Chapter II

"REX! Get down here! I need your help with a few things!"

I trotted into the library, and went to the 'E' section of the bookshelves while the five mares walked in, surprised to see all the prototypes that I magically made come out of the basement. I then brought three different books that I grabbed from the shelves, and placed them on a nearby desk. I then flipped all three open, and began tearing through them all quickly, looking for that item in the book about all this.

Just then Rex came down the stairs as he rubbed his eyes. "Yo, what do you need help with, Ethan?"

I glanced over at him. "Start up the Securitrons, then the ED Eye-bots, and finally run the start up routine of the XV Enclave Colossus Power Armors... and get the Laser and Plasma rifles up and running, just in case."

Rex whistled as he walked over to my set of armor. "Sure seems excessive, so I'm guessing something bad is happening. Let me guess, a total war?"

I soon found what I needed in a book. "Possibly, it's Nightmare Moon, turns out she's back, and she plans to make night eternal. If plan A doesn't work out, then we need a plan B."

Rex nodded in response as he started up his armor. Rainbow then spoke as she watched Rex. "You know, he's actually right, this all seems a bit extreme."

I shrugged as I was halfway done with making an exact copy of the map to the Everfree from another book. "Maybe, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Rex was now starting up the tenth ED Eye-bot, before he looked at me. "So what are the Eye-bots for?"

"To keep the towns, cities, and the such distracted from what's going on. Don't want Equestria to go into full-on panic."

Rex nodded, and soon had all the Eye-bots running and sent them on their way, before he began to start up the two securitrons I personally made to be bodyguards. I then slid the map into a saddlebag I found, and looked at Rex. "Once you're done, hop into your armor and grab the Plasma Rifle. I'll get into my armor in a sec, just wanna make sure what I read was right."

Rex nodded as he finished starting up the second securitron, then began to put on his Power Armor. I then nodded at the book, and used my magic to put on my armor. And once I slid on the helmet, Pinkie spoke. "What did the book say?"

I used my magic to bring the book up to my visor. "It says here about something called the Elements of Harmony." The girls perked their ears up. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery."

Rex raised his claws to his head and gave a mock spooky tone to his voice. "Oooooo."

The mares huffed at him as I continued. "It is said the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest."

The five girls spoke at once. "The Everfree Forest?!"

I raised an eyebrow at them. "Um... don't take this the wrong way, but you five are really scared of something as ridiculous as that forest?"

They looked between each other, before Rainbow spoke as she puffed up her chest. "Heck no! I ain't scared of some forest! I say bring it on!"

I shrugged in response and sat the book down, before nodding to Rex. "Get those Securitrons' data set on follow, and we'll head off."

Rex nodded, and walked over to the robots, before he finished, and we headed for the forest.

...

"So, none of you have been in here before?"

I shook my head in response to Fluttershy's question, while Rarity spoke. "Oh, h-heavens, no. Just look at it, it's dreadful!"

Applejack spoke as well. "And it ain't natural." I gave a snort, which made them look at me. "What?"

I shook my head as I pushed into the lead. "Back home, this would be considered the closest to a natural in the old world, and there was no such thing as controlling the weather or plants. But now, the newest normal there was a very rare amount of plants, and a lot of sand and ruins. Trust me, this forest would be considered heaven back home."

They stayed silent in response, until Rainbow spoke. "You know, they say that anypony who's come in here, has never come out."

I looked at her with a disbelieving look. "Seriously? I heard the same thing about that Deathclaw Nest, and I came out alive. Hell, I've been abducted by aliens and took over their ship before coming back down. This place is nothing compared to that."

They all screamed in unison at my claim. "WHAT?!"

And just like that, the ground crumbled beneath our hooves, and we began to slide down to the very low bottom, all the while the girls were screaming, and Rex was trying to dig his feet into the ground. I soon spotted Rainbow grab Pinkie, Fluttershy grabbed Rarity, and Applejack bit onto a root. I wasn't so lucky as I skidded to a halt on the ledge, and almost fell off. I let out a sigh of relief, and tried to get to my hooves, but failed miserably. I then spotted Applejack slide down. "Ah'm a comin'!"

She grabbed my hooves, which surprised me that she could hold the weight of the armor, although she looked ready to let go. Applejack then looked up, and seemed to gain an idea before looking down at me. "Let go."

I gave a snort. "I'm not the one holding your hoof, it's the other way around Applejack."

