AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story features my original
characters, Anne Chiang, and the Witch Trio. The Witch Trioare a joint creation
by me and my sister, and their names are Witch Cat, Witch Poodle, and
WitchKitten. Wecreated these threein the early 90's, when we were about eight
and nine or so, and these three never really developed real names.
It was another normal day in Ponyland. The little ponies were playing around, like they usually did. Buttons was playing "he loves me, he loves me not" with Posey's daisies, and she wasn't too happy.
"Buttons, I would appreciate it if you didn't do that to my flowers," she said.
"I'm just thinning them out, Posey," Buttons said, pulling a daisy petal off with her teeth. "He loves me, he loves me not."
"I've never seen a pony so stuck on a Big Brother as her," Fizzy said.
The little ponies laughed and continued to play. Unknown to them, they were being watched. Far away from Dream Valley, there was an area known as Skull Mountain. There lived the Witch Trio, Witch Cat, her daughter Witch Kitten, and her assistant Witch Poodle. She hated Ponyland as much as the Witches from the Volcano of Gloom hated them, and were always looking for a way to ruin Ponyland.
"I've got to find a way to put and end to those little ponies' fun for good!" Witch Cat shouted. "But how am I gonna do that?"
"Why don't you steal their Rainbow of Light?" Witch Poodle suggested.
"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!" Witch Cat shouted. Then she began to think for a moment. She smiled, and snapped her fingers. "I've got it! I've got it! We'll steal their Rainbow of Light! Am I a genius or what?"
Witch Cat and Witch Kitten walked off to steal the Rainbow of Light. Witch Poodle grumbled, and walked after them.
"She's a genius all right," Witch Cat said. "A genius who steals all my ideas!"
The Witch Trio walked into Witch Cat's spell room. Witch Kitten began to looking through her mother's books, until she came across the perfect spell.
"Hey Ma!" she shouted. "I think I've got the perfect spell for getting that darn rainbow of theirs!"
"Let me see," Witch Cat said, looking through the book. She looked at the spell, and nodded. "Yes, this spell's perfect! You take after your mother, have I ever told you that?"
"About three million times," Witch Kitten said.
Witch Cat ignored her, and began pouring things into her cauldron. She stirred the purple goop around with a large wooden spoon, and then banged on the side of the cauldron with the spoon. The cauldron started to shake, and finally, KA-BOOM! Purple mist flew out of the cauldron and flew directly to Dream Valley. Paradise, Whizzer, and Skydancer were flying around, enjoying the day, when Paradise saw the purple mist coming.
"What's that?" she asked.
"I don't know, but I think we should tell the others," Skydancer said.
"I'll go tell them!" Whizzer said. "We can't waste time standing around here, that stuff could be bad news! Let's go, let's go!"
The three pegasi flew towards Paradise Estate and warned the other little ponies about the mist. It was flying towards Paradise Estate fast.
"What is that?" Medley asked.
"I don't know, but I'll give it my famous double inside out loop!" Firefly shouted, flapping rapidly towards the mist.
Firefly flew straight into the mist, performing her double inside out loop, and she ended up lost in the fog.
"Hey! Where'd everybody go?" she asked.
The mist flew into a window, and searched for something or another. It finally found what it was looking for: The Rainbow of Light. The mist picked up the heart shaped locket and flew out the window.
"It's stealing our rainbow!" Twilight shouted.
"I'll go after it!" Slugger shouted, and he started to gallop off.
The mist sensed him coming, and wrapped itself around him. Then it flew into the air.
"Whoa-ho-ho," Slugger said, nervously. "Wha-ha-ha . . . . ."
The mist then dropped Slugger. He plummeted to the ground. Buttons nearly had a heart attack. She lit up her horn, and tried to move Slugger down to the ground. However, the landing wasn't so great. She dropped him on top of Tex. CRASH!
"Ow!" Slugger shouted. "My leg!"
"Oooh!" Tex groaned. "My back!"
"Some big hero," Sparkler replied. "That mist got away with the rainbow!"
"I'd better get Megan!" Paradise shouted. Whizzer followed her.
