1. The Elements of Harmony
Fwsh.
A burst of light lit up the royal chambers of Canterlot momentarily. Princess Celestia staggered to a halt, and stopped to breathe for a moment. She'd departed from the scuppered Summer Sun Celebration straight to her quarters. Had it been a thousand years already? How had she let it all slip her mind? Her face was burning with embarrassment, at the show her sister had made of her in front of the whole town. In front of her top student... she shook her head and started pacing.
She needed a plan... some way of dealing with this. Where was Luna headed? What was she going to do next? She had to know... but venerable and great as she was, she wasn't omniscient. She'd still have to rely on other ponies to keep her in the know, to help her deal with Luna... She snapped herself back to reality before the past started creeping back in. Things she'd worked to forget were resurfacing, and she wasn't happy about it.
All she could deal with was the present. And in the present, she saw a threat. A threat alien to her people, but all too familiar to her. Luna threatened to upset the balance she'd worked so hard to maintain in Equestria, to wilfully throw order to the wind, and in the name of what? Change? Renewal? Hubris if you asked her. She couldn't fault her subjects for idealism, but Luna should know better. She knew what she herself knew.
If she wouldn't see reason, her hoof would be forced. Celestia had to protect her subjects, and right now, the most glaring threat to them was her own sister.
That morning, she put out a decree; messengers carried it to the four corners of Equestria, posters went to print immediately, criers called out from street corners: that the one calling herself Princess Luna was an enemy of the realm, anypony with information concerning her was to report it to their local authorities, and giving her aid or quarter was to be considered taking on her status as enemy of the realm by proxy. Word would be all over Equestria by sundown.
* * *
Twilight hurried back to her new home, having dodged out of the town hall with excuses and waving a yawning Spike around. The first order of business was putting Spike to bed—he was asleep by the time he hit the pillow. She couldn't help but crack a smile and d'aw as she pulled his blanket over him, but she quickly resumed searching the shelves. There had to be something in here that would give her even the most oblique reference on the situation... Argh! She was totally unfamiliar with the layout of this library, and even worse, the books were arranged alphabetically, not by Dewey Decimal! She could be here for weeks looking for the right book, but it just so happened providence had other plans.
A blur of colours just sort of materialised through the window, and before Twilight knew it, Rainbow Dash was in her face, pushing the unicorn back, hovering in the air to get the height advantage on her, and generally trying to be intimidating. "Hey! Twilight-whatever-your-name-is! How do you know about that Luna girl? Why're you here? Are you a spy?"
No sooner had Rainbow Dash arrived, Applejack stormed in after her, not to pile on the pressure, but to relieve it. Grabbing the cyan pegasus' tail in her teeth and giving an almighty heave, she pulled her away to stop her from badgering Twilight further. "Simmer down, Rainbow! That unicorn ain't no spy," the earth pony huffed and cast a questioning look back to the unicorn. "But she sure has a better idea what's goin' on than any of us do... don'tcha, Twi?" Her gaze was much less aggressive, but definitely showed firm intent. She obviously wanted answers just as much as Rainbow Dash did.
"I... I'm not sure..." Twilight said, recovering quickly from the pegasus' assault. She shook her head and started pacing the library. "I was expecting something big to happen this morning, and it did... but it wasn't what I was expecting at all! I'm missing a lot of information, and what's worse, I don't know if any of what's written down is reliable! Something's not right..." Blowing out some of her frustration, she thumped her head on the wooden bit between two bookcases. Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged a worried look, before Twilight continued. "But I do have one lead: a book back in the library in Canterlot mentioned the tale of the Mare in the Moon. She was a powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, and was defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. 'On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about night-time eternal.' Now we know that the Mare in the Moon was Princess Luna, and 'night-time eternal' was at best a metaphor, but these 'Elements of Harmony' could be anything, and that's the problem. I don't know what they are, or where to find them, I don't even know what they do!"
At this point, Pinkie Pie bounced across the room, idly glancing through the shelves. Elements of Harmony, eh? Doesn't that begin with... "'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!'" She held the book off the shelf with a little satisfied smile, which did not leave her face even as Twilight shoved her out of the way and caught the book with magic.
"How did you find this so fast?" The unicorn asked, incredulous.
She received a singsong "it was under E~" from the pink pony, who was bouncing merrily away. Rolling her eyes, Twilight returned her attention to the book, and began leafing through it to make sure it was what the title claimed. Sure enough, she found something that seemed promising, and stopped on the page to read aloud.
""There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now... the Everfree Forest?"
They stood now, in front of the entrance to the dense wood. Twilight had left the library without another word to the others, and for some reason they had all followed her, like five lost puppies. The dark trees loomed over them, thick vines accenting the dull browns of the bark. The forest grew so thick so quickly, that it was impossible to see very far into it. Fluttershy, who had thus far not said a word save for the squeak when Twilight read the Everfree Forest from the book, squeaked again, huddling behind Rainbow Dash at Applejack.
Totally oblivious to any potential danger, Pinkie continued her bouncing into the forest. "Wheee! Last one to the castle is a rotten egg!" She was stopped, suddenly, by Twilight's hoof sticking out in front of her.
"Listen, girls, I appreciate your concern, but I think it's best if I did this alone." She couldn't hide the wavering in her voice as she looked back into the forest; all she had to go on for navigation was a spire poking above the canopy, the shadows of the dense foliage made her first step somewhat uncertain.
Watching the unicorn's trepid first steps, Applejack just pushed past her and stormed on boldly into the forest. "No can do, sugarcube. We ain't lettin' no friend of ours into this creepy forest alone, inn't that right girls?" She waved a hoof and looked back at the group, motioning for them to follow. Twilight blinked, when was it decided that they were all friends? All things considered, she still viewed these ponies as the source of the majority of crazy in this town. Then again, when Luna had appeared and she and Celesetia had begun arguing over whatever they had been arguing over, Twilight had decided that had been the craziest thing yet to grace this town.
At this point, Rarity was only catching up to the group - she'd taken a detour between the library and the forest, to pick up something from her shop. "Darlings! Oh, I do hope you haven't left without me..." She was panting lightly from her brisk trot to catch up. However, the most starkly different thing about her was the flamboyant headdress - wide-brimmed, a few feathers and a prominent belt of diamonds along front of the crown. "I just had to fetch the essentials. Can't be out in the sun without proper headwear~" Content in her reasoning, she continued on into the forest with the rest of them.
Twilight just boggled vacantly, watching the other five carry on into the forest ahead of her. How could five ponies share the same amount of reckless abandon when concerned about a pony they barely knew? With a heavy sigh, she turned and hurried after them before they got themselves into trouble.
The path continued for about three hundred lengths before splitting into two, just short of a steep hillside. The first went along the same route as the original path, and lead around the side of the hill. This path was mostly clear of vegetation. The second was a narrow path to the left that lead into a cave. It was quite dark and slightly overgrown, and looked pretty hard to navigate.
Completely oblivious to any and all danger, Rainbow Dash (dragging Fluttershy along by the tail, for fear of her not actually coming with them) charged on ahead towards the open hillside. "Alright! A clearing! We should be there in no time!" Not so much following after Dash as being dragged on her back, Fluttershy whimpered and held her hooves in close to herself for safety. This was certainly not her idea of a nice way to spend the morning!
"Ow... I... uhm... Rainbow... ooh! Could you please... yow! S-stop...?"
"Harden up a little, Fluttershy! You could use it!" Rainbow Dash replied.
Quickly reacting to her instincts, Applejack jumped out and grabbed Fluttershy by her legs, forcing Rainbow Dash to either let go or get pulled to the ground. "Wait! That road ain't safe!" She might have been incredibly sure that there was something fishy about the path ahead, but she was quickly realising that she might have a hard time justifying what felt like pure gut feeling. "I... call it intuition or somethin', but I really don't like the looks of that road by the cliff. Trust me, we'll be safer goin' down to left." She was fully aware this seemed like a suspiciously unreasonable proposition, and all she had to work in her favour was a look of earnest concern, but she was damn sure of this.
Doof. Rainbow Dash pile-drived the dirt with her nose and rolled on to her back. Though, she'd taken tougher knocks before; she picked herself right back up and got to hovering. "Pshhh, what could possibly be wrong with the road? Are dragons gonna come out and eat us?" It might have been a bit mean, but she shot a sly look at Fluttershy as she said 'dragons' to play scare her. It certainly worked, as the butter-yellow pegasus gave one of her squeaks, and seemed to shrink a little.
"What you might not have considered, Rainbow Dash, is that some of us have to actually use our legs?" Rarity frowned at Dash while helping Fluttershy up, and then turned her attention to the mountain next to them. Her talent had given her some necessary incidental experience in geology - when you have an eye for detail and a spell for gem-finding, you notice patterns, and things about rock formations. "What I think Applejack's concerned about is the stability of the cliff. Though..." She had to grimace as she took a look at the alternative route. The muddy, overgrown, alternative route, everything that was an enemy to a well-tended lady's hooves. "Oh... but surely it can take the weight of just a few more ponies?"
Twilight thought hard for a moment. She'd read about theories of Earth Sense before... maybe this was at play here? If that was the case, then that could be why Applejack was so adamant that they should go down the less obvious route. Unless, she was hiding something... but, what would she have to hide? Was there any benefit she might get from lying?
Weighing up these factors, she eventually voted with her hooves - by starting towards the overgrown cave. "I think I'll defer to Applejack on this. Call it intuition or something." She shot the farmer a smirk, and started using swipes of magic to hack away at the undergrowth blocking their way. The cave might still be kind of dank and unpleasant, but it was at least passable.
At the far end of the cave was a splash of light, and it opened out at the bottom of the cliff-face. From the bottom, one could see how steep the hillside really was—practically sheer cliff, going up for fifty lengths at least.
Kerrack...
As soon as the whole party was through the cave, a rumble emanated from the hillside. There didn't seem to be any good reason for it to do it when it did, but any which way, the edge of the hillside - precisely, the peak on which the cleared path was sitting - gave way. Rainbow Dash had gone overhead, despite the rest of the party taking the cave route. She had wings, why not use them? So, she had a prime view of the rockslide. It was well out of the party's way, so they weren't in any danger, and the rubble just slid harmlessly down the hillside to become a pile of loose earth at the bottom. rest of the road appeared to wind around the hillside, and carry on for another few hundred lengths away, before hairpinning and turning around to arrive at the bottom.
The bottom itself was flat and grassy, with an opposite cliff-face, and trees at both ends. The forest at one end was dense and virtually impassable, while the other was composed of more widely-spaced, old-growth trees. Rainbow grimaced as she returned to earth to rejoin the group. "Yeah, okay, I'll give you that one..."
"Toldja so!" Applejack chuffed, fixing her hat and carrying on past the pile of rubble. "Now why would I have any reason to lie to you girls?"
On her way out of the cave, Twilight paused to reflect on that. Hm, maybe it was plain and honest Earth sense. She shrugged, and hurried on, retaking her position at the front of the group. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad—chances were these ponies knew the area better than she did (which, admittedly, wasn't hard). By her current guess, they'd be at the castle, have the Elements, and be back in Ponyville in time for lunch.
Or perhaps not... The ground was shaking again, and along with it came the roar of a large animal. Something was not happy, and the party wouldn't have to go very far to see what. Between the trees at the passable end of the valley was a full-grown grizzly bear that had turned its attention on them. The ruckus from the rockslide had probably drawn it out, but that fact wasn't exactly pertinent right now - it was right in the middle of their path, and was looking viciously disgruntled.
Conflict! Peril! This was no time to sit around waiting for things to happen, this was time for action! Time for Rainbow Dash! "Don't worry, I got this!" She kicked into the air and sped at the bear, aiming her trajectory at its legs.
"Wait!" Fluttershy called after Rainbow Dash, but it was too late. She was already gone, and she probably wouldn't have been heard anyway. Something was wrong; grizzly bears don't just up and attack ponies at random. Rainbow Dash was still speeding towards the beast, but at the last moment before contact, she turned and broke into a spin, tightly coiling her course around the beast, encircling it in her rainbow trail. Her intent was to use the flurry of colours and the resultant wind current to destabilise it; at least knock it on its back long enough for her friends to slip past, or even better, stun it entirely! Never mind that this is exactly the same technique she blow-dried Twilight's hair with yesterday, or that it didn't actually work.
The bear was at best mildly confused. It stood there and scratched its head, before losing patience with this nonsense and casually swiping at Rainbow Dash, sending her spinning back to the rest of her party. The bear was still just as aggravated as before, and let that be known with another gut-wrenching roar. Going down like a shot-down fighter, Rainbow Dash left a long skid in the mud, before landing at the feet of the party with a dazed groan. She lifted out a front hoof and held it out; "Tag out?" she burbled.
Applejack slapped the outstretched hoof and launched into a charge. "Ah got your back Rainbow! Hiyaaa!" She leapt to a stop just short of the bear, coiling her legs into a spring to launch herself over it and land on its back. After struggling for a moment to get a grip, she was now perched on its neck - just like riding a rodeo bull! "Giddyup, varmint! Gimme all you got!" she taunted, holding her hat on with one foreleg and clinging firmly to her mount with the other.
Were they even listening? Fluttershy was sounding increasingly desperate as she called and reached after Applejack. "Wait!" Despite the urgency of her tone and her best efforts to make her voice heard, the cowgirl was doing her best to stay on the bear and... what did she aim to do? Tame it? That wasn't the way to calm down an angry bear.
Said bear was far from impressed by this. It just stood calmly, reached up on to its back, and flung the earth pony back the way she came - it wasn't even going to give her the entertainment of trying to buck her off. Applejack quickly joined Rainbow Dash in eating dirt, with a few scratches and bruises to boot. Her hat drifted after her, landing on her face. "Dinn'tcher moth-er ever tell y'bout leavin' toys on th'stairs...?" she mumbled, speech weak and stilted, and her eyes rolling around in her head.
"Stand back girls, I've got this under control!" Twilight jumped ahead of where Rainbow Dash and Applejack had landed, crouched down, and lit up her horn. Frankly, it was a scare tactic - she hadn't a clue what she was doing. She had no offensive magic at her disposal, and at best a shield spell she'd snatched off her brother that she was still having trouble perfecting. With any luck, the bear would get scared at the potential that magic might have and run away.
If she didn't jump in soon something bad was going to happen, but Fluttershy couldn't get close to the bear if her friends kept attacking it. So she just took the non-violent resistance route, and threw herself between Twilight and the bear. "WAIT!"
The yell broke the unicorn's concentration, and her horn fizzled out. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fluttershy, throwing herself into the middle of things. Was she insane? What was... what? She just kind of stood up and watched, as much out of confusion at her actions than out of heeding her instruction.
With her friends suitably pacified, Fluttershy turned around and calmly trotted over to the bear. No fear, no signs of aggression, she just sauntered up to it and gave it a little nuzzle on the knee and a smile to show that she meant no harm. Don't worry, Aunt Fluttershy is here to help you with your problems, her look said. Everything is gonna be okay.
At first, the bear was just as puzzled as Twilight had been a moment ago. But once it had processed the change of tack, it backed up a little and made a grunt; slightly sad, mildly distressed. It sat back and slouched its shoulders, like sad bears are wont to do. After a moment of looking sorry for itself, it raised a paw, and pointed with a claw at the top of a nearby tree, and made the rueful noise again.
Following the line it was tracing, one might see a dark mass at the top of the tree, slightly swaying in the wind. Only after a couple of moments of watching carefully would one be able to identify what was up there - one little furry tab popped up, followed by another; a pair of wiggling ears. Then the rest of the little bear cub's head followed, and below, two more. The three of them were clinging to the top of the tree for dear life, and none of them looked quite sure whether to be in dire distress or just plain confused. Rainbow Dash made a groaning noise, having recovered enough to pay attention to the bear's motions.
Fluttershy gasped when she identified the cubs. Fortunately, she was equipped with just the tools for the job - she fluffed out her wings, flew to the top of the tree, and scooped up the three terrified little cubs. "Now how did your cubs get up here, Mrs. Bear? That's not right..." Whispering soothing nothings to the cubs as she descended, she deposited them on solid ground in front of their mother. "No wonder you were so upset! I'm sorry my friends were bothering you, they just didn't understand."
"Hard to understand it when it can't talk..." Rainbow mumbled, huffing.
The cubs were quite happy to be back on solid ground again, climbing over themselves to scurry back to their mother. She was happy again too; she got back up on all fours, and thumped a tree. Out of it fell a bee-hive, or rather the remains of one - it looked like it had been already mauled and de-bee'd, leaving just combs of honey inside. The bear caught it, and gently passed it over to Fluttershy as a reward. Then, she turned and started back into the forest with her bumbling gait, cubs in tow.
Twilight had been watching this whole display with her jaw somewhere close to the floor. Not only had Fluttershy attempted the absolutely insane, it had worked! Only by the time the bear was well on her way had she gathered herself enough to start walking again, ask what had just happened. "Whdj... Fluttershy, how did you know those bear cubs were stuck up that tree?"
"I didn't!" Fluttershy picked up the remains of the hive (a little miffed, but grateful for the gift nonetheless), and put it on her back. She could take it home, then later drain the honey and use the combs to start a new bee colony on. "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." She smiled sweetly and carried on, rejoining the party as they continued into the forest.
Twilight had to pause and think about that for a moment again. Something about that statement reminded her of something... a parable? Maybe an old story? A legend perhaps? She shrugged and carried on. This wasn't the place for getting lost in thought. Hurrying back to the front of the group, she started leading the party into the woods. She took one last look at the spire in the sky to keep track of their direction before they entered.
The path started splitting and becoming less discernible in the muck of the forest, and while passable, the trees were still pretty dense. To make matters worse, the trees seemed to be getting taller as they went further in—shafts of light penetrating the dense canopy got more and more sparse, and before long it was like trying to travel at night with no lamp.
"Darlings, I don't mean to interrupt..." Rarity coughed, struggling to keep track of the ponies around her. She could barely see her own hoof in front of her face! She was checking every couple of seconds to see if the hat she'd brought was still there—it would really be a shame to lose it... and the big diamond crowning it. "... but don't you think it's gotten rather dark, shockingly quickly? I can hardly follow you if I can't see you." There was a twinge of worry in her voice, but she was keeping it together for now.
Twilight tossed her fringe and snorted; she got this. She totally got this. "Don't worry girls, I've got this under control!" She bowed her head, concentrated deeply, and lit up her horn with an impressive lighting spell; a bright ball of light, soft lilac, the same colour as her fur, hovering just above and behind her. A spell trained through many nights of reading past her bedtime. The light did a very good job indeed of lighting up the clearing around Twilight, only there was nopony else there. While they seemed to be within earshot of each other, they'd gotten separated from walking in the dark, and the dense vegetation was completely shading out Twilight's light just feet away from her.
"Did you do somethin', sugarcube? 'Cos I didn't see nothin' if you did..." Applejack tenatively paced her clearing, having to feel her way around it. She'd heard all about the dangers of the Everfree Forest from her Granny Smith: it was a strange place, with stranger creatures, that looked after themselves without needing ponies at any point. And without that stewardship, they'd become wild and vicious. Without light to see by, those thoughts just got a lot more unsettling.
"Yeah, you wanna turn up whatever you're doing?" Dash piped up, trying to crush her nervousness by shouting. She'd been getting more and more anxious as the canopy got thicker, as much as she tried to hide it. She didn't like not being able to see the sky. It always made her feel stifled and airless, like having her head forced underwater. Not to mention kind of lost and disoriented, which the diverging paths certainly didn't help with.
The full gravity of the situation was only starting to dawn on Fluttershy now, after she'd walked face first into a fern that she couldn't see. The fright knocked her on to her rump, and the darkness only compounded it. All she gave to reveal her presense was a timid squeak.
Seeing that it wasn't doing much good to anyone, Twilight dimmed her light and started frantically searching the clearing, pulling leaves out of the way, peering between tree-trunks and rearing up on her hind legs, trying to get a good look out. "Okay, uh... don't panic, it's... it's all under control! I'll figure something out in just a second..." Think, Twilight, think! I wonder how thick that canopy is... if I can find a way to punch through it, there'd be a lot more light than I could make on my own.
The one pony in the group who did not behave the least bit afraid was, of course, Pinkie Pie. She hopped merrily around her clearing, pushing some leaves out of the way and carrying on. Oh, and the most important part, was opening her mouth and breaking into song. And where was that music coming from?
"When I was a little filly and the sun was going down // The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown..."
Twilight pricked her ear, hearing the distinct tones of... singing, somewhere to her left. She gave an exasperated sigh and just kind of slumped over the tree stump she was looking over. "Tell me she's not..."
The exasperation was shared. Rarity rolled her eyes - not that anyone noticed - and rubbed her forehead. "She is..."
"I'd hide under my pillow // From what I thought I saw
But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way // To deal with fears at all!
She said: 'Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall // Learn to face your fears
You'll see that they can't hurt you // Just laugh to make them disappear.'
Ha! Ha! Ha!"
She stood proudly on the spot, with her nose in the air, waiting for something to happen, and something certainly did happen. The canopy above Pinkie Pie burst open, letting through a big shaft of light that illuminated where she was standing. The light created a faint shimmer through the thick foliage in one particular direction in each of the others' isolated clearings, giving each of them an idea of where Pinkie was.
Merrily trotting on through the forest, almost blindly blazing a trail (though actually she had an eye on the sky and was thinking about the direction of the sunlight), Pinkie kept singing her merry little tune;
"Soooo,
Giggle at the ghostly // Guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy // Whoop it up with the weepy
Chortle at the kooky // Snortle at the spooky
And tell that big scary darkness to take a hike and leave you alone and if it thinks it can scare you then it's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna... hahahaha...heh...
Laaaaaaauuugh!"
This was crazy, but maybe it was worth a shot? She turned to the few leaves and vines that were slightly lit up. She concentrated, and brought forth a humorous memory. It was kind of half-formed and she wouldn't be able to describe it in a way that communicated the humour to anyone else, but with enough focus on it, she was able to produce a small but sincere giggle. Light blared in from another hole in the canopy, and another, as Rarity, then Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash joined in the laughter. Quickly enough, the whole clearing was once again lit up by fresh sunlight, with six ponies lying in the middle, laughing as hard as they could.
Any of the party with a botanical bent might finally recognise some of the trees around them as Creeping Willows: emotionally parasitic trees that creep rapidly and start constricting surrounding plants when they sense negative emotions like fear, anger and sorrow. Cheerful emotions have the opposite effect, making the branches retract. With the branches out of the way, the six mares found their way out of the dense forest, and were once again well on their way.
The next part of their route ran alongside a river for about a hundred lengths, before they reached a part of it that looked safe to cross. Everywhere they could see except this little stretch had steep rocks or thorns on the bank, making it impassable. To make matters worse, parked in the middle of the river - right over the ford, where it looked shallow enough to cross without having to wade or swim - was what appeared to be a river serpent, sitting upright in the river with his bulky arms folded, auburn goatee and Fu Manchu moustache framing the biggest pout you've ever seen, and nestled on eyebrows sufficiently huge to sleep in was an impressive (or showy, depending on your perspective) golden crown.
Finally, something that looked like she could have an intelligent conversation with! Twilight hurried down the hill to the riverside. Maybe she could ask this gentledrake which way the castle was. "Hello, Mr... uh, Dragon! My..." I guess this is the most expedient word to use. "... friends, and I, were hoping to cross the river! Is there a bridge or a shallow area nearby?" Twilight looked up from the riverbank, giving him her most polite and cordial smile.
The serpent quirked one of his bountiful eyebrows, and with a sweeping motion of its body brought himself down to Twilight's level. His expression was just as sour up close as it was from far away. His crown appeared to be damaged, with a big obvious gap where a jewel once was in the row of jewels adorning it. "Sorry, do I look like I'm standing here for the good of me health? I'm the bloody river guardian, aren't I? And nobody is crossing this river. Nope, not even little ponies." He punctuated his point by giving Twilight a little bonk on the top of the head with his finger.
"Oh, come on!" Dash rolled her eyes and took straight to the air. "Why does nopony ever look up? Here, I can just carry you over..." Without asking permission first, she scooped up Pinkie Pie under her torso, and started lifting her in the air to fly over the river.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Ever on-the-ball, the serpent smacked Rainbow Dash and her pony cargo back down to earth with a deft flick of his tail. When it returned to the water, it kicked up a large wave, washing over the whole shore. "Are you even listening? This far, no further!" In his enthusiasm, his vigorous gesturing knocked his crown slightly askew, which he took a moment to correct.
"Wheeee!" Pinkie Pie squealed, tumbling back to earth and landing with a cartwheel. She rolled around this way, like a coin, until eventually she started leaning to one side, and the circle path she was tracing got smaller and smaller, and she came to a stop on her back, giggling madly. And then came the wave! It was a water ride too, look at that. "Let's do that again!"
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, landed with a dull thud next to Pinkie, once more a little dazed. Her nose left a gouge in the dirt, and she grumbled, "I gotta stop doing this."
While she was lifting up her forelock with her magic and wringing out the river water, Rarity was approaching the problem from another angle. "Now, let's not be unreasonable... to what end might a handsome gentleman such as yourself be employed in keeping innocent travellers from crossing this stream?" She shook the water out of her hat and replaced it. It seemed to be no worse for wear, unusually - aside from a bug or two that had been strained out of the water, which she meticulously picked out and tossed aside. "I mean, you're obviously doing something important if you're going around with a magnificent crown like that..."
The serpent smirked and gave his moustache a little twiddle, deftly dodging the subject of 'why' and getting straight into soaking up the compliments. "Well, I suppose it is a very nice crown..." He took it off to admire it, first beaming broadly at it, but after a brief inspection, he sighed and ran a finger around the hole where a jewel was missing. "Real shame about the ding it took though. Just hasn't been the same since."
"Well, we shall see about that!" She lifted her hat off her head, and carefully prised the largest diamond out of the very front of the hat so as not to damage the fabric. It was a little ostentatious anyway, right? The hat could do with being made a little more austere. From what she could see, it seemed to be just about the right size to fill the gap in the river guardian's crown. With a little pressure, a little concentration and a little magic, she pressed the diamond into the space in an attempt to fix it. "See? Good as new!" It looked a little askew, but sure enough, the diamond fit in the hole and stayed there.
Visibly uplifted, the serpent replaced the crown on his head, and admired his reflection in a still part of the river for a moment. "Oh wow! Wow, inn't that something!" He gave it a few more test flicks, and the crown's integrity held. Looking down at Rarity, barely containing the grin on his face (as it was it looked kind of like a tiny little pouty smile, hidden away under his moustache), he eventually broke down and beamed. "Oh alright, go on then..." With another mild splash, he lay sideways, and his serpentine form made bumps in the water, serving as stepping stones. "But don't tell nobody, eh? If they find out I were letting some ponies across the river they'll have me skin!"
Twilight rubbed her eyes and had to manually replace her jaw. Did she really just eviscerate the headgear she was so proud of on... practically a whim? "Rarity! Your hat! It's ruined!" She took another look at the grinning guardian, and the dry path set out for them. "Though I gotta say, it produced results." As much puzzled as anything else, she started hopping across the stepping stones to lead the group to the other side.
Before following, Rarity examined her hat again and laughed off Twilight's concern. "Oh, pish-posh Twilight, I think it looks better this way! I... really do, I'm not quite sure what I was going for with so many diamonds..." Her line of thought retreated to internal monologue as she looked over her hat again. Deciding in the end that it was less fabulous and more disgusting, she made a note to bury it in her shop, deep enough that by the time they found it again, the whole thing would have been compressed into diamonds, hopefully. She continued on after Twilight, as did the rest of their group.
The other side of the river had a gentle rise at first, before quickly running into a steep hill topped with a few close stands of trees. While the slope may have been treacherous, the canopy was fairly open and the ground firm, and nothing jumped out at them. The woods continued for another few hundred lengths before breaking up quite suddenly, near the edge of a sheer cliff. There was lots of dust rising from the canyon below, and the last of the morning's mist was still burning away, so the other side was slightly obscured. Still, the outline of the castle ruins was pretty easy to make out. In between the two sides, was... nothing. The rope bridge, while in fairly good nick, has been untied from the far side, and so was hanging down from near side. The posts it was supposed to be tied around are pretty obvious, standing up directly across from the hanging bridge.
Twilight walked right up to the edge to get a look at the condition of the ladder. She might have been able to lift it if she could see the end, but the dusty air obscured her vision. She also wasn't happy about standing at the edge of a very tall sheer rock face and taking concentration away from balance to put into magic, so she backed up. "The bridge is out! What now?"
"What are you, the exposition fairy?" Rainbow Dash laughed, pulling her back from the edge. "Don't worry, I got this," she announced, flaring her wings and waving them around. She kicked off the edge, straight into a nose-dive. The dust was mildly irritant, but nothing she couldn't handle—it just made her squint a little. Deftly, she grabbed the loose end of the bridge in her teeth and carried it up to the far side to tie one of the ropes off on the pole.
As soon as Dash had tied off the bridge, there was a rush of wind off to the side, causing a loud rustling in the trees, and blowing some dust into the space over the canyon, reducing the visibility. When the noise died down, Rainbow Dash was able to hear something there—talking, trotting, pegasi landing. Soon, a voice called out from behind the bushes; "Hey! Is somepony there?"
Dash tilted her head and stepped towards the sound tentatively. She knew she probably should be finishing up with the bridge, but it wouldn't take too long to go investigate! She quickly pulled the second rope tight, then her curiosity got the better of her, and she trotted over to get a look behind the bushes. She'd be back with her friends in no time.
Not one to get left behind, as soon as she saw the bridge tied off, Twilight hurried across, stepping quickly for fear of loose planks or... poor knot-work. "Rainbow Dash! Where are you going?" she called across. What was going on over there? She was just supposed to fix the bridge and get right back to them, not wander off the path. They were so close now!
Rainbow Dash saw that behind the bushes and a short way away was a clearing. Circling this clearing - a few of them patrolling the air above, a few of them standing around, and one of them lying on the ground - were none other than... the Wonderbolts? The nearest one to Dash turned her head to face her. Anyone with even passing knowledge about the group would recognise that flame-like hair and equally flaming orange eyes (even if they did flash green for a moment—quickly though! Blink and you'll miss it.) Rainbow Dash had to stop and blink in disbelief (and consequently miss the suspicious green eye flash). Her logical faculties just kind of vacated to make way for all the concentration she needed to put into self-control, just to not explode from excitement on the spot. Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts, was talking to her.
"Oh! There you are." Spitfire looked back at the Wonderbolt on the ground, apparently unconscious, and then back at Rainbow Dash again. Then she rubbed her chin in thought. "Say, you look like you might be able to help us actually..."
Rather than let herself descend into a fangirlish mess, Rainbow croaked out her reply with her wings fluttering nervously behind her. "I cagh-" False start! Smooth, Rainbow. "I can?"
Spitfire continued, gesturing broadly to her injured comrade. A couple of others were seeing to her—it looked like she had a wing injury. "Yeah, Fleetfoot over there hit a bird on our way over and sprained a pinion pretty bad. She'll be fine, she can probably walk to Ponyville from here, but it leaves us a mare down, and we have a show to be at, like, now. It'd really help us out if you could throw on her suit and just follow the leads. If you're up to the challenge, that is?" Rainbow Dash was shocked to utter speechlessness, and in the silence, Spitfire started looking increasingly impatient, tapping her hoof, frowning and huffing.
Meanwhile, Dash's hasty knotwork was starting to show - one of the knots slipped, tilting the bridge quite sharply to one side. It was still holding—for now. Rarity squealed and clawed desperately for the upper guide rope, her balance failing her and causing her to hang off the side a little. She quickly recovered from the stumble and avoided falling off, but her hat wasn't so lucky. The combination of wind and the aggressive, sudden tilt knocked it off her head, and it drifted away, never to be seen again. Well! At least that saved her finding space under the boutique to bury the hat.
Applejack, meanwhile was rather more careful to hold on to her headwear, even if it meant having a real struggle to stay on the bridge, hooking just one hoof around the guide rope and holding on for dear life. "What the hodges figgis is goin' on up there?" she exclaimed, more in frustration with Rainbow Dash being easily distracted, than in any great distress.
Dash paced on the spot anxiously. Friends, or dreams? Darn it, outrageous twist of fortune, why did you have to pick these five minutes? She could hear some muffled shouting from back at the bridge, but she could also see Spitfire getting more frustrated by the second... Oh, this just wasn't fair! After some more cringing and very rapid soul-searching, she blurted out a rapid reply. "Sorry, but I got something way more important to get back to and if you guys are still here in twenty seconds I'll be right back but if it just can't wait like at all then sorry but I can't help you BYE!" Without wasting another second, she raced back through the bushes to fix her shoddy rope-tying, and tied the bridge off properly.
Twilight was more than a little disgruntled when she finally got to the other side, hurrying off the rickety bridge. "Rainbow Dash, what took you so long? What could possibly have been so engrossing that you nearly let the bridge fall down on us?" Huffing a little, she trotted briskly past the pegasus to get a look behind the bushes she saw her retreating behind. Dash pushed back past the bushes to join Twilight, and her jaw hung in confusion. The clearing was completely empty now.
"What? Where did they go? The Wonderbolts were right here a second ago, asking me to fill in for one of them..." She zipped around the clearing, looking for anything, any evidence at all that they had actually been there, that she wasn't just going crazy. Wasn't Fleetfoot grounded? If she really was, she walked fast. And knew of another way over the chasm. "I swear, they were right here a minute ago..."
Twilight thought long and hard. It was quite the tall tale indeed, but this wasn't the first trick the forest had played on them this morning. She did see some contrails out of the corner of her eye. She highly doubted the Wonderbolts would be this far into the woods, but maybe ponies impersonating the Wonderbolts? It definitely seemed odd, but everything today was pretty odd. Under the circumstances, it seemed a bit more likely than Rainbow Dash hallucinating or being a compulsive liar—her confusion seemed pretty genuine. "I don't like this, we'd better keep moving. At least you actually did come back for us!" she chuckled.
"I did? Well, yeah I did!" Rainbow Dash said, puffing her chest out. "Duh, I never leave my friends hanging!" A moment later, she laughed at just how literal her statement was right now.
The way to the ruins was lined by columns and paved with scattered, shattered slabs, half-buried in creeping mud. The expanse of the ruins was hidden by the topography of the land: through the windows of the ruined hall immediately facing them, crumbling colonnades and overgrown arches continued in all directions, a vista obscured by the crest of the hill and the rows of trees. The stonework itself bears the ravages of age, and pretty much any remaining roof looked pretty untrustworthy.
Inside the hall was a pedestal with radiating arms tipped with stone orbs, sort of resembling a planetarium - even down to having five "planets". It sat at the far end of the hall, on an altar in a circular conservatory, projecting from the hall, in the full light of the late morning sun. Twilight hurried to the pedestal. Five stone balls for five elements? "These must be the Elements!" Her eyes lit up as she picked the first one off its stand and brought it down to inspect it. She quickly followed suit with the other four, bringing them gently to the ground in a circle. While she wasn't actively blocking her companions from getting a look in, she certainly wasn't making room for them. Twilight backed up and lowered her head, starting to feel around the arcane fields surrounding the orbs. Her horn lit up, and her aura circled the stones, lifting them an inch or so in the air. "Stand back!" she called over her shoulder. "I don't know what will happen..."
Applejack nodded solemnly and turned away from the circle. "C'mon y'all. Twilight needs her space." She gestured at the door and started toward it to lead the group outside.
The orbs were showing minimal reaction to Twilight's probing; there was definitely some kind of latent power there, but the nature of it was not forthcoming. The occasional fizzle and spark indicated that something was happening, but it still wasn't telling Twilight anything useful. Around the time the rest of the party had left the hall, the light in the conservatory began to dim, as if a cloud has passed in front of the sun. Outside it was still as bright as ever: but inside, it got very dark, very quickly. Twilight to looked up in alarm, a swirling cloud of midnight blue mist, gathering in the vacant space where floor-to-ceiling windows used to live, and diffusing over the pedestal and the space above her.
A sharp zap, followed by physical force, like being thrown by a shockwave, sent the unicorn halfway back down the hall.The mist parted, and a tall, dark, and by now familiar form dropped out—Princess Luna. "What business have thee in our domain?" she boomed, standing between Twilight and the stones.
Reeling as much from confusion as from the shock of being tossed aside, Twilight took a moment getting back on her feet and regaining her bearings. "We're not here to fight you, Lu- Princess. We just want the Elements!" While her ultimatum was clearly non-threatening, her tone and physical stance were confrontational; this royal bickering was absolute nonsense. She had no idea what the Elements of Harmony were, but from all that she had to go on, she'd rather not have either Princess with their hooves on them.
The Princess of the Night kicked it up a notch, with her magical aura starting to filter through the air and cover the open parts of the roof with images of the night sky. "The Elements? I shall not allow thee to deprive me of them or their power!" She exclaimed, rearing up on her hind legs and briefly lighting up the room in white; by the time the light subsided, they and the stones had disappeared. They reappeared in an adjacent ruined building; one with a bit more structural integrity, including a roof, intact windows, and a mostly complete floor. The back of the hall had a stairway, leading... somewhere. Probably down and out of the building. The flash they disappeared in was all but obvious to the rest of the party hanging around outside. Their destination isn't too well-hidden either—Luna's fireworks are clearly visible in the windows of the hall they entered. Lead by Applejack and a flying Rainbow Dash, the group runs towards the structure, shouting Twilight's name.
In the new hall, Luna had the stones scattered around her. Twilight was sprawled on the ground a few lengths away, just struggling back onto her hooves. Luna was in full Royal Canterlot Voice, while her aural mane spread around the room, merging with the shadows and accentuating them, seeming to fill the room with night. "This is your last chance, Sparkle! Leave the Elements, or nopony gets them!"
Twilight knew that if she ran at Luna, she would spring her trap. There was no way that physically closing the distance would help her... so the unicorn turned around and walked away. But not without getting a good look at how the elements were arranged, and while she was leaving, subtly sliding her arcane hold under each of them and quietly rolling them away from Luna in every direction. Luna gave a low chuckle, watching Twilight turn tail and flee. That was almost too easy... in fact, it was too easy! It was only when she saw one of the orbs rolling across her peripheral vision that she noticed Twilight's gambit. Enraged, insulted even, she yanked on each of the stones to pull them back to herself, and on Twilight, pulling her by her neck to fall backwards over herself and land on her back.
"I warned you!" she wailed. In the same motion, she reared up on her hind legs again. Now, with the orbs around her again, she brought her forelegs down in the middle of the circle they traced, sending a shock through the ground and into the stones, shattering them to tiny fragments. Only shards and dust left of them, now. She lowered her stance again, giving an evil smirk. "And now since you declined my offer, I'm left with you to deal with..."
Twilight rolled over on to her front as soon as she was pulled back, just in time to see the Elements of Harmony shattered before her very eyes. No! Her jaw dropped, and her ears splayed. On the one hoof, she didn't have to worry about either side getting a hold of them anymore. On the other, the way Luna was looking, she could probably have done with them about now. She was just starting to scramble backwards, away from Luna, when she heard Applejack's call from behind her. Of course! Her... friends! That was it!
The connection sparked in her head, and she got back up with renewed confidence. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony, just like that? Well you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!" How convenient of her friends to show up in the nick of time, and were now rallying behind her, although they didn't understand what Twilight was doing standing off with Princess Luna.
The shards began to glow and rattle, and move on their own; as each of the other ponies filed in around Twilight, they drifted towards one of them depending on their colour, and began to orbit them. "What?" The disbelief was now on Luna's part—she just gawped as the shattered Elements seemed to sort themselves and begin a reformation process.
Twilight stood her ground; it felt like she was able to stand taller than a moment before, with her friends at her back. "Applejack, who saved us from danger by laying bare her gut feelings, represents the spirit of honesty! Fluttershy, who calmed a mother bear through compassion and patience, represents the spirit of kindness! Pinkie Pie, who rallied us and dispelled our fear by laughing in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter! Rarity, who brought a grumpy serpent to reason with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her heart's desire, represents the spirit of loyalty! The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Frankly, the "you" part was an educated guess. Given the circumstances, however, she was pretty sure Luna was responsible for all the nonsense in the forest.
"But you still don't have the sixth element... the spark didn't work!" Luna glared daggers at the group. Still, she was visibly on the back foot.
"But it did!" Twilight was quick to cut in. She turned to her friends, and her tone softened, despite the madness going on around her. "I felt it the moment I realised how happy I was to hear you, how much I cared about you. When I realised that you all, are my friends!"
As soon as she states it out loud, the spark really kicks in; in a flash of light over their heads, a sixth stone orb appears. As it slowly lowers over them, it crumbles into pieces like the others, and starts to circle Twilight. The glow from all the pieces increases to fill the entire room with light, piercing the shadows and forcing Luna's aura into retreat. By the time the six ponies are lifted into the air by the magic, the light has become blinding and disorienting. Wind whips around the room, drowning out noise, leaving them in a state of oblivion while the magic takes hold.
