Episode 2: Friendship Is Plucky (Part 2)
"The Summer Sun Celebration is coming along nicely." said Clover as he sipped his coffee. His brother was running late and he was stuck there at the cafe drinking coffee and still thinking about that mare. Clover sighed once more, drinking his coffee when he felt a tap on his flank. Turning around, Clover saw that it was none other than Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon. Lyra wasn't your typical mare, she'd stand on her hind legs and go on on about hairless monkeys called humans. She had a mint-green coat with a cyan mane with white highlights and bright yellow eyes. While Bon Bon was the complete opposite of Lyra, she was calm and collective and well just a straightforward pony. She had a light grayish-green coat, blue and pink mane with arctic blue eyes. "Hey there champ, what's got you so down?" asked Lyra as she leaned against Clover. "Oh, it's nothing important. Just waiting for Zapper." said Clover as he sipped his coffee. "Ah, I see. You're unhappy because I haven't sent you my latest lecture on humans. Mhm, yep, that's gotta be it." said Lyra, smiling in victory. Bon Bon just sighed and sat down across from Clover, "Lyra, that sounds heavenly. Why don't you rush on home and pick up your latest book and we'll wait here for you." said Bon Bon, smiling. Lyra gasped and then she smiled, gave Bon Bon a tight hug and ran off to her house. Bon Bon ordered a small milk coffee and gazed at the sights of the Summer Sun Celebration. "So, what's her name?" said Bon Bon, smiling at Clover. Clover spat out his coffee, coughing as he bounded his chest. "W-what!? What mare? There's no mare. Why would there be a mare?" said a nervous Clover. "Hmp, because only one thing could drive a colt to sulk. A mare. So who is it?" asked Bon Bon. Sighing, Clover took one last sip of his coffee, "It's Amethyst Star." said a reluctant Clover. "So, little Amy is it? I'd never guess you went for younger mares. Shame shame on you Clover." said Bon Bon, giggling. While Bon Bon was teasing a poor blushing Clover, a hyperactive pink maned earth pony mare was rushing around and inviting everypony to a housewarming party for the new pony in town, a boastful rainbow maned pegasus mare was clearing away the skies, an elegant purple maned unicorn mare was getting all of the decorations ready, a blonde maned earth pony mare was getting food ready with her family, a shy light pink maned pegasus mare was training a group of singing birds, and a new purple unicorn mare was trotting around with a baby dragon on her back.
"Clover, please stop banging your head on the table the other guests are staring." said Bon Bon as she watched Clover banged his head on the table. "Bon Bon, promise me. Promise me you won't tell this to anypony." said Clover as he stared at Bon Bon. "Of course, I wouldn't dream of it." said Bon Bon, smiling as she sipped her milk coffee. Just then Clover grasped her hooves staring into her eyes, "I'm serious Bon Bon. You mustn't tell ANYPONY. Especially not Lyra. Can you promise me that?" asked Clover. Bon Bon stared into Clover's eyes, seeing all the seriousness of this promise. She couldn't tell anypony about this, not even her best friend. Slowly, Bon Bon smiled at Clover, grasping his hooves in return. "I promise Clover. I won't tell a soul. You might not know this but I'm very good at keeping secrets. Now you better scurry off before Lyra comes back. You know how she can get when humans are involved." said Bon Bon as she patted Clover's shoulder. "Thanks Bon Bon. And if you see Zapper tell him I'll meet him at the Mayor's building. I have to go, hopefully I see you and Lyra later tonight." And with that Clover took off towards his work place. Just then the human-obsessed mare raced up to the table, carrying a bag of papers depicting human anatomy and three books titled "Humans: A Pony's Guide to the Human World." Lyra looked around searching for Clover, "Hey, where's Clover? I brought all of my studies with me." said Lyra as she sat down, propping her head on her hooves. "Man, and I was so excited to finally show somepony my work." said Lyra, sighing. Bon Bon smiled softly at Lyra, grasping her hoof, "I'd love to listen to your work." said Bon Bon. Looking up, Lyra smiled at Bon Bon and reached for her first book. "Clovers not the only pony with a crush." thought Bon Bon as she watched her best friend go on and on about the hairless monkeys.