"I'll go with you," she said. "Just in case."
The two Pegasi flew over the rainbow, and into Megan's farmyard. Megan was nowhere to be seen, and neither were Danny and Molly.
"Megan!" Paradise called out. "Are you here?"
"Looks deserted to me," Whizzer said, as she flew into the air. She looked around and then saw something. "Wait a minute, here she comes! Megan! Hey Megan!"
Megan was walking leading her pony, TJ, around the yard. Riding TJ was a girl around Megan's age, with straight, messy looking chin-length black hair, and brown almond-shaped eyes. She wore faded blue jeans with a hole in one knee, a faded green T-shirt with permanent stains that would never come out no matter how many times it was washed, ratty looking white sneakers, and a grubby red baseball cap. She heard Whizzer, and looked up.
"Hey, Megan, what's that?" she asked, pointing to Whizzer and Paradise.
Before Megan could answer, Paradise and Whizzer flew down.
"Megan, we need help!" Paradise shouted. "Some weird purple mist stole the Rainbow of Light!"
"Wow, talking ponies!" the other girl shouted. "This is too cool, Megan!"
"We need you to come with us to Ponyland right away!" Whizzer shouted.
"What exactly happened?" Megan asked as she climbed on Whizzer.
"Hey, wait for me!" the other girl shouted, as she jumped off TJ, and proceeded to climb on Paradise. "This is gonna be a blast!"
"I don't know . . . ." Megan said, hesitantly. "You don't know Ponyland like I do, Anne. And you've only been riding for two days, and that's just on TJ. I don't know if you'd be ready to ride a Pegasus pony."
"Aw, come on, Megs!" Anne shouted. "You know I'm always up for a little adventure!"
"She'd get along great with Firefly and Gusty," Paradise commented.
"Who is she, anyway, Megan?" Whizzer asked.
"Guys, this is my best human friend, Anne Chiang," Megan said. "Anne, these are two of my pony friends, Paradise and Whizzer."
"Hi," Anne said. "Come on, let's get going! On to adventure!"
"I like her already!" Paradise said with a laugh, and she and Whizzer took off over the rainbow. The other ponies were waiting for them.
"Paradise explained the situation already," Megan said.
"And we've also got an extra hand to help," Paradise said. "Everybody, this is Anne, Megan's best human friend."
"Hi," Anne said, waving to the other ponies. "Wow, this place is great!"
"You're going to love it in Ponyland!" Fizzy shouted, happily. She loved making new friends. "There's lots of things to see and do, and lots of games to play, and . . . ."
"Fizzy, they'll be enough time for that after we get the Rainbow of Light back from that mist," Paradise said.
"But where did it come from?" Gusty asked.
"I believe the Moochick will identify the resolution to that inquiry," Wind Whistler said.
"What did she say?" Anne asked.
"She said she thinks the Moochick will know the answer to that question," Gusty translated.
"Is that what she said?"
"You're new at this, aren't you?"
Anne shrugged. She, Megan, Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons, Whizzer, Paradise, and Wind Whistler left Dream Valley, and started for the Mushromp. Once there, they told the Moochick about the mist that stole the Rainbow of Light.
"Purple mist?" he asked. "I may have something about that in one of my books. Let me see here . . . . . HABBIT!"
Habbit the Rabbit hopped out with the book the Moochick wanted. Of course, the Moochick didn't notice.
"Habbit, where's that book that explained about the purple mist?" he asked, continued looking for it. Habbit tried to get the Moochick's attention, but he was just too involved in looking for his book! Anne turned to Megan and gave her a weird look.
"Cuckoo," she said.
"You said it," Gusty replied. "Hey, Mr. Moochick, you realize that Habbit's got the book you're looking for?"
"Hmm? He does?" the Moochick asked.
"Certainly," Wind Whistler said.
"Oh, so he does," the Moochick said. "I knew I'd find it. Yes, yes."
"Oh brother," Anne groaned.
"My sediments exactly," Gusty replied.
The Moochick started turning pages in his book, until he found what he wanted.
