AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is crossed over with my favorite band/TV show, The Monkees. If you would like to know a little about the Monkees, go to my Monkees page and go to the biography section. There are countless web pages about them so if you'll look on a webring or search, you'll find out information. Also, I put the Mystery Pony from "Midnight Castle" in this story, as well as a Big Brother Pony I made up. I made up the Mystery Pony's name, however.

Winter was almost over. Baby Tiddlywinks couldn't wait. She wanted to get out and play in the sunshine. Everyone was tired of cold, ice, snow, snow ponies, snowball fights, and winter all together.

"Can't eat ice cream in winter," Baby Lickety Split said.

"Maybe Spike can melt snow," Baby Lofty suggested.

"I think it's too cold even for a baby dragon," Ember giggled. She was different from all the other baby ponies. She was a little older, taller, she could speak better English, and the biggest difference was she didn't have a symbol on her hind quarters or "Baby" in front of her name. But nonetheless, all the baby ponies loved her, and so did the adult ponies.

"Tomorrow first day of spring!" Baby Ribbon shouted, excitedly.

Every single baby pony cheered in delight. Frankly, all the adult ponies were glad winter was almost over, too. The Big Brothers were sick of shoveling snow. Truly was upset because she only had one cute winter outfit and she got so tired of wearing the same thing more than once. Heart Throb didn't think the snow was very romantic as it was when it first started to fall, and Buttons and Shady hardly ever saw Slugger and Steamer since they were so tired from shoveling snow, they slept all the time.

"Winter can't be over soon enough!" Gusty shouted.

"I wonder how they're taking it at Flutter Valley?" Medley asked.

"They're probably frozen," Bow-Tie said.

"Well, at least tomorrow is the first day of spring," North Star replied. "It's just been too cold to fly."

The others nodded. It seemed everyone was happy that winter was over, except for one person. The Ice Princess, Frostina, that lived in the Frozen North, just on the outskirts of Ponyland. She lived in an ice castle and loved the cold. She hated spring and summer, tolerated fall, and loved winter.

"Every year I go through the same thing," she said. "I have to sit for three seasons until the fun arrives. Where's my spell book? I'll see that winter is here to stay for good!"

Frostina walked along her throne room, looking for her spell book. It wasn't in it's proper place. However, she figured she knew who had taken it.

"RAINBOW!" she screamed. A white pony with pastel rainbow mane and tail entered the throne room. She had a rainbow with two clouds at either end on her hind quarters. You may recognize her as The Mystery Pony from "Escape from Midnight Castle."

"You called your majesty?" she asked.

"Yes," Frostina said. "Where is my spell book? Did you take it again?"

"Well, uh, I, you see, uhhh . . ."

"You had better tell me the truth, Rainbow, if you wish your brother to remain healthy."

"Yes I took it. But I just wanted to look through it!"

"Where is it?"

"In the main hallway."

"Very good, Rainbow. Now go fetch it for me."

"Yes, your majesty."

Rainbow galloped off. In reality, she was looking for a spell that would free her brother from a spell cast upon him by Frostina. She returned with the spell book. Frostina took it from her and began to turn the pages, muttering "endless winter" over and over under her breath. She finally found it.

"Ah ha," she said. "Here it is. The spell for an endless winter. I need these ingredients, eye of newt, toe of dog, wool of bat, tongue of frog, slime from a sea slug, snakes, snails, tails of a puppy . . ."

Rainbow began to look a little green. The ingredients were making her sick.

"And the final ingredient for the concoction," Frostina continued. "The spirit of a baby pony."

"A baby pony?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes. It's a shame you're not a baby pony like you once were, Rainbow. And neither is your stupid brother. I'm going to have to go to Ponyland to find a baby pony. But first, I'm going to have to cast a spell on the world so it will remain winter until I get the spell finished."

Frostina held her amulet to her crystal orb and put a spell on Ponyland and the rest of the world so it would stay winter. Then she whistled for her vulture, Jade.

"Come, Jade," she said. "We're going to Ponyland."

Morning rolled around. North Star, Firefly, and Masquerade went over the rainbow to bring Megan, Danny, and Molly to Ponyland for the Spring Festival.

"We have to wait until the snow melts," Firefly said. "Naturally."

"It's been a long winter," Megan said. "I can't wait for spring."

"Yeah, and baseball season!" Danny shouted.

The ponies brought their human friends to Ponyland. Something wasn't right, however. It was cold and the sun was covered by gray clouds.

"I sense something is wrong," Galaxy said. "It's the first day of spring and snow's all over the ground. And it doesn't look like it's going to melt."

The baby ponies walked out of the nursery, to find it freezing.

"We have to wear winter clothes s'more, Mama?" Baby Lofty asked her mother.

"Maybe for a little while longer," Lofty said. "Maybe it's just going to be a cloudy day. Why don't you babies go build a snow pony or have a snowball fight?"

The babies groaned. They had been doing that all winter. They just went running wild in the snow when Frostina arrived, secretly. She couldn't believe her luck! There were many baby ponies to choose from.

"But how do I choose the right one?" she asked herself. She decided to trust her amulet. She rubbed it and said,

"Oh great spirits of magic, which baby pony should I choose?"

Her amulet lit up and darkened everything (only for Frostina to see) and shone a light on Ember. Frostina smiled. The baby pony that was different than all the rest would be perfect for the spell. She got on her vulture and took to the air. This time, not only did the baby ponies see her, but so did Firefly and Megan as well.

"Who that?" Baby Shady asked.

"Don't know," Baby Half Note said.

Frostina landed and walked toward Ember with a smile that looked so sweet it had to be fake. Ember started to back toward the nursery.

"Come on, darling," Frostina said. "I won't hurt you."

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Firefly asked.

"Stay out of this, pegasus," Frostina shouted. "This is between me and the baby pony. I have plans."

"What kind of plans?"

"Endless winter! And I need a baby pony, and she's perfect!"

