Author's Note

I gotta say, I was thinking of Princess and the frog's "Are you ready?" song while writing this. My personal playlist didn't help either. We've come to a portion of the story that some of you have been ready and waiting for, yes I know it seems early, but it's a method to the madness. With out further ado, Interlude: J̴̡̛͙̀ṷ̵̧̉͌d̴̢͔̼͍̀͋ġ̴̝̮̦̤́͋e̷̫̎͋͑m̶̻̹̤̲̌̌̑͝e̸̖͒n̴͎̈́t̵̘̬̞̋͘.

P.S. Let me know if there are any spelling errors or words that don't make since, I tried to skim through most of it and catch any mess ups but I may not have gotten them all.

Interlude: Judgement

[Before Discord's Defeat: Minutes Before]

Discord chuckled on as his power went rampant, creating confusion which made the draconequus laugh even more.

"Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing." The chaotic god chuckled as the element bearers he had mischievously disbanded.

"Not as wonderful as friendship." Discord did a double take at the comment from the ring leader, Twilight? Was it? He couldn't help but laugh at the comment, breaking out into unseen hysterics.

"Oh, this again?" He said as he straightened up, and snapped his fingers, his magic dispersing around them. No visible change was created, but still it bothered the ponies in his presence. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up about it.

"What did you do!? I saw you snap your fingers!"

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. So demanding. If you must know, you'll learn later. You can call it a parting gift my little ponies" He said, making light of the situation. He could hear the voice of the merged being in his mind, them whispering as their souls became one, and disappeared. The element bearers would learn later what he did, he was sure of it. That would be a giant test to see if not only they could hold up, but if the princesses themselves were up to the task. Discord hoped he was right with placing this task in the hands of ponies, if it went wrong not only would the world be rules by a tyrant, but it would also be built on a mound of the dead. 'Here's to hoping Celly can actually see through the chaos'.

"Enough of that. You couldn't break our friendship for long." The draconequus turned his attention to the element of honesty, before he spoke.

"Oh, Applejack. Don't lie to me. I'm the one who made you a liar. Will you ever learn?" Discord said. He knew what was coming, and he would play along accordingly. Such was the process of this 'test' of his. He chuckled at the sudden thought, it was more like a exam that would be failed either way, with multiple ending to it. He doubted that the event would happen now, but it would probably be between 4 to 8 years, hopefully much sooner.

[End of Flashback]
[Canterlot Castle: 3 Months since Twilight's Banishment.]

Applejack trotted on with her friends as they came to the throne room. When they arrived, they noticed the presence of not only both princesses, but the Captain of the Royal Guard was there as well, aka Shining Armor. As they approached the princesses, the elder alicorn started speaking.

"Hello my little ponies. It is good to see you all again, even if it is under different circumstances." Applejack was confused by this, luckily, she wasn't the first to voice her opinions.

"What do you mean 'under different circumstances' princess? Is there somepony that needs to be smacked by the elements?"

The farm pony didn't even need to turn her head to know who this came from. That tone of voice and cocky attitude only belonged to one rainbow haired pegasus. Princess Luna in turn answered their fears.

"Hopefully not Rainbow Dash. The circumstances of this visit are because a ancient kingdom known as the Crystal Empire has returned after one thousand years. We have called you here so that you may be sent along with Captain Armor here, along with the elements of harmony."

She paused as Princess Celestia continued on.

"Despite... recent events, the elements should be a powerful boon as you will be tasked with not only securing the Crystal Empire, but you will also be tasked with defeating the previous ruler of the Empire. King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night, took over the empire. He was promptly defeated and turned into a shadow. However, before he could be banished, he cast a curse over the empire, causing it to disappear into thin air."

She paused before continuing onward.

"I believe that before we leave, you will need these" Celestia said as she warped a box that everypony in the room recognized. The ones that contained the elements of harmony.

"Now, I know that we may not have Twilight here, but I am sure that they will still work even with a different-

A loud noise could be heard from the box, as it forcibly opened, the box splitting in half with the light pouring from it's cracks.

"We do not approve!"

Everypony was in shock at the voice they heard. It sounded like Twilight, but there was no way that it could be her.

"We will not support traitors!"

"We are not tools for unkind ponies!"

"We are honest! You are not!

"We despise those that bring sadness!"

"We scoff at your so called generosity!"

Silence echoed in the throne room as five objects floated from the cracked remains of the chest, slowly taking shape until five alicorn shaped beings floated down to the ground. (Think in regards to the look of the tantabus.)

"We repeat again! We have watched, and we do not approve!" The twilight-like voice said again as the purple one stepped forward, with the element of magic glittering inside of it. There was something completely different about it, in the place of it's radiant purple, the edges had turned wisteria. This didn't seem to affect the element though, as it continued on it's tirade.

"What is this!? What has happened to the elements?" The lunar princess screeched in shock. The elements turned, and seemed to fold into the purple one, before it spoke, the element of magic rose to the surface, breaking the surface of it's magic.

