Prologue

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria there were two princesses who ruled over the land in harmony. The elder sister used her unicorn magic to raise the sun in the morning and the younger sister used hers to raise the moon at night. However, the younger sister soon grew jealous of her sister. The ponies would play and relish the day that the older sister provided, and shun and sleep through the beautiful night she brought about. One night, she refused to lower the moon. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but she was consumed by darkness and had transformed into a vicious mare, Nightmare Moon. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the strongest power known to ponydom, The Elements of Harmony, and fought against her sister. After managing to defeat her she sealed her in the moon. She has since ruled Equestria and peace and harmony have flourished ever since.

Yeah right. That’s the legend that’s been passed down since the banishment of Nightmare Moon, but what if I said that that was only partly true? What if there was more to this story than what was written in the history books? They say that the winners write the history books, and in this case, they couldn’t be more right. I’m Scroll Examiner, (I know, what you're thinking and yeah, I hate my name too, I find it incredibly clichéd and usually I go by Scroll, or Scroll X. if I‘m writing an important document). I’m the official historian for the New Lunar Republic, and this is the true story of what happened on that longest day of the 1000th year. It’s a story of both harmony and discord, honesty and lies, generosity and selfishness, kindness and hatred, loyalty and betrayal, laughter and tears, and most importantly, magic and might. It’s a tale of impossible odds and overwhelming loss. What follows is a completely true account of the war that started on the Summer Sun Celebration. Our players? A ruthless tyrant named Celestia, a generous princess named Luna, the Elements of Harmony (or perhaps you’re more familiar with the name, the mane 6?), Princess Luna’s long lost pupil and last, but certainly not least, myself.

Now that the stage is set and the roles are cast, let me begin. Our story starts off with a prophecy, a bookworm, and a pony with many secrets and even more eccentricities.

Chapter 1: The Slightly Eccentric Bookworm

“Hmm, Elements of Harmony… I know I’ve heard that before, but where“?” Twilight Sparkle muttered to her self, a nasty habit she developed due to forced isolation in the library, studying for the frequent tests her mentor gave her.

She decided that she would go back to the library and ask Spike if he knew where she could find a book about the prophecy. But on her way she was stopped by a several good friends of hers.

“There you are Twilight! Moondancer is having a little get together in the east courtyard later. Wanna come?”

“Sorry girls, I’d love to but Celestia is going to give me a quiz over ancient pony tales.” She replied, rushing off almost as soon as she finished the sentence.

“Honestly, she spends far too much time studying, it seems she’s more interested in books than friends.”

“Well, it’s not her fault!” One of them said, “ Celestia does seem to enjoy watching ponies struggle.”

“Don’t say that! What if she heard you? Do you want to be exiled? Or worse?” The third whispered in shock.

“Fine, fine. Forget I said anything.” the second said. The three then began to walk towards their destination.

As Twilight climbed the massive staircase to the library she thought about what she had said to get out of the get together that Moondancer was throwing. To be fair, she wasn’t lying, she just neglected to tell them that the test wouldn’t be for another couple days. It was during this small moment of contemplation that she recalled the name of the book in which she had seen the story. It was an old collection of foal’s stories called Prediction’s and Prophecies.

She burst through the door and yelled out “Spike! Spike! Spike? There you are!” she said noticing the purple baby dragon on the floor, rubbing his head in agony. “Quick! Find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies.” She said, “What’s that for?” got added soon after noticing the small present impaled on his tail.

“Well, it was a gift for Moondancer, but-” he started but was interrupted by Twilight.

“You know we don’t have time for that sort of thing!”

“But we’re on a break!”

“Correction, YOU’RE on a break, as Celestia’s star pupil I still have duties to perform.” Twilight corrected as she begun pulling books off of the shelves using magic. She begun looking through them and then promptly voiced her frustration by shouting “No, No. NO! SPIKE!”

“It‘s over here!” Spike exclaimed, from across the room, the book held tight in his claw before being snatched across the room by Twilight’s magic.

“Thank you Spike! Now then, Elements of Harmony, Elements of Harmony. See Mare in the Moon?”

“Mare in the Moon? But that’s just an old ponies tale?” Spike asked, perplexed as to why Twilight (one of the most skeptical ponies he knew) would be searching for facts about the Elements of Harmony, some of the most powerful relics known to pony kind, in a book with a story that was invented to make sure that foals would stay in their beds at night.

