5. The Great Journey

[Lancer]

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the sixth story in the My Little Pony Magic Series, "The Great Journey".

Please remember not to read this within three hours of bedtime. I know a little guinea pig who did, and now he just can't stop squeaking with the terrible memories of the nightmares that followed...

One particular memory stands out in particular...the memory of the Black Pony Of Darkness watching him in his mind's eye, and saying, "If you read this story within three hours of bedtime, then I'm coming to get you!"

(To the tune of the My Little Pony Tales theme tune)

Something is starting, right now!
Something is starting, Oh wow!
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic,
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic!
We can't live forever with Desiree,
But how do we get back to Ponyland? There seems to be no way!
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic,
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic!
Truly, Lancer, Lofty, Dieselbelle, Lucky and Splodge,
Lots more characters for you...
...Including Twinkle, Clover and Dodge!
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic,
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic,
My Little Pony Magic!

[Lancer]

CHAPTER ONE

Dieselbelle, a guinea pig who lived at Desiree Skylark's My Little Pony Rescue Home, missed Bubbles very much. So did Clover, the dutch rabbit.
They were sitting in their run with some other guinea pigs and rabbits. They looked at the other animals, racing around - there was Dieserella, Diselbelle's twin sister, Lucky, Clover's twin brother, Sparkle and Splodge, two guinea pigs, and their twin brothers, Twinkle and Dodge. The twins of Dieselbelle and Clover, Sparkle and Splodge belonged to the My Little Ponies who, after the Black Pony Of Darkness had bombed Ponyland, were having to build a magical rainbow back up to their home, so that they could see just how much trouble he had caused, and whether they could ever live in Ponyland again.
Dieselbelle, Clover, Sparkle and Splodge belonged to Desiree Skylark, the owner of the Rescue Home. Bubbles was another guinea pig who she had owned before, but sadly he had had to go to Rainbow Land, with his twin brother, Soapy. He wouldn't be coming back, and Dieselbelle and Clover missed him very much. Even Sparkle and Splodge, who had only known him for a short time, were missing him badly, but Dieselbelle and Clover especially.
"I don't know what to do, Clover. I don't feel like playing with the others, but I feel I should."
"Not if you don't want to." Clover replied.
"Well, I should, shouldn't I?"
"Not if you don't want to." Her rabbit friend repeated.
Diesel and Clover could talk any language, and so could their friends, due to some magic necklaces which they were wearing. This meant that they could speak to each other, and to the humans and ponies too.
Diesel was very upset about Bubbles, and Clover had done everything he could to stop her getting too upset. He had failed. Now Dieselbelle turned her back on him, and sighed, "What shall I do?"
And Clover replied, "Dieselbelle, I don't think..."
But she wasn't listening as she started to sing a song...

(To a tune which I wrote myself, so you'll just have to make up your own, I'm afraid! ;D)

Dieselbelle: My life's just not worth living now that Bubbles is not here,
And every time I see his picture, I shed a little tear!
It doesn't matter what his name was - Martin, Bubbles or Buble,
I think about that guinea pig every single day.
Clover: Oh, Diesel, don't be like that!
Dieselbelle: How can I not? Don't you miss him too?
Clover: Of course I do!
I see that little guinea pig at whatever time or place,
Every time I close my eyes, I see that little face.
Although he did once bite his nose, he knew I loved him really,
And in my little memory, I see him very clearly.
Dieselbelle/Clover: Of the Rescue Home Pets show, we have just lost the star,
'Cause he was better than the rest of us put together by far!
So that just goes to show that we loved Bubbles,
He was our friend,
And though that piggy's gone away,
Our memories never end!

