The Back-Up Elements of Harmony
AppleJack was awoken early in the morning by the sound of the rooster crowing. She peeked over her blanket, listening to Big Macintosh exiting the house. Apple bucking season had returned, and now that Big Mac had returned to the orchards after his injury, there was no stopping them from harvest now. She left the comfort of her warm bed and headed outside to the orchard and into the brisk morning air. She was still tired, wrinkles under her eyes, as she peered over the sunrise to see her brother already at work.
"Morn'n Mac" She said, headed over to join her brother.
He didn’t say anything, but gave a nod and a smile to recognize her sister coming to help. Big Mac never did talk when he didn’t need to. Stretching her legs, AppleJack attempted to wake up her body to start the long day of work. She prepped her rear legs back, ready to knock the tree around, when she felt a sudden burst of energy. Her leg found itself slamming into the trunk, launching the tree from its roots and sending it flying.
AJ took a second to realize what exactly she did. It certainly woke up Big Mac, leg hovering in the air mid buck, and probably everyone else in the house.
"You feelin' alright, AJ?" Macintosh asked
"Uh... I think so... maybe it's just some crazy coincidence?"
Big Mac lowered his leg. "Knockin' a tree out a th' ground ain't a coincidence. Y' sure you're okay?"
AppleJack rolled her eyes, "Yeah, let’s just get back to work!"
She strutted over to another tree and faced away from it. She lifted her back leg up, and paused, noticing Big Mac watching carefully. As carefully as she could, she tapped her hoof gently against its trunk. Apples began to rain down as AJ crossed her front legs.
"See? I'm fine! Whatever it was in me passed, so we should..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the wood trunk of the apple tree creaked and collapsed over, its base cut in two as though it were sawed. AJ, eyes wide open, looked at the tree in surprise, and then looked at Macintosh.
"Why don't you go take ah break b'fore all these trees get destroyed?"
"Uh... Ah think you're right... I'm gonna go see Twilight. Maybe she knows what's going on..."
===
The orange pony stopped outside of the giant tree converted into Ponyville Library. Before she could knock on the door, she heard crashing and commotion coming from inside.
"Spike! Come back! I think it stopped!"
"No way! I'm not going down like how you took out that lamp!"
"It was an accident! My magic is going crazy and I just can't explain it!"
"If you can't explain it or control it, I'm not coming out!"
"Please Spike, I think it's over anyhow, now get off the ceiling and...
BLAM! A bolt of purple lightning shoots the door down, allowing AJ to watch the commotion from the inside. Spike was gripping to the ceiling for dear life while the purple unicorn's horn continued flaring up.
"Uh, Twi?" AppleJack Interrupted, walking inside, “Is this a bad time?"
"Applejack! I don't know what's going on, but my magic is out of control", Twilight lifted her horn into the air, causing another bolt of lightning to strike the ceiling, almost hitting Spike and knocking him from his hiding spot.
"Well I just knocked two trees straight out of Sweet Apple Acres and I wasn't even trying!"
Before the two could continue discussing their dilemma, a streak of rainbow burst through the already collapsed door and into a bookshelf sending novels and dictionaries flying.
"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash burst from the pile of books, "You've got to help me! I'm flying sooo fast right now!"
Both of the ponies paused, "Is that supposed to be news?"
"No, I mean..." The blue Pegasus spread her wings from the pile; the first flap of them sent her flying into the ceiling, "Argh! My wings are too powerful! I can't control my flight!"
Two knocks were heard on the broken door frame, the three looked to the entrance to see Fluttershy, hair covering her face as she looked down at the ground.
"Fluttershy? You too?" Twilight exclaimed.
The yellow pegasus only nodded, still looking at the ground.
"Well, what's wrong with you sugar cube?" AJ asked.
"..." Fluttershy looked up, "I DONT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!" She covered her mouth and blushed, he voice booming like Luna's the night she came to Ponyville.
"Are all the Elements of Harmony going crazy or something!?!" Twilight cried out in frustration.
"I'm afraid you're right, dear", Rarity claimed, entering the library, "There I am, preparing breakfast, and when I go to open the refrigerator, all of its contents and everything in my house go flying everywhere! I can't use my magic without everything going CRAZY!"
"Spike! Take a letter! We need Princess Celestia to know something is going on with all of the element bearers!" Twilight called.
Spike sat up, still disoriented from falling off the ceiling, "R-right..." He began writing the letter, and blew it away in a breath of fire.
“I’m certain once the Princess hears of what’s going on she’ll have a solution for us... I hope...” Twilight shrugged.
"Hey..." Rainbow spoke up, trying to pry her wings shut after the excess of energy she was experiencing, "Aren't we forgetting someone?"
The five ponies thought for a minute, all realizing at the same time who exactly was missing.
"We need to get to Sugar Cube Corner RIGHT NOW!" Twilight Exclaimed, all the ponies running out of the library.
The five of them stood outside the town bakery. Everything seemed normal, the only thing off was that it was so... barren... Business was usually booming this time of day, but not a soul was around.
Twilight was the first to ask, "Okay... who is going to be the one to check on Pinkie Pie?"
All the ponies were silent. If Pinkie Pie was so... Pinkie Pie when she was normal, what would she be like now that all of the ponies were acting so strangely?
"I... I'll do it..." Dash insisted. She was hesitant though, the fear running through body, telling her to fly away as far as possible.
She peeked the door open, the first thing she noticed were Mr. and Mrs. Cake holding each other in fear behind the register.
"Uh... Have you two seen Pinkie Pie?" She asked with a nervous stutter. Mr. Cake released an arm around his wife to point to the middle of the bakery. Rainbow opened the door all the way, trying to comprehend what it was she was seeing. There stood Pinkie in the middle of the room by herself, vibrating. Just standing in place. Vibrating. Giggling, snorting and vibrating.
“We don’t know what’s going on...” Mr. Cake stuttered in fear, Mrs. Cake finishing the sentence, “But we don’t want to risk anything by moving her!”
