1. Truly's Trouble

[Lancer]

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first story in the "My Little Pony Magic" series. This series was originally written as a series of cassette tapes for my family (I hope to be a voice artiste one day, and enjoy practising the old MLP voices!), so it might not make much sense sometimes.

I hope you enjoy this story, but please remember not to read this within three hours of bedtime, because it is so scary that it might give you a nightmare!



(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!
Truly's Trouble is our very first tale,
We know you'll enjoy it - it will cheer you up without fail!
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic!
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Magic!
Truly, Lancer, Lofty, Dieserella and Soapy,
Lots more characters for you - come and join the ponies!
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

It was Desiree Skylark's 11th birthday. She'd opened all her presents, and she wasn't going out. And so she'd decided to throw a party that evening for all of her My Little Pony toys. But first she must go in the garden, to find Lickety Split, one of her favourite ponies. She thought that she had opened all her gifts, which was why, when she went in the garden, she was going to get a surprise!

Deep in the clouds, where no person had ever been before, there is a magical place called Ponyland. The My Little Ponies live here - they're cheerful, brightly coloured creatures, who spend their days frolicking in the meadows and rarely have anything to worry about. There are many special events in Ponyland, and today was "Pony Sports Day". One of the ponies favourite sports was called "Bouncercatch". One pony held a ball in her hoof and bouced it to her opponent. As she did this, she must shout "Bouncer..." and as her opponent caught the ball, she must shout "Catch!" The first pony to get the ball past her opponent would go on to the next round and challenge another MLP. The overall winner would win a prize - a gold cup.
The ponies thought they would have a lot of fun, as they always did on "Sports Day", which was why they were in for a nasty shock.
Ace was in a very bad mood. He always expected to win everything, but this year he had lost "Bouncercatch" to a pony named Parasol, who had gone on tolose in the next round. He was now moaning at her, and telling her that she had broken the rules by bouncing the ball in completely the wrong direction...he wouldn't have lost otherwise, of course!
Although Ace annoyed the ponies though, he wasn't their only worry, and certainly not the worst, because suddenly, there came a ver worrying noise!

Desiree wandered into her garden and soon spotted Lickety Split sitting on the wall. She picked her up and began to play a little game, pretendeing that the pony was picking flowers for the party. A few minutes later, Desiree became bored, and started to wander back to the house. As she did this, she spotted the strangest thing she had ever seen. The strangest creature she had ever seen. The strangest insect she had ever seen. It was...a red ant!!!

Back in Ponyland, Ace was no longer moaning at Parasol, since Parasol had told him what had truly happened. What had really happened, of course, was that she had bounced the ball straight at Ace, as the game rules stated, and Ace hadn't caught it. Ace had stomped off in a huff, and was now...guess what he was doing now? He was having another argument - this time with a pony called Buttons, who also believed that she should win everything. She said that if Ace and herself had been the last ponies to compete against each other, she would have won, and Ace said that he would have.
Their argument went something like this:
"Ace! Of course you wouldn't have won! Just look at this!" Buttons went on to bounce a ball until she dropped it.
"Of course you wouldn't have won - just LOOK!" Ace replied. Boucing a ball from one hoof to the other, and dropping it in an even shorter time than Buttons.
Sweetheart broke into their argument.
"It's neither here nor there whether you would have won or not, Ace." she said to the bad tempered pony. "You're not going to win now...and anyway, at least you won a few games - I lost in the first round!"
"Well, that's because you're totally useless!" Ace retorted.
Sweetheart ran off. There was only one thing that could stop Buttons and Ace arguing - and that very thing happened...a noise broke out over Ponyland.
There was an evil cackle followed by some words in a very nasty voice:
"I'm going to catch all of you, but I want white pony in particular!"
There was another evil cackle.
Then the noise stopped, just as suddenly as it had started.
The ponies looked at each other nervously. That had stopped Buttons and Ace from arguing.
The ponies stood silent, and the noise started once again!
"I'll give you a clue - the white pony I want is playing Bouncercatch!"
There was another evil cackle, and then silence. The ponies waited for it to return and give them a better clue...but it didn't. Everything was silent.
"Well, who can it be?" Asked Cupcake, fearfully. "Surely not me?"
"No, it can't be you." Wind Whistler said. "You're the only white pony who isn't playing Bouncercatch - you're just baking cakes for us all!"
"I suppose your right..." said Cupcake.
"Does it really matter who it is?" Asked a little pony called Dandy. "I know it isn't me, because I'm blue, but I don't see it matters who it is! We just have to rescue the mystery pony!"
"Nobody is in trouble quite yet...now let's think..who's a white pony playing Bouncercatch?" Starflower said.
"Every white pony apart from me - we already worked that out!" Cupcake cried.
"So it could be any white pony apart from Cupcake..." Starflower muttered to herself.
"I doubt if it's you." Lofty said to Paradise, kindly.
Paradise smiled. "I know I've heard of that strange voice and evil cackle before - somewhere in an old legend. I think it was a Black..."
Paradise didn't get any further, because the whole of Ponyland suddenly went crazy. Ponies ran fearfully in all directions, and soon very few MLP's remained in the meadow.
"What shall we do?" Asked Angel, when the few remaining ponies had calmed down a little.
"I know what we'll do!" Paradise cried. "No, that wouldn't work... I know that I've heard of that eveil cackle and nasty voice before." She repeated herself from earlier. "But I can't remember who they belonged to!"
"Never mind about that now." Lofty said. "Let's think about what we can do... We could send a message to someone who collects the plastic ponies down on Earth - that's what we normally do when we're in trouble." The yellow Pegasus thought for a moment. "But we must consider this carefully - a lot of young collectors wouldn't be strong or brave enough to help us, and a lot of older collectors would endanger us by telling other humans where we live. Last time that something like this happened, we didn't consider the consequences, and we contacted several humans, who did anything but help us!"
"You're right." Sweetheart agreed. "We don't want that happening again."
"No." Lofty said, thinking of something which had happened a while ago. "We don't want any more disappearing. It doesn't seem that they will ever return. We don't even know where they went!" But I believe that those humans we called upon before may still be in Ponyland!" The pony was speaking in a whisper now, as though frightened that somebody may hear her. "We must make sure that it's someone we can trust not to pas on information. She must be the only person who knows."
"I know who we can send a message to!" Lancer cried. "Somebody who has a birthday today. And a birthday is a perfect excuse to send a parcel. Do you know who I'm talking about?"
There was a pause, before several ponies cried out the name:
"DESIREE SKYLARK!"

