Joy happens to be the farthest one down the slope when it starts to go, and right next to one of those distressingly large rocks. Consequently, he is the first one off the edge of the unseen cliff below, and not conscious at the time.

Luckily for him, Brightblaze is second. She dives, gets herself under him - and finds out that dragons are heavy, even pony-sized ones, and she needs all four boots to achieve stable lift and get him safely to the ground. Which means not a hoof to spare to hang onto him, which means some very delicate balancing that's going to take time, which means she'd better hope Streak can take care of the three non-fliers by herself.

Clarity's next to tumble down the hill, yelping, trying to resist the urge to light her horn and see where she's going because that will just ruin everybody's vision -

- while Guiding Star, light and tiny, brings up the rear -

"Good. Now," she says, and lets go and spreads her wings and leaps to catch Guiding Star just as she hurtles over the edge, while beneath them the tree swings its stately way over to catch Clarity at just the right place and time to take her weight and hold it. The leafy branches are quite comfortable, certainly in comparison to just about anything else she could have hit.

Clarity falls. Clarity lands on the tree and hangs onto it for dear life.

"AAAH - oh hi - fancy seeing you here," says Guiding, laughing nervously, when caught.

"Where's Cordial?" she asks when she's on the ground and has done a headcount. "Is Joy okay?"

"Cordial was carried a different way by the landslide," says Streak. "I don't know where she is exactly, but it's likely to be that way." She points in the appropriate direction.

"I think Joy's okay," says Blaze. "I hope Joy's okay." She pokes him with a tentative hoof.

He stirs briefly, but doesn't wake up.

"Here, I know a little healing magic, everypony close your eyes if you don't want to have to readjust to the darkness -" She bends over Joy, shuts her own eyes, and casts a spell good for blunt trauma.

"Wargh," says Joy, blinking awake. "Hi, Clarity."

"Hi. Better?" she asks, dimming her horn and opening her eyes. "You caught the landslide worst."

"I'm good. How big a rock did I hit?" he wonders.

Blaze points a hoof. The rock in question is bigger than Joy is.

"Whoa," says Joy, blinking. "Guess I'm pretty tough."

"Well, you do have scales. Okay, let's see if we can find Cordial, I guess - unless anyone else wants a healing spell?"

Streak shakes her head.

Blaze likewise.

"This information may not be as useful as it appears," says Streak. "One of those times when you look at the outcome before the plan is decided. I would have advocated for heading for the Elements as directly as we can; it seems Clarity would have advocated for finding Cordial first. Which choice would we have made?"

"I'm inclined to go ahead and follow your plan, since you'd be who I'd ask if I wanted to know how hard it would be to find her. The most obvious danger in the forest is wild animals and Cordial's better equipped to handle those alone than anybody else would be, and it could take hours if not days to find her."

She looks at the other three.

"I'm with you, Sis," says Blaze.

"Same," says Joy.

"I mean, it sounds like we'll run into her if we do that, doesn't it? So let's."

Streak nods, assesses the group, determines that everyone is ready, and starts walking. She pays close attention to the footing, but not so close that she might miss other dangers.

Like that rampaging manticore up ahead? That kind of danger?

"Our path is obstructed by a large, unhappy animal ahead," she observes, ears flicking, before the manticore has quite become visible.

"This would be a reaaaally good time for Cordy to show up but I don't see that plant she was standing near in my vision anywhere..."

"Yes," says Streak. And now she can see the identity of the creature in question. "Manticore," she says, for the benefit of anyone less able to see or interpret the silhouette.

"Oh shoot... is there a way around it?"

"No easy one. Also, it is likely to notice us soon."

"So we do what," says Blaze, "fight it?"

"I have decent healing spells, not miraculous healing spells."

"Awwwwwwwwwwww," says Joy. "Aww!"

"...Congratulations. Do you know a lot about manticores...?"

"Well - no, but I was pretty sure we would be okay or at least not out of reach of your spells, right? And ponies don't come in here too much, so - it probably doesn't eat ponies every day -" She is licked again. "So it was probably mad about something else. And it was."

"Nicely done," says Streak. "Shall we continue?"

"Guess so!"

Once Guiding has managed to extract herself from the grateful manticore they proceed!

"That was really cute," says Joy. "Like, really."

"I guess so!"

"I'm with the dragon on this one," says Blaze. "Adorable."

Clarity chuckles.

Guiding traipses, for one step, then hears a scary noise and stops.

Traipsing! Joy decides to start traipsing too. The scary noises do not affect him.

...Streak's first impulse is skepticism, but she can't detect any inconsistencies or irregularities that point to an illusion at work. The tree has fangs. The fangs are moving.

"Holy smokes, what's happening?"

"I don't know."

...Blaze may in fact be more frightened by that than by the tree with fangs.

Clarity shrinks back, closer to the others.

Streak narrows her eyes.

"Whoa, Cordy, what happened to you?"

"It doesn't seem to have. I never heard of a - tree monster like this."

"Me neither."

"I dunno," says Joy, looking speculatively at the tree. "I think it's kind of - "

"Know any snazzy tree-swatting magic, Clarity?" asks Guiding, shivering.

