star filled void interrupted only by a beautiful blue and green planet. Inset into the far wall was a heavy metal door, over which was nailed a piece of cardboard with words crudely displayed on it.
Totally NOT super secret lair. Keep out!
Pinkie frowned, and had only taken a few steps towards the door when it swung open, and a lumbering behemoth of an alien creature emerged from it, arms full of wires and metal scraps. These were dropped to the floor upon it noticing Pinkie, and scratched its head.
"You? How did you get out?" It asked.
Pinkie had no idea what it was talking about. "Do you mean out of my room, or out of my mother? Because that's really a personal question, you know."
The alien gazed at her more intently. "Ah-ha! The good news is, you are not who I thought you were."
"Hurray!" Pinkie exclaimed. Then gasped. "But what if I'm not who I think I am?! Then who am I?! Oh! Maybe I'm Rarity! Those clothes are simply horrid, darling," she said, then scrunched up her nose. "Nope, definitely not Rarity."
"Cease with the speaking!" The alien said. "You look very familiar... remind of something I made. Bad news is, you are not her. Which means you are intruder." A thick hand flashed towards her, and she found the barrel of a blaster wedged against her forehead. "Explain your presence or I begin with the shooting!"
"I'm Pinkie! Duh," she said, who didn't know Pinkie?
"Well, Pinkieduh, why are you in my laboratory?"
"I don't know," Pinkie admitted. "I'm looking for Stitch, but the teleport must have brought me as close as it could. Do you know him?"
The blaster was slowly lowered, and the alien started laughing. "KNOW him? Six two six? I made him. Of course I am knowing him!"
"Oh. Well, can we borrow him, just for a little bit? My home is sorta under attack, and we need him back."
The alien frowned. "Back? You have met before?"
"Yep!" Pinkie said.
"And he knows you?"
"I should hope so."
"Well then, we shall settle this quickly. I shall take you to him! And he will decide if he wants to come with you or not. If not, I blast you." He smiled. "Deal?"
"That doesn't seem like a very good deal..." Pinkie said.
"Is that, or I blast you now."
"That seems like a very good deal! Take me to him!" Pinkie ordered.
"That's what I thought. Hold onto your boots, pink horse!"
"But I'm not wearing any- wheeeee!" Pinkie was thrown across the room as the ship suddenly lurched into acceleration, diving down towards the blue and green planet. ***
"Hold still, Stitch."
The alien in question was sitting in a large plastic kiddie pool, which was slowly being filled with water. There were only a few inches in it at the moment, but it was enough for him to cause his ears to pin back in annoyance.
"I know you don't like it, but we have to get you at least somewhat used to water. What happens when you have to be out on a boat and mermaids attack you? Everyone thinks mermaids are pretty and nice, but I know better. They're evil!" The voice came from a young girl with a garden hose, who seemed intent on preparing for every sort of scenario imaginable. Her experiment was interrupted only by a young woman rushing out the back door, and running down towards the direction of town.
"Lilo! I need to get a few things at the market. Please, just this once, don't do anything crazy?"
Lilo waved. "Okay!" It wasn't as if she tried to do these things, they just sort of happened.
Turning back to the pool, Lilo held up the hose triumphantly. "Alright! Now we can continue with mermaid protection training! First- hey, what happened to all the water?"
Stitch sat in a now completely empty pool, conveniently positioned over a recently inflicted series of deep gashes in the bottom of the plastic. He simply shrugged innocently. "Water gone," he said.
Lilo sighed, and threw the hose down. "Well if the mermaids attack you, I'll be there to say I told you so."
At that moment, what appeared to be a large pink horse emerged from around the side of the house, bouncing carelessly up and down. Lilo stared at it, even more so when the large alien followed behind it.
"Jumba! What did you do?!" She demanded.
The alien in question pointed a thick digit at PInkie. "I swear, is not mine! She seems to be a rubber based lifeform, designed specifically to be super annoying! Is deliciously evil, I should make one!" He cackled, rubbing his hands together.
"You will do no such thing," Lilo said.
Pinkie had elected to bounce straight for Stitch, who stared at her in disbelief. "Pinkie?" He said.
Jumba looked disappointed. "So he does know her... Shame, I was looking forward to the blasting."
"Hi, Stitch!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
Stitch climbed out of the pool, and leaped forward to hug her neck. Pinkie giggled wildly. "Look, look, he remembers me!"
Stitch looked at her. "Why are you here?"
Pinkie thought about this for a moment, and launched into such a rapid string of explanations that not even Lilo could keep up.
"...So I came here hoping to find you and then I did find you so now that we've all found each other you really really really have to come to Equestria and help us because we're all in a super duper amount of trouble and we need your help!" She took a deep breath. "Please?"
Lilo had been trying to follow all this, and held up a hand. "Wait, wait, wait. I get the whole talking horse thing, which-"
"-Pony." Pinkie interrupted.
"Right pony, and I get that you have to travel to another dimension to help defeat some horrible monster who's menacing her friends, but..." Her eyes narrowed to slits. "You did this before and didn't take me!?"
Pinkie shrugged. "No offense, but your kind really don't get along that well in Equestria. Celestia says it happened once before with a girl, and mostly everypony just tries to pretend it didn't happen."
Stitch looked torn. "Stitch's friends in trouble, have to help them," he said.
"Alright, fine." Lilo threw her hands up." But please try to be back by the time Nani returns, you know she gets like Frankenstein when she doesn't know where you are."
Stitch saluted, and climbed onto Pinkie's back, then looked at her in confusion.
"Great! I'll bring him back safe, I promise!" Pinkie said, and just like that, once more seemingly popped out of existence.
Lilo gave Jumba a look of exasperation. "I really need to get him a leash." ***
Back at Twilight's library, Pinkie returned in a violent crash which sent Stitch flying into a stack of books. He glared at her.
"Sorry, Rainbow Dash says landing is always harder than taking off..." She smiled in apology. "Twilight! Twilight! Where are you? I got Stitch, we can save Equestria now!" She got no reply, and gradually stopped her bouncing. "Twilight?" She peeked into the other room, as Stitch righted himself and his eyes glowed with supernatural vision.
Pinkie made her way upstairs, as Twilight had been known to immerse herself in her studies, with Stitch slowly following behind her. She cracked upon the bedroom door, and gasped.
Spike sat in a puddle of tears, desperately hugging the leg of a familiar figure. Her gaze was locked in a mixture of surprise and terror, her mouth agape. Once again, Twilight Sparkle had been turned to stone.
"Oh no..." Pinkie whispered for one of the few times in her life, and Stitch instinctively pulled out his second set of arms, as if expecting a fight at any moment. Pinkie had the same thought he was having. Whatever had attacked Princess Celestia in Canterlot, wasn't staying in Canterlot. It had come to Ponyville, and taken out the most reliable source of information they had. It was picking them off one by one, and none of them knew what or where it was.
Spike looked up at them with miserable eyes. "I haven't left her side since I found her. I sent off letters to Princess Celestia but they keep getting returned. I don't understand what's going on... can you fix her?" He asked. Nopony had told him that Celestia had been petrified, it didn't feel right to worry a little dragon like that.
Pinkie couldn't find the words to answer him, and just gazed solemnly at her friend.
With Stitch back in Equestria, a few security measures had to be taken. Nothing significant, but the majority of the ponies did not need to know about the existence of interdimensional travel. It would only complicate things. Stitch was to stay only with the designated six 'Ambassadors of Fun', as Pinkie called them. However, with Twilight and Applejack incapacitated, that number had dwindled down to four.
"Come on, Spike, hurry up!" Pinkie said, bouncing impatiently outside Fluttershy's door. Spike came waddling up the outer path, his little legs dragging.
"Twilight usually lets me ride..." he panted, giving a jealous look at the blue alien precariously perched on Pinkie's posterior.
"Yes, well Stitch has to ride, because if he walks then he could run off, and if he runs off he could break something, and if he breaks something then he could cause chaos, and if he causes chaos the whole WORLD could be in danger! In short, your not wanting to exercise could doom all of Equestria!" She announced.
Spike blinked. "I don't think it works like-"
He was interrupted by Fluttershy's door opening, and peered upwards at the tall, skinny figure framed in the opening.
"Did somepony say chaos?" Discord asked with a grin.
"I may have mentioned it," Pinkie said. "Is Fluttershy here?"
Discord looked hurt. "You're not here to see me? I'm falling to pieces with sadness." And he did just that, his limbs detaching from his body and falling to a jumbled pile on the floor.
Spike made a face and jumped backwards as an antler came to rest at his feet. "Dude! That's creepy."
