Chapters Prologue: Stone-Cold Thinking
Once again, Discord Found Himself Trapped in stone by the Famous Elements of Harmony . He was absolutely Furious by This, although his position on the pedestal Celestia had him placed upon spoke more of a position of Pure Shock. But it wasn't false, at the time Discord was Caught completely off-guard by The Main 6 showing up no longer under his influence, while the first time they attempted to turn him to stone without the Element of Loyalty Present was almost a guaranteed failure on their end, It gave Discord a sense of Security that even with Rainbowdash present they would have failed anyway. They were at the time, only attempting to get rid of him to ensure they never had to speak to one another again after all, But he never expected Twilight to Break his influence over her and her friends!
So One can only expect to see his shock once the Fabled Rainbow had lurched out and onto him. So here he was, Turned to stone once again, and while his old position in stone wasn't the most comfortable, this one was FAR worse! Not to mention the effect it was having on his reputation, it portrayed him as a coward doing anything he could to avoid the inevitable. And The End Result Was him in an extremely Uncomfortable pose until the next age of Elements when he would finally be able to Escape his Prison once more, However, It would seem he wouldn't have To wait that long as he noted the Upcoming invasion by Queen Chrysalis and Her Changeling army, They wouldn't succeed, if anything the Elements could have been fetched and done them in the same way they had him. But, Their Presence and invasion mixed with the harmonious event of a wedding seemed to be just what he would need to earn a "Get out of Stone Free!" Spell.
And so, Discord Found himself using what little magic he had left to view other parts of Equestria in his Stone Prison, he Watched as the ponies moved on with their lives after all of his beautiful chaos had been wiped away by Those Accursed Elements! Though he found himself viewing the Element Bearers more often than not as time flew by. He watched them, Studied them, searched for anything that could have Helped them get by his Magic and back to their old selves again, But he also searched for weaknesses or flaws that he could use against them in the future.
While Discord was a Rather Goofy Draconequus, he wasn't stupid and was very precise when he had to be, he caught every little detail every movement of each Bearer hoping to come across some sort of flaw that he could use against them until It hit him, it was When they were attending the Royal Canterlot Wedding between Princess Cadence and Shining Armour. Even though he had Seen when The Changeling queen had replaced Cadence and knew the entire time that the ponies were being led on. It didn't stop him from realizing the obvious, The Elements of Harmony were Powered by Love and Friendship, Twilight and the others powered them Using The Friendship portion, But what of the other? None of the Mares had Come Close to Looking at a stallion that way and so far a few were even actively avoiding it to prevent being slowed down or Taken away from their friends. Making it the Perfect Plan Discord would take the Elements and Alter them in some way so that only with Love could they be activated! The Thought of this made Discord want to barf, however, being a statue spared him of doing so.
But His merriment was short lived as Discord Realized to Fatal Problems to the Plan. The First was that he Couldn't Alter The Elements of Harmony as far as what they were in such a way. If he had them, he could turn them into anything really, but they would still be able to activate, no matter what he did to them. His Second Problem was getting out of his imprisonment. Which he already had covered thanks to the Wedding Fiasco The Changelings Had Planned. Weather the Elements were still held by the same Bearers or not, that would still be more than enough Disharmony to tip things just enough to let him sneak out almost undetected. While A small Sense of the magic would probably Give warning to the Element Holders, it would be extremely small with his current escape plan, and with all the things that were to occur, he doubted they would have known it was him they were being warned about if it hit them like he had slapped them himself! That however still left him with His main Problem, Getting rid of the Elements before they could be used to Turn him to stone once again.
His Plan was Perfect! Oh So Perfect! But utterly useless unless he found a way to distort the Elements themselves enough so that he wasn't changing them as far as their powers and such went, but would only activate through love rather than simple Friendship.He could turn them into Wedding Rings Perhaps? No, Even if they were implied as those they could still be used by the elements as if they were simple Rings, Weather on a unicorn horn or simply dangling off of a chain necklace.
But then a thought Struck Him, The mares Haven't found themselves with stallions which was what was keeping them at bay in his plan. If he could just make things work with Stallions... Stallions! Thats it! It was all so Clear to him now! He would use his magic to Turn the Elements into Stallions!
It would take a lot of his magic to Turn something such as the Elements into Living Creatures, but he would recover, and this was probably his only Chance left. And so he Waited, Waited until The Changelings Would Unleash The Peak of The Chaos they were bringing into motion, once this happened, Discord would be Free and The Changelings Defeated Eliminating his Opponent as Far as Ruling Equestria, and While The Bearers were Celebrating Discord Could Go and do The Deed with The Unguarded Elements, at least, Unguarded by anypony that could hope to stop him.
Author's Note
So Here it is! The Prologue of Deeper than Friendship! This Is my Very First Fic here on FimFiction and While this was rather short, more is to come(obviously) and this is a Prologue after all, they aren't supposed to be as long as some Chapters will be! Any Critique is Welcome as I am Aware that I still have much to learn about writing! On some side notes,I'm Looking For an Editor so PM me if you're interested!
Queen Chrysalis couldn't help but snicker to herself as she walked down the aisle towards the alter and her Sweet Victory! It had all worked so well, so perfectly well, even with that little pest Twilight Sparkle having seen through her rouse. But now She was trapped in the crystal Caverns and Chrysalis was quite sure that her bridesmaids would keep her from going anywhere soon. She allowed herself a Smug Grin as she Sung her tune to herself as she approached, "Finally the moment has arrived, for me, to be one lucky Bride!" She sung happily as she stepped onto the alter and Celestia Began the Ceremony. "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor! It is my Great Pleasure to announce you-" Celestia proclaimed only to be interrupted.
"Ugh! Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?" Chrysalis Demanded only to earn a confused glance from Celestia, "Er..Why does she have to ruin my special day?" she wailed trying to play the part once more.
"Because it's not your special day!" another voice added when what appeared to be a second Cadence stepped in front of Twilight. "Its Mine!"
"What? But how did you get past my Bridesmaids?" Chrysalis stammered. Cadence and Twilight only shared a moments glance at one another before Giving a short version of what happened to The Crowd. "Hmmph! Clever, But you're still to late!" Chrysalis mocked.
"I-I don't understand, How can there be two of them?" applejack managed to say.
"She's a Changeling!" Cadence Explained, "She takes your form and place near your loved ones and gains power by feeding of your love for them!"
Having been discovered, Chrysalis Chose that time to retake her own form. Everypony Gasped once more as what appeared to be a green flame engulfed the Cadence on the alter Changing her into a Tall Bug-like Creature with Slanted eyes like those of a dragon. "Right you are Princess! And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects!" Chrysalis Mocked once more, "And Equestria has more love than anyplace I have ever encountered! My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it, that we will gain more power than we ever dreamed of!
As all of this took place, Discord was still in his stone prison, watching and waiting for the right time. Once all the changelings entered canterlot after bypassing the protection spell, he would be set free by the chaos they created for the little ponies and would as well be able to gain access to the elements of harmony with ease once all the guards had left their post guarding them to aid with the attack.
