Chapter 2
"Wowee, that sure was a fun series premiere wasn't it?" Pinkie asked as the flashback of Nightmare Moon's opening appearance faded to black, revealing the same small room with her comfortable chair. "But before we get into too much, we just can't move onto some of the other amazing episodes without finishing the second half of this one! Let's see how things play out, huh?!"
Pinkie giddily jumped up to the roof of the room, pulling on a rope and letting another black screen fall down from somewhere within, ripples flowing across the world as the pink earth pony used the magic of television videos to relive the past.
Previously on My Little Pony:
"Ah'm gonna be honest with ya: Ah don't much like the idea of somepony doing our work for us," The tone spoken strongly reinforced the image to Twilight. "But ah'd be a fool to decline an offer when the entire country will want need something ta eat, so if ya'd kindly help us get together, maybe we'll have everythin' ready by the time the sun goes down."
"NO!" Rainbow rapidly shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no matter how important this festival is for you, friends are always going to be more important to me than any silly event. Fluttershy needs somepony to be there for her, but you'll all be fine if there are a few clouds here or there: it's not like we've got a storm coming in or anything."
"Of course, darling. Anything to help those that need it: it's just something that Ponyville has really helped me see. Why wouldn't I want to help anypony who needed it, especially when they happen to be one of Princess Celestia's personal students? Don't worry about it, dear: I enjoy being able to help others, and I will not accept any form of apology from you: I needed a break from decorations as it was." Rarity answered with a wave of her hoof. "But, I suppose it is finally time to get back to work, so you can just go along your way, and I'll get this done. Have a wonderful day, Twilight!"
"Sorry about Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash apologized as she helped Twilight straighten up. "She just loves animals, and anything to do with them. It seems like sometimes she takes too much care for the critters, and she forgets to take care of herself."
"SURPRISE!" A chorus of ponies shouted as the lights suddenly flickered on.
The bird choir rose up in volume, and the curtains of the platform above the Mayor were drawn back, as the spotlight rose up, ,the crowd gasped: Princess Celestia was missing!
My Little Pony, My Little Pony. AH!
"Skip! Sorry everybody, but I'm sure we've all seen this intro like a hundred bazillion times, and I know we're running on borrowed screen time, so how about we hit up that juicy story?! HUH?! Huh?!" Pinkie's voice bounced around the frozen theme song.
"Seize her!" Mayor Mare cried out, glancing at a trio of golden-armored guards, who hastily took flight towards Nightmare Moon. "Only she knows where the Princess is!"
Unfortunately, it seemed that not even the conniving Mare in the Moon was to be caught unaware, for as soon as the guards approached, she stared them down. Her cackling stopped long enough for her eyes to glow a bright cyan and bolts of lightning cracked through the air. "Stand back you fools!"
Her voice rang throughout the room, echoing inside everypony's eardrums while three bolts of white lightning struck the guards when they came within striking distance. Before anymore guards could apprehend the villain, a veil of star-like mist embraced the dark alicorn, her maniacal laughter something the likes of which one could have expected from a villain in a children's television series. The mist obscured Nightmare Moon, racing around her like a furious tornado before throwing itself down off the balcony.
The dark alicorn was gone, but the ponies were otherwise engaged in leaping out of the way of the charging mist else they get trampled. The mist made a bolt for the door, knocking it open before taking to the skies.
Rainbow Dash took after her, only to lose sight of the fleeing villain over the Everfree Forest. She hovered there for a moment before glancing back down at the town hall, where a number of her friends were running out as well. "Nighttime, forever?"
Twilight carried Spike out of the town hall, much from the hastened urgency of Spike's beckoning towards the library. Rainbow cast a worried glance down at the lavender unicorn, troubled by how things were turning out, but the look in that baby dragon's eyes brought out her curiosity. The dragon by the name of Spike seemed utterly resolute in demeanor, his eyes ablaze in a fiery passion.
The sight stirred Rainbow Dash out of her stupor to the point that she figured it the best path to follow Twilight and see what was on the little dragon's mind. Maybe he knew something that might be helpful or at least had an idea of what they could do.