"Ah ha!" he shouted. "Here it is! The purple mist of Skull Mountain."
"Skull Mountain?" Megan asked.
"Ooohhh, sounds creepy," Fizzy said.
"I seem to remember something about Skull Mountain," Paradise said. "Isn't that the home of the Witch Trio?"
"Indeed," the Moochick said. "And the Witch Trio are three of the most evil witches in all the world."
"But why would they steal the Rainbow of Light?" Buttons asked.
"My guess is to destroy Ponyland," Paradise said. "Where is Skull Mountain, anyway?"
"This map will take you to it," the Moochick said, handing Megan a rolled up map. "But be careful. There are a lot of hidden dangers on the way."
"We will, Mr. Moochick," Megan said. "And thanks!"
"Come on, let's go!" Gusty shouted.
The group left the Mushromp and headed for Skull Mountain. They reached the edge of Dream Valley, and headed towards a creepy looking forest. Not only was it creepy, but it was also dark. Anne was holding a flashlight, leading the way.
"My, it's dark in here," Fizzy said.
"It's so gloomy, I can't distinguish my nose in front of my face," Wind Whistler said.
"If you said you can't see your nose in front of your face, you ain't kidding!" Anne shouted. "Does she always talk like that?"
"Unfortunately yes," Gusty said. "She's no fun at parties, either."
Wind Whistler glared at Gusty, and continued walking along. Whizzer flew into the air, and then flew back down, quick as lightning.
"The end of this forest isn't too far off," she said. "In a couple more steps we'll be out of here!"
"Great," Anne said.
"Unfortunately, we've got to cross a jungle, too. And then after the jungle is this huge mountain!"
"We're in trouble."
"Don't worry," Fizzy said. "We'll make it out okay. We always do."
"Come on, everybody," Paradise said.
"Yeah, we're going to get nowhere standing around here all day," Buttons said. "Let's go. I want to give these witches what they deserve!"
"She's testy because the mist broke her boyfriend's leg," Gusty whispered to Anne.
"Why is there a forest, and then a jungle right outside the mountain?" Anne asked. "That doesn't make any sense!"
"I imagine these sorceresses may be a little on the eccentric side," Wind Whistler said.
"What?" Anne asked.
"She said the Witch Trio might be strange," Gusty translated.
"Oh. Why didn't she just say so in the first place?"
"She did."
"Uh huh."
As the group was walking, they were being followed by a vine, crawling on the ground like a snake. Fizzy got the feeling that they were being followed, so she looked down and saw the vine.
"Megan?" she said. "That vine's following us."
"Vines can't follow us, Fizzy," Megan said. "They're inanimate objects."
"It's probably your imagination playing tricks on you, Fizzy," Wind Whistler said.
"If it's playing tricks on her, then it's playing tricks on me, too!" Buttons shouted. "That vine really is following us!"
"What do we do now, Megan?" Whizzer asked.
"May I make a suggestion?" Paradise asked.
"Be my guest," Wind Whistler replied.
"RUN!" Paradise shouted.
The group started to run as fast as they could. The vine chased after them.
"Everyone split up!" Anne shouted, jumping on top of Paradise. "It can't follow us all at once!"
Paradise flew in one direction, and Buttons followed them. Megan jumped on top of Wind Whistler, and she flew off, followed by Gusty. Whizzer took off like a shot.
"Hey, wait for me!" Fizzy called out.
The vine stopped at the spot where everyone had split up. Unfortunately, the vine split, too. It broke into three separate pieces and followed the groups.
"Oh no," Fizzy groaned. "That vine's coming right at us!"
"Don't worry, I can out fly it," Whizzer said. "It's no problem at all! I'm the fastest pony in all of Ponyland, yes I am, yes I am!"
"But I can't outrun it, Whizzer!" .
"Don't worry! I've got an idea!"
Whizzer zoomed around a tree, and the vine followed, wrapping itself around the tree, until it couldn't move.
"That did it!" Fizzy shouted. "Let's go catch up with the others!"
Whizzer and Fizzy ran off.
