Chapter 1 The Disappearance of Kindness
It was dusk. Ponyville was silent, not a sound to be heard. It was almost like a ghost town. But there was a reason, a very good one at that. Everypony were mourning at the edge of Everfree forest near Fluttershy's cottage. All of Ponyville and even a few ponies from elsewhere where present, even the princesses, Celestia and Luna had turned up. And they mourned, all of them mourned the kindest of ponies they had ever known, Fluttershy.
Everything had gone wrong so fast, and all they could say about the incident was that it was an accident. A few present thou where still blaming themselves, Rainbow Dash, still thought that it was her fault, had she been only a little faster could she have saved Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie, had her Pinkie sense told her anything she would have been able to stop the accident, but she had not felt a single thing during the accident. And lastly Discord, he was the one who had scared Fluttershy, he was the one who had pulled a dragon from a box thinking it would be a harmless joke. Oh, how wrong he had been...
It had all happened during a small celebration at Fluttershy's, Fluttershy had been able to overcome a part of her fears for dragons and had actually nursed a fully grown dragon back to health. When she returned Pinkie had thrown her a party to celebrate Fluttersy's achievement. But soon, when Discord had decided to pull his prank it had gone wrong, poor Fluttershy, had in terror flown backwards at maximum speed, she had flown straight into a window and crashed right through it. This in itself was horrible to watch, but it was not all. A rouge cloud from Everfree forest had found its way out to the cottage and was right outside when the yellow pegasus had crashed outside covered in glass and blood from her own injuries. Luckily she had only sustained minor injury, but unfortunately the cloud was not a regular cloud, it was a dark, very dark grey cloud, buzzing with it's electrical charge.
Just then, realizing what had just about to happen RD flew out the window as fast as she could, her target being the cloud about to unleash its buzzing nature on the poor pegasus unable to leave the spot she had landed on. But even with Rainbow Dashes's unbeatable speed there was simply not enough time. The blinding, ever so blinding light struck straight downwards hitting the not suspecting pegasus. Together with the ever so loud thunder something else could be heard, a scream, or in fact many screams. All the friends watched in horror and could do nothing but scream after their dear friend. But louder than any scream, louder than even the thunder was the scream of Fluttershy. That day everyone in Ponyville heard the same thing, a loud scream that echoed all throughout Ponyville not sparing anyone from the horrible scream no pony would ever want to hear. The pain was unbearable, this was nowhere close to the cloud RD had used on "Nightmare night". No pony would have been able to guess that the scream had belonged to Fluttershy, had they not been able to see what horror had caused her to scream like that.
After the scream and flash of bright light everypony looked at the spot Fluttersly had previously occupied, she was still there. Terribly burnt and wounded, some wounds filled with parts of melted glass and most terrible marks left covering her body where the lightning had struck her. Everypony hurried to her side and where hoping for her to yet be alive. They where truly rewarded. After confirming a pulse, they took of to the nearest hospital, not wanting to risk teleportation with Fluttershy's condition even as an alicorn Twilight could only hold her in her magic while sprinting towards the hospital as fast as her hooves would allow. In the hospital both Discord and Twilight would do all they could to help Fluttershy, Discord would remove the glass and splinters covering her body, Twilight would use her alicorn magic to use the high level healing magic the nurses taught her. And everypony else would do anything the nurses asked, all to help Fluttershy recover.
But no matter how much energy they mustered to help Fluttershy the verdict came, Fluttershy had now fallen into coma, a very bad sign. As some ponies started to feel hope, the nurse told them that even if Fluttershy's condition was stable at the moment it could still take a turn for the worse, and if it did she probably wouldn't survive for long. That night all of main six had spent their night in the hospital near Fluttershy, hoping to be there for her when she either woke up or at least didn't get worse, none of them dared to leave her side fearing the worst.
She heard a loud *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*. It was the sound that awoke her, opening her eyes she saw all her friends in a hospital room with her lying in the bed. The same loud beep that awoke her was still going and was waking her friends. Rainbow Dash muttering something about five more minutes, was the first to really get up when the beep didn't stop. As she woke she could only shout one thing "Fluttershy!" as she flew over to her lying on the bed with the most distressed look. Fluttershy's attempts to try and calm down the pegasus flying in front of her didn't yield any result, soon the rest of her friends had joined her all repeating her name. Fluttershy now trying to calm down not one but five ponies soon realized something was wrong, it seemed they couldn't hear her. Still trying to calm down her friends she was soon interrupted as a doctor and a nurse came in carrying some sort of machine attracting everyponies attention. Fluttershy's attempts to ask the doctor to calm down her friends yielded no result and was soon interrupted by him shouting "Clear" putting two metal plates to her chest, Flutteshy was taken by surprise and jumped out of bed before the plates could reach her, there and then she noticed something seriously amiss, the blanket that had covered her didn't follow as well as something else, her body.
