Her eyes opened as the the early morning light slowly streamed through the window onto her face. Groggily, she scanned the room, her vision stopping on Spike's bed where the young dragon was still sleeping, his snores echoing throughout the library.

This was always the strangest part.

Having to wake up the next morning and treat it like it was just another day. To just...move on. Though maybe that was just how the ponies of Ponyville wanted to live, never caught up in the past, always moving toward the future.

Of course, it would be hard to work that sort of talk into everyday conversation.

"I say, wasn't it just terrible being forced the witness the fragility of life last night?"

"Of course, sent me running though the night in terror!"

"Truly awful...so will that be six carrots or just three today?"

She giggled to herself as she imagined the conversation. She guessed that sometimes, it was just easier to act like something almost world changing didn't happened the night before.

Groaning a little, she shifted around under the covers, tempted to lie there for just a few more minutes. She was still tired, and with good reason. Chasing down and confronting Death was quite an exhausting experience. Celestia had told all of them to head back to their homes for some well needed rest. Even Pinkie Pie had looked tired...well, tired for Pinkie. She had still been jumping around the whole walk home, but something about her had seemed...off.

Had her mane been less...poofy?

She shook her head, it was too early in the morning to wonder about that, it was probably just fatigue.

Anyway, no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't just stay in bed, there was so much research to be done! The fact that Death, which should have been a simple force off nature, had visited them as a living breathing pony meant there was so much she didn't understand, which meant there was so much more she could learn!

Also...the Princess had told them all to see her again today, to try and offer some explanation of what happened. She had no idea what to expect from this, what had caused death to attack Celestia, and why had he said everything was 'Thanks to the Princess?'

Twilight shook her head and threw aside the covers, climbing out of bed. She hoped her friends were doing a better job of treating today like a normal day.

"C'mon Spike, I think you've spent quite enough time sleeping," Twilight said, prodding her assistant with one of her hooves. She still couldn't believe how he had managed to nap through the entire incident. Spike let out a massive yawn and opened his eyes.

"Aww, I was just about to beat my record for longest nap Twilight," she frowned at him. "Oh you know I'm just kidding Twi, your number one assistant is always ready to help! What do you need?" He stepped out of bed and stretched his tiny arms up into the air.

"Thank you Spike. Now, the first book I need is..."

"Woah nelly! You putting a book fortress together in here Twi'?" Applejack called over the massive stack of books that nearly blocked the doorway.

"I must say, I don't think I've seen the library this cluttered before. Are you doing an early re-shelving darling?" Rarity asked, heading in to the library alongside Applejack.

"Oh, sorry girls. I've been trying to do some research on the...incident that happened yesterday. I've been looking through any book that might be related, but nothing seems to make any sense!" Twilight said, annoyed. Spike rushed back in the room, a heavy book held over his head.

"Here's the book you wanted Twilight, Advanced Theory On Existence After Death," he plopped the book down on the pile. "Oh, hey Applejack, hey...uh, Rarity." A huge grin appeared on his face as he saw the fashionista pony.

"Well howdy-do Spike," Applejack returned.

"Indeed, it's nice to finally see you awake," Rarity smiled at the dragon. "So are we the first to arrive then Twilight?"

"Looks like, I was expecting Pinkie to be the first honestly. I don't think that pony's ever been late for anything," Twilight replied, shifting a few piles of books to the side with her magic to allow some more room for her friends.

"I saw her walking this way on my flight over here," a voice called from outside. Peering through the doorway they all saw Rainbow dash settle down on the ground, Fluttershy right behind her.

"Oh yes, it didn't look like she was walking that fast though," Fluttershy added. "Oh, and good morning everypony. It's so good to see that you're still doing well."

"Good morning to you too Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash," Twilight smiled at her friends and led them inside. "Do any of you know why Pinkie might be...less than energetic today?"

"I'd guess it'd have somethin' to do with that Death fellow..." Applejack said. "She seemed pretty sad to see him go."

"Why don't you ask her yourself? I think I see her coming this way," Rarity said, looking out one of the windows. Walking up beside her, Twilight followed her eyes to see a spot of pink on the the horizon that just had to be Pinkie.

Well...at least it looked like Pinkie.

The earth pony appeared to be trudging along the road. Trudge, now that was a word Twilight had never expected to associate with Pinkie. Also, her head was held low to the ground, with the expression on her face looking absolutely serious.

This day was turning out far stranger than Twilight expected.

In a few minutes the pink pony had reached the library, joining the rest of the group.

