A Perturbed Prince

Princess Celestia laid stretched out on the pillow in her royal quarters. A cup of mint tea with a plate of cookies sat on the floor beside her. The princess's horn glowed with magic as she held a book up for her to read.

It was a time for her to relax. Her royal duties had been completed. Court had been held, preparatory instructions had been given to the guard, lessons completed, the sun had been lowered and the moon raised to travel along its path. Now, she could relax, enjoy some tea, and continue to read her book.

The story was quite interesting to her as well. Not exactly what would be considered historically accurate, but most would not be aware of that since they were not around at the time. It was a romance set around the time of Equestria's founding. A new recruit in the pegasus army had become infatuated with his commander, constantly staring at her shapely flank and getting in trouble for being distracted. Celestia was very excited: she was just getting to one of the saucier parts where the tension between the two was critical. They might even sleep together, unless something were to interrupt (such as the evil double-agent that was also the commander's second and wanted her for his own).

There was a knock at the door.

Of course, Celestia thought with a sigh. Marking her page, she set the book out of sight (her reading was the business of no other). A quick adjustment of her sitting position, a flick of her head to adjust her mane, and she was ready.

"Enter," she called out before taking a sip of her tea.

It was an action she regretted. Having to fight back a snort of laughter while drinking tea was not something she wanted to experience again.

Entering Celestia's royal chambers was a white coated stallion. The large steel bucket covered his head, hiding his mane. Fortunately, the dress jacket collar, bow tie, dirty blond tail and compass rose cutie mark allowed Celestia to recognize him immediately.

"Blueblood?" she asked in a soft voice. "Why do you have a bucket on your head?"

"With all due respect," he said calmly before nearly shouting, " you must do something about that boorish, uncivilized hooligan of a commoner that you refer to as your student!"

Celestia was not surprised by this claim. It had become quite obvious from an early stage that Prince Blueblood had become the primary target of pranks. A large portion of it was his own attitude, especially how indignant he got whenever he felt humiliated. Although, Celestia did not necessarily have to admit that she was fully aware of these facts.

"So Rainbow dumped a bucket on you?"

"No!' Blueblood snapped before catching himself. "I mean... yes... " He shifted. "But this was only a part of it. The rest was much more humiliating." He turned to face her, (she guessed since she could not actually see his face). "Do you have any idea how horrendous something must be in order to have wearing a bucket be the lesser embarrassment? If the guards saw what I looked like beneath, they would lose all respect for me."

"Now, Blueblood," Celestia said as she stood up. "I doubt that you could possibly lose the respect of the guards."

Seeing as they do not respect you to begin with, she mentally added. Celestia loved her ponies, Blueblood among them, but she was not a fool. She was well aware that the guards were not fond of him. So much so that a portion of them acted as though they were being punished when assigned to Blueblood.

Now that she thought about it, that probably made pranking easier. More than likely, the guards were willing to look the other way while the pranks were being set up, so long as they could play ignorant or innocent. She might have to talk to some of the guards about this possibility later.

"Besides," she continued aloud, "what could be so bad that you feel the need to wear a bucket to keep it hidden?"

Prince Blueblood let out a sigh and adjusted his position. After a several seconds passed, an aura of magic came out from the bottom of the bucket before encompassing it. He lifted it up, revealing his nose, the pale blue eyes and...

Princess Celestia looked away, biting her lip to keep from snorting.

Instead of his normal long, dark blond mane, Prince Blueblood had a large, poofy pink afro. As soon as it was released from the bucket, it puffed out wide and round. It looked like someone had stuck a ten pound ball of cotton candy on his head.

Celestia's horn glowed as she grabbed a scroll and quill. It gave her something to do while collecting herself. She began to writing, looking at the scroll instead of the prince. Keeping her attention on the scroll and feeling she could talk without any more humor than usual in her voice, she spoke.

"How, precisely, was she able to stick that wig onto your head?"

"First," the prince responded, "it isn't a wig. It is my actual mane. Second, I don't know how she managed to do it. I opened the door to my room and had a bucket of water fall on my head. When I took it off, my mane was like this!"

"Interesting," Princess Celestia stated as she finished her letter. "Very well, Blueblood. I shall take care of this."

"Wonderful!" Blueblood proclaimed. "I recommend a full year in the dungeon, with water every other week and bread crust once a month. We shall get a full retinue of guards that I shall personally lead to search the castle for that-"

"That will not be necessary," Princess Celestia interrupted. "You go on back to your room. I will handle the matter with as much subtlety as possible." Rolling up the scroll she held it a moment before having it disappear in a puff of flame.

"What?" Blueblood's eyes went wide for a second. Unfortunately, he also lost his concentration, causing the bucket to drop back down and covering his head once again. "But-but-but..." He stopped as he felt a hoof against his shoulder.

"Think of it this way," Celestia said in her calm tone, "were you to lead a retinue for the search, you would either have to do so wearing the bucket, or allowing the guards to see your mane."

Prince Blueblood opened his mouth, held it that way a moment, and finally closed it. He let out a slight hum as he rubbed his chin, considering it.

"Very well," he replied. "I shall trust the matter into your capable and wise hooves." He turned around. "I shall be in my quarters should you need my assistance with that... hooligan. Hopefully my mane shall be back to normal shortly."

Celestia rolled her eyes but said nothing. She walked with Blueblood to the door, pulling it open for him and stepping out in the hall with him. The princess watched as the bucket-headed stallion headed down the hall, watching until he turned a corner. She then turned to one of her guards.

"When Rainbow Burst and Spike arrive," she stated, "please allow them into my quarters immediately."

"Yes, Princess," he stated with a salute.

Princess Celestia smiled, gave a slight nod, and turned to step back into her quarters.

"Princess...?"

The guard made the princess stop, turning to look at him again.

"Permission to speak freely?" he asked.

"Granted."

The guard took a deep breath and shifted to look more toward the princess than straight ahead.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," he said. "Couldn't... couldn't you have simply used your own magic to return Prince Blub-errrrr... Blueblood's mane back to normal?"

Was he about to say Prince Blubberbutt? she wondered to herself.

"Use my magic to turn his mane back?" she asked instead, bringing up a hoof to touch her chin as though considering it.

"Yes," she finally replied. "I suppose I could have." She continued her way to back into her room. "How unfortunate that the possibility never came up."

Princess Celestia shut the door behind. A smile crossed her face, but otherwise, she chose to ignore the laughter coming from the hallway.

Additional Responsibility

Rainbow Burst walked along the halls of the royal castle. She let out a huff, blowing some of the stray strands of her rainbow colored mane out of her face.

"Do you think she knows?" Spike asked. "About... you know...Blueblood?" The young dragon looked at the back of the mare's head from his position on her back. He held the letter from Princess Celestia in one claw close to his chest.

"Probably," Rainbow responded. "I mean Blueblood does tend to tell her what we did."

"We don't know that. We've never seen him tell on us."

"Who else would, though?"

"The guard?" Spike suggested.

"Do you remember when we got in trouble for pranking the guard?" Rainbow asked, trying to look at Spike from over her shoulder.

Spike paused and thought about it, scratching at the base of his ear fin. They had played some pranks on the guard from time to time. Not as often as on Prince Blueblood, and nothing serious. After all, the two of them liked most of the guards and it was a bad idea to upset the ponies who were supposed to be protecting you.

After some thinking, Spike remembered what happened. Not the actual prank itself, but what happened because of it. He and Rainbow were escorted to the office of the captain. Talking about it after, the two had been expecting some sort of punishment, like running the obstacle course. Instead, the captain said that he had no problem with pranks on the soldiers, it could be helpful in learning to deal with the unexpected. However, time and place had to be considered so that such acts neither put anypony in danger (they never did) nor interfere with the performance of duties (that one might have actually happened). After, Spike and Rainbow Burst were given a list of new recruits who might be a prime target for "initiation."

"What about it?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure that if the guard were telling us," Rainbow responded, "they would bring us to Celestia with them when they told. Otherwise, they would just keep it among themselves."

Spike looked at the unicorn a moment as they continued down the hall. He was not completely clear how she had come to that conclusion, but it did make sense.

"One of the servants?" he suggested.

"After the way he treats them?"

"Yeah..." Spike said slowly, rolling his eyes. From what they had seen, Blueblood had a tendency to ignore the servants. With two exceptions: bossing them around to make them do something he wants, or yelling at them for doing something wrong (even though it was normally his fault and could have been avoided if he watched where he was going). Judging from some of the looks a few have given to Prince Blueblood behind his back, they would like to do more than just some embarrassing pranks to him.

The two of them reached the door to Princess Celestia's quarters. Neither guard said anything as the pair approached. Instead, one reached up and took a hold of the door to push it open. Rainbow Burst looked at the guards and let out a sigh. She moved past the two and into the room.

"Princess Celestia?" Rainbow called out.

"Rainbow Burst," Celestia said, "Spike. Please come in."

Spike hopped off of Rainbow's back as the two of them stepped further into Princess Celestia's quarters. The princess stood beside her pillow, watching the pair. As they walked further into her room, she approached them. The princess lowered her head, looking at Rainbow Burst at eye level.

"It seems you have gotten Prince Blueblood quite upset," Celestia stated. "I am curious though. How were you able to make water cause his hair to go like that?"

"I just added a delay spell to a hairstyle spell," Rainbow explained. "I casted it earlier when he was busy, but made it so it wouldn't work until it was triggered. In this case, it was by getting wet."

"That is a very clever trick," Celestia said.

"Thanks," Rainbow Burst said with a grin.

"It's a shame you don't do more with it than attempting to annoy him."

Rainbow Burst's cheeks turned pink as she looked away, ears pinning back against her head and nose scrunching. Celestia narrowed her eyes at the unicorn, a small smirk forming on her mouth.

"Perhaps," the princess said slowly, "it's because you have an infatuation with the prince?"

"What?!" Rainbow Burst and Spike both cried out in surprise, eyes wide as they stared at Celestia.

"You think I like him?" Rainbow asked.

Spike found this all very funny. So much so that he fell over in laughter.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," the princess continued. "I think you two would be wonderful for each other. If you like, I could have you and him married by this weekend."

"Married?!" Rainbow Burst squeaked out. "To him?" She shuddered. "That's gross. That's wrong. That's... that's..." She stopped as her mind shifted, working on it a moment. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the princess.

"You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"Correct," Celestia said with a grin. "Although if you were seriously interested, it could be arranged for you to be married rather quickly." She raised an eyebrow. "If not to Blueblood, then perhaps to a certain pegasus that is a lieutenant in the royal guard."

Rainbow Burst's eyes went wide as her ears flopped. With a shake of her head, she looked away, eyes narrowed as her cheeks turned a bright red.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

This immediately got a burst of laughter from Spike, making Rainbow blush harder.

"Well it is rather off the subject anyways," Princess Celestia stated. "Getting back to the matter at hoof. You seem to be causing more mischief than usual as of late, as well as having it become much more elaborate."

Rainbow and Spike looked at each other, but said nothing. After all, what was there to say? It was true. As much as she enjoyed being Princess Celestia's personal student and learning under her, Rainbow Burst had been feeling... restless seemed like the right word.

"Perhaps," the princess continued, "it is time for you to be given more responsibility as well as spend some time among ponies your own age."

"...What?" Rainbow muttered, blinking in confusion.

Celestia stood up to her full height and turned around. Her horn began to glow with a golden light as she took a hold of a scroll.

"Are you aware of what event is coming up?"

"The Summer Sun Celebration?" Rainbow Burst guessed. She glanced over at Spike, trying to figure out where this was going and getting a shrug in return.

"Correct," Celestia responded. "And I am expecting...." She looked at the scroll a moment."...it to be special."

Princess Celestia rolled the scroll back up and turned back to Rainbow Burst and Spike.

"As such, I am sending you and Spike to supervise." She held the scroll out. "It is being held in a town called Ponyville. This list contains whom is supposed to be responsible for which portion: food, music, decor, and so on."

Rainbow stared at the scroll, then up at the princess. Her face scrunched up as she tried to process what was going on.

"So... let me see if I got this." She took the scroll and passed it to Spike. "I give Blubberbutt a messed up mane, and we dump water on him, making him mad." She narrowed her eyes. "And you decide that the best solution is to give me 'more responsibility' by putting me in charge of a major celebration?"

Princess Celestia smiled and moved closer. Leaning down, she nuzzled her student gently.

"I believe it will do you some good. Plus, it will give you the opportunity to spend some time outside of Canterlot and -- most importantly -- to make some friends."

"...Friends?"

"Friends," Celestia repeated. "It would do you good to have some friends."

"I have friends," Rainbow snapped, pulling away. She stopped when she felt Princess Celestia's hoof on her cheek, turning the unicorn to look eye to eye.

"Rainbow," Celestia said gently, "I appreciate how well you get along with the guards and staff, but it is not actually the same as friendship."

"But Spike-" Rainbow started before being stopped by a wave of a hoof.

"Is more like a little brother and an accomplice than a friend."

Rainbow Burst and Spike looked at each other, thinking about it.

"Yeah," Rainbow admitted.

"It's true," Spike replied.

"So it's decided," Princess Celestia stated. "The two of you will leave first thing in the morning-

Rainbow Burst let out a groan.

"- and head to Ponyville. There you will check on the preparations for The Summer Sun Celebration, and hopefully make some friends."

Rainbow looked at the checklist one last time. She took a deep breath and looked up at the princess.

"You can count on me, Princess." She gave a salute. "I'll do my best."

Princess Celestia reached out and ran a hoof through Rainbow's tousled mane.

"I know you will. And know that whatever happens, I am already proud of you.

"Now you two should go get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you."

Rainbow smiled and gave a nod.

"Okay. C'mon Spike."

Rainbow Burst and Spike headed for the door, leaving the princess alone.

Once the door shut behind them, Princess Celestia let out a sigh. Her large form sagged as her head drooped. Her mane and tail turned paler, moving less with their magical energies. Tears leaked from her eyes, dripping onto the stone floor.

With a flicker of her magic, she opened the glass double doors and went out onto the balcony. Walking to the banister, Princess Celestia looked up.

It was a clear and beautiful night. The stars were shining brightly far above Canterlot. The moon was full and bright, except for a faint silhouette of what looked like the head of a unicorn.

"No matter what," she whispered, "I'm already proud."

In The Sky

It was a cool summer day. A gentle breeze blew through the air. Fluffy white clouds were scattered across the sky, breaking up the endless blue expanse.

A sky blue pegasus flew high above Equestria. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoy the feel of it all: the power of her wings as they held her aloft, the wind blowing through her rainbow colored mane, the warmth of the morning sun on her back. It all felt so wonderful, so freeing.

With a quick twist of her body, she turned upward and started climbing. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, working to fly higher and higher. Despite the bright sun, the air grew cooler and cooler, becoming darker and darker. She could feel her heart rate speeding up to compensate for the thinner air.

Reaching the highest limits of the atmosphere that she could survive, the pegasus stopped. She kept herself there, floating. Opening her mouth wide, she let out a breath and watched as it turned to eyes before disappearing.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pulled her wings closed. There was a moment of absolute weightlessness before gravity took a hold.

Her body kept limp as she fell head first back toward the ground. She kept her eyes closed as she plummeted.

"Rainbow."

Everything was wind and weightlessness. It was just her and the air rushing past.

"Rainbow."

She felt the gentle, feathery touch of the clouds across her coat as she passed through them. It was like the sky itself was caressing her.

A grin formed on her lips. She had reached terminal velocity, falling as fast as was possible. She could probably fly faster if she wanted. But that was not the point right now. No. Right now, it was more about the freedom of the fall back to the ground.

"Rainbow."

Unfortunately, the moment was rapidly coming to an end. As much as she enjoyed the fall, she did not want to end up slamming into the ground.

"RAINBOW!"

"Aah!" Rainbow Burst yelped out as she jerked awake. She gave a shake of her head and turned to look at Spike.

"What?!" she snapped. "You woke me up before the best part."

"Sor-ry," Spike said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. After being around Rainbow for years as her assistant, accomplice, and sidekick, he knew her pretty well. One of the first things he learned was she had a tendency to be grumpy whenever she was woken up.

"Anyway," he continued as he stood up, "we're here." Moving over to Rainbow, he stuck the book he had been reading into her saddle bag.

"We are?" Rainbow Burst rubbed her eyes one last time and moved to sit up, looking over the edge of the chariot.

Not far below them was a small town. As they made their way closer, more details of Ponyville could be made out. Most of the buildings looked to be one or two stories tall with straw covered roofs. There were exceptions of course. The most noticeable of which was a building that must have been four or five stories tall set in the very center of town.

Rainbow was uncertain how to describe the town. Maybe she should have paid more attention to her vocabulary studies. Still, it looked like a nice quiet place.

"This will be easy," Rainbow stated with a smirk.

"You really think so?" Spike asked as he grabbed the checklist.

"Sh...yeah. I meant it's like, what, four things?"

"Let's see...." Spike checked it. "Catering, weather, decoration, and music."

"See? She could have put it on a three by five notecard and still have room left." She smiled as she looked out at the town again. "We'll have this all done before dinner time, and have the rest of the day all to ourselves to do whatever we want."

"Uh..." Spike raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at her. "Didn't Princess Celestia tell you to make some friends while you were here?"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah," Rainbow said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "There'll be plenty of time for that at the party."

Spike looked at the list, then back at Rainbow Burst again.

"Do you really think it'll be that easy?"

"Absolutely. I mean look at this place." She waved a hoof at the town as they came in. The pegasus guards pulling the chariot landed it smoothly on one of the wide streets. Several ponies stopped to look curiously at the new arrivals, but most just kept going about their business.

"Thanks, guys," Rainbow called out as she hopped out of the chariot and turned back to Spike who climbed onto her back.

"This place is so small and peaceful, I bet nothing ever happens around here."

The pair caught sight of a pink unicorn with puffy pink mane walking down the street toward them.

"Watch this," Rainbow whispered to Spike before turning and walking up to the unicorn.

"Hey. I'm Rainb-"

Before she could get any further, the unicorn let out a gasp as her eyes went wide. Her horn lit up with an aura of pale blue magic before she vanished in a poof of air and rain of confetti and streamers.

The two stared a moment, jaws hanging open. Rainbow Burst blinked as several of the bits of paper landed on her nose.

"Huh." She brushed the debris from her face. "That was weird." She turned to Spike. "Is it my breath?"

Spike leaned forward as Rainbow opened her mouth and exhaled. His nose twitched as he sniffed, checking on it.

"Nope," he said with a shake of his head. "Still minty fresh."

"Huh..." Rainbow turned to look at the spot that the pony had vanished from a moment before giving a shrug.

"Oh well." She started walking along the street. "Come on."

Spike gave a nod as he rode along. His eyes moved back toward the spot that the pink unicorn had been standing before disappearing. Was it normal for ponies to gasp? What about disappearing? Was it normal for them to vanish in a burst of confetti like that?