"P... Pinkie Pie? Are you okay?" Dash asked.
"Hehehe! Snort! Oh, hi Dashie!" Her voice sounded like she was talking through the blades of a fan, "Why is the whole room shaking?"
Rainbow's eyelids cocked down; relieved she wasn't flying off the walls or anything.
"We need to get going P, there's something going on with the other girls, and we think it has something to do with the Elements"
"Oooookkiiie doooookkkiiiee loooookkiiee! Hehehe! My voice sounds funny!"
Without moving any parts of her body, Pinkie hovered across the ground as the vibrations glided her body to the door of sugar cube corner to join the other girls.
===
One awkward train ride to Canterlot Castle later, Princess Celestia gathered all of the element bearers in front of the magically sealed door leading to the elements.
"Princess, please tell us what's going on? Why are we acting so... so..." Twilight paused trying to think of the proper word"
"Full of energy?" The Princess finished her sentence, "Well, I suppose you should take a look for yourself..." She slid her horn into the lock, opening it. Rather than being contained in their usual box, the necklaces and tiara were floating and glowing in the air, rebounding all around the room.
"Wh... What are they doing?" Celestia's pupil questioned.
"The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful source of magic in Equestria. And for reasons I can't explain, they are overflowing with pure, unmanageable power" Celestia explained.
"So that's why my Magic is going haywire?" Twilight and Rarity asked.
"And why I can't control my flight" Rainbow Dash added.
"AAaaand why the whole world is shaking!?!" Pinkie asked.
"And why I'm knocking over trees left and right?" Applejack pointed out.
"AND WHY I'M..." Fluttershy stopped herself midsentence, covering her mouth and blushing.
"Exactly... However, I'm not exactly sure how else to flow the energy properly through you without these spasms you all are having..."
"What are you suggesting we do?" Rarity questioned.
Celestia pondered for a minute, looking up at the stained glass mural of the six ponies, elements adorned, banishing Discord into stone. All six of them together, wielding the six elements... Then it came to her.
"The only logical thing I can think of is... and it may be crazy, but we need more bearers of the Elements of Harmony!"
"Wait, more!?! But there are only six elements! Are you saying you're going to replace us?" Twilight asked, slightly disturbed by the thought of being replaced.
"Not at all, my faithful student. What I want to do is basically split the energy of each element into two ponies. This won't affect the use of the elements at all, but these new ponies will, essentially, be back up element bearers. You will share the energy, and I believe between the two of you, it should be enough to stop these reactions you've been having."
"That... That DOES make sense...” AppleJack pondered, "But who else can contain the energy?"
"I... I was hoping you girls might know some ponies that could do so." Celestia frowned sheepishly, realizing she didn't fully think this plan through.
Fluttershy suddenly became bright eyed, and raised her hoof in the air, wanting their attention, but not wanting to speak without being too loud.
"Think girls, who do we know would be able to become bearers?" Twilight pondered, looking out the window.
"I think Pound and Pumpkin Cake could make awesome elements!" Pinkie Pie hummed through her nonstop vibration.
"Pinkie, they're babies. They can't contain the largest power in the universe when they can't even speak!" AppleJack pointed out.
Rarity came to an idea, "What about Lyra and Bon-Bon? The two dears would be ideal!"
"That's good, but they're only two ponies, we need six to contain each element", Twilight stated before going deeper into though.
Fluttershy attempted tugging on Celestia's flowing mane to get everyone's attention, but was shrugged off, squeaking in disappointment.
"Hey! What about some of the Wonderbolts!?!" Rainbow Dash jumped in the air, making sure not to fly or else she would launch into space again, "There's, like, thirty of them! That's plenty!"
"Yeah, but how would we pick through them? Plus with all those busy schedules, there's hardly any way they can group together when necessary..." Twilight shot the idea down.
"Oh! What about Pound and Pumpkin Cake!?! I think they could make..." Pinkie was interrupted by AppleJack.
"Ya'll already suggested those two, and no!"
"I KNOW WHO TO CHOOSE!!!" Fluttershy interrupted them with her Royal Canterlot Voice, covering her mouth again. Luckily, her outburst got everypony's attention.
"Fluttershy? YOU know the ponies that could do that?" Twilight questioned, puzzled that her shy, timid friend knew six ponies willing to carry Equestria's largest power with them.
She gently nodded in response, not wanting to speak another word.
"Well, who are they?" The other girls and Celestia gathered round the already nervous Pegasus.
===
The Yellow Pegasus stallion sat in his chair, hoof to his forehead, staring with all of his focus down at the checkers board. On the other side sat a light blue filly Pegasus, tapping her hoof on the table, waiting for him to make a move.
"You ready to give up yet?" She asked, blowing her dark blue and yellow hair out of her face.
"Not in a million years, Wheels..." Decibel licked his lips. Sweat trickled down his shaggy orange mane, dripping onto the checker board.
"Dec, please, make a move before you drown the poor board", Wheels stated shifting her body weight to a comfier position in the chair.
"Alright... here we go...” Decibel slid a black piece from out of a corner, "Okay, your move." He wiped the sweat off his brow.
"Good!" Wheels chirped, moving a red piece gracefully around the board, conquering his black piece and reaching his side of the board, "King me, filly!" She squealed.
Decibel took a minute to realize what happened, looking at his little sister and back to the board. Realizing he lost, he threw the board against the wall.
"This game is stupid anyways!" Decibel shouted, Wheels performing a signature victory dance atop the table. He stormed off into the kitchen to make himself a participation trophy out of a daisy sandwich when there was a knock on the door.
"You gonna get that?" Wheels called out, not wanting to interrupt her dance.
"I'M COMMING! HOLD UP!" He shouted to whoever was at the door. Leaving his sandwich on the counter, he opened the front door to a shy little butter yellow Pegasus with a long flowing pink mane. She was looking at the ground, but looked up at him and gave a slight smile.