She blushed slightly, nodded, and let go, which made me expand my wings, and glided down to the ground, before touching down, and shook my body, which got the dirt off of the armor. I then spotted Applejack hop down, which made me wave at her. "Thanks for the save, Applejack, even though I could've gotten down myself."

She still had the blush on her cheeks as she nodded. "Right, sorry 'bout that."

I gave a nod in response, then looked at the others. "You all alright?"

Pinkie jumped about at this. "Ooh yeah! That was fun! Let's do it again!"

I smirked at her response then looked at the others, as Rainbow spoke. "You know, I was beginning to think you never use your wings, so that was so not expected."

I shrugged at her. "I personally prefer to walk, easier for me, though I do fly too."

Rainbow nodded while Rarity began to brush the dirt out of her mane. "Goodness, darling, I wouldn't do that again if it was the last thing I'd do."

I snorted again, making her glare at me, as I began to trot forward. "Well, seeing as everypony is alright, I think we should continue on, no?"

They raised eyebrows at my attempt to sound french, until we were stopped by a massive paw slamming into the ground, and in front of us was a Manticore."

I groaned slightly. "Great, a Manticore, and I was hoping not to have to use our guns."

Rex loaded his Plasma Rifle in response. "Yeah, me too. But, it gives us a chance to test out our armor."

I gave a nod at that, as the Manticore leaped forward, and swung a paw as Rex, who got hit hard, and skidded back a bit, all the while the Manticore grasped it's aching paw, and roared again, leaping at Rarity, who dodged it's paw and bucked his face. "Take that, you ruffian!" The Manticore roared at her, making her hair a frizzled mess, which I must say the original look fitted her better. "MY HAIR!"

She then looked at the Manticore, yelped, and bolted away. Fluttershy then spoke, though only I appeared to hear her. "Wait."

I trotted over to Fluttershy while Applejack landed on top of the Manticore. "You got an idea to calm that Manticore down?"

She nodded and pointed at the paw it wasn't using. "He has a thorn in it."

I nodded as Applejack was flung off of the Manticore. Rainbow the bolted for the Manticore, before I yelled out. "EVERYPONY, STAND DOWN!" Everypony stopped in their tracks, same for the Manticore, while they stared at me in confusion. I then looked at Fluttershy. "He's all yours."

She blushed slightly in response, and trotted over to the Manticore. The Manticore reared back his paw to attack, making the other girls and Rex cover their eyes, until Fluttershy spoke in a calm voice. "Shh, it's okay." The Manticore was wide eyed in confusion as she nuzzled his paw, before he lowered the paw down. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Little?"

Fluttershy gently placed her mouth on the thorn. "Now, this might hurt for just a second." She then plucked the thorn off, making it pick her up and roar in her face."

Everypony then yelled out. "FLUTTERSHY!"

But all they saw next was the Manticore licking Fluttershy's face, hugging her in thanks. She laughed in response. "Oh, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are."

I trotted over to the girls, and bowed as I waved my hoof towards the new way pass. "Ladies first."

They simply smiled and trotted past the two, while I trotted forward, and Rex spoke. "How'd you know?"

I smirked a little. "I was an Animal Friend back home, so once Fluttershy told me what was wrong, I knew what to do. Now let's head on off."

Rex nodded in agreement as we went after the girls.

...

Rarity shuddered as we continued through the forest. "My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." I snorted in response as the forest became much darker, which caused me and Rex to turn on our Night Vision. "I didn't mean that literally."

I then heard them speaking as we continued onwards. "I didn't see you there." "My apologies." "Are you there?" "Right here."

Applejack then stopped. "Oh, wait, I think I stepped in something." Fluttershy then screamed. "It's just mud." She then saw one of the most ugliest trees I've ever seen, making her scream and jump away.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as the trees growled at everypony, making them all scream. Rex sighed heavily as he turned off his helmet's earpieces to mute the girls out, all the while I began to laugh. This caused the girls to look at me with much confusion, then spotted Pinkie laughing too. Although we were laughing about two completely different things. I was laughing because of how easily scared these girls got, while Pinkie was making faces at the trees.

Rarity then asked in worry. "Pinkie, what are you doing? RUN!"

Pinkie simply looked at them with a smile. "Oh, girls, don't you see?"

"When I was a little filly, and the sun was going down."

Rex groaned as he clasped his claws against the sides of the helmet. "Oh Lord, please tell me she's not."

"The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown."

Rarity simply answered as she stared at Pinkie. "She is."