"Diesel! Clover!" Desiree called out, walking into the room with a rolled up newspaper. "Just look at this article in the paper - it's all about MLP's - an interview with a collector - and they've got every little detail wrong!" She cleared her throat, before reading some extracts from the newspaper. "'The rarest pony of all time is a "storyland" pony known as "Rumpelstiltskin". She often sells for up to $20,000!' ... 'My Little Pony was born back in 1978, and the ponies continued to be popular right up until the last pony rolled off of Mattel's production conveyor belt in 1991' ... 'There was even a pony TV show, which later inspired a film!' ... 'There are between 600-700 ponies in total, and all are VERY RARE AND VALUABLE these days, but sometimes can still be found at car boot sales for just a few pence. If you were only to pick up a few and sell them on e-Bay, you could make a small fortune' ... 'Beware of broken ponies. Some Flutter Ponies lost their wings, due to their delicate nature, and replacements can not be bought, so these are the only worthless ponies' ...HUH?! THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL!" Desiree threw the newspaper down on the floor angrily.
Dieselbelle peered out of the wire side of the run. "What is that strange red pony at the top of the page, Desiree?" she asked.
"Huh?" Desiree regained her senses and realised where she was after her outburst of anger. She picked the paper up again. "Oh, this is the other charming thing about the "collector" they interviewed. She customises MINT CONDITION, RARE ponies, and she knows exactly what she's doing - in fact, she's gloating about it!" Desiree cleared her throat again, before reading, "'I recently found a Mimic at a car boot sale for 10p. She was very minty, and I know a lot of collectors would have died to have found one like this. However, I've never liked Mimic, so I painted her red and turned her into "I Love You" the Valentine Pony'." Desiree whistled in an exasperated kind of way. "Why not just sell Mimic, and buy some real custom bait ponies if you wanted to make customs - she could have got far more for her money." Desiree, who had been seeking Mimic for a very long time, couldn't help but shed a tear. The article was littered with other similar stories of perfect condition sought-after ponies being destroyed for no real reason. "She's taken so much away from us real collectors - I mean, I know they were her ponies to do with what she wished and all, but why would you want to lose so much money anyway?! She says that she sells all of her customs immediately anyway, so what wasthe point of making them from such valuable ponies? They can't mean anything to her..." Desiree sighed, and put the paper down.
"This is horrible." Dieselbelle said.
"I know." Desiree said, sadly.
"What's that?" asked Lancer, walking up behind Desiree.
The girl showed the pony the newspaper. "This stupid woman customises rare ponies that other people would do anything in the world to own, and the paper has printed it as though it's something wonderful. The only note they have put that's even slightly against her doing this horrendous thing is, 'Some collectors may not wish to customise, since this will reduce the value...' It's not to do with value, is it?! In some cases, customising makes the value go up! It's to do with the fact that most people would kill to have one of those ponies in their collection, and this woman has stopped their dreams coming true. And what about all of those poor ponies, who could have found a loving home somewhere as they were?!"
"Who is this?" Lancer asked.
"Oh, I don't know what her name is...Anne Villiers - huh! Why does that remind me of Cruella De Ville?" Desiree almost laughed at her own joke.
"She's one of the Black Pony's helpers!" Lofty cried, as she also walked into the room.
"Oh, there you are, Lofty!" Said Truly, suddenly entering the room. Truly was the MLP who the Black Pony had originally picked on. "And you, Lancer, too! I've got some good news for y'all!" The white pony smiled.
"Good morning!" Desiree smiled back. "What's the good news then?"
"Well, just now, I found out that the ponies who are working on our Rainbow Avenue to Ponyland have almost finished, and we'll be able to head back home tomorrow - 8 o'clock at the latest!"
Ever since the ponies had had to run away from Ponyland, sixteen of them had been living at the Rescue Home. And, although it had been very nice to have the ponies to stay, it had been pretty cramped. So Desiree had mixed feelings over the good news. It would be good to have the house back, but she would miss the MLP's...

[shadow=red,left,300]To Be Continued...[/shadow]

[Lancer]