"SHY!" He called out, floating off the ground giving her a full body hug, lifting her off the ground, "Wheels! Your big sister is here!"
"Fluttershy!?!" Wheels stopped her dance to run to the front door and join in her sibling's hug.
"It's been too long since I've seen you sis! What brings you all the way to Fillydelphia?" Decibel asked his twin sister. However, she merely frowned and looked down.
"Is something wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?" He asked.
"Fluttershy isn't in a very good situation to talk, but I'll be happy to explain everything", Princess Celestia trotted into the house.
Decibel stopped to realize that the goddess of the sun was standing in his living room, "Um... Am I in trouble or something?"
===
"Since WHEN have you had a brother!?!" AppleJack was the first to question. Fluttershy merely shrugged her elbows in response.
"And WHY didn't you ever mention he was a famous musician!?!" Rarity sprung out, observing Decibel’s Iconic Triplet Cutie Mark, "He could be great for my business! Imagine! Carousel’s original designs displayed onstage at one of his concerts!" She squealed at the thought of it.
"Pfft, please Rarity, Dig a Pony is NOT the kind of band to be showing off your dresses!" Rainbow Dash pointed out, "They're a hardcore rock band! I don't think they'd want you to bedazzle them in jewels."
"Hey, what am I here for again? And why is your friend vibrating like that? It's sort of freaking me out" Decibel asked over the squabbling ponies.
"Well", Celestia began to explain, "Fluttershy, as you know, is the element of kindness, Twilight to Magic, Rarity to Generosity, AppleJack to Honesty, Pinkie Pie to Laughter, and Rainbow Dash to Loyalty. However, the elements are experiencing a surge in power that I've never seen before. We want to control it by splitting the power between two ponies, and you sister here suggested that you have five friends who could fulfill that roll."
"Um..." Decibel thought for a moment, "So you want me to round up all my friends and tell them we need to harbor the greatest power pony-kind has ever known?"
"Y... YES..." Fluttershy squeaked in her booming tone.
"Uh... Heh, wow, you're asking an awful lot. I mean, I haven't even talked to Sonata in weeks... Locomotive Breath's been on a business trip in Las Pegasus... Celestia knows where Dougy is... But hey! I can easily get a hold of Squealer and Jazz House! Maybe they can help me track down everyone!"
"Excuse me” Twilight stopped him, "Did you say that you're friends with THE Locomotive Breath!?!"
"I wouldn’t lie about something like that! He's our band manager, why?"
"GASP! He's only one of Celestia's most famous graduates from Celestia's School of Gifted Unicorns!" Twilight fangasmed.
"And one of my best students! I can easily get a hold of him now with a spell we placed on each other when we graduated, let me summon him quickly" Celestia offered. Her horn began glowing as a whirlwind began blowing through the room. In a streak of light, a glowing entity entered the room in a gust of smoke.
Landing on his flank with a magical halo encrusted cutiemark, a grey unicorn with a slicked back black mane, neatly trimmed black beard and bushy eyebrows continued his conversation with a mouth full of pancake.
"...And I had to be the one to tell him, 'there's gunk all over your face'! But the thing is, it wasn't gunk, it was..." Locomotive breath finally opened his eyes, "Hey... You're not the manager of the Fillymore! You're Decibel! And you're not the waitress, you're Princess Celestia... Wait... TIA! What's shakin' teach? And why's that Pink filly shaking?" Pinkie Pie only giggled through the vibrations.
He sat up to give his former teacher a hug, "A lot has been shaking, my former student. We need more ponies to bear the elements of harmony, and it's up to you and Decibel to gather up candidates for this"
"And I was thinking we could get the other boys in on this, whadya say Breath?" Decibel added.
"I say I have no clue what's going on! But I'm willing to do whatever it is!" Locomotive breath stood on two legs in a victorious pose.
"Excellent! I shall teleport you two back into Fillydelphia, and the rest will be up to you" Celestia added, horn beginning to glow.
"Ah ah ah! I've got this handled Tia! Teleportation spells are SO fourth grade!" Locomotive Breath insisted, his horn starting to glow orange. He then noticed Twilight smiling all too wide at him. "Umm... Hi there..." He said.
"Hi! ... I love yo..." Twilight was caught off from the teleportation, taking them back into Decibel's house.
===
"AGH! Give me a warning next time!" Decibel shouted, holding his eyes shut from the blinding light.
"Heh, sorry Dec, NOW THEN! Which of our dumb friends are we going to get to control the most powerful and dangerous energy source in all of Equestria?"
Decibel rubbed the pain out of his eyes, "Well, I was thinking we could get Sonata, Dougy Giro, Jazz House, and Squealer. I’d like to think we’d make a pretty strong team for the Elements!"
"Probably not! But let's go to Sonata's place!" Locomotive Breath shouted, horn preparing to charge up another teleportation, when all of a sudden, Wheels ran out of the house.
"Decibel? Breath? What are you two doing!?!" She shouted over the increasingly loud magic.
"Don't worry Wheels! We're bringing the boys back together! We're on a mission from Celestia! We’re gonna be Elements of Harmony!"
“What!?!” Wheels shouted, “You’re kidding!”
“Wouldn’t lie about something like that kiddo! Be back soon!” Decibel hardly finished his sentence before they teleported again, ending up on the sidewalk of an apartment in downtown Fillydelphia.
"Breath! I'm going to go blind because of you!" Decibel shouted, tears in his blinded eyes.
"We're heeere!" Breath sung out, carrying himself and the writhing Decibel in a magic aura, riding up to third level where Sonata stayed. The two ponies floated outside of a window as a shadowy figure read a book in the comfort of a candle.
Sonata liked to consider himself a Unicorn of good taste. He couldn't say the same about his friends though, going crazy with all of that rock and roll and whatnot. Why do you have to go insane and party all the time? Why couldn't any other ponies he knew just curl up next to a candle, listen to some Beethooven, brew some tea, and read a good book? Sonata's thoughts were interrupted by a rapping on his window. He walked over to his window and opened the curtains to see his band manager and fellow band mate floating on a cloud of magic. Decibel waved with a goofy grin on his buddy. Sonata stared at them for a second before closing the curtain on them and going back to his book.
