Notes

It's been a while but here's chapter 3. Also, I don't take fanfic requests, and stop spamming me with those advertisements because I will block and report you.


Chapter 3: Arrival

Michael held on to Firefly's mane tightly as she flew through the dark clouds and had to weave around to avoid lightning bolts, making him nervous. After it felt like forever, they made it out safely.

"We made it," said Firefly. "Welcome to Dream Valley, well, at least it used to be."

Michael looked down and saw that Dream Valley was filled with many valleys, hills, fields, rivers, meadows, and farmlands. Standing above one hill is a huge pink castle with blue turret tops and is surrounded by a town with castle walls and a drawbridge with a moat.

Next to the castle town is a waterfall that flows down to the river that runs underneath the moat of the castle drawbridge and one of them splits as one goes to the lake while the other goes further down south past the other forest. There's a vast forest scattered around the valleys but some of the trees are wilted as if they're dying. There's a lot of farmlands not far from the town but it was in ruins and abandoned.

Looking at the southern part of the land past the fields, he can see the coastal town that is next to the ocean along with some islands.

Up north of the castle town, he can see snowcapped mountains and canyons. He can also see some floating islands including a giant one that is surrounded by dark clouds.

There was a towering volcano in the distance that was surrounded by craggy mountains, smaller volcanoes, and canyons. Next to the one large canyon that is next to the volcano chain, is a vast desert that stretched out for miles with a few cliffs and crags poking out the sand.

Past the towering volcano, he can see more canyons and another large forest. Next to it looks like giant rows of flowers that are the size of a forest.

Michael looks northwest of the snow-capped mountains, where he can see another castle that is dark and sinister-looking. It was much taller than Dream Castle and it had dark clouds surrounding it.

"What is that dark gloomy-looking castle? The one that has the dark clouds around it?" Michael asked as he pointed in the direction.

"That is Tirac's castle," she said. "That castle was abandoned until he came along and turned it into his fortress. A few of the Pegasus ponies went there many times to find out any info. That's how Skydancer was able to learn and witness Tirac's plan of sending his general to kidnap your siblings."

"Hold up, Skydancer wasn't able to try and stop him before it happened?" Michael angrily yelled. "It would save everyone trouble if Sky stopped them."

"If Skydancer tried that, Tirac would have stopped her before she had a chance," said Firefly. "Doing that would also reveal the air patrol and put the Pegasus ponies in danger. One of the Pegasus patrols, Cloud Chaser, tried to take Tirac but was turned into stone by him. He had to tighten up the security by using the dark energy shield which makes it even more difficult and dangerous for the Pegasus ponies. The shield is very sensitive to movement and magic so anyone who enters too quickly or tries to use the magic to dispel, it will trigger an alarm. He still doesn't know about the other air patrols, less he'll tighten the security even more. Someone needs to report back safety without knowing Tirac so we can be prepared for any upcoming attacks. If Skydancer were to be caught, we would never know about your sibling's kidnapping, and it would be too late to stop him. Please understand, Michael, that we want to save your brother and sister along with our friends who are also captured but we can't rush into things without a plan. At least that's what my friend, Twilight would have said."

Michael sighed in annoyance but knew deep down, she was right. It sounded like Tirac was a very powerful figure who was not to mess with. He looked around at the desolate world.

"Did Tirac guy do this?" he asked.

"Yes," she said sadly. "You should have seen what it used to look like, it was beautiful. You would love that place the moment you set your eyes on."

She continued to fly until she flew down lower to the woods and navigated her way carefully through the trees.

"Where are we going?" Michael asked.

"To the secret hideout," said Firefly. "The Stratadons are flying around and if we stay below the trees, they won't see us. Besides, I don't want them to find our hideout as Tirac is still looking for the rest of us that isn't infected by the Rainbow of Darkness, so we must be very careful."


They finally arrived at the destination as she landed and let Michael dismount her. They're at the cavern entrance that was blocked by an odd boulder slab. Firefly walked over and tapped it with her hoof. An open slit magically appeared which shocked Michael. He can see the purple eyes looking at him and Firefly before closing it. A low rumbling sound came from the boulder slab as it moved, opening the entrance of the cave.

