Chapters "Wh-who are you?" I ask.
"We are the first bearers of the Elements, and were the last to use them." The unicorn in front of me says.
"When was the last time ya used them?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Many years ago, hundreds of years after the Elements of Harmony were discovered." The earth pony says.
"But why us? We don't even have cutiemarks, how could we be the Elements of Destiny?" I squeak.
They looked at each other, "We can understand your confusion little ones, but you each represent an Element whenever your out crusading." They pegasus says.
"Then which Element am I?" Scootaloo asks.
"Or me?" Apple Bloom backed up.
"And what about me? Which Element do I represent?" I ask.
"Patience little ones, it is not us who tell you, it is something you must find out yourselves." The unicorn said. They started to fade.
"Wait! We're just little fillies, who's going to help us?" Scootaloo asked.
"I believe that that is where I come in." Princess Luna says as the three ponies fade to nothing.
"How can there be Elements of Destiny " I shout, " There's Elements of Harmony already, shouldn't that be it? And how come the Elements of Harmony couldn't stop it?"
Luna smiles. "Dear children, there are many elements to many things, there are those of Harmony, of Nature, of Earth, and the Periodic Table of course." I roll my eyes with a smile at that one.
"But most are lost, and recently, with the new threat arising, those Elements must be retrieved. And it is your job to do so. I of course will guide you. But you mustn't tell anyone of this, for their own safety. Now you must rest, I will have a chariot at your homes soon, and I'll see you at the castle tomorrow, goodnight little fillies."
With that, the stars drifted away until it was nothing but a black space.
*************************************
*Knock, knock*
I heard hoofsteps as one of my parents went to the door. Afterwards I hear a few voices and then I find myself in the same carriage as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "Princess Luna would like to see you." The guard says.
"We kn- Ow!" I began before having Scootaloo poke me in the ribs.
"Remember what she said." Scootaloo said with a smile and clenched teeth. The guard gave us a strange look, then shrugged it off and started to fly.
*************************************
"Girls, I'm glad you made it." Princess Luna said. She waved off the guards and took us to the balcony. "I have unfortunate news; the Elements have scattered across Equestria, and are in the domains of our enemy." She said.
"Are you goin' to help us find them?" Apple Bloom asked with a worried look.
"Of course, but I can not locate them myself, you three will have to journey to different places of where they were last seen."
"Ok, which is first?" Scootaloo said. She was feeling adventurous.
"The closest would be the Crystal Empire. We must journey into the castle in which legend has it, was hidden deep within the castle walls to keep it from danger." Princess Luna says.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Scootaloo said.
"I admire your confidence dear Scootaloo, but patience, we mustn't worry anypony." Luna said with a giggle. " I must tell you though, the darkness has captured Princess Cadence."
"WHAT!!!!" I say.
"Quiet Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom said through clenched teeth.
"Right, I'm sorry." I say.
"Are you truly ready to face this mission? This isn't going to be easy, you can go back now, and forget about all of this." Luna said as she placed a hoof on my shoulder.
"We have to do this, for Equestria, and our sisters, no matter what the cost." I say.
"Very well. Guards!"
"Yes Princess?" said a guard as he burst through the door.
"I request a chariot for me and these three fillies to the Crystal Empire."
"Yes your majesty." He said before he running off.
Within a few minutes, we were going at a steady pace to the Empire, and that was when I saw the black ink-like clouds washing over the land for the first time.
"It's worse than I thought." Apple Bloom whispered.
"You're telling me," Scootaloo answers.
"We're almost there." I say pointing my hoof to the empire. It was so dark and gloomy, like king Sombra was in control of the place again.
I gulped.
Once we landed, we stepped out of the carriage and headed to the castle. It was nothing like the last time we've seen it. It was dark and dull instead of shiny and bright. The ponies were no different. They were no longer sparkly like crystal.
We trotted over to the castle. There we saw Shining Armor. "Have you seen Cadence by any chance?" He said with a hopeful voice.
"Sorry to say so, but we haven't." Apple Bloom answered before Luna could speak.
"Oh... that's ok. You're welcome into the castle as long as you need to." He walked into the castle with a really gloomy expression.
'Poor guy.' I think.
We slowed down to a walk as we entered the castle. We approached the throne room where Cadence; as I've been told, was supposed to sit.
"Stand back little fillies." Luna took a deep breath, and her horn began to glow purple and a sickly green. I couldn't see what she was doing, but by her expression, she was doing quite a toll with her magic. She then shot a beam of green and purple light at a gigantic gemstone in the throne, and the floor opened up.
"Wow! How did you do that?" Scootaloo asked, amazed.
"Just an old spell my sister taught me." Luna answers as she huffs.
"Are you ok?" I ask.
"Yes, now we must hurry to retrieve the Element." Princess Luna says as she trots down the stairs. I begin to follow her urgently.
"Sweetie Belle, what are you doing?" Princess Luna says in shock as I run past her. It felt as though something was calling me, like apart of me was missing and it was down there. My Element!
"I think that my Element is around here." I tell them.
"But how can you feel it? Isn't it an item?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Maybe it is a magical surge." Scootaloo suggested.
"You are both right," Luna said as we trotted down the stairs. "You all are connected with each Element, it's a magical surge."
"Oh, Princess Luna, you hadn't told us about how the Elements of Harmony couldn't stop this new villain." I ask.
"Dear children, the villain is changing the destinies of ponies, it is not harmony that is messed with, but destiny, for friendship and harmony are two different things while harmony deals with friendship, destiny can determine you friends, it is up to you to chose the right destiny however."
"I don't understand." Scootaloo said.
"You will in due time." By then, we reached the bottom of the stairs, where we approached the door. It was then that I felt the surge grow stronger. I reached for the handle, only to have the door move to the side. I reach for it again, but it moves once more. It then starts teasing me as it moves at blurring speeds.
"Ugh! Enough!!!!!!!" A very powerful green and purple shockwave comes from my horn, and it causes the door to stop. I open the door.
"Sweetie Belle, no!" Luna cries out. But her cries fades away as I find myself in the Boutique.
*************************************
'What am I doing in Ponyville' I thought as I walked through the suddenly long hallways of Rarity's shop.
"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked as she looked up from her work.
"Yes, it's me."
"What are you doing here? Weren't you crusading?" Rarity asked with an irritated tone. I thought for a moment.
"Yeah, but I came to help you with your work." I answered.
"There's no need. I have a big order to fill and I don't need you to mess it up." Rarity said as she levitated fabric to her desk.
"Wha-what do you mean?" I asked as my ears drooped. How could this happen? Is my worst nightmare is coming true?
"Ever since you first showed up to my boutique, you've done nothing but become a nuisance to my work. And although I've forgiven you for the little things, the fact that you showed no sign of caring for my lifetime of work shows that you are completely selfish!" Rarity said as she gave me a piercing glare.
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember how you ruined my headdress for Sapphire Shores? How you nearly ruined my life and all of the things I worked so hard for?!" Rarity said.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't being compassionate or considerate of your work. I thought that I made up for that!" I scream. Tears were flowing loosely down my face. I know what comes next for this nightmare.
"That's it! A true sister would understand the works of her siblings, and be compassionate enough to understand the other's efforts and reasoning! You are clearly none of those things," Rarity shouted as she slammed her hooves on the table.
"Rarity,"
"you are," she continued.
"Please give me a second chance!" I beg desperate for her to forgive me.
"not,"
"Please." I barely whisper. She continues in anger. It's as though she was trying not to strangle me, and talking in one full sentence was going to make her want to snap my neck.
"my sister. Now leave my sight." I do as told, never had I ever seen her so angry with me. This was much worse than our big fight. It was about simple things, it was about finding a way to do something together. This is much different. This is based off of my mistakes. I was so inconsiderate of her. I can't believe that my worst nightmare is becoming true. At least I still have my friends.
"Sweetie Belle?" A small nervous voice asked from behind me. Right on cue. I turned around. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. At least they aren't a part of this nightmare.
"Hi Scootaloo, hey Apple Bloom, what's up?" I say wiping away the streak of tears from my face. They looked nervous. Scootaloo looked down and Apple Bloom kicked a small rock on the ground. Finally she pushed Scootaloo to me.
"Um, Sweetie Belle, we don't want you in the club anymore."
"Why? Is it because I was never compassionate or considerate? I'm sorry for whatever I did. But please-"
"The decision is made." Apple Bloom said with a tear in her eyes. She looked away before I could see anything else.
"See you around Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo said as they started to walk away.
