"Oh no no no. I don't think so," Said Madness Steve, his voice echoing through the halls. Several ponies of the Royal Guard came rushing in upon hearing the echo. As they rushed in and tried to attack Madness Steve, they were instantly vaporized before they got anywhere close to him. Madness Steve then levitates a few metres above, off of the floor.
"Should've waited until day, maybe you could've actually done something with whatever that bell did. What a shame," Madness Steve added, quietly chuckling, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Whoever you are, I order you to stand down," Celestia's voice loudly bellowed with a growl.
"Make me," Madness Steve said as he levitated Celestia up off of the ground. Celestia tried to shoot Madness Steve with her magic, but she could do absolutely nothing, no matter what. Madness Steve began strangling Celestia until her face went blue, enjoying in seeing the despair and horror on the faces of Sabre, Time Steve, Light Steve, the mane 6, Discord, Luna and Cadence. Discord then teleports Celestia out of Madness Steve's strangle hold. Celestia is now loudly gagging and coughing as she was gasping for air. Celestia then glares at Madness Steve.
"You lot are not the only ones fun to hurt. There is someone else that may be more fun to petrify. They may be more fun to hurt. I'll show you who," Madness Steve said as he randomly teleported a random pony and being levitated in the air. The mane 6 sees a pegasus with a blond mane and tail, grey fur, grey wings, several bubbles as their cutie mark and had caramel-coloured cross eyes. The mane 6 instantly recognized the pegasus.
"Leave Derpy alone! She has nothing to do with this!" Rainbow Dash yelled, fuming with anger. Rainbow Dash knew she couldn't do anything about whatever Madness Steve was going to do with Derpy, which made Rainbow Dash even more angry.
"HELP!" Derpy screamed, petrified from being so close to Madness Steve. Derpy tried to wake up as it worked yesterday since it was just a dream. However, it was no dream this time, she was already awake. Madness Steve then got irritated with Derpy's screaming.
"SILENCE!" Madness Steve shouted as he tossed Derpy very hard down to the floor, breaking all her ribs and shattering the bones in all 4 of her legs. Derpy let out a screeching cry of agony, the mane 6 then rushed over to Derpy as did Sabre, Time Steve and Light Steve, trying to calm Derpy down. Discord was trying to keep his guard up, not letting Madness Steve get close to anyone or anypony. Celestia, Luna and Cadence could only remain frozen out of shock, they as well as everyone and everypony else just glared at Madness Steve.
"Oh, I have forgot to say something. You may all be back with Discord, but you still only have one day to try stop me and the deadline is tomorrow! See you unt then! Byeeeeeeeee!" Madness Steve yelled as he disappeared without a trace.
"Stand back, I can help her," Time Steve said as the mane 6, Sabre and Light Steve backed away from Derpy. Time Steve then summoned lightning on Derpy and reverted her state back in time to heal her. Derpy immediately got up and tightly hugged Time Steve and starting bawling out tears.
"Thank you..." Derpy quietly murmured.
"It's okay," Time Steve quietly replied, putting his arms around Derpy.
"Was that... Madness Steve?" Cadence asked Luna.
"Yes," Luna answered.
"Madness Steve is definitely a threat to Equestria. We must stop him as quickly as we can before he plunges Equestria into oblivion," Celestia said her input.
"Uh, hello? He's a threat to our world too you know!" Sabre exclaimed.
"Yes I know that, but he currently seems to have more interest in our world than yours right now," Celestia replied.
"May I help in what it is you're doing... walking... clock?" Derpy slowly asked.
"I really owe you something for making me feel better," Derpy added.
"My name's Time Steve by the way," Time Steve replied.
"Time... Steve?" Derpy slowly asked. Time Steve nodded.
"Why do you have 'Steve' as your last name?" Derpy asked.
"Because I'm a being that are called steves," Time Steve explained.
"What's your name?" Time Steve asked.
"Ditzy, Derpy, I go by either. But most ponies just call me Derpy. Some ponies also call me Muffins, because I weally like muffins," Derpy replied.
"Okay, Derpy," Time Steve responded.
"Do you like muffins?" Derpy asked Time Steve.
"Muffins? What are they?" Time Steve asked back.
"Imagine it as cake, but smaller, around the size of my hoof here," Derpy explained, lifting her left forehoof off of the floor.
"Hmm... okay," Time Steve responded.
"Time, this is not the time to be discussing about cake. Maybe another time you and her can talk about cake," Sabre said as he walked over to Time Steve and Derpy.
"We haven't even got what we came here for," Sabre added. Time Steve nodded.
"What have you came here for then? Is there anything we can do to help?" Luna asked as she walked to Sabre.
"Well, there is this pony Twilight told us about that can help fuse magical elements with Madness Steve's essence. This apparently makes a potion on finding books containing all information on Madness. Our hope is that these books tell us how to defeat Madness. We can't do that right now, especially while he is watching, which is what he's probably doing. For all we know, he could just be listening in," Sabre replied.
"You seem to have the most knowledge on Madness Steve. How is he watching us?" Celestia asked.