Frostina produced a blast of cold wind out of her hands. That distracted Firefly, Megan, and the rest of the baby ponies, while she grabbed Ember by her mid section and ran to Jade.

"Firefly!" Ember screamed. "Help me!"

"Hey, you can't do that!" Firefly shouted.

"Let her go right now!" Megan demanded.

Frostina just rolled her eyes as Jade took off. Firefly and Megan went back to Paradise Estate to get the Rainbow of Light, just in case they needed it. Then, Firefly took to the air and followed Frostina and Jade.

"The rest of you baby ponies go back to the Estate and tell the other ponies what happened!" Megan shouted. "I just hope Twilight doesn't have a fit."

"I hope not either," Firefly said. "She treats Ember like she was her baby."

Firefly and Megan followed Frostina for awhile before she realized she was being followed.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the calvary," she laughed. "You're friends are no match for me, little one."

"Please don't hurt my friends," Ember begged.

"Oh, I won't hurt them. They can't fight me anyway."

Frostina happened to look behind her, and she saw Megan wearing the Rainbow of Light around her neck.

"They have that infernal rainbow!" she screeched. "Of all the rotten . . . . well, I'll just fix it so they won't be able to use it!"

Frostina held up her amulet (she had to do it with one hand, but it still was effective). Then she said,

"Oh spirits of magic, send those two back in time, many years ago!"

A blast of wind followed. Firefly flew directly into it.

"Whooaaaa!" she shouted. "Sorry, Megan! I didn't see it coming!"

"Neither did I," Megan said.

Suddenly, the blast of wind turned into a tornado, and Firefly and Megan were inside of it!

"I feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz," Megan said.

The tornado dropped Megan and Firefly off at a beach, early in the morning. It was warm. Megan had to take off her winter coat and other winter gear.

"We must be in California," she said. "It never snows here."

"I wonder what happened?" Firefly asked.

By this time, Frostina had returned to her castle. She told the guards to put Ember in the dungeon for the time being. Then she looked through her crystal orb to see what Megan and Firefly were up to. Then she decided to have a little fun. She waved her hands over the orb and the Rainbow of Light flew off of Megan's neck and up into a beach house window.

"Oh no!" Firefly shouted.

"We'd better get the Rainbow back," Megan said. "Can you fly up to that house, Firefly?"

"Sure!" Firefly said.

Firefly flew up to the beach house window. Frostina watched and laughed. Inside the room were two young men, sleeping. One of them wore a wool hat and the other had a large amount of fuzzy curls for hair. Frostina was having a field day. She moved the rainbow around the neck of the man in the wool hat. He didn't notice a thing. Frostina then moved away from the orb at the moment.

Megan climbed through the window as Firefly watched. She carefully moved toward the young man, making sure not to wake him up. She reached for the locket, but the young man shifted his position, turning on his side. Megan sighed and tried to unfasten the rainbow. As she was about to slip it over his head, the fuzzy one's alarm clock went off. He reached over to shut it off, and the one in the wool hat woke up and saw a girl right next to his bed.

"Ahh!" he screamed.

"Ahh!" Megan screamed.

"Ahh!" Firefly screamed.

"What's with all the screaming?" the fuzzy one asked.

"Look, Miss," the wool hatted one said. He had a Texas accent. "I don't know who you are, but Davy's downstairs."

"Davy?" Megan asked. "No, you don't understand. You're wearing something of mine. My locket."

"Locket?"

The Texan looked down and noticed a red heart shaped locket was around his neck. He took it off and gave it back to Megan.

"Sometimes when I'm asleep, I wish I was awake," he said. "Sorry if I scared you."

"Me too," Megan said. "Maybe you can help us."

"Who's us?"

"Me and my friend, Firefly. She's outside."

The Texan nodded and he, the fuzzy one, and Megan walked downstairs. Two more young men were standing at the steps. One was short and the other had light brown hair.

"What was all the screaming?" the shorter one (who had a British accent) asked.

"There was a girl in our bedroom," the Texan said. "Somehow or another, I woke up wearing her locket."

"Are you sure she wasn't for Davy?" the light haired one asked.

"Wait a minute," the fuzzy one said. "Before we go on, I'd like to know some names and get introduced so the writer doesn't have to write in 'the fuzzy one, the Texan, the light haired one, and the British one' all the time! And give us a sec to get dressed."

"Oh yeah," the British one said. Later . . . .

"We're the Monkees," the light haired one said.

"And people say we monkey around," the fuzzy one said. Megan stared at them blankly. "Get it, joke? Little joke, 'bout that big?"

"Forget it. Anyway, I'm Mike Nesmith," the Texan said. Then he went to the fuzzy one, the short one, and the light haired one in this order. "And those are Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork."

"I'm Megan and there at your window is Firefly," Megan said.

The Monkees turned around and saw Firefly at the window, flying. The four of them panicked.

"A flying horse!" Peter shouted.

"Pony," Firefly corrected.

"And a talkin' one at that!" Mike shouted. "Boy if Babbit sees that, he'll have a fit!"

"'E's our landlord," Davy explained to Megan. "'E doesn't allow pets."

"There's no time for anything," Megan said. "Firefly and I have to get back to our own time. We've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Micky asked. "Whatever it is, we'll try to help." Firefly chose that moment to fly into the window.

"Well," she said. Peter almost fainted. "We come from a different time than this. Hey, what year is this anyway?"

"Nineteen sixty-six," Davy said.

"We're back further than I thought," Megan said.

"So what's the problem?" Mike asked.

"This evil lady wants to make an endless winter back in Ponyland!" Firefly shouted. "She needed a baby pony for the plan, so she came to Dream Valley and just took one of the baby ponies! Megan and I chased after her, and she sent us here. Now we don't know how to get back!"

"Hmm, that's a problem," Mike said.

"Too bad we don't have Michael J. Fox and the DeLorean," Firefly said.

"Who?" Peter asked.

"Uhh, forget it," Firefly said.