"No! Please give me a second chance! I can change!" Darkness starts to trail behind them as they walk off. I start to run after them, but they only get farther and farther. Soon I'm alone, Ponyville replaced by an empty space. I start to sob. My worst nightmares, a reality. I never went to far into them, always managing to wake up before it could get really bad. But this was worse than a nightmare, I can never wake up from it.
"Don't cry child,"a voice says.
"Who's there?" I ask, terrified.
"I am Skourene, and I've come to help you.. The voice says as though it were approaching a baby animal.
Many holograms appear around me. They show gray ponies...smiling, and laughing. As though they were really truly happy without their cutiemarks.
"What do you want?" I snap. A glowing pair of eyes appear and stare at me through the dark.
"I want you. You are a very strong filly, I want you to join my kingdom, you obviously have a great power within you.
Does she know? I better not talk about what I think she is.
"What are you talking about? I'm just a simple filly. How can I be powerful?"
"You're an Element of Destiny." she says. She knows.
"With an Element on my side, I'll be unstoppable." She smiles as she somehow starts to play with me like I was a toy. A lot like the old Discord would.
"Why would I help a villain?" I ask the eyes.
I already have half of Equestria in my hooves, I stole the powers of the former villains, who have all failed in trying to take over this place. I've captured every force that could come against me. But with an Element of Destiny..."
"I won't help you." I say. She narrows her eyes, purple little trails start to come out of the sides, and they become cat-like, a lot like Nightmare Moon's, yet still the same scary red.
" Then you will have to pay the ultimate price." I feel a tight hold on my neck, and I can no longer breath. She moves her glowing red eyes towards me and squints them with anger.
'She's choking me!' I feel as though something were draining from me. 'This must be what Princess Luna was talking about! Twilight and her friends didn't return because she took their power!' I see a screen pass by, it was filled with many gray bodies, some of which had purple bruises and blood, I especially froze when I saw my sister and her friends, and another with Babs gray, bruised, and abandoned without their cutiemarks.
'She must've drained them of their powers, maybe she's using them to help her get stronger like Tirek! What else can she do?' I wonder.
I start to feel weary. I suddenly snap awake. 'She's going to kill me.' I think. Suddenly a flash of light appears. I close my eyes, protecting them from the blinding rays. I then find myself on steady ground.
"Are you ok Sweetie Belle?"
Princess Luna. I try to stand, but collapse to the ground, greatly weakened. I open my eyes to find myself back inside the Empire.
"Yes, I'm fine, but I need to let you know something. But it would be better for after I find my Element." I say. I stand up.
"Maybe you should rest." Apple Bloom said as she stepped up to me.
"No, Equestria is in bigger danger than we suspected, and I have to find my Element." They all look worriedly to each other.
"Just let us know if you need to stop." Scootaloo said with her eyebrows raised in worry.
I look at the door. I'm not going to walk into it again. How was Twilight able to get through? Suddenly it hit me. I stood up and lit my horn. I thought about all of the times I was compassionate to my friends, and I focused all of those memories through a beam to the gem at the top. I stopped once I saw this.
"Sweetie Belle! What are you doing?" Princess Luna cried out. I ignored her. Suddenly the door opened once again, and though I didn't want to at first, I stepped inside. Only to be stopped by a hoof on my shoulder.
"Are you crazy?!" Scootaloo asked me.
"Maybe I am, but I just know that the Element is in there, besides, if I'm wrong, you can just stop me the way you did before." I say before trying to walk back in.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" The Princess asked.
"Yes." I say.
"Please don't do this, can't we find another way?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Let her do it." Princess Luna said.
"What?!" My friends shouted.
"If she believes her Element is in there, let her get it, if it's not, we'll just close the door like last time." She said.
"If there's no other way..." Scootaloo said.
"Do it Sweetie Belle. But if ya run into trouble, show us a sign." Apple Bloom said.
"Ok." I say. I turn to the door and step inside.
*************************************
I find myself inside the pathway that Princess Luna uses to enter dreams. 'Where could it be?' I then find the unicorn spirit standing in front of me.
"Hello Sweetie Belle." she says.
"Hi." I say. She smiles.
"You have managed to forgive yourself for your mistakes, and were compassionate to others after learning from them. Despite your fear of not being compassionate to your friends and family, you have shown in many situations that you are worthy of your Element." She said.
"What does that have to do with destiny?" I ask curiously. She smiles.
"Although you need to worry about your own fate, it is important to care and worry for many creatures other than yourself. You may have sabotaged your sister's work, but it was then, after realizing how much suffering it would cause her and would hurt her destiny, you managed to make up for your mistake. Do you understand?" She asks.
"Yes I do." I say honestly. "So what is my Element?" I ask. She smiles.
"Sweetie Belle, you are the Element of Compassion." She says as I begin to float. My eyes begin to glow as suddenly, a pink gemstone; exactly like how the Elements of Harmony looked before Twilight and her friends found them, comes towards me and spins around until it finally stops by my neck. It forms a necklace similar to the one Rarity had for her Element.
"Take care of it. For shall it fall into the wrong hooves, it will bring great danger to us all." She says. I nod. "I will be able to protect you from any further harm, and with each gemstone found, your protection will become stronger." She explained "Farewell Sweetie Belle."
"Goodbye." I say. I close my eyes, and the next time I open them, I'm back in the Empire, with my Element around my neck.
"Oh, ah' hope she found it." I was pacing back and forth.
"I'm sure she's fine. Sweetie Belle is a pretty tough and brave pony. I'm sure that she'll be back with the Element soon." Scootaloo said comforting me. Just then, Sweetie snapped out of the trance she was in.
"Sweetie Belle! Did you find it?" I shouted as I ran up to her. Just then, a necklace appeared around her neck.
"Whoa!" Scootaloo said as she jumped up and fluttered her wings.
"It's more beautiful than I imagined..." Princess Luna said quietly.
"It sure is interesting," I said as I stared at it.
"Ok, what's next?" Sweetie Belle asked as she looked to Princess Luna.
"It is quite far, but the Gryphon Kingdom is next." Princess Luna said.
"Isn't there any place closer?" I asked.
"I wish that I could remember, but my memory is escaping me." Princess Luna said. She looked as though she was trying to remember a closer place.
"Well let's go!" Scootaloo said as she ran up the stairs. We followed her, but I stayed close to Princess Luna, since she was getting a bit far behind.
"There is no need to follow me dear child." She said.
"I was always told by mah parents to consider others, before you consider yourself." I simply say. She smiles down at me.
Finally we climbed out of the gap, and I watched as Princess Luna closed it. We went outside, where we saw Shining Armor. "I hope that you found what you needed." He said.
"Yes, thank you." Princess Luna said.
We walked back to the chariot, where the guards looked like they didn't move an inch. "Where to Princess?" The guard asked. He stared straight ahead and didn't seem to notice Sweetie Belle's necklace. We climbed into the carriage and the guards started to fly in the air.
******************************************
"We've arrived Princess." The guard said. Around us, there were gryphons staring at us. I guess that ponies ain't common around here. Or maybe it was because Skourene, the force Sweetie Belle mentioned on the way here. I'm not too sure.
"This is it girls, the Gryphon Kingdom." Princess Luna said.
"It's not like Rainbowdash described it, it's... gloomier than usual." Scootaloo said.
"I think that mah Element is here." I say as I start walking to an old, ruined building. 'What happened here?' I thought. I felt the surge grow stronger as the others trotted to keep up. I met a gryphon there, and I realized that it was a building being built.
"May I help you?" A gryphon said with a rude sneer.
"Ah'm looking for something." I said.
"Then you better talk with the librarian." He said as he walked away. I looked to where he pointed. And saw an older gryphon with a book cart.
"Do you need something?" She asked with an attitude.
"Um, can I get a book on..." I looked to Luna, and she mouthed the word 'destiny' "Destiny?" I asked politely. She rolled her eyes and looked through her cart until she found what she was looking for. Then she held out her claw.
"Um..." Princess Luna came up from behind me and paid her a pouch of gold.
"Thank you," she said as we walked away from the shocked gryphon. We walked away with it and opened it up. I opened it to the table of contents where we all leaned over to read it. I looked around until I saw The Legend of The Elements of Destiny . I opened up to the page and read it aloud.
"Once upon a time, a long time ago, there were the Elements of Destiny, which were formed by five creatures. One, a pony, represented the Element of Consideration, a pony bearing Compassion, and another bearing Confidence, the fourth, a gryphon, bearing Forgiveness, and the final was united by all, the Element of Fate, a crystal pony. Any species could become either of the Elements, whether it was an earth pony, gryphon, zebra, or dragon etc., that could range from different ages. Until they were lost. The tree from which the first bearers first created and planted the seed was killed by a mysterious force named Skourene.
