On the outskirts of Ponyville, a pony walks up to a cave entrance. It’s getting late; the sun is beginning to dip into the horizon, slowly but surely disappearing. This pony is wearing a hood; even in broad daylight, nopony would be able to tell who this pony was. The cave has a broad opening, about as wide as the castle corridor, which, as this pony recalls, was very large. The pony takes a deep breath, and then walks in the cave. After about a minute of walking, the pony sees a light, and runs to it. As the pony arrives at the scene, there is a large campfire in the middle of an open space so large that you could not see the walls. On the campfire sat a large black cauldron. There were five other ponies surrounding the fire, also wearing hoods. They stood there, silently waiting. The pony slowly approached the five, and joined them around the fire. Nopony said a word, not a single sound was heard. The pony to the left spoke. A male. He must have been the leader of the group.
“Everypony is now here. There is no turning back.” The other ponies mumbled in agreement. Also male. The newcomer sat there silently, waiting to be spoken to.
“You.” The pony said, pointing to the newcomer, “Did you bring what we asked for?”
“Yes, of course.” The pony said. Also male. He reached into his bag that was under his hooded cape and pulled out some scrap metal, six gems, and a large piece of limestone. He set them down in front of the pony, and then backed away back to where he was standing. The pony then picked them up, and tossed them into the cauldron. A pony across from him leaves for a second, and then comes back, dragging a filly behind him with rope. The filly flaps its wings franticly, trying to escape, but with no luck. The pony dragging the filly unties it and holds it in place.
“Young foal, what is your name?” the leader said.
“S-Scootaloo. My name i-is Scootaloo.” She said, sniveling.
“Well, Scootaloo, we will let you go.”
“Really?” She said hopefully, “You’re going to let me go?”
“Yes. But we need you to do something first.”
“Anything.”
“Read this out loud.” He throws a folder over to her. The pony holding her lets her go, and the filly slowly walks up to the folder, and opens it.
“Anach fey soncholus qu teyfeir weevfo.” She said slowly. The cauldron began to bubble violently, and the leader chuckled. Scootaloo was lifted up into the air, but not by a unicorn. It was some other form of magic. A cloudy mixture began coming out of her mouth and into the cauldron. She let out a blood curdling scream, and then fell to the ground. A pony began checking her pulse. He grunted.
“Excellent.” The leader said. He turned his attention to the cauldron, and a few seconds later, the liquid inside turned pitch black, then the room was consumed by a bright light. The six ponies winced and covered their eyes. The light did not last long, however; it lasted about ten seconds. When the light was gone, they looked back at the cauldron, which was boiling over.
“Everypony run for cover!” the leader shouted, and everypony did so. Not even two seconds after they all took cover, the cauldron exploded, sending pieces of charred iron in every direction. The ponies came out, and relit the fire. On all sides of the fire, there were gold pieces of metal. The leader looked down at the one in front of him. It was a crown; on top of it, there was a large jewel, which was the same as Twilight’s element, except on this one, the jewel was pitch-black. The pony chuckled as he picked it up and put it on.
***
Zecora walks into her home. She had had a long day, and she needed some rest. However, she had not eaten anything all day, for a trek to her homeland and back is not an easy travel. She recalls the best moment of the trip when her friends greeted her upon arrival, ready to have some fun. She made herself one of her favorites: Vegetable soup. Even though this soup was not from her homeland, after her friend Twilight introduced it to her, it immediately became a favorite meal.
After eating said meal, she sat down to do a nighttime meditation, to relieve some of the stress she had. It was a wonderful escape for her, which is why she did it so often. For about five minutes, she sat in silence, about to doze off. A chuckle echoes through her mind and she opens her eyes. She throws on her hood, and grabs her bag.
“I must warn the magical team, for all is not what it seems.” She says as She walks out the door and starts her trek through the Everfree forest. She was a little reluctant to leave, for a trek that long can make anyone exhausted, but this need to be done. She looks up at the horizon, the sun now a red dome, almost completely gone. Next stop, Ponyville.
