As our hero's venture to the unknown regions of Equestria, what dangers will await them there?
As the Mane Six, Spike, CMC, the Princesses, Shining Armor, Discord, and many others venture to the unknown region of Equestria, they find themselves in one of the worst situations they could ever imagine. No Elements can stop them. Rainbow Power is useless. How will they deal with the un-dead of Equestria?
Inside the ruins of the Everfree Castle, Princess Celestia summoned twenty two individuals to her throne room. The castle felt empty without Luna around. Just days ago, Celestia and Luna had battled, the latter turning into Nightmare Moon. The result ended in Celestia banishing her sister to the moon, where she would be trapped for one thousand years and would only return on the longest day of the year.
Before her banishment, Luna had picked out a group to explore an unknown region of Equestria. This region was rumored to be an excellent spot to found a new town or maybe a few farms for the ever growing population. Luna had also made plans for her to have her own castle there, but before her plans could be completed, she was banished.
The only part of the expedition that Luna had picked out were the three leaders. Her orders were for these three to pick out a small group and report to her over the plans. Now that Luna was gone, Celestia had decided to take charge and help continue Luna’s dream.
“I have summoned all of you for the task Luna had given you,” she said as she looked down at the group, her eyes looking over each member.
The first she looked at was a mare named Red Moonlight. She had been selected by the leaders for her skill in chemistry. Since they had no idea what they would encounter, her skills in chemistry would help immensely in making the potions to help with healing.
The second was a stallion by the name of Monotone Magic. Known for his cartography skills, he was selected to help draw out the map that would lead others to their destination after it had been explored.
Next was Lightning Dusk, also known as Lighting Dawn. One of the guards that was selected to go, even though his attitude was always getting on the nerves of many others. Despite that, he was a skilled guard when it came to fighting.
Next was a dragon named Wildfire. Picked by the main leader of the expedition, he was selected to help the guard protect the ones exploring. When it came to it, he was also a skilled monster hunter, allowing him to be one of the first picked.
Next was a stallion by the name of Flamiris. Picked for his skills in magic and his smarts, he suffered from viewing himself as being much smarter than many others, leading to massive disputes between him and the other members of the group.
A mare by the name of Vital Sparkle was picked not by the leaders, but by the citizens of the nearby village to get her away from the others. No one knows why she was picked.
A stallion by the name of Spirit Shift stood tall and proud next to his comrades. While known for his bravery, he was also a klutz, causing many accidents in town. He was picked to help protect others, but they would try to keep him away from anything that would cause him to cause more trouble.
Next was one of the few that volunteered themselves for this mission. A young mare by the name of Taika Pen, known for her brains and youth, she had made many stallions fall for her, but she always turned them down, hoping to find the right one. For her, this would be a chance to show off her knowledge and maybe become famous enough to find the stallion that she wanted.
Next was a mare by the name of Melody. More down to earth, she was picked to help keep arguments from spreading, allowing the group to work in harmony.
Starting off the next row was another stallion named Berkshire Peer. He was personally selected recently by Princess Celestia as another bodyguard for the group, hoping to give more protection to them as they ventured into the unknown.
A stallion named Tacitus was next. Brand new to the world of knowledge, he was picked as a record keeper, believing that their journey should be recorded for many generations to read about.
Next to him was a mare named Midnight Blaze. A tough-as-nails mare, she has shown much determination to join Celestia’s Wonderbolts. For her, this expedition would give her the chance to prove her worth.
Beside Midnight, was a family of bat ponies. Dusk Chaser and his daughter Moonblast hoped to find a new home after their first was burned down by angry ponies over the Nightmare Moon incident. Many bat ponies had been ran out of town, forcing many to go into hiding. Dusk’s wife was one of the few bat ponies that were killed by the angry mobs.
Behind them, was a group only known as the Pegasus Posse. They were selected from the new Wonderbolts to help with many different things from deciphering, to law. For these five, they would be one of the first of the Wonderbolts to explore new lands, giving them a chance to go down in the history books.
In front of all these explorers, were the three that were selected to lead this group.
To the left was a stallion by the name of Trilby. Luna had picked him for his ability to keep situations from getting out of hand between ponies and being very loyal to the crown.
To the right was a mare named Daffodil. The only mare leader, she used to be a teacher before the school was destroyed by one of the blasts from Nightmare Moon. Luckily, nopony was hurt, but for Daff, she had no idea what would happen. For her, she would try her best to find a new location for a school. Also, she would get to teach the others about what she knew and spend time with one of her students.
Right in the middle of the two, stood a stallion by the name of Crimson Crown. An ordinary stallion, he was picked by Luna to be one of the leaders. Despite being more of a fighter, he knew how important this mission was to Luna. As a young colt, he liked to explore, but he never got the chance to lead a group of explorers until now. Now, he and the other two made a promise to Luna that they would continue her plans, even without Celestia’s approval.
“And what of it?” Trilby asked, hoping that Celestia wouldn’t put it to an end.
“I want you all to continue in what Luna had planned,” Celestia answered. “This part of Equestria, no one really knows much about it. For her to want it explored, it would give more opportunity for ponies to find places to live in peace. While I want you all to continue in your plans, remember that now, you serve all of Equestria, not just one Princess.”
“Very well, Princess Celestia,” Crimson replied. “We will leave once the sun has begun to tomorrow.”
“Good,” Celestia said as the group left her throne room. When the last member left, she whispered, “stay safe, all of you. I can’t help but worry that something bad will happen.”
