The six ponies are travelling through the time vortex again.
"Equestria's present. Canterlot Castle." The screen read before there was a white glow at the end of the hole. All six of them get engulfed by the white glow.
Twilight was still reading a book in the library when she noticed a glow coming from behind. She turned around and saw her friends safely returned from another trip.
"You're back!" Twilight said hugging them.
"Were you in the library the whole time we were gone?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes, and you want tell me where you all went and what happened?"
"Sure." Applejack answered. "Although it quite a long story of what happened..."
While they were on their way to get back to Doctor Whooves, Applejack told Twilight how they met a photographer who was getting a story, they met a bunch of yoshis and a person called Toadbert who gave them an important drawing. She also told her about their battle with Trixie and how they were all eaten alive by a creature called the yoob and battled a monster inside yoob called Sunnycide. She even told her how they managed to escape the beast and recovered the stolen shards Chrysalis stole.
"..and that's everythin' we've been through on Yoshi's Island." Applejack finished.
Twilight was left speechless after that explanation. "Wow! I can't believe all of that happened. I still can't believe you past selves ate a whole pile cookies. Not to mention you escaped the beast by-"
Rainbow Dash covered her mouth. "Please, do not tell anypony friends about it."
They all got back to room Doctor Whooves was in. Fluttershy and Spike were in there with him.
"Rarity! You're back!" Spike exclaimed hugging her.
"Yeah, back at last!" Doctor Whooves said. "So, you've got hooves on some Cobalt Star shards, hm? 2 of 'em?"
One minute later...
"Oh I wish I could've gone to Yoshi's Island. I wanted to see what new creatures were there." Fluttershy said.
"We also have a picture that a Toad named Toadbert drew prior to his memory being eradified." Stuffwell said giving Doctor Whooves the drawing.
"Hm... ah..." Doctor Whooves examined. "It looks to be a sketch of the Shroob Princess attacking Princess Celestia..."
"Wait! What? Let me take a look." Twilight takes a peek at drawing. "Hmm, it does look like her."
"Yes, Princess Celestia is holding off the alien scourge with the Cobalt Star, but... As we know, Princess Celestia lost this battle, and the star shattered into fragments."
"I don't understand, how did this all happen?" Twilight asked.
The others just shrugged.
"Was the Cobalt Star alone not enough to save the day? Or did something unexpected and just plain awful happen?
"My guess is probably both." Spike answered with a shrug.
"Anyhoo, it hardly matters. You just find those time holes and collect the rest of the Cobalt Star shards."
"Will do!" Applejack said.
"No problem!" Rainbow Dash added.
"Of course!" Rarity agreed.
"Oh, and that reminds me, a new time hole has appeared on the third floor of the castle." The doctor realized.
On the top screen, a new time hole just appeared on the third floor.
"My readings indicate that this particular time hole is a direct link to Celestia's castle of old."
"Wait, so the time hole on the third floor is the castle from the past?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, but unfortunately, that castle's under guard by the shroobs. You can't get inside. So it looks like you'll have to concentrate on gathering Cobalt Star shards for now."
"Okay, we'll be off now." Applejack said.
"By the way, where's Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I think she might be in the gardens with Mane and Filly Celestia." Fluttershy replied.
"Then let's go there."
"Wait! Could we maybe go to the shop first?" Rarity asked.
"Alright, but only because we have lots of coins." Applejack answered.
The mane five along with Spike and the fillies head over to the shop. When they got there, they go over to the register.
"Welcome to the Shroom Shop! Care to buy some items?" The cashier asked.
"Yup! We'll take 12 1-up mushrooms, 9 green shells, 20 pocket chomps, 5 ice flowers, and 10 trampolines." Applejack told the cashier. "That's all." She gave him the amount of coins need for the transaction and got their equipment.
"Thank you and come on back!" The cashier said.
"We will." Rarity said. The nine ponies and Spike continue to make their way to the castle garden. When they arrived, they saw both Monsieur Manes in a different position with Pinkie Pie right beside them and Filly Celestia in her pink filly carriage crying again.
"Buck up, elder me!" The young Monsieur tells his older self. "We must be more original if we wish to please the princess! Right-o! Off we go!"
"My... My spine! OH, THE PAIN!" The elder Mane said in pain.
The rest of the mane six come down to see what was going on.
"She's still crying?" Twilight asked.
"It wasn't like this when you left." Pinkie said.
"How about it, Princess? Hm? We're having a ball now, no?" Monsieur Mane asked getting her attention, but she didn't notice them and was still crying.
"I daresay this is the oddest thing I've done in my life..." Filly Rainbow Dash takes out her hammer and hits both the Manes which then caused them to become an actual ball. The fillies jumped and cheered while the mane six were just shocked and surprised at that. Both of the Monsieurs rolled out of the garden into the castle, then rolled back in the garden and collided with the wall bouncing them off. The elder Monsieur was really dizzy from that and just fell down. Filly Celestia stopped crying and laughed while bouncing up and down in her carriage.
