While Twilight was asleep, Spike snuck from his basket bed and walked downstairs to get a snack. He walked over to the cabinet to see what he could munch on. He yawned with his mouth opened very wide.

Stupid stomach… he thought. Why does it always have to wake me up this morning with the feeling of hunger…? He reached for the cabinet handle, but felt a strong gurgling from his stomach. He hugged it and groaned quietly. "Ooooh… I don't know if it's what I ate last night or more hunger sounds…" He let out a loud belch of green fire.

Twilight awoke from the sound of Spike's burp. She groaned.

"Spike…! Don't burp when somepony's trying to sleep…!"

Spike looked and saw the fire turning into a scroll. "Hey Twilight! Princess Celestia sent you a letter!"

She let out another groan getting up from bed. "What could be so important to send a letter to me this early…?"

Spike opened the scroll and read it to himself. He made a loud shocking gasp. "Oh no!"

"What's wrong Spike?" she asked looking down to him.

"Princess Luna's gone missing!"

"What?! Read what it says to me right now!"

My faithful student,

Grave news has come upon the kingdom of Canterlot. It gives me great pain and sorrow to inform you that my sister Princess Luna has gone missing. I have discovered that there was a struggle in her chambers. Someone or something has taken her. Please help her! Inform the knights that they are to be given their first royal mission: find and rescue Princess Luna. I wish you all the best of luck!

Princess Celestia

He looked up and saw Twilight's face in shock.

"This is terrible!" Twilight said. She quickly gathered supplies and put them in her saddle bags. "We've got to help Princess Luna!"

"Right!" Spike agreed. He came upstairs and packed his stuff as well. "So we're going to tell the knights about the letter?"

"Of course we're going to! This is also a mission for the knights!" She strapped her bags to her body and galloped down to the door.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Spike yelled. He strapped his backpack on and followed her down.

"Get on my back, Spike! We can't waste any time with you running!" Spike jumped on. She dashed off to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Do you have any idea who might have taken Princess Luna?!" Spike asked holding onto her neck.

"I have no clue at all!" she replied. "I'm hoping to find out soon!"

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the farm. They headed to the barn where the knights were sleeping. Twilight barged in, slamming the doors outwards. "Everypony! Wake up!" she screamed.

The knights woke up being startled from the loud bang and screaming. They all turned and saw Twilight and Spike.

"Twilight…? What are you doing here so early… and what's with the big entrance…?" Llanfair asked yawning.

"No more sleeping guys! We've got an emergency!" she replied.

Knighton got up and walked over to a barrel of water. "What's so important that you had to get us up this early…?" he asked, drinking from the barrel.

She gave him a straight face. "If you must know, Princess Celestia sent me a letter saying that Princess Luna has gone missing."

He choked on the water and looked towards her with a shocked look on his face. "What did you just say?!"

The other knights looked to Twilight.

"I knew that would get your attention. Princess Celestia believes that someone or something took her from her room. She has given this as your first royal mission to find and rescue her."

"Then what are we standing around here for?!" Knighton exclaimed. He went over to get his sword. The other knights did the same thing. For it being a rescue mission, they prepared for the worst. They slipped on their belts and strapped their swords to their sides.

"Twilight, do you have any idea who might've taken Princess Luna?" Yorkshire asked.

She sighed. "I'm afraid we don't have any ideas." she replied, her ears hanging low.

"No matter who did it, we'll save her!"

"Are we ready to head out?" Spike asked.

"We are." Twilight replied. She turned to the knights. "Are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am!" they all replied.

"Knights!" Knighton called out. "Move out!"

The knights galloped out from the barn from Knighton first to Yorkshire last. Twilight and Spike followed behind.

Hold on my love! Knighton thought. I'm coming to save you!

Out of nowhere, a white rabbit jumped out of the bushes right into their path.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, braking hard. When he stopped, he felt Llanfair crash into his back, then Penarth into Llanfair, then Tregaron into Penarth, Rhayader into Tregaron, and then Yorkshire into Rhayader. They were all in a big pileup, groaning in pain.