"The last they were seen or heard from was The Gryphon kingdom, The Crystal Empire, RainbowFalls, and a settlement the same place Manehattan was hundreds of years ago,...that's all it says." I said. The last few pages of the story were worn away, some ripped out.
"That explains a lot." Sweetie Belle said.
"Whatdaya mean?" I asked. She then explained her dream and how she learned how this new threat we're dealing with had confronted her.
"Does it explain anything else about the Gryphon Kingdom? "Scootaloo asked. I flip through the book but only find torn out pages.
"Maybe we should try askin' around." I say looking up at them.
"What do you dweebs want?" A gryphon with purple in it's feathers and familiar voice asked. I turned around to find her pulling a cart full of scones. She must be the gryphon who came to town a few years ago. She's just gray....
"Do you know where we can find treasures?" Princess Luna asked.
"Do you have any bits?" She asked holding out her talon. Princess Luna sighed and pulled out a small pouch.
"You can ask Grandpa Gruff. Now get lost." She said pointing to an old gryphon with few feathers and torn up wings.
"Thanks." I say. We approach the tattered up gryphon.
"What do you want?" He asks rudely.
"Do you know about the Elements of Destiny?" I ask. He holds out his claw and Princess Luna gives him two bits. He excitedly takes them and places them underneath his hat next to two more.
"Elements of Destiny.... Oh yes! In the ancient times of the gryphons, we were as greedy as dragons, before King Glover came along we gryphons stole the treasures of others. One gryphon as greedy as they come, came across another who represented this Element of Diversity hoblah, and saw the gem that gryphon represented. Everyday he would find out more and more about this gem, how it possessed some kind of magic that when combined with others could protect the land. And how it was a fruit from the Tree of Destiny. When one day, Skourene, a mysterious force, killed the tree, the Elements had to give up their gems. But the greedy gryphon stole one of them, and what happened to the others is unknown, but it is believed, that a ruler of some sort would take a gem from the tree to the place that needed it most, and those gems would go on to protect the creatures, and land around it. The gryphon hid his behind the walls of the kingdom, where his treasure can be protected as long as the isle could bring gryphon pride, but few know or knew that the gem was protected as well."
"Whoa." Scootaloo said.
"What isle?" Sweetie Belle asked. The gryphon rolled his eyes and held out his claw again. Princess Luna gave two more bits and he went on to tell about the isle. He started walking to the place he described, and we stopped at a tree stump.
"That's a sad story." Sweetie Belle said.
"Too bad, no refunds." The gryphon clenched his claw that the bits were in and flew off. Leaving us alone in the ancient room.
"Ah' can feel mah' Element!" I exclaimed. " It's coming from there. I say pointing at the tree stump.
"How could that be? It's coming from the stump!" Scootaloo asked.
"Maybe not from the stump, but under it. The gryphon must've planted it there before the tree grew!" I say.
"But we can't dig it up, how do we retrieve it?" Princess Luna asked.
I walked away as they pondered about what to do, I look around the room to find a hole in the ground. Walking to it, I see a little faint red glow. Without thinking, I climb into it.
"Apple Bloom! What are you doing?" Sweetie says.
"Gettin' mah' Element." They run over to me, and try to stop me by saying there's another way, but I've already fallen through, landing on a patch of glowing mushrooms. There voices echo as I walk through a tunnel with the faint red glow. I take a look at the place around me, and it's surprisingly bright as day. The glowing mushrooms and the faint red glow made it seem like another glowing world.
I follow the red glow to find something glowing deep within the tree's roots. I touch the roots, and immediately the inky black fog surrounds me. I notice giant red eyes with purple trailing at the edges staring at me. They squint in an angry expression and the fog makes a purple gas surround me and I immediately fall into a nightmare.
******************************************
'What am I doing on the farm?' I say as I look out the window from my room. Then I realize that there's no farm. The crops are completely destroyed, and the sky is empty except for the red and yellow tint.
"Apple Bloom!" My sister sounded really angry. 'What did I do now?' I turn around to see my sister fuming.
"You just couldn't do the simplest of chores could ya? Because of your lack of consideration, the farm is no longer thriving. You may have apple in your name, but you ain't an Apple to the core." She said as she threw down a suitcase for me.
"Sis, wait, I didn't mean for this to happe-" She turned around, fire in her eyes.
"What?!! You're sorry for ruining our family's generations of work?!! No wonder Ma and Pa left after you came along, they knew you would slip up." Applejack said. At this point I had tears in my eyes, flowing freely down my face.
"What do you mean? We can still fix this, ah'm sorry" I say.
"For what?" Big Mac said, I was suddenly in the kitchen. "There's no point, " He continued. "You just couldn't do the simplest things could ya? We all have a part to play Bloom, but you didn't even bother to play your own." Granny opens the door for me to go through and I'm sucked outside ad pulled into the polluted air. I cough and go looking for my friends. They would still help me.
"Scootaloo?! Sweetie Belle?!" I exclaim. I find the clubhouse and my friends are inside. "Guys! You've got to help me!" I exclaim. The shutters close, and the air and black ink fog spin around the house for a few minutes until all that's left is broken wood and everything inside the clubhouse.
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shout. I run up to the club house while the swirling swirls around me, taking the form of my friends. Only cloudy.
"You want to save Equestria? Don't make us laugh." Says shadow Sweetie Belle.
"How is a filly without a cutiemark supposed to save a nation?" They laugh at shadow Scootaloo's remark.
"Stop! Just because I don't have a cutiemark doesn't mean I can't help Equestria." My tears fly off my face and go up into the air. I scream as they circle with the wind, that's eating at everything until it's darkness. They're eyes glow until it's just orange and green light and that's all of what's left of them as the swirling ink clouds eats at their bodies until the turn into the squinting eyes.
"You're strong for a filly, join me, forget about your friends, if they cared about you they would've helped you." She lifts my chin as the tears that were swirling around take the shape of ponies running around and yelling at me.
"You don't belong here," Said the echoing voice. It had to be Skourene. Her voice sounded like a bunch of different voices speaking at one time. Seeing the look on my face, she new that I wouldn't agree.
"You belong in my empire, where you can make yourself useful. Together, with every other pony in the Equestria, we'll grow a new permanent empire, big and strong." She said as she got closer and closer.
"No! I'll never help you enslave everypony!" I shout. She laughs at my words.
"Then I'll take it by force." She started to drain the power from me, but suddenly, a flash of light, blinding me, appears, and I realize it's the same light Sweetie Belle described. I discover that it's coming from me, that it's protecting me. The light shines brighter and brighter, and I soon find myself staring straight at Scootaloo.
******************************************
"Are you ok? You're eyes started glowing like Sweetie Belle's back at the Crystal Empire." Scootaloo said.
"They glowed?" Sweetie and I asked.
"That explains what you said 'bout the previous Elements protecting us." I said to Sweetie. I noticed her necklace was off. 'She must not want it to be damaged.' I think.
"I need to get back there," I say. They nod and didn't stop me from touching the roots again.
******************************************
I walk along the star trail in the Celestial Plane, and I see the earth pony spirit in front of me, she smiled down at me. "Welcome Apple Bloom, you think of other ponies before you think of yourself, always quick to want to include your friends on your crusades, when you had your nightmare about your cutiemark, you were willingly to give up your talent to include your friends, you're always worried about your friends when they're in worry. You are a considerate pony, and part of destiny is including others with you for your talents and you have truly proved that you can handle this Element." She looks down at me.
"What's my Element?" I ask. She smiles.
"Apple Bloom, you are the Element of Consideration." My eyes begin to glow, and I start to float from the trail and into the air, as my Element, a red gemstone; a lot like Sweetie Belle's. Comes to me and spins as it circles me before coming to a stop at my neck. It forms a necklace that wraps around my neck.
"Take care of this precious Element, don't let it fall into the wrong hooves. I will protect you as Sweetie Belle's Element protects you and the rest. Take care Apple Bloom." Another flash of light appears as I open my eyes to see Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
******************************************
"You found it!" They shout as they hug me excitedly, they look at my Element with awe.
"It's beautiful." Sweetie Belle said.
"Let's go, we need to find a way out of here." Scootaloo said as she looked around. "There! she shouts pointing to a light that lead to the outside. We run to it, and hop on the mushrooms one by one and climb out.
"Girls! Thank goodness you're alright." Princess Luna says as she rushes over to us from where she originally stood.
"And ah' got mah Element" I say as I show it to her boldly.
"Now all we need is my Element, and to find the other bearers." Scootaloo said.