Twilight galloped towards the library, not stopping for any of the other panicking ponies also charging around rampantly. Spike was mumbling in a strained voice about those stones he kept talking about. The moment the two of them burst through the door, the purple dragon leapt towards the stack of books, his tone picking up an even greater air of emergency. While Spike dashed around diving through books, the unicorn made a beeline straight up the stairs, before promptly returning with a blanket held in a purple aura. Her timing hit right as Spike loosed a mighty yawn, book in claw
Rainbow glided through the doors, just in time to witness the purple mare carrying an extremely drowsy Spike back up the stairs, tightly wrapped in a blanket. She blinked in surprise, for the dragon had seemed determined enough to tear down a mountain but moments before. She didn't have a lot of time to think on it, however, as Twilight descended the stairs again, though this time at a much more worried pace.
"Just got to find that book that Spike was talking about, maybe it'll have some answers on those Elements of Harmony he always coveted." Twilight muttered, resuming the task that the young dragon had started, books flying everywhere as she searched. "I don't know why he'd be bringing them up right now, but I suppose it has to be something important."
"What are these 'Elements of Harmony' you're bringing up?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying just above the ground in the library. Her question caused Twilight to jump, the unicorn turning tightly to face the uninvited guest, before realizing who it was.
"They were supposed to be these six ancient stones that harnessed the magic of harmony itself, used by Princess Celestia to stop Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago. We know today, being: kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty. And even though we know there were six, the last is a complete mystery, but I know that if we had them, we'd be able to stop Nightmare Moon." Twilight explained as she turned back to the pile of books, brightening as she finally found the necessary book. "Spike was obsessed that she was going to return. . . I should have listened to him. . . but I always told him that Nightmare Moon was just an old mare's tale. The Elements were six gems that Princess Celestia used to both imprison Nightmare Moon and Discord-"
Twilight opened to the two pages in the book, one showing five colored gemstones arranged in a circle around a loose portrait of the white alicorn herself.
"- but that she stored them away after the former was trapped inside the moon. Nopony really believed Spike, mostly because he was a baby, and had a fascination with these kinds of things." Twilight continued, sifting to a page of Nightmare Moon battling Princess Celestia, who had the stones floating about her.
"But what does that have to do with this current situation, darling?" Rarity asked, trotting in from behind Rainbow Dash, concern showing clear on her face. Twilight turned to see the other ponies she met earlier arriving inside the library: Applejack, Fluttershy, and finally Pinkie Pie. "Even if we had these Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia is missing, and I doubt even Rainbow Dash would be fast enough to find her before this villain does serious damage."
"Well. . . then I. . . I guess we have to find the Elements and use them ourselves." Twilight decided shakily, though she wasn't certain she even knew where to begin looking for the artifacts. Her resolve hardened a bit when the other girls seemed equally nervous, but nodded in agreement. "I suppose the first place to look would be the old castle in the Everfree. . . the book says that's where the Princess last had them."
"The. . . the Everfree?" the group asked shakily, all reserve vanquished at the thought of traversing the woods, especially at night. Though the girls seemed deathly afraid, it was Rainbow Dash who caught their attention. "Come on guys! If we don't hurry, something bad might happen!"
Twilight silently thanked the cyan mare for her help stirring the group, because while she was terrified of the reputation of the dark wilds, she was going to find those stones no matter the cost: Princess Celestia needed her to. She glanced between the terrified girls, then cast a worried glance upstairs to where Spike lay sleeping.
Fearing her resolve would abandon her, she put on a brave face and led the group out of the library, making quick time to get to the edge of the Everfree, just outside of town.
The six mares stood in front of the darkened woods, glancing between each other with worried eyes, while the depths of the abyssal darkness stared out from the wood-line. The girls stood frozen in place for a brief moment, until Pinkie chirped up: "Well, let's go!"
Hey! This moment was totally awesome, because I was all like 'we should totally head in there! Like; right now! But all the others were like: 'I don't know Pinkie. . . it's super dark and scary in there.' But eventually we all got in there anyways because Equestria like totally needed us to do it! Many of you all remember way back in the first episode how the girls and I all did this super incredibly fun take around the Everfree where Nightmare Moon accidentally made us all realize our potential to bear the Elements? Yeah, that was super amazing, but incidentally was not in the original take; but after this break to show you all the awesome-sauceness that is our amazing sponsors, we'll find out just what actually happened after a rather bland and boring trot through the scary dark woods!