Only now, about to panic did Fluttershy realize what the *beep* was. It was a heart monitor, currently showing nothing else but a straight line. She was dead.
After Fluttershy had realized she was dead her friends had kept on denying that it was true, after the initial shock Fluttershy could only feel sad for what her friends had to go through. She didn't want them to be sad, and worst of all was that she was the source of their sadness. Soon after accepting Fluttershy's death, her friends started organizing her burial. They sent invites and discussed on the ceremony while all still being in a sad mood. The whole thing had been paid by the princesses as they said they owed Fluttershy at least that much for all she had done for the kingdom, they had not known her as much as to call her a friend but they still knew her and mourned her death.
Soon they found Fluttershy's will, she had actually written it before going away to tend to the dragon she had helped, in Fluttershy's will there weren't as much directions to who would get her belongings as to how she would like to be buried, still she had requested for her cottage to be given to somepony willing to tend to the animals in her stead or to anypony as long as they allowed all the animals that lived with her to stay. The requested burial was for a tree of any kind to be planted atop of her grave, the idea to nourish a tree was the closest idea Fluttershy had to actually becoming a tree, as she many times said she'd like to be a tree. While this soon showed problematic as her friends would have liked to have her buried in a coffin they soon settled on a compromise, they would have a coffin, but the coffin would be enchanted to let the roots of the tree to pass through and nourish on Fluttershy's body, just like she had written in her will. The will also contained the names of many ponies she would like to be alerted of her death as they would like to come to her burial that other keepers of the elements would most likely overlook. And that also anypony who wanted to come and mourn her would be allowed to.
The whole thing took a few days to prepare, was then postponed as a few ponies who had decided to come would have to travel quite far to get to Ponyville, the location for Fluttershy's burial had been set just outside her cottage, close enough for ponies from Ponyville to visit and animals she had befriended in the Everfree forest could also get there. As the days went by it was soon time for the burial, and during all this time no pony had any idea that the pony in question had watched and seen all of it. She was about to witness her own burial.
That day all of Ponyville was silent, as all ponies had experienced Fluttershy's kindness at least once themselves. The timid pony didn't necessarily know everypony attending but they where all there, that was how much of an impression she had left on everypony. Both as herself and as the bearer of the element of kindness that had been a part of saving Equestria more than once. Other than the ponies from Ponyville where other figures, a few ponies from Cloudsdale, a few from Canterlot where a few where actually nobles, some crystal ponies from the Crystal Empire that she had gotten to known at some point, her parents who seemed more heartbroken than most and even Iron Will showed up. There was also a large gathering of creatures, even a few timberwolfs and some manticores showed up from the Everfree forest.
Seeing all this made Fluttershy realize how many ponies and creatures actually cared about her, it made her very sad to say the least as she had now caused them all to be sad and could no longer do anything about it. All she could do was to watch as they all mourned her and then proceeded to bury her in the specially enchanted coffin. For a long time no pony would move, but as time went on ponies began to depart. The last to depart where her closest friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie Pie and Spike. They all stood there for a good few hours in front of the gravestone placed before the planted sapling. The gravestone was made of a solid grey bedrock, it had a replica of the element of kindness carved into it.
There was no running from it now. As Fluttershy's closest friends finally left she could no longer deny the thing she had hoped would never be true, she was alone. No pony would ever be able to see, hear or feel her ever again. She was truly dead. The last few days she had still felt somewhat alive, some kind of hope. Her friends had been talking about her, they had been able to see her, or at least her body. They had talked to her, said how sorry they where and she had tried to answer them. But now, all that would stop. She was now dead and that was something she had accepted long ago. But now, she was also alone.
While standing by her own grave feeling all sad, Fluttershy felt something. During her time as a ghost, the only thing Fluttershy really felt was the feeling of 'solid' from either objects or other ponies. For Fluttershy things where either solid or not. That was all she felt, she felt neither cold nor heat, she felt no pain or other kind of feeling she would otherwise be able to feel through her body. The only things she could say she felt was emotions and if something was 'solid'. But this was different, this was an actual feeling of touch, a feeling of something grabbing her entire being. It was forceful yet gentle in pulling her. It didn't seem to be pulling her in any specific direction or with any specific force, it was just pulling her away.