Twilight woke up, ready for another day. She looked over at Spike’s bed, which happened to be vacant. Twilight became worried, and ran down the stairs. Spike is never up this early. When she got down stairs, she saw Spike was sitting next to Zecora.
“Oh, hi Zecora. What brings you here?” Twilight said with a smile.
“I am here to warn you of impending danger.” She said, looking her straight in the eyes. Twilight immediately realized this was serious. Very rarely did Zecora not speak in rhymes, and when she didn’t, it was usually to warn someone.
“Do you know what it is?” Twilight asks.
“Unfortunately, I do not. However, if I were you, I would have something ready, for anything.” Twilight nodded, and with that, Zecora left. Twilight started becoming very suspicious of her surroundings, looking every which way and slowly backing up. When she touched a wall, she jumped up, turned around and shot a magic blast at the wall, obliterating it. Applejack looks through the hole, a stunned look on her face.
“You all right, sugarcube?” she asked, walking through the hole.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She said, smiling sheepishly. She looked over at Spike, who was hiding under some of her books.
“Well, I’ve been looking everywhere for Scootaloo, and I can’t seem to find her anywhere. Know where she might be? Apple Bloom says she has been missing for three days.”
“I’m afraid I haven’t. Why is this the first we are hearing of this?”
“She thought she went to see her family for the weekend.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for her. In the meantime, you should check with Rainbow Dash.”
“Okay. Thanks, Twi!” She walked out through the hole in the wall. Twilight looked over at Spike.
“We need to find out what Zecora was talking about.” Twilight said, using her magic to take the books off of Spike and put them back on the shelf in chronological order.
“Well, what do you want me to do?” Spike said, getting up, “Gather up your friends and pull out the Elements of Harmony?”
Twilight could tell he said that very sarcastically, but she thought about it.
“Yes.”
“Huh? I was being sarcastic.”
“I’m not. That is actually a good idea.”
Spike walked out the door, grumbling to himself, and then Twilight grabbed a book off the shelf.
“A guide to exotic magic.” She said to no one in particular. She threw herself into the book, hoping to find anything she could use to help her.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in!” Twilight said, still focused on her book.
“Ah. You must be Mrs. Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight’s ears perked up when she heard her name. She looked up at the pony who called her. She examined the pony carefully. The pony was male. He was jet-black, with a red mane. His blue eyes reminded Twilight of the ocean, considering how blue they are. He also happened to be an earth pony.
“How may I help you?” Twilight asked, folding a corner of the page she was on and closing the book.
“Oh, uh, I just wanted to meet you. I’ve heard about your endeavors with the Elements. I’m a huge fan.” He smiles.
Twilight blushes slightly. “What’s your name?”
“Cleft Asu. You can call me Cleft.”
Twilight was quite flattered about the fact she had fans, but she had studying to do.
“Well, Cleft, I would love for you to stay and chat, but I have something I need to be doing right now. Sorry.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll come back later.” Cleft said, and then he let himself out. Twilight went back to reading her book, but couldn’t stop thinking about herself having fans.
I guess the reading will have to wait. She closes the book again.
“What do we do without Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked Applejack with a big pouty face when she told her the news.
“I don’t know, but I’ll keep looking for her. I don’t know where she could’ve run off to.” Applejack said. Apple Bloom turned to Sweetie Belle, who was crying slightly. The two fillies walked out of Applejack’s bedroom and went down the stairs. Applejack sighed, and followed them. When she got down there, she saw someone talking to her brother, Big Macintosh.
“Oh, there she is,” the pony said, “My name is Cleft. I’m a huge fan of you and your friends.”
Applejack stared for a second, and then spoke.
“Well, um, nice to meet you Cleft.”
Big Mac walked out of the room, and took the fillies with him. There was a short silence in the room, and then Cleft spoke.
“I can’t believe I get to meet the Element wielders. This has always been a big dream of mine, ever since I heard of your first endeavors with Nightmare Moon.” He said with a squee.
“Well, I got some work to do around the farm, but if you want to stick around, you can.” Applejack said, “And I also have to look for Apple Bloom’s friend.”