But before we go, some super fun trivia with your total favorite pony; me! We're going to start things off simply, because we've got to get everyone's brains all warmed and fired up for the super fun trivia coming down later. So, here goes it:
My character; Pinkie Pie, while not being a completely original character, was based heavily off of which generation 1 My Little Pony character? I'll even give you a super fun hint: this mare was nearly full of as much energy as I am! Almost. . . Anyways, come back after the break to find out which super awesome mare was the driving inspiration behind the Ultimate Party Planner of Ponyville!
And now a word from our sponsors (HAHAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding guys, as if anyone would actually be paying me to do this stuff! Just the thought has me in tears!)
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Insert a final advertisement that in no way holds any contest to the last commercial you just saw, in every single aspect, and it is so terrible that you briefly consider gouging your eyes out with a rusty spoon, only to get up to grab the spoon right as your favorite pony television series resumes, thus forcing your steadily numbing behind back in your chair.
CONFETTI everywhere! Confetti is literally bursting out of the screen as Pinkie slowly appears out of the shower of rainbow-colored paper scraps, a fresh drink held in hoof as she stairs at absolutely nothing in particular. A massive grin split her face. "Welcome back to the show, everybody! Hope you enjoyed that lovely intermission, I know I sure did! With all of us here, I think it's finally time to reveal the answer to that piece of trivia before the break, and boy oh boy was this one spot on with the character. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's character Pinkie Pie was strongly influenced by the pink pegasus character 'Surprise' from the first generation of My Little Pony. Surprise is an excitable pony with an eye for fun, and one of the best friends anypony could ever ask for! I've even gotten my colors from the mare, as the joyous pegasus happens to have a bright pink coat and a curly pink mane and tail.
While there are many similarities between the two of us, I think we can all agree that taking things in a new direction was the right call, and while being a pegasus would be fun, I'm more than happy to be an earth pony. If I wasn't, I would have my current family, and without them, I don't know where I'd be! But that's enough about me and my past-version twinsie: Let's get back to this fun-tastic story with the alternate girls!
The group of mares stood outside the Everfree Castle, gaping at the dilapidated structure that had once served as the ruling building and home of Princess Celestia. They were taking a brief break before entering, catching their breathes from a lengthy trek through the woods at night. Twilight could see the uncertainty in their eyes, she could almost feel their hesitation, but she knew that this was going to be resolved, one way or another.
"If ya really think we should be gettin' in there, ah'm sure we'll take care 'o anythin' in there, even if this whole trip was a fool's idea." The thick accent was something Twilight was certain she'd need to get used to, but it was of little concern when the speaker was as honest and straight-forward as Applejack was known to be. The others silently nodded their agreement.
"But we don't have to head in right away, if you don't want to." Fluttershy mumbled, hiding behind her mane as her nature quelled any effort to speak up. "It's up to you, though the animals back home might want to be getting up pretty soon."
"Darling, Fluttershy does have a point there, but it would be remiss of me to forsake my friends on such a perilous adventure into the unknown." Rarity trotted away from Fluttershy to look over the group, a gleam catching in her eye. "I, for one, do not wish to see this 'Nightmare Moon' reign over Equestria; to allow our friends and family to live through the night. I volunteer myself to face this threat with resolve, and to take the place of any of you who might find comfort elsewhere."
"Nice try, Rarity: but I'm not just going to bail on my friends like that!" Rainbow Dash smirked, crossing her forelegs across her chest defiantly as she hovered above the group. "Perilous adventures are my thing, and danger or not, I couldn't let you get your hooves dirty alone; I mean, somepony has to be there to verify that it actually happened once we get back."
Twilight rolled her eyes at the jab at the fashionista's apparent mysophobia, but was inwardly relieved that she had the support of her newfound friends through this ordeal.