They both entered in and were greeted by a pink unicorn pony that had a white mane and tail with a dark purple streak on it, and the symbol on her flank was nine purple stars. She ran up to Firefly and hugged her, which she hugged back.

"Firefly, your back!" said the unicorn, then she turned to look at Michael. "Is that him? The Chosen Hero?"

"I told you that I'll come back in one piece, Twilight," said Firefly with a grin. "To answer your question, yes, that is him! Michael Afton aka the Chosen Hero!"

The pink unicorn made a squeaking sound of happiness as she quickly walked over to Michael as if she were high on sugar. With a big smile on her face, she made him uncomfortable.

"Michael Afton," said Twilight as she tried to speak professionally but struggled to contain her excitement simultaneously. "My name is Twilight, I am an Arch Mage of Magic and served alongside Queen Majesty, ruler of Dream Valley. I am so happy to see you there and we can finally save our queen and our world!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down! Let's not get too carried away here," said Michael as he pushed her nose back as she was too close to his personal space. "I came here because my siblings were kidnapped by that Tirac guy or whatever his name was so I can rescue them and get back home before Dad finds out."

"Oh yes," said Twilight. "We heard about that, and we will rescue them as well but first, let's go to Mr. Moochick as he'll explain things to you and come up with a plan."

"Let's get to it!" said Firefly. "Come on, Mike. Follow us!"

Michael sighed as he followed two pink ponies through the cavern until they came to the center area. He was shocked and amazed to see more ponies as they were in different colors like blue, yellow, purple, etc. Some of them are Pegasus-like Firefly, some of them are unicorns like Twilight, but the others are normal-looking ponies who have no horns or feathered wings.

There were not just ponies there but other creatures too. There was a group of multi-colored hairballs that had eyes, mouths, and arms sticking out. There were other similar hairballs, but they were different as they had huge doglike noses, big eyes, and mouths, and walked on fours instead of upright like the first group does.

There are a few gray goblin-like creatures, some strange gray armadillos with crocodile snouts, a few pig-like creatures, and some forest animals such as rabbits, squirrels, skunks, etc.

"Hey Firefly," Michael whispered. "What are those creatures?"

"That group here is Bushwoolies," said Firefly as she pointed her hoof at the ones with arms sticking out. "And this is their cousins, the Furbobs." She pointed at the other group that walked on fours. "The difference between those two is that the Bushwoolies live underground and agree with anything while Furbobs live above ground and live in Furbobia. They have short-term memories and don't agree with everything."

"What about those guys?" said Michael as he pointed at the goblin-like creatures and the pig ones.

"Those are the Grundles and they are from Grundleland but sadly, one of Tirac's Overlords, Hydia, took over their land as well," said Firefly. "And those guys over there are Troggles. They were from the dark city called Tambelon and were enslaved by another one of Tirac's Overlords, Grogar, before they have rescued thanks to Majesty and her friends. They had been living here in Dream Valley peacefully until Grogar came back with Tirac and enslaved most of them again. Only a few of them were able to escape here with us."

"And those weird armadillos?" Michael asked.

"Those are Stonebacks," she said. "They don't really talk, they just snort but they are great diggers and can dig deep undergrounds."

"Okay then," said Michael. "But I noticed that there are other ponies that aren't unicorns or Pegasus, what are they?"

"They're known as Earth ponies," said Firefly. "There's actually more types of other species of ponies."

"What do you mean, more types?" he asked.

"Besides Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth," said Firefly. "There's Flutter ponies which have shimmering see-through fairy-like wings that live in the Flutter Valley. There are Breezies but they are the size of the fairies and there are two groups of them: Summerwing and Windywing. They lived in Cloudsdale which is a giant floating island with clouds surrounding it which you've seen when we were flying. We have Kirin ponies who live further east side of the Dream Valley as their village is in Peaks of Peril which is next to the Jeweled Desert. They sort of look like unicorns but are different. The last two species are Sea Ponies and Mer Ponies. Sea Ponies live mostly in lakes, rivers, and oceans while Mer Ponies live in Seaquestria, the giant ocean that is on the west and southern side of Dream Valley. That's the only species of ponies I know unless you can count Alicorns."

"Alicorns? What are they?" Michael asked.