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER TWO

Desiree stared at the red ant. There was nothing strange about it...except for the fact that it was only a bit smaller than a Petite Pony! A whole line of these big red ants marched out of the hole, and then one ant that was even bigger than a Petite Pony chased them out...this must be their boss.
"What are you staring at?!" The ant asked Desiree.
"I...I...I've seen lots of ants before," Said Desiree, "But I've never seen an ant as big as you - or one that can talk!"
"Well!" The ant spoke again. His voice sounded relatively quiet to Desiree, but the girl guessed that he would have been very loud if he was talking to another ant. "If you want something to stare at, go over there!" He pointed with his antennae towards the garden pond, which had gone into ruin a while ago.
"OK," Said Desiree, "I didn't mean to make you so angry."
Desiree raced over the grass.
The ant shouted after her, but Desiree only heard it as a whisper.
"I saw something drop in there a few minutes ago."
Desiree parted the long grass that surrounded the pond and, sure enough, there was a large box. A note on the lid read: "Happy Birthday, Desiree! Please open IMMEDIATELY!"
Jacqui (Desiree's Mum) must have hidden it there as a surprise. Desiree opened the box and found a key, a bell, a little box with a ribbon around it, and a small note.
Desiree read the note:
"Dear Desiree,
We need help. The parcel will explain more. Please open immediately."
Desiree quickly opened the parcel. When she looked inside the box, she saw a pony she'd been looking for for ages - her name was Firefly. She then noticed some more writing on the back of the note she had just read...
"Please put the pony in the box, and lock the box!"
So Desiree placed Firefly in the box, although she didn't know why she had to - the box was so big compared to the pony...Desiree could have easily fitted inside it! She turned the key in the lock, and heard a mad scrabbling noise from inside the box!
"Oh no!" Desiree thought, "A mouse must have got in the box - and it will chew my new pony!"
But when Desiree opened the box up again, the noises stopped. There was no mouse in the box...just the pony she had placed inside - but now Firefly stood in a DIFFERENT POSE!!! Desiree stared at the pony in amazement. Surely, she hadn't moved by herself. Desiree said this aloud.
"Now that's where you're wrong!" Said Firefly.
"A talking pony?!" Desiree cried in disbelief.
"I can fly too - at least I could before my wings got soaked!" Firefly muttered, flapping her wings in disgust. "I got soaked on the way down - it's pouring with rain in Ponyland!"
"What?" Desiree said. "You're from Ponyland? Are you the real Firefly? But you were a plastic toy just a moment ago!"
"I am the real Firefly, but I am inside a plastic toy." The pony explained to Desiree theat she was down on Earth because the ponies had heard a strange noise and needed help.
"Paradise thinks that she's heard about this voice before in an old legend. But she can't remember the name - she thinks it was "The Black..." something. I seem to recall a name - The Black Pony Of Darkness. We call him The Black Pony Of Darkness in legends, but his real name is The Black Pony Of Doom, or The Black Pony Of Death!"
"What?" Desiree cried. "Why is he called such names?"
"Because he does really nasty things to ponies, which is why I am worried - I haven't told anyone what I think, because I hope to solve the problem before it gets too bad!"
Dieselbelle, one of Desiree's pet guinea pigs, started to run around in circles, as though terrified by what she had just heard.
"It's already pouring with rain!" Firefly continued. "And that must have been brought by The Black Pony - it came on so sudedenly that there can be no other cause!" Firefly elegantly fluttered her wings. "I'll have to get back to Ponyland now, Desiree! I don't feel like flying all the way there, and I can't fly now that I'm so wet!"
"OK, I'll send you back through the box." Desiree agreed.
"Thank you." Firefly said. "If you climb in the box, you can travel to Ponyland as well."
"Can I?"
"Yes." The pink Pegasus replied. "When can you come? I want you to help us with this problem - if it is The Black Pony Of Darkness, we could need a lot of help!"
"I wonder...What do I have to do?" Desiree aked.
"You travel to Ponyland through the box when somebody turns the key. Then you ring the magic bell when you want to come back, and the person who turned the key will hear it! When can you come?"
"I can't come tomorrow. That's Thursday. I can't come on Friday either. Saturday I'll be going out, as I will be on Sunday. Monday...no... I don't know when I'll be able to come." Desiree finished.
"OK then." Firefly said. "Sleep on it! I must go back to Ponyland now, Desiree. Please - do it quickly!"
Desiree put Firefly back in the box, closed the lid and turned the key.
"Goodbye, Firefly!" Desiree called. But Firefly was already drifting away, back to Ponyland...