Everyone was stumped. Frostina was sitting on her thrown, looking at Megan, Fire Fly, and the Monkees through her crystal orb. Her pet cat, Snowball, was watching as well. Rainbow had just entered the room.

"Look at those fools," Frostina laughed. "They'll never stop my endless winter!"

"How did you send them back in time, your highness?" Rainbow asked.

"Simple. I cast a spell! What else? Watch!"

Frostina began the spell again. This time, Snowball freaked out when he saw it and clawed at it.

"No!" Frostina shouted. "No, you might bring them back, you stupid flea bag!"

Apparently, she was right. The Time Tornado raced through the Monkees' window and scooped Megan, Firefly, and all four Monkees up and they began twirling around.

"Hey, I'm getting dizzy!" Micky shouted.

At the end, the Time Tornado dumped the six in Ponyland, head first into the snow.

"Now that's what I call a wild ride!" Mike shouted.

"That was kinda fun," Micky said. "Can we do it again?"

"No!" the others shouted in unison.

"Brrr!" Davy shouted, shivering. "It's freezing!"

"Welcome to Ponyland," Firefly said. "Sorry, it's usually so beautiful this time of year."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"It's supposed to be spring," Megan said. "Come on. We've got to get to the Estate!"

Megan and Firefly led the way to Paradise Estate. When they reached it, Twilight nearly knocked Peter into the ground.

"Did you find her?" she asked.

"No," Firefly said. "We got blown into another dimension and maybe got some help. These are the Monkees."

"Hello," Peter sang.

"Hello," Davy sang in a higher tone.

"Hello," Mike sang in a higher tone.

"Hello," Micky sang in a higher tone. Then Mike cut them all off.

"Hello," the Monkees said in unison. The ponies just stared at them blankly. Micky blushed a little.

"These are Mike, Micky, Davy, and Peter," Firefly continued.

"They've explained the problem," Mike said. "Now what I suggest to do is go find the castle and fight this Ice Princess or whoever she is."

"My kinda Monkee!" Gusty shouted.

"That's a good as plan as any," Medley said. "I say a group of you go. Then use the Rainbow of Light."

"Hey, yeah!" Fizzy shouted. "That's a great idea!"

"Okay, then," Mike said. "Davy and I will go with the group. Micky and Peter stay here and maybe help keep an eye on the other baby ponies."

Micky and Peter nodded. Megan told Fizzy, Buttons, Gusty, Surprise, Firefly, Ribbon, Applejack, Bow-Tie, Galaxy, and Medley to come with Davy, Mike, and herself (she also filled the Monkees in on the unicorn's special powers), while everyone else staid behind.

"Why can't I go?" Twilight asked. "My baby's in danger!"

"I hate to get technical," Paradise said. "But Ember's not your baby, Twilight."

"Aw, shut up."

"And I don't think you should go when you're so hysterical."

"Okay, but be careful."

"We will," Davy said, getting on Surprise. Megan mounted Firefly, and Mike basically staid standing.

"I think I'm a little tall for you," he told Medley. "I'll just walk."

"You sure?" Medley asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe I could carry you. You don't look at all heavy. Hop on."

Mike shrugged and did so. However, Medley wasn't a very strong pegasus and she could barely get off the ground. The rest of the rescue party came back.

"What's the hold up?" Gusty asked.

"I need to lift weights," Medley said.

"I warned you," Mike said.

"Mommy's strong!" Baby Surprise called from the Estate. "She carry Mike!"

"Sure," Surprise said.

"I weigh a little more than Davy," Mike warned. "I'm not sure if . . . ."

"Sure I can carry you!" Surprise laughed. "It's nothing."

"Well," Mike thought it over. "Hey, Medley, think you can carry Davy?"

"Is he as heavy as you?" Medley asked.

"No. Besides, Medley, look at his face."

"Well, he is kind of cute."

"He could charm ya all the way up there."

Davy glared at Mike. The thought of charming a pony was a little out of his league, but he figured he'd do it anyway. Besides, he did think Medley was a lovely shade of green and he did like her soft accent. He and Mike switched ponies and immediately took to the air to lead the earth ponies and the unicorns to the castle.

"Be careful!" Peter shouted, waving.

"Hurry back!" Twilight shouted.

The rescue party went for about miles. It was starting to get colder.

"I don't think I can fly anymore," Surprise said.

"I told you guys I was too heavy," Mike said.

"It's not you, Mike. It's just freezing out here, that's all."

"Oh yeah. It could be worse. We could be in Alaska."

"Or the North Pole," Davy said.

"Then we'd see Santa Claus," Fizzy said. "Gee, I wish we were there now."

"Forget it, Fizzy," Gusty said. "We have a mission, you know!"

"Oh yeah."

The ponies, Megan, and the two Monkees continued on. They reached the castle, only to find it surrounded by a moat.

"Can you unicorns wink across there?" Megan asked.

"Wink?" Mike and Davy said in perfect unison.

"There's no place to wink to," Buttons said. "Not a ledge or anything."

"Too bad that moat's not frozen over," Fizzy said.

"It's the only thing not frozen ovah, luv," Davy said, teeth chattering. "It's so bloody cold out 'ere!"

"Wait a minute," Mike said. "Davy, you just gave me an idea! Fizzy, you can make bubbles right?"

"Yeah?" Fizzy asked.

"And Gusty, you can make wind blow right?" Mike asked.

"Uh huh," Gusty said. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinkin' that Fizzy can blow as many bubbles as she can over the moat and Gusty can probably blow wind cold enough so they'll freeze."

"I don't know if I can do that," Gusty said.

"Come on, sure you can, Gusty," Applejack said. "You can do anything."

"But it's kind of hard to blow a big blast of wind for a little pony like me."

"Would a little inspiration help?" Bow-Tie asked. Gusty nodded. "Why don't you do it for spring? For Ponyland. And for Ember."

