The Elements Final Test

The group slowly moved through the horizon, they were released on the outskirts of Fillydelphia.  They decided after a vote that they were to go to Ponyville, there may be supplies they need from their places, not only that but, they had to see what happened to there once home.

Applejack finally broke the silence, “Ah can’t believe that they just threw us out here to DIE!”

Rainbow Dash said, “Applejack, nothing we can do now, at least we are out of that facility, it was driving me insane.  I’m glad I can finally extend my wings again, it was cramped down there.”

Applejack said, “Ah suppose your right Dash, I have been dying to run around and get out of that nasty hole.

Fluttershy said, “Umm, Twilight?”

Twilight said, “Yes Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy said, “Well, I am scared and, I just don’t know, Angel is probably all alone right now, or worst.”  Fluttershy started to tear and was on the verge of breaking down, Twilight knew she needed to be mature right no to keep her friend sane.

Twilight said, “Fluttershy, look at me… Everything is going to be all right, ok?”

Fluttershy responded, “O…  O…  o…  ok, thanks Twilight.”

Rarity spoke, “Well this is just terrible, my mame is starting to frizzle in this heat, I do not need to be working this hard for this long in this heat.  I need a break.”

Applejack said, “Rarity we just keep goin for a few more hours and we will be home.”

Rainbow Dash said, “I’m going to fly ahead and scout, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Pinkie said, “Why is this so BOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRING!  We should be having fun parting, not stuck in this sun!”

Twilight spoke, “Alright every pony, we need to stop this fighting and actually work things out, these words are doing nothing for our situation.”

*****

When the Elements finally arrived in Ponyville, they first went to the library.  Twilight found a few restoration spells, nothing important, majority of the library was burned down sadly so she could only salvage so much.  After the library they went to applejacks barn, this was the place they were going to stay, it was relatively unaffected by the war, the only difference was that the crops were not growing.  All the ponies settled and decided that they needed to send squads out to see if there are anything good in the town.  Twilight and Fluttershy went to Fluttershy’s cottage.

*****

When Twilight and Fluttershy arrived at the cottage, they noticed it was mostly burned and all the once known life was gone, it had dead bodies of chickens and other miscellaneous animals everywhere.  Fluttershy could only cry as she saw the bodies, it was regular that she saw death due to how many animals that she tended to, but nothing like this, this was like a scene from something she could never imagine.  Twilight tended to Fluttershy and patted her on the back.  Fluttershy started to remember why she wanted to come here.

Fluttershy called out, “Angel, Angel, are you their?  Angel, come out Angel!” And do surprise, Angel did not come out, Fluttershy did not give up, she spent at least 2 hours calling for Angel around the house.

Twilight, “Fluttershy, we should really get going over to Rarity’s house, she has some fabric we can use.”

Fluttershy looked as if she was about to break down right in front of her and said, “Ok, I… I… I just… just thought that… Angel.” Twilight felt sorry for her friend, she put her hoof around her trying to cheer her up, it did help Fluttershy regain her composure quite a bit.  Fluttershy finally said, “Ok, let’s go.” And she drooped her head realizing facts.  They grabbed some medicine from what was not looted in the cottage.  When they were done grabbing what they needed they saw some pony in the distance, they could not see who it was but they seemed to have noticed them.

Twilight said, “Fluttershy, do you see that pony?”

Fluttershy replied, “Umm, yes but, didn’t that creepy Korve guy say that any pony on the outside is bad?”

Twilight said, “Fluttershy, he did yes but we don’t know if he was telling the truth, this may be our only chance to find out what really happened if he was being truthful.” And with that they started to walk up to the pony in the distance.  When they got close enough to tell feature Twilight noticed it was a Pegasus, she was covered in dirt and had red stains in her yellow coat.  Her cutie mark, it showed a hourglass, she had no idea who this pony was, then it hit her, it was Link Furrow from Ponyville, she was always at the library reading.  What was she doing here?

Twilight yelled, “Link!  It’s me Twilight!” When Twilight said that Link looked in her direction and a horror spread crossed her face, she ran towards us and was yelling something, we couldn’t make it out until she was right next to us, which didn’t take long.