“Well, I got to meet the rest of the group, anyways. It was nice talking to you.” He smiled, and then walked out the door. Applejack pondered on the strangeness of it all, but dismissed it as nothing. Just a random fan. Or the only fan…
BANG!
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash from the other room. She ran in the room to see a large hole in the middle of the room. There was a strong burning smell, for the rug that the hole was in was on fire. Big Mac just stood there, mouth agape, looking at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, who were both smiling sheepishly.
“What in tarnation is going on in here?!” Applejack shouted.
“Um,” Sweetie Belle said, “Cutie Mark Crusader bomb makers?”
Applejack groaned and face hoofed. She put out the fire and smacked Big Mac, snapping him out of his stupor.
***
“Well, whatever do you mean, Pinkie?”
Rarity asked, completely confused at what Pinkie was telling her. Pinkie was holding a square object in her hooves, with a big black part on it.
“Okay, okay.” Pinkie said, “Let’s try this again. I found this by the Everfree Forest. Do you see the writing on it?”
Rarity looked a little closer.
“MacBook Pro.” Rarity said, reading the words on it.
“Okay, now, when I found it, it said on the screen ‘Google’, and in the search bar was ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’.”
“Okay, keep going.”
“Which means?”
“Uh…”
Pinkie groaned. “I’ve been telling you all for years! There is a television show about us in another universe! What is so hard to understand about that?”
“Um, the whole thing?”
“Well, it would have been easier to show you if the battery wouldn’t have died.”
Rarity was very confused right now. She just passed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie. However, she thought, that item she has is very peculiar…
“Hi!”
Rarity and Pinkie looked over at who spoke.
“My name is Cleft. You must be Rarity and Pinkie Pie. I am a huge fan of your endeavors with the Elements.”
“I… have… FANS??!!” Rarity said, tugging on her hair. Her eyes lit up like miniature suns.
“You aren’t a fan of us, you are trying to destroy us, using your newly-created Elements of Disharmony. You are the opposite of Applejack, which is deceit, and…”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Pinkie.” Rarity said, cutting her off and giving her a nasty look, “We have fans.” She smiled at him again.
“Why would I want to destroy you? I just told I was your biggest fan.” Cleft said, smiling at Pinkie.
“Don’t believe him, Rarity. He is trying to…”
Rarity pushed her away. Pinkie groaned loudly, took her MacBook Pro and went off to Twilight’s tree house.
“Have you met the rest of the wielders yet?” Rarity asked.
“Not Rainbow Dash yet,” Cleft said, “However, meeting Fluttershy didn’t last as long as I thought it would.” He chuckled.
“Well, how about I give you a tour of the town?”
“Actually, I have to go, but it was nice meeting you.”
“Oh, okay.”
He waved then they parted ways. Rarity squeaked with delight, then ran back to her Boutique. This was one of the happiest moments of her life.
***
Rainbow Dash sat on a cloud above Ponyville, watching vigilantly for anything, for this was her last test to become a Wonderbolt. After looking around, she saw a white ant stumbling around in the distance. She watched it for a minute, and then it fell over. Rainbow knew something was wrong, so she immediately flew to it. What she saw will scar her to the end of days.
It was a little female filly, pale of color, as if she was fading away. The filly was struggling to stand, then after a third attempt and failure, she looked up at Rainbow.
“R- Rainbow? Oh thank goodness…”
Immediately, Rainbow picked up the filly and took her to the Hospital. Upon arrival, the filly fainted and she had grown whiter. Rainbow put the filly in a doctor’s hooves.
“Hurry! This filly needs medical attention. Fast!”
The rest of Rainbow’s friends arrive at the hospital with haste upon hearing of Scootaloo’s arrival. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tried to come along, but they were forced to stay behind.
“What’s going on here?” Twilight shouted behind the crowd of ponies that now filled Scootaloo’s room.
Hearing Twilight’s call, Rainbow flew over the crowd of doctors and landed next to her friend.
“I found Scootaloo in the rolling hills to the east of Ponyville. She doesn’t look so well…”
After hearing what Rainbow had to say, she used her magic to teleport in front of the crowd to get a look at Scootaloo.
She was surprised at what she saw.
