Chapter 3: In The Everfree

"Don't shoot, don't shoot, don't shoot!" Twilight yelled as she ran towards Rainbow Dash, swerving around to her side and revealing the far-to-large-to-be-normal bat that was pursuing her, eyes glowing orange and covered in purple hair.  Twilight swerved around next to her friend, "Okay, now shoot!"  Both mares took aim and soon the bat was struck in the head by both a star burst and lightning bolt.  It flipped around once in midair and flopped to the ground before it shrunk down to proper size.  Looking normal once again, the bat flew away.

"How many'o those bats does that one make now?" Applejack said as she trotted over to the two, Rarity and Fluttershy in tow.  

"Not sure, I lost count after about twelve of them or something," Rainbow said, using her wings to make a small breeze and cool herself and Twilight down after that last fight.

It had been a fare while since the Twilight and the others had ventured deeper into the Everfree Forest.  However, it was far different from the last time they had been inside it.  Discord, using his typical chaos magic, hadn't set up magical barriers to keep them away from the castle so much as physical ones.  And those physical barriers had so far consisted of...

Giant, apparently pony-eating, foal-sized spiders...

***
"Get me outta this thing!" Applejack yelled as she struggled to untangle herself from the web she was in while the other four were blasting at the large beast as it hopped from tree to tree around them.  Without any warning, it hissed and clicked its pinchers, lunging for Rarity with its mouth wide open.  Thinking fast, she fired a blast from her Element into the beasts' mouth, where it promptly caused the abdomen to explode and to make it fall to the ground just inches from her, somehow managing not to land a single piece of its ruined body on her.

***

Large, spitting rats that lobbed hunks of cheese hard as rock at them as well as spitting and biting...

***

"Ugh, this things breathe reeks, big time!" Rainbow Dash said as she tried to keep a rat that had pinned her down from snapping its now razor-sharp front tooth down on her.  It wasn't easy, and its rotten, moldy-cheese-like breath didn't matters.  "Little help, girls!?" she yelled out.

"I'm comin'!" Applejack yelled as she promptly bucked the large rodent off her friend and helped her stand up.  They then quickly took aim for the rat as it scampered towards them again.

***

And almost twenty or so giant bats with what seemed to be sonic screech attacks.

***

Fluttershy squealed, pressing her hooves to her ears as the large bat screamed down at her, the sound feeling like dozens of claws on a chalkboard.  It's now razor-sharp feet started down for the kill, only to be stopped as Twilight brought up a shield around her friend as she rushed forward, hopping on top of the dome-shaped barrier and taking the creature down with a well-aimed blast to the head.

***

And, to make matters worse, he'd seemed to have been able to make some of the creatures immune to a few of the Elements of Harmony!  Fluttershys Element of Kindness had been useless against the rats, Rainbows Element of Loyalty couldn't hurt the birds, and Twilight magic was useless against the spiders, even!

Still, not everything had been going badly.  As it turned out, there were uses included to fighting the animals instead of running away from them.   Those uses were items and even bits they had been dropping when the girls defeated them, some sort of byproduct of their victory.  So far they'd collected health potions, hundreds of bits, and several items that seemed to all have magical enchantments on them, judging from the magical signature Twilight was getting off them.  None the less, the potions had at least proven to be a big help if one of them got to badly hurt and some of the items they'd found seemed to be increasing their speed, strength and other things.

By now they were a decent ways into the forest, but the castle still wasn't in sight.  "Well, do you have any idea where we are, Twilight?  I would have thought we'd be at the castle by now, honestly," Rarity said, walking over to the fellow unicorn.  

"I wish I could say for sure, Rarity, I really do," Twilight said, shaking her head.  "But between the sky and most of the light being cut off by the trees, the twisting around paths, and all these monsters Discord made to try and stop us, I think we might have been turned around somewhere."

"What, so you mean to say we're lost?" Rainbow gaped.  She groaned, "That's just perfect!  I thought you were supposed to be smart, Twi."

"Um, girls..." Fluttershy whispered, trying to get her friends attention.  However, she went unheard as Twilight turned to Rainbow.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, but accurate maps of the Everfree Forest don't exist!  And even if they did, I don't carry one around on me all the time," Twilight replied, glaring at her friend.  "You're the Pegasus, why don't you fly up there and try to find the way, huh?"

"Um, Twilight, if I could just say something..."

"Oh that's easy to say if you're a unicorn!  That horn of yours never gets tired from being used all the time!  I've been using my wings since we started walking through this darned place!"