“Ah, here it is! Mare in the Moon, a myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria. Defeated by the Elements of Harmony and sealed in the moon, it’s said that on the longest day of the 1000th year of her imprisonment that the stars would aid in her escape and she would return to bring about night time eternal! Spike do you know what this means?” Twilight exclaimed.

“Uh…no.” Spike said, losing his balance on the massive ladder which he had used to reach the book. “GAHHH!”

The poor baby dragon’s life quickly flashed before his eyes. Thankfully, he landed on Twilight’s back, which managed to cushion the fall significantly. Unfortunately, the life saving landing was then followed by one of Spike’s least favorite phrases

“Spike, take a letter to the Princess. It‘s incredibly urgent that she be told about this right away!”.

“Bleh… fine.” The Baby dragon voiced his disappointment, then he slid off of Twilight’s tail and produced a quill and scroll from one of the many gaps in his scales.

Upon seeing that her able bodied assistant was ready to write Twilight began dictating her letter. “Dear Princess Celestia, while researching the materials you gave me for the exam I came across an old tale about the Mare in the Moon, and after analyzing it briefly, I have determined several things. First of all, the mythical Mare in the Moon is actually Nightmare Moon. Secondly, it‘s predicted that on the longest day of the 1000th year of her banishment, that she will return and, at that time, we may very well stand on the precipice of eternal night! I just thought you would like to be informed of this great danger. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle”

“Precipice… eternal darkness… Twilight Sparkle! Okay, it’s done!”

“Great! Now send it!”

“ Hmm, I dunno Twilight. She’s awfully busy preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration, and it is the day after tomorrow.”

“But that’s just it Spike! The longest day is the Summer Sun Celebration! It’s incredibly vital that she’s informed of this!”

“Jeez, Twilight. No need to be so insistent, besides, if Nightmare Moon is the Mare in the Moon, wouldn’t that make Celestia the pony that defeated her, and wouldn’t that mean that Celestia knows about this?”

“Err, good point! But perhaps she needs a reminder.” Twilight stated sheepishly.

“Okay Twilight, but I really don’t think she needs to be reminded.”

And with that Spike sent the letter to the princess. That was when the waiting began… which then promptly ended after an awkward 5 second pause.

“See Spike! I knew she would want a reminder and that’s probably her sending me a reply thanking me!”

“Ah hem…” Spike cleared his throat in preparation “My dearest student Twilight, I realize that you are probably stressed due to the various intense duties that I, as your mentor, ask you to perform, but quite frankly I am appalled at your behavior! Honestly, bringing back such painful memories just to postpone your testing date!”

“What!?!” Twilight gasped

“Wow, Twilight it seems that the princess didn’t want a reminder.”

“Bu-but, I was just trying to help! I mean-”

“Hold on a sec, there’s even more.” Spike interrupted, “Now then, for your punishment, I would like you to travel to Ponyville and oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebrations. Next time Twilight try to be more considerate of others. Sincerely, Princess Celestia”

“But! I! Nevermind…” Twilight sighed, knowing that even if she had sent a reply, her mentor would be unflinching and might even install a far stricter punishment.

That was about when the door opened up and a voice called out

“Hey, Twi! What’s up?”

“Oh great,” Twilight thought, “just what I wanted, somepony to come to the library after that.” However, her tune quickly changed when she saw the pony who entered.

Chapter 2: Our Hero, Everypony...

Here is where our hero enters. (Well, at least a decent substitute for a hero, until I, Scroll, am able to get to the part where I’m introduced.) The earth pony casually walked into the library, smiling his all too happy smirk. His small pair of silver rimmed sunglasses hung far down on his nose, making them completely useless for protecting his rather large blue eyes. His cutie mark, which consisted of 3 separate, black question marks, was contrasted by his green coat. And on his sides he wore a brown, faded saddle bag which was curiously empty at the moment.

“Hey Scops! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to visit your friends in Ponyville?” Twilight asked, shocked at seeing the black-maned colt still in Canterlot.

“Ehh, I was going to get on the next chariot out, but then I realized I didn’t have anything to do on the way… So I thought ‘Hey, why not go see Twi and ask for a book? That seems like a relatively good idea!’ But, judging from the distraught look on your face and the overall messiness of the place, I think I may have come at the wrong time.”

