Chapters It was a calm day in the realm of Equestria, where Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship, walked in on her fellow princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, looking at a hexagonal gem resting on the table.
"Oh, greetings, Twilight," Celestia greeted as soon as she and the other princesses noticed her. "You arrived just in time."
"For what, exactly?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head.
Twilight walked up to
"This is a hexagonal gem that was created in the space between Equestria and the alternate universe puplated by those bipedal counterparts of ours."
"I think they're called "humans," princess," Twilight remarked. "And besides, how did you even manage to get this thing?"
Suddenly, Discord appeared.
"Who has a pair of fingers, and is the answer you're looking for?"
Discord snapped his fingers, and his head transformed into a glowing neon sign reading "This guy!" in bold letters.
"Right, I guess it's not out of the question that you could head to the space between the worlds no problem," Twilight shrugged. "Now, do you know why you had to retrieve this thing?"
Discord's head turned back to normal with a poof.
"I'm afraid I'm just as lost as you are, Twilight. Celestia gave me an order, and knowing not to mess with her too much, I did it without asking any questions."
Discord threw a glance at Celestia.
"However, perhaps the princess wouldn't mind telling you about it?"
Twilight turned back to Princess Celestia, who briefly explained.
"We needed to gather this device, because if we can manage to power it with our magic, we can use it as a communication device between Equestria and the other world."
Twilight, however, wasn't fully convinced.
"Is that really necessary? I mean, we can just wait for Sunset Shimmer to jump out of the portal and inform us about it. Or maybe we could also wait for her to use her journal, that can alert us too, right?"
Cadence shook her head.
"That would put a bit too much pressure on Sunset, Twilight: You're saying that, alongside adapting to a new world, she also has to keep us informed of any magical happenings in that dimension. Don't you think that's a bit much for one pony."
"Right, I see where you're coming from..."
Twilight glanced at the gem again.
"But is this particular object really necessary?"
"It's most certainly necessary."
Celestia smiled.
"After all, something big is going to happen in the alternate world."
Twilight's eyes widened at the statement.
"What's going to happen?!"
In the alternate world, a shadowy figure stood on a rooftop, looking at the city in search for a certain group of people.
One of which, Flash Sentry, was found at the park, playing his guitar.
A perfect start, if the being could say so himself.
So, he spread his bat-like wings and flew past Flash at high speed, getting his attention.
But what also caught his attention was that his guitar had suddenly vanished.
And the why became clear once he turned and looked at the winged figure's arm: he was holding it.
Not willing to let his instrument leave his hands, Flash stood up and chased after the figure, who flew away into another part of the city.
On this side of the city, Vignette Valencia almost took a selfie with her phone, before the figure flew past her and snatched it, causing her to give chase.
Soon after, in a nearby store, Juniper Montage came out of a technology store holding a new camera.
A camera that the figure promptly snatched, prompting her to give chase.
In yet another part of the city, Wallflower Blush was watering the plants at the entrance of Canterlot High School, before the figure flew by and snatched the flowers.
Not the watering can, the flowers themselves.
Obviously, Wallflower gave chase.
Finally, in what looked like a forest, Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce were setting up a picnic table, until you-know-who came and snatched the most important thing of any picnic table ever.
The picnic basket.
Three guesses as to what they did next.
With the items stolen, the figure landed at a large rock in the middle of the forest and put the items on the ground, before he looked at the rock.
For the most part, it looked like an ordinary rock, except in the center it had a spiraling pattern, ending in five circled objects, their placement forming the shape of a star.
He heard the group coming soon afterwards, bringing a smile to his face as he vanished, just in time for everyone to arrive through the bushes.
The first one to react to the others was Juniper, surprisingly enough, who chirped up upon seeing Vignette Valencia.
"Vignette!"
As soon as Vignette heard her voice and looked at her, however, she sneered.
"You?!"
Juniper flinched and backed away with a nervous smile and wave.
Now was Flash's turn to be surprised.
"Counselor Gloriosa?"
Daisy winced.
"Oh, Flash Sentry! I didn't expect one of my former campers to be here."
Just as Timber tried to explain his and his sister's presence, a blue glowing light was seen from afar, as a peculiar, magical sound of unknown nature was heard.
Naturally, the group followed the path where the glow was seen, making sure to grab their objects as they walked.
Once at the spot of the glow, they found the source to be a large rock, sitting in the middle of a path, with a pentagonal design that was connected to five circled images: A phone, a mirror, a necklace with a gemstone, the memory stone, and a shield with a thunderbolt symbol inside.
"Is this the thing that reacted to my full name?" Flash inquired.
"Only one way to find out man," Timber Spruce replied. "Flash Sentry."
The pentagonal figure glew and the line connecting to the shield glew until it spread to the circle, causing it to shine for a moment before the light vanished.
"Hmm, okay," Flash scratched his chin. "Saying my name causes it to glow and spread to the image of the shield..."
"Wallflower Blush."
The team turned and saw Wallflower crouching down next to the image of the memory stone, which glew soon after.
"I knew this image seemed familiar," Wallflower spoke as the rest walked to her side. "It resembles the stone I used to disrupt everyone's memories a long time ago."
"Whoa, you messed with the memories of people once?" Flash folded his arms and glared. "Not cool."
