> An adventure from a history book makes a comeback > by keam > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Everything Starts Somewhere > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It all started as a normal day for Mint Letter. She woke up in the apartment she shared with her best friend and classmate Heart Dot. She ate her breakfast, oatmeal and a glass of milk, and she walked to school with Heart Dot checking her knowledge before the test on Equestrian and Crystal Empire history later that day. It was when she came to her locker and started to take out her books that it happened. She met her, Daffodil Spark, a light orange earth pony mare with a golden mane, that later on would become her best friend. The mare walked back and forth in front of the lockers, her hazel eyes slowly scanning the hallway. Mint stuffed the last of her books into her pack and tapped the mare on the shoulder. "Um, can I help you with something?" “Ah!” The mare exclaimed, a curtain of golden hair falling over one eye. The other one swung in every direction except in the one towards Mint's face. “I, um, I’m Daffodil Spark. I’m new here. I-I was just wondering if you could show me to class room number 23, where class 1a are having their lesson?”          “1a, you say?” Mint asked. Looking down on the floor, Daffodil lowered her ears and nodded. “They gave me a map of the school, but I’m all turned around.”  She  shied away as a group of big, musculare stallions trotted by and shouted playful insults at each other.  “ I, um, I didn’t want to bother anypony, but I don’t want to be late to my first lesson.”          “Looks like we are going to be classmates, then.” Mint Letter said matter of factely. “My name is Mint Letter. Follow me, and I'll show you the way.” As Mint Letter started to walk down the hallway to the classroom, Daffodil Spark following her lead, Heart Dot walked up beside her. “Who is she?” Heart Dot whispered. “She is our new classmate, Daffodil Spark. ” Mint replied. “Daffodil Spark? Isn’t Spark a unicorn name? You know, spark representing their magic ability?” Heart Dot asked. “I don't know. maybe her parents just found the name fitting?” Mint said with a shrug. She’d thought the same thing, but didn’t really want to talk about it in front of the new filly. "Everypony, we got a new filly here today who is going to be in your class. Say hi to Daffodil Spark!" Mr Read-a-Book happily introduced Daffodil to the class,who gave her a simultaneous "Hi Daffodil." "There is an empty seat in the second row, behind Heart Dot, where you can sit, dear." He then told her, and she obliged, sitting down in the empty seat. Soon enough, Mr. Read a Book had left the room to get some coffee, and Heart turned  around so that she faced Daffodil Spark and said “My name is Heart Dot. So, where are you from?” “N-nice to meet you, um, Heart Dot.” Daffodil said. “Well, I, um, I grew up in Appleloosa, but my mother is from Manehattan. Right now I live here with my friend Misty Moo...” She was cut off by Mr Read a Book, who came back to the classroom. "Daffodil Spark! Heart Dot! What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Read-A-Book said upon entering the classroom and seeing them talking. "I thought you two knew better than to talk during the lessons. I'm especially disappointed in you Daffodil, coming into my classroom and starting to talk at the first chance you're given!" Both Daffodil and Heart quickly turned forward and read their books, not saying a word. Despite not wanting to get into anymore trouble, she glanced over at Daffodil. She was beet red and shifting uncomfterbely under the classes accusing glare. Heart really felt a sting of pain inside seeing this, wishing that she would've listened to Mint's advice and think a little more before talking. Next lesson was biology with Mrs. Flower Season. In biology class, there were ponies from both class 1a and 1b because there were too few biology teachers at the school, and the school hadn’t been able to find any new ones that they could hire. As soon as they came in to the room, Daffodil Spark walked over to the other side of the classroom and sat down next to a light grey pegasus mare with a black mane and tail that Mint Letter and Heart Dot hadn't noticed before, probably because of the mare’s plain appearance. She seemed like that kind of pony who didn’t want to be noticed.          Mint Letter and Heart Dot hesitated before sitting down next to Daffodil and the gray pegasus. Daffodil smiled at them when they sat down and  then introduced the pegasus mare next to her as Misty Moon.                   “Hmm... Misty Moon... I've heard that name before..” Heart Dot said.          “Well... umm...” “She's been studying here for a while now!” Daffodil said before Misty had the time to say anything. “Oh... Well, I haven't noticed you...” Heart Dot replied, noticing that it no longer was Daffodil who were the shy one, but Misty. Mrs. Flower Season told the class to be quiet and open their books on page twenty-two before  returning to the whiteboard. On the board, she started to explain the differences between pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony anatomy.          Mint Letter opened the book and gave the drawings of an earth pony, a unicorn and a pegasus anatomy a bored look. She had already learned that three lessons ago, but seeing as everypony in this classroom apparently was as dumb as their biology books, they kept repeating it, one lesson after an other.  Giving up on even trying to listen to the teacher, she closed her book before scanning the classroom, looking at the other ponies in her class. Most of the ponies were listening to the teacher or looking down in the book with a confused expression. Like she said, dumb as their biology books.          