CHAPTER TWO

Desiree wasn't really sure how it happened, but somehow, the following day, the ponies got into an argument about who could gallop fastest. It was probably something to do with who would reach Ponyland first, since the Rainbow Avenue to Ponyland was now complete.
One by one, the ponies got bored with arguing and wandered off, leaving just Truly and Lancer standing in Desiree Skylark's My Little Pony Rescue Home's back garden, still insisting that each of them was the quickest, respectively.
Desiree was getting sick of hearing them moaning in the back garden, and so she suggested they have a race, to settle the matter once and for all. They agreed to this, so long as Desiree and her mother, Jacqui, rode the two ponies around the course - after all, it had been their human friend's idea in the first place.
Jacqui wasn't too keen on the idea.
After a while though, Desiree convinced her mum that she wouldn't fall off if she rode one of the magical ponies, and Jacqui agreed that she would take part, so long as she could write Truly, since she didn't "trust a Pony Tales pony"!
"It might stand up on its back legs!" She said
"Well, I think that's a load of nonsense." Desiree retorted. "But if that's the way you want it, you ride Truly. It doesn't make any difference to me!"
They decided to race five times around their large back garden - down to the shed, back up across the grass, along the patio and back to the step, which lead to the path down to the shed. They would also have to face three obstacles - a thin plank of wood to walk across (rather difficult for a creature with large hooves), and two jumps, one of which they would have to jump over twice during each lap.
Who would be the winner? Desiree went to get her stopwatch, and Jacqui agreed to go first.
They got ready, and Truly positioned herself on the step which was their starting point.
"Right," Desiree said. "On your marks, get set, GO!"
Truly galloped quickly, but was she quick enough to win? Desiree clasped the stopwatch, and quickly raced out on to the course to stand a plank of wood (one of the jumps) back up, since it had blown down, bearly getting out of the way in time to not get trampled!
Jacqui kept telling Truly not to go too fast.
"Well, do you want to win or not?" Truly asked.
Jacqui replied, simply, "I don't really care, so long as I don't fall off!"
"Oh, come on! You won't fall off!" Truly gasped. "We're not going very fast, you know!"
This was true - Truly was only moving at about half of her maximum speed, but Jacqui thought it was very fast indeed! She clung on for dear life, each and every time the pony jumped, certain that she would fall to her doom otherwise! Soon they had done four laps - only one more to go.
Truly jumped the last fence, and Desiree stopped the stopwatch.
"01.44.13." Desiree read. "Well, I think we can beat that!"
"Do you really?" Truly said, rolling her eyes as Lancer nodded, grinning. "Well, I'll have you know it's rather difficult to gallop when somebody is pulling you back all the time." The white pony glared up at her rider.
Jacqui took the stopwatch. "Right then...starting NOW!"
Lancer flew off of the step, and bounded down the garden path. Desiree held only a small section of the pony's mane, and leant forward in her seat, taking as much weight off of the pony, and trying to give him as much freedom to move as she possibly could.
The sensation was wonderful, although rather strange. It was almost as though they were soaring through the air and would never have to land each time Lancer jumped, and yet the trees, which were only a blur, were above them!
"Go on!" Desiree urged.
"I'm trying...as hard...as...I...can..." Lancer struggled to reply.
And then they reached the finishing line. "I don't believe it!" Jacqui said, and Truly groaned. "I do." The pony grumbled.
"What?" Desiree tried to stop herself from smiling before she had heard the result. She collapsed on the pony's back, and hugged Lancer tightly, as Jacqui read out, "0 minutes, 55.38 seconds."
"Well, they wouldn't have won had you not stopped me!" Truly said to Jacqui, sourly, and the crowd of ponies who had gathered to watch the race, cheered (and giggled at their white pony friend) as Desiree and Lancer held up their makeshift "trophies" - actually daisychains made by the Baby Ponies.
What a lovely memory of the Rescue Home to take back to Ponyland with them...that was, if Ponyland was not too badly damaged to be inhabited any more.

[shadow=red,left,300]To Be Continued...[/shadow]

[Lancer]

CHAPTER THREE

As it happened, the ponies couldn't go back to Ponyland that day, and so they spent it at the Rescue Home. At 5pm, Desiree and Jacqui were listening to a music show on the radio. The MLP's were also in the room.
It was while they were listening to their show that a peculiar thing happened. One minute they were listening to Jacqui's friend (who was a professional opera singer) singing, the next there was an evil cackle breaking out over the top...
"You can come back to Ponyland - I don't care!
The only thing is that you can't live there!
No longer are there flowers, no longer are there trees..."
Then the radio program switched off all together, just leaving the evil voice...
"Now the whole place is only useful to me!"
The familiar cackle signalled the end of the radio message. The radio program continued, but now Desiree and her mother couldn't concentrate on it now, so Desiree stuck a cassette tape into the machine to record the show, so that they could listen to it later, and switched the radio off.
"What was that?" Jacqui asked. "That voice completely ruined the program I was listening..."
"Mum..." Desiree interrupted.
"Look at the Radio Times and see what station it wa..."
"Mum..." Desiree tried again.
"Silly robot!" Jacqui complained, using the expression they often used for their tinny radio, which seemed to have a mind of its own.
"Mum!"
"Silly silver..."
"MUM!!!" Desiree yelled, and finally her mother looked at her.
"Yes, what is it?" Jacqui asked.
"That wasn't another radio station." Desiree explained.
"What was it then?" Jacqui asked, placing the Radio Times back on the table.
"It was the thing I keep telling you about." Desiree continued.
"What?" Jacqui still looked confused.
"I'd know that voice anywhere!" Desiree cried, and a few of the ponies nodded their heads sadly.
"Who is it?" Her mother questioned.
"I think that voice sounded a bit like...The Black Pony Of Darkness!" Desiree sighed.

