"Isn't it obvious?" Celestia asked. "Cameron is the Hero of Strength, Mike is the Hero of Will, and Jake is the Hero of Skill."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Cameron asked.

"Certainly. The Heroes are the manifestations of certain qualities that make a being unique. For example, the Hero of Strength would obviously be one who has amazing physical power and endurance."

"And the other two?" Mike said, genuinely intrigued about what Celestia was saying.

"The Hero of Will is a being that has incredible mental abilities and willpower, hence the name. The Hero is literally able to bend reality to his whim, as long as they have the mindset to do so."

She turned to Jake.

"The Hero of Skill is somewhat more complicated. A simple version is that the Hero is able to refine a certain aspect of himself to the point where it is perfect or almost perfect. In this case, he has perfected his speed. However he could do much more if he chose to."

"What do you mean by much more?" Jake asked.

"The Hero of Skill can perfect the trait that he is most talented in. I'm guessing that in your world, you were rather fast."

Jake nodded.

"Although you can only perfect your speed, you are actually more skilled in numerous tasks than other beings."

"You lost me." Cameron said.

"I think I get it. This may be an extreme example, though. What she's saying is that if Jake had never diffused a bomb in his life, and I mean he had absolutely no knowledge on the subject, he would have a better chance at diffusing it than other people because he is the Hero of Skill." Mike said.

"My head hurts." Cameron said.

"Try not to think about it then, idiot. Your power is simple enough as it is." Mike said.

"Your powers are not without drawbacks, however. Although you have strengths, there are many weaknesses that you have to overcome. The Hero of Strength may have brute strength and finesse in combat, but he lacks subtlety and is somewhat predictable in his actions."

"That pretty much sums up Cameron." Mike snickered.

"You didn't think that when I pranked you with the Troll Plant." Cameron said. Mike went silent.

"The Hero of Will is intelligent and analytical, but is unpredictable, headstrong, and overconfident. The Hero of Skill is creative and is able to plan for every possible scenario, but he overlooks details and is likely to dwell on the bad aspects of something."

"Wow. That actually… sounds like us." Jake said.

"The Heroes are strong on their own, but can be easily defeated if their weaknesses are known. This is why Heroes will usually become friends. Each Hero is able to balance the other." Celestia finished her explanation. "I could tell you three were the ones because of your Cutie Marks."

"What?" The three asked.

"The red circle represents will, yellow represents skill, and blue represents strength."

"Wow. I thought they were just stupid circles." Cameron said, looking at his flank.

They all stood there, saying nothing and thinking about what they just heard.

"It has been millennia since Heroes arrived in Equestria. They are known to very few because they are not recorded in any text or document. It is a pleasure to meet you three, even if it is under strange circumstances." Celestia said.

"Same here." Jake said.

"Alright, people. We need to get back on track. If I'm guessing correctly, the Mane 6 should be around the area of the sea serpent guy. I'll get this done quickly." Mike said as he focused his magic for a few seconds.

Jake and Cameron watched one of the magical displays that showed the sea serpent. He seemed to be minding his own business, combing his hair. The friends watched as Mike forcibly used his magic to rip of part of his mustache.

"What? No! Come back, my precious mustache!" The sea serpent cried. However, it was too late; the part of his mustache was already teleported downriver a few hundred miles.

Cameron looked at the beast with pure shock. He shook his head and said, "He seems really…"

"Flamboyant?" Jake offered.

"I was going to say something else, but that works too." Cameron said.

A few minutes later, they watched as the Mane 6 approached the now wailing sea serpent. Cameron was incredibly annoyed at the sea serpent's tantrum. They all watched as Rarity cut off her tail and gave it to the sea serpent.

Jake suddenly realized something. "Hey, Cameron. You do realize that you are inadvertently watching an episode of My Little Pony."

Cameron's eyes widened. "No! Damn it!" he exclaimed.

"Will you two shut it? It's almost time for the Rainbow Dash test." Mike said.

"Oh yeah, Mike. I was meaning to talk to you about that. Seeing as we already messed up a bunch of stuff, I was thinking that maybe we could tweak the whole Rainbow Dash test." Jake said.

"Meaning?"

"Instead of some hokey Shadowbolts, how about you send me in there. It would be a little more difficult for her. "

"That may work. What do you want to do exactly?" Mike asked.

In the Everfree Forest…

"Now what?" Pinkie Pie asked as the six ponies looked across the broken bridge that would lead them to the Castle.

Rainbow Dash showed off her wings to Pinkie Pie. "Duh."

"Oh, yeah!"