It was 6 o'clock and Clover had barely managed to make it in time for work to be over. "Safe! I did it! Beat that Zapper! I finally didn't lose my job!" shouted Clover as he thrusted his hooves into the air. Then he looked around, noticing that there was no pony around, not Miss Doo, Mr. Parcel, nopony. "Where is everypony? Miss Doo? Mr. Parcel? Stamper? Anypony?" Just then the very ground began to shake and a booming voice rang out throughout the town, "OH, MY BELOVED SUBJECTS. IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE SEEN YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE SUN-LOVING FACES." Racing out the door, Clover gazed up at the full moon to see the shadow of a unicorn mare. "Look! There's a black mist above the Mayor's building!" shouted a small pegasus colt. Clover's eyes widened as a sudden realization hit him, "Hang on everypony! I'm on my way!" Just then Clover felt himself being lifted off the ground, a pair of hooves wrapping around his shoulders, "What the? Zapper!?" shouted a surprised Clover as he looked up at his brother. His brother was a light teal coated, arctic blue eyed, pegasus with a light purple maned with bright yellow highlights, he had a small goatee and always wore a pair of goggles around his neck. "Hey there, Plucky. Just dropping in I see." said Zapper in his usual happy-go-lucky tone, "What are you doing here, Zapper? I thought you were clearing the skies." said Clover. Zapper didn't say a word, he just kept smiling and flapping his feathery wings as he flew himself and Clover over to the Mayor's building. The booming voice rang throughout the town once more chuckling as it spoke, "WHY, AM I NOT ROYAL ENOUGH FOR YOU? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Clover looked up at his brother, "Hurry Zapper!" shouted Clover. Looking down, Zapper's forehead began to sweat, "Hey. you know it's not as easy as I make it look!" shouted Zapper as he tightened his grip on Clover and divebombed towards the ground, Clover all the while was screaming in terror. Taking off at the last second, Zapper shot at like a bullet, zipping around the vendors and decorations as he got closer and closer to the Mayor's building. Clover caught one glimpse of the sky as both he and his winged brother broke through the doorway. Sliding along the ground, Clover glanced up from under his brother and there hovering in the air was a large mare, her fur was as black as darkness, her mane shined like the stars themselves, and she wore dark blue battle armor. But the most prominent things about this mare were her large dark pegasus wings and her long dark unicorn horn. She held herself as if she were a queen, her large wings flapping in the air, sending gusts of wind throughout the giant room. "DOES MY CROWN NO LONGER COUNT, NOW THAT I HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED FOR A THOUSAND YEARS? DID YOU NOT RECALL THE LEGEND? DID YOU NOT SEE THE SIGNS?" asked the alicorn mare. Just then Clover saw a purple unicorn mare stand up, her mane was dark purple with streaks of light pink and purple Clover couldn't remember ever seeing her around, perhaps she was new or maybe she was the pony that was sent by Princess Celestia. The sound of murmurs filled the room, each one asking a question, "Where's Princess Celestia? What's going on? Who is this mare?" That was when the purple unicorn mare spoke aloud, "I did, and I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon! Night Mare Moon!" shouted the mare. "Night Mare Moon? That old pony's tale? I thought it was just a myth." said a random colt. "What's going to happen big brother?" asked a young filly as she gripped her big brother's foreleg. "WELL WELL WELL, SOMEPONY WHO REMEMBERS ME. THEN YOU ALSO KNOW WHY I'M HERE." said Night Mare Moon, smiling wickedly. The purple mare stumbled backwards, her face showing utter horror, "You're here to...to…" She gulped as she stared at the black alicorn mare. Night Mare Moon chuckled as she landed on the balcony, "REMEMBER THIS DAY, LITTLE PONIES, FOR IT WAS YOUR LAST. FROM THIS MOMENT FORTH, THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!" shouted Night Mare Moon, her dark magic aura swirling around her as she laughed maniacally. Finally her magic consumed her and evaporated, her very presence gone but her evil laugh still rang in the terrorfied ponies' ears.
Clover watched in confusion when he saw the purple mare run out the building, followed by five other mares. Getting up from under his brother, Clover looked around and there in the corner stood Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. Trotting up to them, Clover could see that Vinyl was wearing her signature purple tinted glasses, her white fur coat contrasted her blue mane with light blue highlights. She was talking with Octavia, who was looking as terrified as the other ponies. "Clover!" shouted Octavia as she hugged Clover, "Thank Celestia, you're alright! It was awful, that...that...nightmare of mare got rid of Princess Celestia!" Vinyl just nodded at Clover and placed her hoof on Octavia's shoulder, who in turn hugged Vinyl. "Now, that can't be true. Princess Celestia is like the most powerful being in all of Equestria. There's no way that Night Mare Moon got rid of her." said Clover, trying to cheer up Octavia. "Well perhaps she just captured Princess Celestia." said a random colt. Turning around, Clover was met with his brother, Zapper, and the Doctor, Time Turner. "What makes you think Princess Celestia was captured?" asked yet another random mare, who turned out to be both Lyra and Bon Bon. "Yeah, what if...if.. I don't know..what if that Night Mare Moon just teleported Princess Celestia to someplace else?" asked a hysterical Lyra. Bon Bon meanwhile remained calm and collected while her friend continued to rattle on. "Now where on Equestria would she teleport her to?" asked the Doctor. Lyra grew annoyed and got in the Doctor's face, poking his chest with her hoof, "Like Manehattan, Fillydelphia, the Dragon Kingdom, the Gryphon Kingdom...the HUMAN WORLD!" The Doctor just glared at the mint green mare, "I've told a hundred times, there is no such thing as HUMANS!" shouted the Doctor, breathing heavily. "Enough!" shouted a light purple mare, everypony turned their gazes on Amethyst Star and her family; which included herself, the unicorn filly, Dinky Doo, Ditzy Doo, and Carrot Top. "It doesn't matter. What matters now is whether or not Princess Celestia is alright." said Amy. "That's right, we gotta find out where that mare has her." said Clover, looking at the other ponies. "Maybe that purple mare knows where she is? She DID know who that mare was." said the Doctor. The ponies nodded but none of them knew where the new mare even lived or even where she went off to. "I know where she is." said a random mare. The group of ponies turned to see it was the DJ mare herself, Vinyl Scratch. "How do you know that, Vinyl?" asked Octavia, looking at her roommate with a questioning look. "I DJ'd for her housewarming party. She lives at the Golden Oaks Library." said Vinyl. The Golden Oaks Library was the old abandoned library in the center of Ponyville. It was left to rot when the last librarian moved to Manehattan and no other pony wanted to live there. "Alright, it looks like we got a plan. We have to find that mare and see if she knows where Princess Celestia is." said Clover as he trotted over to the door, Zapper, trotting alongside him. "Hey Plucky, are you sure about this? I mean those didn't look like fake wings. She's gotta be crazy strong, and how do you know that mare will even know Princess Celestia?" whispered Zapper. Clover thought about this, maybe they were in over their heads. That Night Mare Moon was no peaceful butterfly, she could very well hurt each pony. But without Princess Celestia, there was no hope for them. "She's gotta know. Or else Ponyville will be thrown into the Dark Ages." said Clover as he lead the group of ponies towards the library.