Fluttershy didn't know what was pulling her, it had a calming feeling to it and felt as if it was a caring friend. Fluttershy almost felt as she wanted to let go of everything and just go with this feeling, almost. A thought entered Fluttershy's mind. This feeling, this thing pulling her was doing just that. It wasn't leading her somewhere, it was pulling her somewhere, it was pulling her away from her friends, making her more lonesome than ever. It was as if something dropped a small drop of the most concentrated liquid form of fear and hatred onto her. Fear, for leaving her friends to never see them again. And hatred for the thing, forcing her away from her friends. Fluttershy had had enough. Immediately she started going berserk, something completely against her own nature, yet, somehow not. She was screaming and fighting this force in any way she could think of, stomping, jumping and trying to fly away. Screaming was mostly to give power to herself and even insult the force for not considering her will to stay with her friends. Soon however Fluttershy started feeling something else, a tingling feeling from her skin. Taking it as a sign that she would soon be pulled over to where ever the force/thing was taking her, she gave up. None of her efforts had stopped or even slowed the force in any way, all she could do was to give in to it and let it take her where it wanted.
As Fluttershy gave up hope on ever seeing her friends, everything stopped. Confused, Fluttershy forced herself to stop her silent sobs and looked around her, she was still next to her own grave. There was no pulling or tingling sensation. While still looking around, Fluttershy heard a voice.
"Are you sure you want to stay? All to be with your friends, friends who can no longer see, hear or touch you?" the mysterious voice asked.
"Yes!" Fluttershy screamed louder than she ever had before. She didn't have to think for a second about what to answer. These where her friends, no matter what happened she would eventually find a way to communicate with them, even if it would take years. So she had instantly answered. The spark of new found hope was to bright to say anything else.
"You truly do represent the spirit of kindness don't you? Fluttershy. I can help you to stay in the mortal plain, maybe even make it possible for you to communicate with your friends. But this all comes with a big risk. Are you willing to take that risk?" The voice asked Fluttersy after a brief moment of silence.
Taking risks was not something Fluttershy would do, yet she considered. She didn't know what the risk was, not to speak of who the voice offering to keep her in the 'mortal plain' belonged to. Could she trust this voice?
"Then, may i ask you? Who are you? And what is this big risk you mentioned? If you... if you don't mind me asking that is..." Fluttershy asked, reverting back to her usual shy self.
"Oh, I guess i forgot to introduce myself. I am a part of what you ponies call the The Elements of Harmony. I myself am the element representing Kindness. As to the risk I was talking about... Explaining it would take quite some time. Would you like the short version or the long one?" The element asked Fluttershy.
"WAIT, You're the element? Howcome you never talked to us before?" Fluttershy asked forgetting the question the element had asked her.
"Fluttershy, I will answer all your questions if we have time. Therefore I am asking you if you have time or if you had other plans for this day. I mean, before you almost passed on from the mortal plain." The element told Fluttershy who had suddenly added a few more questions to her previous ones.
"Oh, um... yes. I don't have anything planned so I can listen..." Fluttershy said with her cheeks reddening and her trying to hide behind her mane.
"Excellent, I will begin by telling you the story of how I, I mean we, the elements came to be what we are and what we where before. So you should probably find a comfortable position, this will take a while."
Fluttershy settled down, looking towards where she was certain the voice originated from. The Everfree forest, towards the tree of harmony where the elements where being kept.
Author's Note
Next Chapter will be the mostly the story told by the Element. I already have it mostly thought out, but we'll see how long it takes to write. Seeing how i had this Story lying around for a while...
For anyone waiting for certain content from me right now, i have only 3 words for you to remember: I AM LAZY. yeah...
Also, seems I'll be starting another story soon... I really am biting of more than I can chew...
Otherwise, Comment down below and have a nice New Year. (If reading this at a later date, have a nice whatever you're about to celebrate).
Chapter 2 Story of the Elements
"Now Fluttershy, this story I'm about to tell you is something that happened long ago; Before the rise of Luna and Celestia, before Discord's reign of Chaos and even before the windigoes drove ponies from their homelands to find Equestria."
"As you know; During the old times the three tribes did not get along. Yet, they still had to depend on each other to survive. And from time to time it so just happened that a pony would see past the differences of the other races and would treat any other pony as their equal. These ponies would sometimes find each other and initiate relationships. Something the rest of their tribe would not stand for. As these ponies were exiled, they had to travel. During their travels they all ended up in the same place, where they built a town. The town was a home to anypony who found themselves banished from their tribe."
"As the town and harmony between the ponies grew, so did the magic: So much to the point of the magic starting to acquire a solid form. This is how the tree of harmony first took root in Equestria. With the town being the most harmonious location it was only befitting for the tree to sprout up there. As the tree grew, so did the town and the harmony between ponies. It was a true paradise. Unfortunately such a thing was not meant to last."
"One day the town was struck by disaster. It was attacked by monsters never before seen. The monsters had been drawn to the town by the huge amount of magical energy conserved in it. As the town had not been prepared for such an assault it was no surprise that the town's ponies suffered heavy losses and were barely able to fend the beasts of."
"Realizing the potential threat of such beasts the town started training a militia to protect the town. The civilians turned soldiers differed in personalities and professions, making them quite an odd bunch. But all of them were friends, and all of them could work together flawlessly after having been given their training. The town really was in harmony."
"Had things stayed as they were, the town would most likely exist to this day. Unfortunately that was not the case, because after a mere week, the monsters returned. Hopeful that their training and now advantage in numbers would aid them, the ponies were sure in their victory. And rightly so as they managed to ward the monsters off without any bigger losses this time."
"However, feeling safe and sound after learning that the small town militia was enough to keep the town safe, the ponies grew careless, confident they would be able to handle anything that would come their way. That is, until the monsters returned once again."
"This time the monsters came in far greater numbers. Breaking through the pony's defenses, the monsters managed to take over the town completely, only a few ponies managing to get away. Six of these ponies stood out from the rest. Instead of running away and try to find a new place to settle down, these ponies stayed and fought together to defend the tree of harmony until their last breath. And much to their honor, they did. I was one of them. The six ponies defended the tree with all they had: Wings, horns and hooves all dealt deadly blows to the monsters, never letting a single one near the tree."
"Unfortunately, they eventually started to tire, more and more wounds covered their bodies as they protected the tree. But eventually the monsters were nowhere to be seen. They had succeeded in protecting the tree, but at a great cost. During the battles one of the ponies had lost a hoof, another had lost their horn and both pegasi had forever lost their ability to fly. And yet they cheered. In their eyes it didn't matter, they were all currently alive and the tree was now safe from the horrors that struck."
"The ponies also knew they could not afford to be sad, as they celebrated the topic about their wavering lives never came up. Indeed, all of the ponies were mortally wounded. And yet every one of them smiled, they smiled as they ignored the pain, they smiled ignoring the presence of the pale pony tripping around, just outside of their fields of vision. They smiled until their last breaths. All of them determined to die with a smile on their lips. And they did. Before the next sunrise, no life could be found by the roots of the tree of harmony. All that remained were the corpses of six ponies. All with smiles on their faces."
"And yet, the six ponies tale doesn't end there. For these ponies were special in one more way. They all possessed something that they had more of than any other pony around. And these things were the elements. Within the heart of each of these ponies was one of the fundamentals needed to create harmony. Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter and Magic. All of these elements could be represented by the ponies that fought for the tree's survival. The tree of harmony took this sacrifice from the ponies with regret, the ponies died protecting what they believed in with their whole heart. They would not live to see the results of their sacrifice. So the tree decided to give the young heroes a choice. They were to stay in the world of the living, spreading their gifts all over the world for everypony and every none pony to be a part of true harmony, or to pass on beyond to where every soul went after death. They all accepted. Their souls bound themselves to the tree, protecting it from any further attacks and eventually creating what is now known as the Elements of Harmony."
"And that, is how the birth of the elements came to be. Yet it would be a long time before the tree was ever found again, but that is a story for another time."
As the element ended its tale about its own origin and the pony it used to be, Fluttershy could only wipe the tears that had emerged.
"That is so sad. I didn't realize how horrible it was back then, and all those ponies. Do you know what happened to them?" Fluttersy asked.
"No, sadly I cannot say that I do. It was long before anypony else found the Tree of Harmony, by then it had once again faded from pony's memories. And no records were ever found of what happened to the ponies who fled that day." The element replied with a saddened voice.
"But worry not Fluttershy. I am sure they found somewhere safe and only didn't return because of the dangers of the beasts that attacked." The element tried to calm Fluttershy.
"But you defeated the monsters! It was safe to return." She exclaimed.
"Yes, we did. But the ponies didn't know that, did they? There were no other ponies to witness our deeds and most likely the ponies thought that the tree had been lost, seeing as it was what the monsters were after. I don't think it came to anypony's mind that the tree might have survived," the element said with sadness in its voice.