"Do you still think that nothing ever happens around here?" he asked.

"Bet you an emerald that will be the only strange thing we see the entire time we're here."

Among the Apples

Rainbow Burst and Spike walked along a dirt road. Rainbow's head was low to the ground and her ears pulled back as she let out a huff. Spike followed close by, looking at the scroll.

"Maybe we should have gotten a map."

Rainbow grumbled, but said nothing for a moment. She continued walking with the dragon by her side, making her way down the dirt road. Suddenly, she stopped, reaching out a hoof to stop Spike as well. Spike turned to face Rainbow, but saw she was staring at something. He turned and looked up to see what had her attention.

In front of them was an arch trellis covered in leaves and... apples? That was something Spike had never seen before. In any case, the trellis seemed to be the gateway for a fence. Hanging from it was a sign with a large apple carved on it.

"HA!" Rainbow Burst cried out with a grin. "I told you I could get us here."

"After getting us lost how many times?" Spike asked with a smirk of his own.

Rainbow opened her mouth, shut it, let out a snort and turned away. Her ears pulled back against her head as her cheeks once again took on a pinkish tint.

It was not her fault. They were dropped off in an unknown town neither had ever been to before. How were they supposed to know how to get to their destinations?

Make some friends.

Some of the blush faded from Rainbow's cheek as a thought occurred to her. Was that the point? Had Celestia intentionally left the map out so that she would have to talk to other ponies?

Or maybe it was her fault. Maybe the reason Princess Celestia had not packed a map was because she expected Rainbow to plan ahead and do it. The entire point of this was to prove that she was ready for more responsibility after all.

"Come on," she said, forgetting the whole matter for the time being. She was always more one for doing something instead of standing around and thinking about it.

The two looked around as they entered the farmyard. Most of the grounds were not flat and even, but covered in small hills. Most were covered in trees, with the fruit of the farm's namesake growing on them. On another was a barn that had been modified into what was most likely the house for the ponies that lived there. Otherwise, why have flower boxes attached to practically every window?

"Over there," Rainbow said, motioning with her muzzle. The two made their way toward the first pony that they saw.

The pony in question was a stallion. He had a charcoal gray coat and a rosy red mane and tail. The cutie mark on his flank was the bottom half of three apples.

"Hey," Rainbow called out as she walked toward the stallion. Before she could get any more out, he was facing her, with a grin, their noses nearly touching.

"Well howdy there," he said. "Don't think I've met you before." He grabbed her hoof, shaking it. "Name's Apple Bottoms. Take it you're new here."

"Y-y-yes," Rainbow tried to say. Unfortunately, the stallion's enthusiasm was shaking her whole body, making it difficult to talk.

"Well, then." Apple Bottoms broke the hoof shake as he moved beside Rainbow, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Welcome to The Apple Family, and your first reunion. And might I add," He poked her chest with his other hoof. "Whoever married you is one lucky pony."

Rainbow's hoof continued to move up and down at its own volition, still caught up in the new stallion's enthusiasm. It was only when Spike grabbed a hold of her arm and held it down did it stop. The end of the movement helped Rainbow return to her senses, which also helped her realize what Apple Bottoms had said -- as well as what it implied.

"What?" Rainbow squeaked out, her face burning hot. "No!" She shoved the stallion away. "I-no-I..."

She stopped and took a breath, slowly letting it out. Feeling a little more in control, she tried again.

"I am not here for a reunion. My name is Rainbow Burst and I was sent her to check on the catering."

"Oh," Apple Bottoms as understanding dawned on him. "The ya'll be wanting to talk to Applejack. Should still be working out in the orchard out in that direction." He pointed.

"Thank you," Rainbow said as she started walking in that direction with Spike right beside her.

"Hey!" Apple Bottoms called out as she went. "Does that mean that you're single?"

Spike burst into laughter as Rainbow Burst froze for a moment, eyes going wide as her body tensed. Instead of answering -- or even turning around -- she started to trot, moving at a pace that she hoped was quick without seeming like she was trying to get away from something.

The two kept up the quicker pace until well out of sight of the stallion and deep into the orchard. Rainbow stopped a moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out, before continuing on at a more relaxed pace.

"Sooooo...." Spike said once they were walking again, "about that emerald..."

Rainbow turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What? You expect me to give you one over that?" She gave a shake of her head. "It wasn't that weird. Just a misunderstanding with an... overly-friendly stallion. That's all."

"It was enough to make you want to run away," Spike retorted. "Besides, the bet wasn't how weird something would be, it was about whether or not anything weird would happen while we were here."

Rainbow Burst open her mouth to respond, stopped, and closed it. She looked away with a huff, annoyed because he was right.

"Spike, sometimes you're too smart for my own good." She gave a shake of her head. "Fine. You win. You'll get your emerald."

"Alright!" Spike cheered, throwing his arms up.

"But it's going to have to wait until after the celebration," Rainbow finished. She could not help but let out a snicker at the young dragon's drooping in disappointment.

The two made their way further into the orchard, looking for the pony they had been sent to speak with. It was a little confusing since all the apple trees looked the same to the pair.

"Maybe we should have gotten a guide," Spike suggested.

"Don't worry," Rainbow replied. "I think I see something over there." She sprinted ahead, being followed by Spike.

Not far ahead was a wooden fence blocking off an empty field of dirt. A large red pegasus stallion was in the middle, harnessed to a plow.

"Wow," Rainbow gasped out with wide eyes. "His wings are huge."

The stallion continued to pull the plow, working to dig furrows into the ground. The wings shifted as he worked, fluttering to keep cool as well as adjust to the straps of the harness. Every muscle tensed and shifted as he walked, flexing powerfully as he pulled.

That was actually kind of the strange thing to Rainbow. He looked large and bulky for a pegasus. More like he was meant to be on the ground working hard like he was instead of flying. Still, considering his build and wing size, he could probably glide for hours

"Rainbow?" a voice said as something poked at her.

"What?" she blurted out, looking around. Her eyes turned to the source of the poking, finding that it was Spike.

"You're drooling."

"No I'm not," she growled. Despite herself, she wiped at her mouth, finding that it was indeed wet.

"Really?" Spike asked. He crossed his arms and stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"Excuse me," Rainbow shouted out toward the stallion, choosing to ignore the dragon and change the subject instead of admit the truth. "Excuse me."

The red stallion stopped his pulling, turning toward the shouting.

"Are you Applejack?" Rainbow asked.

"Nnope," the stallion replied with a shake of his head.

With a sigh, Rainbow dropped her head against one of the fence posts.

"Of course," she mumbled. Lifting her head, she called out to him again.

"Do you happen to know where we can find her?"

"Eeyup," the stallion responded. With practiced ease, he slipped out of the harness and made his way toward the fence. The stallion gave a small jump as he flicked his wings, clearing the fence and landing right beside the pair. He gave a flick of his head, motioning for them to follow after him, before walking back into the orchard.

Rainbow Burst followed after the stallion, with Spike following after her. The mare's gaze shifted toward the pegasus in front of her, watching him. She watched the shifting of the toned muscles, the sway of his orange tail, the slight twitches of his wing as the lay against him. Her gaze kept shifting between those large wings and the flexing of his flanks with each step.

Distracted by the view of the stallion's backside, Rainbow did not notice he stopped walking and nearly bumped into it. With a nervous chuckle she stepped back and moved around him. The stallion simply gave a small smile, and motioned ahead of him. Rainbow smiled back as she moved past him and toward where he was pointing.

Up ahead was (surprise surprise) another apple tree. For some reason, this one had baskets set around the base of it. Rainbow and Spike moved closer, looking around.

"Heads up!"

At the sound of that, Rainbow Burst looked up, just in time to see apples falling down toward her.

Author's Notes:

Going to nip this now. No, Apple Bottoms is not taking Pinkie's place in this story. No, he is not going to be one of The Elements of Harmony. He might stay around and maybe even be a potential love interest (for a certain pony other than Rainbow), but I have not thought that far ahead. In fact, I just decided to use him for this while working on this chapter.

For those who don't know, Apple Bottoms is a pony that showed up in Apple Family Reunion, although supposedly under a different name I can't recall (there is also another pony in the same episode named Apple Bottom, who is a orange tinged brown mare with lime green mane). He is also in the Gameloft game which describes him as "This pink-haired party pony is one of the spunkier members of the Apple family."

The Chance for Taste Testing

She was going to be aggressively assaulted by apples, belted until she was bruised. She was going to be pelted and pummeled by produce. She was... she was...

She was... fine?

Rainbow Burst opened her eyes, looking around. She could see Spike, snickering for some reason as he stood next to the stallion. She could see an orange pegasus mare with bright blond mane landing not far from her (she must have been the one who shouted). Most of all, she saw apples... in baskets.

"You..." she started, staring at the ground. "You got them all to fall into the baskets?"

"Not all," Spike said with a chuckle, pointing at Rainbow Burst.

Rainbow looked at him in confusion before looking up. She caught a glimpse of something, but could not quite making it out. It was red, and looked to be about where her horn should have been.

Reaching up, she poked a hoof up to discover...

"An apple? There's an apple on my horn?"

For some reason, that sent Spike over that edge. He fell onto the ground, holding his stomach as he laughed as hard as he could. With a chuckle, the orange pegasus mare moved closer. She grabbed the apple with one hoof and gave it a firm yank.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that," she said as she offered the apple. "Here. No point in letting it go to waste."

"...thanks?" Rainbow lifted up the apple and looked at it. Somehow, the apple had been cored by her horn perfectly. It had gone in through the bottom and out through the top, piercing from the remnants of the bud to the stem. Closing one eye, she looked through the hole. Finally, not really sure what else to do with it, she took a bite.

It was pretty good. She pushed pieces of the fruit in her cheek and turned to the pegasus mare.

"So, I take it that you're Applejack?"

"That's right," the pegasus said with a grin. "What can I do for ya?"

"My name is Rainbow Burst and that," she pointed at the prone little dragon, "is Spike. We're here to check on the catering."

"Well y'all are just in time then," Applejack stated. "C'mon back to the farm house with us. I'll give your little friend a lift." She grabbed Spike with a wing and tossed him onto her back. "And you can ride with Big Macintosh." She started flapping her wings. "See ya there."

Yeah, Rainbow thought. I could totally ride- She gave a hard shake of her head. Where had that come from? Getting back to the now, she walked over toward the stallion.

"So, your name's Big Macintosh?"

"Eyup."

"You mind giving me a lift?"

"Enope."

Rainbow blinked at him as she moved to climb onto his back.

"You don't talk very much, do you?"

"Hold on tight." Big Macintosh spread his wings wide -- letting Rainbow get a good view of them in their full glory -- and with a single, powerful flap, took off.

The trip back to the farmhouse was quicker than the walk from it. They did not fly very high, just enough to clear the treetops. Technically, it probably did not even count as flying. It was more like an extended glide. All the same, the still landed right in front of the porch to the farmhouse.

"Last stop," Applejack called out. "Everypony off."

Spike hopped off with ease, brushing his stomach and chest as he landed. Rainbow Burst was a bit more reluctant to dismount. Big Macintosh's coat was so soft, and warm (probably from working in the sun). He also smelled like apples and clean dirt. Was that because he worked around them all the time, or did he actually have that as his scent? Whatever the case, it made her want to take a bite of his-

"Hey there!"

The sudden, loud appearance of Apple Bottoms right beside her caused Rainbow Burst to let out a yelp of surprise and fall off of Big Macintosh.

"You okay?"

"Fine," Rainbow said as she stood up.

"Heh," Applejack chuckled. "See you already met our cousin Apple Bottoms. C'mon in. I can introduce y'all to the rest of the family and show you what we're makin' for tomorrow."

Keeping Macintosh between her and Apple Bottoms as long as possible, Rainbow Burst made her way toward the door. She quickly followed after Applejack and Spike as they went inside.

"I'm curious," Spike said to Applejack as they made their way through the house. "You and your brother are both pegasi, but you're farmers."

Applejack stopped looked at the young dragon from the corner of her eyes as they narrowed. She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

"What're you tryin' to say?" she asked. "You don't think a pegasus can be a farmer?"

"What?" Spike yelped, eyes going wide. "N-n-no. I... I j-just mean-"

"Ah, relax," Applejack said with a grin, giving Spike a playful shove with a hoof. "I'm just messin' with ya."

Rainbow was snickering a little herself as she walked up, giving Spike a pat on the back. She felt a little bad for the young dragon, being frightened that he had accidentally insulted their host and was about to get in trouble. At the same time, it was kind of funny. The sign of a sense of humor made Rainbow Burst like Applejack a little more.

"While I can't speak for all of Equestria," Applejack continued, "but most of the Apples are earth ponies, with one or two bein' unicorns. Far as we know, our mom became the first pegasus in the family when she married Dad.

"Apple Bloom!"

At the sound of the shout, a small yellow pegasus filly with a red mane and tail came running up, her wings flickering behind her.

"What is it, Applejack?"

"Apple Bloom, this is Spike and Rainbow Burst. Spike, Rainbow, this is my little sister, Apple Bloom."

"Nice to meet ya," Apple Bloom said, reaching out a hoof to shake Spike's claw.

"I'm gonna take our friends to the dining room. Why don't you go and call the folks in so they can be introduced while we start the samplin'."

"Okay," Apple Bloom said with a grin, wings buzzing. "You can count on me." With that, she ran off and headed outside.

Applejack watched her go before turning back to her guests.

"C'mon. Kitchen and dining room are this way."

Spike and Rainbow followed after her. Rainbow could feel her stomach growling at the thought of food, and something smelled good enough to make her mouth water. She was looking forward to this taste testing.

Wait, Rainbow thought as she suddenly stopped. Did she say "friends?"

Twilight Among the Clouds

Rainbow Burst walked along the path heading back to Ponyville. Her horn glowed with a rainbow aura as she held a piece of bread with her magic. She took another bite, letting our a small noise of pleasure as she chewed.

"They had turnovers, fritters, and muffins," Spike stated. "Pies, cakes, even that cheesecake." He licked his lips, drooling slightly at the thought. "And out of all those things, that is your favorite? Really?"

"Are you kidding?" Rainbow asked. "First of all, this is like... the best jam I have ever tasted in my life." She took another bite, letting out another small noise of pleasure.

Spike rolled his eyes, giving a shake of his head.

"Second of all, look at it." She held the piece of bread out to him. "It matches my mane."

Across the surface of the bread slice lay a thick coating of the jam in question. Indeed it was a rainbow of colors, shifting in the traditional pattern of the rainbow.

Spike's eyes narrowed as a grin spread across his face.

"Wow, Rainbow. I had no idea that you were so fashionable and trendy."

Rainbow Burst looked at Spike in confusion as she brought the bread back to finish it.

"What are you talking about?" she asked around the mouthful of food.

"I mean, I never thought you of all ponies would choose a food because of how it complements her mane."

"What?!" Rainbow shouted, spitting crumbs all over the dragon. "That's not what I mean. I mean... it is what I mean but not how you mean... Wait. No. I mean that's...."

Spike's grin grew wider as he watched Rainbow become more and more flustered.

"Oh, forget it," Rainbow finally snapped, rolling her eyes. "Let's just move on. What's next on the list?"

Spike chuckled a little more at Rainbow's frustration as he pulled the scroll and a quill out.

"Let's see... Catering, check." He put a check mark on the page.

"Next is... weather."

Rainbow Burst and Spike looked up at the sky. Thick, puffy white clouds were scattered all across it, blocking out portions.

"Isn't it supposed to be clear?" she asked.

"Yeah," Spike replied. "There's supposed a..." he checked the scroll, "...Twilight Comet on cloud duty."

Rainbow continued to stare up, eyes narrowed as she scanned the sky. There were no pegasus ponies at all that she could see, but less one that looked like it was dispersing the clouds.

"...Maybe she's working on the other end of town?" Spike suggested.

"Maybe," Rainbow replied, "but maybe we should see if we can find her just in case."

Spike turned to Rainbow Burst, eyes going wide as his jaw dropped.

"You?" Spike gasped in surprise. "You want to actually and check on something to make sure that everything is okay just in case?" He narrowed his eyes. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with the real Rainbow Burst?"

"I know," Rainbow said. "I don't completely believe it either, but this is serious. Princess Celestia did entrust us to make sure everything is ready for the celebration. We have to do everything we can to make sure that things go as well as possible."

Spike looked at Rainbow a moment, saying nothing. He had known the rainbow maned unicorn his entire life. Prone to laziness, tendency to pull pranks, hates studying, fascinated with pegasi, he was familiar with it all. He even knew things about her few others did, things she would not even admit to herself if she could help it.

One of those was how much she cared about Princess Celestia's opinion. Despite acting up and causing trouble, Rainbow really wanted to make the princess proud of her.

"Okay," Spike said. "Where do you want to start?"

"First we need to talk to some of the ponies around here," Rainbow stated, "find out who knows Twilight and where she might be."

As Rainbow talked, Spike shifted, letting his eyes wander. He stopped when he caught sight of one particular pony, his heart seeming to race.

"Why don't we ask...her?" he suggested, pointing. Rainbow turned to look to where he was indicating.

Sitting on a bench nearby was a light purple pegasus pony with a darker colored mane and tail. A book laid on the bench in front of her, her nose nearly touching the pages.

"She's... beautiful," Spike said, still staring at her.

"Spike," Rainbow said with a grin, "do you have a little crush?"

Spike's jaw snapped shut as his cheeks heated up. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the grinning unicorn beside him.

"So what if I do?" he growled. "Besides, you're one to talk. I saw the way you were gushing over Big Macintosh."

Now it was Rainbow's turn to blush. She bit her lip as she looked away from the young dragon.

"How is poor Shining Armor going to feel?" Spike asked with a dramatic sigh. "After all this time of you secretly having a crush on him, only for you to find another the first time-"

"Okay, okay," Rainbow interrupted. "You made your point. Let's just go talk to her. Since you're so interested, you can talk to her first."

The two made their way over to the reading pegasus. Excited, Spike took the lead as he nearly ran up toward her. He stopped and cleared his throat, trying to look calm, cool and collected.

"Hey."

The pegasus mare continued to read, giving no indication of noticing the pair that had approached her, or hearing Spike. The young dragon watched a moment, before turning to Rainbow who just shrugged. Not getting any help from her at the moment, he turned back to the pegasus.

"Uh... Excuse me."

"Sshh!" the pegasus said, waving a hoof without even looking up from the book.

Spike blinked, staring a moment. Once again he turned his attention to Rainbow Burst, holding his arms out in front of him and motioning at the mare in question.

"Let me try," Rainbow whispered to Spike before turning to the pegasus.

"Hey."

"Hold on," the pegasus stated. "Just a few more pages."

"This'll just take a second," Rainbow replied. "We're looking for a Twilight Comet a-"

"What?" the pegasus asked, finally looking up from her book. "Why would....