Gusty thought it over. She looked up at the Ice Palace and cringed. The thought of Ember alone in there freaked her out.

"Hit it, Fizzy," she said.

"I'm going to need total concentration," Fizzy said.

Everyone backed up and silenced. Fizzy squeezed her eyes shut and made her horn light up. Millions of bubbles produced. Gusty took a deep breath, made her horn light up, and blew Fizzy's bubbles toward the moat. She blew a little harder to make it colder. Finally, the moat froze.

"All right, Gusty and Fizzy!" Firefly shouted.

"You did it!" Surprise shouted.

"Maybe not yet," Mike said. "I'm not sure if this ice'll hold all of us."

"I'll go first," Applejack said. "If it'll hold a pony, it'll hold anyone."

Applejack walked carefully onto the ice. She almost slipped a couple of times. She continued along slowly, until she actually did slip and fall onto the ice with a loud thud. The ice cracked and Applejack plummeted through the hole.

"Oh no! Not again!" Bow-Tie shouted.

"She is so accident prone," Firefly commented. They waited awhile for Apple Jack to emerge. When she didn't come, they started to worry.

"I'm goin' in after her," Mike said, and dove into the moat.

The water was freezing, but Mike didn't care. He saw Applejack holding her breath, floating around. Mike caught up with her and the two of them stopped. It wasn't going to be easy getting up, since the water was so cold, luckily, this could be heard from across the moat:

"Shoop-ee-doo, shoop-shoop-ee-doo, shoop-ee-doo, shoop-shoop-ee-doo!"

Suddenly, the Sea Ponies arrived. Applejack smiled and Mike was left confused. The Sea Ponies brought in a giant clam shell, and Mike and Applejack climbed onto it. The Sea Ponies raised it to the surface.

"Are you guys okay?" Bow-Tie asked.

"Sure," Mike said. "Anybody got a blow drier?"

"I'll blow you dry!" Gusty said.

"No!" Mike shouted. "You'll freeze us solid!"

"Oh," Gusty said.

"I have an idea," Galaxy said. "Gusty, let's put our horns together and use our powers. When I make my horn light up it gets warmer. Maybe we can make a blow drier that way."

"Good thinking, Galaxy," Megan said.

Galaxy and Gusty put their horns together and created a blow drier that dried off Mike and Applejack with no trouble at all.

"Before you go, Sea Ponies," Firefly said. "Do you think you can get us inside the castle?"

"Sure," Wave Jumper replied.

"No problem," Seawinkle replied.

"Just hop on the shell!" Wave Dancer giggled.

The ponies, the two Monkees, and Megan climbed aboard the shell and the Sea Ponies took them around to a wall.

"There's an icicle up there that's a lever," Wave Dancer said.

"Forget it," Surprise said. "I don't think it would be a good idea for one of us to pull it. It might break."

"I'll pull it," Mike said. "Fly me up there, Firefly."

Firefly and Mike flew up to the lever. Mike grabbed it and pulled. A secret door opened.

"Everybody in!" Mike called.

The rescue party snuck into the castle, not knowing what they were getting themselves into. Meanwhile . . .

"They've been gone for too long," Micky said. "I say we go out and help."

"Sure, if you can get outside," Skydancer said. "The snow's piling up fast!"

"We might as well have a blizzard out there," 4-Speed said.

"It's not snowing that hard!" Micky declared. He opened the door and found that they were blocked in. Snow came all the up to the door frame."

"You were saying?" Moondancer asked.

Micky blushed. Meanwhile . . . .

"Boy is it dark," Medley said. "I can barely see a thing!"

"And cold," Davy said. "Galaxy, luv, can you light up your 'orn? That way we'll be able to see and warm up at the same time."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Mike said. "This is a thin hallway, it's made out of ice, and it's the base of the castle. If Galaxy lights up and heats up the room, the walls could melt and the castle would come crashin' down on us."

"Oh."

The rescue party managed to find a staircase and they climbed up. Things were starting to get lighter, but nobody knew where they were going.

"What do we do now?" Surprise asked.

"We split up," Megan said. "Davy, Firefly, Medley, Surprise, Bow-Tie, and Gusty come with me and we'll take the right hallway. The rest of you go with Mike down the left hallway and we'll meet in the center."

"Check," Mike said.

The groups went off in their own directions.

"How are we ever going to find Ember in all this?" Fizzy asked. "There are twists and turns everywhere."

"Do any of you unicorns have unicorn intuition?" Mike asked.

"I do," Galaxy said. "And I sense there's something ahead."

"I'll see if I can pick up something telepathically," Ribbon said. She made her horn light up and concentrated. She ended up being able to read someone's mind.

Oh, I hope Frostina doesn't catch me trying to find that baby pony's friends and then helping them stop the endless winter!

Suddenly, a white pony ran around the corner and crashed directly into Ribbon, who knocked into Fizzy, who hit Applejack, who fell on Galaxy, who smacked into Buttons, who backed into Mike's legs, and all of them fell.

"Now that's what I call a head on collision," Mike said.

"Who are you?" Ribbon asked.

"I . . . I . . ." the white pony said. "My name's Rainbow."

"Do you live here?" Fizzy asked.

"No," Rainbow said. "I used to live in Dream Castle."

"How come we've never seen you before if you used to live in Dream Castle?" Applejack asked.

"It was a long time ago," Rainbow said. "There's no time to explain. You have to come with me!"

"Why?" Buttons asked.

"Because a baby pony's in danger," Rainbow said. "I can help you stop the winter if you help me set my brother free."

"Sure," Fizzy said. "Come on, everybody!"

Everyone followed Rainbow up to the main hallway. There were ice sculptures on columns that lined the hall. They were all in the shape of animals. There was a rabbit, a raccoon, a duck, a skunk, a couple of birds, and a pony that was standing over a doorway. Rainbow pointed to it.