"If it were daylight I could teleport us someplace I could see but I can't see anyplace well enough."

"What just ha—eep!" says Blaze, hopping into the air to escape a tree-claw swiping from behind her.

"How did you do that?" asks Clarity, thwipping her tail out of the way of another bitey tree.

"It's the laughter," says Streak -

- in chorus with Cordy.

"How fortunate that the fact that it's laughter is -" She trips trying to escape an encroaching treemonster. "Ridiculous." And then she snorts with small but unmistakeable laughter.

Guiding cackles, deliberately but not ungenuinely.

Their laughter untwists the two closest trees. Joy pounces on another one and gives it a hug, giggling helplessly. Its curse is lifted.

"I'll leave this to those more qualified," says Streak.

Which sends her sister into uproarious wheezing giggles. Another two trees restored.

Hee hee hee!

Guiding decides to take a chance on fwipping a tree in the "nose" with her tail, chuckling when it "sneezes". It reverts.

"Who knew Joy's weird sense of humour could be so useful?" remarks Cordy. She's smiling, but has not actually managed any tree-dispelling laughter. "Everybody okay? Are we ready to keep going?"

"I think I'm fine," says Clarity, shaking some dirt off her hoof from when she fell. "What an odd sort of tree monster."

"Thank you, Joy," trills Guiding.

"You're welcome," says Joy, (what else) cheerfully. "Let's go!" He sets out along the decent-approximation-of-a-path.

The pegasus sisters follow.

So do the unicorns.

"...Okay, I can swim a little, but maybe not in fast running water."

"I can swim a lot, but same problem."

"I sink," says Joy.

"I'm a strong swimmer, but I'd have to see the river to tell if I could cross it," says Cordy.

"Clarity, how much would we have to light up the place for you to do your teleporting?"

"More than horn light. I could maybe see well enough if Joy started a fire, but I'd be really worried about controlling it, even with a river right there."

"I don't think you're gonna be seeing the other side of this river no matter how much light you throw on it," says Joy.

"The river is emitting sounds of distress," notes Streak. "The river or some creature in it."

"...Rivers per se rarely emit sounds of distress, although we did just meet very menacing trees, so who knows. If there's creatures in the river maybe Cordy can talk them into giving us a ride."

"No promises," says Cordy.

"I think I see creatures," says Joy. "I definitely hear it. Them? It?"

They're close enough now for Streak to make out details. "It. A singular creature. Very large and snakelike. And I see what you meant about seeing the other side, Joy. The creature's thrashing is causing large waves and considerable spray."

"That'd make fording tricky even if it were shallow and otherwise calm and we were all experienced aqua-ponies."

"Aww!" says Blaze sympathetically.

"Aww," repeats Blaze. "What a mean cloud!" She comes up closer to the river and peers at the serpent's mouth. "...hmm, I wonder," she murmurs to herself. And a little louder: "Hey, mister serpent? How would you feel about a replacement fang? In, say, red?"

"I can stick it on, but will your boot still work?"

"Technically it still works, I just can't wear it anymore; it won't stay on without the front plate. But hey, I've got three more."

"Aww, thanks!" says Blaze. She ventures to be the first to cross.

"Yeah, that's really sweet of you," says Joy, following carefully.

"It looks like it! We made it - except for the obvious chasm all around the place, anyway. Is there a bridge? Or, it looks like there's room to fly, if the fliers want to make a few trips..."

Joy peers at the chasm.

"That'd probably be less nerve-wracking than getting flown, I vote bridge."

Streak glances at her sister.

"Sure thing!" he says agreeably. Together they fly down to pick up the dropped bridge, then carry the far end across the chasm and secure it appropriately.

Blaze trots back across the bridge, wings folded, to demonstrate its sturdiness.

"Ooh."

Streak and Blaze join Joy in crowding up to peer at the rocks.

Cordy follows more sedately.

Clarity trots around the pedestal on which they're sitting. "There's only five, which - still means these are probably them, because the sixth one is supposed to be 'revealed' via a 'spark' when the five ones with known names are present. Can somepony bring them down for me? I should probably start trying things that might complete the set."

Joy, being conveniently bipedal, scoops all the round stones into his arms and carries them down to set the whole pile in front of Clarity.

"Whoa - careful - they've lasted this long, but - okay," says Clarity, calming down when they've all safely reached the ground. She caaaarefully rolls them into a sort of ring shape and sits in the middle. She squints and starts the magical equivalent of feeling around in the dark.

Between watching her to see if anything interesting happens, and looking the other way to keep his night vision in the event of hornglow, Joy picks the second thing.

So does Streak.

- and Clarity teleports to where Nightmare Moon was standing, right in the center of the circle of Elements, and resumes desperately trying to spark them.

Streak analyzes the intervening architecture, lands, and says, "This way." Then she sets off along the likeliest path. Very quickly.

Cordy keeps up.

So do Joy and Blaze.

"Come on come on -"

"But - the sixth element -" breathes Clarity. "Where's the sixth Element?"

