Equestria, a land filled with ponies and other creatures, big and small, living in harmony. Of the pony races, there are three, each unique in their own way. There are unicorns, practical and wise. These ponies are born with horns on their heads that hold great power. This race is versed in a range of different types of magic and spells. The Pegasi, bold and swift. These ponies travel through the skies with the powerful wings they possess. They also control the weather, to help the land thrive. Finally, earth ponies, strong and dependable. These ponies are known for their speed and endurance. Some work as farmers, tilling the land and growing the food for all the ponies around Equestria. Each of them play their part to keep the harmony and balance that is known today. However, this does not mean there has not been times where Equestria's peaceful and strong spirit was tested. While rare, evil creatures and ponies have threatened the world, upsetting the balance and disrupting the harmony, wanting to see Equestria fall into a world of darkness. But six spirits of light have expunged the darkness every time. Known simply as the Elements of Harmony, these spirits have passed from pony to pony for centuries. The spirits of Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Honesty all combine to create the sixth element: Magic. Each new generation of specially selected ponies wield this powerful magic, created from a bond between ponies that so undeniably, inexplicably, truly strong, nothing can break it. It is with this power that-
"Cut, cut, cut!"
Twilight looked up from her notecards at the bearded, yellow pegasus with brown eyes, a reel of projection tape cutie mark, and wearing an Equestrian Theater hat as he slowly got up from his director chair. She gave him puzzled as he walked over to her, noticing that he did not seem pleased at all.
"Was there a problem with my narration, Mr. Filmore? Was it the tone of my voice, or the speed? I read in Narration 101 that keeping a conversation-like pace and tone in your voice is the best way to keep everypony's attention during these type of productions." She said.
"No, your delivery and tone are fine. But, need I remind you that Hist-questria is meant to be a short forty-five-minute-long documentary on the history of Equestria? You were talking so long; our prop master ran out of props to use." He said, pointing to a blue pegasus with a white mane and puppets on strings cutie mark standing in front of a white screen, trying to sort through his limited set of now tangled props for the documentary.
"Oh, I'm sorry! So, what do you want me to take out? I still have 50 ½ cards left." She asked as she shuffled through her levitating cards. "All of this seems crucial if you truly want to know Equestria's history."
"I don't know. You can cut down the bit about the Elements of Harmony. Mention them and what they represent and then move on." He advised.
"What? But that's one of the most important parts! I can't take that out!" Twilight exclaimed.
Filmore sighed as he rubbed his head. While he thought having Equestria's heroines working closely with him on the project would be a good idea. It had given him nothing, but headaches so far.
"Look, I know how important the Elements of Harmony are to you and your friends, but it's not that important in this documentary! It's not about the Elements of Harmony!" He protested.
"It may not be, but they should! Without the Elements, how would we have stopped Nightmare Moon from causing everlasting night?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I'm sure we could have-"
"Or what about when Discord turned all of Equestria into a chaos realm?"
"But Celestia and Luna should have-"
"Or kept Tirek from destroying all of-"
"Alright! I get it! But this is my documentary! When you make your own, you can put in as much as you want about the Elements, but I say to take most of it out!" He shouted, before taking a deep breath to calm down.
Twilight huffed a bit. "Fine." She then removed ten cards from the middle of the deck and put them into the trash bin next to her.
"What happened to the script I gave you? Why are you using cards?" He asked.
"Oh, that script had so many inaccuracies, I couldn't use it! Some things weren't in chronological order, and some parts skipped over the really important facts about important ponies throughout history!" She explained.
"Wait, you went off script without telling me?! You can't do that! Where's Rainbow Dash? She's supposed to be organizing the scripts for me."
Just then, Rainbow flew over to them, hovering in place aboard them.
"Alrighty, Mr. Filmore, sir, I've done everything you asked of me. What's next on the agenda?" Rainbow asked.
"Can you bring me the scripts I gave to you? I just found out Ms. Sparkle went completely off script." He said, shooting Twilight a dirty look. He hated to be rude to a princess, but he expected a bit more common sense from her.
"Wait, you needed those?" Rainbow asked, sheepishly.
"Wha-? Yes, I need them! What did you do with them?" He asked.
"You did say to organize the empty cardboard boxes, stack the projection reels and break down and discard the scripts…right?" Rainbow asked, nervously.
"No! I said to break down and discard the empty cardboard boxes, organize the projection reels by category of movie type and to stack the scripts!"
"Oops." Rainbow said as she landed on the floor, folding her wings as she wiggled them nervously.
"'Oops'? What do you mean, 'Oops'?"
"Well…I didn't really know how to break down the scripts, so I…shredded them."
Mr. Filmore turned pale as his wings drooped to the ground. "You. Did. What?!" His sudden shouting startled Rainbow as she jumped back into the air, whizzing around the studio before coming to a stop in front of him.
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Filmore!" She said.
"Do you know how long it's going to take for me to get all those scripts again?!"
"Um…A few days?"