"That's my brother," she said. "Frostina tried this endless winter spell before and needed a baby pony it. She came to Dream Valley one day while I was playing with my friends, Glory, Bubbles, and Skydancer and she captured me. She was able to make it winter for awhile, until my brother (who was still a baby pony) came to the rescue with the Rainbow of Light he got from the Moochick, who was very young at the time. Frostina got mad and ran for my brother to destroy the Rainbow of Light. Luckily, he threw it out the window and it was caught by a baby sea pony named Wave Jumper, and she took it back to the Moochick. Anyway, Frostina was mad. Then she turned my brother into that ice sculpture you see up there, and I've been Frostina's slave ever since."

"Wow," Fizzy said.

"Don't worry, Rainbow," Buttons said. "When this is all over, you can come and live with us in Paradise Estate. Your brother, too."

"Thank you, Buttons," Rainbow said. "Come on. Let's go find the baby!"

Rainbow pushed open the door. There was a staircase that led downstairs.

"What's down there?" Galaxy asked.

"This staircase leads to the dungeon," Rainbow said. "I have to warn you, these stairs aren't even."

"That doesn't surprise me," Mike said. "Come on, everybody."

Mike started down the stairs carefully. Fizzy lit up her horn so they could have some light. A couple of tiny bubbles came out, but that didn't bother anyone, at the time.

"Fizzy, get in front," Ribbon said. "That way you can lead the way."

"Okay," Fizzy said. She darted down the stairs and her bubbles trailed behind her. One of them landed on Mike's nose.

"Oh nuts," Mike said, building up to a rather large sneeze. "Aaah-ahh-ahh--"

"Uh oh," Buttons said.

"I don't like the sound of that," Applejack said.

"Aaahh-ahh-ahhh," Mike couldn't hold it in much longer. "Aaah-choo!"

Thanks to the force of the sneeze and the uneven steps, Mike fell and crashed directly into Fizzy. Both of them hit their heads on the wall.

"Bless you," Fizzy said, dazed.

"Oohhh," Mike moaned, rubbing the side of his head. "I'm gonna have a headache in the mornin'."

"Now I know another thing Fizzy's bubbles can do," Buttons said. "Make people sneeze."

Buttons, Rainbow, Ribbon, Applejack, and Galaxy ran down the stairs. Fizzy and Mike were laying at the bottom of it.

"Are you two okay?" Applejack asked.

"I will be," Mike said. Ribbon made her horn light up.

I will be once this is all over, she heard Mike think. And when I'm back in my own time.

"Want to go home, huh Mike?" Ribbon asked.

"How'd you know?" Mike asked, still rubbing his head.

"I read minds," Ribbon said. "Come on. We'd better go find Ember."

"Follow me!" Rainbow said.

The group followed Rainbow into another tunnel. There were doors leading everywhere. Mike looked through the windows in order to look in. They went down the entire hallway with almost no trace of anybody. Finally, he reached the last door in the hallway. He peeked in.

"Hey, we've got somethin' in here," he said.

"What?" Fizzy asked.

"Baby pony, purple, pink hair," Mike said. "Is she the one who needs rescuin'?"

"That's Ember," Applejack said. "Now all we have to do is open the door."

"That's gonna be easier said than done," Mike said, fiddling with the lock. "This thing ain't gonna open without a key. And I'm sure you guys don't have a hair pin."

"No," Galaxy said.

"How do we get the key?" Fizzy asked.

"You don't," said a voice. Everyone turned around and saw Frostina in the hallway.

"You had to go and lead these creatures to the baby, didn't you, Rainbow?" she asked. "I should melt your brother for that! But I won't. You'll just join the baby for now."

Frostina opened the dungeon door and blasted the group into the dungeon with her wind. Then she locked the door, laughed, and walked back up the stairs.

"The big bully!" Fizzy shouted. Ribbon and Mike walked over to Ember.

"Hi," Mike said, softly. He didn't want to scare the baby pony. Ember just backed away and whimpered.

"It's all right," Mike tried. "I'm a friend of the ponies. There's no need to be afraid of me." He stepped closer toward Ember. She whimpered and backed into the wall. Mike looked at Ribbon.

"Was it somethin' I said?" Mike asked.

"Let me try something," Ribbon said. She made her horn light up and proceeded to read Ember's mind.

I wanna go home, Ember thought. I don't wanna be stuck in here. It's dark and cold and really scary. And I wanna be with Twilight. I wish she were here. I'm scared!

"Oh, Ember," Ribbon said. "It's all right. We're going to get out of here. Come here and meet Mike. He's a nice Monkee."

"Monkey?" Ember said. Then she giggled. "He doesn't look like a monkey."

"Here we go with the Monkee monkey jokes," Mike groaned. "Not that kind of monkey. The kind that sings."

"Monkeys can sing?"

"I think you're a little young. Okay, never mind. We're gonna get out of here and go home, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now the first thing to do is don't be scared. I know dungeons are dark and dank and really creepy, but the most important thing about 'em is there's nothin' that can hurt ya in here. It's all in the mind and . . . yipe!"

Mike tripped over something under a bunch of straw on the floor. He moved it with Buttons' help (she was moving it with her horn). What they found was a skeleton.

"Ahh!" Mike screamed.

"Ahh!" Ember cried.

"It's okay. It's only a skeleton. It won't hurt ya. It's already dead. I wonder how long the poor guy's been in here?"

"About two hundred years," the skeleton said.

"Ahh!" Mike shouted. Ember burst into hysterical tears.

"Ever have one of those days?" Mike asked no one in particular.

Ribbon sat down next to Ember and did her best to calm her down. It was easier said than done. Everyone was kind of freaked out by the skeleton.

"Buttons, think you can tear that thing apart?" Applejack asked. "The thought of a talking skeleton makes me nervous."

"Check!" Buttons shouted. She made her horn light up and she took the skeleton apart, bit by bit.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" the skeleton shouted. His head popped off and rolled toward Ribbon, Mike, and Ember.

"Hiya," it said. "How ya doing?" Ribbon nearly fainted.