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER THREE

It was the Black Pony and he had decided to make a potion. He would pour it into Paradise Lake, and when the "White Pony" took a sip of water from the lake, she would be transported to the dungeon in the Black Pony's castle. He mixed together some sand and grass and then placed three sthingys on top of the mixture. He tapped the sand and grass three times with the three sthingys, and the mixture magically turned to glittering water. Unfortunately, the glittery water in Paradise Lake looked so much like the nasty concoction that no pony would notice a difference.
"That should trick you!" The Black Pony Of Darkness laughed to himself. He carefully stepped down to Paradise Lake and poured the mixture in.
"Done!" He said to himself, and walked back to his castle.

Desiree had a restless sleep that night. She tossed and turned, thinking about what Firefly had told her.
Had it all really happened or was it just a dream?
How could a pony come to life? Her mum had always told her that the MLP's didn't really exist!
Who was the white pony who was in trouble?
So many questions and no answers.
She never thought she was going to get a chance to go to Ponyland. On May 16th, Jacqui never left the room for long enough for Desiree to slip away unnoticed. The same thing happened on the 17th.
18th May was a Saturday and Desiree and her family went out shopping.
On the 19th, they went on a guided bird walk at 5am.
20th May was Monday, and her Dad was finally back at work, but she was preparing for her rabbit, Clover's, birthday on the 21st.
The 21st was Clover's birthday, andhe had a three day long party to celebrate (one day for each year of his life)...meaning that the party continued until the 23rd.
24th May was Bubbles's birthday - Bubbles was Desiree's pet guinea pig.
What with attending all of these parties, she didn't get a chance.

Up in Ponyland, the ponies were preparing for yet another Sports Day. The event would take place on 1st June. This was a Saturday and the festivities would continue over the Bank Holiday.
The ponies were in a panic, running around trying to get everything sorted out in time. They were racing around, hanging decorations everywhere. This Sports Day was in aid of charity. Each pony chose his or her own charity to support. The other ponies sponsored their friends, and all of the money that the MLP's won would go to their chosen charity.
There were also competitions just for fun, such as the "Ring The Bell" game. In this game, a pony had to kick a ball down a path and hit a bell at the other end of the path with the ball.

Desiree was just wondering who she could trust to tell about the ponies so that she could get them to turn the key for her. She had thought about bringing a pony from Ponyland (like Firefly) down to Earth through a plastic pony, and get her to turn the key...but Desiree was unsure that a pony would be keen to leave Ponyland for that length of time.
Desiree gazed at the bell that she would have to ring when she wanted to return from Ponyland. It was gold with a pink ribbon tied around the top and had some strange things carved into it. There was a picture of a hose, a girl's face, corn on the cob and two bolts of lightning. It also had some words inscribed inside it:
Dear L,
Just ring. Help will come. Tell me I am perfectly correct, although I have little chance of that. Been busy but I have now painted the ring so I will contact you soon.
Love from CLM
Desiree walked down her garden path, thinking about this inscription, when she saw a necklace sparkling down on the earth. She put it down on the floor and, to her surprise, Bubbles, her guinea pig, slipped it on! As soon as he was wearing the necklace, Bubbles could speak!
And that meant that Desiree could speak to Bubbles, and ask him to turn the key for her.

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER FOUR

"Right," Desiree thought to herself, "Tomorrow is June 1st. Although it's a Saturday, maybe I can sneak into the back room where I've left the box, and pretend to be rehearsing my latest pony play. Then I canjump in the box, get Bubbles to turn the key, and I can go to Ponyland." And so, that's what she decided to do.