"How about Babs!" I exclaim. They look at me with wonder. "Think about it, if we the Cutie Mark Crusaders are Elements of Destiny, then surely a former Crusader will be too. If ah can remember correctly Bab had too learn to forgive herself for what she done to us, and that she learned from that mistake, she could be the Element of Forgiveness! Plus, she lives in the same place one of the Elements were last seen." I say.
"Where does your friend live?" Princess Luna said.
"Manehattan."
"Manehattan it is, then we just find my Element, and we can find the Element of Fate!" Scootaloo says as she flaps her wings excitedly.
"It is set then, we must go to Manehattan at once." Princess Luna says as she leads the way out.
******************************************
'Foolish foals, they're leading ,me straight to the next Element. And aren't even worried about my clutches.' I say to my shadow as I stare from a shadow as they load into their carriage.
I have sent my precious shadow-fog out to follow them, and I watch from my lair, as those ponies foolishly never look back for a second. I laugh at them.
'Follow them and find this Babs, we can't let them get to her first.'
"Yes my Queen." He says.
"And as for you all," I say as I turn to the previous tyrants that have failed to capture Equestria.
"What do you want you shadow beast? You already took us in your clutches." Queen Chrysalis snaps.
"Your power."I say with a devious grin. I surround them as I grab each, King Sombra's remains, Queen Chrysalis, Tyrek, the reformed Discord, and the queen of the Nightmare forces, and I once again, take their power, only I drain them of their power, to which it can never be regained. I grow stronger as I feel my darkness spread across the land at a faster pace.
"Yes! Equestria will be mine!!!!" I yell in triumph, "I look at the Elements in their little chariot.
"And I'll destroy anyone who gets in my way."
I lay there in my room. Completely dark from the weird clouds the pegasi can't clear. All I remember is waking up from a bad dream bruised and a blank flank again. I look at my gray body. 'What happened to me?' I ask. I try to stand up, but am immediately surrounded by the same weird clouds outside my window. I see them move into a blur as I seem to float in nothing but darkness. I find a pair of golden eyes staring at me.
Terrified, I frantically try to move my legs, but nothing happened, in fact the eyes laughed at me struggling. "You poor unfortunate soul, cursed to be an Element of Destiny, and now you must be apart of the master plan. You're so young too."
"What the hay are you talking 'bout? Let me go you psycho!" I say. The clouds surround me and they smell like smoke. I cough while the eyes laugh.
"You're power may have already been drained, but unfortunately, I've been told that if that already happened, to eliminate you." The smoke goes into my mouth and I see wisps of it come out of my eyes. I cough, but it's no use, the smooth flowing fog is forced down my nose and mouth. I see a light appear out of nowhere, and the eyes draw back the smoke in pain.
"Ah! Why you little-" But then another light appears, and it's a blue one. I close my eyes, tired again as I see four sets of hooves stand in front of me as I lay down.
"Babs!" A faded voice calls out. I recognize it as my cousin's.
*****************************
I wake up again and I see a beautiful sight. There were so many stars and colors. I noticed that I was standing on a trail of stars as well.
"Where am I?" I ask. I walk forward and come face to face with Princess Luna.
"Hello Babs, welcome to the Celestial Plane." She smiles.
*****************************
"So let me get this straight," I say. "You're sayin' that a new evil has spread across Equestria and is changing everyone's destiny's from those who's power she takes, and that the Elements of Destiny are supposed to stop it. And you're saying that I can be one of them?"
"That basically sums it up, yeah." Sweetie Belle said.
"Is that gem one?"
"Yep. They came from the tree of Destiny, that was destroyed by Skourene, the evil force takin power and literally sucking the life out of any one in Equestria with red, glowing, eyes."
"Red? But the eyes Ah saw were gold." I say.
"Is this true?" Princess Luna says.
"Yes you're highness." I say as I bow.
"No need dear child, but if what you're telling us is true, this might mean she's making someone do all of the dirty work for her." Princess Luna says.
"Ya think so?" Scootaloo asked.
"I'm not sure if it's true, but we should be more cautious of everything from now on. Don't lose sight of your Elements." She says.
"So what about me? What's my Element?" I ask.
"Sorry cuz, but we can't tell ya, you need to figure it out on you're own." Apple Bloom said.
"Wouldn't it just be easier to tell me?"
"I'm afraid not, if we were to tell you before finding out yourself, the magical bond would be broken." Princess Luna said.
"Ya mind explainin' a bit more?" She asked.
"That is not my doing." She said. Her eyes glowed as she summoned a gigantic white blob. It took the shape of a pony.
"Babs," the gryphon said. "you must retrieve your Element, for Equestria needs you to find yours. I was the first and last bearer of my Element, and now you have been given the responsibility to become an Element." He said.
"How is a little Manehattan filly supposed to do that?" I ask.
He nods understandingly. "I understand you're confusion. But you must accept this fate. It is in your destiny as it was mine. Now you must go find your Element before it's too late." He faded away. Leaving me dazed.
Princess Luna walked to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "I understand that you have a lot of questions, but you must know that not all can be answered." She said. I just nodded.
"Let's go." I say.
"Close your eyes." Princess Luna says. We all do as we're told and soon I find myself in the unusual empty streets of Manehattan. I felt something tug at my chest and I walked forward, I didn't know I was going so far until I saw that Princess Luna and Apple Bloom were a bit too far behind. I stopped.
"Don't worry about us," The Princess said. "Just get what you need."
I hesitate but do as told. Stronger and stronger the connection gets until I find myself in front of the Hamilton Memorial. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and soon my cousin and the Princess follow me inside. It was not closed, although full of gray pony tourists, fortunately just bruised from the way I see it. I move my gaze quickly and continue inside. I had never been inside of this memorial before, but my Element kept pulling me through hallways along the wooden floor. Finally I stopped on the wood floor and felt the connection go downwards.
"I think that it's under the building." I whisper. We walked back out and looked underneath the building between the ten foot gap.
"That's funny, I don't see anything." Sweetie Belle said.
"Neither do Ah, " Apple Bloom said.
'Where could my Element be?' I think. My eyes shift to the trees. I suddenly remembered that when I was younger, me and my mother walked past the memorial.
"'Hamilton himself planted these trees, and legend has it, that he found underneath it.'" She had said.
"The tree," I say.
"Huh?" Apple Bloom says.
"My mother said that Hamilton planted that tree himself and hid a treasure under it."
"That's strange, that's how I found ,my Element." Apple Bloom says.
"Maybe it has something to do with destiny, or maybe because you're family works with trees all the time." Sweetie Belle said.
"Ahm not sure if that's it." Apple Bloom said.
"I'm just trying to get to the root of the problem." (Excuse the pun)
"That's not funny." Scootaloo said.
"Who said it was funny, I'm trying to figure out why."
"With a poor choice of words." Scootaloo shook her head. I rolled my eyes.
"What should I do?" I say.
"Touch it." Sweetie Belle smiled. I was hesitant, but I touched the tree. And I found myself in the Celestial Plane.
*****************************
I found the gryphon standing in front of me. "Babs," He said. "You have made many mistakes in the past, but instead of never learning from them, you chose to forgive yourself for them. Everyone's destiny has flaws, and those flaws lead to mistakes, and most choose not to learn from them and as a result never learned or became better with their talents. They never learned to forgive themselves and learn their lessons like you did. You have proven that you are worthy of your Element. Babs," I start to float. "You are the Element of Forgiveness." A magenta gemstone appears and twirls around me until it forms a necklace on my neck.
Suddenly, a violent shaking takes place as the Celestial Plane fills up with the clouds. The Gryphon pushes me back as he stands tall in front of me, like a guardian. Three other ponies surround him and tower high above me, and stand in front of me.
"Leave Skourene, you know you're not welcome here." The unicorn says.
"I know, just visiting home for a family reunion is all." She says as she takes the form of a tall alicorn; the same height as the glowing figures, and spreads her shadows across the stars, eating at everything. They avoid the giant figures in front of me.
"Babs, go." The unicorn whispered. I close my eyes and open them again to see my friends.
"The Celestial Plane is being invaded by Skourene. She said something about visiting home, and spread her clouds everywhere, though they didn't cross the tall glowing creatures that appeared." I say.
"What? Home? You mean she is from the Celestial Plane?' Sweetie Belle said.
"I'm not sure, but I doubt she's doing anything good there." I say. I look over to Luna, who seems dazed.
"Are you ok Princess?" I ask.
"I'm fine, it's just that I never thought that such a thing could come out of a plane." She said.
"At least we're one step closer to defeating her now that Babs has her Element." Scootaloo said.
They all took notice of the golden necklace holding a magenta gem that was shaped like scissors.
"How come yours is shaped like that?" Apple Bloom said.
