The door creaked open. Twilight half expected to be hit in the face with a tsunami of ponies, or struck by lightning, or have an alarm go off. But opening the door and stepping back into the castle she hadn’t seen for over a week was anticlimactic. Was that good or bad? She couldn’t decide. Maybe it just was nothing at all.

“Ugh, it’s so dusty here! Why couldn’t we just through the main entrance. Anything would be better than this!” Starlight held her nose, and Twilight herself was trying desperately not to wretch as the stench of garbage wafted over them.

As they were entering into one of the smaller side entrances, this basement room was often used for garbage disposal, and clearly the sanitation ponies were still making their rounds to everypony else before coming to pick up the trash from Canterlot Castle. The last she had heard, Twilight’s Sustainable Canterlot initiative was a rousing success, and ponies across the city were recycling and wasting much less food than before. At least the success of the campaign gave her something good to distract her from the disgust she currently felt. The two ponies quickly lumbered up the stairway up from the back of the room, making their way into the lower left wing of the castle. It was mostly used for record keeping and storage, so it would be a lot of walking down empty hallways before they reached the busier parts, like the staff office hall, the main tourist areas, and the private royal residence.

“Well, you know that those front steps are an absolute chore to get up! It’s practically like a marathon just to get up to the entrance!”

“True,” Starlight agreed, but her grossed out face said otherwise. “Isn’t there a spell or something the staff use to mask that smell?”

Twilight hummed in consideration. “I know Celestia used to let them do that, but near the end of her rulership that decision was reversed. Environmental groups said that if ponies couldn’t smell the trash, they wouldn’t have any reason to not crowd the streets with it. The smell and appearance of all that nastiness did incentivize ponies to be more careful with what they were wasting. So I’ve not allowed any spells down here since that, and even though it’s gross I’ve been happy about the progress we’ve made.”

Starlight nodded. “I do remember you bringing that up in a meeting one time a while back! I guess that adventure of ours is making me a bit forgetful!” She rubbed her temples.

Twilight was also not in the best shape, considering she had just returned from a trek across the land, mostly on hoof. Both she and Starlight really wanted to rest up for a few more days(or weeks, maybe) but the calling of royal duty never stopped. Twilight sighed. They would take the long way to Spike’s office. It gave just a few more minutes of calm before the storm.

So they found themselves crossing paths with vault rooms, archives, and the rare book room, a much smaller and more secure offshoot of the Canterlot Royal Library. That absolutely magnificent space had recently been opened to the public, although they were only allowed in small, highly secure tourist groups. Despite the expensive fees, slots for library tours were fully booked for the next several years. It was probably just gossip, but Spike said he heard a rumor that the waiting list took up an entire square mile of paper. Twilight could definitely understand why the library was so popular.

On particularly stressful days she liked to peruse the upper levels of the library’s domed interior, happily hidden away from the crowds. It might have been her favorite room in the castle. When nighttime came over Canterlot, she would look up at the glass ceiling and see the stars shining back at her, like she was a space cadet. Sometimes, she even fell asleep amongst the books, and Spike would come find her. Together they would look up through the library’s massive telescope, and see the constellations. It reminded Twilight of her time at the Golden Oak Library. She felt a little twinge in her heart every time she thought about her former home.

“Okay, so…what are we going to say to Spike exactly?” Starlight asked, right out of the blue. She looked at Twilight for the answer.

“I….I don’t know.” Twilight admitted, her ears drooping slightly. “I guess we could….I don’t know…explain a bit?” It was phrased like a question.

Starlight, truthfully, didn’t know anything more than Twilight did. She assumed Spike would be understanding, but then again that said nothing about the situation they were currently facing. If they came back to Spike with news that there might be another attack on Canterlot, no pony would be thrilled to see them. Starlight imagined the scenario.

“Hey Spike, we’re glad to be back! By the way, Twilight has a crazy stalker pony that’s going to kill us all, and there’s nothing we can do about it!”

Or,

“Hey Spike, Twilight’s back and feeling better! Oh, and also, we’re on the brink of war!”

Or, the worst of all,

Hey Spike! Good to see you! Make sure to tell your friends you love them because every creature is going to die soon! Celestia and Luna probably are behind it, also! By the way, have you seen the latest episode of Pony Confidential? I’ve heard it’s mind-blowing!”

There was no great way to break such news, and no halfway decent way either. They would just have to….talk about it. How wonderful. Starlight grumbled.

She started. “I guess you’re right. There’s no other way to say it other than honestly. I don’t think dancing around it will make the secret any easier to keep.”

“Yeah. I’ll try to pencil out a good way of explaining that won’t make Spike’s head explode.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, we don’t want to become zombies!” Starlight said.

“Right on, Starlight!”

“Since when did you start talking like a surfer?”

“I have no idea!” Twilight said happily.

Starlight sighed. They were both feeling nerves, but they were on opposite ends of the emotional coping spectrum. However she trotted alongside Twilight without comment. They needed to save all their focus towards the difficult conversation that was to follow.