“Ah, okay. I thought you had invited me to do something and I had forgotten to make an excuse- I mean, offer a viable explanation as to why I couldn’t-”

“What? Twilight, I think you need a break from school. I think it‘s starting to effect you‘re psyche… and your memory. I‘m starting to worry Twi.” Scops said with concern as he interrupted the bookish unicorn. He then promptly sauntered across the room and looked through the some of the amassed books which had fallen from a nearby shelf, more than likely due to the hectic search for the book which Twilight had used to dig herself into an abysmal punishment from her mentor. He quickly grabbed one that caught his eye. “Ah! A collection of Sir Arthur Colton Doyle’s best work! That’ll do nicely!”

“You do know it’s at most a one hour trip, right Scops?” Spike asked, apparently feeling insulted that he did not get so much as a hello from the colt.

“Mmmphgah? Mah! Mhike!” Scops replied. He then realized that in order for others to understand him he would have to spit out the book which he was carrying in his mouth. “Ah! Hey Spike! How’s it going?” He said, sans book “And yeah, I do know it‘s only a one hour trip, that’s why I grabbed a collection of only his best work. If it was two I would’ve brought something thicker, like his complete works. Or maybe some of Shake Speares’ comedies, those always kill a good hour or two … either that or put me to sleep .” He mused to himself.

Spike simply stared at the strange stallion and shook his head “Sometimes, I worry about you Scops. Actually, make that most of the time.”

“Well, I’m glad someone does, cause I certainly don’t.” The earth pony replied, smirking. “Welp, before I head out I gotta ask ya something Twi. What’s up with the sour look?”

“Hmm, what sour look? I don’t have a sour look.” Twilight lied.

“It looks like you ate around… hmm… 42 lemons… rind and all. Honestly Twi, you look like someone went and kicked your puppy. You look as if someone took a leak in your breakfast cereal of choice. I could go on, but I don’t think it’s really necessary now is it?”

“No, it’s not necessary! But well... If you must pry-”

“Oh, I must! I must!” Scops interrupted with enthusiasm which was probably most unbecoming of himself.

“The princess is punishing me!" Twilight screamed, "She’s sending me to Ponyville to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration! All because I mentioned some dusty, ancient prophecy I was reading!”

“That stinks, but eh, look on the bright side Twi!” Scops said, grinning foolishly.

“What bright side? Now I have to spend the Summer Sun Celebration with strange ponies, in a strange town, and the entire time I’m there I’ll be focused on the return of Nightmare Moon!”

“Nightmare Moon? Is that the prophecy you mentioned to the princess?”

“Err, well…”

“Twilight, you do know that Nightmare Moon is, essentially, a horrible, evil presence which took over Princess Celestia’s sister, and forced her to commit a horrifying act against all of ponykind? I can understand why she may seem a tiny bit upset at you bringing that up…”

“I guess you’re right…” The purple unicorn sighed. She shifted uncomfortably from where she’d been lying down for the last couple of minutes. That was also when she noticed that Spike had been busy packing her things into several massive suitcases for her. “Uhh, Spike? What are you doing? We’re going to be traveling by chariot, we can’t carry all that! And besides we‘ll only be there for a few days!”

“But Twilight, what about all your study materials?” He asked. "You can't afford to fall behind on those... remember last time?"

Twilight shuddered at the thought of it... Last time she had gotten behind she was denied seeing her parents for several months, and instead of getting to spend time with her family she spent it with books. Come to think of it thought Twilight That was right around when I met Scops

“I believe I have a solution!” Scops chimed in, completely bursting Twilight's concentration. “What if you were to stay in the library? That way you don’t have to pack so many books!”

“Uhh, that’s a great idea Scops but, there’s a few problems with that idea. First of all, you can‘t stay in a library that doesn't belong to you, unless you had permission from either the owner or the princess. And secondly, What if they don't have my books?” replied Twilight.

“ Don't worry Twi. I've been there, they have your books. And I wouldn't worry about the permission, I own the deed to the place so thankfully it won't take too long to get that."

“Wait, what?" Twilight asked in shock. "I knew you used to live in Ponyville, but you used to live in the library?”

“Actually, and you’re never gonna believe this, but I’ve never lived in it… I just kinda won it… in a card game.”

“How would … what would you… Who would bet a library in a card game?” Twilight asked incredulously, as if implying that this was the first time she’d ever heard of such a thing.

“Well, let’s just say that a certain purplish earth pony, who enjoys the occasional drink, would bet any property she owns when the stakes are high enough. It's a great story. I got time if you want to hear it, I don‘t really have to be anywhere until Wednesday.” Scops stated, with the same familiar smile he had whenever somepony took an interest in one of his stories

“Scops, as much as I enjoy your stories and would love to hear how you conned a drunken pony out of a house, we really have to get out of here, otherwise we’ll miss the next chariot out of here.” Spike said as he begun to push the colt out of the library.