"Um, good morning Pinkie Pie," Twilight greeted after a few moments of silence.

"Hello," Pinkie replied in a flat voice. She sat on the floor and narrow her eyes, making her look intently focused on...something.

"Uh...are you okay Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked, waving a hoof in front of her face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry girls. I'm just thinking, think think thinking," she emphasized by tapping her head with one of her hooves.

"About what?" Twilight inquired.

"Oh, a whole bunch of things! A lot of whys, with a few whats, a couple whos thrown in, and right now I've got one when," she turned to Twilight. "When's Princess Celestia supposed to show up?"

"Pretty soon I'd guess. We can go wait for her out on the balcony," Twilight replied, still looking a bit worried about Pinkie.

"Okie dokie lokie, lead the way Twilight," Pinkie said, her eyes still focused in concentration. Nodding, Twilight led all of her friends out on to the lower balcony of the library, which was bathed in the warm morning light.

"So Twilight dear, you were saying that none of your research was helping, what did you mean?" Rarity asked, trying to start some conversation while they waited. Twilight's eyes brightened, she loved any opportunity she got to explain her research to her friends.

"Well I was going through all of my magical theory books and cross checking them with my books on the study of souls and other metaphysical concepts, but nothing in them added up. Sunny said that he was Death, but you can't just take that entire...concept, and turn it into a pony," she shook her head. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"Oh my student, you don't know how right you are," shocked, they all looked up to see the majestic form of the Princess descending down to them from the sky. Gingerly, she alighted on the balcony and smiled at Twilight and her friends. Quickly, they all bowed in reverence.

"There's no need for that my little ponies," Celestia chided them.

"Oh, we're sorry Princess," Fluttershy apologized, standing back up.

"What did you mean about me being right Princess? Are you saying that Sunny really wasn't death?" Twilight asked once everypony had stood up from their bows.

"Yeah, and why did Sunny have to leave? Why did he turn so scary all of a sudden? Why did he say the whole thing was 'thanks to you?'" Pinkie jumped in next to Twilight. "And why...why did he have to be so sad?" Pinkie shied away sheepishly as Celestia turned her gaze on her.

"The fact is...Sunny is death, but he is also not. His very existence, as you said Twilight, does not make sense. As for what happened last night...I tried to help him, and I wasn't good enough. I made...mistakes," Celestia explained, a pained expression her face.

"What kind of mistakes Princess?" Applejack joined in.

"He asked me to do something for him, something I should have refused. But I let my emotions get the better of me," she took a deep breath. "I cast a spell on him and discovered...the truth about Sunny is..."

"...he attacked me,and the next thing I knew, you were all standing over me," she finished.

"He was never meant to exist? That's just terrible," Fluttershy commented.

"But I still don't understand, how could the Elements affect him? All he did was witness their power," Twilight asked, still confused.

"Nopony knows the full power of the Elements my student, and he witnessed their power on four separate occasions. I do not think anypony could have come away from that unchanged," her teacher replied.

"But it doesn't really matter in the end, right?" Rainbow Dash added. "I mean, he's back where he's supposed to be 'cause it would be too had for him to stay here."

"But why? Why isn't he allowed to be happy?" Pinkie's mane had lost a bit of its puffiness. "That's not fair..."

"I'm sorry sugar cube but...life ain't exactly fair," Applejack rested a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "For those livin' it, or those wishin' for it."

"Btu that doesn't mean we should just give up! I have never given up when it comes to making somepony smile, and I won't stop now," Pinkie turned to Celestia. "There has to be something we can do. What about the Elements? What if we used them to bring Sunny back here?"

"Um, darling..." Rarity responded to the desperate question. "I understand how you feel for Sunny, I personally would not wish his fate on anypony...but last time he was here he attacked the Princess and almost went mad with his own power..."

"No no no no, not just bring him back! Celestia said that the Elements tried to help Sunny, but what if they didn't have enough 'oomf' to help him all the way. What if they were trying to, trying to..." Pinkie trailed off, searching for the right words.

"What if they were trying to separate him from death and give him a real life, make him a part of this world," Twilight realized. Pinkie nodded happily, but the unicorn just shook her head.

"That might be true...but using the Elements like that...it might work, but there's a chance..." Twilight paused.

"A chance of what?" Pinkie asked.

"After all of this...Sunny may not wish to experience life anymore. The majority of his memories here are...painful. If that's true then the Elements will fail, and I don't know what their magic will do," she replied with a gentle voice.

"Well...what do you think we should do Princess?" Applejack asked.