"A few weeks! This is going to put production behind!" He said, starting to pace back and forth.
An assistant on set brought a glass of water over to him. He accepted it before sitting down in his chair to drink it, taking deep breathes to try and calm down.
"Yoo hoo, Mr. Director! I have your costumes ready!" Rarity's voice rang through the studio as she trotted over to him, dragging a clothes stand with outfits on it behind her with her magic.
"Oh, good. Let me see them."
"Certainly." She said. She levitated the costumes into the air, as the ponies around her gasped. "I know. They're absolutely breath-taking, aren't they?"
"You mean, they're absolutely wrong!" Mr. Filmore said, his face starting to become a light shade of red as he was becoming angrier and angrier by the second.
"What? Why, what's wrong with them?"
"For one thing, the costumes I preordered didn't have jewels on them! All I asked you to do was make slight alterations to them!" He said.
"Yes, but the old ones looked so drab, I just had to spruce them up a bit."
"A bit? You call this a bit?!" He said, grabbing one of the drawings he had for a costume, which was meant to be a peasant costume, and held it next to the one Rarity had altered. Instead of being a simple dress, with some tatters at the bottom, it looked like an outfit a noble would wear.
"Oh, well, I see. I guess I got a bit carried away in my alterations."
"Can you fix them?"
"I would love to, but…I can't."
"Why not?"
"I had to cut them quite extensively when I altered them and then sew the pieces back together and-"
"So, you're telling me, I have order all new costumes?"
"No. I'd be happy to do it myself, free of charge, of course."
"How long will it take?"
"Let me see." She went over to the drawings he had for each costume, looking them over. "About a month, for all of them."
"A month?! I needed them today for a reason! Between this and the scripts, this is going to put me so behind!"
He then saw Fluttershy up near the rafters. "Fluttershy, can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked.
"Oh, um, right away, sir." Fluttershy said as she gently flew down to him. "What is it?"
"Did you get the critics I asked for?"
"Well, I was going to," She said.
"Going to? What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"When I went to go talk to them about it, they were so cynical and mean, that I decided to get some critics that will be able to do the job, maybe even better than they can."
"I guess I should at least meet them. Where are they?" He asked, glancing around the studio.
"They're right up here." Fluttershy flew up to the rafters and pulled back part of the curtain to reveal a bat and an eagle on the curtain rod.
"Who…are they?" He asked.
"These are new critics. Bats have exceptional hearing, they'll be able to help with the audio. Eagles have amazing eyesight and will be able to spot any little mistake."
"I can't have animals as my critics!" He exclaimed, his face bright red from anger.
"Why not?"
"For one thing, I can't understand them and nopony is going to want to see a production critiqued by animals! I'd be a laughing stock! You know what? This is too much for me! Let's just call it a day and go home! Somepony bring me a Hayvil for this headache, please." He said.
"Y'all takin' a break? Just in time. I just finished setting up the refreshments for everypony." Applejack said as she walked up to them.
"We're actually finished for the day, but thanks. I'll get something on my way out." He said, walking past them and to the reception hall.
"What's got his feathers all bent out of shape?" Applejack asked.
"We've all made mistakes today that will put the documentary on delay." Twilight said.
"Aw, shucks. Well, that's just too bad. At least, we don't got to worry about upsettin' him no more today."
A loud bang and high pitched whistling sound was heard, as well as a male scream. They ran to the reception hall to see Mr. Filmore covered in confetti and an overly excited Pinkie Pie in front of him.
"To correct you, Ms. Pie. The documentary is far from coming out now. So, if you'll excuse me," he said, pushing her to the side with his wing "I'm going to go take some Hayvil and take a nap."
"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie said, cheerfully before walking over to the others. "Someone sure is a grumpy puss. You think if I sing my smile song, it'll turn that scowl upside down?"
"No, I don't think that will help. Let's head home." Twilight said. The others nodded before they left the studio
"I sure am excited for this documentary. I feel it's good if other pony folk know what Equestria had been through." Applejack said.
"I agree. It's going to be absolutely fabulous! Even if he won't use my costume changes, I know the production will still be top notch!" Rarity said.
"Everypony should know what makes our nation such a wonderful place to live. It's had its hardships, but we've persevered." Twilight said.
"Thanks to us! As long as Equestria has us, no pony will be able to come close to destroying it!" Rainbow said.
"It's not just us. It's everypony. As long as everypony all throughout Equestria does his or her best to maintain the harmony and peace, no harm will come to Equestria." Twilight responded.
"You all are right. I feel very lucky to live in Equestria, don't all of you?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yup! It's most awesomest place in the history of ever!" Pinkie said.
"Yes, it is." Twilight said.
They walked through the streets of Ponyville, saying goodnight to each other as they parted ways. Twilight went back to her castle, taking admiration in how peaceful everything seemed. As she opened her front door, she took one last look at the perfect stillness of the night and smiled.
"We are truly lucky." She said before entering her castle to retire to her bedroom for the night. Little did she know that trouble was brewing that would create an evil so dark, it would threaten the balance and peace forever.