My simple response was to turn off my earpieces, which made the singing simple muffles, and I continued forward, all the while the girls were laughing at the trees left and right, making the trees, strangely enough, go back to normal.

Just then I bumped into Pinkie who was standing in front of me, with a large and crazy river ahead of us. This made me turn the earpieces back on, and raised an eyebrow. Pinkie then spoke. "How are we gonna cross this?"

I glanced at Rainbow. "Well, given that three of us have wings, we could help the other three get across... though that can't be done, given the Securitrons, and Rex would simply refuse to be picked up."

Rex gave a nod. "Yep, not gonna go there."

Just then we began to hear sobbing coming from down a short ways, which made me raise an eyebrow, and look through a bush, seeing a giant sea serpent crying heavily as he held his head. He also appeared to only have half a mustache.

I trotted over to the edge, and spoke up. "Yo!" The serpent looked down at me. "Why are you crying?"

"Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own buisness, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off."

My eye began to twitch at this. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! He's throwing a fit just because half of his mustache is gone?! I was expecting something like his marefriend leaving him, or a recent relative dying! But this?! This is just getting ridiculous!

Thankfully, Applejack and Rainbow beat me to it. "That is what all this fuss is about?"

Rarity looked at them with wide eyes. "Why of course it is. How can you be so insensitive?"

Rex growled at this. "Oh, I'll show you insensitive you little..."

I jabbed my foreleg into his gut, making him go silent.

Rarity began to trot towards the serpent. "Oh, just look at him. Such lovely, luminescent scales."

The serpent sniffled. "I know."

"And your expertly coiffed mane."

The serpent leaned his elbow on the ground and laid his head on his hand. "Oh, I know, I know!"

"Your fabulous Manicure."

The serpent gasped. "It's so true."

Rarity gave a determined look. "All ruined without your beautiful mustache."

The serpent cried out at that. "IT'S TRUE! I'M HIDEOUS!"

I felt my eye twitching a bit too much for comfort.

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected."

She then bit on one of his scales and ripped it off, making the serpent cry out. "OW!" He then looked down in sadness. "What did you do that for?"

Fluttershy then spoke as Rarity lifted the scale high. "Rarity, what are you-"

The serpent fainted, which made me so glad I wasn't like those two, and Rarity lifted up the tail she cut off, and made it join the mustache, making it rather... weird. But the serpent was quite happy as he laughed. "My mustache! How wonderful!"

Rarity gave a large smile. "You look smashing."

Fluttershy trotted over to Rarity with a sad expression. "Oh, Rarity... Your beautiful tail."

"Oh." Rarity placed a hoof against her chest while her eyes closed. "It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides..." She looked awkwardly at it. "It will grow back."

Rex dragged his claws against his helmet, leaving deep scratches on it. "So would the MUSTACHE!"

Rarity huffed at him in response, while I was halfway through the river. I then looked back at them. "You girls coming or what?"

The securitrons rolled into the water to follow me, as did Rex, and we got across, before the serpent spoke for the girls. "Allow me."

I snorted as they began to hop across his long body, before they reached the other side, and I let out a small chuckle. "You know, it would've been easier to simply walk... or fly."

The girls blushed in response as we continued onward.

...

We soon came up to the bridge and could see the castle ruins across said bridge. This made me speak in relief. "Thank god, it's finally within eyesight." I trotted forward with the girls behind me, before I stopped at the bridge, and motioned them to wait. I looked at said bridge, and saw that it was not connected to the other side. This made me sigh heavily, and look across, seeing a spot where you could tie them up.

I then looked at Rainbow. "So, should I go and tie up the bridge, or do you want to?"

Rainbow puffed up her chest. "I can definitely do that, no problem!"

I gave a playful smirk. "Oh, is that so?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, her own smirk on her face. "You giving me a challenge?"

I stepped towards her. "How about this, you get the bridge up and tied on the other side, and I'll think about making you a set of this armor, as well as training you how to use it with and without wings."

Her eyes twinkled as she smiled widely. "Deal."

I smiled and shook her hoof, then thought of something. "Hey, Rainbow?" She looked at me. "You'll become a great pony if you keep up on being loyal to your friends, and I bet you'll even become a Wonderbolt some day. And just so you know, you kinda look cute."

She blushed madly in response as her eyes went wide, her mouth hung open, and she tried to form words, but failed quite badly. I then headed towards the other girls, while Rainbow shook her head, and flew off to the other side.

...Five Minutes Later...