"Maybe it's because she has her cutiemark, like Twilight and her friends." Sweetie Belle said.
"At least we have it," Scootaloo said. "we need to get to Rainbow Falls to find the last gemstone. Then we need to find the last Element." Scootaloo whispered.
"Yes, we must find that last gemstone before we find the last bearer. I just hope that the Celestial Plane will be alright." Princess Luna said just loud enough for the fillies to hear. They looked around for any suspicious signs and silently agreed to pretend they had no idea what was going on. They walked to the chariot.
"Princess, I'm afraid that the weather is not fit to fly in." The guard said with no emotion.
"Maybe we can still use the chariot as some way to travel." Princess Luna said. The four guards stood expressionless.
"Maybe instead of flying you could just run?" Sweetie Belle thought.
"Excellent idea miss Belle." Luna complimented.
"I hope that it won't be of any trouble." Princess Luna said.
"No your highness it's not." They climbed in the chariot and the guards started running. Flapping their wings to go faster.
*****************************
"You ignorant fool!!" Skourene said to the golden eyed shadow. "You couldn't kill one little filly?! And even worse is you let her take an Element!? I went back to that terrible plane as a distraction and you don't even succeed at taking an Element?!" She struck him. "Looks like drastic times call for drastic measures." She stared at Luna in the globe, who was smiling as they rode in their petty little chariot. She grinned as a plan formed in her head.
"Next stop, Rainbow Falls." She laughed wickedly as the shadow cowered away from her. Her laughter caused thunder to emit from the clouds she spread across the land. Lighting and Thunder so loud it shook the ground. The villains in the cage could only watch as everything they ever wanted was stolen by this terrible creature.
I wake up to find my mother missing, and blood curdling screams outside my window. Quickly, I run to it, to find that it's night time, and a lot of ponies are on the ground, gray and bloody.
"Dinky!" My mother calls out as she bursts through my bedroom door.
"Mother, what's going on?" I ask.
"I... I don't know! We're in danger and we need to escape this town!" She drags in my suitcase and starts packing a bunch of my stuff, her gray wings flapping worriedly.
"But, why do we have to go away? Isn't Princess Twilight supposed to handle this?"
"Princess Twilight's been gone for days Dinky, and now, a new villain is taking over Equestria, we have to go!" It was then, after saying that, that the winds picked up outside, the moon shone brightly through the fog, showing small hints of red and blue, and the winds blew until our house torn apart.
"Mommy!" I shout as the swirling winds pick her off of the ground.
"Get out of here Dinky, while you still have the chance, leave me here, forget about..." She exclaims as two glowing pairs of eyes appear, increasing my fear.
The sound of Ponyville being ripped to shreds is silent to me as I see my mother collapse on the ground, her wing stretched out towards me. "NO!!" I shout out. The eyes laugh as I rush to my mother, and then they leave to destroy Ponyville, I can only watch as the farm is reduced to rubble, the trees dying at the touch of the inky clouds, the homes turning into loose splinters and pieces of wood, but the most terrible of all was seeing my mother on the ground.
"Mommy, get up," I sob.
"Dinky," She says weakly, I become terrified when I see for the first time in my life; watch my mother cry. "You need to go, save yourself, don't worry about me."
"But I need you mommy, what about Ponyville? You can't just stay here!" I desperately plea.
"Just leave me here, worry about yourself. I love you Dinky," She starts to close her eyes, which were turning more and more gray with each passing moment.
"I love you..." She drifts off, leaving me crying at her side. I look up at the shadows, which were laughing evilly and leaving ghostly howls of cheer behind them, proud to have destroyed my home, and to have hurt my mommy. I look up to see the biggest shadow, taking the for of a pony and laughing evilly as Nightmare Moon, who comes out of her mane, laughs with her, eternal darkness spreading across the land.
************************
"We're here." A happy Princess says as we step out o the chariot. I flutter my wins cheerfully.
'Finally!' I want to shout. Luna thanks the tired guards, and I rush off the bare land, only to find the once beautiful place, unrecognizable. There were only tufts of grass left, leaving a charred brown soil left. The rainbows still flowed, though some of the land it ran down from the mountain was completely destroyed. It looked like a terrible event happened to this place. As soon as I approach a far off hill, I realize that it's not the worst of it. Everywhere I look, are gray ponies, bloody and bruised, it made me want to get sick. I take back what I said before, it looked like the aftermath of a war.
Princess Luna and the rest come up to me. "Why would she do this?" Sweetie Belle said, afraid of the sight.
"Power." Is all the Princess can say. I suddenly feel something pull at my chest, it feels a lot like when I walk Tank and he's pulling at the leash.
"Hey, I can feel my Element." I say as I head to the edge of the place. Down, deep in a cave at where a Rainbow comes out, I see a purple glow. Without thinking, I jump off and land on a close ledge, and make my way to the bottom.
"What're ya doin' Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asks in alarm.
"Getting my Element of course," Soon I hear several more hoofsteps behind me as I jump from ledge to ledge. They become more and more narrow and close to the wall as I near the rainbow river.
"Scootaloo, don't do it!" Sweetie Belle shouts out. "A little filly can't make that jump!"
"I know that I can do it, I have to try, I've got to, for Equestria." I look out at the far jump to the cave ahead of me, balancing as best as I possibly could on my close hooves, doing my best not to fall over. 'This would be so much easier if I could fly.' I think to myself. Taking a deep breath, I jump.
"Scootaloo!" They shout after me, but it's too late. Just when it looks like the jump is too short, I flap my wings and hoer just enough to land safely on the side of the gushing river. I venture forward, hearing a few shrieks and gasps as the others jump on to the ledge of the cave with me. But I'm far ahead of them. All around I see some type of rainbow crystal, brightening the gigantic cave as I trot forward. I feel the urge grow stronger as I walk in different directions. I soon discover other smaller caves inside, gushing their own little streams as well.
"Most don't know it, but Rainbow Falls has caves for the streams, each dangerous and filled with Rainbow quarts. Though they have no magical value to ponies, they're magic keeps the streams running, and even make the rainbows themselves." Princess Luna says.
"Alright an adventure!" I shout.
"Speakin' of adventures, I was wonderin' where Princess Celestia is, isn't she supposed to be here with us?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I'm afraid that she won't be able to attend, she has been captured by Skourene."
"WHAT?!?!" Sweetie Belle says, causing the cave to echo. The spikes at the top begin to shake.
"Sweetie Belle!" I whisper.
"Sorry" She blushes. We continue walking until the growing glow turns into a gem. I stretch out my hoof, "That wasn't so bad." I say as I reach out to my Element. That's when the ground begins to shake under my hooves.
"What's happening?!" I ask as I find myself falling.
"The caves are known to collapse after hundreds of years!!" Princess Luna answers.
"But the cave looks new! It wasn't here before!!" I shout back over the roaring winds.
"There could only be one..." She says before she's replaced by a stone wall. I hear faded shrieks and screams as we continue to fall down. I notice my Element fall past me, and try to grab it, but it clinks down a different hole in the wall.
"Are you kidding me!!!" I shout out. I eventually see a rainbow river, and position myself for a dive. Then, everything turns into bursts of red, and orange and yellow and green. I swim to the top, and swim again towards the shore.
" You poor, poor child." A hollow echoing voice says.
"Who's there?" I say. It takes me a second to realize that it's Skourene. I see nothing but what the faded glow of the river shows, until I see the brilliant red eyes, purple streaks coming from the end, cat like pupils, and I see one large white fang as she grins.
She laughs. "Don't be alarmed, I came here to propose. She explains.
"You have a ring?" She scowls.
"This isn't a joke child," she angrily spits. " I came to ask you to join me. Once you do, you will be rewarded with all of the same powers I posses."
"No, I'd never help you."
"I knew you'd never agree if I asked, which is why I wanted to show you this. She takes out an orb and shows it to me, inside is Ponyville in ruins.
"No!!" I shout out. "What did you do?"
"I hope you don't mind, but I did a little... redecorating. She laughs at her own joke.
"What do you want?"
It's simple really, you join me, and I'll restore this little town and leave it alone, you don't, I destroy all of Equestria and take you by force.
"No," I say sternly.
"Then I have no choice." She grabs me by the neck, and begins to drain me. It isn't until she's halfway there that I feel my eyes glow.
Skourene, you have done enough with Equestria, and have done enough damage, give up now, or it is you who will pay the ultimate price. A voice says through my mouth, causing the both of us to talk together, I immediately recognize it as the pegasus.
"Ha! You're just a filly, how do you expect to stop me?"