Although The Rainbow Avenue To Ponyland had already been completed, the builders had been checking it for any safety precautions, and were only satisfied on Friday. But the ponies were not going to return to Ponyland until Saturday, since Princess Crystal had told them that she had seen their future in her magical crystal ball. She told them that her crystal ball had told her to "Spin for tomorrow's luck"! So she had spun it around, and there she had seen a four-leafed clover. Her crystal ball spoke again (well, it was a very magical thing) and told her that "If the ponies return tomorrow, you will all have good luck and happy times in Ponyland in the future."
Princess Crystal told all of the ponies how her crystal ball had said that if they went back to Ponyland tomorrow, the Black Pony wouldn't have damaged Ponyland.
Did it really say that? I don't think so... Oh well, Princess Crystal must have thought that was what it meant.
The ponies trusted Princess Crystal, because she did often tell their futures correctly. The only problem was that sometimes she got things incorrect as well, and this time, the ponies were to find out just how wrong she could be!

But they didn't find out - not on saturday at least, nor on Sunday, because Princess Crystal looked into her crystal ball again and saw that they would have even more good luck if they returned on a Monday (the start of the week in Ponyland). The rainbow had been fixed down in the Rescue Home garden. So the ponies would just have to climb the rainbow, or slide back down it, when they wanted to get in or out of Ponyland.
It would be harder to get up than down, but even so the journey would only take a few minutes - the trip down took just a few seconds!
The ponies began to climb the rainbow.
"Goodbye!" The ponies called.
"Goodbye!" Desiree replied, cheerfully.
She watched as the ponies went out of view.

The ponies arrived in Ponyland, but as I said before, they were to find out just how wrong Princess Crystal could be, by saying that The Black Pony Of Darkness wouldn't have damaged Ponyland if they returned on a Monday.
All of the trees and flowers were gone. The grass had turned to mud, and all of the lakes and rivers had dried up. Flowerpots had been smashed, and the chairs in Paradise Estate's courtyard, lay upturned and scratched to pieces. Paradise Estate itself had a smashed roof, as did most of the other communal pony buildings. All of the furniture had been destroyed. Everything was ruined. There was no way that the ponies could live here, but nobody would admit it. Everyone began to walk towards their damaged homes!
"How lovely it is to see my garden!" Posey said, looking at the smashed flowerpots, yellow leaves and piles of soil everywhere.
"How lovely it is to be in Paradise Estate's kitchen once more." sighed Cupcake, gazing lovingly at all of her saucepans, most of which had had their handles broken off.
The birds tweeted in delight, as they perched in the trees which had toppled to the ground. It should have been snowing - it snowed non-stop in Ponyland throughout the winter (December to February).
But now it wasn't snowing, and it was so hot that Truly and Lancer (the only ponies who hadn't trotted off to play in the remains of their home) could hardly stand up! The guinea pigs were practically fainting.
"Wait!" Truly cried. "The heat is unbearable!"
"You'll all collapse!" Dieserella yelled.
"Oh, silly ponies..." Sighed Lucky.
"I just don't, like, believe it." Twinkle said. "Can't they, you know, feel the heat?" He collapsed on his side, and began to pant. Truly scratched his head, and he struggled to his feet.
"I just can't understand it." Dodge muttered.
"Neither can I." Dieserella said. "But I can't see that there's anything we can do..."
"Of course there is!" Dodge cried. He proceded to reach into his little blue rucksack, and pull out some grass, a little piece of cucumber, some milk and some special food colouring in all the colours of the rainbow!
"So what use is all of this junk?" Dieserella asked, looking at the pile of stuff Dodge had collected together.
"Well obviously, I am a magical Ponyland guinea pig, and I am going to help everyone!" Dodge pulled a piece of smashed flower pot towards him and used it as a mixing bowl. "First we add three small cubes of cucumber..." He chewed off several cubes of cucumber, and ate all but three of them, which he placed in the bowl. "...then we add some blades of grass..." He added some grass. "...Then finally we add in some food colouring - oh! And a drop of milk! Then we get this spoon..." He turned and pulled a gigantic spoon out of his tiny rucksack! "...and we mix it all together!" He held the spoon in his mouth and stirred the mixture vigorously. "Right, then we just have to do one more thing..." Dodge pulled a small piece of clay out of his rucksack, and placed it over the top of the remainder of the pot.
He also pulled a magic wand from his rucksack. Then waved it over the top of his strange concotion and began to chant, "Magical Paint, Come to me! Magical paint, Come to me! I want to see, I want to see! The magical paint - please come to me!" And his pony, guinea pig and rabbit friends were amazed to see the pot grow into a huge can of paint!
"And no matter how much I tip out of this can, the supply will be renewed!" Dodge grinned, demonstrating by pouring the rainbow-coloured paint over a patch of mud, which immediately burst into colour as some flowers grew! "This paint," Dodge said, proudly, "will save Ponyland. Anything we paint will be returned to its old self! Unfortunately, it does have an end. The paint will only last for 30 minutes, and then it will evaporate!" And so, the guinea pigs, rabbit and ponies, each grabbed a magical paint brush out of Dodge's magical ruck sack. How much could they get painted in 30 minutes?
"We will work faster if we sing." Dodge smiled, and so saying...

