It was a magnificent day over all of Equestria. The clouds were pushed all the way out to the borders, it wasn't too hot (despite being the dog days of summer) and it seemed everypony was out to celebrate it. Doodledraw and Twilight spent their time under the shady trees of the park. DD was drawing, of course, and Twi was wrapped up in a good book. The hot pink mare heard her friend slam the book shut, and she knew she would have to feign interest.
"Another great read about the Elements of Harmony!"
"Really?" the pink pony asked, a lot more interested than she thought she would.
"Yes. This author has been studying our friendship, how the necklaces and crown work, and how everypony from everywhere can truly embrace these."
"Wow. That sounds really neat. I wonder if there's really something out there that can top the Elements for power."
"I'd like to see that," the purple unicorn laughed. Suddenly, the rest of Twilight's friends, spearheaded by Spike holding a letter, came running into the park. They both noticed them, but the unicorn got to the chase faster by asking first, "What's wrong, Spike?"
"Something terrible has happened," Applejack was the first to speak.
"An-enormously-huge-total-country-in-total-chaos-w e-have-to-rush-over-to-Canterlot-problem!" Pinkie Pie added. All her friends started muttering to each other, and the only way Twilight got them to stop was by making a high-pitched whistle, drawing their attention to her. The purple mare sighed, "Thank you. Now, can you please tell me what's going on?"
"What do you mean 'you don't know what's going on'?" Doodledraw, running with the others to Canterlot Castle, asked Spike, who was rereading the letter. He groaned, "I don't know! All Princess Luna-!"
"Wait, Princess Luna sent the letter and not Celestia?" Twilight asked, knowing he had kept out that information. Getting a stern glare from the unicorn, Spike stated quickly, "I didn't even see it the first time, I swear!" Doodledraw then gasped, "We have to hurry! I think I know why Celestia's sister sent it."
They all hurried through to the throne room, only to find Luna sitting where Celestia should have been. She told them all, "Thank you for coming so quickly. This was a matter of grave importance that could not wait."
"But….where's Celestia?" Fluttershy asked quietly. Luna heard her, and answered, "That is exactly why I called all of you down here." The younger princess got up from the throne and they all followed her to what Twilight knew as Celestia's private bedroom. All during that time, Doodledraw had a look of great worry on her face. Only she knew how dire this situation was and what was happening.
But soon for her friends, it came to light. Luna opened the door, and everypony, even DD, gasped at the sight. There was Princess Celestia, or at least, what they could make out to be her. The usually well-groomed allicorn was sitting on her bed, looking like she was about to throw up. Her coat was slightly grayed, and her mane's colors were all fading to pink. Rainbow Dash was the first to come out of the shock, and immediately asked, "Who did this to her?"
"Nopony did this to her," Luna stated. "She brought it upon herself. She has been sick like this for many months now, but was strong enough for the Summer Sun Celebration. In this short time after, the sickness has become worse. It seems I have caught it too, and if you don't do something soon, Equestria will be thrown into chaos."
Of course, everypony knew what she meant by that, and nopony wanted to experience it again. Twilight, tears starting to flood into her eyes, asked the moon princess, "Can she see me?" Luna nodded slowly, and the unicorn soon sat by her teacher's side. Twi stared at her for what seemed like forever. Celestia looked at her warily, probably not seeing her except as a blur.
But the more the student stared into the teacher's eyes, the more she knew she had to find a way to save Equestria. She knew it would be the Princess' dying wish, and that it would be shared by the younger sister. Twilight put on her strong face, and turning back to the navy blue allicorn, asked, "What can we do to save her."
"Nothing now." Luna then looked like she had been hit in the head with a hammer; that look when you re-remember a brilliant idea you had forgotten until now. The moon princess beamed, "There may be hope for Equestria just yet!" They all followed her to her own room, and coming to a bookshelf, Luna magically took out what looked like a diary.
"This is my private journal," she explained. "I wrote in it almost every day before I became Nightmare Moon. Not only will it shed some light to how I became her, it also might have the solution I've been looking for. While my sister was caught up in her royal duties, I would always come out to the Everfree Forest, where we stored the Elements of Harmony, and study them. I came across four more virtues, which I stated were part of the Elements, but at the time, nopony seemed to care."
"More virtues?" Pinkie Pie questioned. "Does that mean there are more than six Elements?"
