Ponyville was relatively quiet that day. Upon roaming around town, one could find the usual ponies trotting around from storefront to storefront, chatting with friends, or simply basking in some sunlight that was very recently liberated from clouds after a winter wrap-up. Everything was, for the most part, normal.
And with every normal day in Ponyville, one can count on the Cutie Mark Crusaders being bored enough to do something about it.
So out from the precariously balanced clubhouse rode Scootaloo on her scooter, with Sweetie Belle on Scootaloo's shoulders and Apple Bloom on Sweetie Belle's. Together the three of them zipped down the ramp, through a cluster of trees and straight into town. They soared over a bench where Lyra Heartstrings sat comfortably, knocked somepony into a bushel of apples in one of the outdoor markets, and sent two picnickers diving into a bush in the park. Upon reaching Twilight Sparkles' house, Scootaloo reared back with a grunt, flung the other two off of her shoulders, and leapt into the air, wings fluttering, to land in front of the massive tree with finality.
She took off her helmet and shook her head.
"Did you guys see that?!" she exclaimed. "….Guys?"
Dazed, Sweetie Belle stood up and coughed.
"It's hard to see anything when you're spinning through the air," she said hotly.
Apple Bloom sat up and adjusted her big, bouncy pink bow before attempting to stand, only to topple over dizzily.
"I haven't done that much jumpin' since the reunion a few weeks ago," she sputtered. She examined her right hoof. "And I didn't get any bruises from that."
Scootaloo smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry girls," she said. "I get a little carried away sometimes."
The trio jumped at a voice nearby shouting at them and turned to see a grumpy old pony with a monocle and a gray moustach walking faster that he probably had in years toward them.
"I'll getchya, ya little hooligans! You stay right there and I'll teach ya a lesson ya won't soon ferget!"
"Uh-oh," said Apple Bloom, finally managing to stand up. "Quick, get inside!"
They scrambled to the door of Twilight's house and knocked feverishly. Eventually, Spike opened the door and before he could even utter "What's all this noise abou-" the Crusaders trampled him into the house.
The old pony had reached the door and begun to ramble.
"Blasted youngins!" he said to Scootaloo, who had stumbled back to the agate door to slam it shut. "Back in mah day, we knew right from wrong. Why, when I was a filly, I woulda had to trot through snow in the middle a' summer uphill both ways b'fore-"
Scootaloo swung the door closed.
"Sheesh, I never ever wanna get old."
Inside, Spike was lying on his back on the floor, his eyes shut tight. He blinked a few times and squinted before sitting up and rubbing the back of his round, purple head.
"What was all that about?" he squeaked. "Can't you three ever just be fine with, I dunno, walking to places?"
"Sorry, Spike," said Apple Bloom. "We're a little uptight t'day."
"Oh yeah? And why is that?"
"We think we've figured out how to finally get our cutie marks!" Sweetie Belle said ecstatically.
"Uh-huh," Spike folded with stubby arms. "Well, it's not happening here. Twilight and I are very busy today and-"
"Spike!" said a voice.
The baby dragon stopped and turned. The voice, soft and reassuring, continued:
"We will always welcome three ambitious little ponies like these into our home. You know that."
And with that, Twilight Sparkle emerged from around a corner, her unicorn horn aglow, with a two hooves-full of books floating alongside side of her neat, dark purple mane. She stood there, smiling sweetly, eyes shining. With a gesture of her head, the pile of books hovered over to her desk by the back window of the house and plopped themselves down with a dusty thud.
"Yeah, I know," Spike rubbed his head again and shot the three fillies a menacing glance then smiled. "You guys make yourselves at home," he said. "….Again."
He shuffled over to the pile of books Twilight had just brought in and starting sorting through them based on some colors of their covers and the like.
"So," began Twilight definitively. "What can we help the Crusaders with today? You know this is the third time you three have been in here this week."
"Don't remind me," Scootaloo muttered as she started to meander away from the conversation.
Apple Bloom clearer her throat. "Well, we know we came in her just ta browse a few days ago, cuz we weren't really sure what it was we were lookin' for. We just thought we might be able ta find somethin' here that could help us."
Twilight's face became quizzical.
"Aaaand…." Her words were chosen carefully and slowly came out of her mouth as if they were being grinded out on an assembly line. "Now you know what it is you're looking for? And you think it's something I have here?"
"Yup!" Apple Bloom said cheerily.
