"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."