I looked across the gap, and saw Rainbow finishing with tying up the bridge, though I thought I saw some ponies with her, but they weren't there anymore, so it must have been a trick of the light or something.

Rainbow soon flew over to us, making the others cheer for her a bit, while I walked up to her side, and smirked. "Looks like I owe you some training and some armor."

Rainbow simply blushed in response, still not speaking as we headed across the bridge.

Once we were across, we entered the ruins, and spotted a tall statue in the middle of the room, with five stone balls on small little platforms. I simply trotted up to these stones, and raised an eyebrow. "These are the Elements of Harmony?"

Rex grunted in response. "Looks like nothing that important to me, just five ball statues."

I ignored him as I lifted the stones with my magic, and carefully placed them in front of me, all the while Pinkie counted them. "One, two, three, four. Oh, there's only five."

Rainbow stepped forward. "Where's the sixth?"

I thought for a moment as I examined them. "The book mentioned something about that. I think it went like this: When the five Elements are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "What in the hay is that supposed to mean?"

I narrowed my eyes at the Elements. "Hmm... A spark, that could mean anything. A spark of Magic, a spark of Recognition, a spark of Friendship..." My eyes widened. "Of course!"

Just then purple smoke entered the room, making me go wide eyed as it began to take the stones. I huffed in response, and dove into the tornado, leaving behind the girls, Rex, and the Securitrons.

...

I coughed a bit as I found myself in what appeared to be the throne room, with Nightmare Moon at the spot the throne would be at, and the five Elements floating around her.

This made me growl a bit, and began to brush my hoof, getting ready to charge, which made the mare glare at me. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right?"

I grunted in response as my horn glowed, and my armor began to go into overwork, which made a few of the attachments I added to turn on, like the Nuclear Reactor that controlled my Shields that I've yet to activate, as well as more armor clinking over the first layer, making it tougher then before. And with that, I charged forward. Nightmare Moon huffed and charged at me as well, my horn still glowing.

Just as we were about to smash into each other, my horn grew brighter, and I disappeared before reappearing in front of the stone. I then let my horn glow, and it engulfed the stones, lifting them up and to my sides. I then used the teleport spell and reappeared at the doorway, which made me smirk, and heard my friends running up to the room.

I then spoke with a smirk. "So, still think you'll take me down? The... mail pony?"

I could see her face getting redder upon hearing that. "So, I think these Elements should go to the spirits of Harmony, don't you think, Miss All-Mighty Demigod?"

Nightmare Moon growled. "You can't! You didn't even try to spark them!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "There's more then one type of spark, Moon."

The stones then shattered into little pieces, while I looked at Applejack. "Applejack, who told me the truth, even though it was a bit unneeded, represents the Element of Honesty."

Some of the stone shards began to float around Applejack.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness."

Fluttershy flew up and raised her hooves in awkwardness while they floated around her.

"Pinkie Pie, who even though I have been ignoring all this time, has quite a way in making ponies laugh in the face of danger, and also represents the spirit of Laughter."

Pinkie jumped up and down with a large smile on her face as the stone shards surrounded her.

"Rarity, who I'll admit now is a complete fashion freak, also is a very generous pony who calmed a serpent with a meaningful gift, representing the spirit of Generosity."

Rarity looked down at the stones with worried eyes.

"And Rainbow Dash, who's stayed by her friends and went as far to refuse her heart's desire, represents the spirit of loyalty."

Rainbow smiled at her stones while I looked at Rex. "And Rex, my closest friend, has been brave throughout his entire life, and refused to fear anything thrown at him, represents a new Element, the Element of Courage."

Rex made a peace sign as the stones flew around his neck.

"The spirit of these fine ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."

Nightmare stomped her hoof on the ground. "You still don't have the sixth Element!"

My smirk became a full on grin. "Oh? Well it is here, and I know it. I saw the spark it needed, and I felt said spark when I became friends with these six, When I see them, how much of good friends they truly are. The spark ignited inside me, when I realized this."Just then a stone appeared above my head, and floated down to me, which made me smile now and look at the dark mare. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by this one great realization that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element, one that I honestly can't believe - the Element of Magic."

The stone above me shined brightly while the stone shards became necklaces around the girls' and Rex's neck, while I got a crown, which was solid gold, held a beautiful green gem that was in the shape of three numbers, 101, and it was truly an amazing crown.

And then a large beam made out of a rainbow launched out of the Elements, and made a tornado around Nightmare Moon, all the while she was screaming in horror, then everything went white.