"These virtues are not what give the Elements their strength, but what make them stronger." Her words were a bit cryptic, but everypony soon nodded in understanding. Luna gave Twilight the book, and Spike held it under his arm. The allicorn took them all to the tower where the Elements of Harmony were stored, and pulled out the crown that held the Element of Magic. Luna activated her magic and used it on the crown, and it soon started to beep slowly.
"I have turned the crown into a detector that will make it beep louder when you get closer to these Elements," she explained. "Remember, these Elements are not essential, but they only make them stronger. I will keep the sun and moon cycle constant so that this won't come to the light of the press. Stay safe, my little ponies." The princess gave them a salute, and all saluted back. They headed out of Canterlot Castle, not knowing where they were headed and only a crown to guide them.
"So how will we know just who's part of the extra Element's we're looking for?" RD asked, them all running back to Ponyville. Twilight explained, "The crown has started to beep faster as we're coming home, so maybe it's someone from Ponyville."
"And how will we even know what these ponies are supposed to represent?" Applejack asked. The purple unicorn magically pulled out Luna's diary from under Spike's arm and placed it in front of Doodledraw. Everypony slowed down as Twi replied, "Maybe these journals will shed some light on the subject." DD asked, "You really want me to read Princess Luna's journals?"
"Sure. You don't seem as caught up in the mission as everypony else here, and Spike has fallen asleep. You do not want to wake him from a nap like this." Doodledraw sighed and Twilight turned to the first page. The hot pink mare started reading out loud, "Luna's Diary; keep out, Celly! Day 1- Today was a great day. Perfect, actually. We defeated Discord, a tyrant ruler over the land, and Celestia and I have been praised as not only heroes, but the new rulers. We didn't want to live in the area of Everfree, but decided to put the Elements of Harmony (the things we used to defeat Discord) there as a memorial. We decided to name this new city where we shall live Canterlot."
"So that's why the Elements were in the Everfree Forest!" Twilight exclaimed. "Not only were they there as a memorial, but Princess Celestia used them on her sister in the same place. Although I still don't know what the 'Royal Canterlot Voice' is."
"Wait, I found something on it! Turn the page." The unicorn did as instructed, and the hot pink mare continued to read aloud. "Day 5- Today, my sister and I made up this really funny in-joke. She asked, "Hey, sister, why don't we use a royal voice to address our subjects?" I was like, "Yeah, we should use that kind of 'we' that means you're talking about yourself, and" I practically shouted the next words, "use this much volume when addressing our subjects!" It was a really funny joke and we used it at a meeting today. They thought it was funny, and now we have decided to use it for tricks and giggles!"
"Ah, so it's just a joke. Read on."
"Day 9- Today, I have decided to study the Elements of Harmony. They seem to reflect the building blocks of friendship: Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, and Loyalty. And of course, the Elements would not work at all without Magic as their center. I find that there may be more Elements in this mix; an extra set, if you may. But I cannot come to a conclusion on what they are this early in my studies. I will have to study them more to truly be sure there are more.
"Day 13- I have found four more virtues of friendship that might be these Excess Elements. They are Cleverness, Confidence, Strength, and Trust. These make friendships stronger, and if I were to find gems that represent them, I think they'll make the Elements stronger. Celestia doesn't even seem vaguely interested in these studies, saying "Their power is not to be messed with." But I don't understand her logic! We don't know what these Elements of Harmony are, so they must be studied! Maybe it's just the stress of a royal getting to her.
"Day 20- Something frightening happened today. Ever since love, friendship, and harmony have returned, the changelings (a group of pony-like insectoid creatures) have been planning. They feed off love, and with their powers, have been able to integrate into society perfectly. They decided that today was the day they would try to take over. Our guards, my sister and I all fought back. We won, but…I got bitten by one of the changelings. The area around the bite has become dark and puffy, and the doctors don't know what to do except use some cream on the inflammation. Hopefully, my sister will be willing to live with this, and help me through this.
"Day 35- It's been a while, but I'm still alive, diary! Celestia and I have been caught up in the glamorous life of being royals. But my sister has been complaining about the stress and how much her job is all work and no play. Maybe she should give some to me. I mean, I've always been treated as the little sister: my sister taking all the responsibility and I get to play all the time. I mean, it's nice and all, but I wish she would hand some of them to me.
"Day 48- I know I haven't been writing as often as I should, but it's because I've been taking the time to reflect on my relationship with my sister. Ever since we were fillies, she's always been protective of me, but since the threats are gone (well, except the changeling incident), we've been torn apart by our duties. Mine is to set the sun and raise the moon. Maybe Discord was right…I'll always be overlooked, and that the day will be more appreciated than the night.