"Girls, please, if I can just talk for one second..."

"You're right Rainbow Dash, clearly I'm smarter then you; after all, you don't seem to realize doing too much magic can tired me out.  Probably faster than usi-"

"GIRLS!"

The two stopped arguing long enough to look over to Fluttershy, along with Rarity and AJ.  

The Pegasus had a hoof over her mouth, apparently having not meant to shout too forcefully.  "Oh, I'm sorry; it's just, well... I think I know how we can find our way towards the castle, if you could just stop fighting..." she said, not turning away from them nervously.

"Uh, right, sorry..." Twilight said, looking down ashamed.  

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed, matching her friends look, "Guess were just kinda high-strung with all this fighting we've been doing."  She stopped suddenly and looked up at Fluttershy, finally processing her previous words fully.  "Wait, what do you mean you might know the way to the castle?" she asked, walking up to the butter yellow Pegasus.

"Oh, well it's just, you see, while we've been fighting, I've been trying to help as many of the animals- well, the ones Discord didn't already hurt, I mean- get somewhere safe.  And well, maybe one of them could help tell us which way to go?" Fluttershy suggested.  She immediately hid her face behind her mane, "I-I mean, if you think it's a good enough idea that is..."

"Good idea?  Fluttershy, that's brilliant!" Twilight exclaimed, walking up to her as well.  "The animals around here would know the forest better then anypony!  If you can talk to them, I'm sure we'll find our way to the castle."

Fluttershy couldn't help but smile back, albeit timidly, at her friend.  However, only a few seconds later, that smile was replaced with a look of surprise as several shadows leapt from the bushes.  Instinctively, the five gathered around in a close group, ready for the worse.  However, unlike everything else they'd faced, these animals were pretty fast to be identified by both Twilight and Applejack.  Their wood-like bodies and glowing yellow eyes made it easy.

"Timberwolves..." Twilight breathed, looking at the four animals circling around them.  "We must be in their territory, it's the only reason they'd come after ponies..." she said quietly to her friends.  

"And just what exactly do ya' propose we do, Twi?" Applejack said, "Not many ponies could outrun Timberwolves for long.  And ah wouldn't be keen on fightin' these fellows.  Granny Smith's told more than a few stories on what they can do... Wait, Fluttershy, what in tarnation are ya doin' girl!?"

Sure enough, the usually timid Pegasus had taken a few steps forward.  To no pony's surprise, the wolves were quick to move in on her, but she didn't flinch.  In fact, she glared straight at them, eyes open wide.  "Don't you dare growl at us like that, we've done nothing wrong!" she proclaimed, making the wolves take a step back as her stare quickly wore them down.  

She advanced, "Maybe we came here on your territory, but we didn't know it was yours.  That doesn't give you any right to growl or bare your teeth at us, does it?"  To her friends' rapidly decreasing surprise, the wolves all shook their heads.  "Good, I'm glad you understand," Fluttershy told them, her voice now going back to a more calm tone as petted one on the neck gently.

"Wow.  Somehow, Fluttershy never ceases to amaze me," Twilight said, watching as she petted all four wolves like they were nothing more than oversized puppy dogs.  "But then she did stare down a Cockatrice with that Stare of hers..."

"Yes... yes... well, thank you very much," Fluttershy said, smiling and patting one of the wolves on the head.  "Alright now, you run along.  You watch out for yourselves now," she said as she ushered them on their ways. They stood up and started away through the trees and Fluttershy went back to the others.  "They said they actually saw the castle not too far from here.  All we have to do is follow that path and we should be there soon," she explained, pointing to a narrow, barely worn path to their right.  

"That was simply amazing, Fluttershy!" Rarity said, nuzzling her friend.  "But then, what should we expect from the pony who tamed Cerberus himself?" she asked with a smile.

"We can give our congrats later, Rarity, after we save Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, leading the way as they headed towards the path.  "Now come on, there's no time to lose."  

The others followed behind her in a line, Twilight and Rarity's horns creating enough light to let them see through the surprisingly dark cropping of trees and plants.  Thankfully, they weren't attacked and soon found themselves in a decently-lit clearing facing a very familiar, crumbling stone castle.  

