As Jake and Cameron walked into their apartment, the first thing they noticed was that Mike was sleeping in one of the beds.

Cameron thumped him on the head, causing Mike to drop to the floor in surprise.

"Can't I just get some peaceful sleep for once?" Mike asked, rubbing his head.

"Why are you sleeping in our room? That's just creepy." Cameron said.

"I have a perfectly good explanation for that." Mike said. "When I got here to check up on Princess Luna, she had woken up all of a sudden. I managed to put her back to sleep, but she's somehow finding a way to fight the spell or something."

"Can't you just make the spell stronger or whatever?" Cameron asked.

"I could, but I don't know if she'll find a way to break through that one as well. Not to mention that if I did use more magic, I'd be even more exhausted."

"So, what's the plan?" Jake asked.

"Well, as long as I stay here, I'll be able to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't wake up. " Mike answered.

"You can't stay in here forever. You have a job." Jake said.

"That's the crappy part. But, it's too risky to leave her alone." Mike said with a sigh.

The trio stared at the sleeping Princess Luna.

"I guess that's to be expected when you're dealing with a princess. She's much more resilient than normal ponies. Princess Celestia will be even harder to deal with." Mike said.

"Wait, what? What do you mean by that?" Cameron said confused.

"She was captured by Nightmare Moon on the TV show."

"Okay then. How are you gonna pull that off?"

"Seeing as how she is basically the most powerful magic user in Equestria, it probably won't be very easy."

"Sucks to be you." Cameron said.

"Well at least I-"Mike started. He was interrupted by grumbling coming from Luna.

Mike focused his magic and she stopped.

"God, that's the third time today. Now do you see why I need to keep an eye on her?"

"Yep." Cameron and Jake said in unison.

Mike yawned. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. I'll take Luna over to my room. Good night."

The Next Morning…

Cameron and Jake left early and insisted that Mike try and save his energy. He was bored out of his mind and there seemed to be no way of entertaining himself. He couldn't waste his magic on experimenting with spells.

In addition to all that, Mike felt almost as if he was sick. He guessed it was a mixture of anxiousness, sleep deprivation, and his magic use. Luna was proving difficult.

Her freaking subconscious is fighting the spell. She actually has no idea what's going on. Mike thought.

He sighed. He had gotten little to no sleep the night before. Even a powerful magic user like him had limits. He was still recovering from the Nightmare encounter and his magic was now being drained away quickly by repeating the sleeping spell.

"I don't think I can last much longer." Mike said as he nearly fell asleep. He forced himself to stay awake.

"Screw it. I'm strengthening the spell." He finally said. He had no idea if this one would hold better than the one before, but he had to try.

He focused his magic for over five seconds before finally ending the spell. He looked at Luna. She seemed much more peaceful now.

Oh, God. I can finally get some sleep. He slumped back onto his bed and passed out.

Outskirts of Ponyville…

"Why are you afraid of the Everfree Forest?" Cameron asked Fluttershy.

"It's very strange in there, Facade. The plants all grown by themselves and the animals live without being cared for. All kinds of monsters are supposed to be in there!" Fluttershy answered, becoming more scared as she mentioned the last part.

"It's not so bad in there. It's just a little… dark." Cameron said. "I've been in there."

"Really? Why?" Fluttershy asked.

Why in the world would anypony walk into that scary forest? She thought.

"Um, I was just doing some exploring. There really isn't too much in there except trees and some small animals."

"Wow. I could never do that." Fluttershy said as she looked at the ground.

Cameron tried to change the subject. "How is your bird choir? "

Fluttershy perked up. "Do you want to listen to them?"

"Of course I do." Cameron replied. In an instant, the entire group of birds was assembled.

After a few minutes of music, Cameron said, "It's amazing."

"Thank you very much." She replied. An awkward silence ensued.

"Facade, may I ask you a question?" Fluttershy asked suddenly.

"Sure."

"How long are you staying in Ponyville? I know you said you and your friends were traveling so…" Her voice trailed off.

Good question. The Celebration is in two days. Cameron felt a sting of regret. He realized that when he left, he wouldn't be seeing Fluttershy ever again.

"I… don't know." He finally said.

Oh crap. Some part of me actually wants to stay here.

At the field…

"Agh!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she was launched backwards from another failed attempt at a Sonic Rainboom.

"Come on, you can do it! Third time's the charm!" Agile encouraged from below. They had been at this for over an hour and Rainbow was getting tired.

She tried once more, flying straight up into the air and then diving. She sped up as she flew down and the wind made her eyes tear up. As she dove down, all she thought about was Agile's cheering. After their fight, Agile wanted to make sure that Rainbow Dash could make a Sonic Rainboom whenever she wanted to. He assured her that she would become a Wonderbolt in no time if she worked hard at it.

Rainbow Dash was so busy thinking about Agile, she hadn't realized that she had already broken the sound barrier.

"Yes! That was awesome!" Agile cheered. Rainbow Dash proceeded to make a variety of loops and other trick, causing a rainbow trail to fill the sky. After she had finished showing off, she flew straight to Agile and tackled him.