The second vine was chasing Paradise, Anne, and Buttons. They didn't know how they were going to escape from it.
"What I wouldn't give to have Spike around!" Buttons shouted.
"I don't think there's a way to get away from it!" Paradise said.
"Maybe if one of us bites it or somethin'," Anne said.
"How would we do that?" Buttons asked. "Just reach down and bite it?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
Buttons skidded to a halt, and turned towards the vine. The vine shot upwards, and Buttons jumped for it, and bit it. A piece of it broke off, and the vine began retreating.
"Bleah!" Buttons shouted. "That tastes terrible!"
"Well, you got rid of it, at least," Paradise said. "Come on, let's bolt!"
"I'm with you!" Anne shouted. "We've gotta catch up with the others."
Megan, Wind Whistler, and Gusty had problems of their own. They were trying to outrun the vine that was chasing them. Unfortunately, they didn't have any good ideas on how to ditch it.
"Gusty, perhaps you can propel it away," Wind Whistler said.
"I'll give it a shot," Gusty said. She skidded to a halt, bent down, and used her horn to blow the vine to the other side of the jungle.
"It worked!" Megan shouted.
"Thank goodness," Wind Whistler said. "Now let's go find the others."
Megan, Wind Whistler, and Gusty left the jungle, and met up with the others outside of it. Then they came across one gigantic mountain.
"That's Skull Mountain?" Gusty asked.
"I'm getting a stiff neck," Anne said. "We'd better get to work climbing that thing."
"Whizzer, Wind Whistler, and I will fly up," Paradise said. "But the altitude's so high, I don't think we'll be able to carry any passengers. I have the feeling the air's very thin up there."
"Okay," Megan said. "You three fly up. We'll see you in a little while."
The three pegasi flew into the air. The others started climbing the mountain. It was a tough climb, that was for sure. Megan groaned and turned to Fizzy.
"Can't you unicorns just wink up there?" she asked.
"We could," Fizzy said. "But tell that to Buttons."
Megan, Anne, and the rest looked over at Buttons, who was marching up the mountain. Nothing was going to break her stride, that was for sure!
"Falderee! Falderah!" she sang. "Falderee! Falderah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Falderee! Falderah! My knapsack on my back!"
"What knapsack?" Anne asked, giving Buttons a Look. Buttons blushed a little, and continued climbing.
"I've had enough of this," Gusty said. "Climb this if you want to, Buttons, but I'm winking up there!"
"Yeah, me too!" Fizzy shouted, and the two of them winked out.
Buttons continued climbing. She didn't want Megan and Anne to feel left out because they had no other choice to get up to the castle. Finally, everyone was up the mountain, and were now faced in front of a castle.
"What do we do now, Megan?" Whizzer asked.
"Try to get in," Megan said. "Okay, Buttons, do your stuff. Bring down the drawbridge."
Buttons took a deep breath and used her unicorn magic to bring the drawbridge down. However, she wasn't very subtle. The door landed with an extremely loud CRASH!
"What was that?" Witch Cat asked.
"I think someone brought down the drawbridge," Witch Poodle replied.
"That would be impossible," Witch Kitten said, filing her claws. "Nobody can lift that drawbridge!"
The Witch Trio went back to doing nothing. Outside, Buttons looked triumphant, while the others looked scared to death.
"Geez, Buttons!" Gusty yelled. "I didn't mean you should drop the darn thing!"
"We were almost flattened!" Paradise shouted.
"But it was heavy," Buttons said, feebly.
"Never mind that now," Wind Whistler said. "We'd better get within the stronghold and retrieve the Rainbow of Light before the Witch Trio can secure the overpass."
"What'd she say?" Anne asked.
"We gotta get in there and get the Rainbow of Light before the Witch Trio closes the drawbridge," Gusty translated. "Wind Whistler, you gotta stop talking like a thesaurus."
The group walked into the castle, and looked around. It was dark, dank, and dreary. Not to mention dusty. There was a layer of dust everywhere that was practically an inch thick. Cobwebs hung from the fixtures as well.