'Ah hahahahaha! This is just too perfect!' Discord thought to himself, 'once i'm free from this accursed prison, I'll have been rid of the Elements long before Those infernal ponies even realize I've escaped!' he mused. And not a moment too soon, the changelings broke through the shield that Shining Armor had put in place and began to wreak havoc among the ponies that were inside. Discord could feel the balance shift and the barrier that kept himself trapped in stone weaken just enough, he put forth as much chaotic magic as he could into the stone and would have broken a sweat with the amount he was forced to use.
After a few tense moments, the stone around discords chest began to crack and soon the crack began to split and web all around the statue, and then a few pieces began to chip off revealing small portions of his true self to the world once again. Once enough had fallen away discord threw his strength into the stone shattering whatever was left keeping him in place and was free once again.
"Excellent! Now I'll wait but a few moments for the guards to sound the alarm of the invasion and then I shall make my way to the Elements!
As the changelings began their frenzy and stopped Twilight and her friends from reaching the Elements of Harmony. The queen could only enjoy herself at her newfound victory. She scanned the city as the other changelings did their part in the invasion and became a bit overconfident, she ignored the ramblings behind her even as Shining armor was freed from Her spell, he was still to week to perform the barrier while her changelings roamed free within the city.
As Shining Struggled to bring his barrier back to the city he quickly realized it was a useless action, "M-My power is useless now! I-I don't have the strength to repel them!" he said.
"My love will give you strength!" cadence said embracing shining in any attempt to help.
This made Chrysalis laugh, "What a lovely and ridiculous sentiment!" she mused once again watching her changelings feed. Shining glared at her before once again attempting to Replace the Barrier and repel the changelings. Seeing him continue, Cadence turned her head and brought her own horn to Shining's and powering her magic inter-fusing it with his. Suddenly, a small flash of light erupted from their combined power and they began to levitate into the air as they gave each other strength. Seeing the flash in the window she was peering out of, Chrysalis turned around to see what the deal was now only to become mortified with what she saw. Shining and Cadence continued to levitate into the air and soon, magic engulfed them completely unleashing a spell beyond expectation. Chrysalis only had time to shriek as the wave of magic hurled itself from the couple driving her and the rest of the changelings out of the city and flying back into a barren wasteland they called home. Things hadn't gone as planned.
Discord watched from the ceiling of the Chamber that held the Elements of Harmony as the changelings that were inside were thrown against and through the walls by the wave of magic that was emitted by The royal Couple. He would have likely been thrown away as well, however, he was causing no trouble and the barrier had been meant to target changelings directly, therefore although he was clearly a creature that wasn't supposed to be there, he was unaffected by the spell. Leaving him alone in the unguarded chamber with the Elements behind just one simple door.
While the door was sealed with Celestia's magic, it couldn't stop him from retrieving the Elements, so with a simple snap of his talons, the Chest that contained the artifacts were within his hands.
"Finally!" Discord exclaimed with joy, "I'm almost certain that Celestia has upgraded her spell since I last took these so I can't stay here, but where do I go that I can Perform My plan in peace?" Discord pondered this for a moment before deciding upon a small cave on top of the Equestrian mountain he knew of. Since his arms were full Discords tail snapped its feathers like fingers and he vanished from the sight, only his maniacal laughter remaining as it echoed across the walls for a few moments.
Celestia winced after a small jolt of magic had surged at the tip of her horn. The Ceremony had just finished and Rainbowdash had performed her famous Sonic Rainboom, much to the enjoyment of the crowd below. While normally, Celestia may have concluded this to be a small effect from the sound barrier being broken, Celestia was a bit on edge with the invasion that had just took place. She Closed her eyes and began searching with her magic for what may have caused the sensation. Twilight took notice of Her mentors concentration and began to look in worry.
"Princess Celestia is something wrong?" Twilight questioned before Celestia lost her concentration with a panicked expression on her face. This Caused Twilights concern to leap forward, "Princess what's wrong? Is Chrysalis Coming back?" she asked.
"No Twilight, she is going to be much to weak before she could try to invade again" Celestia stated causing Twilight to allow a relieved expression cross her face, "However, I believe she was not the last of our problems, I want you and your friends to meet me in the chamber of Harmony in Fifteen Minutes" She said turning and strolling out of the Throne room.
"Of course princess, but couldn't we go now? why wait?"
"Because, There is something I must check on, I believe we may hav-" Celestia was interrupted by one of the smaller doors in the side of the room being thrown open and a Guard rushed into the room before quickly bowing before his princess.
"Princess Celestia, I come bearing dire news" the guard panted.
"News that could be worse than the invasion from a half an hour ago?" Celestia asked, not happy about being held up.
"Yes your highness" the guard stuttered before glancing up, "Discord's statue has become missing from the royal Gardens, and an alarm was set off in the Chamber of Harmony as chaos magic was detected" the guard said deepening his bow.
Celestia simply froze, she had suspected Discords escape was the cause of her magical warning, yet under the invasion, he had already gotten to their means of Defeating him. Twilight, having heard what the guard said, trotted up next to celestia with an alarmed look on her face.
"Discord? b-but we turned him to stone! Shouldn't he stay that way until the Elements receive new Bearers?" She asked unable to mask the skeptical tone that was working its way into her voice.
"I'm afraid the Changelings had caused a big enough shift in the balance of Harmony that Discord was able to escape early." Celestia sighed, "I can only imagine the alarm tripped means he has taken the Elements again, you and your friends will have to locate him and find the Elements again Twilight."
Twilight nodded her head in confidence, she and her friends had stopped Discord with their Friendship once, they could just as easily do it again! She trotted off to find the others to begin their new quest, unaware of just what it would have in store for them.
Author's Note
And here we have it! The First Official Chapter of Deeper than Friendship! (applause
-Bronydash860
The "Stallions" of Harmony
As Discord appeared at the cave close to the top of the mountain he glanced down at the chest still grasped withing his eagles claw. It was a rather nice chest over all, keenly decorated with gems and shaped to give it a rather royal quality. However, Discord wasn't interested in this at all, no he was after what the chest contained. Or trying to be rid of what it contained in a way. Not wanting to touch the accursed objects discord placed the chest down on a slab of stone that could have passed as a table with its height and summoned up a clone of himself.
"Hello handsome!" he joked, causing the other Discord to glare at him, "what? can't I greet an amazing duplicate of myself in all my glory?" he asked.
"Oh for Celestia's sake drop the act, as handsome as we are i'm in no mood, especcially when you bring me here so that I have to handle those cursed Elements so they don't harm you!" The clone spat, causing the real Discord to put a paw to his chest in fake offence.