Rainbow Dash flew to the broken rope that used to support the bridge, and brought to the other side. As she was about to tie the rope, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Rainbow Dash…" the voice said. It sounded familiar to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash noticed that fog was starting to cover the area. It became so thick that she could barely see her friends on the other side.

"Rainbow Dash…" the voice said ominously. Then its tone changed. "You know what, I'm just gonna skip this part."

Rainbow Dash saw Agile walk out of the fog.

"Hi!" he said.

"Wait, Agile? What are you doing here?" She asked, confused.

"I was flying around looking for Nightmare Moon. I found her over by that Castle. I tried to stop her, but she beat me pretty badly. Get this, she told me that I could save one pony from her of my choosing. I picked you. All you have to do is leave the others behind."

"What? I can't leave my friends. Besides, Nightmare Moon is evil, Agile. She kidnapped Princess Celestia!"

"I'm sorry, but I can only save one pony. Come on, Rainbow. She's too strong for you all. I couldn't stop her, what makes you think you can?"

This doesn't sound like the real Agile. He would never say that.

"You're acting strange, Agile. How do I know you aren't some trick made by Nightmare Moon?" Rainbow Dash said, keeping her wits about her.

Agile inspected himself. "Nope. I'm pretty sure that I'm me."

"I can't leave my friends. They need me."

"What about me, Rainbow Dash? I need you. I don't want Nightmare Moon to hurt you." Agile said with what seemed to be sincere concern on his face.

Twilight, even though she was on the other side of the ridge, could tell that something was wrong.

"Rainbow Dash, what's taking so long?" she asked. As soon as she asked, the fog became thicker and engulfed the entire ridge.

This must be one of Nightmare Moon's illusions! She's trying to keep Rainbow Dash from fixing the bridge.

"Don't listen to him, Rainbow Dash! He's not real!" Twilight said. However, Rainbow could only just make out her words.

"It's either them or me, Rainbow." Agile said.

"I'm so sorry. I just can't." Rainbow Dash said. Agile turned away and flew off.

Rainbow Dash had to struggle to keep herself from crying.

That wasn't the real Agile. That wasn't the real Agile. She kept telling herself as she fixed the bridge. She flew across to her friends, creating a clearing in the fog.

"Woo! Rainbow Dash!" her friends cheered. She smiled in return but said nothing else.

As they walked across, Twilight said to Rainbow Dash, "Thanks, Rainbow Dash."

"I'd never leave my friends hanging." Rainbow replied with a confident smile.

At the Castle…

"Yep. She's the Element of Loyalty, all right." Jake said as he walked back into the room.

"That was good acting on your part. I honestly didn't think she was going to say no." Mike said.

"Why exactly did you do that?" Cameron asked.

Jake thought about it for a moment. "I mainly did it so that I could see how much I really meant to her. Apparently, a lot."

"No kidding. Well, anyway, it worked. The six should be at the room with the Elements right about… now." Mike said as he pointed at the viewer that showed the Mane Six walking into the room directly below them.

Element Room…

"One, two, three, four... There's only five!" Pinkie Pie said as she counted all the Elements of Harmony. Each one was a spherical stone with a different shape on them.

"Where's the Sixth?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The book said: when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed" Twilight said.

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" asked Applejack.

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen." Twilight warned as she walked up to the Elements and began focusing her magic on making the spark.

"Come on now, y'all. Twilight needs to concentrate." Applejack said as she and the rest of the ponies left the room.

Twilight opened her eyes after minutes of concentration and saw that the Elements were being sucked into some sort of small vortex.

"Aah!" She yelped in surprise.

"Twilight!" everypony yelled from outside when they heard her shriek.

Just as the Vortex was about to vanish, Twilight jumped into it. It had turned out to be some kind of teleportation spell.

Twilight coughed as she landed on the stone floor. She opened her eyes and saw that the Elements were in a circle around Nightmare Moon.

The room above…

We're almost done. Mike thought.

He watched as Twilight stamped her hoof as if she were going to charge like a bull. Mike tried to remember the what Nightmare Moon said next.

Ugh, this is really testing my brony knowledge

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Mike said, remembering.

When he said that, Twilight charged at his illusion of Nightmare with her horn glowing. Mike made the illusion do the same. Just before the two were about to collide, Twilight teleported behind Nightmare.

"Come

"Just one spark. Come on, come on!" Twilight said before the Elements blasted her away in a flash of energy. The spheres began to exchange numerous electrical currents.

Mike tried to keep his voice sounding genuine, but he was getting bored.