"I found the thing buried near the school, I used it to try make myself more memorable, and eventually I got so angry I used it without thinking," Wallflower responded, rolling her eyes. "Nobody thinks straight when they're angry!"
Gloriosa, Vignette, and Juniper exchanged looks before they nodded in agreement.
"Well, one thing's clear," Flash turned back to the rock. "This thing reacts to our names."
"And it seems to have some connection to magic, too," Wallflower spoke as she stood up.
The group exchanged looks, nodded with determination, and outside of Timber, they said their names to the stone.
"Wallflower Blush."
"Juniper Montage."
"Vignette Valencia."
"Flash Sentry."
"Gloriosa Daisy."
"Donkey!"
The team turned around and saw a talking donkey nearby, looking particularly proud of himself.
Then, once he noticed the team looking at him, he quickly made haste and left.
"Okay, we all saw that, right?" Vignette inquired.
"Yeah, but it's probably not important," Wallflower said.
"A talking donkey's fairly average compared to the other strange stuff magic's done," Flash remarked, before he felt an intense glow coming from the stone. "Like what's about to happen!"
The rest of the team closed their eyes and blocked them as the rock's symbols glew, and then each of the circled images conjoined to form a message, one that was thankfully not as bright as the last light.
Now being able to see, Flash walked forward and read the message as the girls walked up to him, listening.
"Karma, Guilt, Reflection, Communication, Purification.
Though ominous, the team couldn't figure out what exactly the message actually meant, or if it even meant anything other than a cryptic statement.
Then the message glew as it rewrote itself:
"Flash Sentry, Wallflower Blush, Juniper Montage, Vignette Valencia, Gloriosa Daisy... you are the new elements of redemption."
Before anybody could react with appropriate shock, the message shot a beam of light at the group, sending all but Timber Spruce elsewhere as the donkey from before returned, flashing a satisfied smile...
Flash Sentry fell down and landed at the front yard of a familiar building, this being Canterlot High School.
However, as soon as he stood up, he noticed the rest of the group were nowhere to be seen.
"Wallflower?"
He looked at his surroundings.
"Juniper? Vignette? Gloriosa?"
But he got no response: the most he got was a chill down his spine as the wind blew, a tumbleweed passing by as Flash noticed a very peculiar detail about the school.
It was deserted.
Completely deserted.
"Where's everyone?"
"Learning about their own elements."
Flash turned around and saw the donkey from before standing nearby, sporting a calm smile.
"The donkey?! I thought you were a one-time, throwaway joke!" Flash exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
"I'm here to serve as your guide to your element," the donkey spoke as he walked to Flash. "Just as how I'll be the guide for the rest of the group, once the time comes."
"The one who guides these "elements of redemption" is a donkey?" Flash scratched the back of his head. "I don't know whether to not be shocked, or find this the first weird thing I've encountered that's unrelated to Sunset Shimmer and the other world."
"Oh no, there's definitely a connection here. Sunset Shimmer and your element, I mean."
Flash Sentry raised an eyebrow, but before he could question what the donkey meant, a mirror emerged from the ground between the two, showing a familiar memory from the past.
This being, Flash Sentry breaking up with Sunset Shimmer.
"Sunset, I don't think this is working out."
"What are you talking about? We're considered the cutest couple, the majority of our classmates love us, we got the best notes, we're practically the perfect couple!"
"What kind of perfect couple has only one member of it benefit?"
Flash from the present grabbed his arm and looked away.
"Whatever could you mean, Flash?"
"I invited you to watch my band's show last week, and you never came. You asked me to teach you how to play the guitar, and I did, yet you never told anybody that I was the one who taught you!"
"Flash, let's be honest; that was the only thing you ever did for me."
Flash from the present clutched his stomach with his other hand, his grip getting tighter as the Sunset from the past spoke.
"I taught you the subjects you didn't understood so we would be equal in intelligence. I taught you the ropes on how to act like a couple so you wouldn't make us look like a pair of buffoons. I haggled with the music store clerk to get you the guitar you wanted, which, by the way, was the very thing that allowed you to start your stupid band in the first place!"
"I never told you I wanted the guitar! I already had a decent one-"
"That doesn't matter! Your opinions, your wants, nothing about you matters whatsoever! The only reason people even care about you, is because you're the boyfriend of the new student at Canterlot High School, who turned you from a nobody into a somebody!"
"I mean, let's be real here: Who was Flash Sentry before Sunset Shimmer?"
Flash from the present fell to his knees and took several deep breaths, while the donkey, his expression going from a surprised glance to a calm stare, continued watching.
"The fact you can't even answer that question says a lot about-"
"If that's how you really think, then maybe the sun can set without a flash."
Flash Sentry looked up, realizing what was about to come.
"Oh, Flash, there you go again, trying desperately to be funny. Just what are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying you and me, are no longer a thing. No longer an item. And in case that wasn't clear enough: We're no longer boyfriend and girlfriend."
"...You... you're not... you wouldn't dare... to tell that to me... after all I did for you, after everything I sacrificed to get you where you are, after making sure people knew who your name even was, you're going to ditch me to the side!?"
"You would've done the same thing to me had I given you time to think whether I really meant anything to you. But I'm not giving you time. And most importantly, I'm not giving you the satisfaction of throwing me to the side."