Mint Letter sighed. How hard was it to understand that Earth ponies had thicker bones and  stronger muscles in their legs instead of wings or horns, making them bigger and stronger than other pony types and better suited for farming?          “So, what does your cutie mark represent?” It was Mint who written it down on a small note and pasted it over to Misty, pointing to her flank, which was covered by her hoodie. One look at Mints desk showed that she hadn't even bothered to open up the book. “What does yours represent?” Misty wrote back, not wanting to answer the question asked by Mint. “Mine is for spelling, writing, learning, that kind of stuff. How about yours? ” Mint answered, looking down at the letters and the book on her flank. Quickly after getting it, she had relized that it represented a million diffrent things, all at once, and she would probably never know how far her “special talent” reached. “Wow, I never heard of a cutie mark that is so comprehensive!” Misty said, trying to move the focus of the conversation back to Mint’s cutie mark, but precisly when she was sliding the note across her desk and over to Mint, Mrs. Flower Season turned around to ask a question to the class. “Girls!” Flower Season exclaimed, walking up to Misty and Mint. “Are you passing notes on the lesson?” Misty and Mint didn’t answer, looking down on their desks. “I don’t want to see any of this ever again, am I clear? And Mint Letter, open up your book, we’re having a lesson about pony anatomy here!” Flower Season said before walking back to the board and continuing the lesson. Instead of following the teachers orders, Mint picked up the note Misty left on her desk and read it. “Wow, I never heard of a cutie mark that is so comprehensive!”            Mint finished reading the note and looked over at Misty’s covered flank, taking pencil and papper with her magic, holding it under the table, quickly scribbling down a note to Misty Moon, and levatating it over to her seat.          “Well, I'm sure your special talent is impressive as well....”          Misty read the note, and she could feel Mints curious eyes on her, waiting to see her write an answere. She didn’t. Instead she looked down at the biology book on her desk, avoiding eye contact. Next lesson was Equestrian and Crystal Empire History, and they were supposed to have a test. Mr. Dust gave them the papers, and Mint Letter couldn’t help but notice that Daffodil Spark didn't get one. Maybe she would do it later, since she was new and all? Noticing that Mint was looking at her, Daffodil looked up form her desk and gave her an encouraging smile.  Answering the smile, mint looked down at her test paper and started to write down the answers.          > Chapter 2 : Misty Moon's dream > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Where am I?" When Misty Moon opened her eyes, everything was enfolded in thick blanket of darkness. At first, she saw nothing but the inky fog seemingly surrounding her. But then, as her eyes started to become accustomed to the darkness she saw a small streak of light in the distance. Not thinking, she started to run in the direction of the light. The closer she got, the more the light started to blind her, until it got so bright that she couldn't see. She closed her eyes to escape the light, and for a moment that seemed to last for an eternity, she was flying, the one feeling every pegasus need to experience in their life time. She felt how her wings carried her up in to the sky, crushing gravity against the ground below. Even though her eyes were closed, she could see the sky coming closer to greet her as she saw a land, unbeknown to the unicorns and earth ponies below; a secret paradise that wasn’t meant to be shared with those who didn't possess the ability to reach it on their own. Then, it was over. She felt cold, hard stone greet her as she crashed down from the skies above, the pure joy of moments ago long gone. Slowly opening her eyes, she scanned the unfamiliar surrounding. She was laying on a stone path that crossed a big lane in front of what Misty could guess was a big school of some kind. Behind her, in the middle of the stone path, was a big marble statue of a Saddle Arabian horse standing on its hindlegs, mane blowing in the wind. "Haha! That was good one, Heart!" Misty quickly snapped her head in the direction of the pony who'd spoken. However, she discovered, the creature who'd spoken was distinctly not a pony. Further down the path were six...mares? Yes, the creatures, one being the one who spoke, were definitely females. The mares were walking and standing on their hindlegs, which were long and skinny. Using their two front legs, which each had five pointy sticks at the end of each hoof, to pick things up and carry them. Watching them come closer, Misty Moon realized that they most likely were a kind of fairy tale creatures called humans that mothers read about to their foals at night. It was even said that Princess Twilight Sparkle once transformed into one.... As the mares walked past Misty, who stepped down from the rode as to not be in the way, she noted some disturbing facts. Firstly, the mare's hadn't reacted when they walked pass Misty. They had simply continued to talk and laugh with one another as if she didn't even exist. Secondly, Misty noticed that one of the mares had a strange resemblance to her friend, Daffodil Spark. Upon a closer look, she also saw two mares resembling Daffodil’s classmates, Heart Dot and Mint Letter. There was also one mare that resembled herself. Was this supposed to be some kind of sign or something? Like, they should all be the best of best friends, because the mares seem to be that, or what? Misty didn't get it. Suddenly, as if somepony turned off a switch, the darkness was back. Blinking a few times so that her eyes could adjust, she noticed that she was awake in her bedroom. All of what had happened to her had just been a dream, then. The alarm clock on the bedside table showed 6:25 AM. Five minutes