"They are winged unicorns," she said. "But they are, like, rare and I think there's about three that exist according to Twilight. You'll have to ask her because I don't know too much about them."

"I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!" Twilight shouted as she suddenly teleported between Michael and Firefly, startling the hell out of them.

"Hey! Can you not do that?" Michael snapped angrily. "A little warning would be nice."

"Yeah, Twi," said Firefly with a frown. "You got to stop teleporting unexpectedly."

"Heh, heh, sorry," said Twilight sheepishly as she's rubbing her head with her hoof then cleared her throat.

"Queen Majesty knows of them because she has met them and was even trained by one of them," said Twilight. "The one that the queen is the closest to is none other than Princess Celestia, ruler of the Sun as she was the one who took Majesty in as her student when she was a filly. That's how our queen became our ruler and is almost as powerful as Celestia!"

"Well, that's great to hear," said Michael. "But what about the other two?"

"One of them is her younger sister, Princess Luna, ruler of the Moon," said Twilight. "And the last one is their niece, Princess Cadence, ruler of the Love. They don't live in Dream Valley as they lived on another continent known as Equestria where Majesty was originally from. It's across from Seaquestria."

Michael was about to ask more questions but didn't get a chance to because they were interrupted by someone with a happy squeal. It came from a small Earth lavender pony with a pink mane and tail but had no symbol on her flank like the other ponies do.

"Your back! Your back!" shouted the small pony as she was jumping up and down, attracting everyone's attention to her voice as they turned to look.

"Hey Ember," said Firefly as she patted the little pony's head. Ember giggled happily and then hugged Firefly which she returned the hug. She then looked up at the crowd who were looking at Michael curiously.

"Hey everyone, I am back, and I have brought back our Chosen Hero, Michael Afton! He's going to help us to save our queen and Dream Valley!" Firefly announced.

"Now wait just a sec.." said Michael but he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because the next thing he knew, he was immediately surrounded by ponies and other magical creatures, practically invading his personal space. He can feel their hooves, claws, and hands clinging to him as if he were their life preserver. One of the hairballs, a purple Bushwoolie, managed to climb up on Michael and lay its furry body on top of his head as if it were his hat.

"We are saved!" said a female blue pony with a purple mane and tail who had twelve periwinkle stars on her flank said.

"Yeah, we are saved!" said the purple Bushwoolie, agreeing with the blue pony.

Everyone continued to crowd around Michael until a loud voice interrupted the commotion, causing others to stop and turn in the other direction of the left side of the cave. The voice belonged to a short old man with a white beard and mustache who looked like a dwarf. He's an oversized green cap and green tunic robes.

"All right, everyone. Please step away from this young man so we can get acquainted as I'm sure he has lots of questions that need to be answered," said the old man as he stroked his mustache.

The others complied and Michael had to take off the purple Bushwoolie from his head and place it on Firefly's head instead, which she didn't mind as the furball seemed happy to see her again. The elder dwarf approached Michael, looking up and down to inspect him.

"Greetings, Michael Afton," he said. "I am Mr. Moochick, I am a gnome Mushroom Sage from Mushromp. You are here because Tarot's crystal ball has foretold us the prophecy of you restoring the shards of the Rainbow of Light and saving our queen. Now come along, Chosen Hero. We have much to discuss of the situation."Mr. Moochick turned around and signaled Michael to follow him. Firefly nudged him to get going which he did.


Firefly, Twilight, and the purple Bushwoolie followed along. They arrived at the left side of the corner that was covered with drapes which the gnome sage pulled back to reveal a room with a giant rock slab table at the center where they could see five more ponies. Three of them are Earth ponies, one is a unicorn, and the last one is a Pegasus. Mr. Moochick cleared his throat, and they all looked up from the books and maps that were spread out on the table while the orange unicorn looked up from her tarot cards.

"Everyone," said Mr. Moochick. "The Chosen Hero, Michael Afton, has arrived from Earth. Michael, this is Magic Star, Nachtlicht, Sunburst, Tarot, and Wind Whistler."