After trotting along, the group of ponies had made it to the library. Looking around, Clover noticed that a few ponies were heading home, distraught that their princess had disappeared only to be replaced by a mystery alicorn mare. Clover lightly tapped the wooden door of the library, "H-Hello? Miss Mare? Are you home? I'm sorry to be a bother but I have a few questions for you." said Clover as he knocked again. But there was no answer, not even a peep. Gently, Clover knocked once more, "Miss Mare? Hello?" asked Clover when he noticed something odd, the door wasn't closed. Pushing the wooden door open, Clover trotted inside, looking around but seeing that nopony was home. "She's not here." said Zapper as he trotted inside, followed by the others. "Well then where could she be?" said Octavia, getting a bit agitated. "She couldn't have gotten far. Maybe she went to see some friends." said Bon Bon as she looked around, seeing all of the books in the makeshift shelves. "Or she went after Night Mare Moon." said Amy as she levitated a book with her magic. "See? She highlight some paragraphs. Huh, Elements of Harmony? What do you think those are?" asked Amy. Just then the cross eyed pegasus mare raised her hoof, her gray wings flapping as she bit her lower lip, "Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Pick me. Pick me." said Ditzy. Amethyst just sighed as she turned toward her mother, "Yes mom?" Ditzy Doo smiled at her daughter when she pointed behind her, "Maybe that little dragon knows?" Everypony turned their heads at the same time, looking behind them to see a small purple and green dragon, staring at them while holding a cup of water in his right claw. "Um..Can I help you?" asked the little dragon. "DRAGON!" shouted everypony as they began to run around the library, well except Ditzy and Dinky, who just looked on as everypony just ran around, screaming. "Get it away! Get it away before it sets us on fire!" shouted Octavia. "I'm too young to die! I haven't even met my first human!" shouted Lyra. "I knew I should've built that fireproof suit!" shouted the Doctor. "Um, guys? Hello? I'm not gonna hurt anypony. Honest." said the little dragon when Dinky trotted up to the little dragon, "Apologies, they've never met a dragon before so they're a bit...frightened." said Dinky as she shook the little dragon's claw. "I'm Dinky Doo." said Dinky, introducing herself. "Spike." said the little dragon. "Hiya Mr. dragon!" shouted Ditzy as she rapidly shook Spike's claw.
After a few minutes, Spike had finally managed to calm everypony down. "I'm sorry but I don't know where Twilight is." said Spike as he brought in a tray of carrot juice and hay sandwiches, wearing a frilly pink apron, getting a few giggles from the mares. "Well is there anything you can tell us? Like what are the Elements of Harmony?" asked Amy. Spike thought for a moment, taking off his apron and sitting down, "Well, Twilight was going on about Night Mare Moon, you know the bedtime story? I'd never guess that it turned out to be true. As for the Elements thing, I think it was something Twilight mentioned but again, I don't know where she went. I'm sorry." said Spike, feeling down. Everypony just seemed to deflate when Spike spoke. "There's gotta be someway to find Princess Celestia." said Clover as he kept thinking. Just then Spike got an idea, "You know, my fire is magical. I send letters to Princess Celestia all the time. Maybe we can find her that way?" asked Spike as he grabbed a handful of papers and quills. "Wait, you mean you can just magically burn letters and they teleport straight to Princess Celestia?" asked the Doctor, getting yet another idea for one of his inventions. "That's pretty much the gist of it." said Spike as he began writing on the letters. "Okay, everypony stand back." said Spike as he inhaled deeply and as he exhaled a spark of green ember escaped his maw, just then the ember grew larger singeing the letter as it began to burn. As the letter was burning, bits and pieces of it turned into green embers which then floated out the window and into the sky. "Wow. That's amazing!" said Zapper as he watched the burning flames. Spike blushed from embarrassment, "Oh, it's nothing special. I do it all the time in Canterlot." Octavia smiled at the little dragon and patted him gently, "Nonsense, that was quite a spectacle." Lyra watched alongside Zapper when she turned back to Spike, "Yeah, but where did it go? Can you tell where it went?" asked Lyra. Spike shook his head, "No, I only know that they go to Princess Celestia." Just then Clover got an idea, "What if we follow the letters when they disappear?" Everypony turned their heads and stared at Clover as if he had just given them the secret to eternal life. The Doctor thought of this for a moment, "That could work but what if the embers travel too far for any of us to follow?" It was then that Spike stood up and looked at everypony, "What if I come along? I can burn another letter if the others get too far." Clover placed his hoof on Spike's small shoulders, "It could be dangerous out there and we won't force you to do this." Spike simply smiled at Clover and shrugged his shoulders, "I have a feeling I'll be getting into more dangerous stuff. And besides I couldn't face Twilight if I didn't help you ponies out." said Spike, smiling as he puffed out his chest. "Well that sounds well and dandy but I don't think it's a good idea for children to come along." said the Doctor as he smiled at Ditzy and Dinky. "I have to agree with the Doctor on this one. I'd better take Dinky and Amy back home." said Carrot Top as she lead the two mares towards the door, only stopping to whisper into Ditzy's ear, "You know that Doctor colt is pretty cute." Ditzy just blushes deeply and pushed all three of the mares out the door, "Go. Go. Go. Have a good night my little muffins!" Slowly the gray pegasus trotted back over, still blushing as she hid herself with her wings. "Alright if there's any ponyelse that'd like to stay behind then say now or forever hold your peace." said Lyra as she started trotting towards the door, followed by the other ponies minus Clover and Spike. "Ready to go Spike?" asked Clover, smiling at the little dragon. "As ready as I'll ever be." said Spike as he walked outside, followed by Clover.