With nothing else to say, Sunset Shimmer from the past stomped away, ending the memory.
"I was angry... I wanted her to feel the same pain I did, but... I could've gone about it in another way."
"Could it have been done another way? Yes," the donkey spoke as he approached Flash. "But the way you approached it brought forth the best case scenario, for this time, Sunstet Shimmer felt the power of karma for the first time."
Flash Sentry raised an eyebrow. "Like... the element of karma?"
"Let's see what happened next."
A set of mirrors popped up, this time showing what happened since then: Sunset Shimmer's transformation and conquering of the school, The Dazzlings' song cursing everyone, Midnight Sparkle tearing open holes in reality, and Gaea Everfree threatening Camp Everfree, among other things.
One thing these visions of the past had in common, was that Flash was either affected by the events, or not present at all.
"One way or another, magic caused several mishaps: and in every single one of them, you were present, as a victim, as a witness..." the donkey frowned. "But never as someone who did anything against it."
Flash Sentry's tone grew weak.
"I should've done something to help. I should've done something, anything, at all. But... I didn't."
The mirrors vanished and the donkey smiled.
"And now you're here, a few steps away from being able to redeem that."
Flash lifted his head, but before he could ask what the donkey meant, the stone statue of the school transformed, going from a large horse into a small, hovering hammer.
"What is that thing?" Flash asked as he stood up.
"You know how judges use their hammers to bring order to the court?" the donkey pointed out as both he and Flash walked up to the hammer. "As the element of karma, it'll be your job to bring order to the real world: judging the magical mishaps. The greater their offences, the greater the strike of your hammer."
Flash raised an eyebrow. "Is that just a fancy way of saying that becoming the element of karma means I get a hammer?"
"Not just the hammer, young boy, but the ability to make a difference," the donkey smiled. "Grab the hammer, become the element of karma, and you'll never have to worry about being powerless again."
Once at the hammer's site, Flash looked back at the hovering weapon, thinking for a few seconds what to do before he ultimately grabbed it.
This was followed by a surge of electricity going through him as the statue's horse sculpture returned, and Flash's left shoulder glew.
"Without karma, those who have done wrong can never pay for their misbehavior, and thus never be set on the path to redemption."
The glow on Flash's shoulder contorted into the shield shape from the rock.
"From now on, it'll be your job to be the reaction, that'll set them straight."
Flash took off his jacket and looked at the mark of the shield, before he turned to the donkey, who gave him a nod before he teleported out of the yard, followed by Flash being teleported out himself.
Wallflower Blush landed face-first on a football field, one that seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, judging by the lack of buildings, or really, anything in the horizon.
Unlike Flash, Wallflower didn't waste time calling the names of everyone else. Instead, she silently looked around the scenery before she came to a rather obvious conclusion:
"It's deserted."
"Well, aren't we perceptive?"
Wallflower snapped at the source of the question, who turned out to be none other than the donkey himself.
"Donkey!" Wallflower snapped. "Are you the reason I got teleported to wherever this is?!"
"Why don't you take another look at the scenery?" the donkey suggested as he calmly trotted to the girl. "Maybe you'll recognize where you went?"
"What is there to recognize?" Wallflower rolled her eyes. "We're in the middle of-"
However, once she looked again, there was at least one building connected to the field, a building that sent shivers down her spine.
"Crystal Prep Academy!"
"The message didn't teleport you and the others at random," the donkey spoke. "In the brief moment its light connected with you, it saw your place of origin, and took you there."
"Well, I guess it missed something by a longshot, because I'm not a student of this academy."
The donkey lowered his eyelids. "You're right: you weren't a student."
An intense gust of wind blew, forcing Wallflower to closer her eyes.
Once the gust finished and she opened her eyes again, the building, while still fairly similar in structure, now had a different atmosphere to it.
An atmosphere that attracted Wallflower to it.
"You were something else."
She and the donkey looked through the window, and saw the students of Crystal Prep Academy as children, each wearing smaller versions of their uniforms.
And as Wallflower slowly gained a smile, the donkey explained.
"Crystal Prep Academy wasn't always an educational building. It once started as an orphanage, opened by Cadence and Cinch, so parentless children wouldn't have to go through the same homelessness that they once did."
The donkey turned to Wallflower, who was positively beaming a glowing smile.
"And one of these orphans was a certain little Wallflower Blush."
"It's exactly how I remember it!" Wallflower chirped, paying no attention to the donkey. "There's Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest, Suri Polomare, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, all of the Shadowbolts are there! They're..."
Wallflower's smile slowly turned into a frown, before she left the window and walked away.
"They're nothing more than illusions, aren't they?"
She glared at the donkey.
"This is all your doing to try and convince me to become one of those "elements of redemption," isn't it?"
"Well, I can't say I have nothing to do with this vision," the donkey answered. "But the things we see are things that happened in the past. Things that you remember."
"Yeah, the good things at least," Wallflower growled. "But if there's one thing I know about visions, is that they only show good things moments before they show the bad ones."
She turned to the donkey and folded her arms.
"So, go ahead, bring up the one memory of this place I regret. The one thing I've never been able to forget!"
The donkey raised an eyebrow as another gust of wind made Wallflower repeat the last motions: close her eyes, open them when it was done, and now they were in the middle of a snowy day.