Up in Canterlot Castle, a white male Earth pony with a short black mane and tail, a beaker cutie mark, and wearing a lab coat was walking back to his lab. He had a small satchel with him as he looked around to make sure nopony was following him.
"Good evening, Harold." His body stiffened as he heard Princess Celestia to his right. She appeared to have just come out of a meeting of some kind.
"Good evening, Princess Celestia. How are you doing?" He asked, smiling politely at her.
"I am well. How are you? I know you've been working hard lately." She said.
"I am well, too, and yes, I've been very busy." He said.
She nodded softly. "May I ask what it is you are working on currently?" She asked as she glanced at his satchel.
He became nervous when she asked him that, and when she looked at the satchel he was wearing, which had the ingredients he needed for what he was doing, he became even more nervous.
"I'm researching how magic in species other than unicorns and alicorns work. From Tirek's attack, it is evident that the other two pony races have magic too, and I'm trying to find out how their bodies store and use this magic." He said.
"Sounds very interesting. I shall leave you to your work. Have a good night." She said.
"You too, Princess." He said. He waved as she walked away and disappeared around a corner. He took a deep breath.
"That was close! If she knew what I was actually doing, she would probably be furious with me. Normally I wouldn't go to extremes like this, but I have to make this discovery!" He continued back to his lab. He put the satchel down and pulled out a jar with a light blue liquid, some black powder, and a small bottle with blue sparkling dust in it. He pulled the book out that he had been investigating and trying to use. It was a black book that had a red horse skull with black flames around it on the cover and the bottom of each page in the book. It was filled with dark rituals and forbidden spells. He knew he shouldn't be tampering with it, but this was too important for him not to try it. He opened up the book to the page he needed. The page he was looking at was a ritual that was said to allow non-unicorn species to use unicorn magic. He figured that if Earth ponies could utilize the magic, they would be able to grow crops at a much faster rate, but that wasn't the only reason. Deep down, he'd felt like another reason had been driving him to try this risky method, but he didn't know what it could be. He decided to focus as he started to read the instructions in the book.
"Let's see here. After putting the ashes from burned wheat in the bottom of the clay pot, pour one cup of sea pony tears, one grounded up Pegasus feather and a sprinkle of dust from a unicorn horn. Mix well and then say the following incantation." He emptied his satchel onto the table, to see what he had. "I have the wheat, sea pony tears and the unicorn horn dust. I don't have the Pegasus feather. Great. I knew I was forgetting something when I went to the black market today." He said, closing the book with a frustrated sigh.
"Something wrong, Harold?" He turned around to see a pink Pegasus with a curly red mane, light green eyes and a band-aid for a cutie mark walk over to him.
"No, Scarlet. I'm just following up on some research I was doing for Princess Celestia. Don't know why the princess needs a magic advisor, but here I am." He said, shoving the book under the tablecloth with his hind hoof, while nuzzling her. "What are you doing down here though? I thought you'd be in the medical wing?"
"I'm on break right now," she said, smiling as she nuzzled him back. "I brought you something, since I know how you get when you're absorbed in your studies." She reached into the satchel and pulled out a sandwich in a clear plastic bag, before giving it to him.
"A hay sandwich, with cherry spread, on oat bread." He said, with a huge smile since it was his favorite kind of sandwich. He took the bag and put it on the table.
"With the crust removed." Scarlet added.
"Thanks, babe. You know me so well," he said as he hugged her.
"You're welcome, love." She said as she hugged him back. "My break is almost up. I'll see you later." He watched her leave the room. He noticed she didn't close the door fully, and went over to push it shut.
He turned to face the table. He looked around, checking his surroundings to make sure Scarlet had left. Thinking he was finally alone again, he put the pink feather he'd taken from her wing while they hugged and put it into a manual grinder. He cranked the pedals as it cut the feather up into fine pieces. "That should be good enough," He said. He decided to eat the sandwich Scarlet brought for him, before continuing to work.
Once he finished, he pulled the book out and opened to the page. He used a Bunsen burner to turn the wheat to ash, and put it in the bottom of the pot. He then poured in the sea pony tears, put the feather in before adding a bit of blue unicorn horn dust. He took a small stick in his mouth and mixed the components. Finally, he was at the part he dreaded the most, but knew if it worked, would be an amazing feat.
"Okay, here goes nothing…or everything."
He started the incantation as he watched the clay pot. The pot shook a bit before red and black smoke started to billow out of it. He became nervous, but pushed himself to finish it. Once the last of the incantation left his lips, the smoke gathered itself up, hovering in a huge ball above his head. He watched it, wondering what was going on, before it dove at him, enveloping him before he could react.
"Wh-What's happening?!" He shouted, as he was blinded by the smoke which he could feel sitting heavily on his coat. The darkness covered his eyes, blinding him as he could feel it seeping into his brain, causing him to scream in pain. After a few agonizing moments, he blacked out.