The group of ponies followed the little dragon as he magically sent letter after letter, following the burning embers. Zapper and Ditzy flew on ahead, following the green embers that went too far for the others. The group trotted along in silence, only for Spike to break the awkward silence, "So what do you all plan to do once we find Princess Celestia?" asked the little dragon. The ponies thought about this for a long time, what would they do? Who was to say that the Princess was even there? "Improvise I guess." said Zapper as he and Ditzy flew back towards the group, "Ditzy and I found where the letters are going." Then the two pegasi lead the group of ponies through the woods and there in the clearing was a massive castle, a bridge connecting the forest to the castle. The castle seemed to be ancient, pieces of it crumbling from age, moss and vines growing on the castle walls. "Woah. Well would you look at that?" said the Doctor. "So Princess Celestia is somewhere inside that castle. Alright, so who's coming along to save the Princess?" asked Clover as he looked at the group of ponies. None said a word to the green earth pony, not even the little dragon. They all had a reason to be scared, that Night Mare Moon was no feather in the breeze. If this mare was capable of capturing Princess Celestia, a mare powerful enough to raise the sun and moon, then who was to say she couldn't get rid of a few ponies. "Look, I won't ask you to do this. None of you has to, but right now our Princess is in trouble and she needs help. So I'm going to do alone." said Clover as he watched the group of ponies and dragon. Just the Zapper stepped up to his brother, looking at him in the eyes, "You think I'd be dumb enough to let my own brother trot in there alone. Mom would have my flank if I let you go. Heck count me in Plucky." he said, smiling at his brother. The Doctor trotted up to his friend and smiled at him, "Well onwards and upwards as they say. Besides, this will be a great moment to test out my new invention." said the Doctor as he trotted up to them. "Well it's no human investigation but she is our princess. I'm in." said Lyra as she and Bon Bon trotted together. "Oh, I might as well. If the night lasts forever I'll be out of a job." said a very reluctant Octavia. Vinyl said nothing as she shrugged her shoulders and followed Octavia. That only left Ditzy as she stood there, taking everything in. "I'm glad I packed some muffins. I hope Princess Celestia like blueberry." said the muffin-lovin mare as she trotted forward. Spike looked at the group of ponies, these ponies were willing to up against an evil godly mare just for Princess Celestia, "If Twilight finds out about this, I'm a dead dragon. But it's against my dragon code to let somepony go without help." Clover smiled at the little dragon, turning to face the castle, "Alright, lets go save us a princess."
The castle seemed to grow in age as the ponies trotted up to it's massive doorway. Looking up, the archway for the door had an engraving of two ponies with large horns. "Nice architecture. I wonder how long it took to build it?" asked the Doctor as he marveled at the art. "Must've been here for ages." said Octavia as she too marveled at the ancient castle. Clover turned to Zapper, who nodded in silent agreement, and they pushed the massive doors open, revealing a large room with tapestries of art depicting two alicorn mares, one white and one blue. Turning to Spike, Clover looked at the little dragon, "Okay Spike, one more time." Spike nodded, taking out one last letter and writing on before setting it on fire, the green embers racing into the massive room and into the castle. "Come on!" shouted the little dragon as he chased after the green embers followed by the other ponies. They took twists and turns when they came upon a large room of dark pony armor, which began to shake, a dark magical aura filling it's hollow bodies. The living armor took one step off their pedestals, turning towards the ponies. Each of them took a step back, frightful of the walking armors, "What the hay!? No pony said anything about ghosts!" shouted Lyra as she hid behind Bon Bon, who still looked calm and collective. Taking a step forward, Bon Bon glared at the walking armors, leaping into the air, she kicked the head of the leading armor, it's helmet flying off and hitting another helmet. Everypony stood there simply watching as Bon Bon fought off the army of haunted amor. The martial artist mare turned toward her friends, "Go! I'll hold them off!" she shouted, tackling the armors to the side as she opened a hole for them. The group of ponies ran straight through the armor, ignoring as each one was defeated by Bon Bon. Taking one look back, Lyra silently cursed herself as she ran back, tackling an armor behind Bon Bon, "I told you to go! What's wrong with you?" shouted Bon Bon as she dropped kick an armor. Levitating an armor, Lyra tore the haunted armor in half, "Stow it karate mare! If you think I'm leaving a friend to fight these ghosts then you're dead wrong! Besides who else will listen to my lecture?" said Lyra as she smirked at her friend. Bon Bon just smiled casually and pressed her back against Lyra, the two surrounded by enchanted armor.