"Finally!" Rainbow sighed as she took the chance to spread her wings out in the open.  "My wings were feeling cramped from all that low flying," she said as she took to the sky, a decent ways above the others.  She watched from above as her friends began the trek across the old wooden bridge she'd retied ages ago.  "Come on girls, just gotta get across the bridge and-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence.  At that moment, one more of Discords birds decided to swoop down on her, Dash swerving out of the way just in time to stop it from removing her wings.  She managed to get a look at it as it passed her by.  It was the largest one so far, its feathers a cold, steel gray with talons at least three inches long and a beak sharp as a knife.  Missing her, it instead took aim for her friends, who were in the middle of the bridge with no way to dodge it.

"Oh no you don't, buster!" Rainbow said, taking aim and firing several small lightning bolt blasts at it.  Only for them all to bounce harmlessly off it.  "What!?" she gasped, watching in shock as its talons headed right for Applejack.

However, Twilight was ready, zapping up a shield around the four of them on the bridge just in time, the birds talons hitting the surface harmlessly before it flapped back up into the sky, heading back at Rainbow.

The cyan Pegasus was fast to avoid the giant birds movements, but when she tried using her Element again, the shots again bounced off it.  "Darn it, what's up with this thing!?  My Element can't punch at it!" she called down to her friends as she dodged a bite from its beak.

Twilight called back up, "Rainbow Dash, Discord must have made it immune to your Element of Loyalty!  You'll have to fight with your hooves!"

"Easy for you to say, Twilight!" Rainbow yelled as she rolled out of the way of a sharp group of talons.  "This thing isn't leaving any openings!  Think you girls could try and help me out!?"

"Oh no, oh no..." Twilight mumbled, looking up at the large bird as it made attempt after attempt to bring Rainbow Dash down.  Her normal magic hadn't worked on the previous monsters, so no way it would work on this one either.  Only one chance, she realized.  She turned to her friends, "Alright girls, we have to shoot that thing down while Rainbow has it distracted."  Her gaze moved to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, I know you've been trying to stay out of hurting the animals as much as you can, but we need your help on this."

"Oh, well, okay, if I really have to..." Fluttershy said, looking like she was about to commit a heinous crime.  And she defiantly was sure she was going to.  But still, one of her best friends had to come first to one mind controlled bird.

"Alright then, charge up your shots as much as you can," Twilight said, the four of them taking aim.  "Rainbow Dash, try and keep it in one spot; we're gonna hit it at the same time!" she yelled up to her friend.

"Right!" Rainbow yelled back while she ducked another bite from the creature.  Knowing she'd have to take a hit, Rainbow stayed in place as the beast struck again, it's talons ripping into her shoulder.  She grunted in pain, trying to keep herself from veering in another direction.  Suddenly, she saw it; four blasts of magic heading at the things back.  She smirked, suddenly closing her wings at her sides, "See ya, feather brain!"  As she entered a controlled free fall, the large blasts all hit the bird square in the back, making it stop in place with its wings outstretched.  For a split second it stayed there, seemingly floating in the air, before it began to fall in the deep abyss below along with Rainbow.  However, while Rainbow quickly pulled herself out of her fall to avoid the creature, it kept falling as its body began to shrink in a haze of smoke.  After a minute, dozens of bits suddenly flew back up and onto the bridge, along with two more potions and what looked like a silver bracelet.  Rainbow landed on the bridge beside the others, hissing gently in pain from her wound while Rarity gathered up the items.

Twilight grabbed one of the potions in her own magic and handed it to Rainbow Dash, uncorking the top for her, "Here, this should help."

"Thanks, Twilight," Rainbow said as she took the potion and downed it in two gulps.  Almost instantly, her injuries felt warm as the potion worked its magic, sealing them up fully and leaving her feeling good as new, even with the bad aftertaste of mint.  "Now come on, Pinkie's right through those doors!" Rainbow said, charging forward and rocking the bridge a bit too much for her friends liking.  Still, they followed her and managed to get fully across to the large double doors leading inside.

"Looks like we finally made it, then..." Applejack said, looking up at the doors.  

"We go in here, there isn't any turning back until we save Pinkie Pie.  Agreed?" Twilight asked.

"Agreed," the others all said at the same time.  Twilight's horn sparked to life, her magic grabbing the door handles and pushing the doors open as the four walked in.

It was the same as they remembered.  The large entrance hall, walls falling and covered in growing moss, which had consumed even more of what was still standing since their last adventure here.  And there she was, sitting on her haunches in front of the statue that had previously held the Elements of Harmony.  Pinkie Pie.