(To the tune of "A Fresh Coat Of Paint" from "The Revolt Of Paradise Estate")

Twinkle: Isn't it amazing what a fresh coat of, like, paint,
Dodge: A fresh coat of paint can do?
Dieserella: Things fraid and worn,
Lucky: Are suddenly reborn!
Twinkle: Everything looks brand new, you know?
Dodge: How the world awakens with a fresh coat of paint,
Dieserella: A fresh coat of paint's like spring,
Lucky: Spirits revive,
Twinkle: The whole world, like, comes alive!
Dodge: And everyone starts to sing!
Dieserella: Black Pony damage could not be duller,
Lucky: Until it burst into rainbow colour!
Truly/Lancer: *Humming the tune*
Twinkle: Brush a coat of paint on and, you know, get a surprise,
Dodge: You'll open your eyes,
Dieserella: And faint!
Lucky: You won't believe,
Twinkle: What wonders you'll, like, achieve,
Dodge: With a fresh coat of paint!
Dieserella: With a fresh...
Lucky: Coat of paint!

It didn't seem very long before their thirty minutes were up, and Dodge didn't have any more of his magical materials.
"Oh well," Dieserella sighed. "Let's go back down to Earth. The rest of the ponies can stay here. Desiree will have some more grass and cucumber."
"Yes, but no more of the magical rainbow food colouring." Dodge said. "And that's what really created the paint. I only added the other stuff because I like to include my favourite food in everything... However," Dodge reached back into his magical rucksack. "I've got nine more pots of it still in my bag!"
"Well, it looks like we'll be able to paint quite a bit more of Ponyland then!" Truly smiled.
"Yes, but not enough..." Lucky muttered. "The Black Pony has taken Ponyland for good now."
"Oh, don't be so dreary." Dodge laughed. "Anyhow, what does Ponyland matter? The Black Pony may have taken our home, but he hasn't taken away our friends, and friends are what make life worth living!"

[shadow=red,left,300]To Be Continued...[/shadow]

[Lancer]

CHAPTER FOUR

The two ponies, three guinea pigs and rabbit slept at the top of the rainbow that night. When they awoke the following morning, it was snowing. Flurries of snow stung their eyes.
"Well, at least it seems the weather has sure got back on course!" Dodge laughed. "Let's get down the rainbow as quick as possible. The faster we get to the Rescue Home, the faster we get to shelter!"
So they began sliding down the rainbow! It only took a few seconds, as they had thought, and then they were in the Rescue Home's garden. Desiree was out there too, singing...
"There's always another rainbow..."
"Rainbow..." echoed another voice. Desiree turned around, having heard it. But there was nobody there. It had sounded like Truly, but she'd gone to Ponyland with the other MLP's yesterday. She wouldn't be coming back yet - surely!
"It must just be my imagination." Desiree thought to herself, and began to sing again.
"Search until you find it..."
"Find it..." Echoed a voice that sounded exactly like Lancer's. But there was nobody there. Once again, she convinced herself that it was just her imagination. And so she started to sing again, and tried to ignore the voices who kept echoing her in her head...