"Why I would never put such a pretty face in harms way! I'm insulted that you would even consider the thought!" The clone raised an eyebrow with an 'are-you-done?' face. "Alright alright fine! But its not like i'm asking you to move the sun, just open the chest and toss the Elements somewhere on the ground large enough to manifest a stallion, it'll be about as bad as an oven burn!" he argued getting impatient now that he was certain Celestia had discovered he had gone missing.
"If its as bad as something so small then why did you bother wasting magic to bring me to do it? Honestly Its almost as if you're lying to me! I invented lying!"
"No you didn't! I did! besides, you're here now, don't want me to waste the valuable magic that I've already used now do we? And I won't be quite through with you once your done anyway."
"And why is that? Are you gonna send me after Celestia now?"
"Something like that. Once the Elements are out of their chest, I'm going to manifest some new fake ones and send you on your merry way with the copies to good old appleloosa with some of my magic."
"Ooh! I Smell a plan, do continue!"
"Well, once I begin to transfigure these Elements Celestia would be able to detect my precious chaos magic from all the way across Equestria! So, I plan to send you to Appleloosa with the some of my magic so you could give them a little taste of chaos! Then, while they're "enjoying" you're generous gift, Celestia will almost certainly become aware of your presence and rush to their rescue!" This caused the clone to cringe.
"You plan to use me as bait!?" he yelled in a half panic at the thought.
"well, yes and no, but mainly yes. It's simple, cause some trouble, Celestia come's running and sees the decoy Elements, avoid her and keep her busy as long as you can while I use my magic here when she's distracted to manipulate the elements into stallions! Worse case cenerio, she discovers what we're doing before i'm finished and you're forced to engage in light combat." Discord stated flatly as if it were nothing to it.
"Worst case cenerio, I get killed by a rage-driven allicorn!" The clone yelled, as the real Discord shoved him towards the chest. This caused it to fall open and the Elements it contained slid across the cavern floor.
"Excellent! Now you don't even have to touch the real ones!" Discord cheered as he set the chest upright and made new Elements appear in place of the others, only the shapes in which the gems were embedded on these were changed to give form to a different pose of himself. "Now, be on your way, I'm sure its only a small matter of time before Celestia finds the magic I've been using to create you and these elements!" Discord said placing the chest into the hands of the clone and ushering him to the mouth of the cave.
"And what am I supposed to do once you've finished? Explain to Celestia that I've been helping play keep away all day?"
"No, you drop the chest and teleport away after declaring your defeat! I would love to have a picture of her face when she sees the beauty's I've put in there!" Discord chuckled earning a half smile from the clone.
"Alright, But after all this is over and we've gained control I get to perform some more chaos in Appleloosa. After all, what I'll be giving them is just a distraction, and I want to give them a little something for helping in our glorious plans to thank them!"
"But of course! Now, off you go!" Discord said, waving his clone off before re-entering the cave and facing the Elements that were now Strewn about the floor. "Now, I'll give my copy time to get a good distraction going before we see just what chaos can do!"
As Twilight rushed through the castle searching for her friends who had left a small while before to join the after party that had started in the courtyard while she had been helping Celestia ensure that things in the throne room were returned to their respective places. She knew where the party was being held, but the crowd would be huge, and she had to find all five of her friends.
She entered the heart of the party and luckily found all of her friends were in the same group mingling, she trotted up to find they were chatting with her brother and Cadence. "Thank goodness I found you all, we need to leave immediately!" she gasped regretting the run she had put into coming down from the castle.
"Whats the hurry Twily?" Shining asked with a look of concern, "Is something the matter?"
"Yea, the party like just started!" Dash groaned, "where are we going in such a hurry?"
"It's important, I would never leave on such short notice if I didn't have good reason. But this one I can make an exception."
"Well its sad that you have to leave so soon, but we understand, it certainly sounds important, the way you sprinted over here in a full gallop without even stopping for a breath when you were closer."
"Its cool Twily, Cadence and I are headed to the Dance floor, I'll talk to ya later when we get the chance!" Shining said as he and Cadence trotted to the circle in the path to share a dance.
"Aw, c'mon Twilight, can't we at least stay for one song?" Twilight glanced over at Cadence and Shining seeing them start to move into a slow dance before turning back and nodding to Pinkie. Pinkie Beamed and zipped over to the DJ stand and pulled Vinyl out of nowhere, "Then lets get this party started!" she exclaimed tossing a mic in Twilight's direction. Deciding to go along with it, Twilight caught the mic in her magic and began to sing the lyrics she had been preparing on the train ride to Canterlot before the Invasion.
"Love is in bloom!" she sang as the music began to pick up, "A beautiful bride! A handsome groom!" As Twilight began singing Celestia could once again Sense a magical disturbance, although rather than an alarm, this was an act in progress. As she was about to begin a scrying spell to see where the magic was originating from she was interrupted as a yellow-tan coated stallion was thrown into an apple cart whilst wearing what appeared to be a giant apple costume. Applejack being the first to arrive to help the pony immediately recognized him.
"BraeBurn!? What in tarnation are ya doing here? And why are ya dressed as a giant apple?" BraeBurn however couldn't bring together a complete sentence at the moment.
"Apples, Chaos, Discord, Bulls, Nap." And with that, he lost consciousness, Celestia However had heard all she needed to know before Teleporting from the party, much to the dismay of the guards now that they knew not where the princess had gone. One shouted for another to perform a scrying spell for the princess while another began to question princess Luna for her orders. However Applejack was giving Twilight a concerned glance, having been the first of her friends to figure out why Twilight had wanted to leave so urgently. As Twilight and the others broke away from the party near the entrance to the castle, Rainbow was the first to break the silence that had ensued.
"Alright spill the beans Twilight, how in the hay did Discord get to Appleloosa?"
"Yea! I mean wasn't he turned into a statue with a super silly pose?" Pinke asked.
"When the Changelings attacked, Discord was able to free himself early and use the commotion to get to the Elements without anypony noticing before it was too late." Twilight explained, "But thats not important, what is important is that he's foolishly revealed where he is and now we can stop him!" She said Broadly giving off what she hoped was an array of confidence.
"Ya mean Celestia can stop him, what with how she done teleported there I'd bet she's already taking care of the problem while it'll take us a couple hours to get there ourselves!"
"That may be true, but we should still go, in case Celestia needs our help, so lets go!" And with a final cheer from her friends, they were off to the trainstation to head to appleloosa to deal with Discord. While Braeburn, whom had just recently come to stumbled after them.
"Wait fer me! Ah need a ride back home!" He shouted trying to keep up in his apple costume that he discovered earlier had been glued to his fur.
Celestia had arrived in Appleloosa a few moments after she had cast her teleportation spell to find exactly what she had expected. Appleloosa was in total Chaos, Cotton candy clouds were rare being in the desert with one or two here and there however a giant magnifying glass had been placed under the sun to funnel the sunlight into a beam as it constantly chased ponies around as if they were ants under its scorching beam. Meanwhile Cacti and tumbleweed were tapdancing around the buildings some of which had been turned upside down or were bouncing back and forth as they would in an old cartoon, The local Buffalo including chief thunderhooves were dancing in tutu's while most of the females including little strongheart were stalking through the streets causing even the toughest ponies to cower in fear. And as Celestia expected in the center of all this was a throne upon which sat a very familiar Draconequus with a chest sitting to his right.