until it would start to ring. Not seeing any point in laying back down in bed and trying to sleep for another five minutes, she turned off the alarm clock, got on to the floor and made her way out in the corridor. Passing by Daffodils bedroom, she smiled, hearing some mild cursing escaping from the other side of the closed door. Daffodil would always wake up 20 minutes before her, and still needed to hurry to stay on schedule. Quickly continuing to the bathroom, she started to prepare herself for another day of school. > Chapter 3 : The chosen ones > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter three: The chosen ones "Hey Daffodil! Misty! Over here!" Mint waved her hoof at Daffodil and Misty, motioning for them to sit down. She and Heart Dot were just about to start eating when Daffodil and Misty entered the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit down. Placing their food trucks at the table, Daffodil and Misty sat down next to Heart and Mint. They proceeded to eat their food and chat about homework and assignments when suddenly.... *Boom* The doors to the cafeteria were slammed open by five stressed and anxious looking teachers who entered the room, followed by an even more stressed and anxious looking principal.   The principal walked in to the middle of the room. With a voice that probably was meant to sound calm and controlled but only got her to sound more stressed, she said: “Her majesty Princess Celestia is coming to visit the school in five days to announce something important!” A quiet mumble spread throughout the room. Princess Celestia herself was visiting to announce something important? In only five days?! No wonder the teachers looked so stressed and anxious! How were they supposed to get everything ready for a royal visit in only five days? It was suicide mission at best! Switching places with the principal, Mrs. Flower Season called upon the attention of the students in the cafeteria before saying: “We think that the Princess is going to announce which six students will be flag carriers during this year’s summer sun celebration." "As you all know by now, Princess Celestia is coming to our school in five days to announce something. What it is she's going to announce, we do not know yet, but we suspect it might be which six students will be the flag carriers at this year’s Summer Sun Celebration. Due to the short notice, there won't be any ordinary lessons until after the visit. You will instead help prepare the school for her visit." Mr. Read A Book walked around in the class and distributed notes that told them they need to wear formal clothes during the princess’s visit, dress for fillies and costume for colts. Some of the colts in the back row frowned, complaining about how only coltcuddlers wore costume. Upon hearing these complaints, Mr. Read A Book gave the colts who had been complaining detention. "And", he added. "I'll be sure to find some nice, thick books about ponies equal worth and stereotypical assumptions about homosexual ponies." 5 Days later....  "I can't believe this is happening! We'll see Princess Celestia herself in real life! Oh, but what if...." Mint tuned out Daffodils nervous rant, knowing that she was only repeating what she already repeated at least six times that day. During these five days that had passed since the announcement of Princess Celestia’s visit, Mint had learned to know Daffodil better and discovered that she was a very divided pony. Glancing at the still rambling Daffodil, she thought about this. On one side, we had the socially anxious mare that right now was ranting about everything that could go wrong in the near future and had  been doing so for the past two hours with a couple of minutes break in between each rant. On the other side, we had an almost hyperactive mare that would keep on talking and talking until she didn't even know what she'd been talking about to begin with, an ever present smile plastered on her face. Which side she showed mostly depended on the situation. In class, there was the socially anxious that wouldn't stop thinking about what could go wrong. On their free time, or when they were alone, there was the hyperactive mare who couldn't stop talking. Mint was snapped back to reality as a group of fillies across the hall started to giggle, whispering among themselves and pointing their hooves at Mint and her friends, or more exactly, their dresses. Inspecting her dress and looking at her friends’ outfits, she tried to find the reason for the hoof pointing and whispering. Mint was wearing a delicate mint dress with blue details and her mane was held together by a mint bow.  Heart was wearing a cute turquoise dress with pink details and she had stuck a couple of roses into her extremely carefully fixed mane. Daffodil was wearing a slightly old-fashioned yellow dress with orange details. Misty was wearing a simple yet beautiful silver dress with black details that covered her flank and her forelock was held up by a small, silver bow on each side of her head. Mint hadn't have time to think about their outfits for long when a Royal Day Guard shouted: “Bow for her majesty, Princess Celestia!” They all bowed as Princess Celestia herself passed through the room and entering the stage in the middle. Motioning for the crowd of students and teachers to be quite, she started to speak: “Dear subjects, like you know, I'm here to announce something important. I'm here to announce the flag carriers at this year’s Summer Sun Celebration!” Picking up an envelope with the sun and moon symbols on the back in her magic, she opened it and read the letter inside.  “And the six lucky students that get to be the flag carriers on the Summer Sun Celebration this year are....Mint Letter, Heart Dot, Misty Moon and Daffodil Spark from Canterlot high, and Hypie Tech and Bright Sky from Manehattan High!” The crowd cheered loudly and the four friends was forced up on the stage where Princess Celestia congratulated them and gave them each an envelope containing all the necessary information about practises and such. Yes, they were truly happy. They were going to be Flag Carriers at the Summer Sun Celebration, one of the most prestigious tasks you could be assigned to do as an Equestrian student. > Chapter 4 : Summer Sun Celebration > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: Summer sun Celebration “So, is this the first time you're in Canterlot?” Mint politely asked the grey earth pony stallion and blue pegasus mare that they had learnt to know as Hypie Tech and Bright Sky during the past few days. Hypie Tech simply looked up from his food and gave her an annoyed look before continuing eating, completely ignoring the question. "And what is that supposed to mean?!" Mint snapped, greatly annoyed by Hypie’s ignorant ways.   “Please, don't mind Hypie, he doesn't really like being social at all." Bright Sky said, putting a hoof on Mint's shoulder. “It's Hypie's first time in Canterlot, but I've been here before to visit my cousin, who moved here when she graduated high school.” “And you? Have any of you ever been to Manehattan?” Bright then asked. “I haven't, have you?” Mint said, visibly calmer, looking at Heart Dot, Misty Moon, and Daffodil Spark. Heart Dot shook her head as a no, but Daffodil nodded. “My mother is from Manehattan, so I've been there visiting relatives, and Misty Moon was born in Manehattan.” The other girls looked over at Misty Moon, who was beginning to slouch away as to hide herself from the stares of the other girls. Even Hypie looked out from his food. “Really? That's interesting. I mean, what are the odds that you'd be born in Manehattan?” Hypie Tech said, suddenly not so grumpy, giving Misty one of those smiles he'd given her the first time they met. Misty Moon replied with a shy smile of her own, making eye contact and remaining it for a few seconds.  Already the first day, Misty and Hypie had bonded with each other in a way the others still hadn't, despite having spent 2 weeks practicing together, which had caused the others to “ship” them in a teasing way, saying that they're such a cute couple and such. Bright Sky and Misty had also bonded very much, and the other girls were well aware of that they were staying up late at night talking with one another. “So both you and Heart Dot were born in Canterlot, then?” Bright asked Mint, causing Hypie to change focus from Misty to her. Mint Letter and Heart Dot nodded, finishing the last of their lunch. And so it finally came, the day they all had been waiting for. They all stood at the end of the big, wide stairs outside the castle and waited for the Princesses. And so did thousands of other ponies, hoping to get a glimpse of the Princesses in all their regal glory. As it was important that they looked exactly alike, they had all been dressed in the same delicate dresses, or suite in Hypie’s case, with golden suns and silver coloured moons on them, but in different colours. Mint's dress was blue, Heart's pink, Daffodil and Bright Sky's yellow, and Misty and Hypie's black. Suddenly, when they were standing and waiting for the Princesses, a grey unicorn guard came running out of the castle and whispered something to the brown pegasus guard next to Misty Moon, who, in pure shock, screamed out the message for the hole crowd to hear: “The Princesses are missing!” A shocked gasp was heard from the crowd. The Princesses, missing? What had happened to them? Has Discord returned to his evil antics again?  What were they going to do?! Panic burst out and the crowd was soon dispersed, the grey unicorn guard just standing next to his colleague, face hoofing for all he was worth. Seconds later, all the guards in the castle began running around looking for the Princesses, the captain of the guard franticly trying to get a grip of the situation. Forgotten in the chaos erupting all around them, the six flag carriers decided to try and help in the search for the princesses. They walked in to the castle, and wandering around searching without a plan. None of them could tell how much time that had passed when they finally came to the library.  As soon as they entered the big library, Misty noticed one thing. Why she noticed it, she would probably never know, but it would be the beginning of a fantastic adventure. All the books were standing in their shelves, their backs turned outwards so that you could see the titles. However, the little detail Misty noticed was that there was one book that wasn't. Misty couldn't resist taking the book out, and when she did, they heard a click and the floor opened up, revealing stares leading down through the floor. Without thinking of what they were doing, they all walked down under the library, and when they came down, they heard somepony say: “I still don't understand, why did it have to happen again? How could we be so blind? How could we not see it coming?” They could hear the pony, apparently totally devastated by something, quietly sobbing. “I don't know Celestia, I really wish I did, but I don't!” a male voice said, revealing the mare to be Princess Celestia. “It shouldn't have happened! It just shouldn't!” Celestia continued, her sobs growing louder. So the crying pony was Princess Celestia? Why was she, of all ponies, crying? This should be joyful day, not a tear drenched on! “I know Celestia, but it did, and we're defenceless! The elements stopped listening to you after you banished her the first time, and they've never listened to me in the first place!” The stallion, who as an opposite of Celestia, was trying to find a solution to the problem instead of trying to drench her problems in tears, exclaimed. “I know that, Discord, but I just can't bear thinking about my beloved subjects right now!" Celestia exclaimed, slowly starting to sound old and tired. “I lost Luna