Panting hard Link said, “Twilight!  You have to get out of here FAST!  There coming this way, like RIGHT NOW!”  She started to pull me and Fluttershy away and we followed her since I knew I could trust her, she was always a great person to have a conversation with if you were bored.  She dragged us to the Ponyville Archives, one of the very few buildings left untouched by any of the destruction around it.  Sure it looked ill maintained but that was it.

She pulled us in and then said, “Be quiet, they will hear us, I’ll explain everything latter.”  And with that Fluttershy and I shut our mouths and heard hoofsteps outside. I heard a voice that I couldn’t figure out why I recognized it.  I just kept thinking, where have I heard him speak before.  That’s when it hit me, he was one of the ponies that smashed my door down that fateful day, he is the one who killed Spike, anger welled up in her and she had to fight it off, Fluttershy saw that Twilight was waging war inside her head.  I had unknowingly started to glow purple on my horn, I figured out when I saw Fluttershy had a horrified look on her face looking and me and Link was telling me to stop or we will all die.  When I realized it I calmed down since I didn’t want to put the lives of my friends at risk, I also wanted justice served to them, I could do nothing but wait it out.  We ended up waiting for 20 minutes for them to pass, they kept coming back talking about the pegasi that escaped them.

Link finally said when she was sure they were gone, “Twilight you don’t know how glad I am to see you, every pony has been looking everywhere for you and the other Elements of Harmony, do you have any idea of what is going on?  Rumor was that Starkindle Kine was housing you and the other Elements in a safe location.  Guess that is a lie seeing you turned up here.”

Twilight interrupted, “No, we were in his captivity in this strange looking vault near Fillydelphia, he had a commander named Korve instructing us on what was happening, we were all sedated for 9 months.” Link looked shocked, she wasn’t shocked for what Twilight thought though.

Link said, “Wait, you said Korve?  Korve was the… Co.. Com.. Commander…  That unicorn is a murderer.  He works for Celestia, one of her top Generals.”  Twilight gasped.

Link spoke again, “Did you ever get to see Starkindle Kine?  And wait, did you say Fillydelphia?  The resistance is in Manehattan.”

Twilight said confused, “Wait, we were released in Fillydelphia, it was a destroyed city, and no I did not see Starkindle Kine, do you think, we were set up?”  Link sadly nodded.  Fluttershy was crying in the darkest corner of the Archives.  Twilight paced back and forth.  She wondered, why would Korve be helping them?

Twilight said, “But how!  They sent a squad of ponies to Canterlot to retrieve the elements of harmony!  If Korve was actually working with Cel…”

Link said, “Wait, the ponies raided Canterlot?  Twilight, Canterlot is part of the rebellion.  About two months ago Starkindle Kine’s resistance liberated the city.  It was a costly victory, we raided to retrieve the Elements.  If they have the Elements back, then that mea…”

Twilight said, “Wait, we have the Elements with us, we are keeping them at Applejack’s barn, come with us, we will show you.”  Link looked a bit relieved to hear that.  She gladly followed us to Applejack’s barn.  During the walk Twilight wondered, what is going on in Equestria, she didn’t know what to believe.  Something about Link put Twilight off, she didn’t look like the Link she knew.

*****

When they finally got back at the barn Applejack and Rarity were waiting for them outside the barn doors.  They were on guard seeing that there was a third pony in this pack.  They walked up to Twilight and greeted the three ponies that just entered.  The third was one that they have seen before.  She was covered in dirt and had red stains on her yellow coat, Rarity was repulsed at how dirty she as.

Twilight said to Applejack and Rarity, “Were back!  We got some medical supplies from Fluttershy’s cottage.  Say hello to Link, we found her near the Ponyville Archives, there were some ponies looking for her so we brought her here.”  Link looked shyly at them, Applejack had a bad feeling about her, and something in her stare says that she is here for no good.  She kept her manners and greeted Link, Rarity on the other hand refused to stay within ten hoofs from her.

Twilight led link into the barn to the Elements like she promised.  Link gladly followed, she had something in her eyes that put Twilight’s mind in a race for figuring out her true intents.  Twilight did not trust her one bit.  Applejack and Rarity followed them to the Elements.

Twilight said, “Applejack, Rarity, Link says that Korve is actually one of Celestias top generals, we put hoof and hoof together and found out that they were planning on having us die in the world, luckily Link told us what was happening.”