As dawn broke the very next day, the group gathered a few miles outside the town, all packed for the journey. Each one packing as much as they could really carry. Keam packing the lightest as she wasn’t going to be carrying much for her part. At most, it was her sleeping bag, compass, food, water, paper, and pencils.
Ones like the Pegasus Posse, carried larger packs. Calm being the largest of the five, was carrying enough equipment for at the very least, fifty ponies. Rivet, being the smallest, traveled light as to be the scout of the group. Many others such as Wildfire were used to carry most of the wood for their fires while Crimson, Trilby, and Daffodil carried the maps, compasses, and sundials.
“Everypony ready?” Crimson asked. As the group nodded, he began to head west, beginning the journey that would help change Equestria. For the better or worse, they would never know.
Just five hours of walking, the group was soon hit by the most annoying thing that explorers and travellers alike deal with. Something that drives ponies, dragons, griffons, and even alicorns mad with insanity. The most powerful thing in the world.
“Are we there yet?” Moonblast asked. The dreaded “Are we there yet” question.
“No,” replied Trilby.
“Are we there yet?”
“No,” answered Crimson.
“Are we there yet?”
“No.”
“Are we there yet?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“NO!”
“Be nice to my daughter, Flamiris,” Dusk Chaser growled.
“Then get her under control!” Flamiris exclaimed. Before the two could get into a fight, the Pegasus Posse got between them and held the down as Trilby and Crimson went over and knocked both of them out.
“Are you OK dad?” Moon wondered. When her dad didn’t reply, she turned to Trilby, who had knocked him out. “Why did you do that?” Tears formed in her eyes as she stared at Trilby.
“I didn’t want to do that,” Trilby replied. “I didn’t have much choice unless we wanted a fight.”
“So he’ll be OK?” Moon asked. Trilby nodded as Crimson checked to see if both were out cold before turning to Calm.
“Calm, can you carry Dusk? I’ll get Wildfire to carry Flamiris.” Daffodil asked.
“Of course,” Calm replied, putting Dusk on his back while Wildfire grabbed Flamiris and flung him over his shoulder. “Hopefully it’ll be calmer for a while.”
As soon as he finished, a young mare walked over to Calm.
“My you’re strong,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him. Calm’s face turned red as he took to the air to avoid her.
“Vital Spark!” Trilby exclaimed. “What have we said about scaring off the rest of the party?”
“Why all I want is some lovin,” Vital replied. Crimson, Wildfire, and Trilby went back to the front of the group, but not before they heard a whistle from Vital.
Night soon fell upon the group as they began to set up camp.
“We’re only a few miles from our destination,” Tacitus observed as he studied the map. “If we get up early enough, we could make it by night fall and begin exploring the next day.” Tacitus could hardly hold his excitement back being here on this expedition. For years he had hoped to make a difference in Equestria and now he had the perfect chance.
“If we don’t run into many issues while there,” Midnight Blaze said, wanting to make sure that she would get to tell her family about her adventure in the future. One of the first ponies to explore the rest of Equestria so there was no way she would let this opportunity pass.
“Well, let’s get some shut eye,” Crimson ordered. “We got a long day tomorrow.” Everypony soon went to sleep, all except for Trilby, Daffodil, and Crimson.
“You two still sure you want to do this?” Crimson asked.
“We were picked by Luna to lead this and we’ll see it to the end,” Daffodil said. “Besides, somepony has to keep you from getting yourself killed out there.”
“Just like I have to protect the two of you,” Trilby agreed. “We protect each other just like we did when Luna was about to kill us in her Nightmare form. We stick together.”
“Very well,” Crimson replied, tears forming in his eyes. “We stay together to the very end.” After that, they fell asleep, preparing for the next day.
Back at the Everfree ruins, Celestia had gathered the ponies together to build a new capital. One that could still be close to the old castle, but provide more space for her subjects away from the horrors of the Everfree Forest. As she walked towards her stage, she suddenly had a vision.
“Hurry!” Trilby yelled. “Run for the cave!” Just as he was hit by a green spell, his body falling to the ground, devoured of all life.”
“Trilby!” Daffodil exclaimed, running over to her friend but was soon hit as well, he life force leaving her. Dusk ran back to hold off whoever was attacking but met the same fate, Moonblast watching before she ran into one of the henchmen.
“Say goodbye,” he said, before Moonblast was no more.
As the others ran, they too were son hit. All that remained was Crimson, working on a potion to help fix the problem. Just as he was close to getting it finished, along with a weapon to fire the antidote to help his friends, the spell hit him, finishing them off.
Celestia gasped as the vision left.
“Guards!” she yelled. Five of her guard ran into the throne room. “Find the expedition and order them to return. They’re in danger if they continue!” The guards left as Celestia looked out the window. “Please be alright.”
Back at the camp, the group had woken up and began eating.
“So if we make it by nightfall, we should be able to explore for the next five days before returning to Celestia,” Rivet suggested, excited to see new lands.
“If we move now we can,” Daffodil said. After they packed up, they began moving faster than before, hoping to reach the unknowns of Equestria before night shown across the land again, not knowing that they were walking into their doom.
“Are we there yet?” Moonblast asked.
“NO!” Everyone else groaned.
“Please don’t start with this again,” Red Moonlight begged, trying not to lose her temper.
“Are we there yet?” Lightning Dusk asked, not knowing that the others had lost it.
“ARGH!” Crimson, Trilby, and Calm yelled, before lunging at Lightning, all three of them knocking him out.
“Anypony else?” Crimson asked, his right eye twitching. The others shook their heads before they all continued on.