Sadly, yet again on Saturday, she didn't get a chance. All day, she was either busy, or one of her parents would have noticed her disappearance. However, on Sunday 2nd June, she did have a chance. So she took Bubbles into the back room and closed the door behind her. That way, hopefully nobody would notice the going of her! She slipped the necklace around Bubbles neck and spoke to him.
"I want you to turn this key for me, Bubbles. Look at this key!" Desiree showed the guinea pig the golden key with the pink metal bow molded on the top.
"You have to turn it in this lock..." She pointed at the big lock on the magic box, "...and when you hear this sound..." She rang the bell, "...You need to turn the key the other way and bring me back home. You will get a lettuce reward for your efforts." She said, as she put the bell back in her pocket.
"Now, Bubbles, is that all clear? I don't want to get lost!"
Bubbles squeaked in reply, the squeak travelled through the magic necklace, and turned to a "Yes."
"Squeak, squeak, eeeek, screak, squeak, squeak!" He spoke into the necklace in guinea pig language, but it came out as "But I would prefer a money reward, so that I can get you to buy me some guinea pig treats of my choice at the pet shop."
"You can have whatever you like." Desiree said, and went through the necklace as "Squeak, squawk, squeak, squeak, squeak, squawk!"
That was how the necklace worked. Desiree jumped into the box and closed the lid behind herself....

Rainbow colours swirled around her. Soon she was lost in a beautiful rainbow made entirely out of brightly coloured stars. The next thing she knew, she was in the middle of a field. She gazed around and in the distance she saw a pink building. She ran towards it, thinking it was Paradise Estate. But when she got a little nearer, she realised it was Dream Castle.
I wonder how big these ponies are? Desiree thought. Are they only as big as their plastic counterparts? Have I already run past some? But then she saw a pony ahead of her - it was Majesty. Majesty was about the same height as Desiree, if not a little taller.
"Hello, Desiree!" The white unicorn said. "Do you know which pony is in trouble?"
"No, I don't. Do you know?" Desiree asked.
"No, unfortunately not." Majesty replied. "That's why I hoped you would know the answer."
"Well, I'll do what I can to help." Desiree said, "But I don't know things like that - I'm not telepathic! I don't even have as many magic powers as you ponies."
Majesty giggled and replied, "No, you probably don't. Although there is one creature that our magic can not be used against; the humans from Earth. They can cause more damage with scissors, felt tip pens and other such materials than our magic could ever stop." Majesty said, sadly.
Desiree didn't like the sound of this, and quickly changed the subject. "I've heard that the pony is a white one?" Desiree suddenly realised that Majesty was white - perhaps she had already found the victim!
As though the unicorn had read her thoughts, Majesty replied, "I will look after myself." Then she began to twirl her horn as she sang...
"Desiree! Desiree! Off you go!
Hurry now! Don't be slow!
Save her, save her, pony white!
We've entered a dark tunnel, but at the end there is light!"
Desiree closed her eyes during this little song, and when she re-opened them, she found herself in Paradise Estate's courtyard! he didn't know what had happened, but she guessed it must be to do with Majesty's twirling horn.
She walked into the living room and saw around 100 white ponies!
"Desiree!" Chief called out.
"Who does the strange voice belong to?" The 12 Birthflower Ponies asked together.
Carnation looked at Desiree. "I'm so worried. Who is the white pony?"
Desiree looked around. Soon, all of the white MLP's were asking her questions that she couldn't answer.
"Do you know wh the white pony is, or not?" Merry Treat called impatiently.
"No, I'm afraid I don't." Desiree replied.
Could I please have another clue, whoever you are?" Stockings called out, hoping to get a reply from the strange voice they had heard a fortnight previously.
Firefly raced over to the girl. "This crowd of ponies has been here, ever since whatever it was sent that message!" Firefly began to whisper. "I still think it was the creature that I told you about, but I don't want anyone else to know...or they really will start to panic! There was an invasion from that creature a few years ago, but three ponies lead the way, and we managed to defeat him. Why have you taken so long to come here? I hope you aren't going to take this long every time!"
"I'm really sorry." Desiree apologised. "I just haven't had a chance until today." She began to list everything that she had been doing, such as a guided ornothological walk, and attending parties. Somehow, they didn't seem to be as important as saving a white pony's life!
Luckily, nobody had drunk the poisoned Paradise Lake water yet. They had enough water stored at Paradise Estate - there was a special tank at the back of the Estate which pumped its water from Lavender Lagoon, which apparantly had cleaner water that Paradise Lake.
"It hasn't rained in Dream Valley since May 15th when I came down to Earth, and it hasn't rained in Friendship Gardens for even longer!" Firefly said. "In fact, it's been so hot that the land is starting to dry up! That's something else I'm worried about..."
"Where's Truly?" Desiree asked, as she realised that her personal favourite white pony wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Oh, Truly went to collect some water from Paradise Lake for us. Lavender Lagoon has dried up, so we had to get some drinking water from elsewhere. Truly was so desperate for a drink that she offered to walk all the way there, and get the water for us, whilst taking the time to have a drink herself.
Of course, Desiree thought nothing of this...she didn't know what was going to happen!

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER FIVE

In fact, nobody knew what was going to happen. By Wednesday, Lavender Lagoon had been completely drained of water. The ponies had drunk every drop, and it still hadn't rained.
They had to start drinking the water that Truly had collected from Paradise Lake. On Saturday, Truly was still in Dream Valley. Nothing had happened to her.
Truly was preparing for Pony Sports Day. The charity event had been cancelled, because it had been so hot on June 1st. The following Saturday was cooler though, so the ponies decided to make Sunday the new date for Pony Sports Day.
Truly was just helping to prepare for the gymkhana, when Lemon Drop looked up at the spot where she was standing...or rather, had been standing!
"Where's she gone?" Lemon Drop thought aloud.
"Who?" Asked Cotton Candy.
"Yes, who are you talking about, Lemon Drop?" Asked Peachy.
"Well, I was just setting up the fences for the ponies to jump over tomorrow, and when I looked up, Truly was gone!"
"What?!" Posey exclaimed, trotting over to the small group of MLP's. "I was just setting up the flower jump over there - what's happening!"
The ponies quickly explained.
"Where can she have gone?" Cotton Candy exclaimed.
"She must have gone back to Paradise Estate." Said Lemon Drop.
"Why would she have done that?" Asked Posey.
"It doesn't matter - Come on!" Lemon Drop cried over her shoulder, as she trotted off, "We've just GOT to find her!"
But the search failed.
"She's gone!" Said Lickety Split.
"Well, I think that we had better tell the other ponies what has happened." Peachy said.
But as the ponies bagan to race off to alert the other MLP's, they were stopped in their tracks - they didn't get a chance to pass the information on to the other ponies, because suddenly...the evil noise came back!

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER SIX

Desiree climbed back into the box and Bubbles turned the key. Soon she was back in Ponyland again. This time she arrived just outside Paradise Estate.
Lemon Drop, Posey, Cotton Candy and Peachy had already gone inside, so there were no ponies to be seen around the meadow. She walked inside and saw over one hundred ponies gathered in the Estate's giant Living Room. Whizzer flew over to her.
"Have you heard about the kidnapping?" She asked.
"We're so worried." Said Cupcake.
"What kidnapping?" Desiree asked. "Who's gone missing?"
"Haven't you heard?" Asked Princess Aquamarine. "Truly. She disappeared earlier today."
"Where did she go?" Desiree asked.
"Lemon Drop was just about to tell us that." Princess Aquamarine replied. "Look! Here she comes now!"
Desiree looked up and, sure enough, Lemon Drop was entering the room from the Kitchen.
"Hello, everybody!" She shouted. "I think that I've worked out what's happened to our missing pony!"
"While Peachy, Posey, Cotton Candy and I were out today, the strange voice gave us another clue. He said..." Lemon Drop impersonated the Black Pony, "'I think it's time for another clue, don't you?' And then he said, in a silly voice, 'Help! Help! Let me out!' And then he went on to say, 'You won'tbe getting out, White Pony!' And I think I've worked out who the White Pony is!" Lemon Drop said.
There was a gasp.
"Truly." The ponies whispered together.

A few minutes later, at almost 10pm, the ponies were still standing silently in Paradise Estate. Suddenly, Desiree broke the silence.
"Well, how would she have got to The..."
Firefly gave her a look, to tell her to be careful about what she said.
"How would she have got to this...monster?" Desiree asked.
"I don't know." Lemon Drop replied. "That's the one thing that I haven't figured out...hang on a moment! Oh no! I think I have worked it out!"
"I think I've worked it out too!" Desiree replied. "Think of everything that Truly has done in the last few days."
"Desiree - would you like to tell them?" Lemon Drop pleaded, not wanting to break the bad news to the other MLP's.
"OK." Desiree said, stepping into the place where Lemon Drop had been standing in the centre of the room. "She's been collecting Paradise Lake's water, hasn't she?" Desiree reminded the ponies. "It's quite obvious what's happened really. The Bla..."
"NO!!!" Firefly shouted.
Everyone turned and looked at Firefly. "What's wrong?" Asked Ice Crystal.
"Oh, nothing." Firefly said. "I think I've just worked out what's happening!"
Of course, Firefly had no idea. She had just wanted to stop Desiree telling the other ponies about The Black Pony Of Darkness.
"I think that the monster must have put some kind of potion in the water." Desiree explained. "Anybody who drinks the water will be taken to him...or her!" Desiree quickly added, trying to be as vague as possible, as Firefly wanted her to be.
The ponies gasped. "But we've all been drinking the water!" Cried Posey.
"I think it's got something to do with the lack of rain too. The monster probably wanted to force you to drink the Paradise Lake water." Desiree said. "It's probably been in the water a long time, which is why it takes so long to work but, much as I hate to say it, I believe that within the next few days, you will all be taken to..."
The ponies started to race around, crazily. "He said he'd get us all!" Tex cried.
"Wait!" Desiree said. "Running around will do no good!" If you have drunk the water, you will be captured, whatever you do! So let's think of a plan to get the captured ponies back home!"
"Well, since we don't know where the ponies are going, how can we come up with a plan?" Asked Cherries Jubilee.
"I don't know." Desiree admitted. "But I must go back down to Earth now, otherwise my Mum will stop chatting to her uncle on the telephone, and she'll find that I'm gone! And then I won't be able to return!" Desiree rang her magic bell, and she faded away, just as Truly had done, hours before...

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER SEVEN

Luckily, Desiree was wrong. The ponies had started drinking the Paradise Lake water on the Monday after Desiree had first visited Ponyland. On the following Monday, no ponies had disappeared...or so they thought.
Every day, Bow Tie had the job of counting the ponies to check that nobody had disappeared. What they didn't know was that one MLP had already gone before they had begun counting.

Truly was sitting in a small room in Nightmare Castle, the Black Pony's home. The pony had a very small ration of food and what little food she did get, she had to share with the other missing pony (who nobody had noticed was missing) - Shady. Shady had known what was going on all along, because she had seen The Black Pony Of Darkness through her magic sunglasses, but, just like Firefly, she hadn't liked to say anything. She had drunk some of the Paradise Lake water just so that she would be taken to Truly, and hopefully be able to save her. But now both of the ponies were locked in the small room, and neither of them could find a way out.
As usual, in an attempt to help, Shady had got Truly into even more trouble.

Desiree arrived back in Ponyland.
"Has anybody else disappeared?" Desiree asked, anxiously.
"No." Said Applejack. "Not as far as we can see, at least." She knocked one of Lemon Drop's fences down.
"Well, I can think of somebody who's missing!" Lemon Drop cried, "Thank goodness you reminded me, Applejack! There's another clumsy pony who isn't present here!"
"Sundance?" A couple of ponies asked.
"No, I'm right here!" The little white pony responded, having heard her name spoken.
"No," Lemon Drop said, "The other missing pony is Shady."

Desiree raced around, looking for Nightmare Castle. Firefly had told her all about it, so now Desiree knew what she was looking for. Suddenly, she saw the huge grey castle with towering red turrets ahead of her! Before she knew what was happening, a huge cage fell over her, and she was transported inside the Castle.
"So how am I supposed to save them?" Desiree sighed.
But then, having thought about her situation a little, she realised that she could easily return to Earth by using her bell. She reached into her pocket...and found that the bell was gone!
"So you can't use that either!" Said a familiar nasty voice!

"Desiree? Desiree! Where are you? Oh no! She's gone missing!" Desiree's Mum was running frantically around the house. She'd just realised that Desiree was nowhere to be seen. She called for her daughter again, but received no reply.
Suddenly, Bubbles remembered something that his owner had told him...
He scrambled through the kitchen, up the stairs, and into Desiree's room, where he switched on a tape recording of Desiree's voice saying "I'm up here! I'm just reading a book!"
"Oh, OK!" Her Mum called back. "I thought you'd disappeared!"
"No!" Laughed the tape recording.

"What am I going to do?" Desiree asked herself. "I've come here to help the ponies, and now I can't even help myself!"
"Let's find a way out!" Said a little voice. Desiree looked around -there was nobody in sight! She looked down at her feet where she could feel something tugging at her sock.
She saw a little guinea pig, who looked exactly like...
"Dieselbelle!" Desiree cried. "You can talk! And how did you get here anyway?"
"I think you have me confused with my twin sister!" The guinea pig said, "My name is Dieserella, and I belong to Truly."
"Hello, Dieserella!" Desiree said.
"Let's find a way out!" The little guinea pig repeated.
"I have a way out." Desiree replied.
"How?" Dieserella asked. "Can I get out with you?"
"No." Desiree replied, sadly. "I had a magic bell, but I've lost it. I put my hand in my pocket and it wasn't there!"
"Well, this is a very long passageway, but at the end of it is a locked door. Although this passageway may look dark and dirty, it's actually much nicer than behind the door where the two ponies are being held!" Dieserella looked up at Desiree. "Please! Help me get into the room, and find my owner!" She pleaded.
Desiree agreed and Dieserella led the girl to the locked door.
"They're behind here." The guinea pig said.
"I don't see how we can open it." Desiree said, sadly.
"That's what I thought." Dieserella replied. "But I thought that somebody might be able to help. "I called for someone to help! And I thought that somebody had arrived - I thought that somebody was you..."

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER EIGHT

After Dieserella had spoken these words, Desiree was determined to do as the guinea pig expected and get into the locked room.
And then suddenly, she realised where the key was.
"I saw the key - just back there!" Desiree pointed at a pink rug with the letters CLM embroidered into it, and sure enough, the key was sticking out from under it!
Desiree unlocked the door, and the guinea pig and girl wandered into the room, just in time to hear the two ponies having a conversation.
"Oh no! Here he comes again!" Shady cried, as she saw the key turn in the lock.
"We've got to get out of here!" Truly shouted, rushing to the door, hoping to race out as "The Black Pony Of Darkness", who the two ponies believed it was, came walking in.
"Dieserella!" Truly cried, as she saw who was walking through the door.
"Truly!" Dieserella said, leaping towards her owner.
Desiree walked over to Shady, who was trying to say something over the excited squeaks of the guinea pig who had been reunited with her owner.
"This is all my fault!" Shady said. "I can't do anything right!"
"It's not your fault, Shady!" Desiree said.
"Yes, it is!" Shady insisted. "Everything I try and do always ends up wrong."
And the little pony and Desiree began to sing....

All wrong! All wrong!
All my plans always go all wrong!
All right! All right!
Everything's going to be all right!
All wrong! All wrong!
I'm a klutz and I don't belong!
All right! All right!
There is always some hope in sight!
When I heard about Truly,
"I'll save her!" is what I thought,
But everything I do goes haywire!
Shady, it's not your fault!
No one in the world is perfect,
It's time you saw the light!
You mean to say I'm not all wrong?
Uh-huh!
All right!
All right!

"Now that you believe me, Shady, I'm going to go and speak to Truly."
Desiree walked over to the little white pony.
"Have you seen a yellow bell with green hearts carved into it?" Desiree asked.
Truly looked puzzled for a moment, before she said, "Oh, yes! I did see something similar to that earlier - right over there!"
Desiree looked over in the direction where Truly was pointing, and saw an old, dusty tablecloth...
She carefully removed the dusty tablecloth and found a pile of very old videos. Each had scribbly writing on their labels, which happened to be in a code that Desiree didn't understand. She pushed the videos aside and found the bell.
"So now I can get home at any time!" She smiled.
"Well, I wish we could!" Shady said.
Suddenly, a balck shape loomed at the door.
"Go!" Truly cried. "Go, Desiree! GO!"
"Yeah! Get away before he comes in!" Shady shouted.
Desiree rang the bell and drifeted back down to Earth...

She didn't get back to Ponyland for over a week - 19th June 2002, a Wednesday.
As she asked Bubbles to turn the key, she hoped that the two ponies would have escaped. She arrived in Ponyland outside Nightmare Castle.
Going inside and finding the key, she unlocked the dungeon door and peered inside. She saw that the two ponies were there...along with another pony - The Black Pony Of Darkness! She closed the door as quietly as she could, hoping that the Black Pony hadn't seen her!
She noticed a door, which she hadn't seen before and quietly opened it and slipped outside, to a strangely beautiful garden behind the Castle. Desiree crouched down behind a wall, and peeked over it, at the one-way glass window in the Dungeon wall, where she could see the two MLP's cowering in a corner while the Black Pony shouted at them. Then she realised that somebody was sitting next to her behind the wall - Truly!
"What are you doing here?" Desiree whispered. "I just saw you in the dungeon!"
"The pony you saw was Sundance." Truly explained, quietly. "I managed to dig a hole in the dungeon floor and get out here, but the Black Pony discovered it before the others could get out!"
There was a low fence in the garden, which the ponies probably could have jumped over to freedom, but The Black Pony was walking into the garden now, and so they couldn't escape. Ashe walked into the garden, Truly and Desiree shot back through the hole into the dungeon - They filled in the hole with soft materials so that hopefully they would easily be able to move away in the near future, but in such a way that they could hide the evidence from the Black Pony.
The three ponies and Desiree huddled in the corner of the room, hoping that The Black Pony Of Darkness hadn't seen them filling in the hole.
"Where's Dieserella?" Desiree asked.
"She's right here." Sundance said, and the little guinea pig climbed over Shady and Desiree so that she could be comforted by her owner. Desiree told them that she must go and warn the other MLP's that more ponies were still being captured.
But unfortunately, by the time she'd rung the bell and got back to Earth, Jacqui had finished writing the letter to a friend that she had been composing when Desiree had left, and was now looking for her daughter.
Desiree just hoped that by the next time she went to Ponyland, the MLP's would have found a way out!