(To the tune of "There's Always Another Rainbow" from the MLP Movie)

Desiree: There's always another rainbow,
Truly: Rainbow...
Desiree: Search until you find it,
Lancer: Find it...
Desiree: Don't look at the cloud,
Dieserella: The cloud!
Desiree: Look behind it,
Dodge: Behind it!
Desiree: There's a rainbow there somewhere!
Dieserella: Somewhere!
Desiree: There's always a ray of sunshine,
Dodge: My sunshine!
Desiree: Though it all seems tragic,
Truly: It's tragic.
Desiree: You may turn around and like magic,
Lancer: True magic!
(Desiree turns around and sees the ponies and guinea pigs standing behind her)
Desiree: You'll find friends are always there!
Desiree/Dodge: Once you felt forlorn,
Desiree/Dieserella: But now hope's been reborn.
Desiree/Truly: We tried to lose that frown,
Desiree/Lancer: Looked up, not down!
Desiree/Dodge: And we found another rainbow,
Desiree/Dieserella: I can guarantee it!
Desiree/Truly: Even though we'd reached that bitter rainbow's end!
Desiree/Lancer: There's always another rainbow,
Desiree/Truly: We CAN find that other rainbow,
Desiree/Lancer: Round the bend!

When the ponies had explained their predicament, Desiree agreed to let them stay at the Rescue Home for one more night. Then the next day she would join them in Ponyland to help them to get their home back.
She went up the rainbow with the two ponies, the three guinea pigs and the rabbit, and saw just how bad the situation was!
"We'll never be able to sort it all out!" Desiree said.
"Yes, we will." Dodge said, cheerfully. "I have nine pots of magical food colouring! Look at how we improved Posey's garden with the last pot!"
Desiree looked, and saw that, sure enough, the part of Ponyland where they had used the last pot of paint looked as good as new!
"Yes, but Dodge..."
"And, as long as you give me more cucumber and grass," The guinea pig continued to speak excitedly, "Then I can make another big pot of paint and..."
"But Splodge..."
"My name is Dodge, the magical Ponyland guinea pig, not Splodge; He's just my boring twin brother!" Dodge laughed at the mistake Desiree had made in her desperation to get through to him.
"All right then, DODGE, how do you propose to paint the whole of Ponyland in four and a half hours, which is how long your food colouring supply will last us?" Desiree questioned. "We wouldn't even get the whole of Paradise Lake painted in that time..." She looked around at the huge dried-up lake.
"Well, I...uh...uh...I'm sure we can do something." Dodge stammered.
"So long as the Black Pony doesn't attack again." Lucky moaned.
"Oh, don't be like that!" Dodge cried. "Of course he won't attack again!"
But Dodge was mistaken, as the ponies were soon to find out...

[shadow=red,left,300]To Be Continued...[/shadow]

[Lancer]

CHAPTER FIVE

The rainbow from Earth lead up to just in front of the Waterfall, which is quite a long way from Paradise Estate, meaning it was a long journey for the group of friends to show Desiree the damage to the central building in Dream Valley.
Desiree was horrified to see all of the smashed furniture, and the broken roof.
"I can't believe it. Where did the Black Pony come from anyway, and why is he doing this to us?"
"I have no idea." Dodge replied. "But I wish he's go back there, wherever it was. Of course, it will give me a chance to show my bravery, when I, the magical Ponyland guinea pig, manage to stop him! But to stop..."
But just then, Dodge was stopped from talking by a loud sound...
There was an evil cackle, followed by;
"I'm going to cover Ponyland in Smooze,
Go and warn your the other ponies - there's no time to lose!"
You only have a few moments, Go and save your friends,
There's no way to stop me, Ponyland's reached it's end!"
The Black Pony cackled again.
The ponies were all playing in the field outside Paradise Estate, so Desiree, Truly, Lancer, Dieserella, Lucky, Twinkle and Dodge had to shout out to get their attention, "THE SMOOZE IS COMING!!!"
All of the MLP's turned at once and began to gallop across the field back to the Waterfall, and rainbow slide, blocking the path for their friends, who were also the ones who had warned them, and probably saved their lives!
It was so unbelievable, that the group of friends didn't even try to join the stampede. They watched with their mouths open, waiting for the path to clear a little.
But by that time it was too late. They saw a horrendous sight coming towards them, The Black Pony Of Darkness and four of his helpers, and all of them were riding in an enormous black ship on a sea of thick, purple gloop!
Of course, you already know about the Black Pony, but maybe it is time to introduce you to the first four of his helpers - 1. Mary Cluckton, 2. Eleanor Glastonbury, 3. Anne Villiers and 4. Susan Dewberry.
Still, the friends stood completely still, eyes widened in terror now. If they didn't make a move soon, they would be Smoozed!
"And that's not your only problem!" The Black Pony cackled, and with a glint of his fierce red eyes, the ponies saw a lightning bolt appear, and other things began to happen. Flames shot up in patches throughout the field, and in other places huge pools of boiling hot water that would almost certainly burn anyone unfortunate enough to fall in to death! A mixture of steam from the pools and smoke from the fires made it hard for the ponies to even see where they were going.
The Black Pony laughed. "You'll never stop me this time!" And he, and the four human helpers, began to sing.

(To the tune of the Smooze song from MLP: The Movie)

Mary/Eleanor: Something bad is coming down! Have you heard the news?
Smooze: Listen up!
Anne/Susan: Duck that slime!
You're running out of time!
Black Pony: Nothing can stop the Smooze!
Smooze: You can't stop me!
Mary/Eleanor: See the way it slithers forth?
Spilling globs of ooze!
Smooze: I love ooze!
Black Pony: Here it comes! Right now!
Nothing can stop the Smooze!
Smooze: No way!
Anne/Susan: You can't escape it, you can't escape it, you haven't got a chance!.
Smooze: Yeah!
Black Pony: That evil goo is a witch's brew!
Helpers: No matter what you do, it's gonna get to you! Oooooo!
Everyone who tries to fight has a guarantee to lose!
Smooze: Guarantee!
Helpers: You can't win!
You'll have to pack it in!
Black Pony/Helpers: Nothing can stop the Smooze!
Smooze: Don't even try!
Black Pony/Helpers: Here comes the Smooze causing alarm,
It's gonna do you no end of harm!
There is no way to stop,
Our gooey, gooey glop! Ooooooh!
If we had to find a way to make Ponyland news,
The Smooze is what we'd always choose!
We won't swap,
Nothing else could top
Our crop of unstoppable Smooooooooze!
Smooze: I love to Smooze!
Black Pony/Helpers: Smoooooooze! Nothing can stop the Smooze!
Smooze: Smooze...

Lucky was the first to make a move, followed by Dodge, Twinkle, Dieserella, Truly, Lancer, and finally, Desiree. They ran as quickly as they could through the twisting paths between flames and boiling pools. They had to watch their step carefully, because of the before-mentioned steam and smoke.
"HELP!" Dieserella cried, as she tripped over a little branch that one of the ponies had left on the grass following a game. She fell flat on her nose, and Truly and Lancer leaped over her. Desiree scooped the little guinea pig into her arms, but the Smooze was coming ever nearer... Illogically, the Smooze didn't do any harm to the flames at all - it just oozed over them!
She caught up with the others, and put Dieserella back in line with the other guinea pigs. But as she tried to reach over Truly to do this, she fell over herself, and was left coughing and spluttering beneath the smoky sky. She could hear the Smooze coming nearer, but she was just too tired to get up. The others noticed that Desiree had gone from their group, and they all turned at once, bumping into each other, and causing a kind of pony/guinea pig/rabbit domino effect!
"Wait here!" Dodge cried. "I'll go and get her!"
"But you can't, Dodge!" Dieserella answered. "You'll never be able to get her off of the ground, due to her size in comparison to yours!"
"I'll find a way, Diesel!" Dodge replied, angrily. "I'm a magical Ponyland guinea pig, after all!"
"I don't think that you will, Dodge." Lucky said, his eyes darting back and forth nervously, as he heard the Smooze ooze nearer!
"I will!" he replied, and ran toward Desiree, followed by his owner.
Together, Lancer and his guinea pig managed to get Desiree to her feet, and on to Truly's back.
Suddenly, Desiree Mum, Jacqui appeared. It turned out that she had followed them up the rainbow into the chaos.
"Come on!" Desiree cried. "We need to get out of here!"
But Jacqui made a big fuss over riding a Pony Tales pony who "might stand up on its back legs", so the two ponies had to waste further time switching riders.
"We'll never like, make it in time!" Twinkle sobbed.
"Yes, we will, honey!" His owner smiled, letting both Twinkle and Dieserella up onto her back along with Jacqui, while Lancer carried Dodge and Lucky.
They continued on to the rainbow, and slid down to safety. A few drops of Smooze followed, that's how close it had been! But the ponies managed to jump clear just in time!
For now, they were safe.
But what to do about Ponyland? Was there any way they could ever get it back now?