Eventually, after many twists and turns, the two ponies reached the office corridor, and were greeted by castle staffers wishing well for Twilight’s health. Spike had clearly done a good job in convincing every creature that she was just feeling ill, not that the world was going to collapse. She reached Spike’s door a few paces ahead of Starlight, and gave a soft knock.

“Who is it?” Came Spike’s voice from inside.

“Spike, it’s me, Twilight.”

“And Starlight!” She added a second later.

A few moments of silence occurred before the door was slowly opened and Spike’s face popped around the corner, looking a bit cautious. Twilight couldn’t blame him. Things had been scary around the castle recently.

Twilight did a double take. The normally baby-faced dragon looked to have aged twenty years in just a week. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but he did look pretty awful. His eyes looked weary and bloodshot, with intense bags under them. His scales were not as sharp and bright as they typically were. His claws were in desperate need of a trim. Even with all the help he had likely received from coworkers and friends, the last week must have been rough for him. Twilight didn’t know what to think. She hadn’t checked a news stand for a few days since she left the castle in the cloak of night time.

Starlight broke the silence. “Jeez Spike, you look like shit!” Her words were blunt but she meant it with genuine concern.

Twilight elbowed her and smiled apologetically at Spike. “Sorry Spike. We’ve had a long trip.”

Spike just stared in shock, before breaking into a massive grin. “Twi-Twi, you’re back! Both of you!”

He suddenly found his footing and pulled both ponies into a rib-crushing hug.

“Aww, I missed you both so much! I trusted Twilight’s judgment, but I won’t lie, there were a few sleepless nights here and there.”

“Yeah, we can tell.” Starlight said, winking at Spike. They shared a silly smile.

Spike ushered them into his office. It was a spacious round room, with an airy, domed ceiling. His mahogany desk was littered with papers, books, and some stray candles that looked to have been burning all night.

Spike nearly tripped over a box of books he had near the double doors before straightening himself up. “Sorry about the mess, I meant to clean earlier but Discord got in the way. I’m sure we can manage just fi—“

Apparently summoned by his own name, a gray, Discord-shaped whirlwind began forming in the rotunda. All the papers that were strewn throughout the room were swept up in the raucousness. Instead of making the room messier, all the papers were placed into piles in their respective sections, and all the books were organized on the shelves. In a matter of seconds, Spike’s office had gone from a teenager’s bedroom to the cover of Vanity Mare’s design issue. He was oddly touched by Discord’s small gesture of kindness. The draconequus himself appeared in the middle of the twister, along with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and of course Fluttershy. She and Discord were wearing matching smiles. However, each of the other ponies looked a tad discombobulated by the chaotic entrance.

Discord snapped his claws, and the room-cleaning storm dissipated into a stream of water that he used to feed the plants on Spike’s back window.

As if every pony was aware of her presence at once, Twilight was suddenly inundated with hugs from all sides. Every creature stayed like that for a few minutes. They were all glad to see Twilight and Starlight back from their brief journey.

“It’s so good to see you! I didn’t know when you would be back, so the dates for your welcome home party are still tentative, but we’re thinking of hosting it at Sugarcube Corner…which reminds me, I still have to plan the party for RainbowJack’s one month anniversary—“

“That’s our couple's name? That could be at least twenty percent cooler if I had any input!”

Pinkie Pie, sticking her tongue out at Rainbow Dash, continued speaking a mile a minute.

“By the way, Starlight, it’s almost time for your twelve-year-anniversary of not being a cult leader anymore, I need to plan for that too!”

Starlight cringed in embarrassment. “That sounds lovely, Pinkie, but I’m not sure we need a celebration for just twelve yea-“

“Well I already have it in my filing system!”

“Fair enough.” Starlight grumbled good naturedly. She didn’t like being the center of attention, especially when it reminded her of those awful years from her past. Every few months, she made a pilgrimage back to her old village, which had expanded beyond the single street into a few more. It was still a tiny town, but Starlight was glad to see that the lovely, tight knit community had become a bit more livable. Sometimes walking down that single street, devoid of any color or personality, made her crazy. But now that the town was long out of her grasp, it had evolved into a small but lively community. It wasn’t enough to absolve the treachery of her past, but it was enough otherwise.

Before Pinkie could go on another party planning spree, she was gently shushed by Twilight.

“It’s great to be back every creature! Even if I have to endure Discord’s chaos or Pinkie’s high energy, or Rainbow’s competitive streak, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” Her kind remarks had a bittersweet quality to them, but no one except Starlight knew why. At least she thought.

Applejack covertly wiped her eyes with her hooves. After being exhausted from the harvest the past few days, she found herself unexpectedly emotional. Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her shoulder.

“You okay, Applejack?” Fluttershy said softly from across the circle they were in.

“Yeah, yeah…I’m okay. It’s just, well, I ain’t a pony of mushiness….but I love you guys…and…and…”

She burst into tears. “I think the end is near. I’ve been having dreams, well, nightmares. I have to be honest with y’all. I don’t know if we’ll make it out of this one.” She continued to sob, her body wracked with hurt.