Twilight slowed down. "What are you guys doing?! Get up so we can save the Princess!"

"We would, but Knighton stopped!" Llanfair replied, pulling himself up.

"It wasn't my fault!" Knighton said. "This white rabbit got in the way and I didn't want to step on it!"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "A white rabbit?" He looked and saw the white rabbit hopping up and down, waving its arms in some sort of panic. "Hey! That's Fluttershy's bunny, Angel!"

"Angel?" Twilight walked up to the hopping white rabbit. "What are you doing out here all by yourself? Fluttershy will be worried sick about you."

Angel continued to wave his arms, trying to communicate with Twilight and the knights.

Yorkshire got up from the pile and stood next to Twilight.

Angel saw Yorkshire and hopped over to him. He hugged Yorkshire's leg and pointed to the graveled path.

"What is it Angel?" he asked.

He raised his arms and stomped around. He let out a vicious hiss.

Yorkshire tilted his head, his jaw hanging loose. He turned to Twilight with the expression still showing. "Uh… Do you understand what he's trying to say…?"

"It takes a while for somepony to understand what Angel says through charades since he can't talk. I still can't understand him either." she replied. "Just try."

He sighed. "Okay." He turned to Angel still seeing him stomp around with his arms raised up and hissing. "So… a monster?"

He stopped and nodded. He acted as if he was picking something up and carrying it off.

"A monster… picking up… a sack?"

He smacked himself with his paw. He looked next to him and found a small rock. He pointed to the rock and then gave him a cute face, fluttering his eyelids and flapping his arms like wings.

"That rock is… Fluttershy?"

He nodded.

"What does a rock have to do with Fluttershy?"

He growled a bit in frustration. He acted like a monster again and picked up the rock, placing it on his shoulder. He then carried it away a bit and then dropped it, ending his act with a bow.

"You acting like a monster… Fluttershy being the rock…" he thought loudly. His eyes changed with his pupils shrinking and trembling. "Angel… are you telling me that a monster took Fluttershy away?!"

Angel nodded slowly with a big frown, his ears hanging down.

"Fluttershy was taken away too?!" Twilight asked nervously. "Oh no!"

Yorkshire turned to her. "Twilight, do you suppose there might be a connection between these events? Do you think it was the same monster that took Princess Luna away?"

"It's a possibility." She looked to Angel. "Angel, did you see what the monster looked like?"

Angel nodded smiling. He took a twig and started to draw on the dirt road.

The other knights got off each other. They all gathered around looking at the drawing Angel was making. The drawing was done, and everypony saw that it was a stick figure with a long spikey tail, a snout with fangs, holding a curved sword and shield.

"What is it?" Penarth asked.

"It looks like some kind of lizard…" Spike thought out loud. "A lizard warrior…?"

The knights looked at each with the same shocked expression.

"It can't be…" Rhayader whispered, his breath shaking. "It's just not possible…"

Twilight looked at them. "What does this mean to you guys?"

Penarth looked to Knighton. "Please tell me we took care of them! Please tell me!"

"I know we did!" Knighton replied. "We took care of all of them! I saw it with my own eyes! I killed them with my own sword!"

"Took care of what?! What's going on?!" Twilight yelled.

"Twilight, remember that story I told you about us defeating that dark army?" Yorkshire asked her.

"Yes. I do remember." she replied.

"I think what Angel is trying to say that a lizard warrior from that dark army we defeated took away Fluttershy," He turned to Angel. "am I right…?"

The bunny nodded.

"But… that's impossible…" she said shaken up. "You guys defeated the army. Every last one of them…"

"We thought so too… but somehow…" Yorkshire gulped. "they've come back."

"What are we going to do…?"

"The only thing we can do." he replied, taking a deep breath. "We've got to find the girls and stop those monsters."

She nodded. "I'm going to get my friends and they'll come with us."

"Bad idea!" Tregaron exclaimed. "You don't know what you're going to be dealing with! These creatures are vicious! I've seen one tear one of our knights in half with just their arms! I also saw another one biting off a knight's head off and eating it during the battle!"