“Aw, don’t even worry about it. I’ll see you guys in Ponyville okay?” Scops replied, taking his leave of the humble abode which he’d been standing in for what seemed like an eternity.

“Finally!” Spike said, closing the door as soon as the talkative green stallion was outside. “That guy gets on my nerves.” he began to turn around but then he noticed a familiar face behind him.

“It’s okay Spike! I get on my nerves too…” Scops said to the young dragon

“How… What.. Why.. Huh?”

“I forgot my book. You know, the one that I came to get… so I could read something on the way to Ponyville? Don't tell me you forgot." Spike simply stared, soundly shocked by the sneakiness of the strange stallion. Scops picked up the book from the ground where he had left it, placed it in his bag, and then started to head toward the door. “Welp, this time I’m gone for good! See ya!” Scops said, leaving the library. He walked out onto the street and proceeded to look for a chariot.

“Twilight… You need to make different friends…” Spike said to Twilight, shaking his head at what just transpired.

“Well Spike, if you want me to make friends so badly why don‘t you just add it to the list?” Twilight stated sarcastically

“Good idea! I’ll put it right above oversee the Celebration’s preparation!” He exclaimed excitedly, scrawling the idea on a piece of parchment he had just managed to pull from another of the numerous ‘pockets’ that he had.

“Spike? Are you actually writing that down?”

“What? You said put on the list.”

Twilight only sighed as she finished her packing. Whilst she was preoccupied with that task, Spike continued to close down the library. With the final preparations made, she and her young assistant left their Canterlot home and headed toward the nearest chariot.

Chapter 2.5: A Small Change in Scenery

Twilight, with her young aid riding upon her back, then set out to acquire transportation of her own to Ponyville and, although it took her a fair amount of time, the young student finally succeeded in flagging down a ride.

“Well, where ya headin’ little missy?” The Pegasus pulling the chariot asked. He was a stereotypical chariot driver, paid to talk and get people to their destination quickly. A chariot driver through and through. Something most ponies respected in their drivers. Unfortunately for him, Twilight isn’t like most ponies.

“Uhh, I’m heading to Ponyville.” She stated shyly.

“Ah, heading there for the holidays? Got family up there?” He asked. He began to flap his wings, the chariot rising with every flap.

“No, sir. Just decided to visit…” she said, her sentence trailing off as she stared at the rapidly shrinking ground and, more importantly, the library she had called home.

“Oh, okay. I see.” the stallion said. He would meet ponies like this every once in a blue moon. Ponies who seemed to be quiet, and reserved when dealing with others. He never understood why they were like this, he only knew that it was better not to ask. He got in less trouble that way. Truth be told, he was intrigued by these sort of ponies, they were the strange ones, at least to himself. As he contemplated this, Twilight contemplated her own problems. For instance, how would she be able to convince the princess that she needed her aid. Spike just contemplated how to get Twilight to actually make friends other than Scops, she was, surprisingly, slightly antisocial. But as the trio of travelers reached their destination, the moments of quiet contemplation were shattered by the harsh reality of their continuing lives, and by extension, their own personal struggles.

Chapter 3: Rude Villagers?

As they stepped off of the chariot Twilight paid the driver a couple of dozen bits, more than enough to cover the trip.

“Thank you ma’am!” the humbled stallion said. He grabbed the bits and flew off in search of another customer.

“Now then Twi! Time to make some friends!” Spike suggested, knowing that trying to get his mentor to socialize with other ponies was a lot like getting her to stop studying, all he had to do was continue to insist and she would cave in.

“Spike, we don’t have time for that! I need to hurry and finish these preparations and then find a way to convince the princess that Nightmare Moon is returning! And, on top of all of this, you want me to try and find time to make friends?” Twilight asked, practically screaming at the young dragon ,who simply nodded in confirmation, as if the task would be simple to complete.

Twilight let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. “ Spike I wish I had your same level of confidence in my social skills.”

“Ehh, Twi I think you’ll be fine!” Spike said with a hint of hesitation, “You just need to get out more!”

As they walked down the main street of the small village, Twilight’s mind raced. She had decided to at least attempt Spike proposal, if only to appease her young aid for the time being. It was during this moment of contemplation that a certain pink party pony bounced up to our studious mare.