He pointed at the female yellow Earth pony with a green mane and tail and had a wand symbol on her flank, which was Magic Star. Nachtlicht and Sunburst are both male Earth ponies. Nachtlicht is a blue pony with a light blue, pink, and green mane and tail and has a white crescent moon with a two-star symbol. Sunburst is also yellow like Magic Star but has a red mane and tail and an orange sun peeking out of clouds. Tarot is a female orange unicorn pony with a dark orange mane and tail and her symbol is three tambourine symbols while Wind Whistler is a female blue Pegasus with a pink mane and tail with five pink whistles on her flank.

"Hello," they said.

"Hello to you too," said Michael but then he angrily turned to look at Mr. Moochick. "Can you or anyone else tell me what the hell is going on here? Who is this Tirac guy and how do I save my siblings? I need answers because I'm getting quite pissed off!"

"Calm down," said Sunburst. "There's no need for hostility here."

"He's right," said Magic Star. "You need to tone down your anger, young man."

"Tone down?! How can I when I..." Michael yelled but was cut off by Twilight's hoof on his shoulder. "Michael, there's no need to yell at Magic Star as you need to control your emotions. Please calm down so we can discuss calmly, and we can focus on a plan of how to rescue your siblings."

"She's right," said Firefly. "You need to chillax if we want to kick Tirac's butt."

"Fine," Michael grumbled in annoyance. "So how do we kick Tirac's ass?"

"Mr. Moochick," said Nachtlicht. "You may need to fill in our hero, so he knows what he's up against if we need his help to save our ruler."

"Yes, yes, you are quite right," said Mr. Moochick. "Michael, please come over to the table where we can show you our story and how Tirac came to power."

Michael grudgingly walked towards the stone table and sat down on the rock stump. The table glowed and it turned into some kind of a holographic-like map of Dream Valley.

"Whoa!" he said. "How did you do that?"

"Magic," said Twilight.

"As you can see, Michael, this is a map of Dream Valley," said Mr. Moochick. "See that glowing blue dot there?" He used his cane to point at the dot's location between the forest and the mountains. "This is our location and so far, you can see other locations of our enemies' locations as well."

Michael just gazed at the map as it pretty much showed everything. The red dots were marking the other locations which were revealed to be Tirac's follower's bases.

"Dream Valley wasn't always a dark and desolate place," said Mr. Moochick sadly. "It was a beautiful place full of life and joy, ruled by our kind but strong ruler, Queen Fleur-de-Lis Majesty. She kept our land safe by using a powerful weapon, the Rainbow of Light."

As the gnome sage spoke, the map changed to floating images like a movie was playing. It showed what Dream Valley used to look like, and Michael can't deny that it used to be beautiful. It has lots of greenery in the forest, blue lakes and rivers with waterfalls, colored flowers blooming across the fields and meadows while showing ponies frolicking around, clear blue skies with very little clouds that Pegasus ponies flying around on the rainbow arch, some farms that show fields of crops, and a beautiful castle town filled with other ponies and magical creatures.

Above the town is a large, pink beautiful castle with blue spires looking overhead. As the image slowly zooms into the castle balcony, he can see a beautiful white unicorn pony wearing a white gold tiara with blue lapis jewels on it alongside light blue pearls. Her mane has multiple buns with flowing blue and white hair, almost like her hair is made of silky mane. She's also wearing a white gold necklace with the same lapis jewels and pearls, including a red heart-shaped locket.

The image showed a close-up look of the locket which is a ruby red color with a gold chain. It has a gold trim that is encrusted with small white diamonds on it. The locket opened and it showed a silver-white crystal ball that is about the size of a golf ball.

"That silver crystal there is Rainbow of Light and that's where she stores it inside the locket," Mr. Moochick explained. "Our queen is connected to the crystal and only she has the power to wield it as well as restore everyone who is infected by the Rainbow of Darkness. But I'm afraid that the crystal has fallen into Tirac's hands."

"How did he get hold of it?" Michael asked.

"It all started when we were preparing for the Queen's Festival," said Twilight. "It was a big thing to celebrate every year how Majesty became our ruler, founded the town, how the Rainbow of Light formed, and her past journeys to inspire everyone for their destinies. Everyone was looking forward to this festival but…" she trailed off sadly. Firefly went up to Twilight to hug her for comfort. The unicorn pony sniffed and wiped away her tears as she looked up to Michael.