A day Wallflower recognized so well, it made her go from angry to terrified in an instant.
"W-Wait, I-I didn't mean it for real! You didn't have to bring this up! Go back to the other thing!"
"You said it yourself, Wallflower Blush," the donkey stated as Wallflower desperately glanced between him and the windows. "The good memories are shown before the bad ones."
"Y-You don't understand, this is the memory that's been in the back of my head since I arrived at Canterlot High School! The one memory that made studying and just being there even more difficult!"
"Wallflower, we have to witness this memory. Only then can you truly understand why you were picked as the element of Guilt."
Having no other option but to remember the past, Wallflower took a deep breath and prepared for the heartbreak that would follow.
She and the donkey watched as a younger Wallflower broke out through a window, with the shadowbolts watching her as she ran as fast as she could, until she disappeared into the darkness.
"I believe you don't need this explained to you, right?" the donkey asked. "You know what happened here."
Wallflower lowered her head.
"Cinch was a very strict woman. No matter what I did, I just wasn't up to her standards. So, I had to run away, before she continued to make me feel like I was worthless."
Wallflower sniffed.
"I didn't want to run away. I didn't want to abandon the Shadowbolts... but I had no choice."
Suddenly, a snowstorm happened, causing Wallflower to once again cover her eyes.
This time, once she opened them, she found herself in the middle of the hallway of Canterlot High School, where her, now a little bit closer to her current age, leaned against a locker as she watched her fellow classmates walk by, completely ignoring her existence.
And then the donkey appeared by her side.
"Once you ran away from the orphanage, you "transferred" to Canterlot High School, hoping that you could gain a sense of freedom that the academy lacked."
"And I'd be lying if I said I didn't get the sense that I was free," Wallflower smiled. "I could dress however I wanted, I didn't need to follow a schedule as strict as before, I was even allowed to make my own club... even though nearly nobody joined it."
Wallflower's smile turned into a frown.
"But with all this freedom came the feeling of not being noticed. Back in the orphanage, the Shadowbolts and I were inseparable. But once I reached Canterlot High School, I was lucky if somebody spoke to me without me speaking to them first."
"In exchange for having freedom, people rarely managed to remember you," the donkey spoke. "And that fed the feeling of guilt inside you: guilt of running away, of abandoning your old friends."
The scenery transformed into the memory stone.
"And need it be mentioned what happened with this particular artifact?"
Wallflower looked at the figure incredulously, only returning to reality once the background returned to Crystal Prep Academy.
"No, I used it to mess with everyone's memories, and it got worse and worse the longer I did it."
Wallflower sighed.
"Now, it's one of the things I regret the most."
The donkey smiled.
"And that guilt, shall now be your strength."
Wallflower raised an eyebrow.
"Open your palms and concentrate."
Wallflower rolled her eyes and obliged, opening her palms and taking a deep breath to "concentrate," whatever the donkey meant.
A couple seconds later, green spheres of energy emerged from her palms.
"Whoa!"
"Whoa" indeed. What you're seeing now are spheres made of your own guilt, which you can use in order to spread the feeling of guilt to another person, or group of people, assuming there's more than one remorseless person in the room."
Wallflower's shoulder began glowing green, something the girl didn't even notice as she asked.
"But, why would I have to weaponize my guilt?"
The donkey frowned.
"Even with karma as a reaction, without guilt as a foundation, the path to redemption will be hollow."
The glow on Wallflower's shoulder transformed into the shape of the memory stone, from the rock.
"From now on, it'll be your job to make people feel guilty for their actions."
Wallflower looked at her shoulder, then turned around to see the donkey disappear, before she herself vanished as well.
Juniper Montage landed on a purple floor, with what looked like solid windows decorating the otherwise pitch-black environment.
"Where the heck am I?"
"You'll find it to be a familiar place."
She turned around and the donkey was right next to her.
No cloud smoke, no teleportation, not even a sound indicating he just arrived. He literally was just there.
"The donkey?!"
"In person!" the ungulate chirped as he happily trotted to Juniper's side. "And I'm here to help you find out about your element."
Then, with absolutely nothing prompting her to take a guess, she reached an odd conclusion.
"Were you the one who wrote the message?"
"Yes."
"And you're the guide of these elements of redemption?"
"Yes."
"And you know where we are?"
"Yeah, but I believe it's better if I show you, rather than tell you."
The donkey clapped his hooves together, and the environment just... suddenly lit up, revealing that the windows were actually mirrors all around a house-like scenery.
"So, I'm basically in a house of mirrors?" Juniper asked.
"Yes, a house of mirrors, where each reflection will reflect not only on a piece of your old history, but also remind you of the people who stopped you, helped you, and much more," the donkey answered, progressively souring Juniper's mood until she was angrily pouting. "So, what do you think?"
"I think I understand why another name of your species is a-"
"As I was saying, you'll see reflections of your past actions in these mirrors. So please, don't waste a minute and walk around. Maybe you'll be able to think about what you've done?"
"The only thing I'm going to be thinking of is what kind of nonsense did I get myself roped into," Juniper stood up. "But oh well, I can't see a door around here, so I might as well look for one in this place."
She began walking around the mirror-filled hallways, with the mirrors, as the donkey said, showing a reflection of past events.