again! Again, Discord!" So the stallion was, in fact, Discord? Why was Princess Celestia hiding behind the Royal Library with the spirit of chaos himself, instead of being out there among her beloved subjects? And why where they sounding like Luna died or something? Again? Now they couldn't resist the urge to stick their heads in too the room anymore and looked around the corner. On the floor was Discord, hugging a crying Celestia in an effort to comfort her, even if he seemed as sad as she. Suddenly, Celestia turned around and looked at them. “Who are you?” She said, quickly wiping away her tears and rising from the floor. Mint Letter, Heart Dot, Daffodil Spark, Bright Sky, Hypie Tech and Misty Moon stepped in front, not seeing any point hiding now that she knew they were there. A surprised expression spread across Celestia's face as they stepped out in yes light. “Oh, it's you, the flag carriers!” She said, apparently not expecting it to be them.   “What is that?” Bright Sky asked, pointing at the painted glass window on the wall, depicting of six ponies, standing in a circle around some kind of evil creature, rainbow coloured beams hitting the evil creature in the middle. “It is the latest carriers of the elements of harmony when they defeated Night Mare Moon and turned her back to....” Celestia wasn't able to finish the sentence before new tears were forming in her eyes and she once again shrink down on the floor. “Turned her back to Luna, the Princess of the Night.” Discord continued in Celestia's place. “You have all heard that story, haven't you?”  They all nodded in response. Who hasn't heard the story of the Mane Six? “The Mane Six defeated Night Mare Moon and Discord...” Mint Letter blushed a bit realising who was listening.  “Um, before they made him good of course. And they also found the Crystal Heart and helped save a thousand years old civilisation from an evil unicorn who wanted to rule it and enslave the ponies who lived there.” She had read all books she could find about the Mane Six, and Twilight was her hero since she read her first book about the Mane Six when she was five year old! “And they helped prevent a Changeling invasion” Discord added before letting Celestia continue.  “And saved Princess Mi Amore Cadeza, if you know who she was, so she later on together with her beloved, Shining Armour, Princess Twilight's big brother, could set up a magical aura and throw out the changelings from Canterlot” Even Discord was listening intense now, he had been an imprisoned in stone by the time of this events in history and never heard the details. “And probably saved my life...” Celestia finished the story. “Sun knows where Luna was during the invasion, I’m just happy that she was safe!” Celestia at first sounded tired, and then, at the end, she was even slightly smiling, even if it didn't really reach her eyes. They only stood there, their jaws hanging open at the new facts. “But today something we didn't think ever would happen again happened” Discord said. Before Discord could finish the sentence, black smoke appeared, swallowing Celestia and forming Nightmare Moon, or they assumed it was Nightmare Moon, in front of him. “Well, if it wasn't Celestia, my precious sister!” Nightmare Moon said.  “And here we have Discord, the one who only yesterday claimed to love me!” She then continued. “You fool! You never suspected anything! And because of your kindness, you’re standing on the losing side!” “I love Luna, and nopony else, and especially not you!” Discord replied.   “But, I’m Luna! Come again Discord, you may not want to, but you know that this is me!”  “You’re not Luna” Discord then said. “I mean, look at that ugly armour you’re wearing. Luna would never wear something like that! And you know what? I will never turn back to the dark side.”  Discord crossed his arms over his chest.  “I gave Fluttershy that promise and I won't break it!” “You still keep yourself stuck with that promise!” Nightmare Moon screamed. “Unable to move on, unable to forget!? She is gone Discord, gone!  You shouldn't show such feelings for somepony who was mortal!” “She was my first friend in thousands of years!” Discord screamed. “She showed me all the great things in life that I hadn't bothered to notice, all the great things in life that only friendship can give you! And the first friend is always something special, you of all should now!”   Nightmare Moon stared Discord with a mix of surprise and disbelief written across her face, but didn't say anything. “Do you remember that day by the lake?” Discord asked. “You were lost and crying because you didn't know how you would get home and I didn't know what to do, so I made toys appear in order to get you to stop. Eventually it worked, and then I showed you the way back to the castle. Do you remember what happened the next day? You came back! Next day, and the day after that. You came back every day to the lake and we would play! Then I was foolish enough to turn to the dark side, and I lost you!” Nightmare Moon seemed like she wanted to ask something, but Discord continued: “But when Fluttershy made me change my ways, I got a second chance, a chance to do things right. But I let Tirek trick me, and when I realised exactly what I'd done, I didn't think I'd get another one, but I did!” Discord paused before continuing. “Don’t you see? I won't get another chance if I blow it this time!” Nightmare Moon seemed like she didn't know what to do, and disappeared. Celestia didn't return, and by now, they had understood that the only way to get her back was to find the Elements of Harmony. “What will we do now?” Mint Letter said, sounding somewhat scared. “Well, since you aren't in the area close to the Everfree Forest.” Discord started. “Have you considered travelling to Ponyville?” “What? Why would that help? And why should we take advice from the spirit of chaos?!”  