"Anywhere that's dark, he is watching us, we got to be careful," Sabre explained.
"Is there anywhere we can sleep?" Light Steve asked, walking to Celestia.
"We have several bedrooms in this castle for our guests. You three can have one of the rooms. You all are more than welcome to come and stay in them," Celestia replied.
"Do you also mind telling us your names you three?" Celestia asked.
"I'm Light Steve, the guy that looks like a walking clock is Time Steve and the one in the green jacket is Sabre," Light Steve answered.
"Steves... so, are steves a species of creatures?" Cadence asked, looking at Light Steve.
"Yes and there are different types of steves. We also use the term 'beings' more than 'creatures' by the way," Light Steve responded.
"Hey, I'm gonna go back to the Time Dimension, so I can get the coordinates for Equestria set up," Said Time Steve.
"Time Dimension? You have a dimension to yourself?" Luna asked.
"Yeah, but it's actually not that big, just a place where I can look over things," Time Steve replied.
"I've also got to go there to switch on the Interdimensional TV, so I don't have Madness Steve wondering about there," Time Steve added.
"It's too dangerous!" Sabre exclaimed.
"I'll go with Time Steve, I can make sure that Madness Steve doesn't get in," Discord responded. Sabre nodded. Time Steve then teleports into the Time Dimension with Discord with a few strikes of lightning.
Time Steve and Discord are now by where the portal was in the Time Dimension.
"Do you always have to summon lightning to teleport? I can do it without," Said Discord.
"Well, most steves teleports with lightning, but there are steves that have the ability to teleport without summoning lightning though. I can't do so myself," Time Steve replied.
"Well, I could always teach you," Discord offered.
"Nah, I'm okay. I'll learn on my own," Time Steve responded as he pushed the buttons on the other end if the Interdimensional TV several times. Time Steve then turns on the Interdimensional TV.
"Are you sure it won't heat up?" Discord asked.
"Nah, it'll be fine. I can freeze its state in time if it comes down to that. I'm Time Steve after all," Time Steve replied. Time Steve then walked to the right, with Discord following him, then turned right as soon as he reached the corner and continued walking until he was standing where the floor was andesite and not spruce wood, where there was more buttons. Time Steve then started pressing the buttons a few times and stopped.
"That should be everything. Interdimensional TV is on and Equestria's coordinates are set," Said Time Steve.
"Okay," Discord said as he snapped his claws and teleported himself and Time Steve back to where everyone and everypony else were.
"Discord, did Madness try to break in?" Sabre asked, running towards Discord.
"No, didn't even feel a thing," Discord replied.
"Okay, good," Sabre responded.
"He's... weally messed up..." Derpy replied, still quivering.
"It's okay, we'll stop him," Sabre responded to Derpy, turning to face her.
"He... weally messed with my dream the other night and everypony's dreams... he weally makes me not want to sleep at all... especially after he took somepony that... that meant so much to me... she meant everything to me..." Derpy replied, looking down to the floor, away from Sabre.
"I'm... I'm sorry to hear that," Sabre responded, which was all he can say.
"Anyway, where can we sleep?" Sabre asked.
"We've got spare bedrooms upstairs Sabre. Twilight, do you mind taking these three to them?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded. As Twilight was about to walk out the throne room, Derpy runs up to Twilight.
"Can I stay here too? Whoever... h... he was... he's... sc... scary... I have nopony else..." Derpy begged.
"Sure thing Derpy. You can sleep with Sabre, Time Steve and Light Steve," Twilight replied.
"But don't you have a filly Derpy? Dinky?" Twilight pointed out. Derpy upon hearing her name looked away from Twilight.
"Dinky... she's... she is... dead..." Derpy struggled to speak, feeling her throat clench and swell from psychological pain in losing her filly. Derpy tried to explain what went down, but her words became a jumbled mess of tears.
"You don't have to explain the story Derpy if you don't want to," Twilight responded, putting her left hoof on Derpy's shoulder. However, Derpy insisted to explain in hope that she could accept that Dinky is now gone, which she knows deep down she'll never truly accept that and move on.
"Just now... the... that monster... he... he had this... sword... and it... it made her... disappear... I screamed... I couldn't even h... hug her... b... body. I... I then begged the monster to take me too, but he said that it's amusing seeing me like this. I tried to go to my kitchen for a knife, I went to stab myself to death... I... I can't live without her, but he removed everything I could kill myself with. He then barricaded my house in, so I couldn't escape. To hurt me more, he blocked me inside of Dinky's room, blocked the door, window, everything and laughed at me. I cried so much that... my eyes... they're so dry... please stop him Twilight... please stop him..." Derpy murmured, slowly becoming more clearer, only because she could no longer cry.
"I know what you're feeling. He took Spike, I held him very close to me like you held Dinky very close to you. I promise you this, we will stop Madness Steve. For Spike..." Said Twilight, letting Derpy finish the rest.