...

I groaned as my eyes slowly opened and I heard Rainbow speak with a groan. "My head."

Rex got to his feet, and began to dust himself off. "Everypony okay?"

"Oh my goodness!"

We all looked over to see Rarity admiring her tail, while Fluttershy was admiring her necklace. "Why Rarity, it's so lovely."

"I know, I'll never part with it again." And with that she hugged her tail.

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark."

Rarity looked down with wide eyes, then looked at Fluttershy with a smile. "So does yours."

Fluttershy gasped in response, while Pinkie jumped over to Applejack, staring down at her necklace. "Look at mine! Look at mine!"

Rainbow stomped her hoof with a large smile. "Aw, yeah!"

I simply glanced up at my crown, feeling a slight sting in my heart as I remembered those three numbers on the crown. Thankfully I was pulled away by Applejack's voice. "Gee, Ethan, I thought you were just spouting a lot of hooey. But I reckon we really do represent the Elements of Friendship."

I opened my mouth, but a very recognizable voice beat me. "Indeed you do."

We all looked over and saw Princess Celestia standing at the window, her wings spread out. This caused the girls to bow to Celestia, while I waved at her. "Good to see you again, Celestia. You look good."

Celestia smiled, with that small hint of red on her cheeks. "Ethan Mason, My Faithful Student." She then smiled at me. "I knew you could do it."

I sighed as I sat down. "Yeah, well, when you're called a Messiah by everypony back home, you tend to know others believe in you."

Celestia gave out a small giggle in response. "Indeed." She then looked at the former Nightmare Moon. "Now if only another would accept friendship."

We all looked over at the now filly looking mare, as Celestia stepped towards her. "Princess Luna." Said princess gasped upon seeing Celestia. "It has been a thousand years since I've seen you like this." She laid down with a soft smile. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."

The girls all asked at once. "Sister?"

I looked over at them. "You all seriously need to read up on history."

The girls blushed in response as Celestia stood tall among Luna. "Will you accept my friendship?"

Luna clenched her eyes shut, then jumped over at Celestia, pushing into her for a hug. "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister."

Celestia wrapped her head around Luna in a hug. "I missed you too."

Pinkie Pie had a piece of cloth. Where the hell did she get that?! And she cried heavily, before going straight to a large smile. "Hey! You know what this calls for?"

...

"A Party!"

We all stood in the center of Ponyville, which made me raise an eyebrow and began looking around. How the hell did we get here all of the sudden?! And since when did all these ponies hear of Celestia returning?!

I sighed heavily and let out a grunt as I hopped off the sudden chariot and spotted ED-E floating right over to us, before he bobbed a bit and landed on my back. This made me chuckle lightly, while Rex stood next to me. We saw everypony having a great time, which made me sigh slightly and sit down. Rex looked down at me at this. "What's wrong, Ethan?" I gave him a 'Are you serious' look, making him slap himself in realization. "Right, everything's over, so now we're heading back to Canterlot." Rex sighed heavily. "And I was starting to like this place too."

Celestia then trotted over to us. "Why so glum, My Faithful Student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your projects in Canterlot?"

I hung my head in response. "That's just it, I just made five of the most amazing friends anypony could ever have, and even made a strong friendship, and now I have to leave them."

Celestia gave a soft smile. "Rex, take a note please."

Rex gave a grunt in response, pulled some parchment out of his armor, as well as a pen, and began writing.

"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that

the alicorn Ethan Mason, shall take on a new

mission for Equestria. He must continue to study the

Magic of Friendship. And he must report to me

his findings from his new home in Ponyville."

I smiled at this as the girls surrounded me in a big hug, while I smiled at Celestia. "Thank you, Celestia. I'll study hard for you, so long as I can stay with my friends."

Everypony began to cheer in response, while Celestia smiled.

Just then I thought of something. "Celestia?" She looked at me. "I kinda promised a little filly that I'd get you to have lunch with me and her family if she'd let me get the festival ready. Do you think you could pull something through?"

Celestia smiled. "I think so."

...

Five Hours Later

...

I took another bite of the well cooked Apple Pie, while Rex sat next to me and literally dug into a Apple Cake, eating it all. And my five friends sat with us, as did Celestia, Luna, and the entire Apple Family.

Just then the little filly ran up to me with a large smile. "You did it! You actually did it!"

I gave a small smile in response. "Hey, I Pinkie Promised, didn't I?"

Her smile went even wider in response.

...