[shadow=red,left,300]To Be Continued...[/shadow]

[Lancer]

CHAPTER SIX

The ponies stood around the back garden of the Rescue Home, and spilled out down the alley, throughout the front garden and house. Some were even out in the road outside!
"What are we going to do?" Sugar Apple cried, sadly.
"We'll go back up there," Rosedust fluttered her wings, hovering in the air along with what seemed like a thousand other Flutter Ponies and Pegasi, trying to leave the ground clear for Earth Ponies and Unicorns. "And we'll blow the Smooze away with Utter Flutter."
"It might be best to leave it just a few minutes." Desiree said, thinking of the sheer amount of Smooze right at the top of the rainbow, which would leave the Flutter Ponies in a vulnerable position as they entered Ponyland. "Then The Black Pony Of Darkness may have gone away..."
"All right, that's what we'll do then, although I can't see how anything bad could possibly happen on such a beautiful day!" Morning Glory cried, still daydreaming.

Ten minutes later, the Flutter Ponies went back into Ponyland as promised, and managed to blow the Smooze right back to Nightmare Castle and clogged up the windows!
"I shouldn't think he'll be getting out for a while!" Giggled Forget-Me-Not.
"No." Peach Blossom agreed. "Ponyland will be safe...but only if we are able to bring it back to life." She sighed, looking around at all of the damage.
"It's not up to us now." Honeysuckle said. "We've done our bit. Now we have to let Desiree and the other ponies take over!"
"I agree absolutely." Tropical Breeze smiled.

And by the time they got back to Dream Valley, everybody was already hard at work.
"The work won't be complete for ages!" Lucky moaned. "And we sold our field - back to the people who sold it to us in the first place, I think. So where will we sleep now?"
"Well, in Ponyland, of course." Dodge smiled.
"But where? The whole place is a huge mess! It'll take months...years..." Lucky made an exaggerated gesture with his paw at the damage surrounding the group of friends.
"No, it won't. I was just wondering...has anybody seen the Rainbow Of Light?"
"Oh, yes, indeed!" Said Dieserella. "It's in a chest of drawers in the main bedroom in Paradise Estate. What do you want it for?"
"Well, couldn't it help us?" Dodge asked, and winked at Cupcake who went and retrieved the magic locket.
"We don't have to use any ordinary tools," Dieserella smiled. "We can just use the Rainbow Of Light!"
"And then," Dodge said, "We can start enjoying ourselves again, because Ponyland will be saved, and we won't have to do any work at all, thanks to one idea from one Magical Ponyland Guinea Pig!"

(To the tune of "In No Time At All" from "The Ghost Of Paradise Estate")
Desiree: In no time at all,
Dodge: We'll have things back in shape,
Twinkle: Everything will be, you know, how it was!
Dieserella: Birds will start to sing again,
Lucky: Bees will start to buzz!
Truly: In no time at all,
Lancer: You'll be shouting out with glee,
Desiree: When you see our world of rainbow fantasy!
Dodge: Though the task is far from small,
Twinkle: And it's, like, so hard when you're not very tall!
Diserella: With a little faith and trust,
Lucky: We'll make lettuce pies from dust!
Truly: In just no...
Lancer: ...time at all!

The ponies gazed around in wonder ~ Ponyland was back to normal, with just a little help from the Rainbow Of Light, and Dodge, the magical Ponyland guinea pig!
"Just perhaps we'll be able to stop The Black Pony Of Darkness with the Rainbow Of Light!" Desiree said.
Twinkle thought this was a very good idea, and squeaked his approval. "That's, like, such a great idea, Desiree!" he said. "I think that's exactly what we should do, you know?"
"But not right now," Desiree grinned. "After all, the Black Pony has Smoozed himself inside his castle, with just a little help from the Flutter Ponies! Now I must go and see your brother, Sparkle." Desiree set Twinkle, who she had been sitting on Truly's bed, hugging, down on the floor.
"Yes, and, like, give him an extra big celery tart from me!" Twinkle laughed.
"Of course I will!" Desiree said, and walked back toward the rainbow...

The End