"Sorry," she said, taking a deep breath to continue the story. "It all started one day in the afternoon. We had a few days left before the festival and everyone was getting prepared. We invited everyone from the territories and other kingdoms to celebrate those special days but that wasn't the case. I remember that day, there were clear blue skies, and suddenly, a dark storm cloud appeared out of nowhere. We were not expecting a storm, but we sensed something wasn't right.

We heard a roar as we looked up, we saw Tirac and its large army and overlords swarming down at us. None of us were prepared as it was a surprise attack due to Tirac recruiting other villains that we defeated in the past were teaming up along with the large army."

While Twilight was telling Michael a story, the table showed the moving images of Tirac, his overlords, and his army attacking the town. The civilians were screaming in terror and fleeing. The queen's army managed to put up a fight by using spears, hooves, bows and arrows, and head butting. Michael can see that Tirac is a huge, muscled centaur with a grayish-black body and has big, red-muscled arms that would make Mr. Universe look like a puny runt. His upper torso was black armor, and he was wearing a giant gold necklace. He has a red demonic face, wears a gold nose ring, and has black eyes with a yellow glowing cornea. He had giant bull-like horns, a white beard, wears gold gauntlets on his arms, and is wearing a pouch that is around his neck. The pouch was glowing with dark energy.

"Tirac has somehow acquired his weapon which is the Rainbow of Darkness," said Mr. Moochick. "It is a very dangerous weapon, and it'll attract anyone who has the evilest heart with ill intentions or has the negative energy."

The image showed a dark brown pouch that Tirac wore that was pulsating like a beating heart as if it was alive. The pouch opened to reveal the Rainbow of Darkness, a dark purple and black stream shoots out then it aims at the pony and a humanoid being. The pony turned into a black stone while the humanoid turned into a hideous monster.

"As you can see, my boy," said Mr. Moochick. "Tirac would use his power to control the Darkness and select the ones worthy enough to become monster slaves while others he deemed weak into black stone."

"Do you guys know where this Darkness came from and how he got it?" Michael asked.

"We're not entirely sure," said Sunburst as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. "We don't know much of its origins as it remains a mystery. There have been many theories of how and when the creation of the Rainbow of Darkness, but they remain inconclusive. I'm sure there are written documents about it, but they are either hidden away or most likely destroyed. What we do know is that it has a weakness which is the Rainbow of Light so that would be our best choice in action."

"Majesty would have done that but sadly, that wasn't the case," said Twilight.

"What happened?" Michael asked.

"She attempted to use her Rainbow of Light against Tirac and the army, but the Rainbow didn't do anything," said Twilight.

"What do you mean, it didn't do anything?" Michael demanded. "I thought you guys said that this Rainbow Light has the power to defeat Rainbow Darkness and that it's their weakness."

"The beam shot out of the locket as it's expected," said Twilight. "But it didn't do any harm towards Tirac nor anyone in his army. Majesty was confused and horrified but as it turns out, Tirac revealed that the locket and the crystal she wore were a fake. Scorpan somehow got hold of the real locket with the crystal inside and handed it over to his leader. He also told her that one of his special minions switched the lockets one day and replaced the fake one."

"Wait! So, someone from the inside replaced the real one with the fake and your queen was wearing it, not noticing the difference?" said Michael. "Wouldn't she sense the magic difference or something?"

"That's the strangest thing," said Magic Star. "Whoever took the real one and replaced it with the phony one has a strong magic of disguise spell to fool anyone into thinking it's the real Rainbow. The fake crystal was just an ordinary gem that shoots a beam of light but does nothing to harm anyone, just a light show."

"The biggest question is who switched it?" said Nachtlicht. "Something tells me that either Tirac's minions were using a disguise spell to blend in or even worse, we could have a spy who decided to betray our queen. Unfortunately, we are not sure who it is if that's the case."

"I really hope it's Tirac's minions and not our kind who betray us," said Magic Star.

"Let's hope not," said Sunburst.

"We'll worry about that part later," said Firefly. "Twilight, finish the story to Mike so we can get started on our quest to kick Tirac's butt."