As in, they were literally showing past events.
The first mirror depicted Juniper stealing an artifact from the movie, bringing down a chase between her and the Rainbooms.
Juniper became slightly upset, but she continued forward nonetheless.
The next mirror depicted a younger Juniper trying to learn how to act, with the other children holding back their laughter.
Now Juniper was feeling a little bit more upset, and confused too. Why would the first mirror show something that happened recently, but the next one would show something that happened back in her childhood?
In fact, how did the mirrors know what reflections to play?
Well, that question escaped her mind once Juniper saw the next mirror, depicting a kindergarten Juniper drawing a woman that highly resembled her transformed state.
And to drive the point home, the mirror showed her transformation next.
Juniper stood still, looking at the transformation with a horrified look as the donkey walked up to her, and glanced at the reflection.
"The mirror shows things that have already happened, not things that will happen. So, if you're silently trying to figure out a way to fix that little incident, I'm afraid you won't find anything."
Juniper frowned.
"That's not it..."
She pointed at her transformed state.
"That's my... that's my-"
"Self? Yes, indeed, she is, now let's move on okay? There's a lot left to witness."
When Juniper remained frozen in place, the donkey pushed her forward, taking her to the next mirror, which depicted her teleporting Sunset Shimmer and her friends into the inside of her magical mirror.
They then quickly went to the next, which depicted the arrival of Starlight Glimmer, the girl who would end up being the one to literally kick Juniper down a peg.
"That girl! The one that ruined everything that I was already ruining myself!"
She was happy to see her, it seems.
"It seems this memory in particular brings out a strong, emotional response from you," the donkey spoke. "Could there, perhaps, be something about this memory that greatly upsets you?"
"Didn't you just hear me!?" Juniper snapped. "That was the girl that ruined me in my greatest moment! I was already feeling down after those other girls ruined my chance to be in the big screen! I get my revenge on them, and then this other girl appears and ends my career before it even began!"
"You're right about one thing: your career ended before it began. However, why don't you try looking at what transpired, from their point of view?"
Juniper raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that? What is there to see?"
The donkey grinned. "You'll be surprised."
Juniper did as requested and looked at the mirrors once again. The first rewatch, she didn't see anything new: just her rise and fall from stardom by those girls and that pink-skinned girl with the beanie.
However, upon the second rewatch, Juniper started seeing a different interpretation: a girl tried to gain what she thought was entitled to have, only for reality to punch her in the face and make her pay for her reckless action.
Then, while still upset about what happened, she wished to get revenge.
She gained power, and the power allowed her to do whatever she wanted.
From there forward, the girl deluded herself into being something she never was, until a brave little stranger-who still came out of nowhere regardless-stopped her and turned her back to normal.
Yeah, now that she looked at it, she was a bit of a prick.
"You see it now, don't you?"
Juniper sighed.
"Fine, I get it! I almost ruined a film production, and sealed people in another dimension for petty reasons!"
Juniper looked at the donkey.
"There, I said it, happy!"
"Depends," the donkey raised an eyebrow. "Would you have liked for things to go down a different path?"
Juniper thought about it, then silently nodded.
"Then you really do deserve the element of reflection."
Just then, the mirror detached themselves from the window and headed straight for Juniper, whose left shoulder glew as the mirrors all hovered around her, then combined into a single one.
"Even with karma as a reaction, and guilt as a foundation, without reflection, the road to redemption will lack meaning."
The combined mirror slowly flew down and was grabbed by Juniper, whose glowing shoulder had turned into the image of the mirror.
"Now, it will be your job to make people reflect on their actions."
Juniper lifted her sleeve and looked at the symbol, and turned to the donkey to see him being enveloped by light.
"W-Wait a minute, there's something I want to ask! What-"
Both the donkey and Juniper were teleported away...
Vignette woke up in the middle of a white room that looked very familiar to her.
So familiar, in fact, she walked to a specific wall, that seemed to be budging inwards, grabbed it, and pulled it to reveal it was a door.
She walked out into wherever she had been teleported to, and as she figured, she was in a currently open Equestrialand, the place where she used to work at.
However, one thing seemed different about the place.
Namely, the lack of people.
"An apparently working amusement park, with nobody visiting it or even walking around? Something must've gone terribly wrong!"
Vignette took out her phone.
"I know she's not my boss anymore, but I should call the manager, see if she knows what-"
And then she got some bad news.
"My phone has no signal!? Why doesn't it have a signal?!"
"You want your element handed to you in a little package?"
Vignette turned around and saw the exasperated donkey from before.
"The donkey?" Vignette frowned. "Are you the reason why me and the others were... for lack of a better word, flashed into another place?"
"You and the rest of the group, minus one, were teleported to areas that would help you better understand your elements," the donkey explained as he walked towards Vignette. "In this case, you were taken to Equestria Land in order to better understand your element of communication."
Vignette raised an eyebrow. "Communication? So I don't even get the decency of being allowed to choose my own element?"
"The other set of elements of this world weren't allowed to choose which element they'd get, either, and they didn't complain about it," the donkey sternly answered. "And besides, if you bother to follow along for just one minute, you'll find out that the element of communication fits you like a glove."