“Hey, Twi look! Here comes somepony now! Who knows? Maybe these ponies have interesting things to talk about!” Spike exclaimed upon seeing the strange earth pony bounce toward them. Heck, Spike thought, they have to be more interesting than Scops… Anypony is more interesting then he is!

As the approaching ball of pink pranced toward them, Twilight racked her mind searching for ways to start an interesting conversation with her. This is what she came up with:

“Uhhh… Hello?”

The strange earth pony stared at Twilight, gasped and then sprinted away as quickly as possible.

“You were right Spike! So many interesting things to say!” the dejected looking mare said to her assistant

“I’m sorry Twi! I had no idea these ponies would be so rude!”

“Well, let’s just get today over with! I already don’t like it here.” the purple unicorn exclaimed heading toward the nearby ranch known as Sweet Apple Acres.

Chapter 4: A Very Apple Family Get Together

Ah, Sweet Apple Acres! It truly is a scenic little ranch, and it’s run by one of the most beauteous mares in all of existence, one Applejack. It is this mare that Twilight ran into as she started on her way to examine the food situation for the celebration.

As Twilight proceeded on her way to the ranch she asked her assistant, “Spike, who do we need to see for food? I would like to know so we can get this over with!”
“But Twilight! What about the whole making friends thing? Who knows, maybe this pony will be more polite!” The young dragon replied, hoping that his request would not be so lightly cast aside.

“Fine Spike, I’ll try one more time. Just give me the name of the pony that runs this place so I can know who I’m being introduced to.”

“She’s an earth pony by the name of Applejack. I believe she runs the ranch with along with her family.” Spike stated, reading aloud from a small scroll that was sent to him from the princess via his dragon breath (truly the only way to send important documents.).

The odd couple overcame the final large hill which hid the ranch from the eyes of those who were simply walking down the main path, and when the two finally ascended the slope, their eyes met with a glorious sight. There was nothing but apple trees for miles, and in the center of the amazing field? A rather large barn. And, working tirelessly as always, next to this barn was a certain orange mare who was just now finishing bucking the last of the apples which were to be used for the celebration.

A startlingly loud “YEE-HAW!” rang through the air, as the blonde earth pony struck the final tree with a fierce buck. The tree finally shook loose its hold of the precious apples, which then began to rain down and collect into several buckets near the base of the tree.

Twilight sighed and began to walk towards this mare. “Well, let’s get this over with.” she said to no one in particular (except for perhaps Spike, but I’m not entirely clear on this point.) “Good afternoon! My name is Twilight Sparkle-” she started, however her introduction was caught short by the furious hoof shake of the apple bucking legend.

“Well! Howdy-doo, Miss Twilight! A pleasure makin’ your acquaintance! Ah’m Applejack! We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin’ new friends!” the earth pony exclaimed in a heavy accent.

“Friends?!? Actually, I’m -” she started, flustered . However she was promptly interrupted southern mare.

“So, what can ah do for you?”

Twilight, having barely recovered from the hoof shake that the rancher had just given her, was still dazed. Spike giggled at his friend, which was met by a sharp glare from the lavender unicorn. “Ahem! Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And you're in charge of the food?”

“We sure as sugar are! Would you care to sample some?” asked the farm pony, ecstatic at the thought of sharing her food with a new friend.

“Hmm, well… As long as it doesn’t take too long.” she said. Almost immediately she began to regret her words as the earth pony started to ring a nearby triangle.

“Soooooup's on, everypony!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Suddenly, the unicorn and her assistant were swept up in a herd of ponies of every color. They carried them to a nearby table and set them on a pair of stools.

“Now why don’t ah introduce y’all to the Apple Family?”

“Thanks, but I really have to-” her statement was interrupted by the offer of food and Applejack’s naming of said food items… or perhaps it was her family… Now that I think about it, it was definitely her family. As she said the names the ponies would toss more and more food in front of the guests. The mare recalled plenty of names in record time. Names like Apple Fritter and Apple Bumpkin rolled off her tongue, followed by Red Gala, both of the Delicious twins (Red and Golden for those not familiar with the Apple family tree.), Caramel Apple and Apple Strudel. By now the food was stacked precariously high, and yet still more names cascaded from the mouth of the earth pony.
“Apple Tart, Baked Apple, Cinnamon Crisp-” she took a sharp inhalation of air and continued, but not before force feeding the unicorn a green apple “ Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom aaaand, Granny Smith.” She pointed to a older mare, with a white mane and green coat, who was asleep on a rocking chair that was near. “Up and at ‘em Granny Smith! We got guests!”