However, they all knew right away something was wrong.  For one, she wasn't smiling.  Instead, there was a dark, disturbing smile over her face as she looked them over.  For another, her hair wasn't its usual bright, cheery, curly pink, but it lay flat, like it had deflated out of nowhere and become perfectly straight.  Not only that, but her overall color seemed... darker.  Not gray, like Discords magic had done last time, but just like they had been dulled for some reason.  And, at either side were her four 'friends', all staying perfectly still at the moment.  

Before the others could say anything, Pinkamina stood up, pointing a hoof at them, mostly towards one pony in particular.  "Hello every pony.  And of course, hello Rainbow Dash.  Here to visit the one you looked away all those years ago! Yes, Dashie. I'm talking about your Sonic Rainboom that taught me how to smile. It took me, calm collected Pinkamena, and turned me into the grinning insane Pinkie! I was trapped deep within her mind for so long. Even when I managed to show myself on my birthday, I didn't have enough strength to fully take control of my mind and body, resulting in my insanity. However, thanks to Discord, I have finally regained control, and have four loyal servants to boot! Now, I shall have my revenge for what you did to me!"

"Are you even listening to yourself, Pinkie Pie!?  Snap out of this; it's just another one of Discords stupid spells or something!" Rainbow yelled at her as she got a few steps closer to her, but Pinkamina just stood there, that same smile over her face.  Rainbow turned back to the others, "Quick, give me Pinkies necklace!  I bet that'll snap her out of this!"  Rarity quickly removed it from the saddle bags and floated over to the Rainbow, who caught it and started towards her friend, but Pinkamina laughed and held up a hoof to stop her.

"Sorry Dash, but that won't work!  Pinkie Pie's gone forever, and soon, you all will be, too!"  With that, she reached behind her 'friends' and pulled out a long, blunt piñata stick, made out of some hard, sturdy-looking wood.  "But you know what, I think I'm gonna take some pleasure in destroying you first, Rainbow!"  With that, she banged the stick once on the ground and, just like Trixie had managed do before, an invisible wall came up, surrounding the two in a perfect rectangle, finishing off in a rather low ceiling.  Rainbow wouldn't be able fly very high up, if at all now!  However, she felt something tap the back of her hooves; the saddlebags!  Rarity had tossed them to her at the last moment, knowing she might need some of the items they collected.

"Gee, no friends to help you fight me this time, huh Dash?" Pinkamina smirked.  "To bad I have my own friends here to help me bring you down!  Now, get ready to feel the wrath of that who you sealed away!" she yelled, her four 'friends' cheering as she rushed at Rainbow, Piñata stick in mouth now.

"Fine, guess I don't have a choice," Rainbow said as put the second necklace back in the bags as she put them on.  Pinkie Pie wasn't there, that was for sure.  Her friend was gone.  Which meant Rainbow could take out a decent bit of frustration out on her, beat Pinkie back into her, and not feel the least bit guilty!  "I'll kick your flank and get my friend back, and prove that she isn't gone for good!"

===========================================================
Boss Battle: Pinkamina Diane Pie
Boss Theme: Mimi's Boss Theme from Super Paper Mario

Pinkamina was swinging her piñata stick like crazy as she headed towards Rainbow, but the Pegasus was quick to take flight, dodging the wild swinging as best she could.  The low, invisible barrier was keeping her from going more than a hoof or so in the air.  And it was only getting from worse.

Before her eyes, Pinkaminas four 'servants' suddenly became wrapped in pink flames before they suddenly began to move, floating around in midair!  She didn't know how, but she sure knew she didn't want to be hit by one of them when they looked like that.  But that was easy enough; the problem was Pinkamina.  

She was still swinging her stick around madly as she perused Rainbow Dash, and didn't seem to be getting tired.  She wasn't leaving a spot open for her to attack, either.  Finally though, she finally stopped swinging, though it didn't look to be from exhaustion.  Instead, a second later, she took the bat back in her hoof and start spinning in place, smirking as she went faster and faster.  Soon, she was nothing but a pink, spinning blur, which promptly sped at Rainbow Dash.  

Rainbow managed to swerve out of the way, but the pink tornado changed direction on a bit, speeding at her again and going all over the small area.  Rainbow was so into watching and avoiding her, though, that she failed to realize she was about to hit Sir Lints-A-Lot.

The minute the normally inanimate object touched her, she pulled away in pain.  It had, of course, felt like being stuck in the side by a ball of fire and her coat had been slightly burned.  Still, she ignored the pain as she watched Pinkamina finally come to a halt, her eyes spinning as she wobbled in place, dizzy from the constant spinning she'd been doing.

