Here is chapter three. I am going to try writing this in first person…pony whatever and see if that is any better. The view will be that of the knight.

The List

A cold blast of wind brushed past my exposed face causing me to shudder for a moment. Though I was accustomed to the cold of the night, it felt a lot colder than usual given the season. I wonder if nature itself is reacting to the disruption of the flow of day and night and is now seeking a way to return itself to equilibrium.

I shook my head of the distracting thought and focused back on the screen. I watched as the six ponies stopped along the side of the cliff. I saw the pegasus pony with the rainbow mane attempt to frighten some of the other ponies in the group. Weeks of training in situations that involve entering possibly hostile areas were flowing back into my mind. I told myself that if I was leading the group, I would not have stopped along a cliff. I would also have discouraged the kind of behavior the pegasus pony was displaying as such actions would cause group morale to waiver.

It was then that the cliff suddenly collapsed on itself. While the two pegasus ponies were able to avoid sliding down it, the others were not so lucky. I notice the wisp of lunar energy of the corner of my eyes and concluded that it was Nightmare Moon's doing.

The two pegasus ponies flew down and managed to save the pink earth pony and the white unicorn pony. The orange earth pony managed to find a root that was exposed and used that to stop her sliding. However, the purplish-gray unicorn slid all the way down to the edge of the cliff and was holding on for dear life. The orange earth pony saw this and let go of the root in order to help the unicorn.

I watched as the orange pony struggled to pull up the unicorn. I felt compelled to help them but I had to remember my duties and I was ordered by Nightmare Moon to stay here. I still remember the last time I disobeyed an order from her.

It was then that the orange pony told the unicorn to let go. At first, I was confused by this and wondered why she would even suggest something like that. The unicorn seemed to agree with me and was on the verge of panicking which would be very bad in the situation that they were in. However, the orange earth pony reassured her that she would be safe and the unicorn apparently trusted her more than her own judgment and let go.

I watched as the unicorn screamed as she plummeted to the ground. However, she was save by the two pegasus ponies and after a minor hiccup involving one of the pegasus being unused to carrying a full grown pony, was brought safely to the ground.

As the orange earth pony was hopping down the side of the cliff, I used my magic to write the name of the earth pony next to the word Honesty. Prior to the arrival of Nightmare Moon, I managed to track down Celestia's prized student to ascertain her treat level and to see if the Princess had any plans. I managed to locate her in Ponyville and was able to follow her movements while she was checking up on preparations for the celebration. As a result, I had learned of her name and the names of the other five ponies that were traveling with her.

The orange earth pony who I now knew represented the spirit of Honesty was named Applejack.

I looked over the list and nodded to myself. It was going to be tedious work just sitting on my butt while I watch these six ponies walking towards where the Elements of Harmony are located and as a side note to where I am located.

I focused back on the screen and watched as the six ponies continued to walk. The rainbow mane colored pegasus pony was busy describing the rescue to the purplish-grey unicorn. From the look of her face, I could tell that she was not that well interested.

It was at that moment that a creature entered the screen. It was blocking out so much of the area that I had to expand the view in order to get the full idea. What I saw made me both worried and envious.

It was a manticore, one of the guardians of the Great Tree located in the Everfree Forest. Though I felt myself being urged to go off and help the six ponies as was based on my knight's training, I forced myself to remain put. However, my mind could not grasp the reason on why the manticore was even attacking. I remember it being a tamed creature and it was only supposed to attack if it was attacked first or if the Great Tree was threaten. Something must have caused it to go berserk as it charged at the six ponies.

It first did a pouncing strike on the white unicorn who managed to dodge the attack and counter with a swift buck kick to his face. However, the hit was only a glancing blow and it only served to enrage the manticore. His roar managed to mess up the white unicorn's hair and caused her to retreat.

The manticore charged again but was stopped when Applejack landed on his back. She then started to ride him like a bucking bull and without something to really hold onto, it was not long before she was bucked off.

As she flew off, the rainbow-mare colored pony decided to try her luck and started flying around the manticore at an impressive speed in an attempt to confuse him. However, the manticore was able to get his senses in order and flick off the pegasus pony. She was landed back where the others ponies were located.