Fluttershy peeked out from around the corner of the door. "Oh, Pinkie, I thought I heard-" She saw Stitch sitting calmly on the latter's back, and her eyes went wide. "Oh, horseapples..." Despite the fact that she had been at the meeting regarding the plan to go get 626, it didn't make her any more enthused to see him.
"Does Twilight know you're back? With him?" She asked.
Pinkie's smile vanished.
"Twilight is... in a bit of a hard place right now," Pinkie said. "We came here first, because you're so good with animals. Besides, Stitch has agreed to behave himself this time. Haven't you, Stitch?"
"Ih!" He agreed.
"Well, alright, if he promises..."
"Don't worry! He does!"
Stitch made a cross sign across his chest. "Promise!"
Fluttershy seemed to lighten up a bit, and stepped over Discord's arm laying in the doorway. "I'm happy to help. Where are we off to?"
"We're off to see the wizard!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
"...What does Trixie have to do with this?"
"What? No, silly! Rarity! We need a unicorn!"
"And Twilight isn't..."
Pinkie gave her a look, a look of such misery and sympathy that Fluttershy couldn't help but suspect the worst.
"Oh, no... not Twilight..."
Pinkie quickly chimed in. "Don't worry, we're gonna help fix her! That's what friends do! In fact I'm working on a song for just such an occasion!" She took a deep breath, and Fluttershy shook her head while lifting a grateful Spike up onto her back. Pinkie bounced towards Ponyville with Fluttershy in tow, singing.
A really good friend helps a friend who needs help!
A friend will be there to help... the other friend with vision problems...
"It's a work in progress," Pinkie said.
As the two left, Discord pulled himself together, quite literally, and snapped his arm back into place. "She really needs to get a better lyricist," he mused. ***
Sweetie Belle raced through the lower level of the Boutique, after having nearly tripped down the stairs on the long scarf that trailed behind her. She seemed in quite the hurry, an excited smile plastered on her features.
"Slow down, darling!" Rarity scolded. "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, please do not run in the Boutique! What's got you in such a hurry?"
"Rainbow Dash rented a snowstorm from Cloudsdale, and she's gonna make it snow all over that big hill at Sweet Apple Acres so we can get our cutie marks in to*squeak*bogganing!"
Rarity frowned. She didn't like the sound of that. "What in Celestia's name is tobogganing?" Sweetie Belle had been an extra hoof-full lately, as she and Scootaloo had been working overtime to cheer up Apple Bloom, who'd been heartbroken over learning that her older sister was 'sick' and staying in Canterlot for a while.
"I don't know!" Sweetie Belle said. "But Scootaloo said we get to go really fast! And Rainbow Dash is going to be watching us, so we'll be really super safe!"
"...Well, alright. If Rainbow is watching out for you. But don't you go doing anything dangerous. We don't want a repeat of last summers wasp incident. Infected red welts all over one's body is absolutely NOT fashionable."
"I will, I will, I promise! Bye!" She bolted out the door, crashing right through Spike who'd been reaching up to ring the doorbell. "Hi Spike! Bye Spike!" Sweetie Belle called, as Spike pulled himself from the bushes, wobbling a bit.
"Good evening, girls!" Rarity called. "I was just cleaning up a bit, and..." She trailed off, her eyes locking on Stitch.
"Do you think she's forgotten about Stitch ruining her dresses last time?" Fluttershy whispered.
"You. Rarity hissed.
"Nnnnnnnope." Pinkie said.
Rarity tossed her mane back. "I will have you know that I am a lady, and ladies do not hold grudges as it is unbecoming. However, if you decide to show even the slightest notion of acting out, I will not hesitate to-"
Stitch, in the meantime, had crawled forward and wrapped his arms around Rarity's neck.
Rarity froze. "What is this? What are you doing?"
"Stitch sorry..." He said.
"Hugs! Hugs are good!" Pinkie giggled.
Rarity was bright red. "Yes. Well. Just the same, I have taken the liberty of stashing away my rare and expensive things just in case. So don't you get any ideas. Now then. Business. I was under the impression that Twilight would be joining us, and it's not like her to be late. So, as the kids say these days, what's the dealio?"
"Twilight's getting stoned at the moment," Fluttershy said, which caused Pinkie to snort so hard she jolted backwards several inches.
"Our Twilight?" Rarity asked suspiciously. "Why, I don't believe that for a moment."
"Twilight was attacked," said Spike suddenly, in a tone of voice akin to that of a small child which had watched their mother be dragged away. It had such a degree of sadness to it that all three mares were suddenly quiet.
"Just like Celestia?" Rarity asked after a moment.
"Just like Celestia." Fluttershy said.
Rarity nudged Stitch onto her back, and was suddenly serious. "Well then. Whatever was in Canterlot is now here, and appears to be coming after us. We need to find out what this thing is, and immediately. Let's go fetch Rainbow Dash first, and I'll make sure my sister gets home safely. I don't want her out with this thing on the loose. We have no idea or what it is."
"Maybe it's Wob Niar!" Pinkie said.
Rarity facehooved. "Pinkie, darling, we've been over this..."
"Fine, but one day it is going to be Wob Niar, and I'll be there to say I told you so!"
"Very well." Rarity said. "Let's get moving! We have friends to save!"
"Do we have time for a Lets Go Save Our Friends party first?" Pinkie asked.
"No." Fluttershy said.
"Aw..." ***
Although winter had come to Equestria, snow had not yet fallen. This changed with the snowclouds Rainbow Dash had gotten from Cloudsdale, and turned a large hill into a slippery playground in less than an hour. The Crusaders were all dressed in boots and scarves, and squealing with delight as they rode a long sled all the way down the hill. They were particularly excited due to the permanent state of darkness the sky was in, and it made them feel like they were getting to stay up far past their bedtimes.
"Turn, Scootaloo, turn!"
"I can't! If I put too much torque on the axis, the velocity will flip the vehicle!"
"What?!"
"Ponies go boom!" Scootaloo yelled back.
Rainbow Dash was flying overhead, watching protectively in case anything went wrong. She didn't take her eyes away until the sled had coasted to a near stop at the bottom, and trotted over to meet her approaching friends. She lit up as she saw Stitch, and the two exchanged a complicated sort of hoofbump. Spike was no longer among them, who had detoured back to the library to prepare it for company and to talk to Twilight. He insisted that she could hear him, and talking to her made him feel less lonely.
"When did you decide to become so close with Stitch, Rainbow Dash? When we saw him last, you hated him!" Rarity remarked.
"Yeah, well... I thought about it, and I figure anypony who can pull off stunts like that at such high speeds is pretty okay. Maybe not as awesome as me, but okay."
Stitch grinned, and leaped from Rarity on Rainbow's head, tugging on her ears like reins. "Vroom Vroom!" He exclaimed. Rainbow winced. "Ouch, watch it! So why are you guys here? I thought we were gonna meet at Twilight's library?"
Rarity began to say something, but glanced at the fillies in the background. Instead, she leaned in and whispered in Rainbow's ear, who frowned more deeply as the whispering went on.
"And we can't just go clobber this thing?" She hissed.
"We don't even know what this thing is yet," Fluttershy said. "But if anypony knows, it's Twilight.
"But she can't..."
"No, she can't. But she lives in a library, there has to be something there that can help us!"
"Alright then, we go to the library and make battle plans, and take this thing out before it gets to any more of us. Here on out, we stick together. Right?"
"Right!"
"Um...okay..."
"Most agreeable!"
"Ih!"
"Girls! Playtime is over. I need you to return to your homes at once."
"But we just got here!" Scootaloo complained. "Rainbow Dash, you said we could!"
"I'm sorry. But something has come up. I can always get another cloud later. Right now, you three need to go home. It's not safe."
"Ah guess we could always do somethin' at the Clubhouse..." Apple Bloom sighed. "So much fer tobogganing." The group headed off towards Ponyville, which the smaller group heading towards a farmhouse in the distance, and the larger group retreating deeper into the center of town.
None of them noticed the hulking creature which emerged from the darkness of the surrounding forest, watching them with angry yellow eyes. It reached down with clawed hands and picked up the toboggan, and snapped it in half over one leg.
Although it was evening and technically still her sisters jurisdiction, Luna was wide awake.
The Princess of the Night had been dealing with a violent disruption to her schedule over the last few hours, and this was not for no reason. Ponies had been coming from near and far, all across Equestria, drawn by the permanent darkness that blanketed the vicinity. Most of them demanded answers. She was in charge of the night, surely something wrong with the night must be her fault. Many more accused her of being Nightmare Moon again, which Luna took like a slap to the face.