Hypie Tech immediately said, causing everyone to stare at him, since it was the most he had said since he came to Canterlot. “I cannot help, being the kind of creature I am.” Discord replied. “But it  seems like Nightmare Moon always return to the old castle in the Everfree where she and Celestia lived before she turned evil the first time around.”  “And they still have Twilight Sparkles personal journals and their “friendship diary” in the local library, by magic prevented from turning to dust, which could help you find the elements.” Discord added. “Okay, but if you’re tricking us, we'll make sure you regret it!” Daffodil Spark said before they all ran up the stairs to the library and headed for the station to see if they could catch a train to Ponyville. “And how exactly are you going to punish me?”  Discord said after the ponies left the room and could no longer hear him, a missives smile playing on his face. “No one has been able to punish me in more than a thousand years!” > Chapter 5: Welcome to Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Five: Welcome to Ponyville A two hours train ride later, they were in Ponyville. The town was mostly known for being the home of the Elements of Harmony at one time. Today, a thousand or so years later, it was a peaceful, quiet countryside town that did it best to survive in the shadow of bigger cities like Canterlot and Manehattan. When arriving on the station, they immediately asked for directions and navigated themselves to the Golden Oak Library.  The library was designed after the library that Twilight Sparkle had been working and living in before Tirek destroyed it and it was replaced with a crystal castle. Before stepping inside the library, they took a moment to admire the fantastic creation the building actually was. It was a house and a library, located inside a living tree. They couldn't even begin to imagine how complex the spell used to create such a thing must have been. When they opened the door and stepped inside, a bell jingled and somepony said: “Just a minute, I'm coming!” A minute or so later, an old, white coated unicorn mare with a heart and a note as cutie mark walked out of one of the side rooms in the big library.   “So, what can I help you with?” she said, inspecting the visitor’s fancy clothes before continuing. “Are you new in town? I've never seen you before.” Not wanting her to get suspicious, Heart quickly explained their errand to the mare. “Yes, we're new here, and we would like to look at Twilight Sparkle’s personal journals and the Mane Six Friendship Diary." The unicorn mare looked like she was about to have a heart attack, as if Heart's request too much for her to handle. “NO!” the mare screamed, after several seconds of silence finally able to say something. After a couple more seconds, the mare had finally recovered enough to give a proper answer to Heart's question.  “You can't! The journals belong to my family, since Twilight Sparkle never had any kids. No one except for the descendants of the Mane Six and their siblings are allowed to read them. Besides, their friendship diary belongs to the descendants of the Element of Honesty, Applejack. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle were the ones that lived longest; they decided which family would take care of it after Twilight cast the spell that would protect it from the ravages of time.” The librarian looked at the guests, all of which had a puzzled expression, waiting for somepony to ask a question. “So, it belongs to the descendants of Applejack?” Daffodil finally asked, her voice quiet. “But it is stored here in the library, right?” The older mare nodded. “Yes, but you need permission from descendants of Applejack to read it.” She answered in a (insert adjective here) tone. “Wait, why do you want to read the journals and the diary anyway?” She then said suspiciously. They looked at each other, unsure what to say. Should they tell the truth? Should they tell her that Nightmare Moon had returned and that Celestia was kidnapped? Would she even believe them? “Discord told us that we should do it, and that it might help us solve some problems we're having” Mint finally said, deciding to only tell a part of the truth. “Discord? The spirit of chaos himself?” The mare asked, baffled.  They all nodded in respond. “Well, in that case, I guess I can give you access to the journals” She slowly said. “But you still need permission from the Apple family to read the diary.” While the library went down to the basement to get the journals, they decided that Misty, Hypie and Mint would stay in the library and start read in the journals. Meanwhile, Daffodil, Bright and Heart went to the farm and asked for permission to read the diary. On the librarian’s recommendation, Bright, Heart and Daffodil took off their dresses, which had been forgotten in the rush to get to Ponyville. After traveling for about twenty minutes, they could see many acres with big apple trees spreading out on each side of the road, indicating that they were entering the Apple family’s grounds. Many of the families that where descendants of the elements of harmony had moved away from Ponyville long ago, and today only the descendants of Applejack and Fluttershy remain. After walking in silence for several minutes, they were suddenly surprised by somepony addressing them: “Howdy, how can I help y’all?” A green earth pony mare with a golden mane and an Apple on a stick being dipped in a jar of honey as cutie mark appeared from behind a couple of Apple trees, approaching the newcomers. “Are you new in town? I haven't seen you before!” The mare asked after inspecting Bright, Heart and Daffodil. They all nodded. “Yes, my name is Bright Sky, and this is Daffodil Spark and Heart Dot.” Bright began, pointing at her friends. “We came with the train from Canterlot earlier today.” The green mare gave them a big smile. “Then you're new! Nice to meet you, my name