'I know I can do it, I know I can,' I remember all of the times I was confident, the time I wanted to be brave for Rainbowdash, and had to face my fear, or believe that I could carry the flag in the games without flying. Even the times when I was too confident for my own good. I open my eyes, and smile, a glow growing brighter and taking Skourene back.
She hissed as the light touched her form, burning her, she rushed off, leaving the cave and opening a wall to which a trail stood. I'm dropped into the stream, I swim to shore, and I find the Pegasus, the size of a normal pony, there.
"You've managed to defend yourself and were confident at the times you needed to be, you know when you're over doing something, and know the difference between showing off, and being strong, a strong part of destiny is being confident for yourself, and believing in yourself to do something. When you had to face you fears, you grew confident and faced them head on, yet when you were looking for Trouble Shoes, you knew when it was time to stop before things could get too out of control. You've proved yourself worthy of your Element Scootaloo.
"What is it?"
"Scootaloo, you're the Element of Confidence." She spread her wings, and my Element floated down to my neck. "Handle it with care, I will protect you from future dangers, good luck Scootaloo." She begins to turn.
"Wait!" She turns back to me.
"Yes child?"
"How come we keep floating every time we come across Skourene?"
"You'll have to get used to that, it happens all the time with the Elements of Harmony." She laughs.
************************
"Girls?" I ask frantically. I begin to walk through the opening of the cave, when I find the familiar darkness flood it. "Skourene." I spit out. She laughs.
"Ah, if it isn't Princess Lulu."
"What is your purpose?"
"I just thought that I should give my dear best friend a warning.
"Save your breath, I'm well aware of what will lie ahead."
"Oh no, no, no, I mean this." She gestures to an orb, where I see my sister and niece, locked up in a cage like a pet.
"What have you done?!" I shout angrily as I breathe out puffs of steam.
"Oh I just put the old birds back into their cage." She says.
"Release them." I command.
Now, now Lulu, don't get your tail in a knot, I just wanted to have a quick word.
"Make it quick."
I bet you're actually glad that Equestria is being overthrown, you never got what you wished for, an eternal night, I bet you wish for the night to be shown.
"Silence!" I command. "I'd never wish that upon anypony, I'm not Nightmare Moon, I'm not a monster! I don't want eternal night, I don't want to hurt my subjects or the ponies I love!" I shout back.
"A nightmare you wont be, it'll give nopony any fright," I look up to find her eyes, hypnotizing me in a trance I can't break.Equestria would be better eternal night.
I feel myself begin to become engulfed in darkness, a laugh erupts from my throat as my teeth sharpen, and I feel myself grow bigger. She continues until I take my full form, I stand where I am, no longer am I any Luna, I am, a Nightmare.
************************
I return to my lair, now with all of the Princesses in my clutches, who sits in the cage without a word. Nothing to say Tia?" I tease, I laugh when I see her look up with a stern grin. I have drained her and the Crystal Princess of their power/
"You will not get away with this Skourene." Cadence says. I laugh at her remark.
"Really? The you won't get away with this line too? I already have. I have Princess Twilight and her friends, and I have nearly all of Equestria in my clutches. And now..." I reveal Nightmare Moon, who laughs evilly as she watches Celestia cry out.
"Missed me Celestia? I've missed you from the moon, and now that I'm here, I will get what I wanted, eternal night." Everyone shutters as she laughs evilly.
And I have an even better surprise for you Twily," I tease. "These." The six of them shriek in sheer terror once I reveal the six gemstones.
"How'd you-" Twilight begins.
"It only took an minute to destroy Ponyville, and a second for the Tree of Harmony."
"You foolish tyrant!" Celestia says.
"How nice of you to say so," I say. "Thanks to all of you, and now these, I can take over all of Equestria!!!
"And the night, will last, forever!" Luna cackles. I begin to drain the Elements of their power, and the Princess of Friendship herself, watches in horror as the Elements become gray as I drain they're power. I grow much larger in my size, and laugh.
"Soon, the whole world will be ours." I say as I drop the last few bits of the Elements; like pieces of broken glass.
"Girls!" I shout as I run to the end of the tunnel, where my friends stood.
"Sweetie Belle!" They call out. They start to run up to me and I see Scootaloo's Element wrapped around her neck.
"You found your Element." I say happily. She smiles proudly.
"Sure did. That means we're one step closer to saving Equestria." She says. I hear a low laugh echo across the room and I look up to see swirling clouds at the ceiling.
"It can't be..." I say. The clouds surround us and pull Apple Bloom into it's aura. I see a light blue flash and see the Element being removed from her neck. I only see Apple Bloom for a second before I find Babs, then Scootaloo be pulled in. I hear screams of horror, along with my own. I see the clouds come towards me and I watch in shock as I realize that I really did see her, Nightmare Moon.
"Hello little filly, care to join me?" She asked.
"I'd never join you in anything Nightmare Moon." I spit back.
"Do you really mean that Sweetie Belle?" a gray Luna says as she appears to my side.
That can't be her, can it?
"Stop it Nightmare Moon, I know it's you, give Princess Luna back!" She comes in closer, bearing her teeth. I look away in fear.
"Do I scare you Sweetie Belle?" I hear Luna again. I shut my eyes, trying to shut everything out. I feel a tug at my back legs and I feel the ground slip from under me. I open my eyes in to see the Unicorn there, holding a weapon of some sort. I find myself in the air, and then set down far away.
"Give up Nightmare Moon, release Luna!" She demands. She has her head down low, and her horn tilted up defensively. She only laughs.
"That's a mistake I'll never make again." She unexpectedly kicks her and the unicorn goes flying across the room, and lands on the cave wall, several feet from the ground. Nightmare Moon rushes to her as a shadow, and just as the Unicorn looks up, she finds a hoof pressed against her neck. Choking, the tyrant laughs.
"Foolish ponies, you have no idea what you're getting into." I get up unsteadily on my hooves, trying to keep my balance. I eventually stand up straighter as the first bearer of the Element's eyes begin to dim.
"Stop!" I say.
She turns around, kicking the bearer to the wall as she slips into her shadow, and surrounds me with darkness. She laughs as my mane flies around in the air. "Or what? You're gonna call your big sister to come get you?" She laughs as I hesitate on what to say next. "Or maybe try to find the Elements of Harmony, and let them do the dirty work? Foolish child, this isn't a fairy tale. This so called Friendship our subjects go on about, it may be powerful, but do you know what over comes it?" I scowl as she tells me anyway.
"Fear, with the night lasting a lifetime, the whole world will bow to us as we release havoc and chaos in our new empire!!" She laughs wickedly.
"That's because you don't understand the light of Friendship like we do, you always want to conquer our nation!" I shout back over the roaring winds. She laughs.
"And with light there is shadows do you think that we will live in peace for forever? Here's some news for you little foal ," She emphasized the last word like it was venom. " If you ponies are all about the magic of friendship, how come you banished me." This takes me back.
"She wanted to exclude me from the kingdom, we all wanted power. The tyrants, we all had something we wanted to do. Chrysalis only wanted to find food for her army, Sombra avenge his shadow brothers and sisters, Discord wanting to play a few harmless pranks, and instead of trying to understand, you banished us! And now, I'm going to banish any of the light of friendship that remains, starting with you!!"
I no longer feel anything and can hardly move as she strips me of my Element. I immediately fall to the ground below. Land on my side, my vision going dark as I hear low mocking chuckles escape her lips. I hear a clinking sound right in front of me as my vision turns to total darkness.
*****************************************
I wake up feeling groggy as I stretch my legs and steady myself on my hooves. I feel as though I've been bruised and asleep for days. I try t get to my hooves, but fall back to the ground my strength is completely gone. The cave is dark, all of the rainbow quarts lay in dark crushed pieces. I find Scootaloo, closest to me on my left, getting up herself. I see for a split second that her eyes are gray.
I then find Babs across from me far off, with Apple Bloom next to her, trying to lean on each other for support. I look behind me to see the unicorn gone, and I try to move.
"Don't strain yourself," I hear her say. I look around the cave and find nothing.
"Where are you?" I say in a hoarse voice.
She steps out of nowhere, translucent and with a upset look on her face. Behind her come out the other bearers. "We are sorry children." The gryphon says.
"For what? We did our best." Scootaloo says.
"It was our job to be the guardians to the Elements and to you, and now your friend is gone, and..." The Earth pony says while turning her head.
"What happened?" Apple Bloom says in a hopeful scratchy voice.
"Skourene, she..." They said after a long pause. "she took the Elements of Harmony, and absorbed the remaining power of the remains of former tyrants and princesses. She destroyed the tree of Harmony, and used Discord's power to turn Luna to her opposite self. She destroyed many passage ways to the Celestial Plane, and now, she has Equestria."
