The Other Elements
Chapter 1: The Travelers
Everypony knows the tale of the Elements of Harmony. How they were used to banish Nightmare Moon, to seal away Discord. How they were found, a thousand years later, manifested in six friends. How they were used again to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord. But they are not the only set of elements in Equestria.
The four travelers were weary. A pegasus of light gray mane and dark gray body appeared to be struggling to stay airborne. He chose to land beside a brown earth pony with a tan mane.
“See anything up there, Jetstream?” the earth pony asked.
“No, just a better view of the same forest we’ve been approaching since morning. It appears to be bigger than we thought,” Jetstream replied.
“Great. Who knows what might be in there? I hope we reach a town soon. What do you think, Blazin?” the earth pony replied, addressing a bright red unicorn with an orange and yellow mane.
“Well, if worst comes to worst, Groundshaker, I could always just burn our way through, though I don’t think you’d like that very much.”
“You’ve got that right,” Groundshaker said, shaking his head.
Suddenly, a pony with a deep, deep blue coat, and a mane of only slightly lighter blue spoke. This pony was very unusual. He had both the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus, making him an alicorn. Alicorns were exceedingly rare, male ones doubly so.
“I think that we should find a place to rest,” he said, “for I fear that if we do not, we shall be caught in the open when night falls, and though I do not think we are in any danger, it would be best to be wary.”
He spoke with obvious authority. “I agree, Aquea,” Jetstream said, “I will see if there are any caves nearby, I have enough energy left to at least do that.”
“For the time being, we can wait here and look for food,” Groundshaker said.
“I don’t think it will be too much of a problem, knowing you.” Blazin grinned. “After all, you have found fruits for us every day for the past two weeks.”
“Oh hush.” Groundshaker blushed. Since the red unicorn was the only female of the group, she always embarrassed him with her compliments.
“Look! Jetstream’s back!” Blazin exclaimed suddenly.
“I hope his speed is due to good fortune in his search, and not bad,” Aquea said.
"There's a cave not half a mile away! I don't know how I missed it before," Jetstream said, landing in front of the rest of the group.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Groundshaker asked. "Let's go!"
The cave was damp. It was fairly large. The four travelers entered.
"Seems as good a place as any," Aquea said. "We should try to get some sleep, it is already almost night."
"I'll fashion us some beds," Groundshaker said.
"You know, I've always wondered how you have such control over stone and dirt, given that you aren't even a unicorn," Blazin remarked.
"I have too," Groundshaker said, suppressing a small chuckle, and began to mold the stone into some modicum of a comfortable resting place. Unfortunately, to do this, he had to move some rubble from a pile. This was unfortunate because this cave happened to already have an occupant; two occupants in fact. Groundshaker had just woken an Ursa Minor, and the Ursa Major was not happy.
"We... we should leave," Aquea said, backing away nervously.
"NO, YA THINK?!" Jetstream took off immediately.
The Ursa Major roared as the four ponies fled the cave. The Ursa Minor had a smug look on its face. The Ursas had moved out of the forest several months earlier due to bothersome ponies, and they had chosen their new cave due to its advantageous tactical location. Bears are smarter than one would think. The Ursa Major began to give chase.
"The forest! It's our only hope!" gasped Blazin. Not having wings and being a unicorn, she wasn't a very good athlete.
They ran into the forest. The bear's roars got quieter and quieter, and the four ponies slowed to a canter. "Do... do you think we're safe?" Jetstream said. He had landed some time earlier, as the forest's canopy made flight difficult.
"I don't know," Aquea replied, "so we should stay wary, and hope that we are nearing the other side of the forest."
They passed by a small hut, but nopony saw it. It's just as well, it was empty at the time. They slowed to a trot.
Some hours later, they had slowed to a walk, and a slow one at that.
"Look! Up ahead!" Blazin exclaimed. "I think I can see daylight!"
"Hold on a minute," said Aquea, "that doesn't make any sense. Night had just begun to fall when we entered the forest!"
"Huh," said Blazin, unimpressed, "that just means we were in there all night. Who cares? We're almost out!"
The four ponies exited the forest, and immediately they saw a cottage in the distance.
"Jetstream, do a flyover of that cottage. Maybe there's somepony there that can help us," Aquea said.
"On it!" Jetstream took off and was back a minute later.
"Well?"
"Looks safe. I think that somepony's inside, there's smoke coming out of the chimney. Don't know why they'd want a fire, seeing as it's spring, but who cares?"
The four weary travelers trotted towards the cottage, hoping that they might finally be able to get some rest. As they neared, they could hear voices, but they couldn't make out what they were saying. They arrived at the front door, and Aquea knocked three times.
"Who could that be? Is it time for your and Rarity's weekly spa visit already?" a voice floated from within.