"And when we do get back, I'm going to throw the biggest 'Saved Equestria from Eternal Nighttime' party ever! And I'm even going to invite Princess Celestia, because, duh, we've got to throw this thing right after we get done with the actual Summer Sun Celebration!" Pinkie bounced around the rest of the group in her usual manner, earning exasperated glances from the others, glances she thoroughly ignored as her mind turned completely towards planning the first party in what she was certain she would turn into an annual thing. "I'm going to need a whole bunch of streamer and confetti, and maybe I'll bust out the big party cannon! I haven't used that thing since, well, in a long time. Not since Rainbow Dash's birthday, at least. Oh, oh, oh,! I can get some of those new party games that I keep hearing the Cake's talking about, well, Mr. Cake talking about. But I think they need some special-"
"Pinkie, we get it: you're excited about planning a party! But we've got bigger issues to deal with right now!" Rainbow Dash dropped down in front of the rambling pony to get her to focus on the task at hoof, which was met with limited success.
"Then if we're all ready, might I suggest we go inside and find those Elements and stop Nightmare Moon's plans before they come to fruition?" Twilight asked, her trepidation at the daunting task fading from the knowledge she had five good friends ready to stand by her side in the face of adversity. Her question rand out across the small clearing they stood at, before each of the pastel ponies nodded, the six forming a line as they marched for the doors.
Nightmare Moon sat smugly on the ruined throne, confident that this time, there would be nopony capable of stopping her from claiming her rightful throne. All she needed now was for those mares to enter the castle and awaken the Elements of Harmony. As soon as she could get her hooves on the stones, she'd destroy them and forever remove the possibility of anything stopping her reign, but without the six approaching mares, she had no way of accessing the stones.
The only positive outcome from being banished in the moon for a thousand years was that she had learned to control her mind, to sharpen her senses and to drastically increase her levels of patience. Without her patience, she was sure she would have used her magic to tear this place apart looking for where that greedy weakling of a Princess hid the Elements.
The black and blue mare inhaled deeply, letting all thoughts save a relished victory and blissful arrogance fade into oblivion.
As all things would be, and all things were to be, those very same six mares trotting through the shattered doors to the palace, walking in strong resolve as they approached the moonlit throne. The dark Alicorn had to give it to them: they seemed eager to put an end to this nearly as much as she did, if only their interests had aligned, she was certain she could have used mares like these for her new republic.
"Nightmare Moon! We've come to stop you and put an end to your dastardly plans!" The purple unicorn in the center called out, sweetly steadfast in her belief, which amused Nightmare Moon immensely. "All we need are the Elements of Harmony, and then we can put you back where you belong1"
"Oh, and tell me little pony; where exactly are the Elements, because I seek them as well, if only to watch them be ground into dust, and poured in a stream to be forgotten!" The Alicorn chuckled, feasting upon the fearful looks of the ponies before her, ponies so obviously, and justly, terrified of her. She savored the feeling of control for but a moment before the world itself came up with an answer as the mares fell short for her question.
A tremble filled the air, and the stone tiles separating the two parties began to tremor violently, knocking loose a few stones from the crumbling structure. The ground shook harder as two stone slabs slid underneath the remaining floor, and a circular mechanism rose from the ground. Nightmare Moon grinned victoriously at the five bright stones resting on golden plates across the device. . .
Five stones? Nightmare Moon's grin faded as she thought back to that fateful night a thousand years ago: hadn't Celestia used six?
"The Elements of Harmony!" The purple unicorn exclaimed. The Alicorn had little time to contemplate, for the unicorn seemed far more useful than any other pony, for her quick thinking had pulled the five stones from the pedestals, activating the mechanism within the device. Nightmare Moon was more impressed by the mare's initiative than the clever trick of hiding the Elements.
Though the impression vanished as the central orb holding most of the rings together split open, revealing a large purple star gemstone, amethyst if she remembered correctly. This fifth stone floated of it's own accord, drawn to the others as Harmony sought to right any imbalances, and flee the source of evil that the dark Alicorn exuded herself. Then, to her horror, it seemed the purple unicorn had started to figure out how to use the Elements; for they began to swirl around her, the stones glowing brilliantly as the unicorn powered up the banishment spell once more. Fear gripped Nightmare Moon like it had never grabbed that deplorable excuse for an Alicorn back when she first came into being. This was fear the likes of which she had never imagined possible: was she really about to be banished back in the moon? On the cusp of sweet, sweet victory, was she about to be robbed of this again?
The Alicorn's eyes shot open as the stones began to whip around the unicorn, a white tail encompassing each as they formed a ring of energy around the unicorn. Nightmare Moon had to act quickly if she was to prevent defeat, she just needed a plan of attack.
And her plan was simple: attack.