Vignette rolled her eyes and turned back to her phone, where she tried to see if she could anything else with it besides make a call. Sure, she didn't have any signal, but surely she didn't forget to add something to the phone that could work without it, right?
And in fact, there was one such app, but not one she could recognize.
"What's this light blue app with what looks like a portal for a picture?"
"Why don't you aim the phone at that trash can over there and test it out?"
Vignette threw an unsure look at the equine, then obliged, with the app shooting a beam that teleported the trash can as soon as Vignette pushed a button.
Briefly shocked at what happened, Vignette turned back to the steps she came from and returned to the solid white room, where the trash can had been transported.
"Wait a minute, that's the same power my phone got when it was corrupted by magic!" Vignette exclaimed, realizing what this meant. "But, I never had an app for it! I just had to take a picture of something and it'd teleport it immediately!"
The donkey chuckled, causing Vignette to shoot a glare at him.
"Did you do something to my phone!?"
"Your element gave your phone an app that allowed you to perform the same action it could do back when magic corrupted it. The only difference besides the button is the fact that this time, with your previous experience with magic and this app's more contained nature, the chances of you being corrupted by it have been significantly reduced."
"Just because it greatly "reduced" the chances of me being corrupted doesn't mean there's not a chance, however slim it may be!" Vignette exclaimed, stomping the ground. "I mean, what are you going to do if I end up going crazy with the power of teleporting people all over the place wherever I want!?"
"You won't, because you can't. After all, do you really think you can change the location of where the object will be teleported to?"
"In less wordy English, please."
"You can't change the destination: everything you teleport will arrive in this room, no matter how big or small, or how much you want it to land elsewhere."
Vignette humed, slightly relieved at the fact her phone didn't have a broken power, yet still feeling somewhat angry at the fact that she was right back when the rollercoaster incident happened.
Seeing this, the donkey smiled.
"You care for the one named Juniper Montage, don't you?"
Vignette's attention was caught.
"What makes you ask that? We only... slightly know each other."
"Hmm, how about you close your eyes, and see if you really just know each other?"
Vignette hesitantly obliged, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before the dark void that came with her eyes closed changed to that of a vision.
Actually, a set of visions. Each vision showing a younger Vignette playing or hanging out with an even younger Juniper.
"W-What's this?! Why am I seeing this?!"
"Your power over communication is allowing you to look into the past, by closing your eyes to the present and thinking about what already came."
Hearing that, Vignette had an idea and tried to think of her future, only to be met with darkness once again.
"It's easier to see what has already happened, than what hasn't happened yet. Open your eyes, then cover your ears."
Vignette once again obliged, opening her eyes and throwing a look at the donkey before she covered her ears.
What was once pure silence was quickly replaced by various disembodied statements, coming seemingly out of nowhere.
This is the best day ever!
I wonder if the new rollercoaster ride is open.
MILKSHAKES! YEAH!
"I'm assuming this is another one of the powers of communication?"
"You're hearing the things that have already been said, unfiltered and out of order. Finally, cover your mouth."
"Can't you just tell me what it'll do?"
"Cover. Your. Mouth."
Vignette rolled her eyes and covered her mouth with her hands, this time with nothing happening right away.
I know you might be thinking nothing is happening, but just be a little bit more patient, okay?
Yeah, that doesn't really excuse you from being such a-
And then Vignette realized something.
Wait a minute, how are you talking without moving your mouth?
Then realized something else.
How am I talking without moving my mouth?!
A little thing known as telepathy, another power of communication.
With that explained, kinda, Vignette took off her hands from her mouth as the donkey spoke.
"With the power of communication, you can see and hear things you never could before, and also be able to talk with people in their minds, as long as they're withing a short distance."
"What about long-distance communication?"
"That's where your phone comes in, obviously."
Almost as soon as she looked at it, Vignette's phone glew from the back, which she turned around to see the symbol of the phone appearing on its back.
"Even with karma as a reaction, guilt as a foundation, and reflection as motivation, without communication, we close ourselves to those who wish to help us, making the road to redemption harder than it needs to be."
Vignette thought about it, and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I see your point."
The donkey smiled, and almost patted Vignette's back, only for her to slap him away and growl.
"Don't touch me with your dirty hooves."
The donkey chuckled.
"Fair enough, I have one more person to see, anyway."
Both the donkey and Vignette were promptly teleported out of the place.
Connection Between Worlds
Right back where everybody disappeared, Timber Spruce desperately searched everywhere for any trace of the team, only for them to literally, suddenly reappear in a flash of light, in the same spot where they vanished no less.
"Gloriosa!" Timber exclaimed as he ran up to his older sister. "Where the heck did you and these other people go?!"
"These other people have names, you know!" Wallflower snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "I mean, we kinda said them too fast to see if the rock would react, but at least you could pause and try to remember them!"
"It's okay, Timber, we're all fine," Gloriosa said as she and her brother separated. "Although, at least in my case, I didn't leave empty handed."
Gloriosa took off one of her gloves, revealing her glowing hand and veins.
The other element bearers reacted appropriately shocked: Flash and Wallflower were left speechless, Vignette took a picture, and Juniper's shock was apparently mixed with excitement.
"Cool! It's like one of those special effects my uncle uses in post-production!"