None of the ponies suspected Celestia. Good, perfect, beautiful Celestia. But perhaps that was a good thing. If they had, they would have wanted to see her. And that would have posed an entirely new set of problems. Usually the six would handle something like this, but they were already down one Element. The remaining five had hours before been sent off to collect Stitch from his realm, and Luna had not heard back from them. She could only assume their mission had been successful, for they had returned successful from far harder ventures in the past.
But for now, Luna needed alone time. She stood in a sealed off room of the Canterlot Castle, where she had carefully stationed what remained of her sister. Celestia stood in her frozen stance on a marble pedestal, just another statue to anypony who didn't know better. Luna didn't know if Celestia could hear her, but judging from experience, she could only hope the answer was yes.
"I'm back again, Celly." Luna said quietly. She didn't cry, she didn't know if she could, having long since trained herself not to. "I came back as soon as I could, things are getting fairly out of control outside. I don't know how you managed by yourself for so long." She was remorseful of this, knowing that her own ignorance and anger had caused the rift that had almost driven them apart.
"I've sent the girls out to help fix this, I know you'd do the same." Luna said. The sun was beginning to go down, at least it would have been if everything hadn't been so messed up. The two sisters didn't get to see each other all that much, except for an hour at sunrise and an hour at sunset when their roles collided. This was their favorite time, the time they got to spend with each other.
Celestia, of course, was silent, but Luna pressed onward. "I remember you singing to me, when I was in the moon all those years ago. I knew you wouldn't give up on me, and I'll never give up on you. I'll find a way to get you back, and when I do, I shall send all the power I have to punish whoever did this to you." Her hooves wrapped around Celestia's frozen neck, and her eyes glowed with a fiery blaze. It was not a glow of evil, but of determination.
With the night hours upon them, the ponies had paired off and returned to their homes. Rarity had returned home with Pinkie bouncing behind her, after losing a bit toss between her and Rainbow to decide who would have to put up with the hyperactive party planner until further notice. This was not to say they didn't enjoy her company, but in small doses. As far as an extended houseguest was concerned, Rarity would rather have gone dumpster diving.
Rarity had gone through her extensive nightly beauty routine and retired to her bed, trying to ignore the sounds of Pinkie Pie in the kitchen attempting to set a new record for how many grapes she could fit in her mouth at once. From the sound of it, she was somewhere around the vicinity of thirty seven.
Since his return, Stitch had been rather intently observing his surroundings, and catching up on the events that had transpired since he last left. But at last he felt sufficiently caught up, and understood why the ponies needed him so badly. Something was going out of its way to attack them, and although he was grateful whatever it was wasn't doing any permanent damage, the fact remained that he must put a stop to it. Even the strength of the earth ponies barely registered on the chart when compared to his own.
Staying with Fluttershy, since Twilight's Library had been deemed unsafe, Stitch had waited until all the ponies had gone to sleep before crawling out of bed and making his way to the door. The night was endless, and it seemed as if the legitimate night hours were even darker than usual, as if suffocating any source of light they could find. He made his way to the door and grabbed the handle in his claws. It was a simple lever door handle, as knobs really wouldn't be of much use to a pony. Stitch fiddled with it, but the door seemed to be locked. Stitch had very little that he was taking with him, just a large brown bag that he intended to use to haul any clues he might find. It had held potatoes at some point and still smelled rather bad, but it would have to do.
That is, at least, until a pair of bright red eyes appeared in the paneling of the door.
"You'll never get through, you know." The door said calmly.
Stitch's ears pinned back. He hadn't been expecting this, and really wasn't sure what to think of it.
"Stitch must get through, friends in trouble," he said.
"You're much too big," the door said. "I'm afraid passage is impassable."
Stitch was confused. Big? He was smaller than Scootaloo!
"Impossible for Stitch?" the alien asked, as if he didn't believe it.
"No, impassable. Nothing's impossible. Especially not for me." The door had a mocking tone to it, as if it enjoyed being difficult.
Stitch had had about quite enough of this, and raised his claws to slash down the door in irritation. "Let Stitch through!" He demanded. The next option was just to smash through the door completely, although Lilo didn't like it when he needlessly broke things, fun as it was.
The door looked horrified. "Alright, alright! Don't say I didn't warn you," it said, and swung open, upon which Stitch bolted outward into the night.
The door waited a bit once Stitch had left, before eventually snapping back into a proper upright shape, the now lifeless door replaced by a near exact duplicate. The tall figure cracked its neck, and drummed its talons on the nearby table. "This town is completely filled with party poopers," he complained.
Stitch, in the meantime, had spent some time previously going over maps of Equestria, since he was unfamiliar with it. It was unlikely that whatever was attacking the pastel colored equines was choosing to reside within the town. Unless it was a small creature like himself, which couldn't be ruled out completely seeing as he had no idea what it was. The ponies had been talking about something called a cockatrice, but the idea had been dismissed seeing as they were rather rare, and unlikely to be able to infiltrate Canterlot Castle. No, whatever it was had to be smarter than that. Smarter and larger.
Stitch's eyes glowed green in night vision mode, which allowed him to see quite clearly where he was going. He made his way quickly and silently to the edge of town, stalking along the edge of the large forest which bordered the town near Fluttershy's cottage. He didn't want to enter the forest completely, as dark and unfamiliar as it was. But it seemed to be a logical place for some pony hating creature to hide in.
He scurried straight up one of the taller trees near the edge of the forest, scanning for clues of any sort. Anything unusual that might be useful. In this instance, it didn't take long before he spotted smoke rising from the forest, and a faint orange glow coming from beneath it. Stitch grinned in triumph, and dropped down to the ground. Rolling into a ball, the alien rolled and bounced deeper into the forest towards the smoke. He popped out of Morph Ball mode just long enough to peek out from behind a rock. A small fire was burning, and a decent sized figure was huddled up next to it, wrapped in a cloak and, to Stitch, looking quite suspicious.
Wasting no time, Stitch bolted forward and shoved the potato bag over the silent figure, which instantly resulted in quite annoyed kicking and yelling. It was still no match for Stitch's strength, however, and he hauled his catch over his shoulder and made a run for home. After putting out the fire, of course. Just because he was in a hurry didn't excuse being careless about fire safety. Perhaps his methods were a little unorthodox, but Rainbow Dash had told him nothing good ever came out of the Forest, so certainly anything that looked like it lived there had to be a suspect.
Having made such a hurried exit from the scene of the now extinguished campfire, Stitch had no reason to look back over his shoulder at the campsite. Had he done so, he may very well have seen the large creature whom everypony was looking for, who had been moments away from another victim. Having been robbed of his target, the look on the creature's face was an equal mixture of disappointment and rage. He pointed a dirty claw in the direction the alien had gone, a low growl escaping his throat.
"I'll get you yet, my pretty. And your little dog, too." He snarled, and disappeared back into the forest.
Meanwhile, Stitch entered through Fluttershy's door with his bagged catch still kicking and making quite a racket, and Fluttershy crashed out of her bedroom as if she was on fire.
"What's all this noise!?" The pegasus demanded quietly.
"Yeah, what gives?!" Rainbow Dash had woken as well from the guest room, and the two were instantly looking at Stitch for an explanation. Rarity and Pinkie had housed up together, much to the unicorn's protesting. The buddy system was the safest way to prevent another attack, and Rarity had still not forgotten the last time she'd been stuck alone with Pinkie Pie. Those two would have to be filled in when morning came.
"Stitch catch culprit in forest!" He announced, throwing down the struggling parcel in the middle of the room.
Fluttershy instantly appeared frightened. "Oh, Stitch, what if it's a poor little animal? You could have hurt it!"
Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, clapped her front hooves together. "Action first, talk later! That's what I like to see! Let's see what ya got, Stitch! Maybe we can put an end to all these attacks and get a medal or something!"
Despite being the middle of the night, everypony seemed to be awake now, and excitedly waiting to find out what Stitch had caught in the forest. Stitch opened the end of the bag and dumped out his extremely annoyed catch, and the smile vanished from Rainbow's face.
"Oh, crap." Rainbow groaned.
The blue unicorn who had tumbled out of the bag was absolutely furious, and her eyes danced with rage. "Trixie demands an explanation AT ONCE!" she said.
The unicorn sitting in the middle of the room was fuming, and for good reason. For once in her life, she'd actually been minding her own business. True, she'd been sulking and planning multiple revenge schemes, but not ALL of them were against Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy surrounded her, the first two with a look of a suspicious dislike. Stitch had left shortly after unbagging the unicorn to check on Rarity and Pinkie.
"Trixie demands an explanation!" The unicorn said snobbishly. "You ponies have no right to kidnap Trixie!"