"No, no!" the illusion said. The currents suddenly stopped.

"But… where's the sixth Element?" Twilight asked to nopony in particular.

Mike pulled of his best mocking laugh and smashed all the Elements. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!"

As he finished talking, all the rest of the Mane Six burst in

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here." Twilight said with new found confidence.

The shards began to levitate as the illusion asked, "What?"

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!" Twilight said. As soon as she mentioned honesty, the shards began to orbit Applejack.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty! The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us." Twilight finished.

Mike was getting a headache. He already knew all of this and he just wanted to fast-forward through it.

"You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!"

"But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all are my friends. You see, Night Mare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of magic."

All of a sudden, Twilight's eyes turned white and the Mane Six was surrounded by a vortex of rainbows.

"No!" Mike said, relieved that it was finally over.

However, he didn't expect one thing. As the rainbow engulfed the illusion of Nightmare Moon, pain erupted all across Mike's body.

Oh shit! Make it stop! He thought as the pain began to increase. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. As quick as it had come, the pain subsided.

"Mike!" Jake and Cameron said as they rushed to their friend's side.

"What the hell happened?" Jake asked.

"The… the rainbow from the Elements… it… it hurt like hell!" Mike stammered, trying to regain his balance.

He turned to the viewer. The entire Mane Six was on the floor, unconscious.

"Look, I'm fine. Princess, the girls will be waking up soon. I'm teleporting Luna up there now. You can leave the force field now." Mike said as he focused his magic. Luna disappeared, as did the force field.

"I will speak with you all again when this is all over." Celestia said as she disappeared.

Mike felt like he was going to throw up.

"Losing consciousness in three… two…" Mike said. He was already knocked out before he reached one.

Hours later…

Mike woke to the feeling of soft bedding beneath him. He opened his eyes saw that he was in a large white bedroom. Sunlight poured from the large open window. He also saw that his friends were sitting in chairs directly across from him. Along with them were Princess Celestia and a now conscious Princess Luna.

"About time you woke up." Cameron said with a smile.

"How long was I out?" Mike asked, rubbing his eyes.

"A solid fifteen hours." Jake said. "Princess Celestia and Luna want to talk with us."

"I'm all ears." Mike said, getting up and out of bed.

"I understand that you three are the Heroes my sister was talking about. I must first thank you for defeating Nightmare Moon and redeeming me."

"Glad to help, princess." Jake said.

"You were the one who was scolding me for doing that in the first place, idiot!" Mike exclaimed.

"Well you weren't supposed to, so who's the idiot now?" Jake retorted.

"Both of you." Cameron said with a laugh.

Luna was intrigued by the way these friends acted.

"They have a strange way of showing friendship, don't they Tia?" Luna said to her older sister.

Celestia merely smiled.

"When are we gonna get back home?" Cameron asked out of the blue. This had been the question Celestia had been dreading to answer.

"I'm very sorry, you three. I don't have the magic that would be able to send you back to your world."

The three stood there, their mouths agape.

"Bullshit!" Cameron said angrily, breaking off the awkward silence.

"Cameron! Language! We're in front of princesses you dunce!" Mike scolded.

"I'm sorry, but what the hell?" Cameron said, becoming increasingly frustrated. "Was this all for nothing?"

"I never said I didn't have a solution." Celestia said calmly. "Although I don't have the power to send you back, there may be different ways of sending you back."

"Meaning?" Cameron asked, regaining his composure.

"The Royal Canterlot Library is full of ancient texts. However, they are off limits to everypony except to Princess Luna and myself. There are many that even I haven't read. These texts could provide you with the knowledge needed to return to your home. I will allow you three to access these records on one condition." Celestia said.

"What is it?" Mike asked.

"Although the Elements of Harmony exist, there are many evils in Equestria that I fear may find a way to overpower the Elements. I ask you three to be guardians of Equestria, should it ever need you."

Celestia was surprised when all three of them instantly said, "Yes!"

"If it means getting us back home, I'll definitely do it." Cameron said.

"Thank you." Celestia said with a smile. "Mike, I assume that you will be the one searching through the Library?"

"Yep." Mike answered.

"I will tell the guards to allow you through whenever you need to." Celestia said. "The Summer Sun Celebration is still going on. You three might want to take part in it."

"Sounds good to me." Jake said.

"I'll go if there's cake." Cameron said.

"All right. Goodbye Princesses!" Mike said as he teleported himself and his friends away.

"They seem nice, Tia." Luna said with a smile. "Strange, but nice."

"Indeed they do." Celestia replied.

Next Chapter: One week later... Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours