Ponyville Mysteries: Peryton Panic

My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries: Peryton Panic by "Penumbra Quill" (collective pen name of Michael Vogel and Nicole Dubuc) is the thirty-first book in a series of chapter books published by Little, Brown and Company and the fourth entry in the "Ponyville Mysteries" series.

In this book, the Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt to solve a mystery surrounding a strange creature from the Everfree Forest.

Dreams and distrust
The story begins with "The Pony" from the previous books annoyed by the involvement of Princess Twilight Sparkle in the recent string of mysterious events in Ponyville. In the Everfree Forest's Livewood, The Pony working with Lilymoon's father Blue Moon plants seeds in the ground at the edge of the Livewood's barrier and starts enacting a spell to open it.

Sweetie Belle has a dream about playing tag with a phoenix in the Everfree Forest. After a bizarre encounter with Big McIntosh, she realizes that she is dreaming and looks for Princess Luna. However, she instead runs into a large, hooved creature with giant antlers, white eyes, and wings of smoke. When the creature appears to attack Sweetie Belle, she wakes up from the nightmare with a scream. Rarity bursts into the room with worry and helps Sweetie Belle go back to sleep with a lullaby that she used to sing to her when she was little.

The next morning, the Cutie Mark Crusaders bring Lilymoon and Ambermoon to Fluttershy's Sweet Feather Sanctuary. After the recent incident involving the appearance of the Olden Pony, the Mane Six are suspicious of Lilymoon's family and their activities, and the Crusaders want to prove Lilymoon and Ambermoon's innocence.

At the Sanctuary, the Crusaders, Lilymoon, and Ambermoon help Fluttershy give all the animals baths. Ambermoon reveals that, after the talk Princess Twilight had with her and Lilymoon's parents, their mother Lumi Nation doesn't want them hanging out with the Crusaders anymore. Before the Crusaders can protest, the animals suddenly start getting agitated and run away from something, creating a mess in the sanctuary. Fluttershy believes Lilymoon and Ambermoon to be the cause of the animals' agitation.

A disturbance in Ponyville
Later that evening, the Crusaders are brought to Twilight's castle, and the Mane Six tell them to stop hanging out with Lilymoon and Ambermoon because of the recent troubles surrounding their family. As the Crusaders protest, Granny Smith suddenly bursts in and informs them of a shadowy monster she saw at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack believes Granny simply had a bad dream, but numerous other ponies show up outside the castle saying they encountered the same creature. Twilight and her friends dismiss the ponies' accounts as merely tall tales, but the Crusaders believe they're worth looking into.

That night, Sweetie Belle has another dream about getting the lead role in the school play. When she finds herself in a dark forest, she hears a chime-like sound and runs into the same creature from her previous nightmare. As the creature stares at Sweetie Belle, burning pain suddenly fills her body, and she wakes up once again.

The next day at school, Sweetie Belle tells Apple Bloom and Scootaloo about her dream, and they realize they all had the same exact dream. At recess, they tell Lilymoon about the creature they saw in their dream, and Lilymoon identifies the creature as a peryton—the very same creature she was researching when she got her cutie mark. When the Crusaders wonder what the peryton wants, Lilymoon says the best way to find out is to ask it.

Summoning the peryton
Against the wishes of their sisters and friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders work together with Lilymoon and Ambermoon to summon the peryton to the Everfree Forest. Using their aunt Eclipse's spell book, Lilymoon and Ambermoon prepare the summoning ritual. As the fillies dance around the ritual circle, Ambermoon recites the spell incantation, and the peryton appears. Lilymoon attempts to communicate with the creature, but it doesn't listen to her and flies into an agitated rage.

Sensing that the peryton is scared or in pain, Sweetie Belle starts singing Rarity's lullaby, and the peryton becomes docile. Unfortunately, the Crusaders' sisters soon approach searching for the missing fillies. The peryton runs away, and the Crusaders hide out of fear of being punished. As a result of her failure to communicate with the peryton, Lilymoon starts to doubt her special talent.

Some time later, the Crusaders, Lilymoon, and Ambermoon sneak back to the greenhouse behind Lilymoon's house. When Scootaloo finally confronts the Moon sisters about everything that's been going on lately, Lilymoon and Ambermoon get defensive and plead innocence. Lilymoon starts doubting her cutie mark even more, and the Crusaders say they just want to figure out what's going on. Just then, Lilymoon and Ambermoon's mother Lumi Nation enters and accuses the Crusaders of throwing around accusations without any proof. Frustrated by all the suspicion that's been cast on her family, Lumi Nation demands that the Crusaders leave.