Rainbow Dash looked momentarily apologetic. "Okay, in our defense, the kidnapping thing was completely accidental," she said. "But it really doesn't look good for you."
"What doesn't look good?" Trixie asked. "That Trixie was out in the forest minding her own business? Oh, yes, that's totally scandalous. Lock Trixie up at once."
Fluttershy coughed. "I thought you left Ponyville, Trixie. What are you doing here? There's scary things out in the forest. They could hurt you."
"Trixie can handle a few monsters," she said with her nose in the air. "And not that it's any of your business, but Trixie has been living in the forest because she keep getting chased out of the towns she goes to." Her voice sounded a bit sad. "Word has spread and everypony thinks Trixie is a fraud and a con artist, nopony will hire Trixie, so she had to go live in the forest and weigh her options."
"That's terrible!" Fluttershy said.
"That's karma," Rainbow Dash said. "You know, if you were having so much trouble, you could have just asked Twilight for-"
"Trixie will sell her wagon before she asks Twilight Snarkle for help!" She hissed.
"And where is your wagon, Trixie?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"...Trixie had to sell it." Trixie admitted. "But Trixie is still not asking for Twilight's help!"
"Well that's good," Fluttershy squeaked. "Considering Twilight's been attacked and turned to stone, and she- stop laughing, it's not funny!"
Trixie had tears in her eyes. "Oh, Trixie can't help it! Trixie thought Twilight said she could handle anything by herself, and now look. She needs Trixie's help."
"We never said we needed-"
Rainbow Dash shushed her with a glare.
"Of course she needs Trixie's help. Trixie is fantastic. And Trixie will be glad to help, provided she gets the recognition she deserves. We will discuss a fee later."
"A fee?! You're not CHARGING us for saving our friends, Trixie!" Rainbow was fuming.
"Of course Trixie is. Trixie doesn't work for free."
"But... but... but..."
"Obsessed with butts, Rainbow Crash? Perhaps the fanfics were right about you." Trixie smirked. "Trixie will help, let us gather the others. Where are they?"
Fluttershy pointed out the window. "Rarity and Pinkie are at the Boutique, and Stitch went to check on them."
"Who is Stitch?"
"That blue ali-"
Rainbow Dash coughed loudly.
"...That blue puppy that dragged you here."
"Trixie forgot about her, Trixie has a word or two to be spoken with that dog. Let us go!"
With that, the unicorn charged out the door into the darkness.
Rainbow Dash groaned. "Great, now we have to bring HER along. How could this whole ordeal possibly get any worse?!"
"Sugarcube Corner could run out of cupcakes," Pinkie offered.
"I don't see how that could-" Rainbow's jaw dropped. "Wait, Pinkie!? How did you... where did you... never mind! Why are you here?! You're supposed to be watching Rarity!"
"Rarity said if I sang one more song she was going to turn me to stone herself," Pinkie said sadly. "So she sent me on a party break."
"How many songs did you sing?"
"Twenty seven," Pinkie said cheerfully.
"Never mind, let's get back there!" ***
"For the last time, Trixie does not want a welcome back party!" The unicorn insisted.
"Aw, but it'd be so much fun!" Pinkie said.
Behind them, the two remaining pegasi hovered in the sky, keeping an eye out for anything unusual.
Pinkie entered the Boutique first, her bouncing stopping almost immediately. "Um, guys?" She called. "Does a giant hole in the back wall qualify as unusual?"
"What?!" Rainbow Dash flew forward, instantly on the alert. The back wall of the Boutique was crumbling, something huge had ripped it down.
Fluttershy was instantly on the alert. "Find Rarity, now!" Fluttershy demanded. "She could be anywhere, she could be-"
"I don't think she's here," Trixie said.
"Oh, and what makes you think that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Trixie's voice was unusually tender, and for once she didn't sound completely antagonistic. But what she revealed could have broken even the most terrifying dragon. The stone statue she pulled from behind the imported curtains appeared to be Rarity at first... but was far too small.
Fluttershy let out a horrified wail.
"Sweetie Belle..."
Even Rainbow Dash found her wings suddenly heavy, and lowered to the floor. "Rarity must have gone after whatever is doing this..."
"Which is?" Trixie asked.
"...We don't know. But if I know Rarity, she won't stop until this thing is dead. That thing picked the wrong unicorn to mess with."
Dash rubbed at her chin. She was angry now, a child had been involved. Fluttershy was actually shaking with rage. "First Celestia, then Twilight, now Sweetie Belle. If Rarity isn't careful, she'll be next."
Trixie hesitated, and placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Trixie is sure... your friend will be... alright. She is... capable of handling herself." She said through gritted teeth. She wasn't entirely used to saying nice things.
"Why is this thing only going after unicorns?" Fluttershy asked.
"Applejack isn't a unicorn," Rainbow Dash noted.
"Yes, but what if she wasn't the target? What if she was just... there? And got in the way?"
"Do you think she was protecting Celestia?"
"It's very possible."
Trixie perked up. "Applejerk too? This day just keeps getting better and better."
Rainbow Dash whirled around, her self control snapping. There was a sharp crack as her wing whipped out and slapped across Trixie's face, sending the unicorn reeling to the floor. Trixie looked up in shock, feathery shaped red marks appearing on her face.
"You. Shut. Your. Mouth." Rainbow hissed. "Our friends are being attacked, Princess Luna is in trouble, an innocent young child stands over there turned to stone, and Rarity is going up against this thing by herself. We have no leads and no answers, and I have had enough of your shit."
Pinkie's eyes were wide as dinner plates. "Dashie, watch it..."
For once in her life, Trixie was speechless. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I'll help you."
Dash took several deep breaths, backing away. "No. I'm sorry." She said. "We're going to Twilight's library, and we're not leaving until we get answers. There HAS to be something there to help us identify this thing." Without waiting for a reply, she stormed out of the Boutique.
"Dashie, wait!" Fluttershy called, racing after her, with Pinkie racing after Fluttershy.
Trixie lingered back by herself for a moment, glancing at the immobilized Sweetie Belle and placing a hoof to the swollen portion of her cheek. "Perhaps... friendship really is magic. Was Trixie really wrong about them?" She whispered. She honestly wasn't sure, but their loyalty to each other was commendable. Trixie took only one more saddened look at the ruined Boutique before racing off after the others.
No sooner had Stitch dumped out the highly annoyed blue unicorn, than he began to get an intuitive suspicion that she was not particularly welcome here. He didn't really want to get in the way, and there seemed to be a lot of tension in the room. As the small group began arguing, he quickly made his way out of the room and rolled into a ball. There, it was only a simple matter of rolling towards the Boutique, where he had last seen Rarity and-
Voom!
A pink blur bounced past him with such speed that he barely saw her.
"Hi, Stitch! Bye, Stitch!" Pinkie said, making her way towards Fluttershy's Cottage. Odd, he could have sworn the ponies had agreed not to leave each other alone. All the more reason to hurry up and check on the pointy headed prissy one.
Quickly arriving at the Boutique, Stitch peered in through the window, ears perked as voices came from within.
"...Can't stand her sometimes, who does she think she is?" Rarity was saying.
"She's your friend, and sometimes friends don't get along. But you gotta love her anyway," a younger voice was saying. Must be the sister that Rarity had talked about.
Inside, with Stitch silently observing, the siblings were having a personal discussion.
"Yes, but she's so... aloof." Rarity said. "Drives me absolutely up the wall. And no matter how chic that wall is decorated, it's still a wall."
Sweetie Belle sighed. A low growl echoed through the room.
"Darling, if you're going to make such noises, please have the courtesy to excuse yourself," Rarity said.
"But it wasn't me!" Sweetie Belle insisted.
"Well it most certainly wasn't me, the very idea! Then what in Celestia's name was that?"
Their confusion was short lived, as a hulking creature burst through the back wall of the Boutique, flashing thick, sharp teeth.
"That is mahogany!" Rarity exclaimed, and instantly began to scold the intruder. "I can only assume that you are the creature attacking my friends, and we absolutely must have a discussion about that. But have you no decency whatsoever?! Look at you! You're tracking debris all over my floor! You are going to fix that wall right now, and you can start by clearing up the-"
The intruder interrupted her by spreading its enormous wings. Its eyes glowed with an ominous shine.
Rarity immediately lowered her head. "Sweetie Belle! Go at once, and whatever you do, don't look at it!"
"How am I supposed to not look at, it's so big!"
"Pretend it's wearing plaid! Or corduroy!" Rarity shuddered at the thought.
The antagonist crashed deeper into the Boutique, knocking over a table with its tail. Rarity kept her eyes to the ground, firing off spells with her horn, none of which seemed to do any good.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" The creature asked.