is Honey Apple.” Honey exclaimed. “So, what can I help you with?” Daffodil, Heart, and Bright exchanged worried looks, remembering how things turned out last time they asked this kind of question. “Well, it is like this” Daffodil began, her voice barely audible. “That we are here to ask for permission to read in the Mane Six Friendship Diary.” “You want to do what?!” Honey gasped, apparently having heard everything despite Daffodils low voice. “Well, you better ask my granny about that, ‘cause according to family law, only the oldest pony in the family has the right to authorise such a thing!” Honey then jumped over the fence and said: “Come on! Follow me!” Since their new found acquaintance was quickly disappearing in the distance, Daffodil, Bright and Heart found themselves with no other choice than to jump over the fence and follow. After another fifteen minutes, the three friends, led by Honey, reached a big clearing amongst the Apple trees. In the middle of the big clearing was an old farm house. The outside of the house showed clear signs of having stood there vacant for a long time; the red paint was cracked, and in some case even having worn off, exposing the smooth wooden surface underneath. A small, winding path lead up to the old house and Heart silently wondered why they hadn't followed it instead of galloping through the orchard.   Honey quickly showed them to the living room and told them to wait whilst she went upstairs to get her grandmother. The living room was a small room decorated with a table and a couch in the middle on top of a green carpet with red apples. On the left side of the couch, somepony had placed a crib. Her curiosity peeked; Daffodil walked over to the crib and looked inside. Inside was a little, yellow earth pony colt with orange mane sleeping peacefully. “That's my little brother, Braeburn.” Honey said as she came down the stairs and noticed Daffodil looking at the sleeping foal inside the crib. Honey was followed by an old earth pony mare with a yellow coat and a pale pink mane. On her flank, there were three white apple blossoms. “So, why is Honey telling me that you are seeking permission to read the Friendship Diary?” The old mare directly asked, making clear that she wanted no lies. Whilst waiting for one of the three friends to answer, she sat down on the couch in the middle next to Honey. “Because Discord told us that it might help us get the Elements of Harmony.” Bright finally said after several seconds of forced silence. “So, Discord told you to go get it and find the Elements? Why do you want the Elements? Why would you trust him?”  The old mare didn't seem surprised Discord was involved, unlike the librarian they told earlier, but her eyes were glowing with dislike. “We want the Elements to defeat Nightmare Moon and save princess Celestia” Heart blurted out, not being able to take the old mares accusing glare any longer. “And we trusted him because we didn't have any other clues about how to get the Elements and defeat Nightmare Moon.” “Nightmare Moon has returned!?” Now the mare seemed chocked. “Why didn't you say so?! She must be stopped, before she destroys Equestria! Or even worse, turn Discord around!” “So we have permission to read in the Diary?” Daffodil carefully asked. She didn’t knew what “turn Discord around” meant, but she sure got that with destroy Equestria! The old mare turned around and starred right at Daffodil, her eyes bewildered. “Of course! You better get going at one, Honey will show you the way! I got something I have to do.” The old mare answered, quickly chasing them out the door.   As her grandmother asked, Honey followed Daffodil, Heart, and Bright back to the main road to Ponyville. She told them to inform the librarian, Sweetie Bell, that Apple Bloom had given them permission to read the diary. “Wait!” Honey exclaimed precisely when they were ready to go. “Maybe I should come with you after all?” “Sure, if you want to” Heart Dot said, seeing no reason as to why they should say no to some extra company. “Okay, good. I was almost finished apple bucking anyway!” Honey said, looking back at the orchards before trotting up beside them.   So with Honey by their side, they started trotting back towards Ponyville. > Chapter 6: Elements of Harmony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the time they were gone, Misty, Hypie, and Mint had started to look through the journals, but there were many and they weren’t even halfway through when a bell jingled and Heart, Bright, and Daffodil came in to the room together with a green earth pony mare they'd never seen before. Hypie immediately gave her a threatening glare and the mare replied with a big plastic grin and a nervous chuckle, her eyes darting around the room. Sweetie Belle, as the old librarian had told them that she was named, looked up from the leather bound book she was reading. Seeing the green mare, she quickly got up on her legs and rushed up to the mare. “Honey, what are you doing here? Has something happened to Apple Bloom?” She asked worriedly. The unknown mare's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously. “No, no, granny is okay! I'm just here to say that she has given these ponies” the mare called 'Honey' pointed with a hoof at Heart, Bright, and Daffodil, “permission to read in the diary!” “Oh, thank goodness. I know Apple Bloom can be very stubborn some times.” Sweetie Belle said, clearly relived that nothing happened. “Now, Honey, you better go home to Braeburn, you don't want to leave him and AB alone for too long.” Honey nodded slowly. “Yeah, I probably should. After all, I still got some chores to do. See you!” With that, Honey trotted out the door; leaving the six friends alone together with Sweetie Belle. “Who was she?” Misty Moon said quietly after the mare disappeared through the open door. “That was Honey Apple, the ancestor of Applejack. Her grandmother and