By this time, the other five are nearly at the tower - close enough to hear Nightmare Moon's laughter. "We're coming, Clarity!" yells Joy.

"We've got your back!" says Blaze as she reaches the final corner.

"Leave some Nightmare Moon for us!"

"We're all with you!"

"...What?"

Streak brakes for a landing just to Clarity's left and glares up at Nightmare Moon.

Guiding gallops up to stand at Clarity's right.

Cordy plants herself to the right of Guiding Star.

Brightblaze stands on Streak's left.

And Joy stands at Clarity's back, with a smile for Nightmare Moon. It's not one of his nice smiles.

She spares a glance to study them before returning her attention to the obvious threat of Nightmare Moon.

"Guiding Star, who calmed a manticore with her compassion and help, represents the element of Kindness."

Guiding Star gets a cluster of shards too, and strikes a pose.

"Cherry Cordial, who made her way back to the rest of us even though every sign offered a safe way out in the other direction, represents the spirit of Loyalty!"

She stands straight, hooves braced firmly on the stone floor, and smiles.

Appropriately enough, Joy grins wider as his shards come in to circle him.

Blaze spreads her wings slightly, grinning.

"And all together we got through every obstacle in front of us."

"But - you still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!" exclaims Nightmare Moon.

Ooh. Jewelry.

Ooh! Jewelry!

Oooooh! Jewelry!

"No - NOOOOOOOOO!"

"So much bluffing. But, magic - things - kept happening when I was doing it, so I... carried on a bit."

"Sensible. And it seems like it worked out okay."

"It seems like it. So unless I have the hitherto undiscovered power to control ancient artifacts by making suggestions to them we are at least reasonably suitable bearers for the Elements of Harmony, huh?"

Well. How 'bout that.

Guiding bows!

"Princess Celestia!" exclaims Clarity, also bowing quickly before trotting forward. "You're okay!"

"I knew you could do it."

"I told you," winks Celestia, "to make some friends! I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew that you had the magic inside you to defeat her - but there was no way you could have unleashed it without letting true friendship into your heart." She sighs. "Now. If only another will as well. Princess Luna."

Wibble.

...aww, wibbly princess. Joy looks sympathetic.

"It has been a thousand years since I've seen you like this, sister. It's time to put our differences behind us. We ought to be ruling together."

Wibble.

"Will you accept my friendship?"

Celestia rests her neck against her sister's. "I've missed you, too. It's so good to have you back."

Awwwwww.

Cordy sits up to watch the sisters' reunion; apparently she doesn't feel quite up to standing just yet.

Clarity notices she has a headache, heals it, and says, "Does anypony else's head kind of hurt?"

"Little bit. Elements of Headache."

So Clarity heals her.

"Same," yawns Blaze. "Oof."

"Me four."

"I'm good," says Joy.

"Why so glum, my faithful student?" inquires Celestia. "Aren't you excited to return to your studies in Canterlot, now that your quest is at an end?"

"Well - I don't plan to stop studying, wherever I am, but - I don't actually have any friends, back in Canterlot. And I made some here. I mean, maybe that was all show for the Elements, maybe they'd rather only be acquaintances for now, but - I like them."

"I like you too!" says Joy, passing by with a small plate of cherry chocolate truffles intermixed with medium-sized chunks of rose quartz.

"Aww."

"Well then. Clarity, may I borrow a piece of paper?"

"...Of course, Princess." Clarity always has paper. She floats a sheet of it and a pencil to Celestia.

"I, Princess Celestia," Princess Celestia says aloud as she writes, "hereby decree that the unicorn Clarity Bell shall be reassigned to take on a new mission for the land of Equestria: she will continue to study the magic of Friendship, and report to me on her findings from her new home - in Ponyville."

"Awesome!" says Joy.

"...Do I go on staying in the library?"

"Gonna be a librarian now?" inquires Joy.

"I suppose! Maybe Blueberry will help."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan."

"Do you know if there are more of those truffles left?"

"There were plenty, last I checked! I'd offer you some of mine, but - quartz dust," he says, with a shrug and a smile.

Someone is waiting for her inside.

"Hi, Blueberry."

"What did you do?" inquires Blueberry.

"I bluffed my way into activating the Elements of Harmony," says Clarity, floating the bell-festooned crown onto the nightstand next to the bed upstairs, "and we defeated Nightmare Moon with them, and now she's Princess Luna again, and I have been reassigned to stay here and continue investigating the magic of friendship."

"I think it would be a really good idea to write down everything you know abuot how you did it and put it in that book, in case someone else needs to know later," says Blueberry solemnly.

"I was planning to write it down, and I suppose it would be a good idea to tuck it inside the cover of that book," agrees Clarity.

"Good," she says, nodding. "I just wanted to make sure. Are you going to be staying in Ponyville?"

"Yes. In the library, probably managing its... librariness... although I was hoping you might help me with that, since you know more about it than I do. At least whenever you aren't in school." Clarity produces a notebook and starts writing an outline of the events of the... night.

"I'd love to help!" she says happily. "That would be just perfect."

"Awesome."

Blueberry rears up and kicks her forehooves in giggly excitement.