"Before you freak out, Timber, don't worry: this glowing hand is actually part of my ability as the element of purification," Gloriosa put the glove back on. "I just touch something corrupted with it, and poof, it's purified."
"That seems rather situational, don't you think?" Vignette remarked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, if magic's involved, it could be useful, but otherwise..."
"Save questioning the logic of everything for later, okay?"
Everybody turned around and saw the donkey appear with a smile on his face.
Suddenly, Timber ran up to the ungulate and prepared to tackle him, only for him to teleport a few feet away, causing him to hit the ground face-first.
"Timber, what are you doing?!" Gloriosa exclaimed.
Timber stood up and dusted himself. "He's the one who got you teleported to who-knows-where, right?! And he also turned you into these elements of redemption!"
"Well, yeah, but-"
Timber turned to the donkey and pointed at him.
"And you! What's your deal?! There's another set of elements in this world that can do whatever these elements of redemption are supposed to do, why do you need to drag my sister, and everybody else into this thing?!"
The donkey narrowed his eyes and a cloud of black smoke surrounded him, the cloud sliding towards Timber as it grew bigger, until it was a head taller than him, followed by it disappearing to reveal the donkey had transformed.
Into what? Into a gargoyle, of course!
"The elements of harmony can only do so much for this world, and those who have wronged it. They can help them see the errors of their ways, but they can't guide them to a proper redemption."
Timber nodded and immediately backed away, until he could hide behind his sister's back.
"Now, since I've revealed my true self, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Scorpan, a Gargoyle from the world of Sunset Shimmer."
"Sunset Shimmer's world?" Flash repeated, folding his arms. "And what would a native of that world be doing here?"
"Creating a second set of of elements to help this world, of course," Scorpan answered. "It's the best way I can think of to help my friend, Starswirl the Bearded, spread friendship across the world."
"Starswirl the Bearded?"
"A legendary unicorn from Sunset Shimmer's world."
At this point, Wallflower needed a time out to think of everything.
"Okay, so, just to be clear: Today we met each other by chance, we went onto separate parts of the world and gained powers because of it."
Wallflower pointed at herself.
"I can weaponize guilt."
Then Juniper.
"She can reflect things with mirrors and light."
Then Vignette.
"She can use telepathy and teleport."
Then Flash.
"You... have a hammer."
And finally, Scorpan.
"And the donkey that's been with us every time we entered, was actually a gargoyle from another world, who's friends with an unicorn."
...
"Why is the last part the only one I can't understand?!"
"That's what happens when you try to put logic in ilogical things."
"Speaking of which, when creatures from Sunset's world go here, Ponies turn into humans, dragons into dogs, and dogs into humans... I think," Flash remarked. "So how did you remain a gargoyle?"
"The portal's inner mechanisms are a much greater mystery than you imagine: You can't just assume it works that easily. But that's besides the point."
A portal suddenly opened.
"I believe it's time you meet a certain someone once again."
Twilight from Sunset's world jumped out, landing face-first on the ground. Flash promptly walked up to her and helped her stand up.
"Thank you... Flash!"
"Yeah, princess," Flash said. "It's me."
"I wasn't expecting to see you as soon as I arririved!" Twilight spoke. "Anyway, before you invite me to anything, I'm only here for business."
"Is any of your business related to the elements of redemption?" Vignette asked.
Twilight threw a look at the girls and Timber, prompting Scorpan to explain:
"Princess Twilight, the group you see her is the new set of elements of redemption I've made."
"Oh, well, I guess I do have business with you," Twilight reached for her back. "You see, the other princesses of my world were trying to power this thing up."
Twilight took out the gem from before.
"But they didn't tell me what it'd do, only that it would work once I came here."
Twilight turned to Scorpan.
"Do you know how it works?"
The gargoyle smiled.
"Plant it on the ground, and you'll see."
"I'll help you with that."
Wallflower walked up to Twilight, followed by Gloriosa, and the trio began planting the gem on the ground.
Once that was done, everybody backed away as the ground shook violently, and from the spot the gem was buried, a giant crystal treehouse emerged, with everybody looking at it as Scorpan spoke.
"This shall be your new headquarters, where you'll work together to help guide this world's evildoers into turning a new leaf."
The team looked at the gargoyle.
"That is your purpose... as the Elements of Redemption."
"And that's my proposal to give the Rainbooms extra allies!"
Pinkie Pie was the one who said that to the incredulous Rainbooms, consisting of Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her friends, along with a baffled Flash Sentry.
"Any questions?"
"Yeah, over a dozen actually, but the most important one is: do the elements of redemption even exist in this world?" Sunset asked. "I mean, the elements of harmony do exist, but they have counterparts in Equestria. Meanwhile, I've never even heard of a thing such as the elements of redemption."
"But you do have to admit," Flash remarked. "It is a neat idea, if a little weird in context."
"I'm not saying it isn't good or that it wouldn't help if they did exist. I'm just saying that, as the basis of a new team who'll help us with magic-related incidents, it's a very weak basis."
Pinkie Pie folded her arms. "Well, Sunset, what do you suggest we do in order to deal with the lack of help when magical incidents happen?"
Suddenly, the doorbell was heard, prompting Sunset to walk to the door and open it, finding a pizza delivery boy behind.
"I say, we eat some pizza, and leave that issue for later."