"Celestia! So good of you to join us!" Discord mused as Celestia approached his thrown with a generous glare towards him. "What? aren't you happy to see me? Didn't you miss me? Because I missed you." he said with a puppy dog look before bursting with laughter.
"Discord! Stop this at once and return the Elements to their Rightful place!" Celestia Demanded not at all in the mood for Discords games after the changeling incedent.
"Oh stop? Now that wouldn't be any fun now would it? After all I'm helping! I mean, honestly have you ever seen little stronghooves so in control over the populace? I'm training her to become the next chief of the buffalo tribe!" He claimed trying to pull an innocent face.
"I am in no mood Discord!" Celestia yelled.
"Oh I'm sure, what with chrissy coming to say hello during your little wedding. Oh and do send my regards to Cadence and Shining armor they are a Lovely couple!" saying this discord put emphasis by having small hearts appear and pop around his head giving a dreamy expression to a cotton candy cloud that had floated nearby, "much like me and my beautiful chaos!" he mused.
"Enough!" Celestia said stamping a hoof, "Return the Elements or I will come over there and take them myself!"
"Oh alright" Discord said standing up and grabbing the chest, he then began to float over to Celestia and presented the chest to her. Celestia reached out with her magic to grab the chest only to have it pop open at her touch and a small banner saying "Gotcha" Popped out.
"Oh? And what game would that be?" Celestia asked cautiously. Discord however only drew close and touched the tip of her horn with his lions paw.
"Tag! You're it!" he laughed before vanishing back up onto the hill near his thrown waving the chest in his arms.
This only infuriated Celestia as she teleported next to him, or so she thought. Once she had finished her spell Discord was on top of the saloon a few buildings in town wearing a cowboy vest and a 10-gallon hat. "Yer gonna have to do better than that Pardner!" he joked doing the best cowboy accent he could. Celestia ground her teeth together as a headache made itself known near the base of her horn but she ignored it. She didn't have time to worry about such a thing, after all, this was going to get annoying very quickly.
After about an hour of chasing Discord around Appleloosa, Celestia had finaly pinned Discord while he was stating another horrible western pun and retrieved the Elements. "Finally, now all I'll have to do is find Twilight and her friends so that they may-" Celestia stopped mid-sentance as she opened the chest and saw what it contained. What she saw were the Elements although these were five tiara's and a necklace the colors seemed to be swapped, although one couldn't tell when the shapes of each gem had been altered so rather than the cutie mark of a bearer, each now resembled a differen't pose of Discord.
Celestia gazed upon these Elements for a total of about 5 seconds before she threw the chest through one of the saloon doors much to the enjoyment of the pony inside once he saw the jewels and turned back to Discord, who greeted her with the flash of a camera he had manifested.
"I promised the other me I would capture a Picture of your face when you saw the fake Elements, and he was right! Priceless! Discord Declared.
"I am through with your games Discord! Do not waste my time any longer! Give me the Elements!" Celestia Demanded.
"Oh I would but you see I don't have them" Discord said with a sheepish smile before teleporting behind her on a stage. "Allow me to introduce you to Me! Discord 2.0!" he said when Discords that had appeared where she had been facing a moment ago began to cheer and applaud and a smaller one appeared on her shoulder. "That means he's a clone!"
"WHAT!? Where is the REAL Discord then?"
"Oh him, he's within a cave atop the mountain near Canterlot, although I'm sure he's finished his deed by now. Surely you've noticed the magical balance?" It was only then that Celestia's mind returned to the ache she had felt near the base of her horn. The unmistakeable sensation of great amounts of chaos magic being focused into one Item, although She had the feeling this was the sixth of five others she had felt. Celestia had been so caught up she had failed to see through the distraction Discord had set up, and his plan had worked, and she only now realizes it.
"And whats more," the clone continued, "you're precious student and her friends are probably on their way here thinking this is where they should be since you left in such a big hurry that now, there will be no time to stop the real Me!" Discord shouted with a laugh. Celestia once again Teleported away not wanting to waste anymore time with the clone, praying that she still had a chance before the real Discord did something to the Elements.
Discord laughed as his brilliant plan was finally put into action. The Elements were surrounded within spheres of color as his magic began to shape and mold them to his whim as each began to float to the height of a stallion about the same age as the main 6 and one was already forming the first leg of its new form. "Ahahaha! This is going splendidly!" Discord cheered for himself, "Soon the Elements will become completely changed into their newest form! And I'll be free to do as I please!" Discord laughed to himself once again bending down to examine the process of the Elements closer before a bolt of magic shot directly to where his head had been moments before.
Discord turned Expecting to see Celestia and maybe a platoon of guards waiting for him, yet found only five mares, along with one purple unicorn who had just tried to blow his head away with a magical bolt.
"Girls you're here!" Discord exclaimed cautiously, still unaware of weather the Elements could be used the same way before their transformation was complete. "What a lovely surprise! Especially since I wasn't quite expecting you to be the first to arrive, say, how did you find out about my little cave hmm?" He questioned, genuinely surprised that they had found him before Celestia.
"Well ya woulda been hard ta miss, We're all connected to our Elements so when ya started changing 'em with yer magic it shone so bright it was like a neon sign had been hung up sayin, "ELEMENTS OF HARMONY HERE!""
"Hmph! Clever, I suppose I'll have to make note of that next time I try to take over Equestria." Discord said with his claw to his chin.
"You won't get the chance Discord! Now hand over the Elements!" Twilight Demanded.
"You're about as stubborn as Celestia, but its too late! The Spell has been cast and I no longer need to feed my energy into it!" Discord said with a victorious smirk. "While I would have loved to see how these would turn out when finished I suppose I'll just have to check back on them another time." And with that, Discord snapped his talons together causing the unfinished transforming Elements to Vanish.
"What in Tarnation!?"
"Hey! Where'd you take our Elements!?" Pinkie cried, frantically beginning to search the cave.
"Why, I simply put them where they should go, after all I had to prepare homes in various locations for Equestrias newest residents! What kind of Spirit of chaos would I be if I didn't?" Discord asked while a halo appeared over his head.
"Homes?" Twilight muttered confused.
"Yes homes, You see, I've been watching all of you and I've noticed none of you had tried to gain an "intimate" relationship with a single stallion so, since the Elements are powered by Friendship and love, I altered them to become stallions that are also doing poorly with the ladies. This way, you can only activate them by gaining a romantic relationship and whatnot" Discord said trying to suppress a gag. Most of the mare's stood in shock while fluttershy looked ready to faint before Rainbow charged at Discord.
"Why I oughta pound you into jerk Cider!" Dash Yelled only for Discord to disappear and re-appear behind her while she ran smack into the cavern wall.