"Is that," she pointed at Spike, "a dragon?"

"Yeah," Rainbow answered. "This is Spike, and I'm Rainbow Burst. We're overseeing the celebration and-"

"What?" The color seemed to drain from her face as her eyes grew wider. "But you're not supposed to be here yet. It's only..." She turned to look at the town clock.

"Oh no. No no-no no no. I was supposed to start cloud dispersion twenty minutes ago!"

Rainbow and Spike looked at each other for a moment, a little thrown off by the sudden panic.

"Uh..." Rainbow said. "I take it that you're Twilight?"

Twilight Comet suddenly shot up from her seat and grabbed Rainbow Burst, shaking her.

"Please, please please don't fire me!" She let go, shifting. "I can fix this. I can fix this. Just-" She stopped when Rainbow put a hoof on her mouth, stopping her.

"Calm down." Slowly she pulled her hoof away. "First of all, you're not getting fired. Second, you have plenty of time still since you need to have them all removed before dawn." She smiled. "And hey, if you need help, I could incinerate a few of the clouds for you."

"Thanks," Twilight said. "I appre.... wait." She turned to give her full attention to Rainbow Burst. "What was that last part?"

"'If you need help, I can incinerate a few,'" Rainbow repeated.

"You can't do that," Twilight stated.

"It's not problem," Rainbow said. "I don't mind helping out."

"No," Twilight snapped, eyes narrowing. "I mean you can't do that. It is im-pos-sible to incinerate clouds. They are made of water."

"Well I can," Rainbow snapped back.

"No." Twilight pointed a hoof. "You. Can't."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, watch this!"

Rainbow Burst stepped away from Twilight Comet and turned around. She looked up at sky, studying the clouds before picking one of them.

"That one," she said, pointing.

Once sure that the others had noticed it, Rainbow closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Her horn began to glow with a rainbow aura of magic, swirling with power. She then unleashed it in a beam of energy, aiming for the cloud. Although none of the group could hear it, there was a hiss as the blast hit, turning the water droplets back into water vapor.

"See?" Rainbow said with a grin as she turned back to Twilight.

Twilight's ears pulled back as she stuck her lip out, glaring at the unicorn.

"Very impressive," she said, although her tone indicated otherwise. "But... you did not incinerate the cloud. You can't incinerate it because, being water, you can't set it on fire. Technically, what you did, was vaporize it.

"Vaporize?" Rainbow repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Vaporize," Twilight repeated as well.

"That sounds so much cooler than 'incinerate,'" Rainbow stated with a grin. "Spike, write down 'vaporize.' We totally need to use it again some time soon."

"How do you spell that?" Spike asked as he pulled out a quill and paper.

"But..." Twilight started. "You... I..." She let out a groan of frustration, rolling her eyes. "Forget it!"

She gave a flap of her wings.

"I have work to do. Clouds are waiting."

With that she took off.

"Hey!" Spike shouted after her. "You forgot your book."

Twilight came back, grinning sheepishly as she picked the book up off the bench.

"Oh, heh. Sorry about that. Thank you."

"Anytime...." Spike nearly whispered as he watched her leave again.

"Okay," Rainbow said as she grabbed Spike in her magic. "Come on Romeo. We still have work to do."

Realization and Irritation

"So, what's next?" Rainbow asked as they continued to make their way through town.

Spike sat on Rainbow Burst's back, looking up at the sky. He let out a sigh as he watched a pale purple form fly through the air, dispersing cloud after cloud. It was not the fastest flying that he had seen, but Twilight seemed to know what she was doing. As soon as one cloud was gone, she was heading for the next one. It was like she knew the best route to get them all as quickly as possible.

"Spike!"

The young dragon let out a yelp of surprise at being yelled out, jumping slightly as he tensed. The reaction threw Spike off balance, causing him to fall off Rainbow's back. Fortunately, she was able to catch him in her magic before he hit the ground.

"You back with us now?" she asked as she set him down on his feet.

"Heh," he laughed with a blush, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's fine. I guess I can see why you like her."

Spike grinned more. as he looked up toward the sky. Before his thoughts drifted too far, his attention was brought back to the present by a hoof tapping on his nose.

"We still have some work to do though," Rainbow stated. "Remember?"

"Right, right." Spike pulled out the scroll and his quill. "Let's see... weather is being taken care of." He placed a check mark.

"Next is... decorations."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and let out a groan.

"Now that sounds boring." She sighed and turned to look around. "Does it say where or who?"

Spike moved to climb back onto Rainbow and sit down. He looked at the scroll a moment longer.

"No name," he finally responded, "but it's supposed to be at the town hall."

"What?" Rainbow blurted out as she turned to look at Spike. "You mean the building we landed right next to when we came into town?"

The fins on Spike's head drooped as he gave a small grin at Rainbow. His eyes shifted, looking more the toward the side than at the unicorn standing in front of him.

"...yes?..."

"Oh, come on!' she snapped, stomping her hoof. "We could have started with that one and been done with it instead of walking all the way to Sweet Apple Acres before going back to where we started anyways!"

"Sorry, Rainbow," Spike said with a shrug. "Don't know what to tell ya."

Rainbow's ears were pulled back against her head in annoyance as she glared off at the town hall. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let out.

"Okay," she said in a calmer voice. "Before we head back to the center of town, is there any chance that the final task is closer to us now than the town hall?"

"Let's see..." Spike looked at the scroll, humming to himself as he scanned across it. His mouth fell open as his eyes went wide. Quick as he could, he started rolling the scroll back up.

"Nope. Not closer. No chance. Nothing to worry about. Come on. Race ya." With that, he started running toward the Town Hall as fast as he could.

He did not get very far before an aura of magic wrapped around Spike, lifting him up and levitating him back to where Rainbow Burst was still standing. Turning Spike to face her, Rainbow looked at him closely.

"What's going on?" she asked, noses nearly touching as they stared eye to eye. "What are you hiding?"

"Hiding?" Spike asked as innocently as possible. "What makes you think I'm hiding anything? What could I possibly be hiding?"

"Spike," Rainbow growled.

"Okay, okay," Spike conceded, raising up his claws. "You... remember that little cottage in the field we saw when we were trying to find Sweet Apple Acres?"

"..yeah..."

"Well..." The dragon shifted, tapping his first two fingers together. "It... seems that the cottage... might have been... where we were supposed to go to check on music..." He grinned, letting out a chuckle.

"What?" Rainbow squeaked, eyes going wide. "You mean we could have stopped and checked on music on our way to the farm?"

"...Yes."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of annoyance. Her magic vanished, letting Spike drop to the ground.

"Whatever," she growled as she started to walk. "Come on. Let's take care of the decorations, then we can see if we can find that cottage... again.

"I seriously don't get why Celestia would set things up this way though."

Spike quickly got up and brushed himself off. He sprinted to catch up with Rainbow before walking along beside her.

"Maybe it was intentional. She did say she wanted you to make friends. So maybe she set up the checklist for you to have to meet as many of the ponies as possible."

"Maybe..."

"Or," Spike continued, "it might just be about time. I mean the food would probably take the longest to work on today, and the music would just be doing final rehearsals. Right?"

"I suppose. Doesn't really matter now anyway." She started to grin. "Soon we'll be done with this all and have the rest of the night off to enjoy the celebration."

Feeling more excited at the prospect, Rainbow began to pick up her pace as she made her way toward the intended building. Admittedly, the town was kind of strange -- more so than she expected -- but everything seemed to be going fine for the set up. So they would have to walk back and forth a little more than expected. At least it was looking like everything was going as planned for the celebration, which was great since it was her first time supervising one. Granted, if things were slightly problematic, it would be all the more impressive for Rainbow to fix it, but there was also no risk of things becoming an absolute disaster either.

The two of them reached the open door to the town hall and looked inside. Ribbons were wrapped around columns and tied in bows. Great lengths of fabric were strung along the railing for the upper floors. Banners hung from flagpoles and down along the walls. A wide variety of flowers were used in various portions of the decor.

"Wow," Spike said as he stared up at it all. "Do you think they did all this today?"

"If they did," Rainbow replied, "they must have a small army of decorators with them or something." The pair continued to look at all the work done as they made their way further into the building.

"No," they heard a voice call out. "No. No. Not this one. Mm... maybe... Ah-ha! Perfect."

The voice belonged to white coated mare with long, curling, deep purple mane. She was surrounded by ribbons of various colors, including some that looked to be the same color. The mare currently had one in her hooves, working to tie it around one of the columns.

"Well I guess everything is fine here," Rainbow said as she watched the white mare for a moment. "Come on, Spike, let's-"

"Oh, my gracious!" The mare called out as she moved to stand in front of Rainbow and Spike. "What happened to your mane?"

"My mane?" Rainbow asked, blinking in confusion. She tilted her head from side to side and looked up, trying to get a good look at it. Nothing seemed different than the way it usually was. It was the same short, tousled mess of rainbow colored hair as always.

"Looks fine to me."

"Fine?" the mare squeaked, looking like she had just been slapped. "Fine? Darling, it is not... 'fine.' It is dreadful. It is atrocious. It is... it is... messy!"

"Hey!" Rainbow yelped as she suddenly found herself having the white mare pressing against her. Her ears pinned back and jaw clenched in annoyance. This was way too close for a strange pony to be to her for her comfort.

"Why look at it," the mare continued as she took a hold of the mane. "Such lovely colors. Bad enough it is..." she made a face "...short. It is all so tousled and unkempt." She froze and tensed, eyes going wide.

"Are... are those... knots?!" She let out a sigh. "Do you not brush your mane?"

"Of course I do," Rainbow snapped, turning to glare at the inappropriately intimate mare. The look she got in response was one of half-closed eyes and pursed lips, making it clear the statement was not believed. It made Rainbow give out a little cough as she finally looked away.

"Well... I... might -- might -- have forgotten a couple days here and there."

"This simply will not do," the white mare proclaimed, wrapping a foreleg around Rainbow's neck. "We have royalty visiting and having such a mess before the princess is unacceptable."

"Trust me," Rainbow started, "Princess Celestia isn't going to care if-"

"Up-bup-bup." the mare said, placing her hoof over Rainbow's mouth. "There is no need for you worry my dear. I am more than happy to help, and I know exactly what to do." She gave a wide smile. "We need to give you... a ... makeover."

Rainbow's eyes went wide as her ears pinned back and jaw fell open.

"M-m-m-makeover?" She took a step backwards.

"Absolutely." The white mare pressed against Rainbow firmly, pushing her toward the door. "Nothing to worry about. I know exactly what I'm doing. No need to thank me."

"No," Rainbow cried out as she tried to dig her hooves into the ground. "Stop." She continued to get pushed forward. "No." She looked around in desperation, seeing her sidekick.

"Spike! Help!"

"Don't forget about her tail," Spike called out to the pair as he followed after them, grinning.

"That's not what I meant!"

Cruel and Unusual

Alright. You can do this. You are Rainbow Burst, a talented unicorn and student to Princess Celestia. You have worked with the royal guard, and have gone up against one of the worst unicorns out there on numerous occasions. You can handle this. Do not give her the satisfaction. Show no weakness. Show no fear. You-

"Gah," Rainbow Burst yelped as the sink was turned on. "That's cold."

"Relax, darling. It shall warm up shortly."

After leaving The Town Hall, the white mare -- who introduced herself as Rarity -- pushed Rainbow Burst all the way to a shop called Carousel Boutique (literally, there was a furrow in the street leading all the way up to the doors). Now she found herself in a back room going through something horrible: having her hair washed for a makeover. Just the thought of it made her shudder.

"You have nothing to worry about," Rarity stated as she started to rinse Rainbow's mane. "I have assisted quite a number of clients with their mane and make-up when trying on their garments." She let out a sigh and reached for a bottle. "Although, really a full treatment at the spa would be far better."

Her ears perked up as she smiled, pouring the shampoo into the unicorn's mane.

"Perhaps we could go and have one together after the celebration. We could have mud baths, and facials, get hooficures, enjoy a steam, even get some massages... which it looks like you could use. You seem quite tense."

At "hooficures," Rainbow had tensed up, her mind withdrawing at the whole idea. Hooficures meant that ponies she did not know would be... touching her hooves... with... things.

"So what brings you here?" Rarity asked, working the shampoo into a lather.

"You dragged me here."

"I mean what brings you here to Ponyville? I assume it is tied to the visit from the princess and The Summer Sun Celebration."

"Oh... yeah." She shifted, trying to get comfortable while this strange mare washed her mane. "Spike and I were sent to oversee the celebration and make sure everything is ready for the princess."

This statement was met with an audible gasp.

"You're from Canterlot?" Rarity asked, eyes going wide as she brought her shampoo covered hooves to her face. Her eyes went wider. "Did you say you were here to supervise the arrangements?"

"...yeah?" Rainbow said slowly, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the excited mare.

"You must be from a very high noble family to get such an opportunity," Rarity stated as she resumed washing Rainbow's mane.

"Not really. I-"

"I am so envious of you. The glamour. The sophistication." She let out a deep sigh. "The stallions. Wealthy and well bred stallions who know how to treat a lady like a lady. Stallions like... The Prince. So handsome. So dashing. So... what's so funny?"

At the mention of "The Prince," Spike burst into laughter. There was currently only one prince in Equestria, and "well bred" and "knows how to treat a lady" were not terms he would use to describe Blueblood.

Rainbow Burst had tried to keep from laughing. Really she did. She even bit her lip to keep from doing so. After all, she did not want to be so rude to this new pony as to laugh outright in her face over such a seemingly silly idea as Prince Blueblood being some great and noble stallion because he was born into nobility. Unfortunately, Rarity's continuing to gush was too much.

"Uh..." Rainbow let out a cough as she thought. "Nothing. Old joke. Uh... you had to be there." She moved to get up from the chair. "Anyways, thanks for the wash. Come-"

"We're not done yet," Rarity stated as she pushed Rainbow back down into the chair. "We just finished with the shampooing. We still have to condition, brush, clip, and style." She grinned again. "Then we can start on the make-up."

"Make-up?" Rainbow groaned, rolling her eyes as her head was pulled back.

Dear Celestia, how much more am I expected to go through?

Spike managed to collect himself, although he was still snickering. He was enjoying watching Rainbow squirm over something. Well... mostly. It was not really a serious issue and she was perfectly fine. A little put upon and irritated, but unharmed.

Honestly though, he was getting kind of bored waiting while she was put through the whole thing. Besides, he was supposed to be her assistant and sidekick, and one of the sidekick's job was to save the hero. Rainbow was not in a life or death situation (or one where she would get in trouble which was the far more common type he had to help her out with), but it was still part of his duty.

"Excuse me," he called out. "Sorry to interrupt Rarity, but we do still have a lot to do for the celebration." He gave her a smile. "I'm sure a lovely and intelligent business owner such as yourself understands how important it is to fulfill your obligations to ponies that are expecting it."

Rarity stopped her work on Rainbow's hair, turning to look at Spike. She studied him a moment, lips pursed as one of her ears gave a flick.

"While I am sure with your talents," the young dragon continued, "you could make Rainbow beautiful -- although not half as much as you -- it would be rather impolite and insulting to the princess if we were unable to finish our preparations before The Summer Sun Celebration. You wouldn't want Rainbow to be in trouble with Princess Celestia for not performing her obligated duties, do you?"

Rarity rubbed her chin, seeming to think about it a moment.

"I suppose you're right," she finally said, shutting off the water. "After all, what sort of friend would I be if my attempt to help actually ended up getting Rainbow fired for failure to complete her duties. We can just brush it out and be finished for the time being. Then the two of you can resume your work."

"As can you," Spike added. "After all, whoever is working to continue the decorations of the Town Hall are probably struggling to make it anywhere near as wonderful as you were."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and made a gagging face, but kept quiet.

"Awww," Rarity said as she reached for a brush. "Aren't you just a sweetheart?"

With that, Rarity started brushing Rainbow's wet mane. It was not a pleasant experience for Rainbow. Each stroke ended with a hard yank that made her wince in pain. As soon as one stroke was done, another followed to repeat the process.

"Sorry," Rarity said after the third or fourth stroke, "but you really should brush your mane more often. Otherwise it will get tangled and knotted."

Rainbow growled and glared, but said nothing. She held still, hoping that it would somehow make the whole process go faster. It came as a relief as the yanks became fewer and fewer until Rarity was able to brush through the multi-colored mane with ease.

"There we go," Rarity said as she set the brush aside. "All finished."

"Thanks!" Rainbow called out as she shot out of the chair and ran for the door as quick as she could. She grabbed Spike with her magic as she went, putting him on her back.

After escaping from Carousal Boutique, Rainbow continued to run until she felt certain that Rarity was not chasing after her. Once she was sure, she stopped and took a deep breath. As she collected herself, she turned to look at Spike.

"You were way too good at that," she said, getting a grin from the young dragon in response.

Flowers and Songbirds

"Soooo...Spike..." Rainbow said as they made their way out of Ponyville proper (again) to look for the cottage (that they had found earlier) to check on music. "That thing you did back there, where you... 'charmed' Rarity into listening to you..."

"Yeah?" Spike said, raising an eye brow as he turned to look at her.

"Where did you learn that?"

"I've had lessons at the castle too, you know. I may not be able to do more magic than just breathe fire, but I still had other things to learn. Plus, Princess Celestia figured it would be a good idea. That I might have to get us out of trouble."

That last part was not entirely true. Princess Celestia had mentioned that sometimes being able to charm a pony could be more helpful than any other method. It was more his own lifetime of experience with Rainbow that led Spike to figure that maybe he could help get them out of trouble her impulsive nature might cause.

"Have you tried that with me?" Rainbow asked, trying to eye Spike suspiciously.

Once or twice.

"No way," Spike replied, giving Rainbow a pat on the back. "You're way too cool to fall for such a lame trick as that."

Rainbow Burst stopped walking and shifted to look at Spike as best she could. She was unsure if he was actually being sincere and not trying it, or lying about it and actually using his charm on her right now.

"Ugh," she sighed as she resumed walking. "Whatever. The whole thing sounds like it would be a pain in the flank to try and figure out anyways. Let's just try to find the pony in charge of music and get this done with. This day has been a lot busier and weirder than I expected."

The two of them continued walking along the path they had taken to and from Sweet Apple Acres, looking for the cottage they had inadvertently found earlier. As they did, the sound of song birds reached them. The thing was, it sounded... odd. Like multiple birds were singing the same song.

Curious, the two followed it. Rainbow's ears shifted as she moved her head, listening to the music as they tried to find the source.

"Excuse me," a soft voice said. "Please stop, if you don't mind."

At the base of a tree where a large number of birds were sitting stood a yellow mare with a pink mane and tail. She looked kind of thin and delicate for an adult mare, like a strong breeze could knock her over. Her long pink mane covered her face, making it look like she was trying to hide behind it.

