Important note!: This story will start to drop off from the original game's storyline in order to put in more action and drama that the games lacked. For the very final battle in the game, it was disappointingly anticlimactic. Just so you all know.

On with the story...

---

The trip back to Ponyville was a silent one. After Celestia had been brought back, she decided to stay at the tower in case Discord decided to return. The Sun Princess apologized to Octavia and Vinyl for practically frying them into pony bacon before they left for Ponyville.

Luna and Cadance gladly let the two mares ride on their backs. Vinyl rode on Luna while Octavia rode on Cadance. The silence between them was so uncomfortable and intense that it made both Octavia and Vinyl almost sick to their stomach. The event at the tower had frightened them. Vinyl kept checking over her shoulder as if she was expecting for Discord to pop up and scare her again. Octavia, on the other hoof, was wrestling with her conflicted thoughts.

She knew Discord. She had fought him before; long before she lost her memory. Octavia was almost one hundred percent sure that she had met him before she had washed up on Ponyville's beach. Perhaps that was why Whooves was so vague on Discord back in the Hall of Legends; he didn't want Octavia to remember.

About an hour passed before Equestria's shore came into view. Luna and Cadance sped up, circling once over the town before diving down and landing on the hill with the mint-green tent.

"What in the world are we going to tell them?" Vinyl asked.

Luna didn't answer her and turned to Cadance instead, "Cadance, I need you to summon up the Guardians. I think I have a plan as to how we can protect Equestria."

"You think?" Cadance asked.

"Yes," Luna replied, "Now go. Quickly! We mustn't waste any time!"

Cadance obeyed, quickly taking off into the skies. Luna turned back to Octavia and Vinyl; her expression being very grave. They then started into the guild, coming out into the team room. They were greeted by a very happy Derpy Hooves.

"Hey Vinyl, Octavia... And Luna?" She greeted, "Wow! What happened to you two? Looks like you mighta laid out too long on the beach!"

"Derpy," Luna began, "Please get Lyra and Bonbon for me. Now."

Derpy saluted before running off to Lyra's chambers. While she was gone, other guild members gathered around them, greeting Luna and the Musical Mares. They seemed a little surprised at Luna's arrival. Surprisingly, Thorn was the first one to come and actually ask them what had happened. Luna scrunched her nose at the insect-pony, but she didn't say anything.

"Long story," Vinyl told Thorn, "Did your introduction to the guild go well?"

Thorn shrugged, "I suppose so. None of the guild members seem to mind that I am a changeling."

"And no one should," Octavia added, "You're just as much of a pony as anypony else, if not more."

Thorn gave a toothy smile, "Thanks."

That was when Lyra and Bonbon came. They pushed through the crowd to get to Octavia, Vinyl, and Luna.

"What's up, Princess Luna?" Lyra asked, "You look troubled."

Luna nodded, "I am troubled. It seems as if Equestria's greatest and most powerful enemy has returned once again."

"Excuse me," Trixie piped, "Trixie is the greatest and most powerful, but she is not an enemy to Equestria!"

Bonbon rolled her eyes, "Ignore her. Please continue."

Luna cleared her throat and started again. She then explained all of what went on at the Tower of Noon; from Celestia's corruption to the discovery of the fake Luna. She explained all about Discord and how he could return since the Harmony Gears were in the Tower of Midnight. She also explained how they only had three days to get to his domain and attempt to stop him from attacking Equestria. She also told Derpy that Discord was responsible for Dinky's nightmare.

There was a terribly long and uneasy silence after Luna was finished. No one dared to volunteer and go to Discord's Domain after hearing what he was capable of. After the news was taken in, Luna continued on.

"I have a plan though," She said, "Once Cadance has summoned the Guardians of the Gears of Harmony, we Alicorns shall band together and cast a new force field over the highly populated areas of Equestria and evacuate the smaller towns into the bigger ones."

"That's not a permanent solution," Bonbon stated, "Don't get me wrong, the Guardians are very powerful, but even their magic is limited. You can't keep Discord out forever."

"We don't need to keep the force field going forever," Luna quickly explained, "We only need to keep Equestria protected with our own magic until the Gears heal the Tower of Midnight and can be brought back to their original places."

"How long will that be?" Bonbon challenged, "A month? A year? A decade? Nopony can keep going for that long and you know it."