"Tut-tut RainbowDash, How do you expect to get a stallion acting like that?" Discord asked with a disapproving shake of his head. "No that won't do, however that's not my problem, the Elements will have finished changing by now and with the artificial memories I gave them, go about what they would consider a normal day. Now if you'll all excuse me I've got some Chaos to Create! Ahahaha!" Discord laughed as he disappeared his laugh echoing throughout the cave while the six mares stood in shock at what they had just heard. Just then, a white flash Enveloped the room and Celestia was standing within the cave, trying to take in her surroundings since she could have sworn she was just in a sitcom.
"Twilight, Where is Discord? Where are the Elements?" She asked frantically forgetting where she had come from and hoping she wasn't to late. Twilight just shook her head and hung it towards the ground giving her the answer she was hoping not to recieve.
She was too late.
Author's Note
Hey All! Here's the Second Chapter of The Fic! I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, I still haven't Decided on what i'm doing with the stallions yet so I used the interruption by our heroines to give me a bit more time while also progressing the Fic.
trying to take in her surroundings since she could have sworn she was just in a sitcom
Refers to Discord Chat
-Bronydash860
"Curses!" Celestia muttered as she began to examine the cave she and the others were standing in. "Discord must still have the Elements on him, Twilight, do you know where he would have went?"
"Even if I knew where Discord had gone it wouldn't matter." Twilight said feeling hope was lost, "Discord no longer has the Elements, he's ... hidden them again."
"Well at least they are no longer on the move." Celestia began, "Did he leave a clue as to where he put them?"
"No princess, he didn't hide them like last time, they're pretty much in plain sight. But, he changed them."
"Changed them? Whatever do you mean?"
"The Varmint done plum turned the Elements into ponies!" Applejack interrupted.
"P-Ponies?" Celestia asked, trying to make sure she had heard her right.
"Yes, Discord claims to have found a way to disrupt the Elements by turning them into Stallions, although I don't see what good that would do him." Twilight said again trying to figure out a plan.
"Hmm, this is not like Discord, he would not have done this unless he had reason."
"But he's the spirit of chaos! Wouldn't he just do it because he thought ... well ... Chaos?" AJ asked.
"No, to defeat the Spirit of Chaos, you must think like him, and I doubt Discord would find the Elements being stallions very entertaining. He would have to have another motive." Celestia said. Twilight was running through their meeting with Discord moments before, trying to find something that she may have missed that would tell them why Discord had done such a thing until she thought of something.
"Princess, Discord said something earlier about the Elements being powered by Love as well as Friendship being the fact that gave him his idea, does that mean anything?" Celestia froze as she understood what her student had told her. She too had begun to notice the lack of relationship between the Element bearers and any Stallions and had simply put it off her mind. Now she realized that Discord, having realized the same thing, used this fact to his advantage.
"Of course, I now realize why Discord had tried so hard to keep us from locating him to quickly, an act of magic such as that will have left him temporarily exhausted. And could have terrible consequences if interrupted."
"Did you figure out why he changed them?" Rarity asked.
"I believe so, but I will need to return to Canterlot and test myself to be sure."
"Then there's no time to waste!" Twilight said with enthusiasm as they began to head out.
Discord appeared over top of Canterlot After he had left hastily from the cavern sure Celestia would arrive shortly. He was observing his new kingdom when another him floated up to him atop a cotton candy cloud. "Discord! Friend! It's so good to see you again!" The clone exclaimed offering Discord a glass of chocolate milk, which he immediately drank the glass away tossing the milk.
"And you as well me! I take it things went alright with Celestia seeing as I was able to cast the spell and scatter the Elements before seeing a single hair of her!"
"Indeed they did! Oh! That reminds me," the clone said pulling out a camera, "I got that Picture you wanted!" he said with Glee as the real Discord took the Camera with Excitement.
"Oh goody! I can't wait to see it!" He said as he loaded the image of Celestia after seeing the fake Elements. "Priceless!" They both Exclaimed simultaneously after the image had loaded and bursting into a laughing mess.
"Anywho, enough about that. Have you decided where to make your new Chaos Capital of the world?" The clone asked with anticipation.
"Oh I'm stuck!" Discord said with a pout, "I can't decide weather to take Canterlot as my new Capital or try and use Ponyville again! Anywhere else doesn't really strike me Either, although I do plan on making the castle of the two sisters a nice summer home!" Discord exclaimed.
"Marvelous! Although The everfree is closer to Ponyville so Unless you want to live away from your summer home, I would choose Ponyville myself!"
"Quite true, but we can't just leave Canterlot with absolutely no Chaos to enjoy for the time being! What kind of Evil Overlord would I be if I showed them mercy?"
"Not a very fun one, Lets get to ruining!" And with that the Discords were off to different parts of Canterlot to create their mischief before going to Ponyville.
Celestia and the Main 6 arrived inside the throne room of Canterlot which had been half turned upside down, literally. But were forced to ignore that fact as it was only a matter of time before Discord paid a visit to renovate the castle. As they approached the throne Celestia's horn began to glow and a Giant round table began to rise at the base of the Throne. After the table had finished Rising, it began to glow with an aura, signs that it was enchanted as a map of all Equestria appeared on its surface. Although Something was wrong, a dark cloud which had originated from canterlot was slowly expanding and had overtaken a few major cities.
"This is a very old map of Equestria, while the map itself is extremely old the enchantment keeps it up to date." Celestia said as they circled the map.
"Princess, what are these?" Twilight asked as she pointed to a small yellow light that appeared to be moving slightly.
"That Twilight, is one of the Elements of harmony, Kindness to be precise. It is another affect of the Enchantment, this table is used when the Elements are lost or Stolen so that they may be located."
"Hey, if these are supposed to be the Elements, how come there are only two?" Rainbow asked pointing to the other blip of light, this one orange.
"Two? There were three a minute ago!" Twilight asked looking to where she had seen the third light. But the dark cloud had overtaken the part of the map the light had been near.
"Discord is spreading his chaos to mask the Elements," Celestia said as she approached one of the two remaining lights, "Since Discord altered the Elements, they are encircled by Chaos magic. While they remain the same outside of the cloud. When chaos begins to happen around the same area as the Elements they become lost within. The Elements of Kindness and Honesty appear to be in Appleloosa and on a Nature Reserve somewhere near Ponyville."
"But what about the other four Elements?" Pinkie asked.
"Those Elements are already masked by the Cloud of Chaos, therefore we will have to search for those blind. Although I Doubt they will be to hard to find. They should be simultaneous to all of you so you need simply think where you would be if not in ponyville.
As they finished talking the rest of the map and the Last two Elements became engulfed in the Chaos Cloud and a dark chuckle was heard within the castle.
"DISCORD!" Celestia shouted as the Spirit of Chaos appeared in her throne.
"Why Hello Celestia! Terribly sorry that I wasn't able to see you at the cave for you see I've been rather busy today!" Discord said with a chuckle as he gestured to the now all black and fogged map.