"Man, what's his deal?" Decibel asked.
"I don't know, but let's find out!" Breath's horn glowed more, and the two become transparent and floated through the glass of the apartment and into Jazz's room. There sat the blue Unicorn resting in a chair, as he saw them enter, he groaned and quickly combed back his light green hair and brushed some dust off of his treble cleft cutie mark.
"Sonny! My colt! How's it going buddy?" Breath asked, stopping the floating and transparency spells.
"Uhh, Breath? When you stopped the spell, my hoof was in the curtain... And it kind of hurts", Decibel pointed out as half a curtain stuck inside his leg. He tried wiggling it, but It only flopped around, "Can you... quickly fix this? I mean, WOW that hurts..."
"Sigh... forgive me Locomotive Breath, I was just having a moment of Zen on my first day off in a while. Decibel's not exactly the pony I want to see right now..." Sonny explained, watching his book enviously as it lay unread on his chair.
"Boy, I hope I don't ruin your curtain with my LEG BEING FUSED IN IT" Decibel pointed out, still trying to pull the fabric out of his leg.
"I completely understand, and you’re generous for even letting us bother you on your day off, but this is a big deal! The Elements of Harmony are going berserk and we need to carry some of that energy so that its power can be more distributed. Whadya say? Wanna be an element of harmony?"
"So, am I going to have to cut off my leg, or this curtain?" Decibel asked, still
"Um... alright I suppose... What would we have to...?” Sonata was interrupted by Locomotive Breath grabbing him by the neck, taking hold of Decibel and teleporting to the next pony’s house; Dougy Giro.
===
“I love yo...” Twilight was interrupted by the teleportation of Decibel and Locomotive Breath, “Your work... Oh dear, that’s going to be awkward...” The other girls laughed.
“How long do you think it’s going to take for those two to get everypony together?” Rarity asked.
“I can’t say, but all we can do is wait for them to return...” Celestia pointed out, regret in her voice.
“I hope soon! Everypony has to be so dizzy after all this shaking!” Pinkie Pie pointed out.
“Uh... Does anypony else hear that?” AppleJack pointed out. Everyone went quiet, except Pinkie, but a low hum was heard in the room with the elements.
Everyone gathered in front of the door, and watched as the jewelry rebounded across the room.
“Princess? What’s going on?” Twilight asked nervously.
“I don’t know, but this can’t be good...” Celestia responded, “Girls, do you think you can... Oh dear...” When she faced the others, they were covered in an aura of magic.
Rainbow Dash was the first to ask “What the HAY is going on!?!” before her wings sprouted out and flew her all across the room.
“The Elements!” Twilight realized, “They’re having another surge in power! And we’re gonna... AGH!” Twilight’s horn blasted a wave of magic, causing the Elements of Harmony to burst and releasing energy into its bearers.
“Sister!” Luna came running up the hallway from her chambers, “What’s going on?”
“It’s the elements! I need your help!” The two sisters stood side by side, ready to fight off the mesh of energy which contained the six ponies inside, “I hope they can get back here soon...”
===
“Dougy! Bro, you home?” Decibel shouted, curious as to where his friend could be.
“Are you sure this is where he lives... I mean even for Dougy Giro, this is awful... shameless even...” Sonata pointed out Dougy’s choice in real estate, consisting of a pile of cardboard boxes with a flag poked into the top of it.
“You kidding Sonny? This has Dougy written all over it!” Decibel shrugged the box, “I’m just glad it didn’t collapse in the rain.”
“Hold up, you guys didn’t even use the Call Box!” Breath pointed to a speaker on the wall.
“Locomotive Breath, please, why would one need a call box for a cardboard box?” Sonata asked.
Locomotive Breath held the button down, “Dougy? Are you home? Three of your best friends in the world are waiting for you outside!”
With that, a buzz gave out of the speaker, and the card board box opened up.
“See guys? He’s probably just waiting for us in the lobby!” Breath said as he entered into the box.
“Lobby?” Sonata asked, as Decibel followed Breath inside the box. He sighed and entered himself, only to be thrust into a 5 star luxury resort. The walls decorated with fine art, a Greek fountain spraying water into the air, and Dougy sprawled out and asleep on an antique couch. The one factor making his home less valuable; everything was made entirely of cardboard. The art, the fountain, the couch; cardboard.
“Dougy!” Breath shouted to wake up his friend, “Wake up! We need to bring the boys together! We’re on a mission from Celestia!”
“Mrph... Wuzzat?” The red Earth pony rubbed his hoof against his eye and scratched his flank, encrusted with a quarter note smiley face cutie mark, “Gasp! Breath! Dec! Sonny! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you guys!” He reeled all of his friends in for a group hug, “How long has it been? It feels like years!”
“It’s been, like, three days dude” Decibel smirked, trying to loosen Dougy’s grip.
“Well that’s an eternity to me! So what’s this mission you were talking about?”
“We’re gonna become new Elements of Harmony, something about its energy, blah blah blah, want in?” Breath asked.
“WOULD I!?!” Dougy answered feverishly, “Being the Element of Laughter has always been my dream!”
“Seriously? I thought you dream was something about filling Bronco’s Hoofball stadium with water so that sea ponies could play sports...” Sonata asked.
“Hey, a pony can have more than one dream, right?” He pointed out; combing his short brown hair back into what was probably a messier state than before, “Let’s do this!”
` Locomotive Breath smirked and teleported everyone off to Jazz House. It was never hard to find Jazz House the Zebra, considering his... advantage.
Jazz House ran behind a street corner breathing heavily, guitar in hand, “Huh... huh... Can’t a guy just play a little street music without...?”
Before he could finish his sentence, a pink pony grabbed his leg “Please! Love me forever!”
“I’m sorry! I don’t know who you are!!!” He shook the mare off his leg and ran down an alleyway.