Now was her chance!  Rainbow rushed forward, delivering a powerful, solid punch to the pink pony's cheek that made her reel back on the floor, dropping her stick.  "That's for sitting on my head, you weird freak!" she yelled before bringing her hooves down on her stomach, winding Pinkamina.  Coming back to her senses, Pinkamina promptly used her hind hooves to buck Rainbow Dash away as she got to her hooves.

"I'll admit, you have a pretty good right hook, but it won't do any good," she said, rubbing her throbbing cheek as she tried to regain her breath.  She picked the stick back up in her mouth and rushed for Rainbow Dash again.  However, when she was close to the Pegasus, there was a flash of pale pink light, and in her place was Rocky, floating right for Rainbow!  She managed to swerve out of the way, but just barely, burning some of her tail as it scraped against him.  "Still, I have a few Tricks of my own!" Pinkamina yelled as she came up behind Rainbow, aiming the stick at her head.  

She missed, hitting Rainbow hard on her back and leaving a rather large bruise as Rainbow screamed from the sudden pain, falling back to the ground.  Pinkamina had swung hard, and it felt like she'd really damaged something under her skin.  Her wings curled up at her sides; it felt painful to move them now, and that wasn't a good sign.  She pulled out a potion from the bags and drank it quick, feeling its restoring effects right away, but knowing it would need a minute or so to fix her up fully.

"Come on Dash, you can do better than this, right!?  You're the best young flyer in Equestria after all!" Pinkamina taunted as she rushed at Dash again.  The Pegasus glared and went full gallop at her, but faltered as she teleported again, leaving her plummet right into Mr. Turnip and get a rather nasty burn long the left side of her face and shoulder.  She sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore the burning sensation and choke back tears as she stood in place, watching Pinkamina begin to spin around again.  She had to stop this crazy mare and get her friend back!  But she had to be clever; Pinkamina seemed to know a bit about her and her flying.  

She rolled out of the way as the spinning Pinkamina came at her, leaving her instead to strike Madam Le Flour.  But, to Rainbow surprise, the mare yelped in surprise and pain as she stopped spinning, nursing a long, charred streak of fur along her side.  She could actually be hurt by her own comrades if she wasn't careful!  Rainbow smirked, an idea in mind now at how to keep Pinkamina from going nuts on her.  Speeding over to her, her wings fully healed from the potion, she tackled her to the ground, pinning the pink mare in place as the four objects, apparently only wanting to get her off their precious master, floated over to her.

However, at the last moment, Rainbow hopped off Pinkamina and spread her wings, her necklace glowing brightly as a rainbow-colored shock wave sped out all around her, covering the whole of their battle area.  This, it turned out, had been her special power; a miniature rainboom, which could stun any foes that touched it.  She smirked as the four objects stopped just a small way away from her and Pinkamina, who was struggling to move, but couldn't twitch a hoof now.

"And now, this one's for Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow announced as she Took Pinkamina by her hind hooves, spinning her around in a single circle, making her strike all four of her lackeys before letting go, making her fly into the closest wall and slump down, covered in burnt fur and bruises.  Rainbow pulled out the Element of Laughter necklace, "Alright you twisted weirdo, time to give me my friend back!"  With that, she placed the necklace around Pinkaminas neck.

End Boss Battle.
===========================================================

The effect was instant.  Once the necklace was around her neck, Pinkamina, as well as her lackeys, screamed as the blue gem inside began to shine.  Suddenly, in a slow flash of light, and with one last scream, everything stopped.  Looking around, Rainbow saw the four objects were now nothing but piles of ash.  The barrier was also down now, as Pinkie Pie was lying on her back fully now, snoring like she was fast asleep.  Suddenly, her eyes popped open and she sat up, blinking a few times to clear her vision.

"D-Dashie, is that you?" she asked.  When she got a smile and nod from the Pegasus, at once her coat regained its original shade of pink, her mane and tail returning to their usual appearance as a party horn sounded somewhere in the background.  She gave a big grin and wrapped her friend in a hug, "Dashie, I just knew you and the others would come to save me from that boring, grumpy old Pinkamina!"

"Pinkie Pie, thank goodness!"  Pinkie and Dash turned as the rest of the girls came over, cheering for their friends return and Rainbows victory as they gathered around each other.