The others ran past the hallway of armor, leaving Lyra and Bon Bon behind as they fought the armor. The group of ponies raced as they tried to catch up to the green embers as they flew through the castle. As the ponies trotted through the dark aging castle they came upon a large room, at the other end was a large organ while the walls were lined with stone statues. Soon the dark aura slowly entered the large room, covering the floor. "Oh wonderful! Now what's gonna happen!?" shouted Octavia as she and the other huddled together, watching as the dark aura brought the stone statues to life. Jumping from their stone balcony, the stone gargoyles each landed on the dark aura covered ground, surrounding the group. As they drew closer, the ponies drew closer together. When suddenly a loud booming sound exploded from the middle of the group, sending the gargoyles flying across the room. And there in the middle, holding his hoof in the air was the Doctor wearing a wristband with a light up screen. "That was exhilarating! How did you like the taste of my Bio Omni-Directional Omega Mechanical watch! I call it the B.O.O.M. Watch!" shouted the Doctor. Clover stared at the brown earth pony when Spike ran up to the Doctor, smiling widely, "That. Was. AWESOME!" shouted the baby dragon. Spike praised the Doctor when he felt a cold hand on his arms, looking up he stared into the eyes of a stone dragon. It's cold stone eyes stared into the emerald green eyes of the little dragon. Spike was utterly terrified as the Stone Dragon's wings flapped sending the two into the air. The Doctor took aim at the Stone Dragon and fired off, the sound boom shooting off towards the Stone Dragon, but the Dragon blocked the sound boom with his wing, the sound boom bouncing off the stone wing and hitting a standing gargoyle and causing it to crack and crumble to pieces. "Blast! It's atomic structure is too strong!" Meanwhile, Spike was constantly struggling against the Stone Dragon, "Help! Get me down from here!" shouted Spike. "Hang on little dude! I got ya!" shouted Zapper as he leapt into the air, taking off as he flew straight into the Stone Dragon, his grip loosening on Spike as the little dragon escaped the Stone Dragon's clutches, falling to the floor. "Ahhh!" screamed Spike as he fell to the ground, closing his eyes he saw his life flash before his eyes. But Spike never felt the cold ground, opening his eyes Spike found himself staring into the crossed eyes of Ditzy Doo. "Great work Ditzy!" shouted the Doctor from down below as he aimed at the Stone Dragon. "Lets try this again, shall we!" shouted the Doctor as he fired off wave after wave of sound at the massive Stone Dragon as Zapper fought the Dragon in the mid-air battle. "Get going you guys! We got this!" shouted Zapper as he dropped kick the Stone Dragon. "Ditzy! Grab the Pegasus Cannon!" shouted the Doctor. Ditzy saluted the Doctor as she reached into her pack, pulling out a small mechanical pack, placing it on her back the pack glowed a bright blue hue as it pulled apart, forming a metal armor around her wings and sprouting two pellet shooters underneath her wings. "Aye Aye Mr. Doctor!" shouted Ditzy as she took off into the air, shooting at the Stone Dragon. "Zapper! Lets go!" shouted Clover as he and Spike took off down the hallway, followed by Octavia, Vinyl, and Zapper.
As the ponies and dragon chased after the green embers, they came upon a large cylinder room that seemed to dig into the earth, stone stairs sprouting from the sides. The group of ponies looked down staring into the darkness, "Hello?" said Spike as his voice echoed into the dark depths. "Well that's a drop." said Zapper as he leapt into the air, flapping his wings. "Hop on little dude." said Zapper, smiling as Spike jumped onto Zapper's back. "Spike and I will fly down and get a look around. You guys follow suit." said Zapper and he and Spike divebombed towards the bottom, Spike screaming in terror as he saw his life flash before his eyes once again. The others followed them as they trotted down the stairs. "Do you think they'll be alright?" asked Octavia as she trotted alongside Clover. "I hope so. I never thought it would turn out like this." said Clover as he frowned, thinking of the other fighting those monsters. Octavia, noticing this, placed her hoof on Clover's shoulder, smiling. "Don't blame yourself Clover. They knew what they were getting into and they chose to come along." said Octavia, smiling at her friend. Clover smiled at Octavia, "Thank you Octavia." said Clover. Meanwhile, Zapper and Spike landed on the stone floor at the bottom of the stairwell. It was pitch black and neither of them could see a thing when Spike got an idea. Slowly, Spike opened his mouth, the green embers exploded from his maw, forming a bright flame in the air as Spike quickly grabbed a small wooden stick, the flames catching the tip on fire as it lit up the room in a green hue. Zapper smiled at the little dragon, "Dude! That was awesome! You're a smart little guy." said Zapper as raised his hoof to Spike. "Oh, it's nothing. Twilight has me study stuff like this all the time in Canterlot." Despite what he said, Zapper still had his hoof raised, "Yo, dude. Don't leave me hanging." Spike, seeing the hoof, pressing his fist against it, smiling. Zapper trotted along the dark hallway with Spike on his back. "Dang, it's dark here. You think we'll find the princess here?" said Spike as he waved the torch around. "I hope so little dude. Otherwise that dark hottie will bring nighttime on us." said Zapper. Spike looked at the light blue pegasus, "Dark hottie?" Smiling, Zapper turned toward Spike, "Heck yeah. Sure she was evil but be honest that mare was quite the hottie." Spike said nothing as he blushed, looking away from the pegasus. A silent wave rolled over them until Zapper spoke up, "You got any girl you're into?"asked Zapper. It was a good thing Zapper wasn't looking at Spike, otherwise he'd see Spike blushing like a tomato. "N-no way. I'm a bachelor to the end." said Spike as he tried to hide his nervousness. Though, Zapper could still tell, he had been living with his brother for years and he could always tell when the little guy was eyeing some filly. "So