“There he is girls!” The pony shouted, “Wait, I only want to suffocate you with love!” A mob of mares (and a few colts) flooded the alleyway after their ideal perfect stallion. Jazz was starting to run out of breath, when he jumped into a dumpster, watching the mob run past.
“Huh... huh... Curse me and my overly kindness towards mares! Are they gone?” Jazz peeked out of the dumpster.
“I’m not sure... I’ll keep an eye out...” Dougy whispered.
“Wh... DOUGY!?!” The startle launched Jazz out of the dumpster, Dougy jumping out as well. Jazz found himself surrounded by most of his other friends, “Thank Celestia it’s you guys... What are you all doing here?”
“Princess Celestia wants us to become bearers of the Elements of Harmony, to help distribute its powers from the normal bearers. You up for it?” Decibel asked, offering a hoof to help up his buddy.
“Well... Alright I suppose. I take it we need to get Squealer now, right?” Jazz asked.
===
“I’M GOING TO LOVE AND TOLERATE YOU TO DEATH!” Screamed the massive dragon made of sparkling red magic. Its tail slammed into a pillar, Celestia managing to avoid the crumbling stone thanks to Luna’s magic grabbing hold of it. The dragon stood on its two legs and let out a roar of epic proportions, taking up almost all the chamber’s space. Inside it’s see-through, yet impenetrable chest resided the Elements of Harmony. All six ponies passed out, not aware that the power that has saved Equestria so many times in the past has taken the form of a rampaging dragon and is threatening the whole world.
“Thank you sister...” Celestia gasped, “How long do you think we can keep this up?”
“As long as we have to Tia! Equestria depends on it!” Luna claimed victoriously, before the dragon blew its magic breath at the two sisters. A bubble of magic protected them, but its acidic effects dissolved the stone around them, “Then again, a friendly reminder to hurry up wouldn’t be so bad...”
“Yes... But how can we...” Celestia dodged another blast of magic breath, “When we can’t even get a minute’s break? And the Royal guards are busy trying to stop this thing?” She glanced over at a hand full of her soldiers being caught in magic breath and turned into stone.
Luna thought for a second, “Wait, aren’t you are Locomotive Breath close?”
“Wh, what?” She asked, confused by what her sister meant.
“You know; that special bond thing you two have!” Luna exclaimed, avoiding a clash from the Dragon’s claw.
Celestia began to blush, “Wh... NO! That would be highly inappropriate! Luna, this is hardly the time or place to be talking about that!”
Luna rolled her eyes, “No Tia! The Spell! The one that can teleport him here or you to him!”
“Uh... OH! Yes of course! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?” Celestia took a minute to step back from the Beast, as her horn began to glow.
===
“So, I take it we need to get Squealer now?” Jazz asked, finally done catching his breath.
“Precisely!” Sonata exclaimed, “Then we can teleport to the castle and this dreadful fiasco of teleporting will FINALLY be over!”
“Hold up, I just had a thought...” Decibel thought, “Can we do this with Squealer?”
“Come on Dec”, Dougy said, “Just because he’s kind of a jerk sometimes doesn’t mean he’s not our friend!”
“No, I don’t mean that, it’s just... Squealer isn’t a pony... He’s a warthog! Can he even be an element bearer?”
“Good question Decibel! I’ll be sure to ask Tia when I see her!” Locomotive Breath pointed out.
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Lookie, she’s summoning me!” He lifted his hoof in the air is it began disintegrating into magic, “You’ll have to get Squealer on your own! But I’ll be back later guys!” Breath lifted his hoof to wave goodbye, which was already dissolved into magic, “I’ll come back to bring you guys to the castle once you get him!”
With that, Locomotive Breath dissolved into a puff of smoke and went flying off towards the mountains where the castle was.
“Well, now what?” Jazz asked, brushing the back of his head.
“I guess we go get Squealer now...” Decibel started thinking out loud, “Now if I were a metal headed, easily frustrated warthog, where would I be right now?”
“Probably asleep!” Dougy pointed out, “Squealer and I had a SUPER awesome house show last night! I had never seen anyone drink that much fruit punch and still manage to stand, let alone walk home! I was so partied out, I couldn’t even move and I was stuck on the couch all night where you guys found me!” Decibel stuck a hoof in his mouth to get him to stop talking.
“So he’s at home!” Decibel stretched out his wings and started to hover, “Alright! Let’s get a move on guys!”
“Wait, we have to walk!?!” Sonata complained, “But it’s so far!”
“Well hey, how about I use my magical horn to teleport us there?” Decibel mocked his friend, “Not like you know that spell, so yeah, we’re walking!”
“There he is girls! Love and tolerate him!!!” A purple filly from around a corner shouted, followed in tow by a mob of other mares.
“RUNNING!” Jazz House screamed, “We’re running now!”
===
With a gust of wind and a bright light, Locomotive Breath found himself back in the main hall of the Castle once again.
“Tia! Glad to see you so soon, but we only have one more to pick up! Also, can a warthog become an Element of Harmony?”
When Breath opened his eyes, Celestia wasn’t in front of him, but behind, where she had used a bubble to protect the two of them from the Dragon’s breath. By the dirt on her face and her tired, sweaty appearance, he suddenly realized what was going on.
“Help...” Was the only word she could produce before she knelt over and collapsed on the ground.
“Celestia!” Breath, held her head up, but she was unconscious. His brow furrowed and horn glowed orange as he turned back to face the dragon, roaring in his face, “You do NOT! I repeat, do NOT knock out the Princess of Equestria! Bad Dragon! BAD!”
With a shout of his voice, the dragon flew backwards into a wall of the castle. The beast looked shaken, but not defeated.
“Locomotive Breath, no!” Luna shouted, “We can’t harm it! It’s holding Twilight and the others!”
Breath looked closely and noticed the six mares inside the dragon’s chest, exhausted and unconscious, as the Dragon began to rise from it dizzy state, “Well, how do we stop it then?”