The elder pony awoke startled and confused. She began mumbling “ Wha? Soup’s on? I’m ah, I’m ah here, I’m ah coming.”

“Why, ah’d say they’re already part of the family!” The orange filly mused.

As Twilight heard these words she spit out the apple, which she was force fed, and exclaimed “Well , I can see the food situation is handled! So, we’ll just be on our way then!”. She was hoping that the ponies would see how stressed she was and would allow her to get out of this incredibly social situation relatively scoot-free. Unfortunately, this was not the case and the statement was met with groans. That’s when a young filly, Apple Bloom to be exact, walked up and asked with the kind of eyes you’d see on a puppy in a pound “Aren’t you gonna stay for brunch?”

Twilight, who could never say no to a pony who looked as though their dreams were about to be crushed based on what she answered, finally caved in. “Fine…”

Shouts of joy could be heard for miles, and the feasting commenced almost instantaneously. And so, while our heroine spent her afternoon enjoying a nice brunch with the Apple family, on the other side of Ponyville, our hero was dealing with some rather… interesting ponies himself.

Chapter 5:The Stars Shall Aid in Her Escape

I say the other end of Ponyville, but what I really mean is that he was in the middle of the thing that sits at the other end of Ponyville. Err, to put it in laypony’s terms, He was exactly in the middle of the Everfree forest. However, he was not the only pony there. Oh no, in fact there were exactly 4 other ponies (2 pegasai and 2 unicorns) there. I would tell you who they were, but I seem to be unable to think of their names at the moment. (Besides, out of all of them, I’m the only important one.).

“Why are we here again?”

“I dunno, Scops said something about it being ‘drastically important’ that we put these rocks in this weird castle type thing.”

“Are we sure that we should be doing this? I mean, what are these stones even for?”

“And where did he even get these things? They weigh a ton!”

“I heard he got ‘em from the castle.”

“Wait… this castle? Or the one in Cantorlot?”

“Yes, he got these rocks from this castle, moved them and now wants us to move them back. What do you think?”

“Calm down, everypony.” I said, sensing the distress that the others were feeling. “I’m sure Scops wouldn’t have us make this massively dangerous trek here if it wasn’t important. Besides, I doubt he would endanger any of us! Especially me! I’m possibly the most important part of this organization!”

“I’m glad you have faith in me Scroll, although I wouldn’t say you’re the most important pony in the group.” Scops chuckled, stepping out from the bushes near the side of the chasm that stood. He turned to the rest of us and adopted a more serious, yet reassuring smile. “As for the rest of you, I can understand why you‘re so hesitant. ” As he uttered these words we turned to face the green colt, our faces in shock… How did he cross the chasm? He didn’t seem to have any climbing gear… or a hang glider… or, well, any sort of way to transverse the massive ravine which blocked the path to the castle. While that thought was stirring in our minds, the earth pony opened the massive cedar doors and began to walk into the abandoned castle … alone.

“Hey wait!”

“Yeah, aren’t we supposed to be helping?”

We began to chase after our odd leader. The ruin was almost as depressing on the inside as it was on the outside. The walls were covered with ivy and moss, the mortar between the bricks was almost dust… and yet, the castle still seemed sturdy… as if the very building was held together by more than just bricks and wood. It seemed like something ancient and powerful had built this tower. Something that I certainly never wanted to meet in my lifetime. What was eerier though, was the feeling that we were treading into a piece history that Equestria had long since been forgotten.

As we took in the setting the green colt stood still, his eyes transfixed on a massive sculpture which stood in middle of the room. It was a sort of stand, in which there were 5 places for rather large spheres (each of these were completely empty), and a large sphere in the middle.

The stallion reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a grey sphere with a gemstone in the middle. He placed this odd stone on one of the places and turned to the others, who all in turn did the same. After the final stone was placed he stared at the three others and said, “Thank you for your help. You can leave now…”

“Wait, that’s all we’re doing?”

“Yes, that is all I needed from you three.”

“WHAT WAS SO DANGEROUS ABOUT THAT!?!”

“COULDN’T YOU HAVE CARRIED THOSE BY YOURSELF!?!”

“WHAT ARE WE YELLING ABOUT!?!”