This only lasts for a few seconds, before letting them all down again, a little dazed, but no worse for wear. Each of them now bears a prize for their troubles: a necklace, studded with a jewel, each shaped a bit like their cutie mark; an apple for Applejack, a butterfly for Fluttershy, a balloon for Pinkie Pie, a diamond for Rarity, a lightning bolt for Rainbow Dash and a six-pointed star for Twilight Sparkle. Twilight's ornament is special though; rather than a necklace, it takes the form of a tiara.
Upon a cursory glance around the hall, there's no sign of Luna anywhere; in fact, not even a trace that she was ever there. It's still the same time of day it was, there's no magical aura wisps floating about, just the ruins as they found them.
Rainbow Dash was the first back on her hooves—just a quick burble as she picked herself off the floor from a hard landing for the third time today, and a vigorous head-shake to clear it. She then got straight to darting around the room, looking for Luna. "C'mon, show yourself! We can take you!" She didn't get far before she tripped on a brick and ate dirt again... but this time there was the chink of metal against stone, causing her to notice the necklace. "Huh?"
Pinkie Pie was the next back to consciousness, but she saw her necklace straight away. She started swaying back and forth, admiring the reflections and shimmers into the great big balloon-shaped gem studded in the front. "Oooh, pretty!"
Fluttershy gingerly propped herself up and looked around. All this glittering jewellery! "I think we all have them... but what does it mean?" She cautiously prodded the gemstone, seeing if it would react.
By now, Twilight was starting to come around, and put the pieces together in her head. Stone orbs gone, fancy new jewellery (she adjusted the tiara on her head), Luna was nowhere to be found... "The elements... it worked! The Elements of Harmony worked! Everything is back the way it was before!" She bounced to her feet; she was flushed with a confusing mix of emotions. Relief, accomplishment... also disappointment, for some reason... but most prominently, camaraderie with her new friends. She was quick to rush around, helping the others up.
It was about now that Princess Luna dropped in through one of the broken windows, with a walking landing and coming to a stop to one side of the room. "What is... going on?" She tilted her head, and got a good look at the ponies in varying states of disarray around the hall. "Can we help thee?"
"It's Luna! Get her!" Shooting first and asking questions later, Rainbow Dash immediately lunged at the Princess in a full-on tackle. Luna went wide-eyed, and immediately turned to cloud, long enough for Rainbow Dash to sail harmlessly through it, and hit the ground on the other side. With the attack successfully avoided, she reformed, even more confused than before.
"Why the hostilities? Has something happened since our departure from Ponyville?" Her expression slid into an exasperated frown as she contemplated the possibilities. "Our dear sister hasn't gone and sent thee after us, has she?"
Initially, Twilight had had Rainbow Dash's apprehension (though not her enthusiasm). But now she really had to think about this. This Luna seems to have no recollection of what happened a moment ago... not just that, but she's even speaking differently. Could the Luna that accosted them while they tried to take the elements have been another illusion? If so, what was behind all the other illusions? There was one way to be sure. She took her on good faith for the moment, and stood up straight, her stance going from confrontational to formal address. "We came here of our own volition to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. We don't believe that you or Princess Celestia should have the privilege of them in your quarrel. In the interests of fair play and... damage control, of course. We were also faced with what I believe to be a number of illusions and deliberate trials on our way here, including an image of you, guarding the Elements themselves." She figured she had nothing to lose by laying all her cards on the table. If she was correct, everything would be well. If this was just another trick, then they already had the Elements as a backup.
Luna raised a hoof to speak, but then held it, making a couple of false starts while she rethought her words carefully. "Alright. Thou may remove the Elements from this castle, and from our conflict. Though, unless thou art willing to aid us, we shall also ask thee to remove thyselves from this castle. It is our home, and we are reclaiming it as such." Her tone was serious and authoritative, looking almost down her nose at Twilight.
The unicorn nodded in acknowledgement. She didn't need to be told twice—she'd been up all night, gone through stressful situation after stressful situation, had a heavy mind from all the confusing events of the morning... with any luck she could just go to sleep, wake up and... not have to deal with any of it. "C'mon guys, let's go home..." she gestured, starting towards the door
Rainbow Dash waited until they were out of sight (and hopefully out of earshot) of Luna before getting excited again. "So wait, that... wasn't the real Luna a minute ago? What the hay is going on? Today has just been weird..."
"You can say that again, sugarcube..." Applejack rolled her eyes and tipped her hat. "There's somethin' mighty fishy going on in this here forest, and the sooner we get outta here the better."
Rarity grimaced. "You're not going to like the sound of this, darlings, but I get the sneaking suspicion that it goes a little deeper than just the forest. Did anypony else find the circumstances a little... contrived? Personalised, even? One situation conveniently tailored to one of our virtues is happenstance. Two is coincidence. But six in a row?" She took a sidelong wary glance at Twilight. "Forgive me if I'm jumping to conclusions, but this whole escapade feels like it was planned... by whom, I can't possibly say, but it definitely feels like more than chance."
Twilight blinked as she processed the idea. "It sounds plausible... but it is a little far-fetched. I'll need to look into it some more, but right now, I just need some rest..." With a yawn, she started back across the bridge to the ruins to lead her friends home.
Two pairs of eyes in the dense wood watched the six ponies leave. One pair was bright emerald green, the other was a calm blue. "So, they made it through to the end?" The owner of the green eyes asked.
"Obviously. They even got rid of that Luna illusion. I'm impressed." Replied the owner of the blue.
"Don't be impressed yet," The green eyes said, sounding critical. "So far, they've only saved themselves. We still need them to save the rest of us. How long is that gonna take, again?"
"They'll get there, Spore, they'll get there. We have to wait for the rest of Equestria to wake up." The blue answered in a sage tone.
"Too long," muttered the green. "Too long."