"Oh, no Twilight, that was canceled this week because of your visit," a much quieter voice said.
"Well, I'd better go see who it i-" and the door opened. A purple unicorn with a pink and purple mane stood behind it. "You're... an alicorn..."
"I suppose so, yes. I never really gave it much thought," Aquea said, slightly puzzled. "Anyway, we are very tired, and would like to rest here. Do you have any extra space?"
"...Oh! Right. This isn't my house. Fluttershy! What happened to being assertive?" the purple unicorn called out to somepony inside.
"Oh... okay, Twilight," the reply came. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane edged into view. "Eep!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Fluttershy, there's nothing to be afraid of. Come here and say hello to... to... sorry, what are your names?"
"I'm Groundshaker."
"Jetstream here!"
"The name's Blazin!"
"And I am Aquea."
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Fluttershy."
Fluttershy peeked out at the mention of her name. "Oh, sorry. Yes, I'm Fluttershy. Why are you all here?"
"We're very tired, and we need a place to rest," Aquea said.
"Yeah, we've been out here for weeks!" Blazin added.
"Oh, I... I guess so," Fluttershy said meekly.
Twilight rolled her eyes again. "Come on in, I'm interested to know what all of you are doing here, and you must have questions yourselves," she said as they walked in. A small bunny ran in holding a tea set. It started pouring tea into six teacups.
"Oh, thank you Angel," Twilight said. The bunny named Angel nodded and scampered off. "Now, what are all of you doing here?"
"Well, did you hear that roar last night?" was asked with a chuckle.
"Yes, it sounded like a bear was nearby," Twilight answered. Fluttershy was living up to the latter portion of her name.
"Well, it was a bear, but unless you were on the other side of the forest, it wasn't nearby."
"Huh? What did this bear look like?" Twilight said, puzzled.
"Oh, purple, somewhat translucent, stars all over it, size of a small mountain-"
"AN URSA MAJOR? How did you defeat it? I had trouble with an Ursa Minor!"
"We just fled," came the reply. "It stopped giving chase once we entered the forest."
"You went all the way through the Everfree Forest?"
"Yes, if that's what it's called. It took us all night."
"Could you please stop taking turns with your sentences like that? It's getting a bit difficult to keep track. That is, if you don't mind, of course," Fluttershy timidly said. The four paused. They hadn't even realized that they were alternating talking.
"Well, I am the unofficial leader, so I suppose I'll do the talking," Aquea said with a smile. "After being together for so long, we can almost-"
"-read each other's thoughts," Blazin finished, smirking.
Aquea glared at her. "Anyway, where are we? That's pretty important."
"Well, you're in Fluttershy's cottage right now. You just came out of the Everfree Forest, and in roughly the opposite direction is Ponyville, which is where I live," Twilight explained.
"I don't really have much room in my house, so is it okay if you find somewhere in Ponyville? It's okay if you want to stay here, though. I understand," Fluttershy said.
"There's a village nearby? Well," Aquea said, "take us there immediately."
"I'd be happy to," Twilight said.
The five ponies (Fluttershy had stayed at her cottage) walked into Ponyville. Out of nowhere, there was a blur of pink and more pink, and a loud, long gasp. "I've never seen you before! If I've never seen you before, that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville! Oh, hi Twilight!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "This is Pinkie Pie. Don't worry, she's always like this. You get used to it after a while."
"I'll take your word for it," Jetstream said, eying the bouncing pink pony with apprehension. They continued walking through the town with Pinkie Pie in tow, babbling something or other about oatmeal. Nopony really paid any attention. After a short while, they arrived at a tree, whereupon Pinkie Pie gasped again and ran off in a pink blur, saying something about a party. Nopony knew the significance of this at the time.
"A tree?" Groundshaker raised an eyebrow. "I like plants and all, but why have you taken us to a tree?"
Twilight rolled her eyes again (she was obviously very well practiced) and magicked open a previously unnoticed door. "This is the Ponyville library. It's also my house, since I love books and nopony else ever seems to need any."
"We're not going to stay here, are we?" Blazin asked with obvious distaste.
"No, but it's the best place for you to be while we figure out where you'll be staying," Twilight answered, somewhat miffed. "To be honest, I'm rather surprised you didn't attract any attention walking through town, Aquea."
Aquea tilted his head, puzzled. "Why would I attract so much attention?"
"You're an alicorn! And a male one at that!"
"Is that so rare? I don't really remember much from before the four of us -" he indicated Blazin, Groundshaker, Jetstream, and himself "- got together. It's been so long since we've really seen more than a few other ponies at a time."
"So where did you come from?"
"To be honest... I don't really remember..."
"Hey, I'm hungry," Blazin interjected, "Can you get us some food? Do you have a pet bunny too?"