Firing a beam of magic, she hit the star Element, the Element that Celestia was so fond of back in the night. The effect was most desirable, as the unicorn cried out in surprise, the spell discharging itself and the stone falling to the ground as the central Element was smashed to nothingness. Nightmare Moon watched in glee as the remaining stones shattered upon hitting the ground, leaving nothing in her way of blessed victory. As the last stone crumbled on the floor, she couldn't help but let out an elated whoop, going so far as to even do a quick prance in victory.
"What just happened?!"
"What. . . why. . . how. . ."
"What can we do now?"
"How are we going to stop her?"
"What. JUST. HAPPENED?!"
'Uh. . . I don't think tape is gonna fix that."
The cries of anguish coming from the ponies below was like music to her ears, and Nightmare Moon had to stop her revels so she could bask in their defeat. She couldn't stop the mad chuckles of victory, but she calmed down enough to step down from the shattered throne, taunting the mares as she approached at a tantalizing pace.
"Not so confident without your precious stones now, are we?" She asked cruelly, enjoying the terrified stares she got as she stepped closer.
"Bah! We never even needed those stones to beat the snot out of you anyways!" The cyan pegasus shouted pumping her chest as she flew in front of her cowering friends, displaying a futile protectiveness that Nightmare Moon would enjoying breaking. But as she got closer, she saw something stirring between the girls, and the fear slowly escaped them, being replaced by stern resolve.
It was becoming a larger and larger concern with each step. They had lost; the Elements of Harmony were gone! What could they do to her now? She was going to be the only true Princess of Equestria! What could they possibly be so sure about?!
"Rainbow Dash is right." The lead unicorn stated with an air of authority that came out of nowhere, momentarily halting the Alicorn. "We don't need those stones to defeat you, because those weren't the Elements of Harmony!"
That got Nightmare Moon to stop entirely and stare, flabbergasted, at the mare, questioning the intelligence and sanity of her. She couldn't help but wear her completely confused face, even throwing in a cocked head to overly show that she had not made any connections for that statement. "Those were the Elements of Harmony, the very same stones that your precious little Princess used to banish me in the moon a thousand years ago."
"No, they may have been the same stones, but the Elements of Harmony are more than just rocks, because rocks come and go. The Elements are far more, they are the very representation of the magic of friendship that brings ponies together, the essence of the world as we know it!" The unicorn stated proudly, nodding to her friends to join her. "You may have shattered their physical form, but the Elements of Harmony live on in ponies across Equestria, and I now understand why Princess Celestia sent me here to Ponyville in the first place!
"Applejack, you are the Element of Honesty, and I realized this because of your utter faith in the truth, and how you are always honest with the ponies around you, even if it may be undesirable." Twilight said, and as she did so, one of the broken stones rose from the ground, enveloped in a bright orange glow, the pieces pulling themselves together to form an unblemished gem. In a flash of magic, the gem was wrapped in a golden necklace, before forming the shape of an apple and placing itself upon the orange earth pony's neck.
"Rainbow Dash, you are the Element of Loyalty, because no matter how rough, how desperate, or how trivial a matter, you are always there for your friends." A gem was taken in a glittery crimson glow, before being fitted into another golden necklace, forming a thick lightning bolt and brought to it's respective pony's body.
"Rarity, you are the Element of Generosity, for whenever there was the opportunity to help others, you wasted no time in offering whatever you could, for others' happiness was always above your own." The white unicorn flashed a brilliant smile as a deep purple aura enveloped the gem and turned it into a sparkling blue diamond within a gold band and placed on the mare's shoulders.
"Fluttershy, you have always been the Element of Kindness, and that is simply because no matter the cost to yourself, no matter what it was over, you never questioned the value of others, and have always attended to their needs." A cozy pink gem this time, taking the form of a yellow butterfly with pink wings, and yet another necklace had been placed.
"Pinkie Pie, you are the Element of Laughter, and that stems from you ability to lift the spirits of others simply by being near them, and by bringing joy to the world through every strain and effort you can." The final shards of stone glued themselves together with a bright blue aura and taking the shape of a bubbly blue balloon in cased within a final gold banded necklace.