But, before another word could be said, there was a low rumbling outside the walls.  As the girls all turned towards the source of the noise, a hold was smashed into one of the walls, most of it going down as well.  They all gasped and jumped back in surprise, watching as the dust cleared to reveal... a giant boulder?  Most of them gave the rock a bizarre look.  No pony seemed to be behind it, after all.  However, Rarity's eyes went wide as she immediately recognized it.

"Tom!" she squealed, ducking down and cowering behind a nearby Fluttershy.

Suddenly, a laugh came from the boulder, deep and gravely.  His tone of voice also matched as he spoke, "Hello, my lovely Rarity.  Been some time, hasn't it?  Well don't think I haven't forgotten what happened between us; you're going to pay for dumping me!"  The boulder turned slowly on the spot before it spoke again, "And Discord also ordered me to take you along too, Miss Dash!"

Rainbow shorted, giving the talking boulder an incredulous look.  "Oh yeah?  I'd like to see ya try and take either of us!  After all, you're nothing but a big rock!  You don't even have legs!"

Tom laughed again, "Maybe not, but I do have something better; a little surprise for you all!  One that's bound to make you regret leaving me, Rarity!"

"Ooooh, I love surprises!  Show it, please please please!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down on the spot.

"Pinkie Pie..." Rainbow groaned facehoofing.  "He's a bad guy, obviously!  Any surprise of his can't be good!"

"You're correct about that, Miss Dash!" Tom said before suddenly cracking clean down the middle!  He split open, but instead of being fully stone, the inside of the boulder glistened with black and purple gem stones, most of them smoothed out to fully hollow out the center.  Tom wasn't just a boulder; he was a geode!  "Now, time for you and lady Rarity to come with me!"

Suddenly, two of the gems began to grow at a rapid rate, sprouting long, clawed fingers at the end of quick growing arms!  The arms rushed forward, knocking all the others out of the way and grabbing Rainbow Dash and Rarity in a shocking strong grip before pulling them back.

"Unhand me at once, you brute!  You can't do this!" Rarity protested as she struggled and squirmed as much as she could, her Element of Generosity falling off her neck and clattering to the floor.  

Rainbow was struggling just as much, her own necklace flying off as well, "You stupid rock!  Let go of me now, or I swear I'll turn you into gravel!" but it was no good as the two were pulled into the hollow middle of Tom, who promptly closed back up, looking good as new.  Without another word, the boulder quickly rolled away, following the trail it had previously wrecked through the forest on its way here.

The four remaining ponies stood there in shock for a minute or so.  Applejack was the first to break the silence.  "Did two 'o our friends... just get ponynapped... by ah giant rock that could talk?" she asked slowly.

"I... I think so..." Fluttershy squeaked, hiding behind her mane again.

"I don't believe this..." Twilight said as she sat on her haunches.  "We just got Pinkie Pie back, and now Discord has Rainbow Dash and Rarity..." she sighed.  "Well, there's no way things could get any worse..."

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pies eyes began to water, her lip quivering.  Suddenly, she burst into tears, crying and wailing loudly at the loss of her friends, so soon after their reunion.  However, after only three seconds, the tears and wailing suddenly stopped the sad look on Pinkies face replaced by one of sheer, serious determination.  She trotted over to Rainbow Dashes Element of Loyalty, grabbing it and holding it up to the sun coming through a nearby window.  "Well, we can't just sit around here being all mopey wopey!  I don't know about you ponies, but I'm gonna go and I'm gonna save Rainbow Dash!  I can Pinkie Promise you that!"  Seeing the necklace down, she quickly performed her trademark swear before picking it back up.  "So, is any pony coming with me!?"

To her, and the others surprise, Fluttershy slowly stepped forward, picking up the Element of Generosity slowly.  As she looked at it, memories of the time she'd spent with Rarity came flooding into her head, nerves gathering up with each one as she got her own determined look on her face.  "Pinkies right, we shouldn't stay here worrying, we have to save them.  And Celestia as my witness, I'll save Rarity, no matter what it takes!"

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Chapter End Condition;

Twilight Sparkle; Lv. 3, 180 Exp.
Rainbow Dash; Lv. 3, 135 Exp. {Absent}
Applejack; Lv. 2, 95 Exp.
Rarity; Lv. 2, 70 Exp. {Absent}
Fluttershy; Lv. 2, 75 Exp.
Pinkie Pie; Lv. 1, 0 Exp.


Inventory;

Metal Band x2: Increases defense.

Potion x3: Restores your health fully.

Leather Arm Band: Slightly increases defense.

Stinger: Stuns one enemy in battle.

Woven Saddlebags; Capable of carrying ten items.