Boncord: The Pre-Sequel

"Hold still!" Bon Bon complained as Chrysalis struggled to her hooves while Bon Bon attempted to examine her wounds. The trio stood along a sandy beach with the ocean on one side and dense foliage on the other.

"I don't need your help! I was mostly just in shock." Chrysalis stepped away and then slumped down near the water. Bon Bon caught up and went back to treating her wounds.

Nearby; Discord stared at his paws in disbelief and then began examining the Elements of Harmony. "I just don't understand how I did that."

"It certainly didn't come from this trash!" Chrysalis snapped as she snatched one away and stared at it.

"I know things seem bad now." Bon Bon sighed. "But we're here in one piece, right?"

"Mostly one piece." Chrysalis winced in pain as Bon Bon sutured a wound on her back and then began bandaging one of her wings. "Surely, if it wasn't for you two I would be dead now. I suppose I am in your debt." She sighed.

"But why did the Elements of Harmony come with us?" Discord pondered. "I wasn't even thinking about them."

"Starlight Glimmer was right though. There is nopony left who can wield them!" Chrysalis shook the element she held with her right-front hoof. As she did it glowed bright-white and morphed an ornate golden anklet with a blue gem set in the center and attached itself firmly around her hoof.

"Curios." Discord pondered.

"I don't feel any different." Chrysalis noted.

"What were you thinking about, just now?" Bon Bon quizzed.

"Regrets." The others stared at her expecting a more detailed reply. "Just- that if I had set aside my differences sooner I could have helped the ponies defeat Starlight Glimmer and then things would be so much different now- more prosperous. No- more peaceful. Maybe there was a way to keep my swarm fed without preying on others; but once the Crystal Empire falls I am all that remains." Chrysalis looked down at the ground as a tear came to her eye.

"Then we better make sure the Crystal Empire doesn't fall- and I guess we better keep these safe." Bon Bon gathered the rest of the elements and shuffled them into a saddle bag.

"What's that?" Discord whispered. They could hear whistling coming from further down the beach.

"Oh, excuse me!" A male voice called out as a hippogriff with a ruffled green feather pattern, pointed with earthy brown colors, wandered into view. "Don't usually see many ponies about on the eastern shore." He added as he flashed Bon Bon an odd look.

"Why is that?" Bon Bon queried. The hippogriff went back to searching around the area as though he didn't hear the question.

"Oh, I don't suppose you've seen a hippogriff around here, have you?" The hippogriff asked in a troubled tone.

"You mean other than you?" Discord piped in sarcastically.

"Me? Don't be ridiculous! I'm a sea pony!" The hippogriff chuckled.

"So then Queen Novo didn't use a magic pearl to transform the hippogriffs into the sea ponies to escape the Storm King?" Bon Bon raised her hoof to her chin.

"Why, yes, of course I knew that! The name's Papageno! Servant to Queen Novo, herself!" The hippogriff boasted proudly as he offered a flamboyant hoofshake to each of the trio. "Wait! How do you know about the hippogriffs magic relics? Those are top secret. After Starlight Glimmer defeated the Storm King; she started selling us Equestria's abundant supply of arcanium to help us make more and we've since expanded our trade- not just magic pearls anymore: magic gemstones, magic carpets, magic flutes..."Papageno paused for a breath. "and I'm probably saying more than I'm supposed to." his enthusiasm faded with a sigh.

"You buy arcanium from Starlight Glimmer?" Bon Bon rolled her eyes.

"Yes, seems like a fair trade to me." Papageno nodded.

"She steals magic and cutie marks from ponies and turns it into arcanium!" Bon Bon protested furiously.

"If that were true then surely Queen Novo would never buy it!" Papageno huffed back angrily.

"That's what I came here to prove!" A female voice called out as the foliage to the west rustled. A yellow hippogriff with aquamarine colored tail and crown plumage wandered out of the brush and stood beside Papageno.

"Princess Skystar! Your mother has been absolutely worried about you!" Papageno lectured. "You know better than to run off chasing your crazy conspiracy theories!"

"I know what you're saying is true." Princess Skystar spoke compassionately as she looked over at the trio. "But my mother-" She pulled out a clam shell dressed with 'googly eyes' ."I absolutely refuse to act on unfounded rumors. Do you want to cause a diplomatic incident, young lady!?" She clapped the shell open and shut while speaking in a mocking voice.

"What can you tell me about this magic relic?" Chrysalis held her anklet out to the two hippogriffs.