"I take it the Witch Trio are behind on their housekeeping," Whizzer said.
"Reminds me of under your bed," Megan said to Anne. Anne glared at Megan, and walked right into a dusty cobweb. Dust scattered all over the place, most of it in Anne's face.
"Aahhh . . . . ahhhh . . . . aaahhh-CHOO!" Anne sneezed, and rather loudly, too. Unfortunately, by that time, they passed the room where the Witch Trio was.
"Gesundheit," Witch Cat said.
"Oops," Anne said.
"Way to go, Anne," Gusty groaned.
"I see you came for your rainbow," Witch Cat said. "Well, you're not getting it back! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Wanna bet on that?" Gusty asked. She tilted her head down, and created a blast of wind, that blew Witch Cat right into Witch Poodle and Witch Kitten. CRASH!
"Come on!" she shouted. "We've gotta find the rainbow!"
The group nearly tore the room apart looking for the Rainbow of Light. Witch Cat growled, and waved her hand. A giant cage dropped on the ponies and their friends.
"What's this?" Whizzer asked. "I don't get it, what just happened here?"
"I think we're in trouble," Megan said.
"Darn right," Witch Cat said. "Hee, hee, hee. You'll never get your Rainbow of Light back now!"
Next thing the ponies and their friends knew, they were locked in the dungeon, with no way out.
"What are we going to do now?" Fizzy asked.
"Good question," Gusty said. "If there was only one little bitty way of getting out . . . . like a hole or something . . . . . ."
"You mean like a hole in the ceiling?" Fizzy asked, staring upwards.
"That'll work," Gusty said. "Too bad there isn't one."
"Oh no? Take a look at that."
Fizzy pointed upward with her leg to a missing stone in the ceiling, that only a Pegasus pony could reach.
"Well, what do you know?" Gusty asked.
"I don't know if we can fit through that," Paradise said. "It looks awfully small."
"I'll give it a try," Wind Whistler said, and she flew towards the hole. She tried to squeeze through, but she was too big. Only her head could go through.
"It appears that my torso is too great for the opening," Wind Whistler said. "We need someone much more emaciated."
"Huh?" Fizzy asked.
"We need someone skinnier to fit through," Gusty said.
"That'd be either you or Anne, Megan," Paradise said.
"What's it like up there?" Megan asked.
"Very dusty," Wind Whislter said. "And dark, and creepy."
"What the heck?" Anne said, shrugging. She climbed onto Paradise's back.
"Lift off!" she shouted.
Paradise flew up to the hole. Anne managed to climb in, and she started crawling down the pathway. She came to an air vent and kicked it open, and jumped down. She crashed right into a skeleton that fell to pieces. The odd thing about the skeleton was that it was wearing a key ring around it's waist. Anne picked them up, and stared at them.
"Must be skeleton keys," she said. "They'll work!"
Anne ran back to the dungeon and unlocked the door. The group ran out as fast as they could.
"That was fast," Buttons said.
"Faster than me!" Whizzer shouted. "And I'm the fastest thing on four legs! I would've gotten us out in a flash if I could've fit through that hole!"
"Slow down there, Ace," Gusty said. "How'd you manage to get the keys so fast?"
"Crashed into a skeleton," Anne said, holding up the keys. "They're not necessarily the keys to the dungeon."
"Skeleton keys?" Megan asked.
"Pretty much," Anne said with a shrug.
The group made a mad dash for the stairway. They had to get the Rainbow of Light back from the Witch Trio before they could destroy it.
"How do we get the rainbow back?" Fizzy asked.
"The ol' vacuum cleaner salesman bit," Anne said.
"What's the ol' vacuum cleaner salesman bit?" Gusty asked.
"That's when you bring in a vacuum, talk really fast to the 'customer,' and then swipe what you want with it," Anne replied. "It works all the time in cartoon shows."
"Who's gonna go sell the vacuum?" Megan asked.
"Whizzer of course," Wind Whistler said. "She's the fastest thing here, and that includes fast talking."
"Sounds like it could work," Paradise said.
"I think you've got something there, Anne," Megan said.