"That's the Rainbow Dash I know and love." Agile said. He gulped at the last word.

"Love?" Rainbow Dash asked, blushing and with a surprised look on her face.

Damn it! Damn you, brain! You're always making me say stuff at the wrong times! Jake thought.

They both stared at each other, both of their faces red.

"…Yes." Jake finally said. As soon as he said it, Rainbow Dash kissed him.

Never mind.

At the apartments…

Mike woke with a start. He reflexively made sure that Luna was still asleep. Amazingly, she was. Mike glanced at the clock. He had been asleep for over twelve hours.

Twelve hours? Yep she's not waking up anytime soon. Even better, I got twelve hours of sleep.

He got out of the bed and stretched. One of Mike's first thoughts was that he could now visit Rarity over at her boutique. However, it was already late in the afternoon, which meant he didn't have a whole lot of time.

His second thought was that tomorrow was the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. He groaned. He would be working harder than ever tomorrow. He carefully laid out the plan in his mind, going over every last detail.

First thing is obviously going to have to be setting up base at the castle ruins. I should make sure I have all the snacks and drinks ready. Then, I have to kidnap Princess Celestia. The rest of the plan is pretty straightforward.

His thoughts were interrupted by knocking at his door.

"Keen?" the voice inquired.

Shit, it's Rarity. Got to hide Luna.

He focused his magic and teleported Luna to Jake and Cameron's room. He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hello, Miss Rarity." He said.

"Where were you today? Are you ill?" Rarity asked, concerned.

"Yes. I felt a little sick this morning. I'm sorry I didn't let you know. I'm feeling better now."

"Oh, good." Rarity said. "I was wondering if you would accompany me to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Of course I will." Mike said.

If I'm not already gone. He thought.

"How are the decorations coming along?" He asked, trying to get his mind off the subject.

"I completely forgot! I still need to beautify the main hall and the balcony! Goodbye, Keen!" she said as she rushed out of the room.

Mike sighed and teleported Luna back into his room.

"I need more sleep." Mike said, a feeling of tiredness coming over him.

At the field…

Scootaloo had always been a fan of Rainbow Dash. Ever since she first saw her hero in action, she had wanted to be just like her. She was cool, fast, and awesome. She, like many others who loved her as much as she did, knew rumors of her being able to make a Sonic Rainboom.

Scootaloo never doubted that she could. After all, she was Rainbow Dash.

She had taken a habit of following Rainbow Dash around. Lately, she had been hanging around somepony named Agile. She had no idea why Rainbow Dash decided to hang out with him. She didn't see anything special about him.

She watched Rainbow Dash from behind a tree. When she saw the Sonic Rainboom, she silently squealed in admiration. However, when she saw Rainbow Dash kiss Agile, she averted her eyes.

"You are so awesome." Agile said to Rainbow Dash. "Even I can't make a Sonic Rainboom. Only a regular sonic boom."

"Yeah, but you're still faster and can do all sorts of amazing things." Rainbow Dash replied.

What? Somepony's faster than Rainbow Dash? That's impossible! Scootaloo thought.

"I'm sure that you'll be just as fast as me someday." Agile said.

"Nopony's faster than Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo yelled.

Agile looked at the tree Scootaloo was hiding behind.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"I don't know." Rainbow Dash said.

Scootaloo readied her scooter and was about to jet off when Agile came out of nowhere. He was fast.

"Aah!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Care to explain why you were spying on us?" he asked calmly.

"I wasn't spying, I was watching. And I wasn't watching you, I was watching Rainbow Dash." She retorted.

"I'm guessing you're her biggest fan then." Agile said with a smile.

"You bet! Nopony's better than Rainbow Dash." She said.

"Yeah. You said that a few seconds ago." Agile said as he rolled his eyes.

"What's going on? Scootaloo? What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew over to the tree.

"I was just… you know…" Scootaloo said hesitantly.

"Spying." Agile said, finishing her sentence for her.

"Scootaloo, I told you a week ago to stop following me around. It's getting on my nerves." Rainbow Dash said.

"Sorry."

"I think it's kind of cute." Agile said with a smile.

"I'm going, I'm going." Scootaloo said as she zipped away on her scooter.

"Sorry about that." Rainbow Dash said.

"No problem. She says she's your biggest fan. You should try hanging out with her." Agile said.

Rainbow Dash thought about it.

"I'm glad that I was able to spend the day with you. Sadly, I have to go. See you later." Agile said as he flew away.

"Bye." Rainbow Dash said.

At the apartment…

As Cameron walked in the door, he was greeted by Jake and Mike.

"He's here. Awesome." Mike said.

"Good news, Mike was able to strengthen the spell on Luna. We should be fine now." Jake said.

"I guess that's good."

"You still don't know what we're doing, do you?"

"I get most of it." Cameron said defensively.

"All right. Tomorrow's the big day. Better get some sleep." Mike said. "I know I need to."

Next Chapter: And so it begins. Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 21 Minutes