"Day 55- No, no, no! I can't think that way! To think Discord, that big dumb meanie was right? No, I shouldn't! He was just trying to manipulate me. It took me a while to realize, but he is wrong! And yet…every time I try to be kind and loving to my sister, something in my head hurts, and my infection burns like fire. Could there be a connection between by decreasing love for my sister and my infection?
"Day 67- Discord was right, almost. It seems the day is where ponies frolic and play and work, whereas the ponies sleep and rest in the night. There are some times where I find fireworks being set off from far away, but I find that since celebrations of Discord's stoning have winded down, there are no more fireworks. Maybe they'll be more for the Hearth's Warming festival. It's coming up soon, and maybe I can decide there'll be fireworks!
"Day 77- I won't get to decide anything for the Hearth's Warming festival, as I was told by one of my guards. All the decisions will be made by Celestia, as always. It burns me up that I get no decisions in this, and yet, I'm treated as royalty. I mean, they say with great power comes great responsibility, but I get no power and little responsibility, and I'm still treated like a princess! I…need to talk to Celestia about this…
"Day 83- I feel like I should be away from my sister. After that fight last night, where I tried to tell her I wanted more responsibility as a princess, it escalated into a big fight. And the infection has spread to both my front hooves now, but it feels fine when I'm away. Maybe a week to myself will make it show some signs of healing.
"Day 90-Um, guys, I can't read this." Doodledraw stopped narrating and looked at the journal. "It's all scrawled writing, and all I can make out is 'underappreciated', 'the sun shall never live again', and 'the night shall last forever'" Twilight gasped, "That must be the night of when her transformation into Nightmare Moon happened! Celestia told me that she was chased by her sister into a growing Everfree Forest, and to the ruins of the castle where we found the Elements. She said that them being used by one pony was enough to drain them."
The unicorn used her magic and put the book back on a still-sleeping Spike. They made it all the way back to Ponyville, and Twi told the rest of the group, "I'm going to put Spike down for a nap. The beeping has seemed to have gotten stronger the more we walked closer to here."
DD looked at her friend walking away. Although she had been told to stay there, and her friends had started chatting and making guesses on where this Element would be, the hot pink pony felt guilty that if she didn't tell her best friend now, their friendship may be broken.
Doodledraw walked into the library, only to see Twilight walking down from upstairs. The pink earth pony sighed, "Twilight, there's something I need to talk about." The unicorn, looking up at her crown, which was still beeping, asked, "Will this take very long? Because I can feel we're getting close."
"Twi…I need to tell you that…when I came to commission Princess Celestia's portrait, she wanted it done because…she told me that she was dying." The unicorn looked at her friend in shock for a second, and then tears formed up in her eyes. "I know I should've told you, but the Princess feared you would get all nervous, and-!"
The purple mare hugged the pink one tightly, and through the tears, said, "Thank you…"
"But…why are you hugging me? And thanking me?"
"Because Celestia was right. I would freak if I knew that ahead of time, and I'm glad you told me, best friend." Doodledraw didn't know why she did it, but she hugged her friend back, and smiling, replied, "You're welcome."
Twilight and Doodledraw headed out of the library, the unicorn now wearing saddlebags with Luna's diary inside one of them. DD was tampering with the crown, holding it with her fore-hooves and pointing it everywhere, seeing if the beeping would get stronger. When they found the rest of their friends, Applejack was the first to speak.
"We figured since one of the extra Elements is Strength, we'd head over to Sweet Apple Acres first. My brother Big Macintosh is the strongest pony in Ponyville!" Everypony nodded in agreement, and headed for the farm. As they got there, the beeping from the Crown of Magic got…stronger, giving the impression that AJ's hunch was right. They came to the farm, and saw Big Mac hard at work.
Applejack spotted him from a distance, and shouted, "Big Mac! We got a question for ya!" But the big red pony didn't pay much attention to her or the rest of the group. He just kept on bucking trees. The orange mare laughed sheepishly and told the group, "Hold on one second."
It took a few minutes, but when Big Macintosh came closer, the crown beeped furiously. Doodledraw tried to keep herself from dropping it as AJ and Big Mac came over. The two siblings were arguing. The whole group could hear the orange one state, "Now, Big Mac, you can't work for this long without food. Did you even have breakfast this mornin'?" Silence filled the air until the red one responded with, "Eenope."