"What have you done with the Elements!?" Rainbow shouted as she zoomed up to face the Draconequus head on.
"Have you really not figured it out yet?" Discord asked un-surprised at how dense the Rainbow maned Pegasus could be.
"Discord, Return the Elements as they should be this instant!" Celestia Demanded.
"Hmm whats the word I'm looking for? Oh I believe it begins with a no, Oh wait! Thats the word! No! Now, I'd love to stay and chat but being ruler of Equestria means Busy busy busy! You know how it is Celestia Right? Anywho I'm off to Decorate my new capital, Ta-Ta!" And with that Discord was gone.
"Twilight you Mu-" Celestia began before being interupted by Discord as he opened the wall like a door and strolled through.
"Oh and Before I forget, I want Celestia to know what it feels like to be trapped in stone for a thousand years just as I do! I won't trap your student or her friends though, after all, they only had me in stone again for what? A month?" Discord said as he snapped his talons and Disappeared once again. Celestia was about to continue before her hooves became solidified with the floor as she began to turn to stone.
"Twilight! You and your friends must find the Elements of harmony! Just go off of your own instincts and you will surely find them! And remember they will only be able to activate through L-" As Celestia was about to finish her statement the spell finished and she was officially turned to a statue. Leaving Twilight and her friends without Her last piece of wisdom and in Confusion.
"Uh so what now Twi?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know Applejack, But I guess the best thing to do at the moment would be to try to find our Elements and go from there!" Twilight said. The others nodded and rushed off to figure out where these stallions might be, They had a feeling it was going to be a long couple of days.
Author's Note
Hey all! Hope you enjoyed this Chapter. The next thing I put up will be a brand new Fic, Provided it's approved by moderation
-BronyDash860
As Twilight and her friends began their trek outside of the castle they stopped in the courtyard after Apple Jack spoke up. "So which Element should we go searching fer first Twi?" She asked with anxiety to defeat discord.
"Actually, I think we should split up." Twilight said. "It would be for the best when we do come to find the Elements, whatever Discord did to them."
"I suggest we split into groups of two," said Rarity, "that way nopony has to travel alone and we can cover more ground rather than traveling as a group."
"Are ya'll sure that's a good idea? after all now that Discords on the loose, it may be close to impossible to traverse the land!"
"That may be but this is the best way to get things done ass quickly as possible. So everypony pair up and lets get the Elements and stop Discord before somepony ends up hurt!"
The ponies nodded and broke into pairs: Rainbow dash and Applejack hoof-bumped and began to head down the road towards the train station. Rarity and Fluttershy nodded to each other before heading into the deeper parts of Canterlot to search.
"Those little Ponies actually believe they will find their Elements! This is just to entertaining!" he said chuckling, "Not only do they know what they're looking for as they haven't seen what I've done to the Elements back in the cave but then they'll have to find out how to make them tick! It's full proof!"
"Yes full-proof" his clone mocked as he floated up to the real Discord, I'm sure they won't figure this out eventually, WRONG! You fool, don't you realize that once these ponies figure out what to do thats it? Done! Over!"
"Oh and what chance do we have of that happening hmm?"
"Oh I don't know why don't we step back and look at all the other times they've bested the impossible." The clone spat before bringing one of the cotton candy clouds over and smoothing it out into a screen which immediately showed a clip of the ponies standing in the castle of the two sisters with Nightmare Moon.
"Lets start with their first victory, Good ol' Lu Lu and her little Temper tantrum that sent her to the moon. Hmm she just smashed the Elements! All hope seems lost! Its pointless to continue to defy her!" The clone said with a dramatic voice and pose making the real Discord roll his eyes. "Oh but wait! Miss Twilight Sparkle starts up her little speech! Whats this? The shards of the Elements begin to float around each pony she names? Oh hey! She just Defeated all odds by doing nothing but making friends!" The Clone shouted.
"Yes yes now why don't you tell me why you decided to waste my time showing me this when I could be making glorious chaos."
"Oh wait but there's more!" The clone said as the cloud screen began to flash different times when the Main 6 had defeated foes, Sometimes without using the Elements even. "An ursa Minor, Chrysalis, You!" Plenty of times when things could seem like its hopeless for these ponies yet they always pull through! But you know which is my Favorite? Yours, Because you had done everything you needed to, you stole the Elements, you turned them against each other nearly destroying their friendships completely and had turned their home upside down! Literally! But still they defeated you.
"Hey!" Discord yelled, "They Defeated Us! Clone or no your still me basically! Plus I had no knowledge that my spell over them was broken enabling them to once again use the Elements! Had I known they were of free influence once again, I would've been out of there in a flash before they could activate those Death traps!" He defended himself.
"Oh I've heard it all before, save it for a clone who cares! The point is, if you let those ponies go on their merry little way it's only a matter of time before they've found the Elements. And granted it may take just as long if not longer for them to realize what they would have to do to activate them and then meaningfully perform it at that, it would still happen and then WHAM! We're back to stone for another millennium!"
"Huh, I suppose that I may have been a bit naive with these ponies haven't I?" Discord said as he pondered the other Discord's points. He had not pondered upon the past of these ponies often as he did not have need of their history, only their weakness and how he could stop them. "Very well, I concede, I do see your point of view as you have stated however What may I ask do you suppose we do about it? I mean I've already got plenty of ideas but I'd like the "Master" of these ponies to tell me how he thinks we should deal with them."
"Weeeeelllll," The clone droned with a grin, "I may have a scheme or two!" he chuckled.
"Ooh! Do tell!" Discord said with a grin as he and the clone got to work.
Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash were running through Canterlot, much to the distress of nearby nobles, as they began their search before they stopped near the station. "Alright Dash, who do ya'll reckon we should find first, your Element or mine?" AJ asked as if she didn't know Dash's answer.
"Well Duh! We gotta go get yours first!" Dash answered a bit annoyed that Apple Jack didn't know this."
"Alright alri- Wait, Did you just say we should find MINE first?"
"Yea, why?"
"Well ah just figured that ya'll would want to find yours first seeing as you like to be lead pony all the time and all."
"Nah, after all. I gotta save the Best for last!" Dash answered with a grin as AJ rolled her eyes, "So where we looking first?"
"Ah'm not sure, Discord ain't given us no clues as to where our Elements could be this time so we're searchin blind here.
"That you are my dear Apple Jack!"
"You have got to be kidding m-"
"Not even a little!" Discord chimed happily as he rose from under Apple jacks stetson and onto her head.
"What do you want Dip-cord?" Dash asked angrily as she struggled to keep from attacking the draconequues again.
"Who? Me? Oh I just wanted to help two of my best friends with their little quest! Is that so much to ask?" He asked as he put on the best excuse of a puppy dog face he could make.
"Yes" Dash and AJ said in unision.