“Just make sure it doesn’t leave the Castle! But with Celestia out, I need your help!”
The Dragon grabbed Breath, squeezing his face purple as he couldn’t breathe for air, “Gotchya princess!” He squeaked with a nasally voice as the beast threw him against a wall.
===
“Squealer!!! WAKE UP!” Decibel shouted, pounding on the front door of a house in what seemed to be a particularly nice neighborhood.
“I’m never going to get how SQUEALER of all people gets a pad this nice” Jazz House pointed.
“Well, even though he can be... pushy at times, he is the most loyal warthog I know”, Sonata pointed out, “Not to say I know many warthogs, but his head’s in the right place at least.”
“GggGGgoooOOooO AwaaaAAAaaAAaaayYYyyY...” Groaned a gristly Trottingham accent from within the house.
“Squealer! We need your help! We’re gonna be Elements of Harmony, and you are too!” Decibel shouted at the door.
The door’s locks finally started to click; towering over the other ponies by at least another head stood a two legged, magenta colored swine wearing blue Jeans and a tattered green jacket. Squealer rubbed the crust out of his eyes with his two fingered hand, “Yew wan’ me to do WHAT now?”
“Celestia told us that we have to become new Elements of Harmony! And we want you!” Dougy popped out of nowhere in Squealer’s face.
“... Woi?” He grunted.
“Because the current element bearers can’t maintain the power of the Elements!”
“... Woi?”
“Because the Elements have experienced a boom in power that nopony has ever seen before!”
“... Woi?”
“It’s Because of Nightmare Moon!” Locomotive Breath interrupted.
Everypony jumped at their friend who had teleported in the middle of their circle.
“Wait, I thought that Luna...” Decibel started, interrupted by Locomotive Breath teleporting them back into the Castle.
===
Standing in the middle of the room was the Red Dragon made of magic from before, only with one slight alteration: Nightmare Moon riding its back.
“Glad to see you could make it back...” Luna coughed, tired but not out.
Decibel looked puzzed at the Princess of the night, then back to Nightmare Moon, “That still doesn’t explain anything...”
“THEN why don’t I explain for you, simpleton?” Nightmare Moon lowered herself off of the Dragon’s back. She appeared her usual, evil self. “You see, separating me from Luna did NOTHING but waste more of your precious time! While Twilight and her little friends ran around like nothing was wrong, I was remained alive, feeding off the Elements of Harmony’s spare energy. And believe me, there’s more where that came from!” The Dragon lifted its front feet into the air and roared.
“Okay then, you have the Elements, what do you plan to do now?” Locomotive Breath questioned.
“Take over the world, of course! My species and I crave darkness to survive, and with the Precious Elements under my control, there’s no way the sun shall ever raise again!” The dragon held in its claws the Princess of the Sun. Not dead, but helpless.
“She’s right... Unless I know the sun will come up, I can’t lower the moon”, Luna pointed out.
“Don’t worry! You can have your Princess back... Once I destroy the Elements that is!” Nightmare Moon pointed to the Dragon’s chest, the current Element Bearers still floating around unconsciously.
“Give me back my sister you creep!” Decibel charged towards the Dragon full speed, but was stopped by Breath.
“Dec, stop! We’ll stop her, okay? But we just can’t charge them and expect to beat them! We need a plan...” Breath explained.
“Oh! Oh!” Dougy tried to get everyone’s attention, “We could kill her with kindness!”
“Won’t do any good, Dougy, she’s got the epitome of kindness inside that Dragon there” Breath stated, stroking his beard.
“But wait! We can get Jazz to do it! He’s always super kind! Even to the mares that chase him down the street and stuff!” Dougy insisted. What they didn’t notice was how the Dragon almost looked like it was going to throw up.
“What? What’s wrong? What do you think you’re doing!?!” Nightmare Moon cried out, as the Dragon spat out Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness.
“Oi, yew blokes see that?” Squealer pointed out, “That thing spat out Dec’s sister!”
“You’re right! Dougy! Say more good things about us!” Locomotive Breath started shaking Dougy’s solders.
“Come on Breath, you guys have got to say something nice about me before I go throwing out compliments like that!” Dougy giggled and blushed like a school filly.
“Dougy! There’s no time for that!” Breath shouted into Dougy’s face.
“That’s enough! Finish them, my pet!” Nightmare Moon commanded the dragon, as it began to charge the group.
“Dec! Squealer! Luna! Hold that thing off for me!” Locomotive Breath called out to the three.
Luna and Decibel took off while Squealer charged head on at the Dragon, tackling the knee and toppling the giant over.
“Okay, so I’ve got to give compliments to get compliments, aye?” Locomotive Breath stared down angrily at the Red Earth pony.
“Ah huh!” Dougy smiled looking up at Breath with big puppy eyes.
“Okay! Um... Sonny! Say something nice about Dougie!” Breath dragged over the unicorn who sheepishly smiled to Dougie.
“Um... Dougie?” Sonata started
“HHYEEEEESSS???” Dougie squealed, fluttering his eyes.
“I um... I really like... your mane?” Sonata’s lie worked.
“Awww, thanks buddy! I always love how you’re always so generous, paying for dinner, and coming to my house shows that I know you hate! I can always count on you to sacrifice for your friends!”
The Dragon once again belched out another pony, this one being Rarity, the Element of Generosity. In light of the moment, Squealer slightly released his grip on the dragon’s leg, sending him flying into Sonata.
“Squealer! Your turn!” Breath yelled out to the warthog who got back on his legs.
“Ugh... I loik the house shows yew throw. There are always good bands there. Nao if you’ll excuse meh...” He charged back over to the fight.
“Thanks Squealer! And I can always count on you to appear my shows! And you always stick around to help clean up, even doing the dishes! I Hardly know anyone as loyal as you!”
The Dragon heaved out Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Decibel managed to catch her in midflight and let her down with Rarity and Fluttershy safely. He managed to drag all three over to Breath and the others, far enough away from the Dragon.