Spike gagged. "Okay! Too much information!"

"I don't care what you say!" Twilight said, standing tall. "Fluttershy is my friend! My friends and I are coming along whether you like it or not!"

Tregaron looked to Knighton. "I don't think we have much choice with this girl…"

Knighton sighed. "Alright. You and the girls can come with us. But be warned that there will be many dangers on this journey."

"Understood." she said.

He looked to his knights. "Gather the rest of Twilight's friends and inform them that Fluttershy has been ponynapped. Once you've gotten them, report to the entrance of Ponyville."

"Yes sir!" the knights replied. Four of the knights galloped off to get Twilight's other friends.

"Please hurry!" Yorkshire shouted.

"I really hope the girls will come with us on this dangerous mission." Spike said.

"Of course they will." Twilight replied. "From the times that one of us were in trouble, all of the others came together to help."

Half an hour later at the town's entrance, Knighton, Yorkshire, Twilight, and Spike were waiting for the others to meet up with them. As they waited, they heard gallops. They grew louder, coming towards them.

"There they are!" Spike exclaimed, pointing towards the town square.

Each knight brought one of the girls with them to join the others: Rarity with Tregaron, Rainbow Dash with Penarth, Pinkie Pie with Llanfair, and Applejack with Rhayader. The girls each had their own bags of supplies to bring along with them on the journey. They met up with the rest.

"Is it really true?" Applejack asked Twilight in little panic. "Fluttershy and Princess Luna really are ponynapped?"

Twilight sighed. "It's true."

"Who would do such a horrible thing?!" Rarity asked.

"We'll explain on the way." Yorkshire replied. "Right now, we need to find them."

"Do we ever have any idea where we're going?" Rainbow Dash asked raising a brow.

"I brought a map of Equestria." Twilight replied. With her magic, she pulled out the map. "Knighton, which way do we go?"

"Let me see." He examined the map. He placed his hoof on the mark that said Ponyville. "Okay, so if we're here… we would have to…" He slid his hoof downwards. "We'll have to go south from here past the Macintosh Hills. When we get through, we will be entering the barren wastelands where we fought our battle. There it will be a good place to start looking."

"Oh my…" she muttered. "You guys walked all the way here from that far? You must've been exhausted!"

"We managed." He closed the map and slipped it back into her bag. "Unfortunately, this journey is going to take us days if we go on hoof. We need to find a faster way to get there."

"We could always use Twilight's teleportation spell to get us there!" Pinkie Pie implied.

"That's going to be difficult." Twilight replied. "I've never done teleportation with more than two ponies before. I don't know if it's going to work."

Rarity stepped up to Twilight. "Perhaps I could help, darling. I may use my magic mostly for designing clothes, but I have done teleportation once or twice in my youth. I'm just glad I can remember how."

"Maybe that will work then." Twilight said. "Everypony gather around and hold hooves."

Everyone gathered into a large circle, holding each other's hooves. Twilight and Rarity were on opposite sides of the circle. Signaling each other with nods, both unicorns focused. They closed their eyes tightly and felt their magic flowing through their bodies. Now their auras were surrounding everyone, involving them in the spell. In a blinding bright flash, they vanished from Ponyville, swiftly on their way to their destination.

. . .

"Fluttershy…" a gentle voice said. "Fluttershy… please wake up…"

Fluttershy opened her eyes, looking up. She recognized the face of her awakener being Princess Luna.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked.

She raised herself up and rubbed her head. "Princess Luna…?"

The princess nodded. "Yes, it's me. Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine." she replied. "I must've fainted from a panic attack…" She looked around and found herself in a place of stone, darkness and fire. The intense heat from the flames broke her and Luna into sweat. She noticed that they were trapped in a dome of blue light. "Where are we…?"

"I'm not sure." Luna replied. "You and I were taken by these lizard beasts."

Fluttershy gasped. "I remember… I was running away from two monsters back home! But they caught me…"

"Three of them came into my chambers while I was sleeping." she said, explaining her side of the story. "They weakened my powers by covering my horn." She showed her horn, but it was uncovered.