"Mister Cardinal?" the mare said. "You were just an itsy-bitsy teensy-weensy little tiny bit off on that last note. If you could try just a little harder, I would appreciate it very much.

"Okay. If you're ready, we're going to take it from the top again. Okay?"

"Hey," Rainbow called out, causing the yellow mare to squeak and tense up.

"My name is Rainbow Burst, what's yours?"

The mare continued to stand there, staring in the direction of the tree the birds were in.

"Uh...." Rainbow shifted her hooves. "We... were looking to check on the music for the celebration. Any chance that you're in charge of that?"

Rainbow and Spike moved closer, waiting for a response. Neither even saw the mare in question move. Rainbow reached out, poking at the mare with a hoof.

"You okay?"

At Rainbow's touch, the yellow mare fell over, her legs sticking straight out.

"I think you broke her," Spike said, moving to walk around the prone pony. Standing in front of her, he reached down to poke at her.

"Is she alive?"

The mare let out a gasp and suddenly shot up, knocking Rainbow off her hooves and coming eye to eye with Spike.

"Oh my goodness," she squealed, "It's a baby dragon." She gripped his face, giving a squeeze. "He's so cute!"

"Well I like to think of myself more as ruggedly handsome," Spike said with his face being pressed in.

"And he talks! Oh, this is so incredibly wonderful. I didn't know baby dragons could talk. I... I don't even know what to say. What's your name?"

"It's Spike."

"It's so nice to meet you Spike. I'm Flowershy."

"Looks, like you have a fan," Rainbow said with a chuckle. Her horn lit up as she grabbed the scroll and quill.

"Music, check." She rolled it back up. "And with that, we are done."

"Done?" Flowershy asked. "Oh, so does that mean that you have some time to talk?"

"Sure," Spike replied with a grin. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything!" Flowershy said in a voice that was almost a shout of excitement.

"Sorry to interrupt story time," Rainbow said as she moved between the two, looking at the yellow mare, "but weren't you about to have the birds practice for the celebration again? I think they're ready to begin."

"Oh, my." Flowershy turned to look at the birds. "You're right. I'm sorry Spike. I promise we'll talk later if you like though."

"Sure," Spike said.

"If you want," Rainbow added, "we're staying at the..."

Her face scrunched up, looking like she tasted something unpleasant.

"...library..." she spat out.

"...until the day after the celebration. You can come by and talk then if you want."

"Thank you," Flowershy replied. "Now if you will excuse me please. I have some birds that are waiting to rehearse."

"No problem. Come on Spike."

Grabbing the young dragon in her magic, Rainbow put him back onto her back. The two of them started making their way back toward Ponyville, leaving the yellow mare with her birds to practice.

Pinkie Pie Party Power

"Okay," Rainbow said as she walked. "So... things didn't go quite as quickly and easily as I originally expected."

Spike cleared his throat.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't forget about your emerald. Just relax."

"Don't worry," Spike stated. "I'll make sure you'll remember."

"Whatever." Rainbow rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Anyway, we are done with the supervising, and everything seems like it will be ready with time to spare for the celebration. What do you say we stop off by the..." she let out a sigh "...library, get a little rest, and send a letter to the princess letting her know how everything is going? After, we can find out where the party is."

"I don't know about the letter part," Spike said as he moved to face her. "I mean, would it even do any good? Considering Princess Celestia is supposed to be here first thing in the morning...well... before morning actually... would she even be in her room to get the letter from us?"

Rainbow stopped, thinking about that.

"I suppose you have a point," Rainbow conceded. "Still, she must have some way of reaching her in case of an emergency, right?"

"But this isn't an emergency."

"Yeah." She let out a sigh. "I guess there's not really a reason to message her. I would feel better if we could though."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just a little on edge. She is trusting me with this."

"And you're doing fine," Spike stated, placing a claw on the back of her neck gently. "Like you said, everything is going to be ready in time. Besides, you'll get to see her plenty once the sun is raised for the celebration."

"Thanks," Rainbow Burst said with a smile. She then narrowed her eyes. "And if you tell anypony about this..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Spike gave a wave of his claw. "Massive prank or whatever."

"I don't think you sound properly intimidated at the idea."

"Oh, sorry." Spike rolled his eyes before letting out cough.

"Oh no," he said sarcastically. "Please mighty and powerful Rainbow Burst. I promise upon my strength and honor as a dragon that none shall learn your secrets from me. All I ask is that you grant me the mercy of being spared from the wrath of your great and magnificent powers."

"That's more like it," Rainbow said with a grin. "Glad to see you properly humbled and intimidated by the awesomeness of my power. For I am Rainbow Burst, and even fierce and ferocious dragons shall cower before me."

The two laughed as they continued walking. The sound drew the attention of some of the ponies around, watching curiously a moment. Some even made sure to move out of the way, not wanting to be knocked over by the distracted pair.

Rainbow was still smiling, chuckling to herself silently as they reached the exterior of what looked like a giant tree.

"There it is," Spike called out, pointing at it.

"What?" Rainbow looked at the tree, eyebrows pressed close and nose scrunched as she stared at it. "Are you saying that this" -- she motioned at the tree -- "is the library?"

"I think so," Spike replied. "I mean, it does have the sign there and is about the right place."

"It's a tree. Who thinks to put a library in a tree?"

"Well..." Spike said as he rubbed his chin before grinning. "It is supposed to be the local branch." He then started laughing, nearly falling off Rainbow's back in the process.

"Really?" Rainbow asked, using her magic to keep him from falling. "Seriously?"

"Oh, come on," Spike said, still chuckling. "It was funny."

"Not that funny." Rainbow gave a shake of her head. "Let's just check it out already."

Spike hopped off and took the lead. Gripping the knob, he pushed it open and stepped inside first. Rainbow followed shortly after, shutting the door behind her and looking around.

The place looked pretty.... dark.

"Any idea where the light switch is?"

"SURPRISE!" a bunch of voices shouted as the lights suddenly came on.

There standing in the middle of the library stood a lot of ponies. So many, it was hard to count them all. Rainbow thought a few of them looked familiar from walking around town.

One of the ponies, a pink unicorn with puffy pink mane (literally) popped up in front of Rainbow with a grin.

"Hi. I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you." She motioned at the party going around her before turning back.

"So were you surprised?" She took a step closer. "Huh?" She moved closer still. "Were ya, were ya?"

Pinkie Pie was now pressed face to face with Rainbow Burst, staring at her with a wide grin. It made Rainbow uncomfortable to have a pony she had never met before so close. More so when the pony in question seemed to be grinning far too enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Rainbow finally managed to say. "I was surprised alright." She looked around. "Like... seriously surprised. Like... 'how did you get this all set up' surprised."

"Great," Pinkie squealed, bouncing up and down. "I'm so glad to hear it.

"See, I saw you when you first got here. Remember? You were all 'hi' and I was all" -- she let out a gasp -- "remember? See, I've never seen you before, and if I've never seen you before that means you must be new here because I know everypony -- and I mean everypony -- in Ponyville."

Rainbow found that a little disturbing.

...Okay. More than a little.

"And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet. If you hadn't met anyone, that meant you didn't have any friends, and that made me sad. But then I remember hearing you say that you wanted to have a party while you were here. So I had an idea and that's why I went" -- she let out a gasp again.

"I must throw you a super duper ginormous welcome party and invited all of Ponyville. See?"

She grabbed four other ponies to pull them close: Applejack, Flowershy, Rarity, and Twilight Comet

"And now, you have lots and lots of new friends."

"Thanks," Rainbow said. "...I guess?" She looked around at all the ponies. "I mean... I... appreciate it and all, but..."

"Don't worry," Pinkie said, grabbing Rainbow and pulling her over to a table. "Here." She then shoved a cupcake into her mouth.

Rainbow had wanted to say that she was not going to be in town for more than a day or two, so a welcome party like this seemed kind of unnecessary. After all, those kinds of parties were normally for highly esteemed guests or for ponies that were moving into a new place. Rainbow was not really one to see herself as an "esteemed guest," especially in this situation. That would be Princess Celestia. Neither was Rainbow moving to Ponyville. She was just here to oversee things for the celebration. Once that was done, she would be heading back to Canterlot the day or so after.

Certainly she would not really be staying long enough to get to know these ponies as friends.

Still it felt... nice. Weird, but nice. It almost felt like she had found... something. Something important? Almost like she had discovered something she had never even realized was missing.

"You okay?" Spike asked, breaking Rainbow from her thoughts.

"...Yeah.." she said slowly before grinning. "Yeah I'm fine, Spike. It's just... these cupcakes are really good." She took another big bite out of it.

Spike stared at her, raising an eyebrow curiously. Still, this did not really seem like the time or place to pursue the matter.

"Come on," Rainbow stated as she grabbed the young dragon. "This party is for us after all, so may as well live it up."

Not a Dream

The party had been a lot of fun. Lots of food, plenty of drinks, for some reason there was even a bottle of hot sauce (which Pinkie seemed to think was good with the cupcakes). There was some music in the background, and some interesting conversation.

As the night progressed, moving toward morning and the time of the celebration, ponies slowly began to leave little by little. Applejack was among the first to do so, still needing to oversee the final set up for the tables and food. Flowershy left later in the evening, needing to get the birds ready for their performance.

It did not seem to be long before it was time to head to The Town Hall to see Princess Celestia and watch her raise the sun.

"Coming, Spike?" Rainbow asked as she headed for the door.

"Hold on," Spike called out. "What about your saddlebag?"

"We're not going to need anything in it," Rainbow answered. "I mean what's in it? The list that we're finished with and that book?"

"Book?" Twilight asked. "What book?"

"Princess Celestia gave us a book to read on the way and drop off here," Spike explained.

"It was just an old book about something called The Elements of Harmony," Rainbow added. "Just remember it when we get back and we can put it on the shelf."

With that, Rainbow Burst, Spike, and the last few ponies that had stayed the entire time made their way toward the center of town. They joined the other ponies as they made their way inside. The place was getting kind of packed with so many around, and it was difficult to move around.

Rainbow and Spike managed to find a place relatively close to the stage, but still a decent distance from the buffet tables (which -- for some reason -- had food "mysteriously" float away from it in a rainbow colored aura of magic). Spike stood on Rainbow's back, one claw gripping the top of her head to help keep balance as he watched the stage and enjoyed one of the turnovers.

"Fillies and gentlecolts," a grey maned mare called out from behind a podium, "as your mayor, it is my pleasure to announce the beginning of The Summer Sun Celebration!"

This was immediately met with cheering and the stamping of hooves. The mayor smiled, waiting patiently until the excitement calmed down.

"I'm so excited," Pinkie Pie said after appearing beside Rainbow Burst. "Aren't you excited? I know I'm excited. I've never been this excited. Well... maybe once when I just a filly. Oh, or when I met you and was all" -- she let out gasp.

Rainbow was excited. It had been quite a while since she had watched Princess Celestia raise the sun. Maybe it was because she could see it any time. The princess did raise it literally every morning. So if Rainbow wanted to see it, all she had to do was get up early enough and go to the balcony. Then she could watch the whole thing with ease. Instead, she either slept in as late as she could (which was her favorite choice), or get up at an early time to try out a spell she was really excited about... or something she thought would be hilarious and just could not wait to try.

"In just a few moments," the mayor continued once the crowd had calmed down, "our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate..."

Rainbow stopped listening as something caught her attention. She thought she had caught the movement of something, but had no idea what. She managed to catch a glimpse of something black, but not enough to figure out what. Was a pony possibly plotting to prank the princess publicly?

The thoughts shifted as Rainbow looked out at the moon. It was so beautiful tonight, with its smooth, glowing, white surface.

Wait...

Rainbow Burst took a step closer to the window, looking out through it. The moon looked different. What was it? It was like something was... missing?

The birds that Flowershy had trained began to sing, marking the cue.

"Princess Celestia!" the mayor announced proudly. The curtains pulled back as a spotlight came on to reveal the stage.

It was empty.

"Celestia?" Spike mumbled in confusion from his spot on Rainbow's back.

"Where is she?" the mayor asked, looking around.

"Maybe she's hiding," Pinkie suggested, looking around.

A deep laughter began echoing through the building. Shimmering dark blue clouds crawled across the floor before collecting. It shifted and roiled before bursting apart to reveal a figure in armor.

It was a mare that looked as tall as Princess Celestia. She had a black coat and an ethereal blue mane and tail. Her head held high, a long horn protruded from a hole in the helmet she wore. She stared at the crowd with draconic eyes, large bat wings spreading out behind her.

"Mares and stallions," the black mare announced, "the sunrise has been cancelled."

"Where's the princess?" Rainbow shouted, starting to run for the stage. Applejack and Twilight moved to grab her and hold her back before she actually made a full charge.

"Wow," Pinkie said as she stared at the alicorn. "She looks just like the Nightmare Moon statue... except she can move more.. and is less... stone-ish."

"Oh, so it seems I am remembered after all." Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed as she studied the audience. "Tell me, how long has it been?"

There was a silence as the ponies in the crowd. Some of them looked between each other, uncertain how to respond. Others simply cowered, crouching down and trying to move away from the legendary creature now standing right before them.

There was a flash of lightning and boom of thunder.

"Do not keep me waiting!" Nightmare Moon shouted, stomping a hoof. "Surely there is one pony among you that can tell me how long it has been since I was banished. Better speak up before I get --" she narrowed her eyes, "-- irritable."

Her horn flared once more. Almost all of the ponies shivered as the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"A thousand years," Twilight blurted out. "I don't know the exact number, but it's been nearly a thousand years."

Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide as she stared at Twilight.

"A thousand years," she mumbled to herself, rubbing her chin. "I have been gone for a millenia.... interesting..."

"Enough!" Mayor Mare shouted. "Guards! Grab her. She must know where the princess is."

Four of the pegasus guards took off, flying directly toward Nightmare Moon.

With a laugh, Nightmare Moon ignited her horn once again. She gave a flick of her bat-like wings, sending a a gust of wind to knock them back.

"I hope you have enjoyed this night," she proclaimed as she turned into a cloud once more. "For now, it shall last forever!"

With that, she vanished in a puff of blue cloud and flash of lightning.

Many of the ponies still stood there, staring at the stage where the legendary Nightmare Moon had been. One of those ponies was Rainbow Burst. Her ears drooped as she stared, eyes wide and jaw hanging open.

"...buck.."

The Most Dreaded Activity

"Hang on tight," Rainbow said as she started sprinting for the door and leaving Town Hall.

Spike gripped tightly onto Rainbow's neck, holding on as best he could while he bounced on his seat.

"Rainbow?" he cried out as he tried to keep from falling off her back. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the library," Rainbow answered. "If we're going to stop Nightmare Moon, we're going to have to" -- she let out a sigh and rolled her eyes -- "do research."

"Research?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow. "You? Really? As in sitting there and going through a book to look for what you want to know? That's not really something you've ever shown an interest in."

"Because it's boring!" Rainbow replied. "But I really don't see another way of figuring out how to stop Nightmare Moon. How much of the story do you remember?"

Spike kept a grip on Rainbow with one arm while he scratched his head. It had been a while since he had heard the old foal's tale about The Mare in The Moon.

"There were two ponies," he said as he tried to remember. "One who raised the sun and the other, the moon."

The young dragon's face scrunched as he thought about the old story he had been told before bed a couple times.

"Something... something happened and one refused to lower the moon. She wanted eternal night."

"Just like she's trying to do now," Rainbow mumbled, looking up at the night sky. She continued to run, seeing the library rapidly growing larger as she approached.

"So," Spike continued, "the other did... something... to stop her and banished her to the moon."

Rainbow slowed down as she got closer to the library almost stopping.

Her train of thought jumped the rails for a moment and she found herself wondering. The story -- from what she remembered -- said that the remaining pony took over control of the moon, but never says anything that happened to her afterwards. If Nightmare Moon was real, then the other pony would have been as well, right? If Nightmare Moon was still alive, was it possible the other one was as well? Princess Celestia did actually have control over the sun and moon. Exactly how old was she? Rainbow had never heard any stories of Celestia's origins. Could she be...

"Why's it matter?" Spike asked, breaking Rainbow out of her thought process.

"I don't remember how she did it," Rainbow said as she started walking again, "but I know something was used to stop Nightmare Moon. If she is real, then whatever was used to stop her might be real too. So, if we can find out what it was..."

"We might be able to use it to stop her again," Spike concluded.

"Exactly." Rainbow gave him a dragon as she pushed the door open. "Unfortunately, that means we need to find the story."

"What a great idea," Pinkie said with a grin. "We'll be able to stop that Meanie McNightpants in no time."

Rainbow stared at the pink unicorn in confusion for a moment. Rainbow and Spike had just entered after running most of the way to the library, only to find Pinkie there already. Neither of them had seen her pass them anywhere along the way. She was just... there.

"How did you..." Rainbow started before stopping. "You know what, not important. You can help us look. It will make things go faster."

"Look for what?" Twilight Comet asked as she and Applejack landed outside. Not far behind the pair walked Rarity and Flowershy.

"Rainbow wants to find the legend of Nightmare Moon to see how she was defeated so she can use the same thing to try and beat her again," Pinkie said, all the words running together.

"We can help with that," Twilight said as she slipped past Rainbow and into the library. "I've been here a lot and kind of know how it's set up."

The other ponies came in as well, making their ways to the shelves. They began to look at the spines of those they could, and pulling the book out to check the cover of those the could not.

"Here it is," Twilight proclaimed, pulling a book off the shelf.

Rainbow took a hold it in her magic and brought it to her. Grabbing the book she opened it and started flipping through. Her eyes scanned the pages as she went, seeing the half or more of the page covered by a picture with the text written underneath it.

"Let's see..." Rainbow leaned closer to read. "Once upon a time... blah blah blah..." She flipped some pages. "Sun and moon.... blah blah blah..." She flipped some more. "Jealousy.... Nightmare Moon... Ah-Ha!

"'Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known in ponydom: The Elements of Harm...ony...'"

"Elements of Harmony?" Spike repeated. "You mean like the book the princess gave us?"

"Looks like it." Heading over to her saddlebag, she opened it and pulled out the book.

"Elements... elements.." she said to herself as she flipped through the pages.

"Here we go." She flipped through the pages, scanning them. "There are six elements, but only five are known. They are Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. When the five elements are together, a spark will reveal the sixth."

Rainbow let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"I guess it was too much to hope that this would be completely straightforward."

She gave a shake of her head and flipped a few more pages.

"The last known location of the five elements is in the castle of the royal pony sisters. The castle is set in what is now known as The Everfree Forest."

"Well that's convenient," Twilight said with a sigh.

"Not really," Rarity responded.

"Hold on," Rainbow called out. "Why?"

"Ponyville is set right next to The Everfree," Applejack explained. "No pony really goes in there 'cause it's mighty dangerous. We've had a couple of the creatures what live in it come out to the farm a time or two."