"We, the other elements and I, only had each other to talk to for such a long time. We grew lonely, even with each other there. But now is not the time to speak of the past dear Fluttershy. We must speak about the future. I told you I can help you stay here in the mortal plane, but that it comes with a risk. You see, what I am offering is much the same offer that was given to the other elements and I. Fluttershy, would you become the element of Kindness? This would let you stay, just like I can. But this would also mean that we would become one and the same, we would both share the element. Unfortunately I do not know how such a thing would work, and therefore there is a risk that you might not be yourself after you become a part of the element. That is the reason I shared my story with you. So that you could decide on what to do."
"And this would allow me to speak to my friends?" Fluttershy asked, more concerned about her friend than her own safety, further proving how well she represents her element.
"I can not promise anything Fluttershy. It is possible your connection to the element and your friends would allow you to speak to them, but I am uncertain and can not promise anything with certainty." The element replied with a heavy heart. He was offering Fluttershy a possibility to speak to her friends once more. But that was all it was, a possibility. And if it did not work, he would have sentenced her to the same loneliness he and the other elements had been exposed to. Something he could not do without giving her the choice and explainng the risk, like he had done with his story.
"It doesn't matter. If there is a chance I could speak to my friends, then I could never forgive myself for not taking it. I want to speak to my friends, to tell them I'm alright and to tell them it was not their fault. And if that means I will have to spend eternity inside a gem that represents my element. Then so be it! So, yes. I accept you offer, and it doesn't matter what happens. What does matter is that I tried." Fluttershy said, full of determination and a proud stance. One Rainbow Dash would most certainly have approved of if she had seen her timid foalhood friend act like that.
"I see, well spoken Fluttershy. As you wish, I will let you become one with me and the element so that you can try and greet your friends once more," the element said as a pink light started enveloping Fluttershy.
As the light had almost completely enveloped Fluttershy she heard the voice of the element one final time.
"You are Kindness, and you will be. Forever."
Fluttershy came to once again. This time she awoke in front of the tree of harmony. Flutteshy listened but heard nothing. She could not hear the voice of the element as she had expected. Either he had decided to stay silent, or he was no longer there to help her. Fluttershy looked down onto herself and noticed that she looked just the same, except that she now wore the necklace containing her element around her neck. Looking upon the tree of harmony, she saw her element was still there.
A little confused Fluttershy tried to float as she had done the last few days of being dead. She easily floated as she had previously, meaning she was still a ghost. She had not really expected anything else, but was at least glad that things were somewhat familiar to what she had gotten used to.
But thinking about what the element said, she tried to speak to him again.
"Um... Hello? Are you still there... um... Kindness?" Fluttershy spoke uncertain.
"I... Um, was wondering if you were still here. Could you say something... That is, if you don't mind it that is..." Fluttershy said as timidly as she had before she died.
At first there was nothing responding to her calls. She tried a few more times, but every each one was met with silence. Saddened that her only guide had now somehow left her Fluttershy was about to stop calling. However, just as she was about to leave the cave that containe the tree of harmony she heard something.
"Yes, I'm here. Ju- just a little tired. Barely able to speak." It was weak, but she had heard it. And seeing as she herself usually was very quiet, her own hearing was able to pick up what had been said.
Immediately Fluttershy became glad. "Oh good. I was worried there for a second. I thought you might have become a part of me or something and was no longer able to speak or something." Fluttershy explained her worries.
"You don't have to worry Fluttershy. I was merely drained from doing such a thing. But this is rather interesting. Instead of being completely bound to the elements physical form, like me. You have become a spiritual manifestation and have no restrictions in moving around. It seems to be a fair bit more convenient than my current position." The element replied, happy for Fluttershy, but at the same time, a little envious.
"So... You think I'd be able to speak to my friends like this?" Fluttershy asked the element of Kindness.
"Well, there is only one way to find out, is there not?" the element asked back with what would be the elemental equivalent of a smile.
"I'm going to try it right now!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she took off in the direction of Ponyville. Leaving the tree and Elements in their cave.
"I hope this worked..." Kindness muttered to himself, ignoring the angry shout of the other elements screaming at his mental barriers. They had not taken kindly to him doing this without their consent, even if he didn't have time to do so at the time.
"Well, guess I have no choice." He told himself as he lowered his mental defenses that were keeping the other elements out. "Heh, hi..." He said with a nervous chuckle. The other Elements of Harmony were not amused.
Author's Note
Ok. So, after so long I have finally done it. The next chapter of "Passing of the Elements."
The story will now be set to hiatus. Don't worry It will still be updating, I just have no idea when and have to put it on hold until I can be certain.
Anyways, please comment and do tell what I did right/wrong and what you're expecting from this story.
Thanks to Greycait for proof-reading.