"As a matter of fact, I'm quite annoyed, thank you for asking." Rarity said. "You've hurt my friends and you're tracking mud all through my shop! Who do you think is going to pay for that?!"
"Your insurance should cover it," he pointed out.
"Yes, most of it, but I'm not sure it covers attacks by... whatever you are," she said.
"Well that's an issue you need to take up with your financial... wait, why am I talking about this with you?" The creature growled. "I need one of you, and I'm not leaving until I get it."
"Need us? For what?!" Rarity sounded horrified.
"That's my business," he said, and grinned, flashing his petrifying eyes again, though this time accompanied with a flick of his tail which smashed one of Rarity's many mirrors. Rarity didn't think much of this, but Sweetie Belle saw what Rarity didn't. The shards of glass would fall, and though Rarity was looking away...
"Reflections..." The filly whispered.
Sweetie Belle was terrified. She was scared, and angry, and would do anything to protect her sister. She felt a sense of urgency, and... something else. She wasn't entirely sure just what. Her horn glowed, and the ground fell away from beneath her hooves. In that split second, she vanished from the doorway and appeared between Rarity and the monstrosity, just as the shards of glass fell. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds.
The filly caught only a glimpse of glowing eyes before her last conscious thought faded.
Not Rarity.
Rarity was awestruck, and stared at her younger sister for several moments. "Did... she... just..." But then reality set in, and the mare turned the full force of her anger on the attacker. "You brute!" She screamed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
A passing stallion in a fez paused outside the broken opening in the Boutique, and glanced up, muttering only:
"Run."
Rarity charged the creature with a very unlady like war cry, and the large being quickly folded its wings, making a terrified bolt for the surrounding forest, with Rarity chasing after it.
With the two gone, and the dust settling, Stitch slowly entered the ruined Boutique. He carefully moved Sweetie Belle's frozen frame over near the window where she'd be safe, and raced off after the two figures who'd disappeared into the forest. Not long after all this had taken place, Pinkie would arrive with the others at the Boutique, and they would discover the remains of what had taken place, and soon after that depart for Twilight's Library, where a few final answers awaited them.
After that, they would need all their wits and all their strength to take down this thing that was picking them off. They didn't just seem like random attacks anymore, this enemy knew what it was doing. One last battle was coming, and it was coming soon.
"First Applejack. Then Celestia. Then Twilight. Then Sweetie Belle. We don't know if Rarity is safe or not, but judging from the Diamond Dogs incident, we can only assume she's safe." Rainbow Dash paced back and forth in the air, while Spike watched her and gradually became increasingly dizzy.
Gathered in Twilight's Library, what remained of the Six and a very reluctant Trixie had rejoined to put together what little they knew. Spike remained by Twilight, hugging her frozen front legs and hoping she would be alright. Stitch had gone after Rarity, and presently could not be found.
"You know what this calls for?" Pinkie asked cheerfully.
"No offense, but I really don't think a party will help us right now."
"Not a party! Why do you guys always think I'm gonna say party?"
"Were you going to say party?"
"...Well yes, but that's not the point! I think I know where we can get another clue!"
"Great, do inform us."
"Twilight can tell us!" She chirped.
"In case you haven't noticed, Purple Smart isn't exactly conscious right now," Trixie huffed.
"Oh, I know that. But she was probably looking for clues when she was attacked, right? So if she found any clues, it'd stand to reason that they'd still be on her." Pinkie looked proud of herself.
Rainbow Dash stopped her pacing. "You know, that's not a horrible idea. Spike, search her."
Spike saluted, and began his investigation. It didn't take that long to search Twilight, for the mare didn't exactly have any pockets. But he did encounter trouble when attempting to pry open her saddlebag, the flap of which was petrified closed.
"Rainbow Dash, gimme a hand with this!"
Dash looked confused. "A what?"
"Just help me open this!"
Rainbow Dash shrugged, and zoomed down to his side, gripping the flap of Twilight's saddlebag with her wings. Bracing her legs against the ground, she gave a mighty heave.
The saddlebag protested and creaked like an old rusted trunk, but didn't give way. Trixie laughed.
"Ha! While Trixie commends your efforts, perhaps this is a job best left to the Great and Power Trrrrrrrixie! Move aside, weakling." She charged up her horn, fairly effortlessly.
"I thought you were going to start being nice," Fluttershy said quietly. Trixie glared at her with such force that Fluttershy stumbled backwards and tripped over a potted plant. "That's okay I'll just stay in here..." She said from within the pot.
Trixie sent a magical bolt from her horn, and the petrified saddlebag flew open. She smiled, and blew a puff of air at her horn. "Trixie will expect thank you cards later."
Rainbow Dash frowned, and pointed at the struggling Fluttershy. "Go help her."
Trixie pouted, but did just that, and quickly pulled the trapped Pegasi's head from inside the flower pot.
Spike held up a rolled up scroll triumphantly. "A clue!"
Rainbow looked at Pinkie. "How'd you know that was in there?"
"I didn't!" Pinkie said. "I saw it in a movie once."
The others gathered around Spike, who began reading the long awaited clue that they hoped would bring final resolution to the Terror of Ponyville.
Spike swelled his chest, and read aloud. "Milk. Eggs. Alfalfa sprouts. New quills. New parchment. New order forms. Blanket... for... Spike..." His earfins drooped. "It's a shopping list."
Trixie snorted. "Well, that's SO helpful. I'm so glad we made this trip."
"Wait!" Pinkie said. "There's something on the back!"
Spike turned it over, and Fluttershy read over his shoulder.
"Ponydex."
Trixie blinked. "What in Equestria is a Ponydex?"
Spike scratched his head. "It's Twilight's Creature Inventory. She catalogs every species she encounters in this weird little magic thing she designed. She says it's supposed to help her research. Maybe even win the Neighbel Prize!"
"It sounds lame," Trixie said.
"It sounds like just what we need!" Rainbow said. "And this Ponydex thing will tell us what's attacking our friends?"
"If we can find it, yes." Spike said. "If we're lucky she'll have managed to scan her attacker before it turned her to stone."
"Great, go get it!"
"But it's in Twilight's Reading Room..."
"So?"
"So I'm not allowed in there without her permission!"
"This is an emergency, Spike! Go get it!"
Spike looked uncomfortable, but hurried off.
Pinkie, meanwhile, had been nosing at the turned over books that surrounded the purple unicorn. "Hey, guys? I think I found something else..."
Fluttershy came to look. "The Ritual of the Moon? Oh my, sounds dangerous."
"Let me see that!" Rainbow said, and took the tome from Fluttershy. "...Inspired by Legend, the Ritual of the Moon is a powerful Dark spell forbidden to pony kind. The exact ritual is unclear, but ancient stories tell that one may be able to summon an eternal darkness to cover the land. If performed, this spell will drain the magic from the five unicorns needed to complete it. Forbidden magic. Extremely dangerous, do not attempt."
"Do you really think somepony is trying to take away the sun... forever?" Spike sounded nervous. "I thought that already happened." He looked outside to the dark sky, the sun hadn't been seen in days.
"Sort of. The sun hasn't come up because Celestia isn't there to raise it. Theoretically it sounds like this would destroy all hope of ever seeing the sun again.
"That's horrible!" Trixie exclaimed.
"I know," Fluttershy said.
"Just think! Nopony would be able to see Trixie perform!"
"Yeah. What a disaster," Rainbow said.
Spike, who had returned, counted on his claws. "Celestia, Twilight, Sweetie Belle. He's already got three. We still have time to stop him!"
"Great!" Rainbow Dash said. "Spike, did you get that Ponydex?"
Spike held up a strange looking, bright purple circular object.
"We have to tell Rarity what we learned, before she's in even more danger!" Fluttershy said.
"But we don't know where to find them!" Spike said.
"Probably in his lair in the Forest," Trixie said.
The room went dead quiet.
"And you know where this is?" Rainbow asked.
"Of course. Trixie was living in the forest for some time. She hears lots of things."
"Why didn't you tell us this before?!"
"You never asked," Trixie said.
Rainbow Dash facehooved so hard it sounded like shattered glass. "Well then let's go! We don't have time for this!"
Racing out the door, Rainbow Dash and Trixie took the lead, with Fluttershy and Pinkie behind. Spike was last, and fumbled with the lock on the door.
"Spike, leave it!"
"But I'm supposed to lock up when I'm the last one out!"
Pinkie grabbed him by the tail and flung him onto her back, racing towards the forest with the others.
Rarity had been wandering the Everfree Forest for what felt like hours. Stitch was carefully seated on her back, and she shifted accordingly. She was not used to having things on her back other than the occasional decorative imported saddle at fancy parties. She certainly wasn't the type who usually cared around everyday saddlebags.