what's her name?" asked Zapper as he smiled smugly. Spike just stared at Zapper, how had he figured it out? Was it that obvious? "O-okay. It's Rarity. The beautiful, elegant, and enchanting Rarity." said Spike as he blushed deeply, imagining himself saving Rarity. "Ah so the little dragon dude's gotta crush on the fashionista? Well good luck to you, little dude." said Zapper. The two guys trotted along, continuing to follow the dark hallway when they entered a large a room, each side spouting holes in the side while the floor had tiles each with engraving in them. "What the?" said a very confused Spike, reaching into his pack, he pulled out an apple had taken from brunch with the Apple family. Tossing it onto a tile, the boys both sighed in relief when the tile beneath the apple sunk into the floor and from the holes sprouted a long metal tipped spears. The two stared at the death trap when Zapper stood on his hind legs, pointing at the trap with his hooves, "What kind of crazy castle is this!? Who in their right mind builds this stuff!? I mean seriously!" shouted Zapper. "Why in Celestia's mane are you screaming?" asked Clover as he trotted up to his brother, looking at him as if he was crazy, which he was. Zapper said nothing as he grabbed a rock from the floor and tossed it onto another tile, the trap springing to life once more. "Who in all of equestria builds this stuff?" asked Octavia as she stared at the trap. Vinyl glanced at the trap when she saw that the tiles had little arrows on them. Thinking to herself, Vinyl pulled her blue headphones out and placed them on her head, playing her first song as her vision became of blue of colors and shapes while a booming sound rang in her ears. While the others made snide remarks about the trap, Vinyl trotted up the first tile, her music ringing through her ears as she stepped onto the tile, seeing nothing happened. Vinyl smirked to herself as she leapt into the air, flipping as she landed on another tile, it's arrow lighting up green as she cartwheeled to the next arrow, dodging the spears as she danced through the trap. The other, meanwhile, stared at the white unicorn as she danced, doing all sorts of tricks throughout the whole ordeal. Vinyl's song was reaching it's climax as she jumped up, doing a split when she landed on her horn, spinning around like a top she kicked away at the spears. Pushing up with her hooves, Vinyl flipped through the air as the song blasted through her ears till she landed on the other side, completely unscathed. She smiled and waved at the others as she flipped a switch, turning off the trap. The other just stood there and stared at Vinyl. "Dude, I think I'm in love." said Zapper as he stared at Vinyl.
Vinyl lead the other down the hallway, her headphones still blasting music through her ears. She'd have to come back to do that again, it completely beat Dance Dance Pony Revolution on her house. The others spoke softly so she couldn't hear her, though she wouldn't hear them anyways while she was wearing her headphones. "Did you know she could move like that?" asked Zapper as he stared at her...her...mane. "No, I had no such idea that she could dance. Let alone to that caliber." said Octavia, the vision of Vinyl flying through the air burned into her mind when she thought to herself, "No wonder she always beat me in that game." The four of them trotted along when Vinyl held out her hoof, stopping them in their tracks. The four of them held their mouths open as she stared into yet another room filled with tiles with arrows and more traps. But just like the other rooms, the dark aura began to fill the room when some tile fell to the earth revealing a pool of molten lava, and from the lava sprouted multiple hands made of molten rock. These molten rocks began to form into giant boulder-like warriors. "Oh, that's just perfect! Now what!?" shouted Zapper. Clover glanced at his brother, "Zapper, you can fly. Can't you just fly us across?" And just as he said this, the lava began to spew magma geysers so large the lava pillars hit the very ceiling. Zapper glared at his brother, smacking the back of his head with his hoof, "You just had to say it, huh?" Clover rubbed the back of his head and watched the massive lava spouts and molten warriors. Just then Vinyl reached into her pack and pulled out a small speaker, hooking up her music player to it. She smiled at Octavia as the realization struck her like lightning, "Oh no. Oh no, Vinyl don't you dare! Vinyl Marie Scratch! If you-" But Octavia's rant was cut short when a certain song came on. Just then Octavia's body began to move on it's own, she leapt into the air, flipping through the air as she kicked straight through the head of a molten warrior, landing on an arrow as her vision began to blur forming colors and shapes. And as she landed Octavia ran her hooves through her mane, messing it up as she smirked at the molten warriors, "Well well, what's a girl to do? Oh I know!" she shouted as she leapt into the air once more, pulling out a small brown package. Clover instantly noticed that it was the package he delivered to her. She opened the package in the air and pulled out a small black studded wristband. As she placed on her hoof, She smirked as she landed on another arrow, staring at the molten men. Just then Vinyl leapt into the air and in her hooves were two guitars, one white with a blue lightning bolt electric sword guitar and the other a brown bass axe guitar. Landing beside Octavia, who now had a spike black mane with a pink streak and eyeshadow, handing her the bass axe guitar. The two of them smirk at each other as they leapt into the air, the song booming throughout the castle room. The three males just stared at the two mares as they fought/danced through the room, destroying the molten warriors. "Okay, make that two." said Zapper as he smiled at the two mares, who were still dancing and fighting. Clover glanced at his brother and sighed, he always like a mare who could dance. "Come on let's hurry!" shouted Clover as he and his brother sprinted across the battlefield of dance and death and into the hallway across the way. The sound of Octavia screaming reached the colt's ears, "YEAH! Rock n! Come at me bros!"