"I do not know," answered the Princess, slightly sad. "You six are the bearers of the Elements now. I am sorry, but in the end, you are the ones who must decide on how to use their power."

"Well...I think we should try to help Sunny," admitted Pinkie. "Helping him just has to be worth it, don't you think?" She looked hopefully to her friends, but they remained silent. Twilight knew why.

None of them had really known Sunny, it was only Pinkie that had spent any real time with him. Even thinking of him now, the images that stood out in Twilight's mind were...less than pleasing.

The pitch black coat and mane.

The white void eyes.

And the crazed smile etched on his face, the never fading grin with the wild laughter.

He had scared her, scared all of them, and it wasn't something they would ever forget.

Faced on all sides by uncooperative silence, Pinkie seemed to grow gloomier and gloomier. To Twilight, it almost looked like she was growing...darker. As if the sun refused to shine down on her. She wanted, no, needed to say something.

But what could she...

"I think Pinkie's right," Fluttershy's meek voice broke through the silence.

What?" the other ponies exclaimed, making her shy back a few steps.

"Oh, um...the reason that Sunny turned so scary was because he was so desperate to stay..." she paused, looking nervous. "I think he was so desperate because of something I said to him. When Pinkie brought him over to my cottage I told him that...sometimes your dreams don't come true."

"Because of that, he tried even harder, asking the Princess for the spell, and then trying to change the world when that didn't work," a tiny frown formed on her face. "I should have just kept my mouth shut."

"Hey, you can't blame yourself for everything!" Rainbow Dash argued. "There's no way this was all your fault."

"But that doesn't mean I'm completely innocent either, I need to make it up to him, and..." Fluttershy walked over to stand beside Pinkie Pie. "I have to let him know that even if dreams sometimes don't come true, that doesn't mean his won't. We can help him, we can give him his dream." Her pleading look joined Pinkie's.

Finally, Twilight relented...slightly.

"Pinkie, if we do this, you have to have no doubts. You can't be less than one hundred percent sure when it comes to using the Elements," she made sure her voice was deeply serious, Pinkie could not take this lightly.

"You don't have anything to worry about Twilight. I don't I've ever been as sure about something before," Pinkie gave a warm smile. "Does that mean...that you're gonna help?"

"Yes Pinkie, it does," Twilight turned to her other three friends. "What about you?"

"Hey, Element of Loyalty remember?" Rainbow Dash said smugly. "I can't let my friends down."

"Honestly, this all sounds a little crazy," Applejack admitted. "But I went with y'all to stop Nightmare Moon, so I think I can handle another crazy adventure."

"It doesn't look like I have a choice now," Rarity observed, her five friends before her. "But if this can work, then I, Rarity, will give death his chance at life!" She declared, thrusting her head upward dramatically.

"Well, it looks like we found our answer," Twilight said to the Princess.

"I can see that," Celestia replied, smiling. "And I guess you'll be needing these." A quick flash of her horn, and suddenly, all the ponies found themselves wielding their Elements.

"But please remember this...be careful," Celestia added.

"We will Princess," Twilight assured her, then turned back to Pinkie. "So...what now? This is your plan after all. Pinkie beamed at her.

"Well first we need to..."

"So tell me again why we had to come back to this hill?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking behind them at Ponyville. Celestia stood a little ways away from them as an...'observer' she had said.

"Well this hill needs a happy ending to its story of course," Pinkie explained like it should have been obvious. "Plus, it just seems...right. If this is where Sunny left...it's where we should bring him back."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Rainbow Dash admitted. "In a Pinkie sort of way."

"That's what I thought!" Pinkie agreed. "Now then, is everypony ready?" The five mares nodded, completely prepared to follow their friend.

"Then let's get started!" Standing together in a small circle on top of that hill, they closed their eyes, and focused.

Using the Elements was always a strange experience. Twilight could always sense their power, like a giant wave just waiting to crash down, but she had no idea how to use that terrifying strength.

Alone, that is.

Together with her friends, when they were fully focused on what they wanted to accomplish, bringing that power out was as easy as breathing.

The last two times, it had been her that controlled the flow of power, but this time, she entrusted that duty to Pinkie. Twilight could almost feel Pinkie's smile as the powers of Harmony gathered within her.

The world paused...

The wave came crashing down and Twilight opened her eyes.

A multicolored beam flowed out of the jewels each pony wore, the rainbow slowly wrapping around all of them. Soon, they were encased in a dome of brilliant light, the colors almost blinding. Then, Twilight felt a notion like she being...pull away. The feeling grew stronger and stronger as the light grew brighter.