On the other side of the room, Scootaloo was pondering a vial on a table filled with a dark red liquid. She tapped it a couple of times, half expecting a giant cloud of smoke to release itself from its container. Twilight turned at the sound of the tapping.
"Oh, please don't touch that, Scootaloo," she said. "I'm not sure what's in there yet and I'd rather not have it all over the floor. Spike, could you take that down to the lab?"
"Certainly!" the little dragon beamed. Once he had left, Sweetie Belle explained their situation.
"We think it might help us to learn more about the history of this place," she said. "Maybe we could find something out about Ponyville that would help us figure out more about ourselves!"
Twilight smiled again. "I take it you girls are getting tired of swinging through trees and attempting to perform circus acts in the middle of town."
"Hey!" Scootaloo shouted. "I would've crossed that tightrope easily if somepony hadn't sneezed while standing on my head." She looked over to Apple Bloom.
"What?" Apple Bloom replied. "The wind blew a dandelion right up mah nose!"
Twilight giggled. "I think I have just the book for you three."
"I was afraid you would say that," Scootaloo sighed.
Twilight's horn shimmered again, and this time she brought forth a large, brown, beaten up book that sported a golden unicorn emblazoned on the cover. She held it suspended in air in front of the three Crusaders' faces.
"This book here has anything and everything you need to know about the legends of stories of Equestria," said Twilight proudly. "Well, most of them, anyway. In fact, this is where I first read about the Elements of Harmony!"
"Wow, really?!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "Works fer me!"
"Me too!" said Sweetie Belle. "C'mon, Scootaloo!"
Scootaloo, who was distracted watching Owlowiscious biting his feathers in his sleep, snapped back to the conversation.
"What? Oh, yeah sure, okay!"
"Thanks Twilight!" Apple Bloom said. "We'll return this as soon as possible."
"Sure thing, my little ponies. See you soon!"
Scootaloo trotted over and opened the door.
"-I could get to where I was goin'. And another thing!"
"Wha-? Have you been here this whole time?!"
The old pony stood at Twilight's door, uttering a cluster of words that sounded like they were forming sentences but actually weren't. While he sputtered with a tongue-twister he created just by talking, the Crusaders looked at one another and proceeded to slide around him, close the door, and sneak off.
"Let's take this to the clubhouse," suggested Sweetie Belle. "I think a lot of the stuff in this book is found in the Everfree Forest, so we can start there once we take a look at it!"
The old pony looked at them, still standing in front of Twilight's door.
"But that was after she broke m'heart and took away all m'record collections. Oh, the cat? Well, he's alright, I s'pose, given his condition with those park rangers. I never thought….well now hey, where'd you hoofigans say you was headed? The Everfree Forest? Why, just the other day I was walking along the outside of them there trees, when I heard this noise like a meteor crashin' down and I….eh?"
With the murmur of a motor and the whizzing of wheels, the Cutie Mark Crusaders zipped off from where they came, away from the old pony, away from Twilight and Spike, away from Ponyville, into a vibrant late afternoon dusk that quietly brewed a steaming mug of chaos.
Safe inside their clubhouse resting in the trees, the Crusaders perused the pages of legends Twilight had lent to them. Scootaloo would typically sit down and listen whenever either of the other two would pipe up with an "Ooh, look at this!" but typically wandered about from window to window, growing restless and more agitated with every page turned. At one point she even appeared to take a nap in the corner, feigning a loud snore, only to realize her friends weren't paying any attention to her and return to fidgeting by herself. Eventually, she let out what had been plaguing her.
"We know all of these already! At least the important ones!"
The other two looked up at her, then to each other.
"And which ones're the important ones?" asked Apple Bloom.
"The Elements of Harmony! And….and Discord!" Scootaloo returned. "One of them is really really good for us and protects us and the other one wants nothing more than to live in craziness! They're like polar opposites. Those are the only things we need to know about our history, I told you that. Have you two found anything else that might be important?"
They looked at each other again.
"Well, I guess not," said Sweetie Belle. "I was hoping something might be in here about the Mirror Pool but I got nothin'."
"The Mirror Pool?" Scootaloo was puzzled. "That puddle in the cave that Pinkie used to create a bunch of clones for herself not too long ago? What use would that be?"
"Maybe we could use it to make copies of ourselves. Then we could find our cutie marks faster."
"But Sweetie Belle," interjected Apple Bloom. "Ya'll saw what happened when Pinkie Pie used it. The copies wouldn't actually be us. 'Sides, what if one of the copies got a cutie mark instead of us?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sweetie Belle hung her head. "I guess this plan hasn't worked out so well for us, either."
Scootaloo jumped.
"Did you guys hear that?"
Silence. Scootaloo's eyes were open wide.
"Um, hear what, Scootaloo?" asked Apple Bloom, looking around.
"That rustling," Scootaloo replied quietly, hunched down and shivering.
The sun was setting.
"You're just still worked up over that camping trip a few weeks ago," said Sweetie Belle.
"Sssh!"
Silence again. The trees outside began to lose their vibrant color as the darkness rolled in and swallowed it.
"It….it's probably just the wind," Apple Bloom said, starting to look worried as she realized Scootaloo wasn't joking.
"It wasn't windy at all today. Look at the trees."
The three of them swiftly glanced out the nearest window and noticed nothing was moving. The shadows elongated with the setting sun and suddenly were erased as total darkness rushed in like waves at high tide.
"M-maybe we should get going," said Sweetie Belle shakily.
"Yeah," replied Apple Bloom. "Mah sister's gonna be wonderin' where I am. See you gals back here tomorrow?"
A tapping at the door. The Crusaders leapt into the air and clutched each other, not a one of them daring to move or speak.
Scootaloo suddenly thought back to that same camping trip weeks ago. Blurred visions of the mysterious Princess Luna floated around her head, as well as the shadowy Headless Horse. Her thoughts became clearer. Luna would protect us, right? We can't possibly be in any danger. Besides, I'm sure it's just Applejack coming to get us. She sure is taking awhile, though….
After a long period of further silence, she finally let go of her two comrades and crept to the door of the clubhouse.
"Scootaloo, don't!" Sweetie Belle whispered. Apple Bloom waved her arms frantically next to her.
"We can't sit up here all night," Scootaloo said facing the door. She turned her head. "Are you with me?"
The other two looked to each other pleadingly, and both realized that the other wasn't going to say anything to object. They rose and joined Scootaloo at the door. Closing her eyes and letting out a whisp of chilled breath, she stretched her hoof out, twisted the knob, and let the door swing slowly open by itself.
Dark.
Their eyes darted to and fro, looking for a tree branch or squirrel or anything that might have caused the noises. They even hoped it might just be a bored Pinkie Pie, looking for someone to prank….
Something twitched in the shadows. The Crusaders gasped and froze for a moment before collectively making a dash down the board that connected clubhouse to ground. As they stumbled over each other, the walkway suddenly shook and shifted, toppling over and sending the trio careening down to Earth with a yelp. Scrambling to get up, Apple Bloom looked up to see a shadow blacker than the dense night itself envelope them.
Quiet. Back in Ponyville, residents began to slumber peacefully unaware.
Applejack stood on her hind legs with her front hooves on the windowsill, holding her head slightly out into the stale night air. She stayed just like that for quite some time before Big Macintosh finally stepped inside to see what was happening. She looked behind her at him, saw his concern, and went back to peering outside.
"I'm gettin' a little worried here, Bic Mac," she said. "Apple Bloom's never out this late."
Big Mac joined her by the window, looking out at the tops of the apple trees forming a skyline under the stars.
"I s'pose I'd better go find 'er," Applejack continued, stepping down from the window. "Hopefully I won't be long. Tell Granny she can have that last slice a' pie. That is, unless you want it, a'course."
"Nope."
"Alright, I'll be back, then."
With that, she trotted out from her home into the night. When she reached the clubhouse, she tripped over the fallen walkway and looked up to see the light still on inside.
"You girls still up there?" she hollered up. "It's gettin' real late now. I don't mind if you three're spendin' the night up here, I'd just like to know first."
She waited for a response that never came.
"Girls? Apple Bloom? Ah'm comin' up!"
She nudged the board with her nose and propped it up on her back, then proceeded to walk in such a way that allowed it to lean back up against the clubhouse balcony and rest there. She climbed up and peered inside.
"Hello?"
The clubhouse was still. She glanced around and noticed a brown book lying open on the floor.
"What nonsense are those three gettin' themselves into know?"
She looked down at the book and saw that a few pages had been ripped out. She then flipped the book over to reveal its brown and gold cover.
"I've seen this book b'fore!" she declared to nopony. "This is Twilight's! And they just gone and ripped pages out of it. Ooh, they're in trouble now."
She grabbed the book, balanced it on her head under her trademark hat, turned out the light, and trotted back down the boardwalk and into Ponyville.