"And some have come out to my cottage," Flowershy added. "They can be... uhm... a little intimidating at times..."

"Okay," Rainbow said with a sigh. "So it's dangerous. Still, it's right out there and the last place The Elements were known. So it's a place to start."

"Yeah," Spike shouted with a grin. "We can go in there, find The Elements and-"

"You're not coming."

Spike froze at the statement, eyes going wide and jaw dropping. He turned to face Rainbow, trying to keep calm.

"What?"

"I said you're not coming," Rainbow repeated, turning to look at the wall.

"But Rainbow.... I'm your sidekick. Your accomplice. We always get in trouble together." His claws clenched as he spoke. He tried to stand up straight, fighting back the tears that were starting to fill his eyes.

"Not this time," Rainbow stated. "It's too dangerous."

"Bu-"

"I said no!" Rainbow snapped. She turned to face Spike, tears escaping the corners of her own eyes. "It's dangerous. Princess Celestia is already missing, and I don't know if this is going to work. I'm not going to risk losing you too. Got it?"

Spike stared at Rainbow. Seeing her tear up was a rare thing to happen. So much so, that he could not actually remember the last time he had seen it, to say nothing of whatever it was that caused it. It had never been him though. Spike knew that Rainbow cared about him, but he had never seen her worried for him like this before.

Still, it did kind of hurt that he was being left behind.

"Okay," he finally said.

"Thank you," Rainbow said, moving to wrap her front legs around him. "Besides, if something happens to me, I need you to tell the guard when they come to investigate. Got it?"

"Heh." Spike cracked a small smile. "You can count on me."

"You don't have to worry, Spike," Twilight said as she moved toward the pair. "Rainbow won't be going into the forest alone."

"Right," Applejack agreed. "We will be going with her."

"Woah," Rainbow called out. "Hold on. I can't ask you-"

"Which is why you don't have to," Twilight cut in.

"It ain't up to debate," Applejack added. "We're goin' with ya. This is our home too ya know."

Rainbow looked at the other five mares. There was some uncertainty in the faces of Rarity and Flowershy, and Pinkie was just grinning happily. Still, it looked like none of them were backing down. Especially Twilight and Applejack.

"Alright," Rainbow conceded. "Looks like I'm outnumbered. Let's get going."

Ever and Everfree

Rainbow Burst led the way as they walked through The Everfree Forest. It had not been an actual decision she or the others had actively seemed to made. It just sort of happened. She had no problem with it though.

Immediately behind her walked Applejack, wings pulled close as she looked at the plants surrounding them. Next was Flowershy and Rarity, with the first hiding behind her mane as she kept close to the second. Bringing up the rear was Pinkie Pie, who seemed to hop and bounce more than walk. Above the group flew Twilight Comet, moving back and forth along the line repeatedly as she studied the area around them.

"So, how come nopony comes out here?" Rainbow asked as they continued walking.

"You mean aside from the fact that there are all sorts of strange plants?" Applejack asked

"And a lot of creatures," Flowershy added.

"The place is utterly filthy," Rarity stated.

"The weather is uncontrollable and unpredictable," Twilight said.

"This whole place is all so sad gloomy boring dull that only the biggest bestest most amazingly awesomest party ever to even ever hope to make better," Pinkie rambled.

Rainbow blinked as she looked away from the group and ahead once more.

"It just..." she started as she looked around at the place once again, "...doesn't seem tha-"

Before she could finish, Pinkie Pie had shot up beside her and placed a hoof over Rainbow's mouth.

"Do not finish that statement."

Rainbow glared at Pinkie a moment before shoving the hoof away.

"What's the big deal?" she growled. "I was just saying that it doesn't see-"

Once again, a hoof was pressed against her mouth, stopping her statement.

"Whenever a pony says something like that," Pinkie explained, "they tempt fate and end up making things get worse."

"Pinkie," Twilight said as she landed beside the mare in question, "nothing a pony says is going to change what happens. You're just being silly."

Pinkie's eyes went wide and she suddenly skittered to her right. There was a moment of confusion among the others at the strange action (none of them had ever seen Pinkie skitter before). Before any of them could ask what she was doing or why, there was a massive boom as the ground gave away beneath them.

Instinctively, Applejack and Twilight opened their wings as soon as they lost their footing.

"AJ, you go after Shy and Rarity," Twilight ordered before flying down herself.

Applejack scowled at Twilight for bossing her around, but did as she was told. Quick as she could, she flew down toward where the two earth ponies were scrambling at the side of the slope. After moving down below them, Applejack started flying up toward the two, skimming just above the ground.

Grabbing the first of the ponies to reach her -- Rarity -- Applejack gave a hard flap of her wings and pushed up along the slope with all her might. She let out a grunt as she held on, stopping Rarity from falling any further.

"Hang on," Applejack said. "This'll hurt."

Rarity looked up at Applejack, raising an eyebrow. Before she could ask what would hurt, something slammed into her and knocked the air from her lungs.

"I got ya," Applejack called out, grabbing onto Flowershy as well. Holding onto the pair tightly, she continued to flap her wings and push up the slope. The angle was too much to push them back up, but Applejack was able to stop the two from sliding further. Slowly, she stopped flapping.

"Okay. I think we can make our way down safely to the edge. Then I can lower you two down to the ground."

When the ground had collapsed, Rainbow Burst had been in the front and thus the first to start falling. It hurt when she slammed her back into the ground and started to slide across it. The pain and need to gasp for air made it hard to think.

Scrabbling to grab a hold of anything to stop her fall, she tried to focus and summon her magic, to use a spell of some kind to stop her. Unfortunately, the pain of the fall, panic of the situation, and constantly jostling as she skidded across the ground all made it difficult to concentrate.

Not able to grab anything, Rainbow slid off an edge. There was a moment of weightlessness as the ground beneath her vanished, leaving nothing but open air. Normally, this would be an exciting sensation that Rainbow would savor as she felt like she was flying.

As it was, only one thought was currently going through her mind.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'mgonnadie!I'mgonnadie!I'mgonnadie!

Gravity quickly reasserted itself on the unicorn, pulling her toward the ground once more. Rainbow continued to try and figure out a way to save herself. With most of her mind distracted by the previously mentioned thought, her body tried to do the only thing that she could think of at the moment.

Alas, desperately flapping her front legs neither slowed down her fall, nor allowed her to suddenly fly.

"I got you," a voice called out from beside Rainbow. There was a jerking sensation as something grabbed her, slowing her free fall into a controlled descent.

As the panic subsided, Rainbow opened her eyes (when did she close them?) and looked up. There, she saw a familiar, friendly, purple furred face. Twilight looked at her with a calm, reassuring (and possibly condescending) smile as she continued to float Rainbow to the ground.

Twilight set Rainbow down on the ground and took off again to help Applejack with Flowershy and Rarity. Rainbow's leg shook before collapsing beneath her. Her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest, and she just could not get enough air to breathe.

What the buck was she doing out here? This was insane. Rainbow had barely even been out of Canterlot before. Now she was planning on taking on an ancient evil alicorn that somehow defeated Princess Celestia and did who knows what with her?

A part of her that she did not want to admit to -- a large part of her in fact -- thought that maybe Blueblood was right. She was just some lazy screw-up that happen to be good at magic. That last part was worthless, seeing as she was so panicked she could not even think of a spell to save her tail. What was she going to do? Dump a bucket of water on Nightmare Moon's head? Try to give her a hot foot with her fire beam?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a burst of pink magic, followed by the sound of a noisemaker being blown and a small explosion of confetti. In the center of the spot now stood Pinkie Pie.

"Are you okay?" Pinkie asked, taking a step forward.

No! I'm not okay! I'm in over my head and terrified. I want to go home and pretend this all never happened.

"Yeah," Rainbow said, looking down at the ground. "I'm fine." She pushed up, moving to stand again.

Twilight and Applejack landed down not far from them, setting down Rarity and Flowershy in the process.

"Well it looks like everypony is alright," Applejack said as she looked at the others. "Should probably keep movin'."

The others agreed and the group began moving once more. As they did, Rainbow moved to get beside Twilight Comet, reaching out to get the pegasus' attention.

"Hey. Thanks for saving me back there."

"Don't worry about it," Twilight said with a smile. "Even if we weren't friends, I'll always help out a pony in need." She wrapped a wing around Rainbow. "Since we are friends though, you can be sure that I will always be there for you."

Rainbow smiled. That made her feel a little better.

Still... did she deserve it?

Meeting a Manticore

"Are you alright, sugar cube?"

The question drew Rainbow Burst from her thoughts, looking up at Applejack.

Since the incident with the cliffside, Twilight had taken the lead, with Pinkie at her wing. Rainbow had lagged behind, falling back to the end while staring at the ground at her hooves.

"I'm fine," Rainbow stated, looking away from Applejack and ahead on the path they were following. The other four were far ahead enough that the conversation between Rainbow and Applejack could not be heard. Although yelling could still be heard...hopefully.

Applejack moved closer. Her eyes narrowed and lips pressed tight as she studied Rainbow intensely.

The look sent a mix of emotions through Rainbow Burst. Most of it was the familiarity of the look. It was very similar to the looks that Princess Celestia would give her from time to time, normally to try and get Rainbow to "admit to any minor indiscretions that might be burdening the conscience" as Celestia put it. It always made Rainbow uncomfortable because it felt like the princess was able to see right through her. Lying would be pointless.

That was mostly what Rainbow Burst was feeling right now under that same gaze, but from Applejack. Except, a small part of her felt... sad, but comforted. Sad, because it was a look that made her kind of miss Princess Celestia, and comforted because it was something she was familiar with -- even if not from the same pony she was used to.

"You sure?" Applejack asked, placing a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "You can be honest with me and tell me anything. We are friends, after all."

Right, Rainbow thought. A friend who was able to help save two ponies while I couldn't even save myself.

"It's nothing," Rainbow stated as she pulled away, moving to catch up with the others. "Come on. We don't want to get too far behind the others."

Applejack gave a shake of her head and rolled her eyes. She could tell that she was being lied to. It did not appeal to her to let the matter go. Whatever was going on in that unicorn's head needed to be let out. Unfortunately, now was not the time or place to deal with it. As much as she did not like to, Applejack let the subject go for now.

Rainbow Burst moved forward, catching up with the others. She moved to walk next to Flowershy, the two making eye contact for a brief second before looking away. It seemed like a safe bet to walk along side her to be left alone. After all, if Flowershy tensed up and fainted when being startled from a strange pony she had not met, then she was probably not going to start up a conversation.

The six of them continued to walk through The Everfree Forest, making their way deeper in and hopefully heading in the right direction. It was strange that a place that currently seemed so calm was supposed to be so dangerous.

It was also strange to try and figure out what time it was or how long they had been there. Even if Rainbow had bothered to learn how to tell time by the position of the sun, or moon and star, it would do no good. Not only was it still night even though the sun should have been up... however long ago since the celebration, but the moon still looked like it was directly overhead as large and glowing as ever.

A ferocious roar struck the group, shaking Rainbow Burst from her thoughts. Standing in the path in front of them was a massive creature. The lion-like creature stood up on it hind legs, dragon wings spread out behind it. It then dropped to all fours, revealing a large scorpion tail.

Not quite all fours, actually. One pony -- Flowershy -- noticed that it held one of its front paws up off the ground.

"It's a manticore," Twilight squeaked out, eyes going wide.

"Hang on," Applejack said as she took off. "I got this." She started flying toward the creature.

"Wait," Flowershy said, so softly that not even Rainbow Burst heard it while standing right beside her.

The manticore watched as Applejack flew directly towards it, the two glaring at each other. As the pegasus flew closer, the manticore spread its wings wide, snarling. It suddenly gave a hard flap of its wings, knocking Applejack off balance. The manticore did it again, sending her flying backwards. A gasp escaped Applejack as she slammed into the ground.

"I don't got this," she wheezed before collapsing.

"Flying's out," Twilight grumbled as she moved forward. "Guess it's up to me."

"Please," Flowershy said, a little louder but still barely audible.

Twilight Comet ran, turning some to curve her path and head toward the manticore more from the side than directly on. She kept her eyes on the creature, watching its wings and tails as she got closer.

The manticore lashed out with its tail, aiming for the approaching pony. Being ready for it, Twilight was able to drop low and jump to the side, avoiding the blow. Unfortunately, she was not ready for the swat from one of the creature's massive paws the followed after it. The impact knocked her to the ground, sending her rolling through the dirt.

"...ow..."

Flowershy stepped forward, getting looks of surprise from Rarity and Rainbow Burst. She walked toward the manticore slowly, head down and hair covering her eyes.

"Flowershy," Rarity called out.

"Trust me," Flowershy said as she continued to walk forward. The others did as she asked, Rainbow chewing on her lip as she watched.

The manticore turned to watched the approaching pony, growling slightly. Flowershy stopped when the creature looked at her, still hiding behind her mane.

"It's alright," she said in a calm, gentle voice. "None of us want to hurt you." She slowly moved closer. "I just want to help you. You can trust me."

The manticore stopped growling, but continued to stare. The tail and wings shifted with tension. Its ears were perked forward, listening intently to the pony in front of it.

"That's right," Flowershy continued to move closer, stopping within inches of the manticore. "I noticed that you were favoring your paw earlier." She reached a hoof out. "I can take a look at it if you like."

The manticore watched as the pony took a hold of its paw, but did not pull back or attack. Instead it let Flowershy lift the paw and turn it over to reveal a large black thorn embedded in the pad.

"Oh you poor thing. Now this will hurt of just a second, but I promise you that you will feel much better when it's done. Ready?"

Continuing to hold the manticore's paw with her hoof, Flowershy leaned her head forward. Gripping the thorn between her teeth, she gave it a firm yank.

With a massive roar of pain, the manticore grabbed Flowershy --

-- and licked her.

The feeling of the rough feline tongue against her soft coat caused her to laugh as she was groomed.

"You're welcome," she said with a giggle. "Just, please try to be more careful so it doesn't happen again. Okay?"

The manticore gave one last lick before letting Flowershy go. The creature then ran off, disappearing into The Everfree Forest.

The other five all stood there, staring with their jaws open as their friend came back unharmed.

"You... you... you..." Twilight tried to talk.

"You just walked up to that thing like it was no big deal," Rainbow managed to get out.

"I knew you were good with animals and all," Applejack stated, "but I had no idea you were that good."

"Oh, it was nothing," Flowershy said as she looked down at the ground. "Sometimes you just need to show a little kindness."

The others got up and started to walk. They joined Flowershy before continuing on. As they went further down the path, Rainbow moved to walk beside Flowershy.

"Hey," Rainbow said in a soft voice. "That... was pretty awesome."

Flowershy did not really make eye contact, but she did smile.

Among the Angry Trees

Pinkie Pie continued to hop along the path, smiling and humming to herself as she went. She was still excited and full of energy. Unfortunately, the other five ponies were not so.

The six of them had been up all night partying as they waited for the sunrise. That was after most of them had spent the day making final preparations for the celebration. Now, after working hard most of the day and being up all night, they had been walking through the forest for who knew how many hours.

Exhaustion was catching up with them. Some were feeling it more than others.

The previously mentioned Pinkie Pie was feeling hyper, even for her. She was tired from lack of sleep, but right now she felt anything but. Pinkie was not aware of it, but she was going to crash -- and hard -- later. For now, she was more than ready to keep going.

Rarity was doing relatively well for the most part. She was tired -- extremely so -- but she could manage. Working long hours well into the night had been something that had happened to her from time to time, but she also always made certain to get plenty of beauty sleep. The night before the celebration had been one where she had gotten more than sufficient rest. Still, she had been planning to have managed at least a nap by now, so she was feeling rather fatigued.

Applejack was dragging. Quite literally. Her wings were unfurled, with the tips touching the ground. Being a farmer, she was used to long hours of hard work. Except she normally got up with the sun instead of staying up for or past it. Between meeting and spending time with her family, working on the harvest, and helping to prepare all the food for the celebration, the last few days had been long, hard, and exhausting. Now it was all catching up with her.

Flowershy clenched her jaw, trying to stifle the yawn. Working with animals, she was used to having an erratic sleep schedule. There were numerous times where she would go without sleep to take care of a sick or injured animal then have to spend the rest of the day doing chores. So being tired from sleep deprivation was something she had learned to deal with. Although normally she at least got to have some coffee and one or two of Pinkie's cupcakes to help her keep going.

Speaking of coffee, Twilight could use a cup as well. She had stayed up a little later than she should the previous night studying the weather patterns of The Everfree, setting up schedules for the weather ponies so everypony could enjoy the celebration while keeping any unexpected events to a minimum. It had not been too bad, but she had planned to have grabbed a nap by now.

Rainbow wished she could get some rest as well. Actually, she really wished that she could go back to Canterlot and forget this whole thing had even happened. Staying up late the night before with nervous excitement about the celebration followed by sleeping on the way to Ponyville had screwed up her already erratic sleep schedule already (going to bed and waking up at a set time was something she never really gotten into).

Unnoticed by the six ponies, the canopy above them grew thicker, blocking out more and more of what little light there was.

"Look out for that rock," Pinkie Pie called out.

"What ro-ow!" Twilight cried out as she stubbed her hoof on a rock.

"What the hay!" Applejack shouted in surprise as she felt something rub against her flank.

"Sorry," Flowershy said, almost whimpering. "I didn't see you there."

"That's hardly a surprise," Rarity huffed. "It's become so dark, I can't see a thing."

"Maybe Pinkie and I can do something about that," Rainbow Burst suggested. "We could cast some light spells."

Before Rainbow Burst or Pinkie Pie could start collecting magic for the spell, something happened. The six mares suddenly found themselves staring at glowing red eyes and gaping, jagged filled mouths.

Five of the mares screamed out in terror as they stared into gaping, glowing maws. The group turned to run, only to have their path blocked by more of the same.

"I don't want to be eaten," Flowershy whimpered, moving to hide behind Applejack and Rarity.

Huddled close together, the mares all held onto each other and shivered, staring at the glowing eyes and yawning mouths that were surrounding them.

"Joooiiiinnnn uuuussss...." a faint voice whispered before... giggling?

Pinkie Pie stood on one of the branches a tree that had a glowing, vicious face on it. She was pushing up and down on one of the branches, making it shake it claw looking end at the group.

"Joooooiiiinnn uuuussss...." Pinkie said again before giggling more.

"Pinkie?" Rainbow Burst called out in confusion. "What are you doing with that tree?"

"Why?" Pinkie asked, her eyes half closed as she caressed a hoof along the branch. "Are you afraid of what these trees are going to try and do with me if they got me alone?"

"Pinkie," Twilight snapped. "What are you doing? This is serious?"

"Serious?" Pinkie Pie gasped, eyes going wide. "Really?"

Her horn began to glow as she turned to look at the trees. There were then puffs of magic.

"How about now?"