"Yes, I'm getting to that," said Twilight. "Once Tirac grabbed the real one, he used his Rainbow of Darkness on Majesty to turn her into black stone. After that, he shattered the Rainbow of Light's crystal ball into seven crystals and corrupted them by using the Rainbow of Darkness. He gave each of the crystals to his overlords so they can use that power to conquer other kingdoms, spreading Darkness even further."

The table showed Tirac shattering the crystal into seven different colored crystals. The darkness swirled around and entered inside the crystals, turning the ones once colorful into black crystals. The overlords took each piece and showed all seven of them conquering the other kingdoms, darkening the territory. Michael was shocked to see what was happening.

"We fought as the best as we can, but it's gotten so bad that we had no choice but to flee Dream Castle Town," said Twilight. "My brother, Shining Armor, is the royal captain of Majesty's army who stayed behind along with his other troops to buy us some time to gather the civilians and evacuate the town. Sadly, my brother was turned into a monster, including his troops. Some of us managed to escape to the secret underground that leads toward Everfree Forest, but Scorpan and the Stratadons spotted us.

"They flew down to attempt to capture the rest of the civilians, causing them to panic and scatter in different directions. Some of them were captured and taken to Tirac's castle. Spike, Majesty's baby dragon, stayed behind to give others a chance to escape by using his fire. I don't know what happened to him, but I hope he's escaped and is hiding somewhere safe.

"The others who survived the capture were able to make it here safely and so far, none of the enemies do not know of our secret hideout so we are safe. It's been weeks and most of the other refugees were forced to hide in caves or underground to avoid Tirac's army. We had to send out the air patrols go out and find some food, water, medicine, and other supplies as our resources were dwindling fast. We don't know how much longer our refugees can last as we could face starvation or severe illness.

"The other air patrols were sent out to spy in Tirac's castle to find any new information or new battle plans so they can report back to us undetected so we can be prepared.

"Tirac's castle is protected by a dark magical shield due to the overlord's corrupted Rainbow of Light crystals. Technically, we can pass through the barrier but…," said Twilight.

"But what? What's the problem?" Michael asked.

"The predicament is that their obstruction is a gesture tracker," said Wind Whistler.

"What the heck does that mean, in English?" said Michael, looking confused and annoyed by the blue Pegasus vocabulary.

"What she means is that the barrier is a motion detection as if anyone goes through, it'll alert Tirac and other enemies," Sunburst translated.

"That's what I just said," Wind Whistler muttered with a sigh.

"How do you know it's a motion detector?" Michael asked Sunburst.

"One of our air patrols, Whizzer, flew in there too quickly despite the warnings we told her after what happened to Cloud Chaser," said Sunburst. "It triggered an alarm and one of the canon beams was activated, turning her into black stone."

"Skydancer was able to figure out how to get in undetected by going in at snails' pace," said Twilight.

"How did she figure it out?" said Michael.

"She saw the difference between the snail and bird's speed. Some of the birds flew in quickly, triggering an alarm, and the beams turned them into stones. The snail, however, didn't act as it was really slow and it didn't alert anyone. That's how she's able to figure it out and let the other air patrols do the same," Twilight explained. "Unfortunately, Whizzer was too impatient, and look what happened to her. That's how Skydancer was able to witness Tirac's plan of other worlds' invasion, including your world, and was planning to use your siblings as the keys to open a large portal for his army. If he succeeds, your world will also suffer the same fate as Dream Valley"

"You are our final hope, Michael Afton," said Mr. Moochick. "We need you to save us, our queen, our world, and everyone else's as the crystal ball has foretold the prophecy."

"Hold up, just because the crystal ball tells you that I'm the 'hero' and supposed to 'save' everyone, I can't," Michael protested. "There is no way I can do that as it's impossible. I'm only here to save Evan and Elizabeth and go home before Dad finds out, nothing else. As long I got them, he can't use them to open a portal to Earth and we should be good."

"I know you want to rescue your siblings, and we understand that, we too want to rescue our friends and family who are also captured," said Twilight. "But to do that, we need the Rainbow of Light to restore Majesty so she can use it to defeat Tirac. Without it, you'll stand no chance against him as he is a very powerful wizard. Even without his Rainbow of Darkness, he can still cause great harm. The Rainbow of Light is our only hope if you want to save your siblings. We need to restore the crystals and defeat him before he uses the kids in three days."