"We still have the Elements don't we? Can't we still-" Scootaloo encouraged.
"No!" The gryphon snapped. "It's too late."
"Ah' think that there's still a chance." Apple Bloom agreed.
"I'm afraid not, Skourene will kill anyone that gets in her way. She said it herself. We were in battle, and her victory was drawing near. But in the end, she forced us to surrender after both sides were greatly weakened." The unicorn explained.
"Maybe we can still use the Elements of Destiny," Babs suggested. It was at this point that they all looked away.
Finally the unicorn spoke up. "There.... there is no Elements of Destiny."
*****************************************
I was almost there. For the past few days, I've been walking through the forest, supporting my mother on my back. Each day I had hoped it would get better, that the sky would clear. It only grew darker and darker, dark colors showing through as the sun and moon came out. I followed a random trail, trying to get as far away from Ponyville as possible. I was hungry, cold and tired, but something pushed me to go forward, something motivated me to go along my own path, my mother.
I found a desolate cave, dark and lifeless, I decided that I would rest there for a while. I set my mother down and climbed under her outstretched wings, shivering near the mouth of the cave.
I've been camping with my sister before, it was before she moved away, she would take me camping and make a fire, sometimes we'd just sit there all night and talk until the sun would come up. I remember going with my mother before, we sat on the logs, listening to a story she shared with us.
"Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a secret. Going back so far in time, before Celestia or Discord reined. There were these powerful items, which had a special magic within them to help ponies find their destinies." I looked a my blank flank and smiled as she continued, the light of the fire illuminating her face.
"They each helped with a task of finding someone's destiny, bringing different types of joy and happiness. Some say they were gems, others different creatures, many say it came from a magical and powerful tree."
"Like the tree of Harmony for Princess Twilight?!" I had asked excitedly.
"Yes, in fact, some of the few ponies who know about this secret, believe that they're connected to that same tree."
"Wow!" I said. My sister smiled down at me.
"But then came a new threat, called Skourene, from an ancient forgotten language. No one knows where she came from, but she altered the destinies of the land, sometimes injuring them really badly if she thought they were of no use. The items stopped her with their power, but were greatly weakened, to the point of never helping anyone find their destinies themselves. With the remaining power they had left, they seeped their magic into the ponies, those that they'd help find their destiny getting a mark to represent it. And that's why we have cutiemarks."
"Whoa!" I had said excitedly. "What about the magical items? What happened to them?"
"That's just it Dinky," She said, touching my nose. "no one knows, although it is rumored that they retreated to something. My mother told me that they went through the falls we're heading to, and that the trail they left behind leads to Rainbow Falls. But you can fill in the ending with your own imagination." She said, smiling in the light o the campfire.
As I lay here now, daydreaming of the old memories, I slip a tear from my eye, my mother as lifeless as a doll, draping her wing over me. I lay there and sob into her coat, wishing she was awake and comforting me like she always does when I cry. I suddenly feel a cool breeze
on my neck.
I look up to see if it was someone, I find something glowing and white in m blurred vision full of tears. Wiping my eyes of them, I look up again to see the same tree as before.
'Maybe it was my imagination.' I think. But I have the feeling it was more than that. Like someone close is calling my name from afar. I see a streak of light fly by, as though it were a ghost. I hear the sound of rushing wind from behind me and turn around to see the silhouette of a pony.
'Is this a dream? Am I asleep?" I think. By the way the creature looked, it must've come from one. The creature turns around and moves away, looking back from a distance as though it was waiting for me. I see it's mouth move.
I follow it without hesitation, moving my mother to deeper into the cave. I run after the creature, which make a gesture that suggests it's smiling and goes through the trees, like a fish in water. I run after it, somehow regaining my energy as I follow it for what seems like an eternity. It could be a few seconds or minutes, hours to days, until the creature stops at the falls. Black murky water took the place of the original rainbows there, I step beside it, sure that I'm in a dream. Where else would I get the energy from? The taller creature turns its head in my direction. It then takes off again, becoming a streak as I follow behind it.
Through the falling river it goes, and I do my best to keep up. Once I reach the other side of the pouring water, I find that I'm standing on wet, solid ground.
"Dinky" A voice echoed in my ears. I turn around to find the figure standing directly behind me, looking down with glowing eyes.
"Our last hope"[color] The creature disappears to the other side, going through a cave I have not seen. I walk behind it, seeing five caves and run past the other four to the one in the middle. The glow from this figure acting as my guide as I follow it through the growing caves. We come to a stop. I find myself standing directly in front of four other figures, smaller in size staring directly at me as the biggest, my guide, stands in front of me.
"Elements" Several voices shout out at different times, echoing throughout the cave walls.
"Destiny" They yell out. I notice a hint of a familiar purple behind the one that resembled the pegasus, and step to the side. I find Scootaloo behind it.
"Scootaloo?" I ask. The voices stop, all looking down at me, for it was the first tie they heard me talk. The filly pokes her head from behind the gigantic pegasus.
"Dinky, you shouldn't be here," She says.
"Why? This is my dream." I say.
"Dream?" I hear the entity that looks like a earth pony say. She stares at my guide. "Is this...?"
It nods. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and a pink haired Earth pony poke their heads out from behind, stepping in front of the ghost like figures.
"This isn't a dream Dinky." Sweetie Belle says.
"What?" I say in shock.
"Ya mean ya don't know yet?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Know what?" I asked.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you," My guide says.
"Tell me what?"
"Dinky, you are an Element of Destiny." She says.
"I'm a... what?"
"We don't have time to answer all the questions sitting here, we need you to find your Element."
"Wait, do you mean like the Elements of Harmony?" I asked. They seemed surprised I knew about it.
"Yes, your Element comes when the four others are united. The first bearer of your Element stands before you." The gryphon said.
"So does that mean... you four," I said, pointing to the other fillies in the room. "Are the other Elements?" I ask.
"Yes, but Nightmare Moon destroyed our Elements, and now, they're just gray pieces of rock." The gryphon spits out.
I don't understand everything they're saying, it isn't until I see the gray pieces of rock before me that I see that must be the Elements the gemstones represented.
"What are we going to do now?" The I asked. From their silence, I could tell no one knew.
********************************
I watched the looks of confusion on their faces as they tried figuring out what to do with their worthless Elements. Laughing all the while, I turned to Nightmare Moon.
"You are truly excellent." I compliment. She chuckles. "Thank you, and I must admit that you are quite clever, absorbing the power of the Elements, is something I never would've thought of." She replied.
"That's not all I have in store." I say as I look into the scared eyes of the purple filly.
"Whatever else could you be planning?" She asks in curiosity. "You've done as much as kill the tree of Harmony, and killed off thousands with your presence."
"And I plan on doing the same to one more." She stares at me in confusion until I show her the confused yellow-maned filly.
They stood around each other wondering what to do with the shattered Elements.
"Maybe we don't need them." Dinky thought out loud. Everyone looked at her as she spoke.
"Maybe.... we can stop Skourene without them. If the Elements were destroyed, how come we're still here? Don't we represent them? Why else would Skourene hurt the Elements and us? When se attacked Ponyville, she left me alone. But we still represent them, and we can still use them. It's up to us to stop Skourene, and I believe we can do it. We just need to try."
"You have a point." Sweetie Belle said. "Why else would she retreat when we found our Elements?" She added.
"Do you think it can work? The unicorn asked.
"We have to try." Scootaloo said.
"We can do it, I know it. I feel it. We can save Equestria and find the Princesses, we can stop Nightmare Moon and find Princess Luna. We have a chance at this, I know it. Like, it's my fate." There was a light flash of light coming from her horn. The purple unicorn's eyes began to glow as she floated off of the ground the light mixing with the first Element of fate.
"You are the Element of Fate. The Element of Leadership," The crystal pony said. "With Fate, it is in your destiny to lead others. To lead us." The light wrapped along the lines of her horn, until it made a ball of life at the tip. Blinding everyone. When they looked again there was a crown on her head, a light gold gem on it. It looked a lot like Twilight's, only it had gray gemstones aligning the crown. Leading up to the bright, gold, gemstone in the middle, shining with light.
"Wha, what?" Dinky said, silenced from shock.
"Your Element wasn't destroyed." The crystal pony realized. "It is created once united by the others. With Destiny and Fate, you become a leader, and it is in yours to become one. You unite us all Dinky." She explained.
"But the only way we can stop Skourene is with them." Dinky said pointing to the crusaders.
"We'll be there to help you the whole way." Apple Bloom assured. The others nodded in agreement.