The others looked at the trees again. One of them had the fake glass rims on, with a plastic nose and mustache attached. Another had an eyepatch and a bandanna with a skull and cross-bones on it. Still another was painted up like a clown, complete with rubber nose and curly, brightly colored hair.

The other five continued to look. All of the trees that moments of ago had been glaring at them with menacing faces now looked... silly. Pinkie Pie had put funny faces and goofy accessories on each and every one of them.

"P...Pinkie..." Rainbow said with a slight snicker. "What is this?"

"Don't worry," Pinkie replied with a grin as she hopped down. She gave one of the trees a pat. "You don't have to worry about them biting you. The worst they can do to you is their... bark."

This statement was met with a collective groan.

"Pinkie," Applejack stated in a serious voice, "that... was... terrible." Still, she found herself having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"See?" Pinkie said as she moved toward the others. "Everything's fine. It's like my granny used to tell me."

She gave the other five a hug.

"Sometimes, just laughing at something will make it less scary. Just like the song says."

"....what song would that be?" Rarity asked, looking at Pinkie Pie in confusion.

"Don't worry about it." Pinkie let them go taking a step back. "Now come on. Steve's probably waiting for his part."

"... who's Steve?" Rainbow asked, getting a shrug from the others in response. Pinkie Pie said nothing, continuing to make her way down along the path. Slowly, the others started following after her, with Rainbow Burst in the end.

This was all making her feel even more conflicted about the whole matter. A part of her did feel better after laughing, like something had been lifted. She also felt more awake and less tired. She also felt more like she did not belong here.

Applejack and Twilight had managed to save her and the others at the cliff. Flowershy had managed to calm the angry manticore and remove the thorn from its paw. Now Pinkie Pie had managed to get them past some scary looking trees by making them silly enough for everypony to laugh at.

And what had she done? Nothing. For a unicorn that was supposed to have a talent and natural gift for magic, Rainbow Burst had not even managed to use it once so far this trip. Not that it really mattered. Of her spells, her best and most practiced were the ones she used for pranks and jokes. It seemed unlikely that she would somehow manage to save the day by changing Nightmare Moon's mane color (could she even do that to ethereal mane?), or strategic use of a whoopie cushion or cream pie.

Rainbow continued to walk after the others, looking more at the ground than ahead, and letting her mind work over everything going through it.

If Rainbow had been aware of it, she would have realized that it was kind of something she had never really done before.

Author's Notes:

So, there have been times when I would post something and readers would ask if I included something as a reference. Normally if I do, it's not intentional.

This time it was. I have included a slight reference to a cult horror film I am a fan of.

Swift as a Raging River

Since Pinkie Pie's little performance, most of the other ponies seemed to be in a better mood. It seemed that the exhaustion had passed and they all had a second wind. They were smiling some and talking. Some were still chuckling or giggling. Even Flowershy was talking to the others, and loud enough that she could actually be heard.

It was touching. So nice to see them bonding and getting closer.

Except... Rainbow Burst did not feel like she was really getting to know the others. She was getting to know them, and kind of enjoying spending the time with them. Still... Rainbow really did not feel like she was bonding with the other five. She still felt like... an outsider. Like she was simply watching some ponies become friends while she was just... there...

No reason to let the others know though, right?

Rainbow put on a smile, laughing with the others as they walked. She followed, pulling up the rear and keeping some distance from the others while they went. Her laughter was a little behind the others (hopefully none of them noticed).

The excitement of the group was cut short as they suddenly stopped, reaching the edge of a river. The water was rising and falling, creating massive waves. It was even enough to splash up over the edge of the riverbed and onto the grass.

"How are we going to get past this?" Flowershy asked, watching the roaring water.

"It does seem rather rough to swim across," Rarity agreed.

"Maybe we could fly the others across?" Twilight suggested. "Although we would have to make two trips each."

"Or maybe we can just ask him," Pinkie Pie said, pointing upriver. The others turned to look in the direction she was pointing.

Further up from where they were, the six of them saw a massive, purple, reptilian tail lashing up and down, causing the very waves that were blocking them. The tail belonged to a great sized serpent creature with arms and... an orange pompadour?

The river monster was throwing itself around, one arm across its forehead, as it wailed out in agony.

Rarity moved away from the others and headed toward the creature.

"Excuse me," she called out as she moved closer. "Excuse me, darling. Forgive the intrusion, but is something the matter?"

"Oh," the serpent gasped out and looked away, covering his face. "Don't look at me. It's too horrible."

"Oh, my," Flowershy gasped as she moved forward as well. "What happened?"

"Well..." the serpent said with a sniffle, "I was minding my own business, putting some finishing touches on my appearance for a date tonight. All of a sudden, this tacky little blue cloud whiffed by and..."

He moved down, showing his face to them.

"... took off half of my mustache."

As they six mares looked, they saw what he was talking about. On one side of his face was a thick, luxurious mustache that had been waxed and shaped into a proper handlebar with an upward curl on the end. On the other side was a short tuft with rough edges that look like the hair had been hacked off.

"Seriously," Applejack said, her ears flopping. "That's what all the fuss is about?"

"Applejack," Rarity scolded, glaring at the pony in question. "How could you be so insensitive? Why, look at those luxurious, luminous scales."

"I know," the serpent said, running a hand along it's body.

"That exquisite, expertly coiffed mane," Rarity continued.

"I know." He ran his palms along the pompadour.

"The fabulously fine manicure."

"I know, I know."

"This fellow takes great care and attention to his appearance to look as lovely and fabulous as possible."

"It's true," the river serpent cried out. "It's all true."

"And the whole effect," Rarity continued, "is horribly ruined with out that well waxed and sculpted mustache."

"I know," the serpent sobbed, throwing an arm across his forehead. "I'm hideous."

"Well," Rarity growled, "I for one simply cannot stand by and allow such a horrible crime against fashion and beauty occur."

"What-" Twilight started to ask.

Before any of the other ponies could figure out what was going on, Rarity took a step forward. Grabbing one of the scales in her mouth, she gave a yank, causing the serpent to yelp out in pain.

"Why did you do that?" the river serpent asked.

Instead of answering, Rarity adjusted her hold, gripping the scale in her mouth like a dagger. She tilted her head back, then made a quick, hard, slashing motion. The others gasped out and the serpent fainted as Rarity chopped off the hair of her own tail. She then moved closer to the serpent.

"Now, I need you to hold still and trust me."

The river serpent opened his eyes and looked at Rarity curiously. He watched as she took a step closer, still holding the scale in between her teeth. Once again, she makes a slashing motion with the scale, cutting off the other side of the mustache.

"Rainbow," She called out as she dropped the scale, "Pinkie, could one of you be a dear and help me?"

"Ooh, ooh," Pinkie called out, bouncing up and down. "Me, me. I'll do it." She froze, thinking. "Uh... what am I supposed to do?"

"It's rather simple darling," Rarity explained. With her guidance, Pinkie Pie used her magic to split the orange hairs that were from the remains of the mustache and the purple hairs from Rarity's tail into to equal piles each, mix the two colors, and then magically reattach them to the serpent's lip.

"There," Rarity said with a smile. "Now you look fashionably fabulous once again."

"It's wonderful," the serpent said as he stroked the new mustache. "Thank you, thank you."

"Oh, Rarity," Flowershy said, "you're beautiful tail."

Rarity looked back at the rough edge stump where her tail had been. She gave it a small shake as she realized what she had just done.

"Well..." Rarity said as she looked at her friend with a sad smile, "... it will grow back eventually."

"Wouldn't the mustache have grown back too?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look," Twilight called out to the others. "The water's calmed down, and it looks shallow enough to cross here."

She hopped off the edge of the shore into the river, and immediately disappeared beneath the surface.

Twilight Comet surfaced from the water, gasping and coughing. She continued to rise further up out of the water, as the river serpent lifted her up.

"Allow me," the serpent announced, shifting his body so that he created multiple arches across the water, allowing the ponies to hop from one to the other without getting into the water. Being on one of them already, Twilight was the first across. She was quickly followed by Pinkie Pie, Flowershy and Rarity.

Applejack started to move toward the river and start across, when she noticed that Rainbow Burst was still standing on the shore, looking down river. Applejack turned and headed back to the unicorn.

"What are you waiting for? C'mon, Rainbow."

"Actually," Rainbow said slowly, running a hoof against the ground, "I was thinking that I might stay here."

"What?"

"Well I don't think I could make it back to Ponyville on my own," Rainbow admitted. "If I stay here, pretty sure I'll be safe with the serpent to keep me company."

"Are you seriously telling me," Applejack growled as she moved closer, pressing eye to eye, "that you're backing out."

Rainbow stayed where she was, still pressed faced to face Applejack, but refused to meet her eyes.

"Not like it's a big deal or anything," Rainbow mumbled. "You five are doing fine without me."

"Alright," Applejack snapped. She poked a hoof into Rainbow's chest. "You've been acting mighty peculiar since Twilight saved you from that cliff. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," Rainbow snapped back, shoving Applejack away from her. "And how would you know if I was acting 'peculiar' anyways? We just met yesterday before stupidly getting involved in this insane, dangerous, stupid, hopeless mission to try and stop an insane alicorn from casting all of Equestria into eternal night!"

Applejack's eyes went wide before narrowing again, a smirk developing on her mouth.

"That's it, ain't it." She pointed a hoof at Rainbow. "You're scared."

"Really?" Rainbow asked, staring at the pegasus. "That's what you get out of that whole statement?"

"It's true though, right?"

"I... you... we... uuuuugh..."

Rainbow Burst smacked a hoof to her face as she let out a groan.

"Fine!" she yelled. "Yes. You got me. I'm scared. This entire thing is dangerous, stupid and... and..."

She sagged.

"And I really don't think I can do this."

"...Rainbow," Applejack said in a soft voice. "Do you think you're the only one who's scared?" She motioned toward the others. "Don't you think we're all scared?

"I know Flowershy is." She let out a small chuckle. "That girl can get scared by her own shadow. And me..."

She shifted, chewing on her lip a moment.

"I really don't want to be here," she finally admitted. "With all that's goin' on, I would rather be on the farm with my family then out here dealing with this place and such."

"Great," Rainbow said with a grin. "We can forget the whole thing and go home. Just tell the others that its cancelled and we can all head back to Ponyville."

"No," Applejack stated. "We may be scared, but this is still something that needs to be done. Let me ask you something important: what would Princess Celestia tell you?"

That struck a nerve. Rainbow Bursts shifted, chewing on her lip. Her mind started to go through her memories, picking out all the conversations with the princess that she could recall. She made her way through the pieces of advice that Celestia had given her, trying to figure out the ones that were best for this whole situation.

Most of the advice was not the type she would want to admit to in this situation. However, there was one that she could use to reinforce her own opinion.

"She would be proud of me for acknowledging my limitations and not trying something that was beyond my abilities."

Applejack said nothing. Instead she just stood there, staring at Rainbow Burst. It was that same disturbing and familiar look that Rainbow had seen so often from Princess Celestia. The look, combined with the fact that Applejack was saying nothing, slowly started to get at her.

"Okay!" Rainbow snapped. "Okay." She let out a sigh. "She would probably tell me that the right thing to do is the right thing to do, no matter how hard or scary it might be. Happy?"

"Considering the situation," Applejack replied, "no. Still, it's nice that you're being honest with me, and yourself. Besides," -- she placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder -- "you ain't going at this alone. You have your friends with ya."

"... yeah..." Rainbow said softly before nodding. "Yeah. You're right." She started walking toward the serpent's arches.

"Alright. Let's go." She gave a hop, jumping onto one.

Applejack gave a small smile, watching a moment as Rainbow made her way across the river. With a flap of her wings, she took off and started to fly across to join the others.

Author's Notes:

I don't know what's going on. I really did not intend to have unicorn Rainbow be so neurotic or uncertain. I did want her to have some doubt or uncertainty since it fits the character. Rainbow acts cocky, but it was demonstrated as in "Sonic Rainboom" that she does get nervous or scared and has some self-doubt.

Left Hanging

After the conversation with Applejack, Rainbow Burst found herself feeling a little better about the whole thing. She still felt this whole thing was a bad idea, but at least she no long felt like she was as separate and different from the others as before. Even if they were about to face something dangerous and risk their lives against a nearly god-like being, at least they were going to do it together.

Hence why only a little better.

Still, it was enough that she was willing to continue on with the others. She had even been willing to take the lead, moving to the front of the group and walking ahead of the others as they followed along the trail.

As they walk, a fog appeared around them. It was quite sudden too. One moment, everything seemed to be clear and fine. The next, there was a thick cloud surrounding them, making difficult to see more than a few inches ahead. Despite their best efforts, Twilight and Applejack could do nothing about it. It just refused to dissipate.

The density of the fog did seem to vary. There were points where it got so thick, the ponies had to hold onto each others tails to make sure that none of them got lost. At others, the fog seemed to stick close to the ground, coming up to their chests, but not really blocking what they could see for the time being.

It was during one of the latter moments that the six of them saw something up ahead: a castle. It stood high and proud, a silhouette of shadow against the starry sky.

"That must be the castle," Rainbow shouted, running toward it. "Now we can get in there, see if we can find anything about the el- AAAAHHH!"

The rest of the unicorn's statement was lost in a scream. In her excitement, Rainbow had headed for the castle as quick as she could, heading for the bridge right in front of it.

Unfortunately, the bridge was gone. In her haste to get to the castle, Rainbow Burst stepped right off the edge of a cliff.

Twilight Comet shot up and over the cliff side, chasing after the falling unicorn. Wings flapping hard, she pushed herself to catch up. Reaching Rainbow, Twilight grabbed her and shifted. The pair of them skimmed less than a foot above the ground before heading back up toward the others.

"I got you," Twilight said, "again."

"Heh," Rainbow chuckled as she clung to her savior. "Thanks."

The pair quickly made their way back to where the others were waiting.

"You know," Applejack said with a smirk, "if you two just wanted some time alone, you could've just asked. Though now really ain't the right time."

Twilight and Rainbow both stared at Applejack. The pair's cheeks were turning bright red as the others started snickering.

"It's not like that," Twilight snapped. "I was just saving her from falling. I'm not interested in her like that."

"Yeah," Rainbow declared before stopping. "Wait." She turned to Twilight. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Twilight turned to Rainbow, mouth open in surprise.

"Are you seriously asking me this now? Is this really something you care about?"

"No!" Rainbow yelled. "I'm just... curious... Why wouldn't you be interested in me?"

"I barely even know you," Twilight shouted back. "We just met yesterday for crying out loud. Even if I was looking for a relationship, I don't know anywhere near enough about you to figure out if you're my type."

Rainbow looked away, shifting as she considered the statement.

"I guess that makes sense," she conceded.

"Are you two going to kiss and make up now?" Pinkie asked, receiving snickers of amusement from Applejack and Rarity, a smirk from Flowershy, and more blushing from Rainbow Burst and Twilight Comet.

"If we're done with the teasing," Rainbow growled, as she glared at the others, "we still have a bridge to cross and a castle to get to."

"Well it still looks like it's tied on this end," Applejack announced as she checked the edge of the bridge. "Bit loose though. Twi, why don't you check the other end and see if you can fix it? I'll make sure this part won't give out while we're crossing."

"I'm on it," Twilight said as she took off again.

While the pair of pegasus ponies took care of the bridge, the other four were left with little else to do besides just wait. Pinkie Pie started to dance in place while humming loudly to herself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWM2joNb9NE

Twilight floated down along the inside of the crevasse. She looked along the remains of the rope bridge as she went, mentally counting off the distance from the bottom as best she figured after chasing Rainbow down. She was practically landing when she finally reached the end.

That's odd. It's all seems to be in one piece. Shouldn't it have broken more toward the middle?

Flying closer, she took a hold of the rope and looked at it. Unfortunately, it did her no good. Twilight had learned a little about tying knots, so that was no problem for her. She had read stories where the hero would look at the rope and be able to tell if it had been cut. Although she was familiar with the concept, she had no idea what a rope would look like if it was cut as compared to chewed or if it had frayed naturally. So she could tell that there was enough rope that she might be able to tie it back in place, but had no idea whether it had been sabotaged (which she kind of suspected, considering), or had broken naturally from fraying.

Getting a firm grip on the rope between her teeth, Twilight started up to exit the crevasse on the other side. It took longer than she expected to lift the entire bridge back up where it belong and get to the ground again. Now she had to keep it up there and tie the ropes to the supports once again.

Where the other five were waiting, they watched as their side of the bridge started to rise up.

"Great," Rainbow said as she started to walk for the bridge. "Now we just need to walk across and-"

She stopped as she felt a firm yank on her tail. Turning to look back, she found that Applejack had grabbed it.

"Hold on there," Applejack said as she released the tail. "We need to give Twilight time to make sure she has her end tied up." She grinned and chuckled. "Don't want you falling again. 'specially since your girl is a bit too busy to save you."

Rainbow's cheek burned as she let out a huff of annoyance, but said nothing. Teasing aside, Applejack made a valid point. It would be stupid to rush across a bridge before they knew for sure it could support them.

Across the gorge to the other side, Twilight landed. She stepped on one of the ropes, digging her hooves against it and into the ground to try and hold it in place (would be pointless if the entire bridge fell again while she was trying to tie off the supports). Once certain that nothing would slip out from under her, she began to tie one of side of the bridge to the support post.

Twilight.

Twilight froze, ears perking as her muscles tensed. Her eyes scanned the fog as she listened.

After fifteen seconds of nothing else happening, Twilight continued to tie the rope. Once satisfied that it was taut and strong, she worked to put multiple knots into it and make sure it would support the group so they could cross it to the castle and back.

Twilight Comet.

Twilight released the rope and turned around. Her wings flared out wide as she looked around. She knew she had heard something say her name this time.

"Who's out there?" she called out. "I should warn you, my brother is in the royal guard and has taught me about hoof to hoof combat."

He had tried to, anyways.

"So you better just reveal yourself, or else I might have to do something we both won't like."

"Twilight Comet," a voice called out again. Twilight turned look for the source, this time seeing the silhouette of three forms coming out of the fog.

The figures were just in black and purple jumpsuits. They moved closer, looking at Twilight.

"We are The Shadowbolts!" the one in front proclaimed. Strangely, this announcement was immediately followed by the group being back-lit by a flash lightning as thunder boomed.

"Shadowbolts?" Twilight repeated, staring at the three ponies in front of her. It was then that she noticed that while the two followers were had the normal, feathered wings of a pegasus, the leader had bat-like wings.

"That's right," the leader said as she took another step forward. "A new aerial stunt team from here in The Everfree. A team that is ready to make itself known to the world. Well... almost."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, one of her ears giving a flick.

"You see, we have speed." The Shadowbolt leader stepped forward. "We have agility." She moved closer, causing Twilight to take a step back.

"What we need is... a pony that is smart."

Twilight smiled at the compliment.