Ponyville at night is an interesting place. Ever since the uproar with Nightmare Moon a few years back, many ponies have realized that, especially in warmer weather, the night can be a peaceful and quiet place to reflect on things. Applejack passed a pony couple going for a walk in the park, as well as a few more chatting outside of one of the stores just now being closed up. Everywhere was relaxed and calm, as the stars twinkled above.
Then came to music. As soon as Applejack turned the corner headed to Rarity's boutique, a brilliant display of lights and color exploded as a group of ponies were seen dancing and jumping around. And of course, a pink streak kept zipping from one pony to the next, offering sweet treats and a chance to dance.
"It must be somepony's birthday today," Applejack said to herself, half smiling.
She walked up to Rarity's place and knocked. Rarity answered with a towel wrapped around her head and a green beauty mask covering her face.
"Why, Applejack!" she beamed. "Come on in, I have some cucumber sandwiches waiting."
"Oh, no, that's fine, thank ya, Rarity," said Applejack. "I just had me half a' one of Granny's pies."
"Very well, then," Rarity said. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this late-night visit?"
"Well, I was hopin' you might be able ta tell me where my little sister ran off to. I wasn't sure if you'd seen Sweetie Belle at all today."
"No, I haven't, but I wasn't planning on it, either. Are they not in their little clubhouse?"
"Nope, checked there," Applejack was growing visibly more distraught. "All I found was this book a' Twilight's all torn up."
She removed her hat and let the book slide off of her mane and onto the pavement in front of Rarity's door.
"Hm," Rarity scratched her chin. "That's rather odd. I don't suppose they're at Twilight's then?"
"I dunno, I haven't been there yet. I guess that's mah next stop."
"Oh, well do wait a bit," said Rarity. "I'll come along with you. If my little Sweetie Belle is getting into trouble I'd like to know about it."
She turned and trotted daintily into another room. A few splashing noises were heard and a moment later she emerged, freshened and beautiful, to join Applejack as the two headed for Twilight's.
As it was getting later, fewer and fewer ponies were wandering the streets. A stillness had begun to set in, and the only sounds still hovering about were those of the late-night party fading into the distance. Rarity pleasantly walked alongside Applejack, her head held high even though no one was even around to see how proper she was. She happened to glance to her left to see Applejack's distant and distracted look.
"Applejack, darling," she said. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. You know those three are always getting into some shenanigans or whatever."
"I know, I know," said Applejack, still gazing worriedly at the road below her hooves. "But even when they're doin' the craziest of things, mah sister still lets us know what it is. 'Specially if it's gon' be at night."
"Of course, but everpony makes forgetful mistakes. Especially our little ones."
"I guess you're right. Hopefully Twilight can tell us a little more 'bout what's goin' on."
By the time they had reached Twilight's door, the night had fallen to a lukewarm silence. Only a couple of cricket chirps were heard somewhere by their feet, but they paid no mind to that.
They knocked on the giant tree. Spike opened the door with a yawn.
"Oh, Rarity!" he smiled wide at the sight of her shining beauty. "And….Applejack. Um, what's up, you two?"
"Hey Spike," said Applejack. "You and Twilight didn't happen to see our sisters here earlier, didjya?"
"Oh, yeah, they were here. They stopped by asking Twilight for a book or something."
"Would it happen to be this one here?"
Again, Applejack bowed her head and let her hat slip off, carrying the weight of the book down with it to plop on the ground.
"Eh, I'm not sure," Spike said, looking at it. "That's one of Twilight's favorites, I can't imagine she would give that away."
"What about me?" said Twilight's voice from Spike. He stepped aside. "Oh, hey girls!"
"Good evening, Twilight, dear," said Rarity. Spike nearly collapsed at the sound of her luscious voice. "We seem to have a bit of a problem locating our little ones."
"Oh! Well, they did stop by here earlier." Twilight glanced at the ground where the book lay inside Applejack's hat. "To borrow….that. Um….what happened to it?
"Not sure," said Applejack. "I found it like this in their clubhouse with some pages torn out."
Twilight's unicorn horn glittered and the book sprung out of the hat and creaked open. Several pages flipped as if blown by a breeze and stopped where the pages were ripped and crinkled.
"The pages about the Elements of Harmony are missing," she said, suddenly growing worried. "Spike, do me a favor and put that on my desk."
Spike grabbed it from midair and hopped back into the house.