"Yeah, there's just one tiny little problem with it," Gusty said. "Where are we gonna get a vacuum?"
"In the closet," Buttons said, opening a door, and pulling a vacuum cleaner out, using her unicorn magic, of course. "All Whizzer needs now is a disguise."
Five minutes later, the group came up with a perfect salesman get up for Whizzer. She was wearing a brown suit, brown hat, and even a fake mustache!
"The mustache is a nice touch," Gusty said.
"Now you know what to do," Anne said. "Demonstrate the vacuum, suck up the Rainbow of Light, and then bolt!"
"Don't worry, Anne," Whizzer said. "I know what to do. I'll get the Rainbow of Light back, yes I will, yes I will!"
Whizzer flew over to the door, and knocked on it with her hoof. The entire Witch Trio opened the door.
"What?" Witch Cat asked.
"Hello ladies how do you do?" Whizzer asked in a rush. "I represent the Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla, Washington. Now this is a little gem of a vacuum, it sucks up everything in sight. I'll give you a demonstration, look!"
Whizzer turned on the vacuum and began sucking things in the room, aiming for the Rainbow of Light. The Witch Trio watched her as if she were crazy.
"You may not be interested right now in purchasing a vacuum cleaner," Whizzer continued, sucking up the rainbow. "But if you do decide to buy one, just thing of the Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla, Washington."
Whizzer was about to walk off, when Witch Cat stood in front of her.
"Hold it a minute!" she shouted. "You sucked up my Rainbow of Light!"
"I did?" Whizzer asked, pretending to be confused. "Well, so I did. What do you know about that? Hmm, this thing's more powerful than I thought!"
"Hmmm," Witch Poodle said. "I wonder what would happen if I pushed this button?"
Witch Poodle pushed the button and turned on the vacuum cleaner. The suction then sucked up Whizzer's hat, suit, and mustache.
"Uh oh!" Whizzer shouted.
"Ah ha!" Witch Cat shouted. "One of those pathetic little ponies after my rainbow!"
"It's our rainbow, not yours, you witch!" Gusty shouted, as he and the others came into view.
"We have news for you, Witch Trio!" Megan shouted. "You're surrounded!"
"And out numbered to boot," Anne said, folding her arms across his chest. "Whatever that means."
"Oh yeah?" Witch Cat shouted. "Well, take this!"
Witch Cat raised her arms, ready to throw out one whammy of a spell. Before she could do anything, the vacuum cleaner hose wound its way around the room, and stopped right above Witch Cat.
"Hey Ma . . . . ." Witch Kitten warned.
"Not now!" Witch Cat shouted. "Can't you see I'm trying to cast a spell that'll turn those puny little ponies into puny little toadies?"
"But Ma!"
Before Witch Kitten could say anything more, the vacuum hose sucked up Witch Cat! SHOOP!
"Aaaaauuuggghhhh!" Witch Cat shouted. "Get me outta here!"
"Now's our chance, let's go!" Paradise shouted.
"But what about the Rainbow of Light?" Fizzy asked.
"I'll get it," Anne said.
"Without letting the cat out of the bag?" Buttons asked.
"Trust me," Anne said.
Anne went into the back of the vacuum, and managed to yank the Rainbow of Light out. She stood up, and ran for the door.
"Stop them, you idiots!" Witch Cat shouted. "They're stealing my rainbow!"
"I'll turn 'em into mush!" Witch Poodle shouted, raising her arms.
"Not likely!" Buttons shouted. She lit up her horn, and moved a mirror in front of her. Witch Poodle's beam bounced off the mirror, and hit her, and Witch Kitten, giving them the magic whammy. They were turned into toads.
"Oh bullfrogs!" Witch Poodle shouted.
"Now let's get outta here!" Gusty shouted.
The ponies and their human friends made a mad dash for the door. Witch Cat began screaming, and finally busted out of the vacuum cleaner bag. She whistled for her broom, and jumped on top of it.
"High ho, Dust Bunny!" she shouted. "Away!"