I have been friends for a long time.” Sweetie Belle answered softly before going back into the basement to retrieve the diary. Heart decided to take a look at the diary, while the others tried to go through Twilight's journals. It was a slow and complicated job because it quickly became clear that none of the bearers of The Elements of Harmony had had very good hoof/horn writing. “Aha! I found something!” Heart Dot suddenly screamed. “What? What does it say?” Hypie Tech asked, looking up from the thick purple notebook filled with complicated algorithms and scientific explanations he was reading. “Just listen to this entry here! It’s definitely something important!" Heart answered, reading the entry out loud. 12 of December, Applejack. Twilight told us some really bad news that could possibly change everything. Last night, she had a vision. The vision showed the return of. Nightmare Moon, but nopony was there to stop her. Based off some fancy scientific formula about the stars movement or something, Twilight calculated that it should have been around one thousand and fifty five years from now. Princess Celestia and Luna don’t know, and I don't think it would make any difference if they did, quite the opposite actually. The fear of once more transforming may even help make her evil once more. We will hide a map that shows the way to the Tree of Harmony. Since Discord’s trick with the seeds, the elements are no longer listening to us, but maybe they will listen to some ponies a thousand years in to the future? I hope so. In Twilight's vision, no one was there, but with some planning and help, maybe we can change that. Twilight wants to hide the map at Sweet Apple Acres, and I agree. A magic formula will make it survive a thousand years in to the future. “So that means Honey and her family have the map!” Mint gasped. “I bet the thing Apple Bloom had to do was get the map!” Heart closed the diary and stood up. “Then we have to go back to the farm and get it!” She said, heading for the now closed door. But before they could open the door, it was opened from the outside. The pony on the other side that opened the door was an old orange pegasus mare with a purple mane and tail that was pale from age. The mare made her way inside, rushing towards Sweetie Belle.    “The princesses are raising the moon and the sun!” The Pegasus mare declared.   “But how are they doing that, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle said, fear clear in her voice. “It can't be both night and day at once!” “I don't know, but there are rumours coming from the capital saying that the princesses have disappeared. It’s even said that Princess Skyla of the Crystal Empire herself is coming to search for them!” “But, shouldn't Nightmare Moon have lowered the sun to begin the internal night she always         wanted to create?” Mint Letter interrupted the two mares. “We better hurry up and go get the map! Something is terribly wrong.” “Who are you?!” The mare called Scootaloo screamed, apparently not noticing them up till now. “We are the six flag carriers for the Summer Sun Celebration that ended up here and we have to go right now” Mint Letter quickly said. “See you!”  They started galloping out the door when they heard Sweetie Belle say: “Scootaloo, why don't we go and find the mayor and see if we can help with anything?” They didn't stay long enough to hear the answer. Instead they headed for Sweet Apple Acres with full speed.  When they reached the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, they saw that somepony had arrived before them. At the doorstep to the old house was an extremely tall dark pink pegasus mare with a slightly curled yellow and pink mane standing. She was wearing a tall dark blue cloak that covered the mare face as well as her flank. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” The mare said, her voice sounding familiar, like they've heard it before. “Don't be afraid! I do not wish to hurt you!” The mare continued when they didn't show them self, carefully take a step in the direction of their hiding spot. Once the mare showed that she knew where they were hiding, there was no longer any point in hiding and they stepped out from behind the apple trees where they'd been hiding. But before the mare could say something, Apple Bloom, Honey’s grandmother, appeared on the door step and spoke: “Who are you? What are you doing on my farm!?” “Are you Mrs Apple, the owner of this fine farm here?” The mare removed the hood, showing off a horn and proving to be an alicorn. But the only alicorn that remained with Celestia captured and Luna being evil was.... “Princess Skyla!” Apple Bloom bowed. “What bring us the honour?” “Please, call me Skyla!” The young Princess blushed slightly. “I'm looking for clues about the where about of my aunts?” “Prin...um...Skyla, I think these six ponies have the information you're searching for, and I have what they are searching for.” Apple Bloom pointed at Mint Letter, Misty Moon, Heart Dot, Hypie Tech, Bright Sky and Daffodil Spark.   Apple Bloom handed over a small map to Mint Letter, who took it in her magic. Daffodil Spark turned her head to Princess Skyla and said:   “You're highness; Princess Celestia has been kidnapped by Nightmare Moon!” “Nightmare Moon is back?!” The princess seemed absolutely terrified.  “B-but, what will we do? My mother never prepared me for this! She didn't think it'd happen again!”   “What about The Elements of harmony?” Misty Moon suggested. “If we get the Elements, we can use them to stop her.”   “Exactly!” Mint Letter agreed. “The map Mrs Apple gave us will show us the way!”   “But there is one problem” Apple Bloom said. “Nopony is allowed to enter the forest since the last pony to inhabit the place disappeared in the forest and was never seen again!”   “That's not a problem” Skyla said. “As a princess, I give all of you permission to enter the forest."