“Decibel! Go!” Breath commanded him.
“Uh... I like how you let me stay at your place the night Wheels kicked me out of the house...” Before he could say any more, the dragon’s tail swatted Decibel out of the air.
“Hey, no problem at all dude! I know how your little sister is all about you and coming home late with nasty party stank! But if there was something you did reek in, it would be the truth! I don’t think you’ve ever told a lie in your life! You’re always so honest with your friends!”
The dragon clenched at its stomach as AppleJack, the element of Honesty was expunged. The creature was growing tired, and it only had two elements left.
“Curse you! Stop losing your power! Go! Attack the Red Pony! He’s the one who’s doing this to you!” Nightmare Moon commanded. The creature then noticed the ponies off to the side and charged. Luckily, Luna had brought up a magic shield to hold off the beast.
Luna screamed out, the energy draining from her, “Please, I can’t hold it!”
“Locomotive Breath?” Dougy got his attention, with ridiculously big buggy eyes, “it’s your turn!”
“Sigh... hehe... You Dougy? I love the way you always can make everyone smile. Even in the most dangerous and life straining situations, you always can make everyone around you laugh”
“Thanks Breath! You probably already know it, but you’re the most powerful, most magical unicorn I’ve ever seen!”
The Dragon all of a sudden stopped in its tracks; blinking once before it dissolved into electricity and was vacuumed back into Twilight’s horn. She and Pinkie Pie began falling out of the air before Luna and Decibel caught them.
“AAAWWW! You guys really are my best friends!” Dougy squealed, getting into Breath’s personal space. Locomotive Breath then shoved the Earth Pony on the ground and glared at Nightmare Moon victoriously.
“I don’t understand... What happened? THEY are the Elements... not YOU!” Nightmare Moon began to back up into a corner, surrounded and nowhere else to go.
“You think you can kill the power of friendship just by breaking a few pieces of jewelry?” Breath stated, standing tall with his friends.
“Powah of Friendship? Come on Breath, that’s layme...” Squealer was quickly shushed out by Breath.
“Any last words, Nightmare Moon?” Breath called out.
“How... how did you do it? I almost had all of Equestria... Who are you!?!”
“We’re the Elements... no... No! We aren’t the Elements of Harmony! We’re its back up! I’m Locomotive Breath! Backup Element of Magic!”
“Jazz House! Back up Element of Kindness!”
“Sonata! Back up Element of Generosity!”
“Dougy Giro! Back up Element of Laughter!”
“Squealer! Back up Element of Loyalty!”
“Decibel! Back up Element of Honesty!”
With each roll call from each of their names, each piece of Jewelry reformed and attached itself to each pony, zebra and warthog; each emitting a beam of light, striking down Nightmare Moon.
“Rah! Curses! This can’t be how it ends! We were so clooooseeeee...”
With that, the Evil entity was banished. Bro-hoofs and bro-hugs were shared around between the back-up Elements. To everyone’s surprise, the sun had once again begun to rise. Locomotive Breath was the first to notice Princess Celestia gaining consciousness and raising the sun. He ran over as the two embraced in a hug. Before they could even notice, the other six Elements finally awoke as well.
“Ugh... What happened?” Twilight awoke, hoof to her aching head, “The last thing I remember was...”
Pinkie awoke as though she just got out of a two minute nap, “Oh! You mean the part where Locomotive Breath was all “We’re the back up Elements, and we’re gonna stop you!” And Nightmare moon was all like “Oh no! They stopped me!” And then Decibel came up and swooped us out of the air like a knight in shining armor, and I wanted to be all like “Thank you so much cause if I fell from that height, I’d be Mushy Pie instead of Pinkie Pie! An...”
Twilight stuck her Hoof in her friend’s mouth, “Actually, I don’t remember any of that at all...”
Luna rested on the ground, worn from the battle, “It’s all true... The elements were under the control of Nightmare Moon, and they took you all over. Luckily, these six managed to realize their connection to the Elements to save you and stop her.”
“And I couldn’t be any more proud of you six!” Celestia said, leaving Breath’s embrace.
Twilight walked over to her teacher, seeing her with her former ‘faithful student’ was strange, but intriguing.
“Um... Mr. Locomotive Breath?” Twilight asked nervously, “Do you think, I mean, I’m a big fan of your research and all... Well, can you stop by my library sometime? I’d love for you to come over and explain some of your spells that you had written...”
Breath raised an eyebrow and laughed, “Sorry kid, I think I’m a little old for you, don’t you think?”
“Oh no! Agh! No!” She started to blush, “I just meant, you know, explain some of your theories behind the spells you created. Just... as students of Celestia would?”
“Heh, alrighty then, don’t see why not! I can stop by tomorrow if you’d like!”
“Ah... YES! Yes I would definitely like!” Twilight turned around to join her friends, giggling like a schoolgirl.
Decibel flew over to his twin sister, still a little woozy. She was about to speak to him, but covered her mouth, thinking she would still shout. He put his hoof over hers and removed it gently.
“Yay!” She squeaked, giving her brother a hug.
“I expect this means we’ll be seeing each other a lot more often now?” Decibel asked.
“Only if you want to of course” She smirked at him.
“Sure, why not?” He laughed.
“So, Princess, what exactly does dis mean, Element of Harmony an’ all?” Squealer asked, “Ah we gonna have to save Equestria every day now?”
“Well, when the time does come up I suppose”, Celestia responded, “But how was it Locomotive Breath put it? ‘Back up Elements’, I believe? So if our normal team isn’t too busy...”
The six girls gathered around Celestia, “We can count on you guys to be there!” Twilight finished.
“You guys... I’m feeling a group hug coming along...” Dougy shook with anticipation.
“Naw... Naw, I’m not feelin’ it...” Squealer said, trying to get an excuse not to get close to his buddies. Not before an orange aura pulled him in close with both teams of harmony, Celestia and Luna.
“Not on your life man, feel the love...” Locomotive Breath muttered, pulling this massive hug together.