Applejack said in Twilights ear, “Listen here Twi, Ah don’t trust this Link, she seems like there is something else than what we think on her mind.”  Twilight nodded.

Twilight said in Applejacks ear, “I was thinking the same thing.  I think she may be lying about this story of hers.  If Celestia had us in custody we wouldn’t be alive, it would be foolish of her to leave us breathing, keep a close eye on Link.”  Applejack nodded.

When they entered the room storing the Elements Link for only a split second had sinister look in her eyes, Applejack was the only one to see it but it confirmed her suspicions.  Applejack kept to herself until Link was out of the room.

“Twi, she had this evil look in her eyes the minute she saw them!”

Twilight responded, “I didn’t see, are you sure?”

Applejack said, “Positive!  We can’t believe anything she tells us, she is lying.  Ah think that Korve may actually still be on our side.”  Twilight nodded and agreed, she had been thinking the same thing to.

*****

Applejack woke up to hear a rustling in the night, she had her suspicions on Link, it sounded like it was coming from the room holding the Elements.  Applejack woke Twilight and Dash up.

Applejack, “Girls I think Link is stealing from us, let’s go check out that noise.”

Dash said, “That dirty rotten no good thief!  When I get my hoof’s on her!”

Twilight said, “Every pony quiet, we don’t want to alert her that we know what is happening.”

They slowly and quietly walked to the room holding the Elements, she saw three ponies in there, including Link.  One said something to Link congratulating her, his voice was one of the ponies from his house, the one who swore to find her.  She cringed at the sound of his voice.  Rainbow looked very angry and ready to charge them.  Applejack was also about to charge when Twilight spoke.

“Girls, when I say, we need to capture them before they get the Elements, so this is what we are doing, Applejack, take the big one on the right, Dash, take Link”  Dash had a grin on her face when Twilight said that.

“Now,”

Dash had flew strait into Link but she did a summersault over her and Dash flew strait into a wall, Applejack charged the big one and bucked him in the jaw, it sent the monster flying, he lay on the floor unconscious.  Twilight used her magic to subdue the leader, he struggled a lot but he was just a earth pony so there was nothing he could do to avoid being overpowered.  Link flew out of the barn before Rainbow could catch her.  Rainbow was about to fly after her when Twilight grabbed her tail and pulled her back into the barn with her magic.  Dash looked furious.

Dash screamed, “I can’t believe you let her get away Twilight!  I can still catch her!  Let me go!”

Twilight replied, “Dash, we have two of them, it’s more than enough, we don’t need more ponies being hurt around here, we can find her later but right now we need to figure out some questions so please calm down dash.”  Dash fought for a few more minutes but realized it was hopeless and started to calm down.  Rarity walked into the room and had her mame in a frazzled mess, she looked angry.

*****

Twilight put the ponies in a store room and tied them up with some of Applejack’s rope she always kept around the barn.  Twilight started to interrogate them.

Twilight, “So, you like to steal from ponies huh?  You like to break into homes looking for ponies?”

The slim one looked happy in an evil way and said, “Your already too late, Link is already reporting your location to Celestia herself, you have about a week top before she assembles the Royal Forces and captures you.”

Twilight asked, “What is your name then, seeing you don’t have much to talk about.”

He looked at her and said, “My name?  Well I guess it won’t hurt me telling you, I’m Debis.”  Twilight looked in shock, she has heard that name before, Debis was one of the colts who worked in Celestias kitchen, he looked nothing like what he looked like the last time she saw him.

“Surprise?  It’s amazing at what new Celestia can do to a pony willing to help her in a plot to overthrow the old Kingdome, she put a spell on me and I grew more powerful, quite painful change but it was worth it, after we finally took Canterlot she appointed me the task of finding,” He stopped talking there and started to laugh.

Twilight yelled at him, “WHO!”

He replied with an evil grin, “You, she wanted me to kill you.  I almost had you, that dumb dragon of yours didn’t put up a fight, cried your name a lot, and had to put him down personally.”  Twilight looked in horror, she started to cry.

Applejack entered the room and pulled Twilight out, she looked at the colt and said, “You monster,”

*****