Luna's gaze dropped to the floor, "It has to. Either we put up a new force field, or we take the Gears out of the Tower of Midnight and risk its collapse."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Lyra asked.

Luna shook her head, "No. Whatever you do, do not allow any pony, creature, monster, or any other living thing to travel to Discord's Domain. It is a dangerous place completely controlled by that maniac. You would lose your sanity as soon as you stepped hoof into it."

Octavia began to think otherwise. If they stopped Nightmare Moon, couldn't they stop Discord too? She eventually decided to speak out about it, "But Luna, what if we could-?"

Luna stamped her hoof, baring her teeth as she did, "No! No one goes to Discord's Domain! I absolutely forbid it! Going there is punishment enough, but if you do survive and come back, I will make you pay! Is that clear?!"

Octavia flinched from Luna's sudden outburst, "Yes ma'am."

The Night Princess calmed down a bit, "I am sorry. I just don't want anything to happen to any of you." She turned to Octavia and Vinyl, "Especially you two. Since you saved me from the darkness in my heart, I would feel eternally guilty if Discord hurt you as he has my sister. I'm sorry, but no one can go to Discord's Domain so long as I raise the moon in Equestria."

No one complained about Luna's final conclusion. She looked up at the ceiling, seeming to sense something.

"Please excuse me," The Alicorn said, "Cadance and the Guardians have arrived. I must go and meet them so we may put the plan into action." She bowed her head gracefully, "Continue to carry on with your normal live, for I bid thee all farewell. Stay safe."

With that, Luna ascended the ladder, leaving the nervous guild members to themselves.

"You heard Luna," Bonbon spoke up, "Get back to work!"

They all disbanded, heading to their rooms for the night. Only Lyra, Bonbon, Vinyl, and Octavia were left in the team room.

"You two should get some sleep," Bonbon insisted, "We'll let you stay the night here if you like, but you'll be sharing a room with Thorn. We let him have your old room."

"It's okay Bonbon." Octavia dismissed. She looked around, "Is... Is there a library anywhere around here?"

"Golden Oaks Library is a few blocks down the street," Lyra quickly answered, "I don't think they're open at this time though. Why do you ask?"

"I... Just need to check something." Octavia replied.

Vinyl was lost, "Er... What?"

"Just something."

"That doesn't answer the question."

Octavia was already starting up the ladder before Vinyl could ask any other questions. She had no choice but to follow her cello-playing friend.

---

Octavia sprinted down the empty streets of Ponyville with Vinyl flanking her. Clearly she was on a mission, for the determination in her eyes was unwavering.

"What are we checking on?" Vinyl asked, struggling to catch her breath.

"Something that could determine the fate of Equestria." Octavia replied. She stopped dead in her tracks, looking around the dark town, "Uh... Where is the library?"

Vinyl pointed to a large oak tree just on the city limits, "There. But you still haven't exactly answered my question."

Octavia still didn't answer. She took off to the tree, approaching it at considerable speeds. It appeared to be a house built into an overgrown oak tree. Politely, Octavia knocked on the door as Vinyl rejoined her. When no one answered, she tried opening the door, which was luckily unlocked. Inside was dark, making it difficult to see the layout of the building.

"Here." Vinyl said. Her horn began glowing a light blue, bathing the library in its hue, "Can you just tell me what we're looking for?"

"A book on Nightmare Moon," Octavia replied, "Just look for anything that might supply us with some info."

"Why Nightmare Moon?" Vinyl asked, but she once again did not receive an answer from the determined gray mare. The unicorn took this as a sign to began searching. About fifteen minutes into the search, Vinyl found a book with a crescent moon on the front.

"I think this might be something!" The unicorn called. She ran over to the table in the middle of the room with Octavia quickly following her. Using her magic, Vinyl opened the book and flipped to the chapter contents.

"Look!" Octavia exclaimed, pointing to one of the chapters, "There's a chapter called The Threat of Eternal Night. That's got to be something on Nightmare Moon!"

Vinyl flipped to the designated page that began said chapter. Octavia snatched the book away and began quickly scanning through it.

"Luna's bitterness... Blah blah blah..." Octavia read aloud, "Transformation into Nightmare, no no no... Rise of the moon... No... Aha!" She pointed to one of the paragraphs, "It says here: Celestia was forced to take up the Elements of Harmony to stop her enraged sister. She banished Nightmare Moon to the moon for one thousand years with the help of the Elements. Nightmare recently returned but was stopped again by new bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Luna was returned to proper control of her own body and now resides in Canterlot."