"Well, that was something." said Clover as he thought back to Octavia's sudden punk rock change. "Yeah, that was something. She moved like water, and holy sun spot did you see her-" But Zapper's statement was cut short when Clover covered his mouth, pointing at Spike. "What? What you see?" asked the baby dragon. "N-Nothing Spike. Nothing at all." said Clover as he smiled nervously. The three of them walked on till they reach a large room, in the middle of the room was a large pedestal and at the top was a large crystal ball. But it was what was inside the crystal ball that made the three males gasp, for it was Princess Celestia. "Celestia!" shouted Spike as he leapt of Zapper's back. Hearing a familiar voice, Princess Celestia turned to see that it was Spike the dragon. Princess Celestia's eyes widened and pressed her hooves to the crystal bulb, "Spike!? What are you doing here!? Do you realize how dangerous this is?" she shouted. Here was her student's own adoptive little brother standing in the most dangerous area of the castle and with two colts at that! "What are you doing here, Spike? And who are these colts you brought with you?" she asked, looking at the two colts. Zapper smiled and bowed, "Zapper Gregory Bolt and this is my brother, Clover James Pluck. It's a pleasure to meet you fair princess." Clover just rolled his eyes and trotted towards the pedestal, when suddenly he felt himself getting thrown into the air, he caught a glance at the ground, his brother and Spike watching him fly in the air. And as he fell to the ground, a giant dark aura wrapped around him and threw him into a wall. He slid down the wall, the very wind knocked out of him. His brother and Spike rushed to his side as Clover's eyes blurred. "Clover! Are you alright?" Spike asked as he held up his claw, "How many claws am I holding up?" he asked. Clover's vision seemed to blur more, making him dizzy, "Six?" asked a confused Clover. "Eh, close enough." said Zapper as he lifted his brother up. "What the heck was that?" asked Clover as he watched the dark aura form into a unicorn mare, it's very body being made of stars and darkness. Celestia watched the three men as they stared at the giant aura mare, "Be careful! My sister created it to stop any pony from rescuing me." she said. Zapper's face seemed to change into one of utter confusion and annoyance, "You mean that dark Night Mare hottie was your sister!? When did this happen!?" Zapper shouted at the princess. Princess Celestia thought to herself, "Hottie?" Just as Zapper took a step forward, the Dark Mare wrapped her aura around the pegasus, tossing him into the air and slamming him into the floor, creating a crater. Both Clover and Spike gasped as they rushed to Zapper. But it was Zapper who halted them as he raised his hoof, his eyes formed into rage as he smirked at the Dark Mare, "Oh, it is on!" he shouted. Pushing his wings to the limit, he shot off into the sky, flying around the Dark Mare as she tried to catch him, "Clover! Get the princess! Spike! Give me some firepower!" Both males nodded in agreement as Clover took off toward Princess Celestia while Spike shot off green fireballs at the Dark Mare. As Clover drew closer, the Dark Mare's tail wrapped around Clover, throwing him into the wall again and knocking him out.
Clover's vision began to blur into darkness, when his vision suddenly began to change forming into an image of Lyra and Bon Bon being surrounded by haunted armor, "We're done for Bon Bon! Oh, I always thought I'd go out fighting a human for boxing league champion!" as she threw an armor into the ground. "We're not done for! We gotta trust Clover and the others! We will make it through this!" shouted Bon Bon as she grappled a nearby armor, flipping it over her back. And once again his vision blurred and changed into a vision of Ditzy and the Doctor fighting off the Stone Dragon. "Blasted Stone! My B.O.O.M. Watch isn't strong enough to puncture it's armor! Ditzy! Cover me!" the Doctor shouted as he reloaded his watch. "Yes sir, Mr. Doctor!" shouted Ditzy as she flew around the Stone Dragon, shooting her pellets at the Stone Dragon. And again, his vision blurred into darkness until it formed once again, showing Vinyl and Octavia fighting off the molten warriors with their weaponized guitars, the room slowly filling with lava. "Well well, this might be our last concert, eh Vinyl?" asked Octavia as she smirked at Vinyl, who smirked and nodded at her. "Let's give these molten meatheads the best dang concert of their lives!" she shouted as she and Vinyl raised their guitars and leapt into the air. Clover's vision began to darken once more and as he struggled to open his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the large Dark Mare holding a struggling Zapper and Spike as Celestia watched in fear, she was shouting something but Clover was unable to hear her, he just kept staring at the giant magical mare. All of them were willing to risk their lives for their princess and here he was lying on his backside. If they were willing to fight to the bitter end then who was he kick it back? Just then Clover felt himself standing up, his eyes filled with determination as he charged at the Dark Mare. "Plucky! Don't do it!" Zapper shouted as he watched his brother racing toward the Dark Mare, who wrapped her tail around him once again and threw him into the wall. But instead, Clover had managed to land on his hind legs, pushing off with all his might, he flew towards the Dark Mare. He felt a sudden burst of power, his whole body glowing in a bright sunlight hue, as he thrusted his hoof forward, striking the Dark Mare