Sunset paid for the pizza, returned, and everybody sat at the couch to eat it, with the idea of the elements of redemption vanishing almost as instantly as it was planted.
Gloriosa Daisy landed on her butt in a rather familiar location: Camp Everfree, the camp that she once came close to losing, but eventually managed to retain with the help of the Rainbooms.
Yes, that memory was still quite fresh in her mind.
"Oh, Camp Everfree..."
Then, she got an upsetting idea.
"W-Wait, did the message take me to the camp before I got the stones and threatened everyone? O-Or did it take me to the moment when I went nuts with them and threatened everyone?!"
"I assure you, it's neither of those things."
Gloriosa turned around and take a guess who she found.
"The donkey!"
The donkey bowed.
"In person, ready to help you learn about your element."
Gloriosa slightly frowned.
"Well, okay, but which element are we talking about? If I remember, there were five," Gloriosa counted with her fingers. "Karma, Guilt, Reflection, Communication..."
It wasn't long before she connected the dots.
"I'm the element of purification?"
"You're a quick learner, I see. I'm glad to see one of the elements can learn things on their own," the donkey answered. "Yes, you're the element of purification: when magic corrupts entities into malicious forms, or people are transformed thanks to the great power magic grants them, it's your job to turn them back to normal."
Gloriosa smiled at the statement... before her smile slowly turned into a frown.
"Is something the matter?"
Gloriosa sheepishly smiled.
"My element... kinda sounds redundant."
The donkey's eyes widened, almost as if the statement offended him, something Gloriosa quickly noticed.
"D-Did I say something insensitive?"
"You tell me: you know very well the dangers of being corrupted by magic, having been corrupted once yourself. The only reason you managed to turn back to normal was because the girls at your camp used their powers to destroy your Gaea Everfree persona, removing your powers and turning everything back to normal."
"Yeah, I, uh, already know all that, it didn't happen too long ago actually," Gloriosa scratched the back of her head. "Why do you bring this up?"
The donkey shook his head. Maybe Gloriosa wasn't such a fast learner after all.
"They purified you."
Gloriosa's eyes widened, and the donkey continued.
"When Sunset Shimmer turned into a demon, the girls' powers purified her. When Midnight Sparkle was born from the magic in Twilight's object, Sunset Shimmer used her powers to purify her. Even when the action involved destroying the magical object, like with Wallflower Blush, Juniper Montage, and Vignette Valencia, the destruction of the object broke them out of its control, purifying them."
Gloriosa looked back at her hands.
"And I'm asking you to use the power of purification to help redeem the people corrupted by magic."
"B-But still, just because you can give me the power of purification, and I can accept it, doesn't mean we should," Gloriosa frowned. "Like you just said, the girls from my camp used their powers to purify me, as well as do the same with some other people. Surely they should be enough, right?"
"Sunset and her friends are many things, but they're not omnipresent," the donkey sighed somberly. "Just because they deal with one magical problem at a time, doesn't mean they can deal with every single problem. There will always be issues that they cannot take care of, which is where the elements of redemption come in."
The donkey walked up to Gloriosa.
"But before I go on, can you tell me if you'll take up the mantle, as element of purification?"
Gloriosa scratched her chin and hummed, having both reasons to do it and not to do it. Mostly to not do it. But then again, now that she was here, and getting the feeling she wasn't going to be allowed to refuse the offer, Gloriosa nodded.
"Alright, I'll take it up."
The donkey smiled.
"Good, now please show me your hands."
Gloriosa hesitantly obliged and lowered her hands until the donkey could touch them with its hooves.
A sharp pain soon followed once the hooves had touched her hands, Gloriosa screaming and groaning as her hands turned a glowing shade of white, followed by her veings turning white as well, stopping right at her elbow, soon followed by the pain.
Once that was gone, Gloriosa opened her eyes and took a moment to scan the new look of her arm, growing more and more concerned as she precessed it.
"W-What did you do?"
"I gave you the power to purify things with a touch," the donkey answered. "But of course, in a normal place like this, the power would be useless. So how about we change it?"
Camp Everfree flashed white, and before anybody could shout "not again!" the camp was covered in vines, just like back when Gloriosa did that as Gaea Everfree.
Of course, Gloriosa now stood among the vines, so who was creating the vines was beyond her.
Regardless, Gloriosa soon realized what she had to do, and immediately ran up to the vine tower that was the source of the vines, climbing it as the donkey spoke.
"Even with karma as a reaction, guilt as a foundation, reflection as motivation, and communication as helper, if we don't purify ourselves of what corrupted us in the first place, they will live on."
Gloriosa finally reached the top of the tower, and touched it, causing it to begin to crumble.
"That corruption will tempt us, make us doubt ourselves. This will make the road to redemption much more treacherous."
Eventually, Gloriosa began to see the face of the one responsible for the vines.
"And in some cases, maybe even irrelevant."
Finally, the tower collapsed, and the vines all vanished, with Gloriosa falling and only narrowly landing safely like a cat, followed by the person responsible for the vines, landing upside down in her arms.
"From this point forward..."
Gloriosa moved the person until she could look at their face, and finally she saw who they were...
it'll be your job to purify them."
The person was Timber, with Gloriosa barely getting to react to this revelation before she and the donkey were teleported away.