===
“PLEASE darling, you simply need to stand still for a few more minutes!” Rarity was still sewing up a suit inside her boutique, Decibel standing awkwardly for the modeling.
“Why did I say yes to this again?” He questioned, watching Fluttershy giggle at him, remembering her sickening days of modeling.
“Because! I need to make up for lost time not being able to make suits for colts! Oh Fluttershy, I can’t believe you hid him from me this long!”
“I just didn’t want to seem like a show off, him being so famous and everything...” She explained meekly.
Wheels flew onto the podium where Decibel stood, “Wow... Seriously Shy, You should have done this a looong time ago.”
“Kid, I swear, you are not going to tell any pony about...” Decibel was interrupted by a flash of light from a Polaroid Camera.
“Alright, I won’t tell, I’ll SHOW them!” Wheels giggled and ran off.
Decibel sighed in defeat, not able to move from Rarity’s grasp, “Relax darling, you have no idea how quickly things like this clear up with the press” Rarity tried to comfort him.
“Egh... It’s not the media I’m worried about... It’s my FRIENDS...”
===
“Mighty kind a ya to lend a hand! We’ve gotten more behind this Applebuck season what with the whole dilemma and everythin’” AppleJack said, gathering a bucket of apples.
“No biggie, although I gotta say, the whole thing turned aut NOT how ah wished” Squealer claimed, shaking the apples out of a tree with a punch.
“Whatya mean? We saved the world and everything, isn’t that what matters?” she asked.
“Well, nao that oh’m the Element of Loyalty, ponies ah gonna keep assumin’ oh’m their best buddy now” Squealer complained, scooping apples into a basket.
“What’s wrong with that? Ya’ll can’t be THAT bad off that you don’ want any friends”
“It’s not about makin’ friends... It’s about those friends askin’ for FAVORS all the time...” Squealer pouted, “Of all the Elements, why’d it have to be loyalty?”
AppleJack couldn’t help but chuckle, “Don’ worry partner, I’m sure it’ll pass!”
“Wouldn’t count on it!” Rainbow Dash said, relaxed up on top of a cloud, “You have NO idea how many favors ponies always ask me! ‘Hey Rainbow? Mind moving the clouds? Hey Rainbow, mind moving THESE clouds now?’ You’re not gonna get used to it, Squealer...”
“Well, ain’t that just great!” Squealer exclaimed, sitting down with his arms crossed.
“SQUEALER!!!” Wheels came gliding over the hill they were on, “Look at this picture of Decibel!!!”
“... Sweet Celestia, that’s amazing!!! Aw, the poor bloke’s nevah gonna live this down!” Squealer laughed, “Oh man, way to make my day better!”
===
“Jazz, do you know if there’s some place to eat around here?” Sonata asked, stomach growling, “I don’t recall eating anything since yesterday...”
“Oh I don’t know, why don’t you look around and find the giant pink building covered in frosting?” Jazz remarked, “It’s probably a bakery, let’s go in!”
The two stood in front, but noticed it was remarkably... empty...
“You sure this is a good idea? It looks awful... deserted...” Sonata pointed out.
Jazz House peeked open the door, “Only one way to find out...” The two looked inside. Behind the counter hid Mr. and Mrs. Cake.
“Um... Why are you two hiding there?” Sonata asked. The only response he got was Mr. Cake releasing his arm around his wife pointing to the middle of the room. There stood Dougy Giro and Pinkie Pie.
“Wait wait wait! You like parties too!?!” Pinkie squealed in delight.
“Yeah! I throw house shows back at my place all the time! We should totally, like, collaborate on a party or something!” Dougy gasped at the thought.
“AH! I can make cupcakes!!!”
“OH! And I can make teenie tiny pizza rolls!!!”
“EEEEH! And I get pin the tail on the pony!!!!!!”
“AAAGH! And I can get the live bands!!!!!!”
“PARTY!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!” They both squealed in a pitch that only dogs could hear. Jazz house and Sonata slowly backed out of the building before either of them could get involved.
“Jazz! Sonata! You need to look at this picture of Decibel!!!” Wheels came barreling through a crowd of ponies, Polaroid photo in hoof.
“...Oh man, that’s just beautiful!”
===
“And so that would mean...” Twilight was interrupted by Locomotive Breath.
“That the ‘multiply Intensify’ spell is merely a shrinking spell reversed and combined with a levitation spell! You’re catching on!”
“That... Wow, that’s clever!” Twilight exclaimed, reviewing the spell once again on paper, “I would have never thought about that!”
Breath, in light of himself, polished his hoof with his breath, “Yeah, well, you know...”
“So... You’ve got to tell me!” Twilight rested on her front hooves against her cheeks, “What was it like being Celestia’s Most Faithful student for so long? You’ve probably been her star pupil longer than I was born!”
“Heh, hey now, I’m not that old! But I get what you’re saying... She’s a total sweet heart. She’ll get stuck onto you for life like she does with me!” Both of the Unicorns laughed, “But she... sigh, she really is something...”
Before Breath could start daydreaming too long, Wheels burst down the door of the library, gasping for air, “BREATH... gasp, YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!!!”
“No he doesn’t!!!” Decibel chased in behind her, wearing half of a suit that Rarity wasn’t able to finish before he soared off after her, “Get back here you little...”
Wheels threw the picture at Breath before hovering out the window. Decibel stopped to catch his breath. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh Breath. I’m too tired to care anymore”
Breath’s eyes scanned the picture, “Meh, I’ve seen you do worse” He threw the picture away over his shoulder.
“Whew! Thanks Breath...”
“But Twilight, if you wanna see something REALLY embarrassing, lemme get out my scrapbook of Decibel’s stupid moments!”
“AW COME ON!”
===
Authors note: So! First fanfic done! I really enjoyed these characters a lot, they're based off of different people I've met in the music business, and were just a blast to be around. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did jamming with them. And hey, if this story does any good, I've had a few ideas of where these guys could go next...