The pegasus pony gets up and they stared down the manticore. I could see that they were preparing to charge at him and from the looks of it, he knew it was coming and was getting himself ready. The five ponies charged at the manticore and I braced myself for the start of round two.

"WAIT!"

The yellow pegasus, who I just realized I have been overlooking, blocked the path between the other ponies and the manticore. I could see that everyone there was confused and indeed I felt a little bit of confusion myself. It was then that the yellow pegasus walked up to the manticore. He rose up his right paw, preparing to swipe at the pony when she started talking in a calm tone.

I watched as the manticore lowered his paw. I saw that his face was one of hurt and sadness. He flipped over his left paw to reveal the source of his distress, a simple black thorn. At least that is what the yellow pegasus pony saw but to me I could see the dark energies that only resonated from Nightmare Moon. I realized that she was the one who put this manticore in a state of rage.

Very gingerly, the yellow pegasus pony removed the thorn. Although the manticore let out a roar of pain which caused the other ponies to freak out, their fears were quickly dissipated when the manticore returned to his normal timid self. He started licking the yellow pegasus as his way of thanking her for relieving him of the pain he was feeling and the pony was more than happy to receive the gratitude. The other ponies used this opportunity to pass the manticore and continued on. Only the purplish-gray unicorn held back to wait for the yellow pegasus. She asked about how the pony knew about the thorn and she merely reply that she didn't and that all she did was show some kindness.

I used my magic to lift up the quill and dip it in the ink. I then scratch out the name of the yellow pegasus pony who I now believe is the carrier of the spirit of Kindness. The name written on the list was Fluttershy.

The six ponies continued on through the Forest, going deeper than most ponies have ever gone. They eventually entered a thickest of trees that was so dense that it blocked out the moon's rays. I could feel the panic start to grow on the six ponies and also the familiar energy of Nightmare Moon. I knew she was about to make her next move.

The babbling of talking continued until Applejack stepped in some mud. As she was looking at the muck on her hooves with a mixture of distaste and regret, Fluttershy let out a squeal of fear. I was confused as to what the source was until I saw the source.

The trees started to glow a strange color and a menacing face was clearly visible on each of the trees. The five ponies started backing up, the fear evident in both their faces and body language. They then screamed at the top of their lungs which caused a worm of regret to form in my heart. However, that was the least of my worries as my mind realized something. Wasn't their six ponies? I looked closely at the five huddling in the circle and tried to see who was missing. I saw Applejack, Fluttershy, the purplish-gray unicorn, the white unicorn and the rainbow-mane colored pegasus. My mind tried to remember the six and wondered if she got lost in the thickest. It was around that moment that I heard a strange noise, a noise I least expected in this situation.

"Is that…laughter?" I thought to myself. I moved my screen around and I saw the sixth pony, the pink earth pony, literally laughing at one of the tree faces. I was not the only one confused as the purplish-gray unicorn also expressed her confusion. Rather than give a straight answer, the pink earth pony decided to explain in the form of song.

I listen to the music, thinking that the pink earth pony was just a few apples short of a basket. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten when I watched the pink earth pony encourage the other five ponies to join in laughter. Their combined efforts managed to cause all of the tree faces to disappear, returning the thickest back to its normal form.

As the six ponies were getting all the laughs out of them, I tried to force myself to not let out a chuckle of amusement as I wrote down the name of the pink earth pony, whose name as fitting as her description Pinkie Pie, next to the word Laughter to indicate that I knew that she was the spirit of laughter.

I looked back up at the screen just in time to see the six ponies making it to one of the rivers that flows through the Everfree Forest. While the rivers were mostly calm during this time of year, I was surprise to find that this one was acting rather violent. The others ponies and myself were confused as to why this was and it was not long before the sound of crying managed to penetrate the sound of the crashing water. The six ponies made their way to another clearing where they met another resident of the Everfree Forest, the sea serpent.

I saw that the cause of the rushing water was in fact all the splashing the sea serpent was doing. As I watched the ponies try to figure out the reason why the sea serpent was acting this way, I was also trying to figure out the problem. I was unable to see any cuts or bruises on it so the torment was not a physical wound. "Maybe it is a lack of self-esteem." I thought to myself.