"SILENCE"

"We will not be used like this no longer!" It turned back towards the main five, it's energy lashing out of it's mane in anger.

"You want to know what has happened to us? YOU! You who we have entrusted in, have failed us! You have failed the most important lesson for our use!"

The ponies could only watch on in silence as the being continued.

"Twilight Sparkle trusted in you as friends, and yet you said nothing! You did nothing! You are unprivileged!

"What do you mean?! she attacked Princess Cadence! You can't judge us!" Rainbow said as she shot up and towards the elements, they in turn moved to the side, dodging the pegasus's speedy attack.

"While we agree that her methods were less than favorable, you gave her no other choice. You took no responsibility in trying to figure out why she did it. You, her friends did nothing!" It then turned towards the princesses, specifically Celestia.

"And you blindly believed the lies that thing told you! You distanced yourself from the truth! You decided to suspend your disbelief because it was your niece! And even worse, you have abandoned your student! You are even more foolish than I thought Celestia!"

Celestia was unable to speak, finding her voice unwilling to converse with the elemental being. It was at this time that Rainbow decided to retry her last trick, and no one could stop her as she zoomed into the air, heading back towards the being. If shock wasn't already signified, what happened next would forever remain in their hearts. The element of magic fell back towards the other, and the change was instant as loyalty rose to the surface, the purple hue changing to the dark red of it's magic.

Loyalty snatched Rainbow out of the sky, before flinging her toward the castle ground. It snarled as it spoke:

"Try that again, and you will end up with a lot more than a bruise!"

"Element bearer of Loyalty, would you like to know what you did wrong? You decided to stick up for ponies other than your friend. I swallowed my pride at first, hoping that you would learn from your battle with Discord but it seems I was wrong. You, decided to put your ego ahead of yourself, and in doing so, decided to believe the words of others instead of your friend that literally knew Cadence when she was younger. For that, I am no longer yours to command."

In a flash of light in the being, they heard a loud *CRACK* as the element of loyalty lost it's glow, becoming a solid grey. The alicorn double's color briefly changed grey, before turning into a dark pale blue.

"Element bearer of Generosity. You stand before us to be judged. There is no plea. You decided that to be silent at your friend's hearing was generosity at it's finest. I am ashamed to believe that we chose you. For that transgression, you may no longer call upon me."

A second flash of light happened, along with the same loud crack. It was obvious to everypony what was happening by now. The elements were dispensing judgement. There was another change in color, this time, it was blue like the sky. As it's voice took hold, it sounded more disappointed than angry.

"Pinkie Pie. How could you, you who knew the feeling of sadness turn your back upon a friend that was obviously in need of some laughter? You bring shame upon that mark upon your flank." It paused as pinkie's mane fell flat, losing it's usual flamboyant flair.

"You feel that feeling? Remember that. That is what Twilight felt when you left her. For your actions, you will no longer call upon me."

A third flash of light with a resounding crack sounded, and the element of laughter was gone. Everypony recognized the pink color that took hold next, it's serene voice cutting through the air like a knife through an apple.

"You are a kind mare, Fluttershy. But you went down the path of unkindness when you decided to leave along with the others, subjecting Twilight to a treatment no pony should be. Even you are not above such indignations. For your lapse in judgement, you may no longer use me to spread the joys of kindness. Farewell."

Another flash of light with the sound of an element cracking, and there stood an orange alicorn. Applejack recognized her own color in this one. She already knew what she had done wrong, she didn't need salt rubbed in the wound.

"On the contrary, while I agree that I shouldn't rub salt in the wound, it seems that it is needed. Applejack, you have your own siblings in which you have learned the art of catching lies from truth. I leave you with this question: If you had already known that Twilight was foalsat by Princess Cadance, why didn't you figure out that she was telling the truth? Think on that, the answer may surprise you more than you think."

Everypony was in a state of fear, watching as the elements had slowly cracked, falling from the body until only a purple hue remained, one that was much weaker than before. In place of it's bright purple core, there lied a lifeless grey. Even though it didn't have a distinct form, it looked frail. Like it was dying.

"You ponies have been judged fit as they have seen. I leave with you advice. We will not return unless you are capable of proving that friendship should be given another shot. Perhaps if Twilight were here, none of this would have transpired." It looked lost in thought, before speaking again.

"If you can bring Twilight back to Equestria, with her willingly coming, we shall contemplate on lending you our strength again. She must come back willingly, and if you try any tampering with her mind, we will react accordingly."

Princess Celestia finally found her voice and asked one question that had come up since those words were uttered.

"What will you do?" The purple alicorn turned to her, making what looked to be eye contact with the mare.

"We will react accordingly. There is a trial that has already been started Celestia. One that challenges even your ability to lead as much as your subjects. You would do well to tread carefully with that demon in your mind."

For the first time since the chest that held the elements had been forcibly opened by them, there was complete silence. With that open ended statement, there was one last flash of light followed by a crack, and as the element of magic fell from the air, dull grey and lifeless. It clattered throughout the quiet throne room, judgement rendered.