"Fine. I guess you don't want my help in finding the Elements, you know, those little trinkets of yours that can defeat me in a matter of seconds that you have absolutely no idea where to find? Oh well, I guess I'll just go ahead and spread some more chaos within some of Equestria. Maybe I'll try and remodel Ponyville again."
"Hold on a sec, You wanna help us?" Dash asked with genuine confusion.
"But of course!" After all, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"
"You ain't our friend." Applejack stated plainly.
"Oh! Well I'm truly hurt, especially since that came from honest applejack! Woe is me! Not really, you want to know where the Element is or not?"
"Alright alright, so where are the Elements then?" Applejack asked mostly to try and get rid of the lord of chaos.
"Oh I can't tell you where they're all at, oh no! That would be far to easy, no, I will only tell you where one of them is, and it just so happens to belong to miss Rainbow Dash here!" Discord said as he tapped his talon on Rainbow's nose.
"I thought we were gonna go get yours first AJ."
"Well you could, but Yours is closer, in fact its right here in canterlot! Wouldn't want to waste time going out to find Honesty when Loyalty is staring you in the face here would you?" Discord asked.
"He's got a point Rainbow, it wouldn't make a lot of sense ta come back here if we're already nearby it."
"Fine"
"Splendid!" Discord cheered, "Now To find the Element of Loyalty, you must go and find a boring team!"
"A boring team?" Applejack asked.
"Well they're boring to me, But you ponies might know them as the "Best" Fliers in all of Equestria." Discord said with a yawn.
"MY ELEMENT IS WITH THE WONDERBOLTS!?" Dash yelled, Excited at the thought of being able to see her personal heroes again.
"Yes yes, but I would say more like a part of the wonderbolts."
"And just what do ya'll mean by that?" Said AJ.
"Well I'm sure you ponies know what I did to the Elements don't you?"
At this Applejack paused and glared at the draconequus before muttering ".....Maybe...".
"You don't? How fun! I'll have to keep that in mind with your other friends!" Discord said with a laugh. "Anyway, I've turned Your Element Rainbow Dash into a Stallion." Discord stated matter of factly. "As if the first fifty times I told you all wasn't enough, But I can't blame you, who would pay attention to that with all this Beautiful Chaos to enjoy instead?" He then laughed and disappeared leaving a group of dancing buffalo in tu tu's in his place.
"A Stallion?" Applejack asked. "How in the hay did he think turning the Element of Loyalty into a Stallion was a good idea?"
"Beats me but apparently the Wonderbolts were kind enough to take him in, Probably just to give him a place to call his own for a bit. Lets go!" Dash exclaimed before flying off towards the Wonderbolts Stadium.
"Right Behind ya!" said AJ as she ran off after Rainbow Dash.
"Remind me why I had to tell them again?" Discord asked his clone above one of the Buildings in the deeper parts of Canterlot. "Not only did you make me reveal what I've done to the Elements, again. But you've had me tell them where one was! Are you trying to get us turned to stone again!?"
"Oh Relax would you? It's all part of the Plan!"
"What plan!? All you've told me is that I had to tell them about the Element of Loyalty's location!" Discord shouted.
"Well think about it! Rainbow Dash's heroes are the Wonderbolts, it's been her dream to join them since she was a filly!"
"Yes and?"
"Well, we create the stallion she has to learn to "Love" in order to defeat us, and we place him into the Wonderbolts team, Before she gets in."
"Go on.." Says Discord starting to catch on.
"She finds out he's in the Team before her without even trying and only being just created a few hours ago. He tells her he's just better than her once they fight about how he got on the team and she hasn't. She ends up hating him and therefore strengthening our Goal!" The Clone exclaimed proudly.
"Wow, thats ..... Brilliant!" Discord proclaimed.
"I'm Discord, was there ever any doubt?" The Clone asked.
"I'M Discord! Don't push your limits Disc 2.0! Oh by the way, I've decided to call you Disc 2.0, is that alright? As if I care anyway?" The clone simply bowed.
"I would feel offended otherwise". And with that they shared a horrible sounding laugh and vanished to perform the rest of their plan.
Author's Note
And here it is, The next chapter of Deeper than friendship! Sorry this took so long what with recent exams and such.
Inching Closer and Closer
Discord watched as his prey wandered about in the streets of Canterlot. Rarity and Fluttershy had both been wandering the streets asking ponies if they had any clues as to the whereabouts of the elements. Surprisingly some of the ponies had never even heard of the Elements of Harmony. Unsurprisingly, some were just to snooty to give either the time of day.
"Ooh! This is Pointless!" Rarity exclaimed with a huff as she turned away from the Stallion she had asked about the Elements, He hadn't even known what they looked like, although that's not that surprising seeing as not a lot happened in Canterlot to require their presence. "We must have been searching for HOURS by now!" she wailed.
"Um, actually, its only been about one hour." Fluttershy quietly muttered in her usual shy demeanor. "Do you think, um, we should try elsewhere? If that's okay I mean."
"Well of course, but where? We've only got so many places to search and these ponies are no help whatsoever!", she cried, "If we're going to find the Elements. We've got to put our heads together!"
"Maybe we should try thinking like Discord would." Fluttershy suggested. "If we think like him, maybe we'll be able to think of an area to place them like he would and find them!"
"Wait a minute!" Rarity exclaimed, "If we think like Discord would, maybe we'll be able to think of where he would have put them!" She exclaimed.
"But, that's kinda what I just-"
"No time Fluttershy! We must get a move on before that monster can do too much more damage!" Fluttershy just sighed and followed as she and Rarity began to trot deeper into the city. Before she could get more than a few hoofsteps however a hoof stopped her. She turned to see a white unicorn stallion with a purple mane and tail who surprisingly enough, had the same cutie mark as Rarity did!
"I'm sorry to interrupt you madame but I couldn't help but overhear your friend over there talking to one of the other stallions here in Canterlot about something called the Elements of Harmony?" Fluttershy was at the moment, too stunned to speak so she just slowly nodded her head. "Well then I thought I might be of assistance. You see I've read a book about something called the Elements of Harmony recently and believe it or not. I think I have one! I'm not sure when I got it but I have a necklace that looks exactly like one of those sitting upon my vanity in my estate", the stallion explained, "if you would like, I would be delighted if you and your friend would come and take a look and see if its of any assistance. Say five o'clock?"
"But, there aren't any books that I know of that are recent enough to have the elements as necklaces in them. How could you have seen them?" Fluttershy asked, bewildered that this stallion knew so much about the elements.
"Well I'm not quite sure, but if you wish, I have the tome right here." The stallion said, reaching into his saddlebags and pulling out a tome with a picture of a unicorn on the cover. He flipped it open to a bookmarked page that surprisingly enough had a picture of each of the elements all embedded within their necklaces.
"B-But how? Oh never mind, we would be delighted if you could help us!" Fluttershy exclaimed
"Splendid! Then I shall see you both at this address." He said as he used his magic to write the address down upon a parchment before folding it and levitating it into his saddlebags. He then placed them upon Fluttershy's back.