"Oh I get it now." Pinkie realized. "Having a BALL now!" Then falls on the floor laughing. Applejack however, just had an idea. She talk to Rainbow Dash and Rarity about it, but only Rainbow Dash liked the idea, Rarity didn't. She goes over to Mane and asked to learn about the new move.
"What's that you say, old bean? You wish to learn our move?" Mane asked.
Applejack nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'd be chuffed to teach you, of course, but elder me may have reached his limit..."
"No...cause for alarm...I'm...right as rain..." The elder Mane said struggling to get up.
"Absolute rubbish, old bean! You look like you have a Bristle in your britches..."
"HUUURGH! RALLY!" Elder Mane cried out. "For the sake of the princess, I will gladly sacrifice this old body! Come, Masters!"
"Actually, Applejack and Rainbow Dash will go with you." Rarity decided. "I am NOT getting my hair dirty by simply rolling on the dirty floor."
"Suit yourself Rarity!" Rainbow Dash said.
This time Applejack and Rainbow Dash are in the training area with both Monsieur Manes.
"I dubbed this the Pony's ball. Why you ask? Because you two are ponies. And you form a ball. It's rather rigorous. It requires flexibility, endurance, courage, and a bit of an open mind. Mistress Applejack initiates this particular move, so if you will..."
"Let's get down to brass tacks. And please, ladies, DO keep the jokes to yourselves, hm?" The elder mane asked.
"First, press 'r' to change Mistress Applejack's icon to the pony ball icon." Mane instructed.
"Then press 'A' and you will curl up into a giant ball! Capital! And not at all odd!" The elder mane added.
"Now then, use '+' to roll the ball in the direction you wish to travel. It's quite academic."
"Rolling about like a ball's a lot faster than walking, I should say so! And hills? Why, you'll zip right up them! It's simply brilliant!"
"Have at it, ladies!"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash get closer to the hill, then used the pony ball move to roll up the hills. They kept going until they reached a low ceiling.
"Ah, and one other thing! When you're in ball form, you can roll under low ceilings." Mane added.
"If you find your height keeping you from proceeding, try rolling into ball form, hm?"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash get into position and become a ball again. They rolled under the low ceiling and down three large steps, and reached the end where both Monsieurs were waiting.
"Absolutely top-notch!" Mane commented. "I trust you'll use this technique to your advantage?"
"Yup!" Applejack replied.
"We sure will!" Rainbow Dash added.
We're back in the castle gardens with the others.
"I bet this technique would make getting up those long stairs to the viewing platform a snap." The elder mane said.
"I do recall a new time hole appearing on the viewing platform, you know?" Mane added.
"That might the one we need to get to next." Rainbow Dash thought.
"My advice is that you investigate immediately."
"On it!" Applejack said.
The elder Monsieur almost forgets one thing. "Oh, and more thing... This Pony Ball technique... I've a feeling you might be able to do more than roll about. Perhaps you could spin things? I concur. And I do believe there may be something on the first floor to test your theory."
"Where is it?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's just on this floor down the hall." Twilight answered.
"Yes! That's it! I'm certain you can test your spinning abilities there." Young Mane added. Up on the top screen, a large bubble with a '?' appears on the current floor they're on.
"Do challenge yourselves to innovate, lassies! Use this and other skills creatively!" Elder Mane suggested.
"We will. Let's go!" The mane six and Spike leave the gardens and found the room with a giant contraption.
"How does this work?" Rarity asked looking at the generator.
"Maybe like this." Applejack replied as she and Rainbow Dash got into their pony ball form and rolled by the generator powering it up to full power. When it was fully powered up, a pipe just rose from the ground.
"Let's go test our skill!" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"We're coming with you!" Twilight insisted.
"Alright, but only two of us is how much would fit through the pipe." Applejack tells her.
After a few minutes, all of them were in a mysterious area of the castle. When they reached the next room Applejack noticed a strange figure at the end of the room in a red cape.
"Who could that be?" She wondered.
"Let's find out." Twilight suggested as they all chased after him into the next room. However, it completely vanished when they got there.
"Where did he go?" Fluttershy asked looking around.
Twilight used one of her spells and saw that it was inside one of the pipes. "It's in there!"
"But we can fit in there." Rarity said.
"We can't but our past selves can." Rainbow Dash said. The past Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity got into the tower formation and drilled underneath the bars and head into the pipe. They hit a few ? blocks and popped out a few 100 coins. They explore the pipes until the three of them come into a strange room with a mysterious stranger.
"I have boredom... Guests? Now I have... FURY!" The figure came closer and revealed who it was: Fawful. "I say to you WELCOME! Welcome to Fawful's Beans 'n' Badge! In this place, beans are like precious treasure milked from a famous cow made of jewels! All who come with beans leave with badges so rare they make manes droop with disbelief!" The three fillies jumped in joy.
"What? The story of Fawful? Your words are not beans. I am not wanting them. You are like brainless cats that are too dumb to know they are stupid. You have curiosity... But my tale is long, so long it makes fillies old and hairy lips grow gray with aging. Do you dare hear?"
All three fillies nodded in agreement.