"And the last Element, the one that only serves to bring the others together, and to unlock the full power of Harmony: the Element of Magic. Princess Celestia asked me to come to Ponyville to make friends, and in doing so, I have become the aspect of bringing these wonderful ponies together in a bond unbreakable even by the likes of you, Nightmare Moon." The deep pink gemstone returned, unscathed as if it had merely been washed and placed on rags to dry. This stone seemed to retain its star shape, but the color deepened to match the color of Twilight's own cutie mark, and instead of earning a necklace, such as the others had, the Element of Magic was granted in the form of a glistening crown.
Nightmare knew she'd been defeated again, and this time, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Perhaps it would have been better to just ignore the Elements and seek to lure everypony away from this place, keep intruding eyes from stumbling upon the treasure. She sighed, knowing that there was yet another millennia to wait before she could exact her revenge upon Equestria for forgetting her. Magic auras whipped and soared between the six mares, empowering them and lifting them off the ground, fueling a spell to put the Alicorn back inside the moon for a thousand years. If only there was a way to break this and be free from all the anger and hatred that had clouded her mind for so long. So very long. . .
Then the beam of pure Harmony magic hit her, and destroyed her body. Things felt different than last time, perhaps it was that instead of being put inside the moon, Nightmare Moon may have wound up in some other prison? Tartarus? Some cell deep beneath the waves? It mattered not, for she had a long time to think.
And Nightmare Moon was no more.
Twilight watched in awe as the blinding light faded, and the spell finished, gently placing her and her friends on the ground. She was bursting with energy, now adorning the crown that was the Element of Magic: it had actually worked! She didn't quite think it would happen, but it did, and now they had dealt with a major villain!
She glanced around at he brightening room, looking at each face of her friends, and mirroring their happiness and joy equally. It wasn't for a minute or two before she realized that it was fast turning into morning, and that the eastern windows were glowing a bright yellow from the rising sun.
She scanned the room quickly, and upon seeing the source of the dawn, let out a loud gasp before dropping into a bow as Princess Celestia approached. Her friends soon followed suit upon realizing who had finally returned.
"Rise, my faithful student." The light alicorn said, smiling warmly at the overeager and ecstatic face of her pupil. "Twilight Sparkle, it would seem you have been making friends, as I asked of you, as well as finding and restoring the Elements of Harmony by unlocking their true power. I could not be more proud of you."
"Thank you Princess, though it was all under your instruction and guidance." Twilight humbly replied.
"No, Twilight. You did this on your own; I may have put you on this path, but it was you who decided to take the first step, and to continue down the road to see what may lie beyond the horizon." The Princess replied, pulling in the lavender unicorn for a hug. "I am so pleased to see that you finally made some friends, and that your bonds are strong enough to utilize the Elements of Harmony. However, while I would greatly enjoy discussing your trip so far, there is a matter of great importance I must attend to."
Before Twilight could ask what the matter was, the Princess turned away from the group to approach a lone blue figure, slumped on the ground, weeping. The figure wasn't always there, so Twilight was greatly confused over who it was, for nopony had come in during the ordeal, except Princess Celestia. The more Twilight studied the pony however, the more shocked she became, first by the larger stature than normal, then by the large wings, and finally, by a lengthy blue horn sticking atop the ponies head.
"Luna?" The name was uttered so softly that Twilight almost missed it, and the amount of emotion it carried only caught her interest that much more. "Are you alright?"
The weeping halted enough for the pony to struggled to her hooves, at which point she leapt straight into the Princess' waiting embrace. The act caught Twilight and her friends in even greater surprise, and it was a common thought among them that things couldn't possibly get any stranger than they already were. They were mistaken.
"Oh, sister! I'm so sorry! I'm so very very sorry!"
"Sh. Hush now little sister it's alright." Celestia seemed on the verge of tears, only adding to the general confusion passing around, which happened to be enough to cause Rarity to faint, and Pinkie to pull a notepad from her mane and jot down some notes. "Everything is going to be alright, you're safe now, you're home, with me. You're safe now, Luna. It's alright."
"Will you ever be able to forgive me, big sister?" The sniffled question hit Twilight right in the gut, and she wasn't even the target of the inquiry, but the emotional moment was wrecking her brain.
"I forgave you a long time ago, little sister. Will you come home with me, now?"
"Yes! Of course, I will, Celestia! I want nothing more than to come home!"