“Quicksilver, Blastbolt, Brick, calm down.” the black-maned stallion said, squinting and placing a hoof on his head. “I never said it would be dangerous and I never said I needed you to come. Scroll and myself could have taken care of all this but you three insisted on coming. Now then, you three need to get back to camp, Scroll and I still have things to take care of here.”

“FINE!” the 3 others exclaimed, and they began to walk toward the direction of our small camp.

Despite their protests, the others did exactly the same as he asked, each of them leaving the castle when they were finished. And as they exited the building in a huff, two other ponies began to slowly walk out from the deep shadows of the ruined castle.

“Hmmph! Those impudent foals need to learn their place!” exclaimed one of the two new ponies (a unicorn in rather… unique garb).

“Now, now Lula! You were… actually still are… a lot like them.” Scops stated, defending those three young colts who had (although they had no idea at the time) just aided in almost plunging the world in darkness.

“How dare thee! And for the last time, you shall address me by my new name! I am -”

“Yea, yea. Listen, you two lovebirds can make out later! We got a job to do!” I exclaimed . “Skies, ya got the stuff?”

She nodded in confirmation and reached into her bag, pulling out a set of robes spotted with stars and small piece of chalk.

“Good! Now then take care of those symbols!” I exclaimed, putting my robe on.

She rushed at the levitating chalk and gripped it in her mouth. She began to do drag it along the floor at speed that would give even the most seasoned guard pony a run for their bits.

“Careful Sky! We only get one shot at this!” Scops yelled, donning a set of robes .

“There we go! Perfect!” She stated, pulling off a landing that could only be described as flawless.

“Excellent, now then, is everypony ready? I hope I don‘t have to remind you what we’re doing and the dangers we risk.” the question marked colt asked, his eyes quickly glancing at us. His icy cold gaze was met with our own fiery response, a nod was all that was needed to assure him that our conviction was sincere.

“Right… I’ll begin. Everypony, place a hoof on the center sphere.”

As we followed his orders he reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a weathered sheet of parchment, which he proceeded to set in front of him, and started to recite from it. The scroll contained a slow, sad ballad about the true past of Equestria . Not the one that most ponies know today. Oh neigh, he sang of a world filled with both great beauty and sadness, of “The Days of the Endless Night” and the battle which went on under the pale moonlight those 1,000 years ago. And with each somber word, each poignant syllable, his pupils began to extend until finally, his eyes were fully consumed by the blackness. His song told of a defeat of the Lunar forces and the forced corruption of the Princess of the Night. And as his ballad’s end drew closer and closer, we (or at least I) felt the effect of ritual wear down on us (once again, I did, I’m not sure about the others). Until finally he ended his ballad with these dark and ominous words:

“We four fallen stars come to thine aid. Now then awaken! O’ mare of darkness, so that thou might have redemption from thine past sins!”

Suddenly, all four of us were engulfed in a black magical aura which had seeped out from inside the large middle sphere. This …blackness… managed to set in the feeling of fatigue even further. I saw the pony, whom Scops referred to as Lula, wince in pain. Clear Skies’ posture started to falter, and I myself could only grimace at the agony I felt. But when I look over at Scops… I could tell his pain was far worse. I could see him kneeling in torturous anguish, barely managing to keep conscious. We each managed to survive this excruciating pain for what seemed like an eternity, until, just as we were on the verge of exhaustion, it vanished. The darkness shot into the air as though it had the wings of a pegasus. And, as it left us, we begun to feel the full aftermath of the spell: Clear Skies collapsed, Lula tried her best to shake off the pain while I stood there, catching my breath. Scops just stared at the ground silently, forcing the pain from himself via a set of breaths through tightly clenched teeth. We couldn’t move for what seemed like eons. We each stood, trying to cope with what we had just done. No pony said a word … the silence in the room was deafening, until it was broken by the earth pony:

“Lula, Scroll, go check on Clear.”

We both nodded a reply and ran to our fallen comrade’s resting place to check for any sign of life. Thankfully she was still breathing, she just seemed to be so fatigued that she passed out from exhaustion.

“Thank Luna! She’s still alive!”

“Okay then, you and Lula go take her back to camp. I still have some things to take care of back in town…” The colt said, his face contorted in a grimace of pain.

“Are you sure you’re okay Scops? Ya’ look a little busted up there.”

“I’ll be fine. It’ll take more than that to stop me!” He offered a pained smile at my words, and then proceeded to walk out of the castle.