"Did they happen to say what they were doing with it?" asked Rarity.
"Yeah, but they were vague. They were just looking for something historical that might help them learn more about themselves. Normally I wouldn't give that book away but they seemed so eager I couldn't turn them down…."
"Well now what could they want with the Elements?" Applejack said, her voice getting louder. "And where did they even say they were goin'?"
"I could tell ya that!"
The three ponies looked around to see a feeble, elderly pony bearing a monocle and a gray moustache walking shakily over to them.
"Uh, beg yer pardon?" said Applejack.
"I saw them three youngins shootin' away outta here just earlier t'day!" he said, knees trembling. "They were so rude, runnin' away like that in the middle of m'story. I was just tellin' 'em 'bout how once back in the times o' war I used to be able ta shoot a slingshot like nopony's business! I'd just stick it up against a rock, pull back wif mah teef like dis, and let 'er go! Boy, in my prime I coulda taken out a dozen pigeons just by-"
"I'm terribly sorry," interrupted Rarity. "Did you say you could tell us where they were going?"
"Where who was going?"
"Our sisters."
"And who are you?"
"Well, I'm Rarity. And this here's Applejack and Twilight."
"Well….yer a pretty one, you are. As are yer friends here. How's about I take ya all out ta dinner tomorrow and-"
"No, no thank you, that's rather kind," Rarity was getting annoyed. "But we'd really just like to find our sisters."
"Yer what?"
"Our. Sisters."
"And ya got sisters? Well t'day's just my lucky day!"
"No, our little sisters. They're fillies."
"Ehh, well, easy come, easy go."
A pause.
"Now then, as I was sayin'. I used to rock climb in my younger days. I'd latch a buckle around me and hoist m'self up to a-"
"WHERE ARE OUR SISTERS?!"
The old pony flinched at the sound of Rarity's suddenly booming voice. After a beat he cleared his throat.
"Ehh, they said something about goin' to the Everfree Forest, as I recall," he said, voice quaking.
"Oh, great," said Applejack, rolling her eyes. "Of all the places ta be in the middle of the night."
"Well, thank you for your help, sir," said Twilight, grimacing and hoping she didn't just start him off on another tangent.
He blinked.
"Sure."
And with that, the old pony turned on his hooves and creaked feebly back into the night.
"Wow, you sure gave him a scare, Rarity," said Twilight. "Spike, could you watch the house for a bit? We need to go looking for the Crusaders."
No response.
"Spike?"
Rarity stepped forward.
"Here, let me try. He always comes at the sound of my voice. Ahem….oh Spikey Wiiiikeeeeyyyy!"
Still no answer.
"Hmph," Rarity spouted. "Well that's strange."
Twilight walked back into the house and toward the desk where she told Spike to put the book.
"Spike! Where'd you go?"
Trotting up to the desk, she looked down and saw the book shredded and tattered, lying there as if claws had scratched at it hungrily. Beside the book rested a parchment that looked like one of Spike's with words written on it in the kind of ink he often used:
I'VE TAKEN YOUR CRUSADERS AND HID THEM WELL
AND FINDING THEM TAKES MORE THAN A SPELL
NOW I'VE STOLEN YOUR DRAGON TOO
I FEAR ONLY THE ELEMENTS WITHIN YOU
Twilight gasped loudly and stared down at her desk, her eyes whiter than the torn pages before her. She stood there, rooted to the floor, even after Applejack and Rarity walked up to either side of her to see what she saw. They both gasped even louder, and a tear welled up in Rarity's eye.
"How could we let this happen?" asked Twilight, finally breaking the stilled silence. "How could I let this happen?"
"None of this is your fault, sugarcube," said Applejack, placing her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Don't you worry now, we'll find 'em."
A sudden squawking shook them from their shock. Twilight looked down at the floor under the desk and saw Owlowiscious there, blindfolded and gagged with a wadded up ball of some of the book's ripped pages.
"Owlowicsious!"
She magically snatched the wad from the poor owl's beak and took the blindfold off, then levitated him up onto the desk where he lay there, panting heavily.
"Who did all of this?!"
She slid the parchment over and discovered more words, this time written in a fancy cursive.
Do you like my good friend's rhymes? I know I do! I've always been a sucker for a good bit of poetry. Surely you can understand that, right dearest Twilight?
Well, I have to get going now. I hope you all are in for brilliant fireworks display of chaos!
Ta ta!
And under that, a single, large, four-fingered paw print was there, moist with fresh ink.