"Do be careful, Stitch. Blue and white are only acceptable decorum around Indepenprance Day, and we're horridly out of season," she was saying, ducking under an overhanging branch. She sighed in exasperation. "Oh, this is beginning to get ridiculous. I know that brute came through here somewhere, but I also know that's the third time I've passed that rock. But I won't rest until I've reaped vengeance for my little sister!"
Rarity walked forward a bit more, until at last Stitch launched himself onto her head and grasped her ears. He had seen something, and his attentiveness was rather painful.
"Ih! Ih!" A heavy claw pointed forward. Rarity grimaced.
"When was the last time you had a manicure, darling? You need to-"
Stitch glared at her. "Naga!"
"Quite right. Now is not the time. But don't think I'm going to forget about this. Whatever are you pointing at?" She peered forward, barely able to see a dull flickering in the distance. Rarity readied herself instinctively to call a warning to whoever it was, but Stitch shushed her. Rarity crept forward, each step taken with caution so as not to accidentally set off a broken twig or ancient curse or whatever other horrible ancient things lay in the forest.
Stopping near the edge of a clearing, the unicorn peered out. Stitch's ears folded backwards and the alien let out a low growl.
Their target, a hulking winged creature of fangs and claws and muscle had crudely drawn a large five pointed star on the ground in the middle of the clearing. On the tip of several of the points was a frozen unicorn. Twilight, Sweetie Belle, and two others Rarity didn't recognize. Only one of the points was empty. Nearby each of the points, regardless of being inhabited or not, was a glowing white candle.
"He must have gathered his prizes while we were wandering around in this filth," Rarity observed.
"Celestia?" Stitch asked, gesturing to the empty space.
"Presumably back at the castle," Rarity offered. "He'd never be able to steal the princess, the only ponies ever supposedly able to steal Celestia were a small group of ponies. No idea how they managed that. But even that's just an Old Mare's Tale. And if it's true, I highly doubt Celestia would ever be stolen again. But regardless, this beast would never be able to get anywhere near the castle. Even before he was spotted, he'd be smelled a mile away. I doubt if this heathen has ever taken a bath in its entire life."
"What are we looking at?" Pinkie asked, peering around a tree. "Ooooh, pretty!"
"It's not pretty!" Rarity said. "It's... wait a minute! Where... how..."
"I'm here now!" Pinkie said.
"But you were there!"
"And now I'm here! Jeez, Rarity. It's not that difficult to figure out."
Rarity's eye had started twitching again. "Never mind all that. What are you doing here?
"We came to help you!" Pinkie said. "We saw what happened to... at your..." Her smile faded, something that very rarely happened and meant she was super serious. "I'm sorry."
"We?" Rarity asked. Not out of disgust, but total shock.
The rest of the team had slowly approached from behind Pinkie, and shared her sentiments.
"We're all sorry," Rainbow Dash said. "But we're going to do whatever we can to fix this. That's a promise."
"Family means nobody gets left behind!" Pinkie chimed.
"Or forgotten," Stitch added.
Dash gave Rarity a hug, and Pinkie joined in. Then Fluttershy, and Stitch. Rarity felt her eyes tearing up. "Thank you," she said. "But we still don't know what to do, or even what this thing is!"
"Sure we do!" Pinkie said, holding up a small circular purple object.
"What is that thing?" Rarity asked.
"It's Twilight's Ponydex! It'll tell us just what this thing is, and what we can do about it!"
"Well I certainly hope it works," Rarity remarked. "Turn it on, quickly, and let's see what we're up against!"
Pinkie flipped the device open, and pushed a switch with her nose. Twilight's voice emitted from the device.
"Welcome to Twilight's Pony Encyclopedia. Patent Pending, All Rights Reserved. As this device is only a prototype, please enter password."
Everyone looked at Pinkie expectantly.
"What? I don't have it!" Pinkie said.
Dash grabbed it from her. "Well the password is obviously something awesome, so... um..." She looked down at the rather small buttons on the device. "Rarity, would you mind?"
"Not at all." Rarity took the device then, and a dull glow enveloped her horn. "Let's try... Twilight."
"Incorrect. Please try again."
"Try Rainbow!" Dash said.
"...Why would her personal password be Rainbow?" Rarity asked. "The point of passwords is to be something very close and personal to one's own heart," she said. "Oh!" Her horn glowed, and another password was entered.
S-P-I-K-E
"Incorrect. Please try again."
Fluttershy, who had remained quiet, gave a soft sigh. "Why wouldn't she tell us what the password is? We're her friends. Don't we deserve to know?" She asked.
Rarity gasped. "Say that again!"
"We deserve to know?"
"No, before that!"
"Why wouldn't she tell-"
"No, the middle part!"
"We're her friends?"
"Wahaha!" The unicorn exclaimed. "That's it!" And yet another password was entered.
F-R-I-E-N-D-S-H-I-P
"Correct. Welcome to the Ponydex. Please scan target," Twilight's voice said.
"Awww..." Pinkie said. "Remind me to throw her a super special welcome back party when we get through all this."
"If we get through all this..." Fluttershy squeaked.
"Of course we will!" Rainbow said. "We get through anything! Right, Stitch?"
"Ih!" The alien agreed, snatching the device from the air in front of Rarity and pointing it at the creature they'd all come to defeat.
"Nothing's happening," Pinkie whispered.
"We must be out of range," Rarity said. "We need to get closer, but we need someone who's very quiet, very reserved, very..." She glanced at Fluttershy.
"Oh, no, I couldn't..." Fluttershy said.
"You gotta!" Rainbow said. "We need to know what we're up against! Just sneak up there, scan it, and get back here. Easy."
"...Alright... if you say so..."
Flutters reluctantly took the device, and began creeping forward. "He won't see me... he won't see me... he won't see me..."
Behind her, Pinkie whispered to Rarity. "I thought she was good with the little critters."
"Yes, darling, but this isn't a critter. Or little."
"Can't she just give it the stare?"
"You know she doesn't work like that."
Fluttershy managed to hide behind a large rock, about ten feet or so from the preoccupied beast. Holding up the scanner, she hit the large red button.
"SCANNING."
"Match found. Gargoyle. Creature of Darkness. Gargoyles have not been seen in Equestria in centuries, leading many scholars to believe they're extinct. Possessive of a powerful ability of petrification when threatened, eye contact must first be initiated. Gargoyles are to be considered extremely dangerous. Historical records say they are immune to all physical and magical attacks, with their only true weakness being sunlight."
"Well that explains a lot," Rarity said. Stitch tapped on her shoulder.
"So this thing can't survive in sunlight, and wants it to be night forever so it can keep attacking?"
"It seems that way," Rarity agreed. Stitch tapped her shoulder more aggressively.
"So how do we get the sunlight back?"
"We're going to have to find a way to undo the Ritual of the Moon, only I have no idea... WHAT IS IT, STITCH?"
"If you heard from here..." Stitch began.
Rainbow Dash suddenly looked alarmed. "If we're all the way out here, and we heard that thing..."
Fluttershy was still huddled behind the rock. "Doesn't see me... doesn't see me... doesn't see me..."
She cracked open her eyes, to find herself staring inches away at the gargoyle's clawed feet. "HE SEE'S ME! HE SEE'S ME! HE SEE'S ME!" She started running.
"FLUTTERSHY, GET OUT OF THERE!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"And keep your eyes on the ground! Don't look at it!" Rarity added.
Fluttershy made a terrified bolt for the forest, but quickly felt herself being picked up off the ground. She immediately closed her eyes as tightly as she could.
"Hang on, Fluttershy, we're coming!" Rainbow Dash yelled, and flew as fast as she could out towards the clearing, keeping her gaze away from the creatures head.
"What do we do?!" Pinkie asked, running out to help alongside Rarity.
"I have no idea," Rarity said. "But this has to end now. If this monster turns one more unicorn to stone, we might never see the sun again."
It was at that moment a new figure arrived on the edge of the clearing, one who had been lost in the Forest for quite some time and only just now managed to find her way out again.
"Hey, ugly! Trixie demands you leave her friends alone!" Trixie charged up her horn and fired a warning blast at the gargoyle, which bounced off its stony skin like oil on water. A deep gutteral laugh rumbled from its throat, and it turned towards Trixie, dropping poor Fluttershy on her head as it focused on something it wanted quite a bit more.
"So, no pressure?" Pinkie asked.
"None whatsoever," Rarity said grimly.
"That's good," Pinkie said. "Because if there was pressure, I'd say that gargoyle totally looks like it wants to destroy Trixie."