"A pony that knows how to organize and plan."

"I am quite good at that," Twilight said with a grin.

"A pony that can create a schedule and make sure we can stick to it."

Twilight grinned more as she gave a hop, her wings giving a little flutter.

"That is so me!" She shouted, barely containing herself.

"Exactly," The Shadowbolt said. "You're just the kind of pony we need to make our name famous all across Equestria."

"Great," Twilight said as she turned to the other side of the bridge. "We still have to deal with Nightmare Moon first. But as soon as we're done-"

"NO!"

The yell made Twilight jump in surprise.

"If you want to be one of us," the bat growled, "you have to come with us now. They--" she pointed toward the other side of the bridge "-- are only holding you back."

She took a step closer.

"What's it going to be: us, or them?"

Twilight stared at The Shadowbolts, then turned and looked back across the bridge to where her friends were waiting.

"Are you serious?!" Twilight snapped, turning to face The Shadowbolts. "Do you really think that I would leave my friends out here, alone, at a time like this? What even kind of choice is that?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes, turning back to the rope and starting to tie it up.

"I mean -- seriously! -- who in Equestria would expect anypony to say 'yes' to an offer like that? 'Oh, we're going to grant you your biggest dream. All we ask is that you abandon your friends in the middle of a creepy dark forest while an insane alicorn is trying to take over the entire kingdom.'" She gave a shake of her head.

Once the knot was tied, Twilight gave one last hard tug to make sure it was secure. Once satisfied, she opened her wings and stepped onto the bridge. Making her way across, she would occasionally stop and stomp on it to make sure it would hold up. She continued to grumble to herself about the matter, not realizing she was across to the other side until Applejack spoke to her.

"You alright, sugar cube?"

"Huh?" Twilight blinked. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine."

"Who were those ponies you were talking to?" Rainbow asked, staring across to the other side.

"Forget them," Twilight grumbled. "The bridge seems to be ready."

"I'll go first," Applejack decided. "Just in case they try cuttin' the ropes or somethin'. Once I'm across, y'all can decide who's next."

With that, she started making her way across the bridge.

"So..." Rainbow turned to Twilight. "While we wait, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Author's Notes:

I thought about actually having Pinkie Pie jump onto Rainbow Burst and sing the song aloud while dancing on her. While funny and would have been an entertaining scene, it seemed excessive. Kind of like having her trying too hard to be random and goofy during a moment that is somewhat serious.

Into the Castle

"So," Rainbow Burst said slowly as they walked through the castle, "let me make sure I understand all this. There is an ancient castle... in the middle of a forest... and nopony has been here for nearly a thousand years."

"That's right," Pinkie called out. "Do you think there are traps? I bet there are traps. Creepy, spooky, old castles always have all sorts of fun and dangerous traps. Although they never explain how they are still able to work after all those centuries. You would think they would break down. Or how do they get reset after somepony already sets it off."

"I doubt there are any traps, Pinkie," Rarity said as she watched her step. "This is supposed to be a castle where two princesses lived after all. Besides, considering the..." she stopped as she tried to wipe something off her hoof, "...condition... of the place, I doubt any trap would still be working."

"We should still be careful though," Twilight added. "Even if there are no traps, or they don't work -- and we can't be sure of either of those -- this is still a castle that's been untouched for approximately a millenia. There's no telling what could be inhabiting this place or where the structure has become unstable."

"Any ideas where we should start looking for clues?" Applejack asked.

The question made the group stop. Each looked around as they thought, trying to figure out where the best place to start their search would be.

"What about the throne room?" Flowershy suggested. "I mean... they would want to keep The Elements close, right?"

"Sounds as good a place as any," Rainbow admitted as she started to walk again. "Besides, if this place is set up like the castle in Canterlot, the throne room would be where most of the other halls and such connect anyways. Hopefully it's just down this hall."

The others moved to join her, following as they made their way through the grand hall and toward the throne room. It was a pretty easy trip, although they had to occasionally weave their way around a pile of rubble here or there. Soon, they made their way to the doorway to the throne room.

One of the doors was missing completely. Large chunks of stone had been torn from the frame where it would have been connected. The other hung askew, one of the hinges destroyed. There were multiple burn marks along the surface, including some that made holes all the way through the thick wood.

Still leading, Rainbow made her way into the throne room. Her horn began to glow as she collected energy, just in case. Tentatively, she moved forward, eyes scanning for anything that might be dangerous or helpful.

In the center of the room, was a large stone pedestal with five arms branching out from it. At the end of each arm was held a smooth, white, stone sphere with a shape etched into the surface. On the top of the pedestal was a larger sphere, four or five times the size of the others.

"Could that be it?" Rarity asked, walking forward to look at the orbs.

Twilight walked closer to the pedestal, looking down at the base.

"It must be something important. It looks like the floor was made to open up underneath it."

"Easiest way is to try them out," Rainbow said. "The book said something about a spark, so maybe if I use a little magic on them, they'll react. Everypony stand back."

"C'mon," Applejack announced. "Let's give her some space so she can work." The others followed after her, stepping back into the grand hall.

Dear Celestia, Rainbow thought as she turned to look at the spheres, please, please, PLEASE let this work.

Her eyes locked on the spheres as she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She tried to push all distractions out of her mind, focusing only on the stones and what she wanted to do. Jaw clenching as she worked, she collected her power and started to channel it. Her horn began to glow with an aura of power.

Just as the magic started to encompass the spheres, Rainbows concentration was interrupted by a boom of malicious laughter. Glittering blue-black clouds formed and shifted, swirling in the air before puffing out of existence.

Standing on top of the pedestal was Nightmare Moon. She ran a hoof along the well groomed orange mustache she now had while glaring down at the unicorn. Nightmare Moon bared her fangs at Rainbow, bat wings flared out to their full length.

The laughter and sight of the black alicorn had caused Rainbow Burst to freeze, the magic dissipating from around her horn. Her jaw clenched shut as her throat went dry. Her eyes went wide as she stared, ears pinning back.

"Foolish little pony," Nightmare Moon growled. "Did you really think I would simply allow you to try and use The Elements against me?" She stomped one of her hooves, her wings giving a flap.

No! Rainbow let out a snort as she narrowed her eyes. I can't give up. Not now. Not when I've come so close.

Once again she began to concentrate. The magic started to collect around her horn once more, swirling and shifting with power. Rainbow then unleashed, firing a blast of burning hot magical energy directly at the alicorn.

Nightmare Moon let out a piercing shriek as she was hit by the magical blast. The sound sent a thrill of excitement through Rainbow...which immediately vanished as the shriek turned into laughter.

"Stop," Nightmare Moon called out. "Stop, stop. It tickles."

When the blast stopped, Nightmare Moon brushed herself off. Eyes wide, she reached up to bring a hoof to her nose.

"It's seems you destroyed my mustache." She let out a sigh. "Oh, well. I mean, it's not like it was actually mine or anything."

Rainbow Burst swallowed and took a step back. The bad news was that the fire blast spell had failed to do any harm to Nightmare Moon. The good news was that it had failed so badly, that it had not even hurt. It had tickled. Rainbow doubted it would be enough to keep Nightmare Moon from getting revenge for it anyways.

Now more than ever, she needed the help of The Elements.

Trying to ignore Nightmare Moon, she turned her attention back to the stones. Her horn still glowed with magic, holding onto it after her failed attack. This time she focused her attention on The Elements, channeling her power into them.

One by one, the spheres began to glow with energy.

"What?" Nightmare Moon cried out, eyes going wide.

Each glowing with a different color, The Elements began to rise from their pedestals.

"No."

The Elements began to move, circling around Nightmare Moon.

"NO!"

Tears started to fill the alicorn's eyes.

"Not again. Please! I... I can't.. I..."

The Elements stopped, falling to the ground. Both Nightmare Moon and Rainbow Burst stared at the stones in shock.

"...heh..." a small smile formed on Nightmare Moon's mouth. "Heh heh. Heh-heh-heh. Ha ha. Hahaha!"

The chuckle grew, becoming a full roaring laugh. She threw her head back, chest shaking as she expressed her mirth at the situation. She opened her wings wide and gave a hard flap.

A massive gust of wind struck Rainbow and the stones, sending them flying backwards. As she tumbled through the air, Rainbow Burst managed to catch a sight of a pony before slamming into them. The impact knocked the air from her lungs, causing her to fall limply on top of the pony she had hit.

Loud thumping noises -- followed by another sound she did not recognize -- reached her ears. Opening her eyes, she watched as one of the stones slammed into the wall... and shattered.

Author's Notes:

Wonder how readers would react if I just ended it right here.

Shattered

"No!" Rainbow Burst shouted. Her heart pounded in her chest as she got up, running for the shards.

"Rainbow!" one of the others shouted out, chasing after her.

Rainbow's eyes burned with tears as she reached the remains of one of the stones, picking them up.

Gone. The Elements of Harmony were gone. Their best chance of stopping Nightmare Moon and and saving Equestia, shattered into dust.

Rainbow felt a hoof on touch her gently on the shoulder, but did not move. She felt sick, tired, and empty. It was like she was holding the remains of her own heart in her hooves, like she was staring at what had once been her hopes and dreams.

"Oh my, oh my," Nightmare Moon chuckled out. "Such a disappointment. Whatever would dear Princess Celestia think?"

Princess Celestia. The ruler of Equestria and only pony who ever seemed to show any sort of faith in Rainbow. It had been Celestia who had seen potential in Rainbow, who had taken the unicorn as her personal student, and had given Rainbow the responsibility of making sure The Summer Sun Celebration was ready and went well.

It was a faith, a responsibility, that Rainbow felt she did not deserve.

She had failed. She had failed her teacher, her princess, Equestria, and her friends.

Something prickled at the back of her mind. Something she suddenly felt like was very important. Something Princess Celestia had told her. What was it?

"You... You leave her alone!"

There was a gasp of surprise from four of the ponies as Flowershy spoke up.

"Rainbow Burst is... is a nice, kind, pony. She is our friend and I will not let anypony pick on her you... you... bully."

Rainbow stared at her friend, jaw open in surprise.

Friend... kind...

"You dare!" Nightmare Moon roared out, stomping a hoof as her wings flared wide. Flowershy let out an eep of fear, cringing and pressing against Rainbow Burst.

"She's right," Applejack called out, moving forward. "Rainbow -- hay, all of us for that matter -- have been right scared, but still came all the way out here, even when it would have been easier to turn back. And I know there are times we all wanted to."

Honest... honesty...

Rainbow's head started to ache. It felt like she was just on the edge of something, like when she was about to figure out what she was missing in a spell and finally manage to make it work.

"She still came with us though," Twilight Comet added. "She still stayed by our side to stand up to you and help the princess."

Princess... friend... loyal...

"Considering that when you abducted Princess Celestia," Rarity said, "you also took away Rainbow's friend and teacher, I would say that she may have lost the most in the whole matter."

Loss... give... generous...

This was stupid. Celestia was missing, The Elements of Harmony were gone, and Equestria was cast into eternal night by an insane alicorn. Yet here were her... friends?...standing up for her, trying to comfort her. This was neither the time, nor the place. Although it probably did not matter since they would either destroyed by Nightmare Moon, or simply left here to try and get back to Ponyville with the way things currently were.

A foreleg wrapped around Rainbow's neck, knocking her out of her confused thoughts. She looked to find Pinkie Pie right beside her, a small smile on her face.

Smile... laugh...

"Even if we lose here, today," the pink unicorn stated, "we'll find away to make everything okay. Together, as friends."

Together...as... friends....

There are six Elements, the book had said, but only five are known.

Rainbow Burst looked at Pinkie Pie a moment longer.

Laughter.

She turned to Twilight Comet.

Loyalty.

Flowershy.

Kindness.

Applejack.

Honesty.

Rarity.

Generosity.

She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to think. She was so, so close. The answer was right in front of her. She was just missing one thing. What was it.

Together.... as friends....

Rainbow Burst grinned as she ran around the room. She was an excited little filly. Not only had she just earned her cutie mark, she was to be the personal student of Princess Celestia.

"This is my room?" the filly asked excitedly. "I get to live here while you teach me all about magic?"

"Not entirely accurate," Celestia stated, causing the Rainbow to droop. "These will be your quarters, and the dragon's --"

"Spike."

" -- Spike's, when you both get older. I will be teaching you many things, including different types of magic. Mostly about the type that you will use and channel through your horn."

Rainbow dropped into a sitting position, staring up at the princess curiously.

"What other kind of magic is there?"

"Each of the races have their own type of magic," Celestia explained, "and we alicorns each seem to have our own special magical affinity as well. There is also a special magic in everypony. It is not one that can be used to cast spells, but allows them to do incredible, magical things all the same. That is the magic that comes from the heart."

On this last part, Celestia raised a hoof and placed it on her chest.

Rainbow stared at Celestia a moment, then looked down at her own chest.

"Does it hurt?" Rainbow asked. "How do you use it without tearing the heart out?"

Celestia's eyes went wide at the statement before bursting into laughter.

Princess Celestia sat in the royal chariot, watching the thick, fluffy snow clouds beneath them. She took a deep breath, enjoying the feel of the winter evening air filling her lungs.

Celestia turned to look at Rainbow.

"Did you enjoy the play?"

"I guess so," Rainbow said, looking at the clouds below.

"Have you ever seen the Hearth's Warming play before?"

"No."

Celestia reached out with a wing, placing it on Rainbow's back.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"I don't know," Rainbow said with a sigh. "It's just... Why did any of that have to happen to begin with? If the three tribes had worked together from the beginning, none of that would have happened, right?"

Celestia smiled and ran a hoof through Rainbow's mane. The filly always seemed to have it so messy, despite numerous attempts to groom it.

"You are correct, my wise little pony. Had the three tribes been able to live in harmony from the beginning, none of the events would have happened to begin with, meaning Smart Cookie, Private Pansy, and Clover the Clever would never had needed to save themselves and their leaders."

Rainbow smile, feeling like she was getting great praise.

"However," Celestia continued, "that would also mean that there was no story to begin with, and also no Equestria. After all, it was the friendship created in that cave that allowed the tribes to get along and create the very kingdom we now know."

"Yeah..." Rainbow conceded, looking down.

"Besides, sometimes the most important lessons are the ones that need to be repeated the most so they can be the best remembered."

"Lesson?" Rainbow looked up at the princess curiously. "What lesson?"

"In this case," Celestia explained, "it would be the lesson that we are stronger and can accomplish more when we work together and get along, than if we were to fight with each other."

Rainbow thought about it a moment, then smiled as she gave a nod.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess we are. Well.... except you..."

"Even I rely on others and need assistance. Be it the officials that look over each town, the guards that help protect the ponies, or a little rainbow maned filly that sometimes makes me have to look at things a little differently than I'm used to."

Rainbow grinned, puffing up her chest at the compliment.

"On a mostly unrelated note," Celestia stated, "you are going to meet a pony with a connection to the play soon."

"I am?" Rainbow asked.

"You are." Celestia reached out with her wing again, pulling Rainbow against her. "A direct descendant of Princess Platinum herself, in fact, Prince Blueblood."

Rainbow let out a grin and chuckled.

"Hopefully he's more fun than his ancestor."

"Hopefully," Celestia agreed in a whisper.

"Where are we going?" a teenage Rainbow Burst asked as they stepped out of the castle and onto the grounds.

"Not far," Celestia responded. "Simply to the guard training grounds."

"The training grounds?" Rainbow picked up her pace, moving to catch up with the princess and look at her curiously. "Why?"

"No one particular reason," Celestia responded. "I thought it might do you some good. A chance to see how the guard train and work, instead of merely seeing them standing while on duty. It may also encourage you to spend some time working out yourself. I don't think that you will be ready for the intensity of the guard training right away, but it would do you some good. Improve your body as well as your mind."

Rainbow's face scrunched up at Princess Celestia's statement, for various reasons. A part of it was ego. The claim that Rainbow Burst could not keep up with the guard training was insulting. Granted, it was more than likely true since she did not spend time on a hard workout routine. Still, she did spend time traveling all across the castle which was pretty massive.

Another part was curiosity. Encouragement of exercise aside, what was Princess Celestia hoping for Rainbow to learn? What lesson was she supposed to take from this all?

Admittedly, she was also curious to see the training as well. The guards were pretty good at keeping a serious and stern look when standing at a post, they also seem to be in really good shape (she had -- through no fault of her own that she would admit -- seen how quickly they could respond to a situation). It would be interesting to see what they do.

There was also a little bit of pride. It was the way she always felt whenever Princess Celestia actively showed an interest in her, which was practically during any lesson. The idea that the princess cared about her and how she was doing always gave her a nice feeling.

"There they are," Celestia announced as they reached the edge of the training ground.

Rainbow's eyes went wide as she stared, taking it all in. There were dozens of ponies, most of them pegasi, moving in formation. She could see them marching in formation, in full armor. There were some that were practicing with weapons. Others were working on making their way through obstacle courses. A small number of the unicorn guards were busy with spells, where one would cast an offensive spell while another used a defensive one to protect themselves.

"Quite impressive, is it not?" Celestia asked.

Rainbow just nodded.

"Even after all these years," the princess continued, "it always amazes me to watch them. Such a wonderful reminder of what ponies can accomplish when they work together."

"Really?" Rainbow asked, turning to look at Princess Celestia curiously. "How? I mean, it doesn't really look like they're working together to me."

"But they are." Celestia reached out a wing, wrapping it around Rainbow. "More importantly, by going through the training -- the hardships -- together, they are building common bonds and comradery, allowing them to trust in and rely on each other in more dangerous and dire situations."

The princess then turned her attention toward one of the guards.

"Excuse me," she called out. "Could you come here, please."

The guard in question gave a flap of his wings, flying off the training field and landing in front of the Celestia and Rainbow. He gave a deep bow.

"What is your name?" Celestia asked.

"Corporal Shining Armor, ma'am," the guard responded, saluting as he stood at attention.

"At ease, Corporal." She smiled at the guard as he relaxed. "Now, if you would be so kind, please give my student -- Rainbow Burst -- a tour and explanation, I would appreciate it."

"I will do my best, Princess," Shining Armor stated before turning to Rainbow. "If you'll please come with me."

Rainbow Burst gave one last look at Princess Celestia. Receiving a nod, she got up and started to follow after the pegasus guard.

"That's it!" Rainbow Burst shouted, eyes going wide. "That's it! That's it! That's it!"

She grabbed the others, holding them tightly. A big grin spread across her face as she held onto them.

"What's it?" Pinkie asked, pulling her muzzle out of Rainbow's coat.

"Yes," Nightmare Moon said as she moved closer. "What, pray tell, suddenly has you in such an enthusiastic mood?"

"I finally get it," Rainbow Burst proclaimed. "I finally understand."

"Understand?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Understand what?"

"The Elements. The Elements of Harmony aren't just some magical stones. They are traits found in us. Traits that we embody."