and as he struck her, the heavenly light cascading across the Dark Mare, it's dark aura dissipating at the sudden light, releasing Spike and Zapper. But Clover continued to fly through the air and straight toward the crystal ball. Landing on, Clover raised his hoof toward the sky, the heavenly light consuming his hoof, "Let. Her. Go!" he shouted as he brought his hoof down onto the crystal ball, the very force of his strike cracking it's casing. Princess Celestia's light shined through the cracks of the crystal ball, exploding into an array of crystallized glass, showering like rain, her magical light shining through the crystal rain, as it traveled into the rooms of the castle. It's heavenly light shining through the rooms changing the darkened rooms into what they were meant to be. The molten warriors changed into a pile of rubble, the Stone Dragon changed back into it's statue form, and the pieces of armor seemingly began to fall apart. The three men stared at the heavenly form of Princess Celestia, her wings shined the glow of the sun as her flowing mane waved around her neck and back. Landing in front of the three males, Princess Celestia smiled at the three, it was a warm smile that brought the three to their very knees. "You have done well. I'm so proud of you all. Now I must go visit an old friend, please return to Ponyville and get lots of rest. Oh, and Spike? I'd suggest getting to Ponyville quickly, wouldn't want Twilight to catch you past bedtime." said Princess Celestia, giggling softly as she teleported in a ord of light. Spike, realizing the meaning of her words began to freak out, "Oh no! Twilight's have me stuffed!" shouted the baby dragon as he sprinted towards the exit. Zapper rubbed the back of his head, "I'd better follow him. Make sure he gets there safely. I'll meet you back home." said Zapper, patting his brother on the back, "Good job there, Plucky." Was all he said as he flew off to follow Spike. Clover just stood there, taking in the sights of the ruined castle. In front of him was a large tapestry and embroidered on was the image of Princess Celestia and another alicorn mare. "Sister, huh?" said Clover as he looked at his hoof and turned back, trotting toward the exit.
As Clover trotted outside the castle, he glanced back to see a rainbow forming over the castle, the sun shining behind it. Clover smiled at the sight and headed back into town. After trotting for awhile, Clover glanced up to see the other standing at the entrance of Ponyville, Lyra and Bon Bon, Ditzy and the Doctor, Vinyl and Octavia, and Zapper and Spike. Clover smiled at the group of ponies and trotted up to them as they began to crowd around him, messing with his mane and laughing. It wasn't the greatest of days for Ponyville but Clover was sure that this town just got a lot more fun. It must've hours later since the sun came up and all of Ponyville was up and jumping celebrating the Summer Sun and the return of their heavenly princess. Clover smiled and laughed as he, Zapper, the Doctor, Big Macintosh, and a few other colts drank some Sweet Apple Cider. Just then the sound of horns rang throughout the town, Princess Celestia had arrived. The whole town of ponies trotted over to the town entrance and gazed as a large golden chariot pulled by a squad of white pegasi fly through the air and landing on the ground. Everypony began murmuring when they saw that Princess Celestia was not the only alicorn there. Right beside here a smaller alicorn mare, she had a light blue coat, an even lighter blue mane, and a teal-blue iris. Clover felt a sudden jab against his side, turning to see his brother, Zapper. "Hey Plucky, who's the cutie next to Celestia?" he said, eyeing the alicorn mare. "Oh, that's Princess Celestia's little sister." said Clover as he smiled at the alicorn getting a ring of flowers from two pegasus foals. "Wow, so that Night Mare hottie was her sister? Hey, who's that mare?" asked Zapper as he pointed at the mare standing in front of Princess Celestia. She was a purple unicorn mare with a dark purple mane with a pink highlight. "I'm not sure. I've never seen her before." The two colts watched as Celestia spoke to the mare when she spoke aloud, "Spike, take a note, please. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. she must report to me her findings from her new home in...PONYVILLE!" And with that all of ponyville cheered and Clover glanced at his brother, "Well looks like we got a new addition to our little town." he said, smiling. "Yeah, but magic of friendship? Sounds kind of lame." said Zapper as he gave his brother a brohoof. "Maybe, but nopony said it was gonna be lucky with the name." said Clover as he watched all of ponyville celebrate when his brother wrapped a hoof around him and gave him a noogie, "Friendship is magic, eh Plucky? Now let's get this party started!" Zapper shouted as he flew off into the sky, Clover watching him from the ground, smiling as ponies all around him celebrated when he got a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Clover began to smile when he saw it was the Doctor and in his hoof was another one of Sweet Apple Bourbons. Taking it, Clover smiled and took a sip, "Friendship is Magic, huh? Yeah, I can agree on that one. Friendship is -" "PLUCKY!" shouted his brother as he waved at him from the sky. And with that Clover trotted off with his friends to party. Unaware that a certain hyperactive pink maned mare was speaking to an invisible force, "Isn't this exciting? Are you excited? Cause I'm excited. I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I went-" the pink pony gasped, "But I mean really-"