"... and... and for Dinky," Derpy added on. Twilight then led Sabre, Time Steve, Light Steve and now Derpy to the guest bedroom upstairs in Canterlot Castle. The room was next to Twilight's bedroom. Luckily, there were 4 single-sized beds, so Sabre, Time Steve, Light Steve and Derpy didn't need to share beds.
"Wow, these beds are very comfortable!" Time Steve exclaimed. Sabre and Light Steve said the same.
"You know you can use the blankets," Twilight pointed out, seeing Sabre, Time Steve and Light Steve not using the blankets and just laying on top of the blankets. But there was no answer, Sabre, Time Steve and Light Steve were fast asleep. Only Derpy wasn't asleep, trying to take her mind off of Dinky. Twilight then left the bedroom, to go back to the throne room.
"Right, what do we do about Madness Steve now? He said this deadline thing is tomorrow!" Discord exclaimed.
"Is Madness Steve going to slaughter ponies!? Is Madness Steve gonna destroy Equestria!? Madness Steve could mean literally anything at this point!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"He's probably gonna do both. He's a psychopath," Applejack responded.
"I have a feeling we may be dealing with something much more than just a psychopath," Said Celestia.
"Madness Steve seems to have a much bigger goal than just killing. I don't know what it is, but something is definitely telling me this and I know it can't be anything good. Madness Steve is totally different to Equestria's previous foes. In the past, these foes either wanted to seize control of Equestria, steal everypony's magic or cause chaos. Madness Steve doesn't seem interested in any of that, he wants something far more, but I can't quite tell what it is he is trying to do, which deeply worries me. At least we knew the intentions of foes like Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow. However, we don't know what the intentions of Madness Steve are... I... I trully don't know what he is trying to do. The only thing he has shown is that he is ludicrously cocky, and we must take full advantage of that while we can," Celestia explained.
"We've always defeated bad guys in the past. Yeah, he may be a lot tougher to stop, but we've alway come out on top. All we need to know is how to defeat Madness Steve and boom!" Rainbow Dash confidently responded. However, Rainbow Dash was easily the most enthusiastic out of the mane 6, but the enthusiasm was enough to have restore hope in the rest of the mane 6 into stopping Madness Steve. Rainbow Dash was right, all they needed to do is find out how to defeat Madness Steve and then confront him.
"It would be much easier if we still had the Elements of Harmony. If we're unable to find out the way to defeat Madness Steve, then the elements would be our only hope," Twilight sighed. Discord then snapped his eagle claws and teleported the shattered pieces which were once the Elements of Harmony. Usually, Discord wouldn't help or get involved this much, but he saw that Madness Steve is far too dangerous for Discord to consider him as a learning experience for the mane 6. Discord knew he had to help out and get involved. The stakes right now are just too high, especially that Fluttershy is at risk.
"Well... they're here, but how to fix them is another matter," Said Discord. Twilight then had an idea sprung up in her head.
"Time Steve has the ability to reverse states of matter back in time. What if he can reverse the states of the elements and we can use them again?" Twilight suggested. Everypony in the room agreed.
"We'll have to wait until tomorrow... no, we can't!" Twilight exclaimed as she rushed back upstairs to the bedroom Sabre, Time Steve, Light Steve and Derpy were in bed. Twilight bursts through the door and shakes Time Steve when she got to his bed. Poor sleepy Time Steve didn't have a clue what was going on.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Twilight exclaimed.
"What..." Time Steve yawned, barely awake.
"We need to you something real quick!" Twilight exclaimed as she pulls Time Steve out of his bed. Time Steve is now definitely awake.
"This better be important Twilight," Time Steve muttered. Twilight and Time Steve then rushed downstairs, back into the throne room.
"What are those shards?" Time Steve asked, looking at the shattered pieces of the Elements of Harmony.
"They were the Elements of Harmony. If all else fails, then these will be our only hope left," Twilight briefly explained.
"What happened to them?" Time Steve asked.
"Sombra happened," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Can you fix them?" Twilight asked.
"How long ago are we talking?" Time Steve asked.
"Like... only a year or two," Twilight replied.
"Oh okay no problem," Time Steve quickly responded, summoning bolts of lightning, with the Elements of Harmony slowly being repaired. After a few seconds, the Elements of Harmony are back to how they were and Time Steve stopped summoning lightning. Twilight then used her magic to levitate each of the 6 elements to those that represented them. Twilight, the Element of Magic. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Applejack, the Element of Honesty. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. Rarity, the Element of Generosity.
"It's been a long time since we had these," Said Applejack.
"I'm gonna go back to sleep," Time Steve said as he walked out of the throne room, back upstairs to the bedroom, got back in his bed and back to sleep.
"Now, you all must get anypony else that can help," Said Celestia.
"What will you all be doing?" Twilight asked.
"We'll be going over all of our magic to see which kind of magic will be useful against Madness Steve," Celestia answered.
"Do you mind if we all stay here for the night darling? It's been a really long day," Rarity yawned. Twilight nodded as she and the rest of the mane 6 went upstairs to Twilight's bedroom. When they got to Twilight's bedroom, Twilight got out 5 sleeping bags for her friends to sleep in. Soon, they all fell asleep.