“That naive and foalish idiot is going to get himself killed one of these days!Hmph! He is of no use to anypony if he keels over! And for the last time, I am no longer known as Lula!” the unicorn next to me exclaimed, possibly in the hopes that I would either go and stop him, or that he would stop and turn around to engage in some witty banter. But I drowned out her final words, my eyes were set on our fearless leader as he simply continued to hobble out of the abandoned castle, on his way back to Ponyville…

Chapter 5.5: The Barrage of Pink

Now then, I’m not entirely sure if you know this, but the on the other side of Ponyville there is a rather large street. It leads from the Everfree forest and, after a couple of hoofs, it starts to turn into the main road (Yes, I know what you‘re thinking. Ridiculous eh? Who ever designed this town was not a very clever pony. I mean, the main road leads into an incredibly dangerous forest, full of monsters who would eat a pony like myself as a horse'dourve. Not the best planning, at least in my humble opinion.) It was on this road that Scops ran into one of the strangest ponies in all of Equestria. And I do mean ran into. I believe the exchange went something like this…

“Well, that went … wellish. Still got a nasty headache though…” Scops murmured to himself, still recovering from the pain that he endured from the dark ritual he had participated in earlier that day (You remember. The one where me, Lula, and Clear Skies almost died. Yeah, that one.). This was when a rather … bouncy (for lack of a better word) mare crashed into him.

“Yowchie!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, rubbing her muzzle “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry mister! I was hurrying to hand out these invitations to a party for this new pony and -” she looked up from her injured muzzle for a small moment.

“OHMYGOSH!SCOPS?ICAN’TBELIEVE YOU’REBACK!”

“Ow…” The enigmatic colt put a hoof to his head, trying to shelter his head from the constant verbal assault that is … The Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, please calm down. I have a splitting headache.” He moved his hoofs in a small up and down motion, creating a gesture where he essentially made waves with them. This gesture (he hoped) would soothe the sugar loving mare into calming down and allow his mind to get a break from this freight train of words but alas, it was to no avail!

She simply picked back up again and started with “Why? Oh! Were you reading in bad light again? I bet you were! You should probably stop doing that, it’s not good for your eyes!” The pink filly exclaimed, offering the colt some (in my opinion, solid advice) however, like most things said to someone who had just recently released an ancient evil back onto the world, it was completely wasted on him.

“No, Pinkie I wasn’t reading in bad light… But I guess you could say that lighting did have something to do with it… Now then, why were you in such a hurry? Is it Wednesday? Please say it isn’t so, because if it is I don’t think I’ll be to survive another one of your middle of the week parties… No offense.” He said, briefly reminiscing his previous stay in Ponyville during Pinkie’s famous Midweek Celebration (which ended with him winning a library, owing a hefty fine to the local law enforcement and fighting a very, very large and angry tree monster that lived outside the town.)

“No silly! Wednesday isn’t for another 4 days! Besides, I’ve got a way better party planned tonight! You see, there’s this new pony in town! A purple unicorn! And I’m going to throw her a welcome party!”

“You mean Twilight?” The green colt shifted his eyes into a puzzling gaze.

“GASP! You know her?” Pinkie asked incredulously.

“ Yeah, she’s staying at the library and-” he was cut off mid sentence by the pink blur.

“HURRAY! That means you can hand out these invitations while I go set up the party! I’ve got so much to do! Bake cakes, place streamers, make punch, cut confetti, squeeze fruit, blow balloons, bake cakes place streamers… Wait! Silly me, I’m repeating myself! Well, see ya Scops! Thanks so much for doing this!”

The party pony reached into a small bag she was carrying, handed Scops some party invitations and dashed away with the speed unmatched by any other ground dwelling creature in the land. A small dust cloud (and a thoroughly confused Scops) were the only thing left behind by her.

“ By Luna, that pony has too much pep. In my day, we were civilized, calm, mature, and … dear Luna! I’m becoming my dad.” The question marked stallion thought to himself , “At least this party gives me time to plant the book in the library. I was worried I would have to sneak in to do that.” he stared at the letters that Pinkie passed to him and let out a sigh, “Well, best get these delivered. The last thing I want is Pinkie Pie angry.” He shuddered at the very thought, recalling the last time Pinkie was upset. “I never did find out how she managed to get her hooves on lightning in a jar, but so help me, I don’t want to have to re grow my tail again.” So he took the invitations, tossed them in his saddle bags and went to town. And so it came to pass, that Scops, the hero of the New Lunar Republic, was reduced to a simple mail colt for a short amount of time.