"So?" Vinyl asked.

"So," Octavia repeated, "It means that if both Nightmare Moon and Discord were defeated by the Elements then maybe... Maybe there is a way to stop Discord!"

"You're forgetting that we don't have the Elements of Harmony." Vinyl sighed.

"We don't need them," Octavia replied with a mischievous smile, "Remember how we stopped Nightmare Moon with our combined powers? It had the exact same effects on her as did the Elements! What if it's also true for Discord? If he does attack Equestria, we can fight back with our own version of the Elements!"

"So... We just need to keep our instruments with us at all time." Vinyl concluded.

Octavia nodded, "Exactly. Say, the inevitable happens and the Guardians can't protect Equestria. We can fight Discord on our own and stop him, just like we did with Nightmare Moon."

Vinyl seemed intrigued by the idea, "Huh. Not a bad plan. Let's go with that!"

Octavia gave an assuring smile, "I'm sure that will work. When Discord attacks, we'll be ready."

---

Three little blank flank fillies emerged from the mint-green tent on the hill.

"Why exactly are we out here?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I forgot to bring my scooter in," Scootaloo explained, "I don't want it to get stolen."

"I don't like being out when it's dark," Whimpered Sweetie Belle, looking up at the full moon, "It's scary and there's monster and it's... It's... Dark!"

"Don't be such a crybaby!" Scootaloo teased, quickly running down the stairs, "I just need to get my scooter and bring it into the guild. We'll be back in no ti-" She stopped at the foot of the hill, her eyes widening in surprise, "Uh, guys? Where's my scooter?"

Apple Bloom looked around, "I don't know, but it's awfully late. We should go-"

Sweetie pointed a white hoof at a path leading into the woods, "Look! There's tire tracks! Maybe if we follow it, it will lead us to Scootaloo's scooter!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Scootaloo exclaimed, beginning to follow the tracks, "Well come on you two! Let's go find my scooter!"

"We're not supposed to go out in the wild without Lyra or Bonbon with us!" Bloom cried, "The Buddy System, remember?"

"But we're buddies," Scootaloo replied, "So that counts!"

Bloom did not have much of an arguement against that, so she reluctantly followed her buddies into the woods. The overgrown trees blocked out the moonlight, making it very difficult to see. Scootaloo, however, stayed hot on the scooter's tracks. She sped up, forcing Sweetie and Bloom to sprint in order to stay with her. Eventually, Scootaloo came to a screeching halt, causing Bloom and Sweetie to run into her.

"Look!" The orange filly exclaimed. Right in the middle of the clearing was a small, wooden scooter painted blue with red handle bars. Its owner immediately ran to it, followed by her two friends.

"This really isn't a good idea!" Bloom whimpered, "You heard what Princess Luna said about Discord being back. What if he set a trap for us and this is the bait?"

"You're being hydroid, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo said.

"Paranoid." Sweetie quickly corrected.

"Whatever! And besides, what would Dumbcord want with us?"

"Well let's see..." Bloom began, "We're related to his enemies, we're easy to trick, and... Oh! We have no means to protect ourselves and can be foalnapped and put up for a ransom!"

Scootaloo and Sweetie both exchanged glances. They knew Apple Bloom was right, but they chose to ignore her and go for the scooter anyway.

"I'm serious!" Bloom whined, "This is a trap and I know it!"

"Oh sure," Scoffed the smug Scootaloo, "If this really is a trap, then as soon as I put my hooves on this scooter, Discord will jump out of the bushes and foalnap us." She started to reach for the handlebars of the scooter.

"No!" Bloom cried.

Scootaloo placed her tiny orange hooves on the red handlebars... And nothing happened.

"See?" The pegasus giggled, "Nothing! I told you you were just being parallel!"

"Paranoid." Sweetie corrected with annoyance in her voice.

"Whatever!" Cried Scootaloo, "Now let's go back to the guild."

Before they could turn and start walking, a tall figure suddenly appeared from the sky and landed in front of them, leaving cracks in the ground. The figure was cloaked in a black hood that hid all of its features, except for the burning red and yellow eyes that could be seen under the shadow of the hood.

"You should have listened to your little yellow friend, dearies." The newcomer spoke before promptly grabbing the three fillies and disappearing before they could even muster a yelp.