And suddenly...it stopped.

The light vanished, and all went black.

Twilight held her breath for moment, thinking she had passed out, but no. She was still awake.

Had something gone wrong? Had the Elements failed? Had she made a mistake?

Frantically, she scanned the black void, looking for anything that might be familiar. She couldn't find anything, there nothing here but...shadows.

But then...something caught her attention. It was a light...no, five lights, and they were drawing closer.

The leading light was a bright and happy pink. Even in the darkness, it looked like it was bouncing around, barely able to contain its joy.

Behind it was a proud blue that seemed like it was deliberately trying to outshine any other light.

Next was a beautiful pure white light, its brilliance seeming to reinforce and hold up the lights around it.

Then, a soft yellow spark. It seemed smaller than the rest, but Twilight could feel the great strength it contained, its light soothed her worried feelings.

And at the very end, a strong, steadfast orange. It was calm and silent, making no boasts, because it didn't need to. It was pure and honest strength.

It looked like her friends had found her.

Curious, Twilight tried to see her own color, and was able to recognize from the light of her friends.

A dark and mysterious purple, containing unknown wonders. Twilight wondered briefly what her friends felt from her light. She almost asked before she realized she didn't have a mouth.

And then she realized something else...

Standing together, their lights began to grow stronger. They illuminated the darkness, and Twilight saw that there was something else there.

Something small, something black, curled into a tiny ball fall below them.

A shadow within the shadows.

Almost immediately, the pink light traveled down to it. The light expanded, shaping itself into the form of a silly pink pony.

Hello again Sunny...

Those words echoed in Twilight's mind. They hadn't been spoken, they'd been...thought.

It hurts...every choice I make hurts...

The tiny shadow's thoughts were so small, so quiet.

But don't you see? It doesn't have to hurt anymore, we can help you...

Everything will be sunshine and smiles!

The shadow shifted slightly, like it was trying to look at Pinkie, but couldn't quite figure out how.

Come on. It's just a hop, skip, and jump.

Pinkie reached out a hoof, placing it beneath the shadow. She paused for a moment, then looked up.

Girls? I don't think I can do this on my own...

Twilight chuckled softly in her head, drifting down next to Pinkie joined by the other lights. Twilight focused for a moment and felt her own light expand outwards.

Soon, they had all formed their own celestial bodies. Twilight brought out her own hoof to join Pinkie's, and as she touched the shadow, she felt something enter her mind.

Memories, old, sad, and dark. Long memories of watching and wishing, trapped alone in the darkness. She watch through somepony else's eyes, as the world aged and changed before them. As so many souls fell into her arms.

Then, in an instant, she was back her own mind, her hoof still supporting the shadow. But now, four more hooves had joined them. The six friends were ready.

It's time to go.

The pink pony shimmered.

Yeehaw! Let's get outta this gloomy place!

A orange glow of confidence

Well duh!

The boastful blue.

Be careful everypony.

The kind yellow.

I agree, I think I've had quite enough of this place.

And the generous white.

See you on the other side.

Twilight added in.

Together, they began to rise, the shadow held between them all so carefully. Then, a soft burst of light wrapped around them, pulling them back to where they all belonged.

The hill, they were all back at the hill. Twilight didn't feel any different, the only proof she had gone anywhere were her memories. She got the feeling she would never forget the dark memories from the shadow.

"Oh my, is everypony all right?" Rarity asked, calmly checking on all of her friends.

"Um, everypony, look," Fluttershy pointed towards the center of their circle, and Twilight couldn't help but gasp.

Nestled down in the grass was a young gray colt, calmly napping as the morning sun shone down on his blank flank. Slowly, Pinkie inched forward and tapped the colt on the head. He yawned and slowly opened his eyes, staring confused at the odd sight of a grinning pink pony a few inches from his face.

"Umm...hello?" he asked, his voice soft.

"Hello Sunny, it's me, Pinkie Pie," she gleefully introduced. "Don't you remember?"

"I...I don't..." he paused, glancing worried at the ponies surrounding him. "I know you...but I don't remember..." Pinkie frowned a little.

"I bet there's one thing you remember," Pinkie decided, then poked him in the chest. "You're far overdo for a party!" The colt paused...then nodded. Pinkie beamed at him, almost uncontrollably happy.

Faced with such overwhelming joy, Pinkie's mane shimmering in the sunlight, the colt couldn't help himself...

Sunny smiled.