Twilight rolled her eyes yet again. One wonders if she was training for a competition. "Spike! We have guests!" A baby dragon, purple with green spines, rushed into the room.
"Is it Rari-oh." Spike looked a bit dejected. "Who are all of you?"
"Never mind that now, Spike, they've been traveling for a long time and need something to eat," Twilght told the dragon. He rushed off into the next room and came back almost immediately.
"Five chrysi- chryso- flower sandwiches with hay and apples!" Spike said proudly.
"And that is why you're my number one assistant, Spike," Twilight said with a small giggle.
Spike rolled his eyes (the servant obviously emulated the master) and walked off. "Yeah, yeah."
Twilight turned back to her guests, saw one sandwich being eaten, one being hesitantly bitten, and one being ignored. The other had already disappeared, as had her own. She sighed, but wasn't angry. She had already eaten, after all.
"Do you have any more? Those two were delicious!" a certain flame colored unicorn exclaimed. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Don't you hurt your eyes when you do that so much?" Jetstream asked. Twilight, predictably, rolled her eyes.
"I get lots of practice with my friends," the unicorn said, levitating a book off of the shelf. "Ocular Ailments: A Comprehensive Guide," she said. "Page 543. Contrary to popular belief, when somepony crosses their eyes, they are in no danger of having their face stuck like that."
Aquea, Blazin, Jetstream, and Groundshaker all rolled their eyes.
"We're getting off topic," Aquea said. "What were we talking about again?"
"Where we came from," Jetstream offered.
"Oh yes. You see, we've been together for many years now," the alicorn explained, "and we haven't seen a town in months. I don't remember what any of the towns we've passed were called; we only ever stopped for supplies and a night's rest."
"You know, it's funny," Groundshaker added, "I don't even remember what we're looking for..."
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a loud retort sounded.
"SURPRISE!!!" a certain pink earth pony exclaimed. "I brought my PARTY CANNON! It makes parties so much easier!"
Twilight facehoofed. She clearly had gotten tired of rolling her eyes. "At least she isn't singing..."
"Oooh! I can sing! Do you want me to sing! SONG TIME! Oh, these are some ponies! I don't know their namearonies! And when I throw them a party! It will be very hearty! And-"
"PINKIE!" Twilight yelled.
"Sorry, Twilight!" Pinkie giggled.
"Namearonies?" Jetstream asked with a confused look on his face.
"Never mind that, it's jus' Pinkie being Pinkie." An orange earth pony with a blond mane walked in.
"Applejack? Is everypony else here too? Pinkie, how did you get them all so quickly?" Twilight asked in astonishment.
"Well, I for one was just walking by Sugarcube Corner when suddenly Pinkie rushed out and dragged me along," a white unicorn with a purple mane said.
"Rarity, what were you doing by Sugarcube Corner?" Fluttershy asked, having just walked in as well.
"Well, Sweetie Belle's birthday is coming up soon, and I wanted to ask the Cakes if they could make a special cake for her."
"I was napping, and Pinkie woke me up," grumbled a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.
"Rainbow Dash napping! How strange!" Rarity said sarcastically.
"A party now? Argh! Stop!" Twilight was exasperated. Nopony was listening, and Twilight decided to give up and enjoy herself.
Some hours later, the party was dying down. Jetstream and Rainbow were discussing the best way to perform a triple back flip while corkscrewing at an angle of 45 degrees without injury. Fluttershy had left, citing her animal friends as the cause. Rarity had run off to the Boutique to design outfits for her four new friends. Groundshaker had left with Applejack to see Sweet Apple Acres, primarily the orchard. Pinkie was being Pinkie; that is, doing random things nopony understood. Blazin was napping, getting a grin of approval from a certain lazy pegasus. That left Aquea and Twilight. Twilight took the opportunity to ask some questions.
"So you didn't know that alicorns were so rare?"
"Not at all. Like I said, in our little group, it's a four-way split between the pony types, and we've been on our own for so long."
Twilight opened her mouth to ask how long, but was interrupted by the complete and utter coincidence of the missing members of both groups reappearing, as well as the simultaneous appearance of the entirety of another group of friends.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SHOUTERS, YAY!"
Twilight was back to rolling her eyes. "Rarity, Applejack, control your sisters. Dash, control your fanfilly." The three tried in vain. Aquea just stared.
"Er... cutie mark?"
Twilight immediately turned to look at Aquea's flank. It was the same shade as the rest of his body. As were the flanks of her other new friends.
"You three are pretty good at shouting!" That was the pink party pony, failing to grasp the meaning of the situation.
Twilight just stared. "Is something wrong?" Aquea asked, confused.
"Hey, ah've never seen y'all before! How did y'all get yer cutie... marks..." A yellow filly with a red mane that had a ridiculously large bow in it tilted her head in confusion.