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER NINE

The next chance Desiree got to go to Ponyland was when Jacqui was typing an article for their local paper.
"Right," Desiree thought, rubbing her hands togther excitedly, "Here's my chance!"
She raced down the hall to get Bubbles. She carried him into the living room and sat him down on the sofa. Then she opened the box, and climbed inside.
"This is fun!" Bubbles said to himself, "Seeing my mother get stuck in a box!"
But Desiree didn't get stuck.
"Bubbles!" She called from inside the box. "Would you turn the key please?"
"Are you sure you're ready?" Bubbles laughed.
"Yes, I'm sure I'm sure!" Desiree called back. "This box is awfully cramped - could you do it quickly please?"
"Where is the key?" Bubbles asked.
"Right next to you!" Desiree replied.
Bubbles turned, and saw the key by his side. He quickly pushed the lid down and locked the box.
Rainbow colours swirled around her again.
"I'm so lucky." Desiree thought to herself, as she zoomed towards Ponyland. "It's been so long since I got my last chance to come to Ponyland, the ponies are bound to have escaped,and I'll never have to visit that dirty castle again!"
But she was quite wrong about that.
She arrived outside Paradise Estate and overheard a conversation between Cupcake and Whizzer.
"My question is why? What does he hope to gain?" Cupcake said.
"Where in the world have you been? Have you heard about the kidnapping?" Whizzer said to Desiree as she walked into the room.
"Yes, I have heard about the kidnapping." Desiree replied. "Truly, Shady and Sundance had been captured last time I was here, if you remember."
"Well, it's much worse than that now." Cupcake said.
"Why? What's happened?" Desiree asked.
Then suddenly the nasty, yet sadly now familiar, noise drifted over Ponyland once more...
Desiree heard the evil cackle followed by:
"I think that I can answer that for you myself, Desiree!
I've heard your name mentioned and you're not going to save the ponies!
I've caught three more little creatures for you to come and think that you're secretly visiting...but I know when you're here!"
The Black Pony Of Darkness laughed again.
"Yes, well, as I was saying..." Cupcake began, rather nervously. "Three more creatures have been captured by The Bla..." Cupcake stopped herself.
"You know too?" Desiree asked.
"Yes, but Whizzer doesn't..."
"What?" Whizzer said. "You know something that I don't know, Cupcake? Tell me immediately!"
"Firefly has instructed me not to tell any more ponies." Cupcake explained.
"Well then, you can count on me not to tell anyone else!" Whizzer replied. "Please, please tell me, Cupcake!"
"The thing that's capturing the ponies..." Desiree said for Cupcake, "...is The Black Pony Of Darkness!"
"Oh no! Oh no! I must warn the other ponies!" Whizzer cried, as she flew off.
"But you promised to keep the secret!" Cupcake cried.
"But that was before I knew what it was!" Whizzer replied.
"I'd better go and find them, hadn't I?" Desiree said. "Do you know who the three creatures are?"
"Yes, of course!" Cupcake replied. "The three creatures are Lucky, Springfield and Soapy."
Suddenly, the noise came back:
"And I've just captured Snowstorm!" The voice said.
"Who are those creatures?" Desiree asked.
"Snowstorm is your hamster Blizzard's twin brother - he belongs to Sweetheart, Springfield is Sweetheart's pet cat, Soapy is yolur guinea pig Bubbles's twin brother and Lucky is your rabbit Clover's twin brother."
"Well, I had better go and save them, hadn't I?" Desiree said. "I'm going to solve this problem, once and for all!"

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

[Lancer]

CHAPTER TEN

Desiree walked inside the huge Nightmare Castle, and heard a voice in her head - it wasn't the Black Pony! In fact, it sounded like the blue unicorn known as Ribbon.
"Invisible!" The voice said, and then there was silence.
Desiree saw no change, but when the Black Pony walked past her, he appeared to see nothing, so Desiree must be invisible!
He was closely followed by another pony who looked much nicer.
"Pecker!" The Black Pony shouted at the little red pony by his side, "Go and make me a cup of tea!"
"Yes, Black Pony." Pecker replied, quietly.
"I wonder why I've never heard of Pecker?" Desiree thought, "But then, I guess I wouldn't have if he was born as a Black Pony slave."
"But that's the saddest thing." Ribbon said in Desiree's mind. "He wasn't born a Black Pony slave - he was captured a long, long time ago...but we never even knew. But now we hafve a chance of saving him and the other Black Pony slaves...thanks to you."
Desiree raced through the dungeon door.
"Truly! Sundance! Shady!" She cried. "I have a perfect plan! I'll distract the Black Pony while I'm invisible, and you three can escape by digging your way out under the window!"
The three ponies dug, and soon got through without Desiree even needing to create a distraction!
"Aren't you coming, Desiree?" Shady asked. "You must come with us!"
"I can't come!" Desiree cried. "I have to go and save Lucky, Springfield, Snowstorm and Soapy!"
"But you'll be seen!" Sundance shouted.
"I'm invisible, aren't I?" Desiree asked.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your invisibility has worn off!" Truly said, sadly.
"Oh no!" Desiree cried. "But I must go and save them anyway!"
"Desiree! Come back here!" Shady cried after the girl, as Desiree began to run through the long, winding corridors to the room where the pets were locked up. Desiree took no notice of Shady.
And then, The Black Pony Of Darkness saw her.
"Look! It's the Girl From Earth again! Get her, Twinkle!" Another pony slave chased after her.
"I will, Black Pony!" He cried.
Twinkle chased her through the corridors. But he only caught up with her as she swung the last of the animal's cage doors open!
"Get out!" She yelled, and the rabbit, guinea pig, cat and hamster raced back to the hole that the ponies had dug and escaped.
"Hooray!" Desiree cried. "They're free!" She turned and saw The Black Pony Of Darkness glaring at her, and froze...
But, before the nasty pony could do anything, Desiree was brought back down to Earth.

"Have you finished in Ponyland, Desiree?" Bubbles asked. "Jacqui has finished her typing - I didn't know what else to do!"
"Thank you, Bubbles!" Desiree said, picking the guinea pig up and hugging him tightly. "I had finished. Oh yes, I'd definitely finished!"

Later that night, Desiree thought to herself, "One day, I'll write a book about this adventure, and I'll be able to say that 'the ponies lived happily ever after'."

If she had been in Ponyland, she may have heard a very faint voice in Nightmare Castle replying, "But that will be a lie, Girl From Earth! Because I will always put a stop to their happiness!"
And The Black Pony Of Darkness laughed an evil cackle and began to dream of his next evil scheme!

The End