Instead of flying, the broom began sweeping the floor. It threw Witch Cat off and into the wall.
"Doggone it!" she shouted. "That was my sweeping broom. Silly me."
Witch Cat whistled again, and her flying broom flew out of the closet. She jumped on top of it, and made a mad flight for the ponies, after leaving behind a cloud of dust bunnies.
"There's the door!" Paradise shouted.
"We're home free!" Gusty shouted.
"Not quite, my little ponies!" Witch Cat shouted, zooming in on her broom. She grabbed the Rainbow of Light right out of Anne's hand, and sent a cloud of dust in the group's face. Everyone had a coughing fit.
"Hang on, everybody," Gusty said. "I'll blow this dust out of here!"
"And I'll bring Witch Cat in for a landing," Fizzy said.
The two unicorns lit up their horns. The dust flew out the window, and Fizzy's bubble brigade surrounded Witch Cat.
"Oh no!" she shouted. "Not bubbles! Not happy, pretty, little, tiny, cute, pony bubbles! Arrrrggghhh!"
CRASH!
Witch Cat hit the wall, and the Rainbow of Light flew out of her hand, and into the air. Megan and Anne were trying to get under it.
"I got it!" Megan shouted.
"I got it!" Anne yelled.
"I got it!" they called in unison. Unfortunately, since they were watching the rainbow, they didn't see where they were going, and ended up running right into each other.
"Oooh!" they shouted, when they collided, and fell to the ground.
"Did you get it?" Megan asked.
"No, did you?" Anne asked.
The rainbow then came down, bouncing off Megan's head, followed by Anne's. Then it got caught on Buttons's horn.
"Hey," she said. "I got it!"
"Way to go, Buttons!" Fizzy shouted.
"Aw, it wasn't much," Buttons said. "You could say it was an accident."
"A very painful one," Anne said, rubbing the top of her head.
"Yeah," Megan said, doing the same. "Ouch!"
"You haven't one yet, ponies!" Witch Cat shouted. "You'll never get your Rainbow of Light back!"
"Wanna bet, Witch Cat?" Whizzer asked, turning on the vacuum cleaner hose.
"Not again!" Witch Cat shouted, as she was sucked into the vacuum again.
"Let's depart before she can rupture out of the container for a second time!" Wind Whistler shouted.
"I'm with you!" Anne shouted.
The group ran out of the castle as fast as they could, and rode the Rainbow of Light back to Dream Valley, away from Skull Mountain, leaving Witch Poodle and Witch Kitten as toads, and Witch Cat stuck in the vacuum.
"You haven't seen the last of me, little ponies!" she shouted. "I'll get even with you if it's the last thing I do!"
"Eeehhhh, shaddup!" Witch Poodle and Witch Kitten shouted.
Back at Dream Valley, Buttons was putting the Rainbow of Light back in place.
"We could use a better security system," Applejack said.
"No kidding," Buttons replied. "At least we got it back safe and sound."
"Speaking of getting things back," Anne said. "It's time we got back down to earth."
"Yeah, our parents are going to wonder where we've been," Megan replied.
Paradise and Wind Whistler dropped Megan and Anne off in Megan's yard. The two girls waved goodbye to the ponies, and walked around to the front of the house, where Anne's fifteen-year-old-sister, Susie (whom Anne considered a priss), was waiting for them.
"Anne Marie Chiang, where have you been!" Susie shouted, putting her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to be home half an hour ago! Dad had to send me over to come and get you!"
"It's sort of a long story, Sue," Anne said, shrugging.
"Ugh, you should take a shower," Susie grimaced. "Pew! You smell like horse!"
"Hey, I've been riding all afternoon," Anne said. "Just so happens I'm learning to ride, and my best friend lives on a farm, she has horses and ponies, so she's teaching me to ride, so yeah, I smell like horse! What'd you expect me to smell like? Fresh peaches?"
Susie shook her head, and started to walk off. Anne followed, as did Megan. She was going to walk them to the corner. They both glanced at each other and started to laugh. No way they were going to tell Susie what had happened that afternoon. She'd never believe it anyway.
The End