It was then that sea serpent complained about how a wisp of black smoke (I quickly assumed that it was Nightmare Moon) flew by slashed off half of his mustache. I was stunned that the only reason he was trashing around was because he lost some facial hair. I was not alone in this train of thought as the other ponies were thinking along the same line, especially after they got completely soaked by his flailing.

All…but one pony apparently.

It was then that the white unicorn stepped out of the line and came up to the serpent who head was now resting on the shore. She started complementing the sea serpent's rather overbearing attention to the way his scales sparkled, his mane shined and even his freshly clipped fingernails. She then went back to the point of the mustache and furthers goes by declaring that she could not leave a crime against fashion go uncorrected.

She then reached out towards the sea serpent and pulled off one of his scales. As the sea serpent recoiled with the wound, the white unicorn raised the scale into the air and slashed down. I heard a tearing sound and I actually thought that the white unicorn killed the sea serpent. I quickly looked over at the serpent and I notice that there was no blood flowing and that all he did was faint. I then looked back over to the white unicorn and what I saw actually surprised me for a moment.

Her tail, which seemed to curl on its own, was cut off leaving only a short mangled tail left. The white unicorn threw the scale away and used her magic to fit her tail that she cut off onto the remains of the sea serpent's right mustache. The sea serpent was now overjoyed as the restoration of his mustache and I saw that the river was now calm. The other ponies were in shock at the white unicorn's actions but she merely replied that short tails were the latest fashion and that it will grow back.

As the six ponies crossed the river with the help of the sea serpent, I put down the name of the white unicorn Rarity next to the element of Generosity. I then gave a small smile to myself as I realized that there were only two elements left and two ponies left in the team. If things worked out…well I decided to not get my hopes up yet. I still had no idea about the sixth element and part of me was wondering if it even exists.

I returned my attention back to the screen and saw that they were now in sight of the castle. It took all of my willpower to not freak out and see if they were able to see me. I could tell from the screen that there was no indication of my presence so I was safe for the moment. I returned my attention back on the six ponies to see that they were trying to figure out how to get across the gap since the bridge was out. Luckily, it did not take the rainbow-mane colored pegasus to figure out the simple plan of just flying down and tying off the bridge to complete it. When she landed on the other side, a mist appeared and started to circle around her. At the same time, a voice was echoing from the mist soft and alluring.

The rainbow-mane colored pegasus was showing signs of resistance and challenge and it was not long before the source of the voice was revealed. Out of the mist came three pegasus ponies, two males who remained stone silent and a female who had been the one speaking. She introduce them as the fake group of flyers known as the Shadowbolts and declared their goal of being the greatest aerial team in Equestria. She then went on to say that the only way they can achieve this is by recruiting a captain and they had selected the rainbow-mane colored pegasus.

I could see her face light up with joy as she was promised her dream. I was shocked at how quickly she agreed to this but then surprised me again when she added that she needed to finish the bridge before sealing the deal. The female was quick to inform the rainbow-mane colored pegasus that there was no middle ground. She had to pick one or the other.

I notice that she now appeared less excited about this deal. The purplish-gray unicorn notice the dilemma and saw what was going on. Before she had a chance to talk to the rainbow-mane colored pegasus, the mist quickly moved in and obscured her view.

I watched as the rainbow-mane colored pegasus thought over the options she had. I quickly realized that I was actually tensed up and actually wanting to know what she decided. So I came as a complete surprise when she had chosen the Shadowbolts. The female Shadowbolts looked pretty pleased with herself but before she could rejoice in her victory, the rainbow-mane colored pegasus pulls a fast one and decided to choose her friends. She tied off the bridge and flew back to the side of the cliff where her friends are. I watched as the Shadowbolts morphed back into the lunar wisp that was Nightmare Moon and flew back to the castle.

I quickly closed the screen and got back on my hooves. I pressed the symbol on my right shoulder armor piece and I felt the weight of my face armor return. However, before Nightmare Moon came back, I quickly wrote down the name of the pegasus pony Rainbow Dash next to her element identity which was in fact Loyalty.

I felt Nightmare Moon approaching and while a part of me was preparing itself for the worst, another part was wondering if the last pony would be the wielder of the sixth element.

Let me know if this is alright or if I should go back to how I was doing it before.

Read and Review Please

Richer1992