*Chapter 9*

Together it is

"...And then, with a flash of powerful magic, the spirit of chaos known as Discord was encased forevermore in a prison of stone. And the ponies of Equestria sang the triumph of Luna and Celestia and honored them as ruling princesses for as long as they live. The end."

Blaze had just finished reading Dusk her favorite bed time story of Luna and Celestia's victory over Discord. Dusk was asleep even before the story was finished. He tucked the blanket over her and sat in a silent moment of inward reflection. He wondered if one day this quest of theirs would become a fairy tale to tell young ponies years and years from now. And like the same story he just read, would it have a happy ending? It was with this somewhat solemn train of thought that Blaze clicked the light off and closed the door to the cabin. He idly clip-clopped down the corridor, thinking that maybe he'd join the others on the deck and see if there were any new developments.

And it was just then that Blaze felt the Ponyvillian's engines shudder to a stop. Knowing that Fairweather was the only pony who knew how to access the ship's engines, he immediately about-faced and galloped back down the corridor. He came to stop when he realized that he had no idea where the engine room actually was. His best option now was to wait for Fairweather to tell them why she stopped the engines. And he didn't have to wait long.

Fairweather emerged from the engine room's staircase with a look of absolute distressed disbelief on her face.

"Fairweather, is everything alright?" Blaze asked her.

"No, it isn't." was her short response. She crossed the length of the corridor and pressed her hoof on the intercom button. "I need everypony up on deck right away!" her electronically amplified voice said.

"Mind telling me what the problem is?" Summer Blaze asked more forcibly.

"I'll tell you and everypony else at one time," Fairweather said, trotting away.

Blaze rolled his eyes, a somewhat dismissive gesture as he attempted to hide his growing anxiety. What could have Fairweather so worked up? Just then, Summer Dusk poked her head from her cabin, obviously having just been woken by Fairweather's announcement. "Whassamatta...? she yawned.

"Fairweather has something she wants to tell us up on deck," Blaze said to her.

So Blaze and Dusk made their way out onto the deck into the chilly night. Everypony was already there; With Nova and Ivy exchanging heavy-lidded glances and Mirrorrim having never left the bow, no doubt day dreaming about her and Winterbrave alone in one of the ship's cabins. They all watched as Fairweather paced the deck distractedly. "So," Nova Burst finally spoke up. "Wanna tell us what's so darn important now?"

Fairweather came to a stop but didn't raise her head from it's lowly position. "We brought a lot of things with us from Ponyville," she began.

"Yea, like food, water, spare clothin' and a heap a other stuff too," Ivy Leagues said. "I reckon we got all tha bases covered. So what we forget?"

"Fuel!" Fairweather shouted. "Of all the things we brought, I didn't think to bring a single drop of spare fuel on board!"

Okay, that was definitely a problem. "Well, we do have Mirror and her come-to-life spell, right?" Blaze offered hopefully.

"There is that, yes," Fairweather said offhandedly. "But we can't rely on her the whole way, she'd kill herself trying to manage it."

"Perhaps we can split the job," Mirrorrim said. "Blaze, do you happen to know a come-to-life spell?"

Summer Blaze shuffled his hooves awkwardly, "No, I don't..."

Mirror turned back to Fairweather, "What do you suggest?" she asked her.

Fairweather huffed through her nostrils. "We're severely low on fuel," she said. "As of now the engines are reading only a quarter full, and that won't get us anywhere near the white mountains, wherever the hay they are; and it surely won't get us back to Ponyville." Fairweather un-tucked her telescope from her folded wing and gazed out towards the horizon. "There's an island about an hour away from here; maybe two. Do you think you can get us there, Mirror?"

"Yes I can," Mirrorrim responded confidently.

"Alright then. We'll make landfall on the island and figure out what to do from there. I suggest you guys get some sleep in the mean time," Fairweather said to the others.

Everypony agreed and headed below deck. Once back in their cabin, Blaze tucked Summer Dusk into the bed again. He was just on the verge of leaving the room when Dusk spoke. "Blaze?" she said.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"We can do it, can't we?"

Blaze was just slightly taken aback. "Do what?"

"Complete our quest," Dusk said. "We've come such a long way and everypony is counting on us; everypony, including Celestia. I don't wanna let her down, Blaze..."

"Of course we can do this," Blaze said back. He sat on the edge of the bed. "And when we do, everypony is going to have a big celebration. They're even going to write story books about us."