"But what do we do with these?" Babs asked, pointing to the crushed Elements. "They're drained." Without a word, the gryphon showed a look of realization on his face and slipped into the remains of the gemstone he protected. Filling it with it's glow and power again. Seeing this, the other ones did the same. Until they were all glowing with power again, piecing themselves together.
"What are you doing?" Babs asked.
"It's the only way to restore power to the Elements again." The gryphon answered. "We're retreating to them to fill them with our power, we'll be able to come out and help you in combat when you need it, and as you use them while we're out, their magic will be refilled." He explained. With each gemstone slowly coming together, their colors returned, each lighting a gray gemstone on Dinky's crown.. They floated to the necklaces of the Cmc in their right places.
"Of course." the crystal pony said. The crystal pony diminished into Dinky's Element, causing the smaller gems encrusting the crown to glow.
"It is up to you now." She said to the five fillies. Before filling Dinky's with light.
***********************************
Skourene looked in shock as the Element bearers or 'the guardians' as they called themselves. "Cowards!!" She shouted to them. "Only a fool will leave it to five fillies to save Equestria." She threw the orb against the wall of the cave, shattering it into a million pieces.
"You want to play dirty huh?" She asked no one in particular. "Two can play at that game." She took the form of an alicorn, her teal eyes glowing as her red pupils grew blood red., one yellow fang appeared as the purple trailed out her eyes. Her teeth sharpened as she grew bigger. Her horn disfigured and full of holes as her hooves were. Turning to Nightmare Moon, she grinned.
She took the power she had gained, along with the previous power of the Elements of Destiny, the forces of darkness making her grow stronger as they left Luna's body, Skourene took the powers of the Princess of the Night, making her grow bigger as she took to the sky. Luna lay there, unconscious. She flew out of the cave at blinding speed. She flew until she was above her clouds, the sun and moon out. Absorbing her beautiful darkness across the land, she pulled in every bit of power from the land, taking whatever powers there was left in the world, causing the darkness from her mane and tail to invade what was once Equestria. She laughed as she felt the power within her grow as she took every last bit of energy she could muster from the nation, all but the power of the Elements of Destiny.
From afar in the cave, you could hear her laugh echo across the land. Rushing out the cave the five watched as the swirling clouds engulfed the land. They ran to the edge of the cliff they we on catching the sight of the gigantic Alicorn in the darkness become engulfed in her dark chaos. She stared at the fillies from afar, her eyes catching sight of the glow in her beautiful black world. She flew down to them, her eyes full anger at the fillies disturbing her peace. In a rage, she pointed her hooves to the fillies, and moved at a blinding speed to them, her horn lighting with a deadly glow. The five of them scowled, not moving once as they stood together.
"But sis, can't ah' come alon-"
"No." I said sternly.
"But you said it's a minor trip and that you and your friends are just being called to another town." Apple Bloom said.
"And what if that one seemingly small threat turns into somethin' that can harm you and all of Equestria? Ah' can't risk you getting hurt. Just stay here with Granny Smith and BigMac till' ah' get back, ya hear?"
"Ok." She said with a sigh.
As I walked through the door and towards the castle, I couldn't help but feel bad about not letting Apple Bloom come. 'It's one little town, the worst that can happen is that Starlight Glimmer will come back.' But I can't risk having Apple Bloom get hurt due to my carelessness. I continue to walk, guilt pulling at me as I trudge farther and farther from the farm. Once I meet up with my friends, I discover that Rarity and Rainbowdash had the same problems with their sisters.
"You too? Sweetie Belle kept begging me to come, but if a single hair was misplaced on her head, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"And Scoots kept asking me if she could come on our awesome adventure, but I had to say no, she's like a sister to me, and if she got hurt..."
"Ah' understand." I said.
We headed to the train as we continued to talk about the journey. "Why would we be summoned to a town we already helped? Do you think Starlight Glimmer came back?" Twilight said.
"Maybe, or perhaps it's another friendship problem?" Fluttershy questioned.
We thought and thought until we finally arrived at the dark and gloomy town. We found inky clouds hovering and swirling about above it.
"We were right to leave our sisters behind." Rarity said as we stared at the spreading darkness. We walked around and looked for our old friends, but they seemed a bit....off.
"Somethin' real strange is goin' on." I say.
Pinkie starts to frown and I notice that her coat is getting a shade darker, but then flickers back to it's regular color.
'That's quite peculiar.'
"Lets head to the mountain and see what we can find there." Twilight suggests.
"Good idea." Rainbowdash says.
As we trot I notice how Fluttershy's coat gets darker as well. Then Pinkie's again. 'Somethin' real strange is goin' on' I think again. Once we enter the mountain though, the opening is shut by a stone wall.
Then I see it.
It's mane was as dark as the sky, and eyes that glowed. With wings that stretched across the room and encased us in a dark smoke.
"The Elements... no surprise to see you here." A mysterious voice echoed around the closing room of shadows and smoke. We all screamed as the shadows took form of a pony.
"Perhaps this will make me recognizable?" The mare laughed.
"Release us." Twilight said in a stern voice.
"Or what? You're going to blast me with your little rainbows?" The mare laughed once more as we each turned to darker shades of gray. "Foolish ponies, as if a few Elements of Harmony could stop me. She took a different form, plucking Twilight off the ground. As soon as she had Twilight in her gaze, she immediately drained the color within her until our friend collapsed.
"TWILIGHT!" we all shouted the mare laughed as she circled us, faster and faster until we were all floating.
The color within me drained, and I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw was my friends being dropped one by one, none of us had our cutiemarks.
************************************************************************************
"Where could she be? Rainbowdash should be back by now!" I was pacing with the other crusaders.
"It's only been a couple o' days, it could've been a big threat." Apple Bloom said.
"Apple Bloom's right, In fact, I'm sure that she's on her way home by now." Sweetie assured me.
"I guess you're right." I said.
Later that night after going to bed, I had my dream.
'Rainbowdash!'
She looked annoyed.
'You came back! Aren't you glad to see me?'
She rolled her eyes. 'Why would I want to hang out with a loser?'
'Loser?'
'Yeah! Why would I want to hang out with a pegasus who can't fly?'
'But you said-'
'I pitied you, ok! Why should a pony as awesome as me hang out with you? Why do you think I left? It's a wonder how Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom managed to live with you for this long."
'We pitied her too. But all she does is drag us down from getting our cutiemarks.'
'I thought that you were my friends, and you're a sister to me Rainbowdash.'
'Face it, you're useless' Rainbowdash slipped into her shadow, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle morphed into shadow ponies. They circled around me.
'Useless'
'Pathetic'
'A waste of time'
More and more they spun around me. Until I saw a flash of light.
"BEGONE!" said a powerful voice. Who's could it be? It sounded so loud, so demanding, so cool.
"Princess Luna?" I ask.
She smiled. "Hello Scootaloo."
************************************************************************
"Where am I?" I ask.
Princess Luna gives a warm smile. "Maybe you should ask your friends." With a wave of a hoof, my friends appear through doors.
"Scootaloo!" They said as they tackle me down on the... ground?
"Where are we?" I ask. Princess Luna walks up to us.
"Little fillies, you are in a passage of which I enter dreams, and which my sister turned Twilight into a princess, along with Cadence. She walks on the star trail, many screens flash by of me and my friends, from helping Trouble Shoes, waving the flag for the Equestria Games, our dreams she entered in. There were a lot.
"Ah' hope that you don't mind if ah' interrupt, but what are we doing back here?" Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah! If this place is so important, why are we here?" Sweetie asks.
"Dear fillies," Luna said with a sad sigh. "I'm afraid that your sisters are in danger."
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!" We shout.
"That can't be, they told us it was a small problem, they're the Elements of Harmony." I say. " Plus, Rainbowdash is too cool to be defeated, along with all of our sisters." I say.
"Yeah, and if they're in danger, what can we do about it?" Sweetie Belle uttered.
Luna shows her hoof to the giant screen. "A new force is taking over Equestria, and is spreading like wildfire. Not even the most powerful of known Elements can stop it. This new force is changing the destinies of all of the ponies, and is altering them into doing their bidding." Luna said as black clouds and darkness covered the land. " If it is not stopped, not just Equestria, but the whole world will be under it's control. It is up to you three to stop it."
"No offense, but ARE YOU INSANE?!?!" Apple Bloom said. Princess Luna made a knowing face.
"How are three little fillies going to stop that ?" Sweetie said as she pointed to the screen.
Princess Luna nodded. "I do not believe that it is in my place to say so." She said. Her eyes began to glow as she summoned three big, white, glowing blobs in front of us. They took the shapes of the three main types of ponies; the pegasus standing in front of me.
"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and SweetieBelle, you are the Elements of Destiny." They all said at once.