"Ah!" Mike let out a very short scream. Ember nearly broke glass with the scream she let out. She also cried harder and leaped onto Mike. He rubbed her mane, as if that could comfort her.

"Now look what ya did!" he reprimanded the skeleton head. "You made a poor little baby pony cry!"

"Sorry," the skeleton said. "I was only trying to be friendly."

"Ewww," Applejack said. Buttons managed to squeeze the skeleton head through the bars on the window.

"Eek," Ribbon said. "That's the last time I ever want to see a skeleton!"

"Really," Rainbow said. "But how do we get out of here?"

"Can't you unicorns just disappear and reappear outside?" Mike asked, petting Ember.

"We can't wink through walls," Fizzy said. "We have to be in an open space."

"Oh."

Everyone thought about how to get out of the dungeon when Frostina returned. Ember moved closer to Mike. He held the baby pony tighter.

"I've come for the baby," Frostina said. "It's time."

"Over my dead body!" Mike shouted.

"That can be arranged."

Frostina lifted her hands. Thunder clapped and lightning crashed. Ember screamed. Mike just held on to her. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from nowhere. The adult ponies were swept into a tornado. Frostina then blew another wind gust, separating Mike from Ember. Then she released the adult ponies, threw Mike against the wall, and brought Ember to her. Buttons charged her, but Frostina closed the door and she banged her head against it.

"Ouch!" she shouted. "Well, there goes another plan down the drain."

"Mike, are you okay?" Galaxy said. She nudged Mike with her nose. Mike slowly regained his senses and put his hand to his head.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I'm definitely gonna have a headache in the morning!"

"Now what do we do?" Applejack asked. "We're locked in a cast iron door with bars of ice on the only window!"

"Did you say bars of ice?" Mike asked. Applejack nodded. "I have it! Galaxy if I give you a boost, think you can melt the bars?"

"Maybe," Galaxy said. "But we're all too big to fit through that little window."

"Yeah, well, I just remembered I have a pick with me."

"Lock pick?"

"No, guitar pick. I figure maybe I can fiddle with the lock with the guitar pick and we'll be able to get out."

"Won't your guitar pick break?"

"Eh, I can get a new one. They're pretty cheap."

"Are you sure you can give me a boost, Mike? No offense, but you're awfully scrawny."

"I'll ignore that. Come on, Galaxy."

Galaxy shook her head, stood on her hind legs and leaned against the iron door. The tip of her horn reached the bars and she made her horn light up. Heat generated from it, melting the ice bars. Then, she got down on all fours and let Mike stand on her back as he fiddled with the lock. He managed to get it open, and he broke his pick.

"Easy come, easy go," he said, throwing the broken pick over his shoulder. "Besides, they're cheap."

Mike led the ponies up the dungeon stairs. They ran down the next hallway, Rainbow leading the way to the throne room. However, they heard footsteps down the next hall.

"Someone's coming!" Galaxy shouted.

"Everybody get back!" Mike ordered. "It's probably Frostina. I'll jump her."

"Be careful, Mike," Fizzy said.

The footsteps came closer. Mike jumped out of the corner.

"Ahhh!" a male, British voice shrieked.

As it turned out, Mike jumped Davy and began to beat him up. At the time, Mike didn't know it was Davy.

"Take that!" he said, giving Davy a right hook. "And that!"

"Easy, mate, easy!" Davy shouted. "It's me! David!"

"Oops," Mike said, getting off Davy. "Sorry, Davy-baby. I thought you were Frostina."

"Well, I'm not. Speaking of which, 'ave you seen 'er?"

"Yep. She just split for her throne room, with the baby."

"'Ow do we get to the throne room?"

"Rainbow's gonna lead us."

"Who?"

Mike introduced Rainbow to Davy and the others, and they were off. Rainbow led the rescue party to the throne room. They saw Frostina mixing her goop in her cauldron.

"We've got to stop her from putting Ember's spirit in her spell," Firefly said.

"How are we going to do that?" Surprise asked.

"Maybe Buttons can turn over her soup," Mike said. "With that horn of hers."

"Well, I don't know," Buttons said. "It's a good plan, but I don't know if I can do it."

"Come on, Buttons," Gusty said. "I've seen you move heavy objects before."

"Well, okay. But I'm going to need total concentration."

Buttons took a deep breath and concentrated as hard as she could. It wasn't easy, but she managed to lift the cauldron a little off the ground.

"What the . . ." Frostina asked.

"This is great!" Mike said. "Now, Fizzy, make the soup bubble."

"Sure!" Fizzy said. She closed her eyes and made the soup bubble. Frostina wasn't amused.

"Oh man, this is too funny," Mike laughed. Fizzy giggled too, but suddenly, she forgot what she was doing and a few stray bubbles came from her horn and flew all over the place. One landed on Mike's nose. Again.

"Oh no," Applejack groaned.

"Ahh-ahh-ahh," Mike began to sneeze. Again. "Ahhh-ahh-ahh-choo!"

"Gesundheit," Davy said.

"Thanks," Mike said. "I must be allergic to pony bubbles."

"I'm allergic to pigs, myself," Gusty said.

"Sorry," Fizzy said. Another stray bubble got loose and landed on Mike's nose. He sneezed again.

"What was that?" Frostina asked.

"Now I've done it," Mike groaned.

Frostina walked over to the hallway. Bow-Tie was ready, however. She reached her neck out and bit Frostina on the ankle as hard as she could.

"Ouch!" she shouted. "You!"

"Surprise!" Surprise shouted, flying up. She kicked Frostina in the stomach, then swooped down and picked up Mike. He jumped on her back and they moved into the throne room.

"Hi, Ember!" Surprise shouted. "I bet your surprised to see us!"

"Yay!" Ember shouted. "The monkey's back!"

"That I am, honey," Mike said, jumping off Surprise. "Now let me see, how do I get the chains off?"

"With a key," Ember said. "Duh!"