"Do you really think so?" Dusk asked him.

"I know so," Blaze said. "And when Nightmare Moon is defeated and the spell is broken, Celestia will return and you can really have that face to face that you've always wanted with her."

Dusk giggled. "And then you can marry Princess Luna!"

Blaze felt the color rise in his face. "Well...I mean...

"Admit it, Blaze, you looooove heeeeeer!" Dusk drew the two words out in a tauntingly child-like fashion. "Remember at the Summer Sun Celebration-"

"-Good night, sleep tight!" Blaze kissed her forehead and made haste from the room. It was only out in the corridor did Blaze's thoughts catch up to him. Of course Dusk was right, he was in love with Luna. In the short number of minutes he had to behold her beauty was all it took. But Blaze had always thought, that if things had gone normally; the sun rising as it always did; Nightmare Moon having never returned; what would happen then? He would return home to Ponyville, and carry on life as he usually would. And Luna would just as quickly forget his face and never give a second thought as to even what his name was.

But things had not gone normally.

In a series of drastically unfortunate events, Blaze had lost his Luna to the Nightmare in the moon and henceforth, sending him and his friends on a quest to the ends of the earth.

Luna. His Luna was still alive inside that nightmare, he knew it; he could feel it. What it came down to now was separating her conscious from Nightmare Moon's. Blaze tapped the elemental necklace around his neck.

Responsibility.

The element that found itself most fitting for his cause. It was formally the element of generosity, and if Blaze's memory from the famous legend served, that element belonged to the unicorn Rarity.

Generosity and responsibility.

Somehow the two went hoof-in-hoof, Princess Fimbulvetr would not have deemed him with such an element otherwise. He knew that it was his responsibility to rescue Luna. Of course, that would not be possible without the help of his friends; the other elements, but somehow, in the end, it would all fall to him. And it was with this thought that Blaze re-entered the cabin in an attempt to maybe find a little sleep.

...

Out on a deserted island, there was a sudden disturbance. Said disturbance coming from one of the island's inhabitants in the form of an excited squeak. "Ooh ooh, lookie lookie!"

Two more of island natives joined in the excitement. "What is it, Zipzee?"

"I don't really know," Zipzee said back. "Why don't you ask Tra La La?"

"I don't know either," Tra La La squeaked back. "Does Tiddly Wink know?"

The small fairy pony cocked her head in a semblance of deep,playful thought. "It's a ship!" she said.

"A ship?!" the other two said in unison.

"Full of lost traveling ponies!" Tiddly Wink said.

"Ooh ooh ooh! More playtime?" Tra La La asked with an excited anxiety.

"We haven't had anyone to play with in such a long time," Zipzee cooed.

"Ooh, here they come!" Tra La La said. "We should hide so we can surprise them! And I I think Zipzee should lead the way."

"No, no, no," Zipzee said, shaking her head so her antennae waggled furiously. "I think Tiddly Wink should lead the way."

"No, no, no," Tiddly Wink declined. "I think Tra La La should lead the way."

There was just the shortest moment of silence between the three of them, and then in chorused unison they exclaimed, "Together it is!" Their antennae came alight with colorful magic and the three of them zipped back into the dense forest, awaiting their game with the unsuspecting ponies.

*End of Chapter 9*

A/N:

Okay, this chapter was short, really effing short. I mean DAYUM it was short. And I apologize for that; giving you more or less just a very unappetizing taster here, but as this chapter is going to be divided into three distinct sections, I didn't really want them to all run together into a blur. So bear with me, the real meat of the chapter will be up soon.

As for our three little friends introduced here, you may or may not know them as Breezies. If you don't know what a Breezie is, look it up. wiki/List_of_My_Little_Pony_characters_animated_in _the_2000s

After watching some G3 my little pony, mainly Crystal Princess: The Runaway Rainbow, learned of the existence of these little buggers, and quite frankly, I found them fascinating. I wonder why the Breezies haven't been touched on at all in Friendship is Magic? What, did they die out or something?

Anyway, I'm rambling here. I'd like to give a shout out to fanfiction user searing light dragon u/1641994/ for the fav and the follow. Thanks a lot man /)*

And if you're looking for another great pony fic, you should read At What price? s/9715960/1/At-What-Price by fanfiction user Cozy Mark IV u/1219118/Cozy-Mark-IV

Anyhow, with the longest A/N ever behind me, now I say goodbye, I'll post again soon.

-B.D. Skunkworks