"Oh no, I couldn't take your saddlebags." Fluttershy tried to protest
"Hmm? Oh don't worry about it. Simply bring them back when you come to visit. Does that sound alright?" The stallion asked.
"Okay" Fluttershy whispered as her mane fell over one of her eyes.
"Excellent, I'll see you then!" He said as he began trotting off before stopping. "Oh Forgive me, I've never even told you my name! I'm Elusive. It's been a pleasure miss?
"F-Fluttershy" she whispered.
"It's been a pleasure Fluttershy. Until later." And with that the stallion trotted off leaving Fluttershy to stand there in a stunned silence.
"There you are Fluttershy! I was trotting off before I realized you hadn't followed and, say, where did you get those saddlebags?" Rarity asked.
"Well I-"
"And why do they have my cutie mark on them? Are those mine?" Rarity interrupted.
"Well you see-" Fluttershy tried again.
"And what happened? Why didn't you follow me? We have to find The Elements as soon as possible!"
"Well, I may have-"
"Ooh just think of all the time we're losing! Come we mustn't dilly dally any longer!" Rarity said, Levitating the saddlebags onto her own back and trotting off. "And we will be talking about how you obtained my saddlebags later on!" Fluttershy just sighed and began following again.
"Did you find anything Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced around Twilight's old living area. A large room with shelves filled to the brim with books and a giant hourglass dotting the middle of the room.
"Not yet Pinkie." Twilight called back.
"How about now?"
"No, not yet."
"Now?" Pinkie said, her head popping up from inside the book Twilight had just opened, causing her to drop it out of shock.
"No, Pinkie. It may go faster if you helped." Twilight said turning to another book.
"Did you look under E?" Pinkie asked.
"We're not just looking for information on the Elements Pinkie, I'm searching for something that may be a clue as to where they are." Twilight said.
"If Discord his them, why would their location be in your old library?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, the last time Discord hid them, they were inside the book that I originally found information about them. I doubt Discord would put them there a second time, but maybe he put some sort of clue about them somewhere." Twilight stated matter-of-factually.
"But why would he do that?" Pinkie asked, continuing to bounce around looking at the names of books.
"Because if I know anything about Discord, its that he always has a way for us to win. Even if its harder, he'll give us some sort of clue."
"I Found something!" Pinkie then Shouted from across the room. Twilight turned to look at her pink friend who help up a book she had found on one of the shelves. The book's cover had a poorly drawn image of Discord giving a thumbs up on it "Finding The Elements For Dummies - Chaos Edition," Pinkie read aloud, "that sounds like something Discord would say."
"Great work Pinkie!" Twilight said taking the book in her magic. She set the book on a stand, opened the cover, and began to read.
Finding the Elements for Dummies - Step One Lose Elements. Step Two. Search for Elements. Step Three. Wait approximately 15 more seconds before Element Finds YOU.
That last part caught Twilight off guard, she had been expecting something out of the ordinary, seeing as Discord wrote this. But the last sentence confused her. She turned the page to find the same thing written on all of the other pages in the book. She was getting frustrated to the point where-
"What are you doing in here?" A voice asked from the other side of the room. Twilight and Pinkie both looked towards the door to see another purple unicorn standing in the door way. His coat was a light shade of violet while his mane was a dark purple with a pinkish stripe running down it.
"What are we doing here? What are you doing here? Huh!?" Pinkie asked getting right up in the stallions face.
"Uh, I live here?" The stallion said with a rather annoyed expression before he walked past Pinkie. "And I'm going to need to ask you both to leave before I call the guards." He said as he looked around.
"I'm sorry but I believe you have the wrong place, you see this is where I live. Or rather, where I used to live. But the Princess would have informed me if she was giving this place to someone else." Twilight said.
"I'm sorry but I believe you are mistaken." The stallion said as he looked at Twilight but then he froze. Maybe he simply did not get quite a good enough look at her, but he was now. "Strange, I've never met anypony whose coat and mane colors were so similar to mine." The stallion said. It was then that Twilight also realized just how similar the stallion looked to her. Regardless, she was wasting time and didn't need to upset this pony any longer.
"Fine, we'll be out of here just as soon as we-" As Twilight said this she looked back to where the book had been only to discover it was no longer there. In its place, however, was a single piece of paper with the words "Figure it out yet?" written on it. Twilight was stumped as Pinkie Pie trotted back over to her and read the paper as well.
"Great, Now how are we supposed to find the Elements?" Pinkie said, before putting a hoof to her muzzle as if deep in thought.
"Excuse me, but what do you need the Elements for?" The stallion asked giving the two of them a wary glance.
"To stop Discord silly!" Pinkie said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hmm." The stallion said before levitating a book off of a shelf near the front of the room. "Do you mean these perhaps?" He said, opening a page in the book and showing Pinkie and Twilight. The page contained a picture of all six elements, but what was strange was that it showed them as their necklaces instead of simply the gems.
"How did you get a book with such recent pictures of the Elements?" Twilight asked, amazed that there was already such a tome.
"I got it just recently actually," the stallion said, "whats more is that I have one of them." He said before both the mares ran up to him.
"What!?" They yelled simultaneously.
"I said-" The stallion began to repeat himself but was cut off.
"We heard that, where is it?" Twilight asked with a grin.
"Just over there on the stand." The stallion said pointing a hoof towards Twilight's Desk. Sure enough, the all too familiar tiara was resting upon it, however something was missing.
"Wheres the Element?" Pinkie asked. And she was right to. The tiara was there however the violet star shaped gem was not.
"Ok, where's the gem?" Twilight asked, giving an accusatory glare to the stallion.
"How should I know? I don't even remember how I got that thing. It was just sitting on that desk once when I came home." The Stallion explained, Twilight was about to retaliate when suddenly a big "Boom" was heard and the building shook a bit. Looking out the window, the three ponys could see a spiral shaped rainbow emitting from the Canterlot Colosseum. The Famous Sonic-Rainboom.
"Come on Pinkie, we better go check that out." Twilight said, running for the door.
"But don't think we forgot about you! Um...." Pinkie said before realizing she never got the stallions name, "Whats your name?" She asked
"Dusk Shine" The stallion replied as he began to put the books away.
"Oh, Well anyway, Don't think we forgot about you Duck Spine! We'll be back!" Pinkie said in a menacing voice.
"I said it was Dusk Sh-" The stallion began to say but they were already gone. "Oh whatever." He said as he resumed putting the books back on their shelves.
Author's Note
I am SO SORRY this took so long to get out. I'm getting terrible with deadlines with everything going on but that is no excuse compared to my "1 week mark". I'm going to be trying to get at least 1 chapter out every 3 days. And hopefully they will get longer as we progress. I also ask that you leave behind any helpful comments as I'm a bit rusty on my writing and criticism is greatly appreciated. See you all in 3 days! (Hopefully) And again, sorry for the Delay.