"Then now you listen!" Fawful demanded. "I am here, merchant of badges, only sometimes with fury, but I once had fury at all times. I drizzled rage dressing on the country next door. Rage dressing on a salad of evil! And then bad ponies came. Orange, cyan, and the white bad ponies. I had the punishment. Bad punishment with the hammers, magic, and jumping on my head and the overheating of my ship. I have a little fury even with my remembering... Orange! Cyan! And White! A trio of jumping hammers in orange, cyan, and white who are looking like you!"
"I HAVE FURY!" He yelled again. "Those ponies of badness! My brain aches at their arrival! I have fury AND headache now! Fawful would be here, reigning over all and laughing at you! ...But no. SO MUCH FURY! Stupid manes! Hairs like the dirty tail of a horse in a barn built by a farmer who is crazy!"
Outside the pipes, the mane six were still listening.
"I can't believe that brute called us horses!" Rarity complains. "The nerve!"
"Ah know and he's calling ME crazy?" Applejack added.
"Calm down you two." Twilight told them. "Just keep listening."
"...I have calm." He continued as he immediately took off his cloak revealing a green alien. "I am waiting like an elevator. I have the commerce. I run Fawful's Beans 'n' Badge but... The day comes soon when Fawful rises again, and then no filly's candy has safety! I am counting chickens before they are even eggs, before the chickens are even chickens! I WILL! HAVE! FURY! I LAUGH AT DEFEAT! I FIGHT WITH RAGE! I HURT YOUR FACES!" He bends over to catch a breath. "Hooof... Heffff... D-Did I have insanity?"
That left the fillies confused at that question.
"Did I have evil?" Fawful questioned them. "I suppress the fury, but sometimes... The fury has me. Orange, cyan, and white puts the fog of rage in my eyes, and my mind goes crazy. P-Please... I will be fine. No worrying for Fawful. We talk of beans. Beans and badges... We begin trading! What are you wanting?"
Their choices were:
Trade!
Learn about Beans.
Leave.
They all chose trade and with the amount of beans they had, they were only able to get two 1-chance badges.
"I have badges. Such badges! Bring beans! BEANS!" Fawful demanded. "Now is the time when you wait! I have a vision... The castle viewing platform... A new path for your finding... A new path...of DOOM!"
The fillies leave and head back to go find the others. They met back with the mane six after comng out of the pipes.
"Did they get enough info we need?" Rarity asked.
"We heard as well." Twilight told her. "We all heard there is a new time portal on the castle viewing platform."
"That must be the one we should get to." Rainbow Dash suggested.
"Then lets go!" Twilight said.
All of them go back to the entrance and get in the pipe and head back up to the castle grounds. Two ponies each get in the pipe and they all got back in the castle.
"To the viewing platform!" Pinkie said. All six of them including the fillies and Spike head up the stairs. Pass the previous portal they visited, and head into the entrance to the roof of the castle. There was a large set of stairs and a pony waiting at the bottom.
"If you hit that block, another one will appear on the floor at the top of the stairs." The pony explains. "If you hit THAT block, the door to the observatory will open. At least, that's what I heard. The block up there vanishes after a short while, though, which really doesn't help."
"That's new." Twilight thought. "Who knows how long that block vanishes and how much time it takes to get to the top?"
The pony goes on. "I've tried to get to it before it disappears, but I've never made it, not even once."
"How it that possible?" Fluttershy asked.
"I just can't imagine how anyone is supposed to make it all the way there in time..."
"Well I can probably get there." Rainbow Dash said.
"Wait!" Applejack stopped her. "This would be the perfect time for us to try our pony ball technique."
"She's right." Twilight added. "Mane did tell you to practice this technique for getting up all those large staircases."
"Fair point." Rainbow Dash said. "Let's go for it!"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash got in their position.
"Ready?" Twilight asked.
"Ready!" They both said.
Twilight hits the block and another block appears on the top floor. "25 seconds on the clock. 3, 2, 1, GO!"
Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack rolled into a ball and they were able to roll up the large staircases. Applejack manages to hit the block with four more seconds left. When the block was hit, the door to the observatory opened up and they both go inside. In the room, Rainbow Dash hits the block with a picture of a pipe and the others jump out and end up in the same room.
"Wow! You did it!" Twilight said.
"It was no problem at all." Rainbow Dash said with a smile. She, Applejack, and Rarity walked over to the time hole with their past selves on their backs.
"Be careful!" Fluttershy tells them.
"Good luck!" Pinkie said.
"Find Princess Celestia and bring her back!" Twilight added.
"We will." Applejack assured her. "Alright girls on three. 1!"
"2!" Rainbow Dash continued.
"3!" Rarity finished and then all six of them jumped in the portal and in a flash they all disappeared.
"I hope the princess is okay." Twilight hoped.
"You worry to much Twilight." Spike said to her. "I'm sure she's okay."
"I hope so." Fluttershy said. "I just don't know where she will be, or where our friends will end up."
That's another chapter done and a new move called the pony ball technique.
Where will the next time hole take our heroes? And will they ever find Princess Celestia?
Please stay tuned to find the answers in the next chapter, and leave a review if you want.