Hooked to at least ten different machines, Scootaloo was as white as a ghost. She was breathing heavily, like a great weight was upon her. Twilight stood there, mouth agape, at which point the young filly looked up at her. Her eyes were a pale grey, and dark circles had formed around her eyes.
“Scootaloo… What happened to you?” Twilight said, completely dumbstruck at what she saw.
Scootaloo didn’t speak. It was either because she didn’t want to, or she couldn’t. Twilight did not know…
Twilight teleported back to the rest of her friends. The six of them stood silent for a second; because they knew Twilight had something to say. They could tell by the look on her face.
“I have never seen anything like this…” she sighed, “… But there must be something about it somewhere…”
“Say no more, sugarcube.” Applejack said, “We are here to help.”
Twilight smiled, and then walked past her friends out of the room. All except for Rainbow followed suit, which looked back past the crowd at the young filly lying on the hospital bed. And was engulfed by an overpowering anger…
***
Back at the tree house, it had become a scene of complete chaos. Books were flying every which way, hoping to find something, anything that could help Scootaloo. However, they had no such luck. Every book, scroll, even parchment, all torn off the shelf. They found nothing…
Until Twilight remembered her secret stash of books.
“Hang on a second… I think I know of something that can help us…” Twilight said as she walked up the stairs. Spike was up there, picking up the books that had been thrown up there.
“Spike…” Twilight said in a more asserting tone. Spike looked up at her, and when she didn’t say anything, Spike understood. He took the books that he had gathered down the stairs. After she was sure no one was around, she moved her bed silently, revealing a trap door with a code lock.
Putting in her code without a second thought, the trap door immediately opened and disappeared. Her bed came back in front of her, and Twilight walked towards her bed.
Down in her secret room, she turned on the single light that was there, revealing many different things that lined the wall, all different things Twilight had been working on. She looked at her most recent invention, which she called an ‘electronic vacuum.’ Her hopes are that when she finishes it, nopony will have to scrub their floors on hooves and knees any longer. Looking at the back of the room, there was a door. She walked past her inventions that lined the wall and her chemistry sat that sat in the middle of the room on a long white table. Upon opening the door, she turned on another light revealing miles upon miles of books down a grey corridor. She had some searching to do…
***
Rainbow walked slowly down the street, her thoughts racing. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she knew that whoever did this was going to pay…
Her thought were interrupted by someone tapping her on the shoulder.
“WHAT?!” She yelled as she turned around and got in the black pony’s face.
Cleft got down on the ground in fear of his life. He looked up at the blue pony stare him down like a hawk.
“Um… I just… w-wanted… to say hi…” Cleft stammered out, looking away.
Rainbow continued to stare him down, but after a couple seconds, he felt her gaze weaken. Looking up again, she saw the pony begin to tear, then walk away.
Cleft didn’t go after her, though he wanted to… He’ll just talk to her at a later time. It was obvious she was having problems…
***
Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy sat in the main room of the tree house, awaiting Twilight’s return. They were not sure where she went, but they knew what she was doing. The four ponies and Spike sat there silently, hoping she would be back soon.
“Girls…”
They look up at Twilight, who was standing at the top of the stairs, holding a grey book with silver lining.
Twilight sets the grey book on her table in front of her friends with a thud. They all stare at the book for a moment, then up to Twilight, waiting for her response.
“I think we have the works of witchcraft here…”
The room sat silent. Nopony could speak. Twilight opened the book slowly to the page she had bookmarked, and began to read it.
“While there are different types of witchcraft, some good and some bad, there are some that are completely evil, of which methods can contain soul stealing to sacrifice…”
Twilight looked up to her friends, a grave look spread across her face.
“I’m not positive, but I think this is what it is…”
She continued to look at her friends, hoping they would say something… but they didn’t.
Twilight sighs. “I’m not sure what to do…”
The silence was broken by the door being swung open loudly by Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow!” Applejack started, “What are you-“
She stopped when she saw the look of anger spread across Rainbow’s face. However, that didn’t stop Rainbow from giving her a dagger glare.
Rainbow slowly walked towards the couch and sat down, not even a peep from her.