Trixie continued firing off various spells of various elements, but none of them seemed to do any good.
"Run, you idiot!" Rainbow yelled.
"Don't worry, Rainbow Crash! Trixie has this under control! Make your escape now, while you can!"
Rarity facehooved. "It's like she never learns."
As the angered gargoyle rounded on Trixie, and all began to seem lost, an enormous glowing bolt flew out of the darkness, hitting the monster square in the back. The gargoyle howled with pain and rage, and whirled around to see what the hell had actually managed to hurt it.
:"A new challenger has entered the ring!" Pinkie exclaimed.
The rest of the group gathered together while the gargoyle focused its attention on the newcomer, who stepped forward into the clearing in a glow of dazzling blue.
Trixie paled. "Is... that..."
"Princess Luna!" Fluttershy said.
Another glowing star-like bolt shot from the horn of the younger sister, which smashed into the gargoyle's chest and sent it staggering backwards.
"Are those..."
"They appear to be sun spells of some kind," Rarity observed.
The efforts of the young ponies had suddenly come to a halt as they focused on the latest development in the battlefield. The gargoyle snarled with anger as Luna pelted it with glowing bolts of light, fired rapidly from her horn one after another.
"I thought you couldn't do sun spells," Rarity pointed out.
"Not sun spells! Light spells!" Luna said, ducking a swing of the gargoyle's tail. "Sun would defeat it, light weakens it."
"Looks more like he's just getting annoyed," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Why is he going after unicorns, anyway? Doesn't the Ritual of the Moon seem a bit... extreme?"
"Over here, ugly!" Rainbow Dash yelled, getting the monsters attention just long enough for it to charge her, which she easily zoomed out of the way. "Too slow!"
"Hey! Um... stop picking on my friends... that is... if you don't mind..." Fluttershy asked, now finding the monster turning on her. "If you could find someone else to pick on, that'd be really nice of you, and I'm sure we'd all appreciate... eep!"
Rarity threw in her own two cents, throwing all manner of rocks and debris at the gargoyle while zapping an enormously ugly hat upon it's head. "There! A punishment worth the crime, to be seen in public in last years fashion! Then again it was never particularly in style in the first place. Good luck living that down!"
Pinkie, instead, had her back turned to the monster, and crossed her hooves. "I'm not going to be friends with you," she announced.
The gargoyle paused at that. That was the worst she could come up with?
"And I'm not inviting you to Gummy's birthday, either! Should'a thought about that before you went all loco in the coco. Now you'll just have to read about how much fun the rest of us had in my blog."
Fluttershy tilted her head. "What's a blog?"
"I have no idea!"
Luna ducked and rolled, not easy for a mare of her size, and blasted the stony monster in the back. "I suspect that going after the Elements of Harmony was only coincidental. Celestia and I dealt with Kretin such a very long time ago, but it's not surprising he wants another go at us. Gargoyles really aren't very bright."
"Hey!" the monster scowled.
Pinkie burst into giggling. "Kretin? His name is Kretin? That's a terribly offensive name."
"As I recall," Luna pointed out. "It isn't much better than Der-"
"Shhh!" Pinkie hissed. "We aren't supposed to say that name! It makes the haters mad."
"Whatever are you going on about?" Rarity asked.
"Never mind, it's better if you don't know," Pinkie said.
Stitch, meanwhile, was busily taking advantage of the gargoyle being distracted with Luna by scrunching into a ball and rolling towards the fight. He twisted and weaved back and forth to avoid getting hit, and launched himself like a spring onto the gargoyle's back, between his stony wings. The monster roared with rage, swinging his bulky arms but was unable to reach behind him. Stitch grabbed one of its wings in his claws and yanked fiercely, breaking the wing off and throwing it upon the ground.
"Stitch!" Rainbow gasped.
"You can't do that..." Fluttershy whispered.
The alien glanced over at them, pointing to where the wing had been. "Stone. No pain," he said.
Stone or not, while breaking off the wing was no more graphic than accidentally breaking the arm off a statue, the gargoyle certainly became quite enraged. It flung itself onto the ground, crushing the alien beneath its weight. "Stupid dog," it growled.
Luna continued her assault of light spells, if only to daze the stony menace. Stitch reached up from underneath and lifted Kretin up over his head, slamming the enemy down into the ground with such force that cracks appeared all over its body.
Kretin whipped Stitch backwards with his tail, knocking him aside as one might a particularly annoying mosquito.
"You're small. You're annoying. You're useless," Kretin said. "Did I forget anything?" He accented each insult with another whip of his tail.
"Yes," Stitch said, grabbing the end of Kretin's tail in his claws. "Cute... and... fluffy!"
The alien lifted Kretin once more over his head, and crushed him into the ground. The gargoyle let out a stifled yelp and shattered into dozens of large pieces of stone which disassembled and rolled across the clearing.
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash hoofpumped the air.
Trixie looked slightly disappointed. "That is not quite the extravagant finale Trixie was hoping for. But it was exciting, Trixie admits. Perhaps you lot are not as annoying as Trixie thought."
Rarity looked at her. "Is that an apology?"
"It's the best Trixie can do. She is not used to apologies."
Luna shook her head. "My little ponies, do not rejoice just yet, for the battle is not over."
Pinkie grinned. "Really? Cause it looks like Kretin lost and he's all broken up over it."
"There is more to gargoyles than appearance. Without the power of the sun, he can still regenerate."
"Look!" Fluttershy pointed. "He's moving!"
Right she was, for little by little, the pieces of the gargoyle were slowly coming back together. Rolling towards each other in awkward patterns.
Rainbow Dash took special enjoyment in kicking a small piece even farther away, making it start all over again.
"The only way to take care of this thing is with the sun," Luna said. "But I don't know how to raise it."
"But I do," said a new voice, one with such passion and authority that every single one of them turned to look.
Celestia was making her way across the field, mane flowing brilliantly in the dim starlight. Luna gasped with such joy, and ran to embrace her.
"Celestia... but... you were..."
"I was. But in his broken state, the magic which bound us has been shattered unless he can petrify us again. One by one, all will be restored. Thank you, all of you, for your help." She looked down to Stitch. "And thank you, Stitch. You will all be rewarded soon enough, but first... I think we've had quite enough of this night."
"Are you sure, Celestia? Can't it last just a bit longer?" Luna asked.
"You know as well as I do that balance must be restored," Celestia said. "The Ritual of the Moon has been fractured, which should allow me just enough time to..."
She closed her eyes, power flowing from her horn like water from a spillway. Brighter and brighter it glowed, until at last the edge of the sun tipped the horizon. Trixie smiled despite herself, and wiped a teary residue from her eyes.
"Is the Great and Powerful Trixie crying?" Rainbow teased.
"Trixie does not cry!" The unicorn demanded. "Trixie is merely leaking excess of awesome."
"Welcome to my world," Rainbow Dash said. The two mares shared a smile, and both began laughing.
The glow of the sun began to light the sky, and jets of steam and vapor rose from the pieces of stony flesh as the light hit them. The remains of the gargoyle solidified and turned black. Celestia sighed with relief as the sun locked into its proper course, arcing towards its usual position. All of the others save for herself were cringing with temporary blindness, having been submerged in darkness for so many days.
"Let us leave this dreadful place," Luna suggested.
"Yes," Celestia agreed. "The rest of you return to the Library, I will send Twilight and the others to their homes so they may recover. They'll be perfectly fine by tomorrow." She waved her horn over the circle of stone equines, and each one blinked out of existence, to reappear elsewhere. "They usually thaw in the order they were found. Applejack is already resting at her farm. She will see you all shortly."
Luna looked down at Stitch, and nudged the alien onto her back. "And of course we have to get this one home, as well."
"Leave that to me," Celestia said. "There are still a few things left to do." She gave a glance at the pieces of stone littering the ground. "First of which is to get these in a safe place, we only have until nightfall to secure them, or else Kretin will merely regenerate."
With Kretin defeated, Ponyville had slowly returned to normal. Those who had been turned to stone had thawed, and there had been many tearful reunions. The unicorn whom none of them had recognized, Celestia had explained, had been an otherwise ordinary mother of two named Rain Breeze, who had been reunited with her family after having the misfortune of encountering Kretin while picking mushrooms in the forest.
The entire group was gathered in Twilight's Library. They had all gotten hugs from Stitch, of course, and Luna had opened a small ripple in the dimensional vortex with the assistance of some extremely old books. It was an energy draining spell, and could only be kept open for a few minutes.
"Your work here shall not go unrewarded," Celestia said. "You are more than welcome to return here whenever you like, especially if Equestria needs you."
Stitch shook his head, and pointed into the tear. "Family," he said.