"Only a baby and already she's a smart aleck."

"But where are the keys?" Surprise asked.

"I don't know what Frostina does with them when she finished using them," Rainbow said, coming into the room with the others.

"That helps," Mike said, sarcastically. "I guess I'm gonna have to find a hair pin or somethin' to jimmy in that lock. The rest of you look for a key!"

Davy looked all over the throne room. Apparently, Frostina came back.

"Why I oughta," she said.

"Surprise!" Mike shouted. "Distract her!"

"Well, okay," Surprise said. She flew into the air and circled Frostina.

"Bet you can't catch me!" she shouted. Then she darted from the throne room. Frostina chased after her.

"I don't know how long she can last," Davy said.

"Probably for a good long while," Buttons replied. "Surprise has an endless source of energy."

Davy nodded. He and Mike traded places, just in case Davy had a hair pin from one of his many girlfriends. He didn't, but he tore an icicle off the wall and jimmied that into the lock.

"How do we undo the spell?" Firefly asked.

"First of all we have to find the spell book," Megan said. "And then we look up the endless winter spell and see how to reverse it."

"You know you're a pretty smart cookie for a girl your age," Mike said. "Rainbow, you know this ice castle better than we do. Where's the spell book?"

"On the podium right behind you," Rainbow said.

Mike picked up the spell book and he and Megan looked through it.

"'Aven't you guys found the key yet?!" Davy shouted. "This icicle isn't working!"

"We're looking! We're looking!" Gusty yelled.

"Why doesn't one of us unicorns try to jimmy the lock with our horns?" Fizzy suggested.

"Fizzy, that's the most sensible thing you've ever said!" Gusty exclaimed. "Get over there and jimmy the lock."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the one who thought of the idea."

"Oh."

Medley went to the door and acted as the lookout. Mike and Megan looked through the book, and Rainbow helped.

"Hold it!" Megan shouted. "Here it is! To destroy the endless winter spell, we have to break the source of Frostina's power."

"That's her crystal orb and her amulet," Rainbow said. "It will break all the spells she's ever cast."

"And it just might destroy Frostina herself," Mike said. "We have to bust that amulet and that orb."

"That won't be easy," Bow-Tie said.

"We've already destroyed 'er soup," Davy said. "I wouldn't worry. Breaking an amulet will be easy!"

"Hey guys!" Surprise shouted. "Hurry up in there! I can't keep her on the run much longer!"

"Lead her in here!" Mike called. "We know how to end the endless winter spell!"

Surprise flew into the throne room and crash landed on Davy. She was tired.

"'Ey!" Davy shouted, straining. "Get off me legs!"

"Sorry," Surprise said.

Frostina entered the room. She growled and went for her spell book. Mike grabbed it and began a game of Monkey in the Middle. He threw it to Megan, and she threw it to Firefly.

"Try and get it from up here!" Medley shouted, as she joined Firefly in the air.

"I will!" Frostina said. She pointed her finger and ice beams flew from it. Firefly and Medley dodged them. However, one of the beams hit Firefly's wing, and she screamed, dropping the spell book, directly above Buttons.

"Buttons! Watch out!" Mike warned.

"Huh?" Buttons asked.

But it was a little late. The book bounced off the pinkish purple unicorn and knocked her unconscious. Davy picked up the book and threw it to Ribbon. She caught it, and Frostina ran to her. Applejack, Bow-Tie, and the remaining unicorns started passing it to each other as fast as they could. Mike snuck up behind Frostina and tried to unhook the amulet. He figured he'd destroy that first. However, Fizzy accidently made a bubble to catch the book. She missed at first and the bubble she made soared above Frostina's head and over to Mike. Rainbow gasped. The bubble popped in midair and a couple of the tiny droplets landed on Mike's nose. He sneeze loudly in result.

"Aw, nuts!" Mike groaned.

"What are you doing?" Frostina asked.

"Stoppin' you," Mike answered. "What else?"

"Fizzy, I'll throw the book to Firefly," Gusty said. "And she'll drop it and then catch it in a bubble."

"Okay," Fizzy said.

Gusty took the book and tossed it. Fizzy prepared the make the bubble. Firefly dropped the book and it landed in the bubble. Frostina noticed.

"Don't think you'll beat me that easy," she said. She zapped the bubble and the book was now set in ice.

"Great," Mike said, sarcastically.

Frostina aimed it for Mike, but he ducked, and it hit the wall, smashing right through it. Inside the wall was another block of ice. Inside of it was a key.

"Galaxy, melt the ice in the wall!" Megan shouted.

"Right, Megan!" Galaxy shouted. She ran for the wall. Frostina was ready to stop her, but Rainbow tackled her.

"Rainbow!" Frostina shouted.

"I'm not gonna let you create endless winter again!" Rainbow shouted.

Galaxy picked up the key in her mouth and threw it to Davy. Davy unlocked Ember's chains in no time. Since Rainbow had tackled Frostina, Mike had an easier time getting the amulet. Rainbow ran to the orb.

"On my count," Mike said. "We'll smash 'em at the same time! Ready?"

"Ready!" Rainbow said.

"One, two, three!"

Mike threw the amulet against the wall and Rainbow knocked the orb off it's perch. Both of them smashed into pieces.

"No!" Frostina shouted. "My beautiful winter! NOOOO!"

At that moment, Buttons regained consciousness just in time to see Frostina explode. KABOOM!

"Ew," Applejack groaned.

"We did it!" Fizzy shouted. "We stopped the endless winter!"

Suddenly, the Ice Palace began to shake and crumble. Drops of water fell on everyone's heads.

"What's happening?" Medley asked.

"The castle's melting!" Buttons shouted.

"Everybody get out!" Megan shouted.

Everybody started to run. Davy picked up Ember and ran out. Beams from the ceiling were beginning to fall. One almost smashed Davy and Ember!

"Yipe!" Davy shouted. "That was a little too close for comfort!"