"Can't you get us out of here?"

"I'm afraid I can't… I tried every spell I could think of to get out of this prison, but nothing worked. This is the work of very powerful black magic…"

Fluttershy whimpered. "I'm scared…"

Luna moved closer to her. "I know you are… I am too."

"What are they planning to do with us…?"

"It's quite simple, pony…" a dark voice relied.

The girls looked around, trying to find where the voice came from. Luna stood up and glared. "Who said that?!" she yelled. "Show yourself!"

Quiet footsteps approaching them. An armored lizard in a dark cloak walking towards them.

"Wh-who are you…?" Fluttershy asked as her body shivered.

"I am Komodo." the lizard replied, hissing. "I am an enchanter of the dark arts. The master of the dark army."

"The dark army…?" Fluttershy wondered. Remembering Yorkshire's story, she gasped. "You're the one responsible for the destruction on all of those innocent ponies!"

He grinned and chuckled. "Guilty as charged."

Luna huffed through her nose and dragged her foot against the ground. "Release us this instant!" she exclaimed.

"I can't do that." he said, refusing her order. "I'm the one in charge here."

"What do you want from us?!"

"It's not what I want from you. It's what I want from your fellow knights." he replied. "You're simply the bait."

"Bait…?" Fluttershy asked. "For what…?"

Komodo raised his arms, summoning a large glowing orb. He held it in his arms and showed it to Luna and Fluttershy.

The trapped mares looked into the orb The knights and Fluttershy's friends appeared in a flash of light on a mountain pass.

Fluttershy gasped. "Yorkshire! My friends!"

"As you can see, your friends are on their way here." Komodo explained. "They'll be coming to save you. But that will never happen." He grinned and devilishly chuckled.

"What do you mean…?" Fluttershy asked, almost silently.

"Once they get here, I am going to slaughter them like pigs while you watch them drown in their own blood!" He made the glowing orb vanish into thin air. "After that, my warriors will take care of you."

Luna growled. "Why are you doing this?! What do you hope to accomplish, you lowlife scum?!"

Komodo shoved his arm through the dome that seem to have no effect on it and grasped her by the neck. His grip grew tighter

"I do not like that tone of yours, princess…" he growled. He squeezed her neck harder, making it more difficult for her to breathe. He watched her struggle, gasping for air. He raised his other hand and created a small shadow ball that hovered over his palm. "I could kill you right now…" He glanced over to Fluttershy who was shivering and almost to tears. He looked back to Luna and made the shadow ball vanish. In a loud growl, he pushed Luna back, making her fall to the ground. "But that is not my intention yet."

Luna sat up coughing and gasping. She looked to Fluttershy who was starting to weep.

"Because of your knights, they killed off my entire army along with the other thousands of soldiers who helped them! They destroyed my conquest to take over Equestria! But after they're gone, with my powers soon to be at maximum, I will create another with more destructive abilities!"

"So it's revenge you're after… and another attempt at conquest…" Luna said, still trying to breathe normally. "You'll never win, Komodo… Knighton and the others will stop you again… Just remember this… good will always triumph over evil…"

"Until today." he objected. "I shall enjoy seeing you squirm once we start killing your friends, and then you'll be next." He walked away, laughing maniacally.

Luna growled quietly. "That monster…" She tried to get up but fell limp.

Fluttershy moved closer to her side. "Princess, please relax! Just lie down and try to breathe, okay…?" She continued to weep.

She looked up to Fluttershy. "Please don't cry…" she whispered, breathing calmly again. "I know you're scared… I am too."

She sniffled. "What if he's right...? What if Komodo does win…?"

"Don't think like that..." Luna replied. "Think only positive. I know Knighton and the others will save us. Believe in them, Fluttershy." She reached for her eyes and wiped her tears.

Fluttershy gave Luna a little smile of comfort. "I do believe in them…" she said. "I hope they kick Komodo's behind."

She giggled. "I hope they do too. All we can do now is wait."

Fluttershy looked up and imagined seeing the sky above them. Yorkshire… she thought. Please hurry…