"What are you talking about darling?" Rarity asked.

"Think about it."

Rainbow Burst grabbed Twilight Comet.

"When Twilight saved me from falling off the cliff, she said she would never abandon her friends in their time of need. A fact she proved when she didn't even consider whatever it was that she was offered while repairing the bridge. She's shown that she represents The Element of Loyalty."

Several of the shards shot up from the ground and flew toward the ponies. Rainbow let out a yelp, jumping out of the way. Instead of hitting any of the ponies, they shards circled around Twilight's neck.

"What the hay?" Applejack shouted, looking at their friend and the strange glow encompassing her.

"Oh, oh," Pinkie Pie called out as she bounced over to Rainbow. "Keep going, keep going."

She grabbed the rainbow maned unicorn and set her next to Flowershy.

"Her next. Her next."

Rainbow looked at Pinkie in confusion a moment before turning her timid friend.

"Flowershy stopped us from fighting a manticore, and helped it out when it was hurting. She has shown how powerful a little kindness can be."

More of the remnants from the shattered spheres floated up from the ground and flew toward the ponies. This time the flew toward Flowershy, encompassing her as they did Twilight.

"Now do me," Pinkie nearly shouted, grinning.

Rainbow looked at her and chuckled.

"You are totally obvious," Rainbow said, poking Pinkie in the nose. "Normally hyper and grinning. You made those trees look so silly none of us could take them seriously. You are the bouncing embodiment of Laughter."

Pinkie Pie let out a squeal of excitement as shards started to float around her own neck as well.

"When we came across the serpent that was distraught over what happened to its mustache," Rainbow continued, "Rarity not only was the one that sympathized with him, but sacrificed her own tail which she clearly put so much care into it. She gave up something that meant a lot to her, showing The Element of Generosity."

Same as with the others, stone shards began to float and encircle Rarity.

"When I admitted my doubts and wanted to give up," Rainbow said as she turned to Applejack, "you not only talked some sense into me to keep going, but admitted that you yourself was as scared as I was. You were willing to be honest and show your own fears in this situation."

"Now wait-" Applejack started, but stopped as she was encompassed by the glowing shards.

"So you see?" Rainbow shouted as she turned to face Nightmare Moon. "The Elements are still here."

Nightmare Moon stared wide-eyed at the five floating mares. Her eyes then slowly narrowed as a smirk spread across her face.

"Well, that's nice and all," Nightmare Moon stated, "but your forgetting one thing: there are six Elements of Harmony. You are still missing one." She let out a chuckle.

"Wrong!"

"What?"

"See," Rainbow Burst stated as she stepped forward, "I finally realized something that Princess Celestia had been telling me. We are better when we work together."

She looked back to the other five, smiling.

"Alone, none of us would have been able to make it here. It was because we worked together and trusted one another -- helped one another -- that we were able to make it to the castle. It wasn't one of us that made it here, it was all of us. We are stronger when we are together. We can do more, when we are together. We are friends."

She turned and glared at Nightmare Moon.

"And as friends, we can do anything, because friendship is magic."

A bright white light filled the room as a sixth stone appeared and headed for Rainbow Burst. As it touched her, the floating shards around the others shifted, pressing against them. The light shifted and separated, each of the six mares encompassed by a different color. It then shot up from the group, meeting in the air above them to create a rainbow before heading directly toward Nightmare Moon.

The black alicorn gave out one last cry of horror before she was engulfed.

A Brand New Day

Rainbow Burst let out a groan as she rolled over, trying to get comfortable. The stone floor was not really the best place to be laying, but she had no interest in trying to get up. Besides, the sunlight felt nice against her cheek.

SUN!

Rainbow's eyes shot opened as she jerked up, looking around. The sun was rising from the horizon, its light coming in through the windows and holes in the wall.

"It worked," she whispered.

"It worked!" she shouted, jumping up onto her hooves. "It worked! It worked! It worked!"

"What's goin' on?" Applejack asked with a groan.

"Is it morning already?" Pinkie mumbled.

"Morning?" Twilight cried out as she jumped up as well. "If it's morning, then that means the sun's up again."

"Exactly!" Rainbow was grinning widely, practically bouncing in place. "It means we did it!"

"Indeed you did," a voice called out, drawing the attention of the six mares.

A glowing white light floated into the room, slowly descending from the sky until it landed in front of them. The light shifted and changed, taking the shape of a large pony with wings before fading away.

"Princess Celestia," Rarity called out in surprise at the sight before.

Princess Celestia gave a nod toward the smaller mare, a slight smile on her face. Her wings gave on more flap before folding up as she moved forward.

Of the six, all but Rainbow Burst bowed to the princess.

"You're okay!" Rainbow shouted as she ran to Celestia, hopping to try and hug her.

"Correct," Celestia replied as she nuzzled Rainbow. "Thanks to you and your friends. I knew you could do it."

Rainbow stopped and let go, moving back to look up at Celestia in surprise.

"You did? How?"

She tensed, eyes going wide.

"Wait," Rainbow gasped out. "You mean you knew this was going to happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you that you were ready for more responsibility," Celestia responded, "and that you needed to make friends. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and knew you were the one who would defeat her."

She ran the tip of a wing through Rainbow's mane.

"But first, you had to experience true friendship and learn the value of it. Only then could you unleash the power buried deep within your heart."

Rainbow smiled at that, looking up at the princess.

"Speaking of," the princess continued as she started walking past her student and the others, "there is another who -- hopefully -- shall allow the same to happen to her as well."

The others lifted up from their bow and watched the princess as she walked past them. Curiously, they watched as she moved toward where Nightmare Moon had been standing.

Where the black alicorn had been now laid a smaller, dark blue one surrounded by the remnants of armor. Her blue mane fell around her face, covering it, and her large bat-like wings were spread out at her side.

"Princess Luna," Celestia stated.

The blue alicorn -- Princess Luna -- let out a gasp of surprise as her head shot up. Ears dropping and eyes going wide, she scrambled, trying to push up onto her hooves and move away from Celestia.

"It has been a thousand years since I've seen you like this," Celestia said.

Luna cringed and shifted. She looked everywhere but at the princess standing in front of her. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she winced.

Princess Celestia lowered herself to the ground, looking eye to eye with Luna.

"It is more than time to put our differences aside. We were meant to rule together, as sisters should."

"Sisters?" the others shouted out, shocked by the statement.

Rainbow's hind legs came out from under her, causing her to plop onto her bottom as she stared, jaw hanging, at the two alicorns. Her mind reeled as so many things suddenly seemed to make sense. She looked up at the castle, realizing that this was actually once the home of a younger Princess Celestia.

What would she have been like?

"So, what do you say?" Celestia asked as she leaned closer to her sister. "Will you accept my friendship and put the past behind us?"

Luna finally looked up, her blue eyes meeting her sister's magenta ones. Tears started running down her cheeks. Getting up, she lunged at Celestia, wrapping her front legs around her sister and burying her face into Celestia's neck.

"I'm sorry," Luna sobbed out as she held onto her sister. "I'm sorry, Tia. I've missed you so, so much."

"I've missed you too," Celestia whispered as she nuzzled her sister, tears starting to leak from her own eyes as well.

The six ponies shifted, looking around to find something of interest other than the tearful reunion.

"Perhaps," Rarity suggested, "it would be best if we were to leave them to their moment."

Silently, the others agreed, heading out of the throne room and heading toward the hallway.

"So," Pinkie said as soon as they were in the hall, "we saved the day, reunited Princess Celestia with her sister, and got some neat looking magical jewelry in the process." She hopped up and down in excitement. "You know what this means?"

"We can all pretty much guess what you think it means," Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.

"When we get back to Ponyville," Pinkie continued, "we need to throw a big party!"

The other five ponies grinned.

"Ya know what?" Applejack said as she put a hoof around Pinkie Pie. "This time, I think you might actually be onto something."

Back To The Castle

Princess Luna's eyes went wide as she stepped into the room. Tapestries of dark blue, purple, and black with silver trim and highlights decorated the walls. Artificial stars covered the ceiling, twinkling like they were real, and even designed to mimic actual constellations.

The princess moved into her room, feeling the thick, luxurious fabric of the rug against her hooves. Continuing to make her way in, she looked at the four poster bed with a canopy that was trimmed with Luna's cutie mark.

"This...this is to be our quarters?" she asked, turning to look at her sister.

"This is yours, yes," Celestia confirmed with a smile. "It has a balcony for when you want to look outside, or are ready to raise and lower the moon once more, a personal bathroom, a bell pull in case you need something such as a snack or assistance.

"Also, there is a passage, connecting your room to mine." Celestia's horn lit up with magic as she turned to face one of the walls. The spot began to glow with her energy before moving to reveal a staircase. "This way you can come and see me whenever you wish without having to worry about being stopped in the halls."

"That seems unnecessary," Luna said as she looked up at the hidden.

"Perhaps," Celestia admitted with a nod, "but I thought you might want to know. You can come and see me at any time."

"...thank you..." Luna whispered, smiling slightly.

"Anytime." Celestia leaned forward to give her sister a gentle nuzzle. She then took a step back.

"Now, I will leave you to adjust to your new accommodations and get some rest."

Luna gave a nod and watched her sister leave, shutting the door. She then turned around and looked at her room.

A room. An actual room. With an actual bed. This seemed better than her old quarters. It was certainly better than... than... where ever it was she had been staying for the last thousand years.

A thousand years...

It was still hard to believe that she had been go for so long. Generations of regular ponies have come and gone. So much must have changed in that time. There was a lot for her to catch up on.

And Luna knew exactly where she wanted to start.

With a big plate of gooey, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a large glass of cold milk.

Heading over to the bell rope, Luna gripped it in her teeth and gave it a firm tug. Now, she just needed to wait for the servant to arrive so she could get her snack.

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia made her way through the halls. She hummed gently to herself as walked, carrying a pink bakery box on her back. She smiled at the guards, giving them a nod as she passed. The guards did not do much to acknowledge it, but she could see the slight difference.

Soon, she found herself standing before the door that she had been looking for. There was a moment of pause as she noticed the door had once again been vandalized. It was odd since the most likely culprit could not have possibly done it this time. She took a step back and turned to look at one of the guards.

"You wouldn't happen to know who did this, would you?" she asked.

"Did what, ma'am?" the guard asked, face stern and eyes forward.

Princess Celestia gave a shake of her head and turned her attention back to the door. Moving toward it once again, she reached up and knocked.

"Who is it?" Blueblood called out.

"It is I," the princess called out. "May I come in?"

The door opened, allowing the princess access to Blueblood's living quarters (which were once again marked at Prince Blubberbutt's).

"I am glad to see you are well," Blueblood stated at Celestia entered. "The extended duration of night time had me worried."

"Well as you can see," Celestia stated, "I am quite well." She smiled, touched by her nephew's sentiment.

"Wonderful."

"Anyway," she said as she moved further into the room. "I have some news that I thought you would like to hear."

Prince Blueblood looked at her curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Rainbow Burst will no longer be staying in the castle," Celestia announced. "She will not even be staying in Canterlot."

Blueblood's jaw clenched to keep from shouting out in joy and relief. The little hooligan was gone, most likely due to incarceration. Alternatively, it was also possible that she had run off with some amoral stallion who would abandon her before their first foal was even born. Whatever the case, he no longer had to worry about the uncultured little commoner. No more humiliating pranks, no more being embarrassed in front of the servants, no more her. It was like his birthday and hearth's warming all wrapped up in one, and he got the perfect present.

"Oh?" he asked in a calm manner.

"Yes. She will be staying in a town called Ponyville where she will be continuing to study and practice magic, while also learning about friendship." She give him a smirk. "More than likely there will be times when she visits, so you do not need to worry about missing her too much."

Blueblood's former enthusiasm was suddenly extinguished by the news. It seemed that she in fact was not out of his life forever. Hopefully, her visits would be few -- very few -- and far between (say once every hundred years or so). He also had to hope that when she visited, the hooligan would be far too busy with whatever Princess Celestia required to perform any of those atrocious pranks on him.

"Also," Celestia said as her horn started to glow, "she sent a gift for you."

Using her magic, the princess lifted the pink box from her back. She held it out in front of her for Prince Blueblood to see before opening it.

"An entire box of cupcakes," she announced as she lifted the lid.

Prince Blueblood stared at the contents. Inside the box was six supposed cupcakes. Each one was in a purple paper wrapper and covered with a bright pink frosting. The coating was too thick and well-covering to hide the type of cupcakes made.

Blueblood did not like it. This had to be some sort of prank. They were probably filled with laxatives, or dirt. There is no way that she would simply give him a box of cupcakes without doing something to them first.

Unless...

Princess Celestia was standing right in front of him with it. Maybe the little hooligan did nothing to the cupcakes. Maybe her plan was to have him refuse something that was more fitting for the commoners than his royal palette. Doing so would mean refusing what could be seen as an attempt at making amends and insulting her, right in front of the princess no less. The very act would most likely offend Celestia herself.

So it was a conundrum. He could not simply take one of the cupcakes and eat it, for fear of what might have been done to them. At the same time, he could not outright reject them without risking offending Princess Celestia by proxy.

Then he got the best idea ever.

Using his own magic, he took a hold of the pastry box and turned it around.

"My," he said with a smile, "they look so wonderful. Would you care for one?" He held the box up, offering it to Princess Celestia.

It was perfect. No matter what happened, he would get credit with the princess for being so kind and considerate at to be willing to share the cupcakes he had been given. If they were safe, no harm done and he would be able to enjoy the rest of them in peace. If something had been done to them -- as he suspected -- it would, unfortunately, be Celestia who suffered for it, but he would be safe and the princess would finally do something about the little nuisance. Maybe banish her. Or lock her in a cage. Or maybe banish her, then lock her in a cage in the place that she had been banished to.

"How thoughtful," Celestia said as she took one. "Thank you, Blueblood."

"Any time," he responded, watching.

Celestia took a hold of the cupcake and took a big bite of it. She closed her eyes and let out a small hum of pleasure as she savored it. There was chocolate, rich, deep, and sweet. There was also something else. Something that gave it a strong contrast and made her mouth tingle. She was going to have to try and get the recipe from Pinkie Pie so that she could enjoy these more often.

Prince Blueblood watched as she took another bite. It seemed like she was enjoying it quite a bit, and no indication of it being a problem for her. They cupcakes seemed to be safe...unless they were filled with laxatives.

Setting the box down, he picked up one of the cupcakes and looked at it as he peeled the paper wrapper off. It did indeed look to be chocolate. While making the cupcake more tempting, it also did nothing to stay his paranoia on the matter. At least if he was correct and there was such an ingredient in them, it would be far more embarrassing for Princess Celestia -- who would either have to constantly interrupt her court meetings to use the bathroom or cancel them altogether -- than it would be for him -- who would just have to stay in his quarters for a day or two.

Although, if it were, surely one bite would do no harm, right?

Finally working up the nerve, Prince Blueblood took a bite out of the cupcake.

A tingly sensation spread across his upper lip where it had touched the frosting. Blueblood's tongue started to burn, getting hotter and hotter as the cupcake touched more and more of the surface until he could take no more.

As she finished her own cupcake, Celestia opened her eyes just in time to watch Blueblood take his first bite. She found herself watching in fascination as his face went from its typical calm white color to a bright red. She could swear she could even hear steam coming from his ears.

"HOT!!" Blueblood shrieked as he spat out the bite of cupcake. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

He ran toward the door and out the room.

"Water! I need WATER!"

Why didn't he just go to the bathroom? Celestia wondered as she watched him take off and disappear down the hall. She then turned her attention back to the box. Considering his reaction, Blueblood surely would have no objection if she helped herself to another one, right?

It was then that she noticed a white envelope stuck in the box among the cupcakes. Curiously, she picked it up and opened it, pulling out the letter (a love letter, perhaps?) inside.

Dear Prince Blueblood,

If you are reading this, then you have gotten my gift, which probably means that Princess Celestia has told you I won't be around. I'm sure that you'll miss me as much as I'll miss you. None. At all.

Don't worry though, I'll have plenty of ideas for pranks the next time I visit. I'll even have some extra help from my new friend, Pinkie Pie. She's kind of weird, but is really funny and is really good at making ponies laugh. I bet she has some great ideas for some pranks.

By the way, she says "Hello Bluey," and hopes that you and her can be "super-duper-DUPER best friends." She's also a baker. Works in a bakery and everything.

Anyway, in the mean time, please enjoy these cupcakes I had her make for you. They are chocolate, chili pepper cupcakes with a cream cheese, hot sauce frosting. Think of it as one last thing to remember our time together by. I wish I could see your face when you take that first bite.

Until next time, don't get too relaxed.

Sincerely,

Rainbow "Prank Master" Burst

P.S. Princess Celestia, if you are reading this, Pinkie wants me to tell you that she included the recipe on a note card that will be in the envelope along with this letter. I don't know why she would thinks you would read this or want the recipe, but she insisted. She can be kind of random at times.

Princess Celestia picked the envelope back up and looked inside. Sure enough, as promised, there was a note card with "Chocolate Chili Pepper Cupcakes" written across the top. She turned her attention back to the letter and smiled.

How sweet, she thought as she put it back in the envelope. Rainbow sent Blueblood a letter along with the gift so he'll have something to remember her by. Perhaps the time apart will do the two of them good. It may cause them to realize all the more how they feel when they begin to miss each other.

Alternatively, spending time away from Canterlot and among ponies that are friends who care for her for her might help Rainbow Burst get over her dislike of Prince Blueblood enough that she will no long feel the need to try to embarrass him.

Considering it all, Princess Celestia set the envelope on top of the box, then put the box onto a table. She turned to head toward the door, but stopped.

Her little sister had always had an interest in pranks, humor, and fun. Perhaps Luna would find the tales of Rainbow's pranks and jokes on Blueblood amusing. She might even be willing to give one of the spicy cupcakes a taste as well.

Grabbing one of the cupcakes again, Princess Celestia took it with her as she left Blueblood's room. She was planning on holding onto the treat and giving it to Luna, but the sight of a servant carrying a tray full of what looked like cookies and a glass of milk made her reconsider.

"Excuse me," Celestia called out, stopping the servant. "Am I correct in assuming that you are taking those cookies to my sister's room?"

"Yes ma'am," the servant answered, giving a slight bow.

Celestia took the tray.

"I will take them to my sister," she stated. "You go ahead and tend to your normal business."

"Yes, princess," the servant said as she started to head back the way she had come from. "Thank you. And have a good evening."

"You as well."

Celestia looked at the tray, then took one cookie. Surely her sister would not miss just one. It was doubtful -- although not impossible -- that Luna would order an exact number of cookies to be delivered to her. Princess Celestia was also tempted to take a drink of the milk, but that would certainly be noticeable.

Setting the cupcake down on the tray with the milk and cookies, the princess carried them with her as she made her way back to her sister's room.