"Three days? What happens in the final day?" Michael asked.

"The final day is when the full moon is at peak at midnight, he'll use your brother and sister as keys to open the portal to your world," said Mr. Moochick. "It's very important that we find the crystals of the Rainbow of Light and restore the queen so we can stop him."

"Ugh, so it looks like I have no choice then," Michael sighed. "So where did I come in?"

"It was I, Tarot, as my crystal has spoken to me," said Tarot. "You will be the one to restore the lost crystals of the Rainbow of Light and free our ruler from her stone prison so she can defeat the evil emperor once and for all."

"Wait just a second," Michael held up his hand. "You guys told me that your queen is the only pony that can use this light power but since it's shattered and corrupted, how I am going to restore it let alone put them back together?"

"There is a way," said Mr. Moochick. "The locket that Majesty always wore has the power to purify the corrupted gems and can reform them into one crystal ball. The locket is very special to her as it's a family heirloom that is passed down many generations."

"Okay, so the locket can do that, that's great to hear," said Michael. "But why are the crystals in different colors before the corruption? Wasn't it always a silver crystal ball?"

"There are seven crystals that originated from other kingdoms and lands and have some history with them," said Mr. Moochick. "But I'll save that for another time as right now, we need to get the locket back safe and sound. Once the locket is retrieved, I will explain more of a backstory of the seven Rainbow crystals."

"That's fair so, where can I find the locket? The real one I mean," Michael asked.

"It was last seen at the Dream Castle," said Twilight. "One of our Pegasus friends, Locket, took the queen's locket and went inside the castle to hide it so Tirac and others would not find it. It's been weeks since we last saw her and feared the worst."

"Does that mean he has gotten the hold of the queen's locket?" Michael cried out in horror.

"No, at least that's what our air patrols told us," said Mr. Moochick. "They have been checking to see any word if he's got hold of it or not but so far, he was unable to find it as Locket hid it very well. As long Tirac does not possess the item, we are safe for now."

"That's a relief," said Michael. "So, all I have to do is to go to that castle and find that locket. Piece of cake."

"Not so fast, young man," said Mr. Moochick as he held his hand up to Michael's face to stop him. "While I admire your courage and determination, there's an obstacle in your way."

"Oh great, here it comes," Michael grumbled, just when he thought it would be easy but no, there's always something else. "What obstacle?"

"Crunch the Rockdog," said Wind Whistler.

"Crunch? Who is that?" Michael asked.

"He's a giant rock dog who was the queen's royal guard dog," said Magic Star. "While he's tough as stone, he's a big softie but not anymore."

"What do you mean, not anymore?" Michael demanded.

"Scorpan took the Heart Stone from Crunch," said Twilight. "Without it, Crunch becomes heartless and evil with no feelings. He is now being used to guard the Dream Castle to prevent anyone from coming in."

"Tirac knew that Locket hid the queen's locket inside the castle, hence why his general took the heart and used Crunch to be their guard dog instead," said Sunburst. "We already sent Flash Magnus and Rockhooves to retrieve the locket, but they were turned to stone by Crunch when he touched them. Medley was able to escape and report back. We sent out a few more ponies and others like Bushwoolies, Troggles, etc. but they too suffered the same fate."

"Then how the hell are we supposed to get past him without getting turned to stone?" Michael demanded as he was getting frustrated. "What about the underground you guys escaped him? Wouldn't that be easier to get past him?"

"We would have but it was caved in due to preventing other monsters from coming after us," said Twilight. "So, we can't use that path."

"So, our only option is the surface and facing that stone dog?" Michael asked.

"Yes, and there is a way to get past him," said Mr. Moochick. "Starshine told me on her way back, she spotted Beezen, an evil wizard who works for Tirac, holding a Heart Stone. He and his henchman, Diamond Dogs, were last seen at the entrance of the cave in the Eminence Mountains. That is where Crunch the Rockdog was born along with the Heart Stone. I will mark the cave entrance to the map for you."

He pointed at the map table using his staff as it showed the Eminence Mountains and a trail that leads to Beezen's cave hideout that isn't too far from the forest.