"It was like these ones before." Bon Bon produced one of the broken elements and held it out.

"Ah, the Elements of Harmony." Papageno pondered as he looked it over. "Starlight Glimmer asked us if we could repair them- but their magic is different- they will only yield their power to a chosen bearer."

"It must have been so beautiful before." Princess Skystar sighed as she reached for the element. As she clutched it in her claw a brilliant glow erupted outward. She opened her claw and saw that it had transformed into a golden pendant with a dazzling red gemstone set in the center.

"No pony left who can wield them!" Bon Bon shouted in revelation.

"You mean I-" Chrysalis turned around and stood shoulder to shoulder with Princess Skystar. "You mean we are the Elements of Harmony now?"

"The elements must have brought us here to find their new chosen bearers." Bon Bon pondered.

"So then it wasn't me who teleported us here?" Discord sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"I don't see how I embody any of the six elements." Chrysalis rolled her eyes.

"The elements have changed throughout history to represent the things the world needs most to thrive." Discord explained. "I should know. I was there; albeit trapped in stone for most of it."

"Chrysalis was being penitent when her element chose her. She must be the Element of Penitence " Bon Bon put her hoof on Chrysalis' shoulder as she spoke. "Princess Skystar risked her safety coming here to help the ponies of Equestria when she could otherwise live a perfectly comfortable life back home- she must be the Element of Compassion." She finished as she paced over to Princess Skystar.

"And I suppose magic will make it all complete once again." Discord pondered. "Then what are the other three?"

"This is pointless!" Chrysalis protested. "Until we find the remaining four elements- we won't defeat Starlight Glimmer with hope and idle speculation." She sneered.

"You're right." Bon Bon looked down and pondered momentarily. "If we could find where Starlight Glimmer is holding Scorpan and then free him we might be able to turn Tirek against her. Have your spies turned up anything?" Bon Bon turned to Chrysalis- who shook her head 'no' in reply.

"The Hippogriff Navy was paid to transport a large container to the Dragon Lands recently! A whole compliment of troops from Canterlot watched us the whole time to make sure we didn't peak! Very spooky!" Papageno piped in with excitement. "But that was a top secret mission so I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Then I guess we're heading for the Dragon Lands!" Princess Skystar said enthusiastically.

"Young lady, I can't go back to your mother empty-clawed!" Papageno protested.

"By the time you get home we'll be on our way back to Canterlot. If she's so worried about me then tell her she can meet me there!" Princess Skystar shouted as she motioned for the others to follow her- southeast, along the shoreline.

"There's only one problem." Bon Bon piped in as the rest of the group followed. "Not all of us can fly."

"Did pony say she need yak boat!?" A burly, male voice called out from further down the shore. A long wooden vessel, crowned with ornate carvings and patchwork plates of bronze armor- with a dozen pairs of oars protruding along its length paddled swiftly toward the shore. Prince Rutherford stood at the bow as his fur swept back heroically in the wind. Princess Skystar landed and lined up with the rest of the group, along the shore, as it slowed to a halt.

"A yak boat?" Discord raked his beard in a confounded manner.

"Yak boat- best boat!" Prince Rutherford proclaimed with a stomp of his hooves. The crew could be heard stomping and cheering in agreement from within the depths of the vessel.

"What are yaks doing on this side of Equestria?" Chrysalis asked.

"Yaks blocked in mountains by pony war zone! Yak try to make friends with purple pony but purple pony refuse! So yak make boat and row around war zone! Now yak head to Dragon Lands to try and make friend with dragons." Prince Rutherford explained.

"Dragon fire- best fire!" Princess Skystar said in a comical ventriloquist voice with a giggle as she held out her clam-shell companion.

"Yak will see about that!" Prince Rutherford said boastfully as he stared intensely at the clam shell.

"You'll bring us to the Dragon Lands!?" Bon Bon asked enthusiastically.

Prince Rutherford nodded and gestured toward the boat. The boat re-positioned itself broadside to the shore and two burly yaks slammed a boarding ramp down on the beach near the party. "Yak best helpers!"

The party boarded the boat, double-file. Bon Bon pinched her hoof against her snout. "That smell..." She whispered to Discord as she walked beside him. As the they finished boarding the two yaks in charge of the ramp pulled it back up onto the boat. The boat turned its bow to the horizon and took off swiftly as the crew inside began rhythmically paddling the mighty oars, singing "Yak song- best song!" repeatedly.

"It could be worse." Discord mocked.