“Are you all right, Rainbow…?” Twilight said softly.
“I’m fine.” Rainbow stated with a tone of anger in her voice.
The room fell silent once more, until Spike spoke up.
“You were saying, Twilight…?”
Twilight looked at Spike. “Huh? Oh, right…” She clears her throat softly. “I’m afraid we aren’t going to be able to help Scootaloo…”
“I figured as much…” Applejack said.
“I can’t seem to find any kind of reversal spell, and I haven’t done any sorts of witchcraft before…” Twilight stated sadly.
“What about Zecora?” Rarity asked, “Hasn’t she done witchcraft?”
“I’m afraid not… what she does is completely different from witchcraft…” Twilight sighs.
“I know how we can help her…” Rainbow says softly, finally breaking her silence. The five ponies and Spike look to Rainbow, who was facing away from them.
“How so?” Twilight asks.
Rainbow sits silently for a moment, then stands up, still not facing them.
“We avenge her…”
Another silence.
Rainbow turns to face her friends. “We find who did this, and we kill them all.”
“Rainbow,” Applejack says, “That’s not a good idea…”
“Why not?”
“Because,” Rarity says, “It’s just not right…”
Rainbow stands there silently.
“Don’t worry, Rainbow…” Twilight speaks up. “They will get what’s coming to them…”
“In what way?”
“Well, we’ll take them to the Princess and-“
Rainbow scoffs. “You would let the Princess do all the dirty work…”
“Rainbow, calm down now…” Applejack says softly.
“Oh shut up, you fucking hick farmer!” Rainbow hissed.
“Rainbow!” Twilight said.
Applejack sits there silently.
“That wasn’t very nice, Rainbow…” Rarity says.
“You know what else isn’t nice? The crappy stitching you call dresses!”
“Rainbow, stop!” Twilight exclaims.
“Just shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch!” Rainbow yells.
Twilight gasps softly.
Without another passing moment, Rarity stands up and walks over to Rainbow.
Rarity then proceeds to slap her. And hard.
The room falls silent. Rainbow looks down at the ground.
“There is no need to act like that Rainbow,” Rarity starts, “We’re all here to solve this problem. You don’t have to come in here and start acting a fool when-“
She was cut off by Rainbow punching her in the face and knocking her to the ground. Rarity lies there on the ground for a moment, then slowly sits up, holding her muzzle.
Applejack then proceeds to get in Rainbow’s face. “I reckon you should leave…”
“And if I don’t want to?” Rainbow says, getting into Applejack’s face.
“Then I will make you.” Twilight says, tears now in her eyes.
Rainbow looked around at her friends. Twilight, who was looking at her, tears now rolling down her cheeks. Applejack, who was tending to Rarity. Fluttershy, who was crying behind the couch. And Pinkie, who was glaring at her.
“You know what? Fine! I don’t need any of you! I’ll find them on my own!” She then storms out of the tree house, slamming the door behind her.
“Spike,” Twilight said, “Send a letter to the Princess saying-“
“It’s already done, Twilight…” Spike stated.
“Her nose is broken, Twilight…” Applejack said, still leaning by Rarity.
Twilight sighs.
“I’m fine, darling…” Rarity stated, holding a now crimson red paper towel to her muzzle.
Rarity smiles and the room falls silent for a moment.
“But Rainbow won’t be…” Twilight said, looking at the door…
The room falls silent again…
***
Rainbow flies through the sky to her home. Upon getting home, she noticed two Royal Guards waiting by her home.
Rainbow lands in front of them. “What seems to be the problem, officers…?”
“Rainbow Dash?” one of them states.
“The one and only…” Rainbow smiles slightly.
“We have a warrant for your arrest.”
“What?!” Rainbow shouts, “On what charges?!”
“Assault.”
Rainbow’s anger increases…
“You can either come with us willingly, or we will use force.” The second guard states, holding up a pair off hoof cuffs and wing cuffs.
Rainbow sits silently.
The second guard begins to walk toward her with the cuffs. “You have the right to remain silent.” The wing cuffs are placed on, followed by the hoof cuffs. “Anything you say can and will be used against you…”