"That will be your first journey to your quest," said Mr. Moochick. "There is another exit of this cave that will take you through the forest and into the mountains. The forest trees will provide some cover so none of the Stratadons will see you and I advise you to stay out of open spaces. Follow the river and it will lead you to Beezen's cave. Once you are there, you must retrieve the Heart Stone but be warned, that wizard is guarded by his Diamond Dogs so tread carefully."

"Got it," said Michael.

"Once you retrieve the Heart Stone," said Mr. Moochick. "You must head over to Dream Castle immediately to save Crunch. Once he turns good again, he will help you and his victims will be freed. You'll have no problems entering the castle as Crunch will be on your side. Find the queen's locket and return here immediately so we can discuss the next task of recovering the Rainbow crystals of the Rainbow of Light."

"Sounds like a good plan. I'm in," said Michael.

"I'm in too so let's get going!" said Firefly. "Finally, we get to do something!"

"Count me in too," said Twilight. "If we're going against Beezen's magic, you're going to need my help."

"Hey, ya'll," a southern Texan accent called out. "Ya'll not be leaving me behind for some adventures."

They all turned their heads around to see a female light orange Earth pony with a yellow mane and tail and five red apples on her flank. She has freckles on her cheeks, wears a light brown cowboy hat, and is carrying a lasso rope around her torso.

"Yo, Applejack!" said Firefly. "You're coming along too?"

"I sure am," said Applejack. "I can lasso those Diamond Dogs like no problem and kick those boulders out of the way."

"Awesome!" said Firefly happily. "We can use your help as you are one of the strongest ponies here next to Rockhooves and can lasso anyone dead in their tracks."

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush," said Applejack.

"I'm coming as well," said another voice as the female yellow Earth pony with a blue mane and tail stepped out next to Applejack. She has a white diamond on her face, four blue and five green bubbles on her flank, and is wearing a pack that carries a strange-looking bubble gun-like weapon. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear and I wanted to help as I know my way around the mountains. I can use my Bubbler to weaken the boulders to make it easier for Applejack to kick them down."

"Hey Bubbles," said Firefly as she took off the purple Bushwoolie from her head and placed it down on the ground. "It's cool and we can use your help as well. The more, the merrier!"

"Then that settles it," said Mr. Moochick as he led Michael and four ponies out to the back of the cave. He opened the exit and turned to them. "I wish you all the best and safe travels, my friends."

"Yeah, safe travels, my friends," said the purple Bushwoolie as he waved at them.


Michael and his pony friends exited out of the cave as Mr. Moochick closed the boulder behind them. They are outside in a forest but thankfully, the trees are high and thick as they protect them from being seen by enemies. There were some open spaces but remembered the warnings, so he stuck by the shading area. Bubbles spotted the river not far from the distance and pointed it with her hoof.

"I see the river! Follow me, guys," said Bubbles as she ran towards the path trail that was next to the river.

"Wait up!" Applejack yelled as she ran after her, the rest followed till they caught up to her.

Firefly flew about a few inches from the ground and flew alongside next to Michael. She turned to him and grinned.

"Isn't it exciting, Mike?" she said. "We are going to kick Beezen and Dog's butts and get that Heart Stone to make Crunch on our side again. It's going to be so awesome!"

"Yes, very exciting," said Michael sarcastically. "Just as long we can rescue my siblings in time before Dad comes home and kills me."

"You got nothing to worry about," said Firefly. "With all of us together, we can take anyone down!"

"Simmer down there, Sugarcubes," said Applejack. "Let's not get too carried away. Beezen is a trickster so we shouldn't underestimate him."

"If we go through with my plan, we can easily defeat that evil wizard," said Twilight.

As the other ponies continued to talk, Michael was left to his thoughts. He wanted to save his siblings first and leave but since that's out of the question, his only option was to help the ponies to find and restore the Rainbow crystals to save their queen. But they must get the Heart Stone first to get past the ruler's guard dog to retrieve the locket inside the castle.

Michael wasn't so sure of the mission and could only hope things would go smoothly without any trouble. He continued his journey with his new pony companions so he could save Evan and Elizabeth from Tirac.


Notes

Michael has now learned the history of Dream Valley and is now on a mission to find the Heart Stone to make Crunch the Rockdog good again. Will Michael and his friends succeed in their mission? Find out in the next chapter! :3