"Alright, you're getting a proper lunch, mister." The two were now sitting right next to the group, and the crown went silent. Doodledraw gave the crown a sturdy hit with the hoof to see if it would beep again. The big crimson stallion explained, "Applejack, you know I can endure hours of bucking with little food or rest, unlike you who almost killed herself trying to buck the entire orchard."
Applejack grumbled to herself, and miraculously, the crown started to glow. It floated up out of DD's hooves, and with an ethereal voice that sounded vaguely like Twilight's, it stated, "Big Macintosh, who can go through the harshest situations and still shine through, represents the Element of Strength!" A beam of light shot from the crown hit Big Mac's yoke.
There was a moment of silence as the crown dropped to the earth. Twilight picked it up and put it on her head again. The red stallion then took off his yoke, and revealed a necklace with a green apple in the middle, shaped like his cutie mark. The purple unicorn gasped, "Big Mac! You're one of the Extra Elements!"
"Eeyup," he replied, looking at the necklace in admiration. The unicorn told the rest of the group, "Alright, Rainbow Dash, I entrust you with escorting Big Mac back to Canterlot Castle. You stay there and tell Princess Luna to send for Rarity." RD gave a salute and said, "I'm on it!" Twi explained for the rest of the group, "I think it would be best to get all the Elements in one place. We don't know how long this mission could take, and the Elements must be assembled by the time we get there."
The group, Big Mac included, all headed back to the center of town, where Rainbow Dash and the red stallion disbanded to go to Canterlot. The beeping of the crown since the discovery of Macintosh's element had been very slow, beeping long seconds apart. Twi pointed the crown down the road to Canterlot as they left, and Doodledraw asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to get a read of which way we're supposed to go," she answered, and ran and pointed it to another path as she did so. After finding many paths that headed different directions, the crown started beeping a little faster down one of the last paths. DD pointed out, "Hey! This road leads to Raini Valley and Baltimare." The remaining party members groaned, for they knew it would be a long trip.
Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Doodledraw headed out with their saddlebags in tow and filled with food. They would have to make the long trip there during the moon, which was luckily full at the time. The five came to an inn at about the half-way point around midnight, and ate a midnight snack there.
They finally made it to Raini Valley about six o'clock in the morning, and were very tired-out from the long journey. But they didn't even stop to rest at the local inn. Twi sat with the rest of the group as they all rested up and ate breakfast. She walked around the small town, and gaped at where the next Element supposedly was when the crown started beeping faster and louder.
She ran back to the group, and panted, "Girls….we have to….go up the mountainside." Everypony groaned once again at the thought of climbing up the steep slopes, but DD reassured them, "Don't worry! That's were the mine-ponies work, and they have many paths leading up to the caves."
The path was long and filled with obstacles, but it seemed that was where they were headed. As they climbed up the rickety old path, the crown beeped louder. Pinkie Pie yelled, because the wind howling, "Nopony in their right mind should ever come up some path like this! And that's coming from me!"
They all came to the mouth of a cave much later, and sat near the good amount of ground there was surrounding it. AJ's ears popped from the altitude, and she shouted, "Alright, that's it! There's no way I'm going into that old cave that may or may not have an Element."
"You can't give up now!" Doodledraw exclaimed, sitting right next to the orange pony. "We may be tired, and already running out of food, but don't worry! I'm sure this mission will be a success! The crown is beeping, and the Elements of Harmony are never wrong!"
"Well, until this mission is a success, I'm placing my plot right here!" Applejack put her flank on the cold stone that was the entrance of the cave, and many cracks ran from it. Suddenly, the cracked pieces of earth gave in to their weight and collapsed. Pinkie Pie, who held onto a rock with her back hooves, grabbed Twilight's tail with her front hooves, Twilight held Fluttershy's hair tight in her mouth, Fluttershy was holding Applejack's legs with her fore-hooves, and AJ held tightly to DD's hair with her mouth.
"Pinkie, do you think you can hoist us up?" the unicorn asked through a mouth full of Pink hair.
"What's that?" the pink mare asked, not hearing them over the hair and the howling wind.
"Pinkie, are you strong enough to pull us all up?" By then, the purple mare had opened her mouth all the way, dropping Fluttershy. Twi waved her hooves around in shock, hoping to catch her. Luckily, the shy Pegasus' wings opened and flapped just in time to save the rest from falling.
Doodledraw looked down. She could only see clouds, and through that, the town of Raini Valley below. She let out a scream, only for Twilight to say, "Maybe we shouldn't have let Rainbow and Big Macintosh go…"