Applejack looked at Trixie, as all of them minus a unicorn were gathered at the scene. She began to say something, but Pinkie interrupted. "This is so exciting! I wish Rarity hadn't denied the invitation to send Stitch off, she'd have loved this!"
"Rarity has taken time off to spend with Sweetie Belle," Twilight reminded her. "Some moments have to be enjoyed before they're gone, and her little sister is growing up quickly. Not to mention she's probably traumatized by all this."
Stitch was hugging Fluttershy, who was crying. "I'm gonna miss you most of all," she sniffed.
"Do hurry," Luna warned. "I can't keep this open for much longer."
Stitch patted Fluttershy on the head and bounded through the rip, the smell of beaches and pineapples wafting through it. Luna gave a great grunt of energy and the ripple closed, her horn powering down.
Celestia sighed with satisfaction. "Alright, all of you, let's be leaving. I for one would like to celebrate the return of all my little ponies."
Rainbow Dash flew up to the front of the group. "Whatever happened to all the pieces of Kretin, anyway? Are you sure they're not going to be a problem again? Where could you possibly find somewhere that's permanently daylight?"'
Celestia just smiled, and briefly glanced upward to the sky, before looking back at Rainbow Dash.
"Don't you worry about that, I took care of it." ***
Several days after Stitch had left, with things having returned to normal and even Trixie having participated in the festivities, being much more enjoyable to be around, even if prone to egotistical outbursts. As Twilight and Spike slept, a small spike of energy appeared where the rift had closed. A small round object of some sort burst into existence and flew into the Library, bouncing off various walls before flying through the open window. It landed on a small ridge and rolled underneath the tree, never seen and quickly forgotten.
Barely visible on the small object was a set of numbers.
With the matter of aliens behind her, Pinkie had resumed her normal, everyday, cheerful, somewhat invasive habit of getting in everypony's business. She had been by to visit Twilight numerous times, despite being assured by the latter that the effects of being turned to stone twice were temporary.
"Thank you for your concern, Pinkie. But there's nothing to worry about," Twilight insisted. "Do you want something to drink? Tea perhaps?" Tea might calm the party pony down, if anything could.
"Do you have coffee?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight felt her eye twitch. "I really don't think that's a good idea..."
"Hot apple cider?"
"That I can do. I'll be just a moment. Feel free to read any of the books while you're waiting, but PLEASE put them back where you found them. I've already had to have Spike reorganize the entire library three times this week."
The little dragon, who had been sitting nearby, was rubbing his sore wrists.
"Don't remind me," he said.
Twilight wandered to the back to prepare beverages, and Pinkie wandered restlessly down an aisle or two in search of something interesting to eat. She pushed various books aside, before her eyes locked on something of unknown origin glittering behind a row of books. Oooh, sparkly!
Violently pushing the books aside, Pinkie gasped. Something glittered in the darkness reaching far back behind the row of books, farther than physics would ever have allowed.
"A pocket dimension!" Pinkie exclaimed. These sorts of things turned up from time to time, and for some reason happened to show up quite often around Pinkie in particular. She squeezed herself into the shelf of books, crawling forward into the darkness. A profound sense of disorientation gripped her. For a disturbingly long moment, there was no up or down or right or left. There was a void of nothingness, not even the comforting feel of ground underneath her hooves as she slid forward. There was only the will to keep going and overpowering curiosity.
After a few moments, the space underneath her seemed to fall away, and Pinkie tumbled through what felt like a long series of tubes before being expelled onto a hard white floor.
Pinkie bounced back up like taffy, and looked around eagerly. Giant columns stretched towards the sky, lit with various consoles and displays of all kinds. Wires by the thousands stretched overhead across the ceiling and over the walls. The sounds of various hardware and machines filled the vast space, though the party pony was unphased and continued forward anyway.
The only source of life she could find came in the form of a pair of legs sticking out from underneath an industrial sized heavily plated submersible. Bouncing over, she made the most natural inquiry one could make under these circumstances.
"Whatcha doin'?" Pinkie asked.
The reply sounded annoyed. "Attempting to prepare to study the effects of high powered nuclear fusion and radioactivity at depths of five plus miles, not that it's any of your business."
"Oh." Pinkie paused. "Why?"
"Because those depths have not been extensively researched yet."
"Why?"
"Because-" There was a startled gasp of realization, and a young human in his early 20s rolled out from beneath the submersible, wrench in hand.
He stared at her.
Pinkie stared back.
He stared at her.
Pinkie stared back.
He blinked.
"I win!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"That's not fair, I demand a re- wait a minute!" He stood, angry now. "Who are you?"
"Pinkie," she said casually.
"No really, what is your name?"
"Pinkie Pie!" She said.
The young man facepalmed.
"Alright..."
"Who are you?" Pinkie asked. "Wait! Wait! Let me guess! You look like... Terrance!"
"...No." The boy said. "I am Dexter, this is my laboratory, and you... should not be in here. How did you get in here?"
"Through the bookshelf," Pinkie said.
Dexter looked thoughtful as if this actually made sense. "Huh. The bioscanner must be malfunctioning. While I thank you for bringing this to my attention, I must ask you to leave. Return to wherever it is you came from, or you may be escorted out by my security drones."
"No thanks," Pinkie said.
"No thanks to the drones?"
"No thanks to leaving, I wanna help!"
"I don't need your help," Dexter said.
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do!"
"No I don't!"
"No I don't!" Pinkie yelled.
"Yes I do, and that's final!" Dexter yelled back.
"Okey dokey, if you insist." Pinkie bounced to the nearest display while Dexter was still trying to figure out what just happened. "How about this one? What's this button do?"
"Do not press-"
Pinkie had already pressed the button.
"FIRE CONTAINMENT FIELD ACTIVATED."
There was a loud rushing sound from overhead, and the ceiling sprinklers burst into life, sending water pouring down all over the laboratory. There was the sound of wires shorting out and displays malfunctioning all over the place.
Dexter glared at her. "Get out!"
"Aw, but rain is fun! Why so frowny wowny?"
He lunged for her, and Pinkie darted out of the way, bouncing down back in the direction she'd come from.
"I hate horses," Dexter muttered.
Pinkie burst through an exit door and collided with Twilight in her kitchen, who at that moment had been lifting up the kettle of hot water she was using for apple cider. The kettle clanged to the floor, sending both ponies jumping into chairs to avoid the scalding water that sent white vapor filling the kitchen.
Fluttershy had never been to this part of the forest before. The trouble that all her friends had gone through during the past few days was immensely stressful, and she needed a few hours just to herself. She had wandered one of the safer paths of Everfree forest,and had many little reunions with critters she had personally rehabilitated and released over the years. Though it was very easy to become disoriented in the forest, and even she was not immune to the warped nature of ancient magic.
Having been walking in circles for quite some time, Fluttershy eventually stumbled upon a clearing. The clearing was mostly low cut grass and long reeds, circled by enormously thick trees with dark, dead branches that swayed menacingly in the wind. But the strangest thing was that the trees in the middle seemed to have some sort of inset carvings upon them, openings of various shapes and sizes.
Fluttershy slowly crept forward, having never seen anything like this before. She approached one of the openings in the nearest tree and though she pushed and pulled upon it, nothing happened. It appeared to be purely decorative. That is, until, one of the other trees swung open.
Darting behind a nearby rock and quivering with fright, Fluttershy was afraid her pounding heart would give away her location. A strange figure crept through the opening in the tree, which she recognized instantly as some sort of bipedal creature. But it wasn't just any creature, with which she would have been perfectly tolerable.
No, this figure was purely skeletal.
It didn't seem to mind much, and walked forward with the same sense of disorientation that Fluttershy had seen many times before. It paused only momentarily before turning to look directly at her.
"Hello," it said.
Maybe she was just imagining things. Her hiding place was too perfect, there was no way it could see-
"I can see your wings," the figure said kindly. "Your hiding place might be much more efficient if you were to fold them."
Fluttershy mumbled something.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," the figure said.
"I'm Fluttershy..." she squeaked.
"Fluttershy, eh? Well, you have no need to hide from me. I'm merely exploring!" The skeletal figure said. "You may call me Jack."
The pegasus brightened up just a little bit. "Oh, that's not so bad. I had a sparrow named Jack for a while, but once his wing healed I let him go."
"That's very kind. Can you by chance tell me where I am?"
"You're in the forest. Near Ponyville," she said. She felt slightly sorry for Jack, who didn't seem to know much of anything.
"I see. And there are a lot of horses in Ponyville?"
"Well, not so much horses. But ponies, yes! Ponyville is a very nice little town primarily run by friendship and magic."