"Everyone!" Rainbow shouted. "'Hurry! We have to leave now!"

"No kiddin'!" Mike shouted

Everyone began running before the castle smashed to the ground. Davy put Ember on Firefly's back, and jumped on. Mike jumped on Surprise, and Megan climbed onto Medley. The Pegasus ponies flew off. The unicorns winked out. The earth ponies jumped.

"Jump, Rainbow!" Fizzy shouted.

"I can't!" Rainbow shouted. "I'm afraid of heights!"

"You have to jump before the whole castle caves in!" Megan called.

Rainbow jumped. It was indeed now or never. She took a deep breath, and backed up. She made a giant leap before the castle came crashing down. Instead of the ground, she was heading towards the moat.

"I can't look!" Mike shouted covering his eyes.

"Oh!" Davy squeaked.

"Rainbow!" Fizzy gasped.

Suddenly, a spout of water filled the air, and caught Rainbow.

"Shoop-ee-doo, shoop-shoop-ee-doo! Shoop-ee-doo, shoop-shoop-ee-doo!"

The sea ponies popped out of the water with a friendly whale besides them. Rainbow was sitting on top of the spout the whale was making, riding it. She was giggling.

"This is fun!" she laughed.

"Rainbow!" Buttons shouted.

"You're okay!" Fizzy exclaimed.

Everybody cheered. Suddenly, the sun shone through the clouds and melted the snow. Megan and the two Monkees took off their winter clothes.

"You did good, kid," Mike said to Rainbow. "You're a real hero."

"You can say that again," a masculine voice said in the distance. Everyone turned and saw what resembled a Big Brother pony. He was white with rainbow colored hair and tail. He had a basketball on his hind quarters.

"Jump Shot!" Rainbow exclaimed, running to him. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Me too, sis," Jump Shot said, nuzzling his sister.

"I missed you so much!"

"I did, too."

The two of them nuzzled for a while. Then Megan suggested they head back to Paradise Estate. Mike and Davy mounted their designated ponies and everyone went off. All the ponies at the Estate were standing outside, as well as Molly, Danny, Spike, Micky, and Peter. They were all cheering.

"They did it!" Glory shouted.

"It's Spring!" Baby Lofty shouted.

Everyone ran to our heros once they all arrived. They asked a lot of questions. Twilight was happy to see Ember.

"She was going crazy," Truly told the baby pony.

"I was not!" Twilight retorted.

"Are you kidding?!" Micky shouted. "Twilight, you were going around the Estate shouted 'my baby! My baby! My poor baby!' I was gonna go nuts!"

Twilight poked Micky in the side with her horn. Everyone laughed. That night, the ponies held a party, and the Monkees were the guests of honor. The Monkees even played "Daydream Believer" for them.

"We really don't want you to go," Medley said to Davy. "You saved Ponyland, and the world."

"We'd really like to stay, luv," Davy said. "But all of us 'ave a life back in nineteen sixty-six."

"Guys," Mike said. "I don't know how we're gonna get back to the sixties. We destroyed Frostina's time warp. That was our only way to get home."

"We're stuck here?!" Micky shouted.

"Yay!" Baby Tiddlywinks shouted. "Now Monkees stay!"

Everybody thought that was a good arrangement, except the Monkees. Davy, Micky, and Mike hung their heads in despair. Peter began to cry.

"I wanna go back to the Pad!" he wailed. "I miss the beach!"

"I miss me girlfriends," Davy said.

"I miss my drums," Micky sighed.

"I miss the music," Mike said. "And I hate to say it, but I miss Mr. Babbit poundin' on our door demandin' the rent."

The ponies fell silent. Then, North Star got an idea. She motioned for Megan to come forward and she whispered her plan.

"Good idea, North Star," she said. "Monkees, I think we have a way to get you back to the sixties. We'll use the Rainbow of Light to lead the way. Maybe that would provide a time warp."

"I guess it could," Galaxy said. "The rainbow is powerful enough."

"Would you?" Peter asked.

"Absolutely!" Firefly shouted.

The Monkees smiled and cheered. Davy smiled as he mounted North Star.

"Maybe we'll meet again someday," he said. "If you evah drop down to earth, look me up."

"Of course, Davy!" North Star giggled. Micky got on Firefly.

"You know," he said. "I can't wait to get back to the Pad. But I'll miss all you guys."

"We'll miss you, too, Micky," Firefly said.

"Yeah!" Moondancer called. "It's not everyone who can keep us from cracking while we were all crowded in the Estate!"

Micky laughed and shook his head. Peter hopped on Locket.

"I'll miss you, Peter," she said.

"I'll miss you too, Locket," Peter said. "We'll write postcards."

Locket giggled. Mike went over to Skydancer and got on her back. The four pegasi took to the air. Megan opened her locket and the Rainbow of Light shot out, leading the ponies. The Monkees looked back, waved, and called goodbye to the rest of the ponies and their friends. They called goodbye, and Spike, Danny, Megan, and Molly waved to them. After awhile, the rainbow led the Monkees back to their Pad, in the year 1966. Firefly, North Star, Locket, and Skydancer dropped the Monkees off in the window of their Pad.

"Home sweet home," Mike said.

"It's great to be back home!" Micky said. "We're home!"

Peter ran around the Pad, smiling away.

"Hello, wall!" he shouted. "Hello, floor! Hello, bandstand! Hello, Mr. Schneider!"

Mr. Schneider was the Monkees pet dummy. Davy sat by the window and looked at the sky.

"'Ey," he said. "There go the ponies!"

Mike, Micky, and Peter ran to the window, waved and called goodbye to the ponies. They looked back at them, smiled, and called goodbye.

"They were a little weird," Micky said.

"But they were good kids," Mike said, with a smiled. The other Monkees agreed. Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the door. Mike answered it. It was their landlord, Mr. Babbit.

"I've been banging on this door all day!" he shouted. "Where have you been?!"

"Mr. Babbit," Mike said, "you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."