It was then that Twilight and Starlight noticed how bleak everycreature looked. Like all the energy had been zapped right out of the room. Even Pinkie Pie’s manic energy had tapered off a bit. Neither of them knew how their friends figured out what was going on, but it must have had something to do with the elements.

“I’ve been having strange dreams, too.” Rarity said suddenly. Twilight noticed how her normally perfect hair was a little less of the brilliant purple she had come to expect. She continued: “It started with normal dreams of stress—fashion week is just around the corner, darling—but, lately, they’ve been wrong.”

“Wrong like how?” Starlight asked.

Rarity struggled to articulate her thoughts. “I can’t explain it quite right, dear, but it was like…the inverse of my element. I could actually see the wrongness of my element in the dream. Like, instead of generosity, it was selfishness. That’s what the dreams have been, selfish. I know I can’t explain it very well—“

“My dreams were like that, too.” Rainbow Dash said. “The dreams I’ve been having don’t make much sense, logically, but they make me feel. And not in a good way. When I sleep at night, I feel like the loyalty is being drained right out of my dreams. Like Rarity said, it’s the inverse. Excuse my language, but it’s really fucking weird.”

“And…how long have these dreams been going on?”

“Two weeks, about.” Rainbow Dash answered, and the rest nodded in agreement.

“I know…I know I don’t have an element, but…I’ve been feeling uneasy too. We all have.” Starlight said, unsure of her place amongst the conversation.

Twilight softly gazed at her friend. “You might not have an official element, but you’re as much a part of this conversation as I am. Besides, who says there have to be six elements?”

Every creature went silent. Was Twilight correct to cast doubt on the elements being an accurate and complete representative of friendship?

Twilight wasn’t fazed. “Guys…the elements are just some magical gems that shoot lasers. What really matters—and I know this is cheesy—is what's in your heart! Think about it! We’re all a part of this!”

Slowly, every creature nodded, even Discord, who conjured up two inflatable thumbs up out of nowhere. It was the kind of pep talk Starlight needed. Her eyes were shiny as she took in all the love surrounding her. One day she would get the courage to tell Twilight how she felt, and her words would be simple. She just didn’t know how to say them.

Twilight didn’t want to bring down the jubilant mood, but she had to. “I know this is hard to say…” her tone sent a hush through the group.

She swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. “Things…are really bad right now.”

Everypony waited with bated breath for the knife to hit down their bones.

Twilight couldn’t say it. That would make it real, and she wanted the big dark mass inside her mind to stay there. But it was ever growing, aching to get out. She turned and nodded to Starlight. She looked like a deer in headlights.

“I think we’re going to war.”

If the room had been quiet before, it was silent now. All Twilight could hear was the ticking of the clock, the birds outside, and the pounding in her ears. There was nothing she could do to fix her broken heart, to temper the flames stoked inside her, to repair the shattered glass. She just sighed and addressed her friends.

“I want everypony to take some time to recoup. I know it’s only midday, but we all need some rest. You’re welcome to the chambers upstairs.” Twilight’s words were firm.

“But what about our situation? Shouldn’t we make plans or something?” Pinkie Pie asked, her usually cheery words binded by her own worry. Even her usually bouncy mane was droopy and deflated.

“We start tomorrow. I need every pony and every creature to get a good night’s sleep and filling meals. We have some very long days ahead of us.”

With that, Twilight dropped her head and didn’t dare look any creature in the eyes as they shuffled out.

She looked up to see Spike give her a saddened nod as he walked out. She wanted to cry. She had raised him from the moment he hatched out of the egg, but not for a world like this.

Discord had exploded into thin air, up to his castle chambers that broke the laws of physics.

Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash left without a word, the clatter of hooves making enough noise already.

Starlight remained. She pursed her mouth, clearly wanting to ask something.

“What is it, Starlight?” Twilight said, exasperated. She quickly apologized: “Sorry for being snappy…I just really need to be alone right now.”

“No no, I totally get it! No apology necessary. I was just wondering…what do you think my element would be?”

That was…not the question Twilight was expecting. Or what she hoped for(but that was an unopened can of worms). She didn’t know how to respond.

“Hmm…” Twilight made her “I’m thinking hard” face.

Starlight was happy to wait. Minutes passed, but Twilight slowly broke out of her concentration.

“I think your element would be progress. Or a word like that. Transformation, responsibility, self-awareness. Evolving. Like a butterfly.”

Starlight wrinkled her nose. “Or a snake that sheds its skin.”

Twilight grimaced. “Yeah…let’s stick to the butterfly thing.”

“I agree.” Starlight said. “I’ll see you around, Twi. I’ll be ready and early tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you there.”

With the creak of a door hinge, Starlight was gone. Although the power of teleportation was easily available for both ponies, oftentimes walking was preferred. It was a moment of transition, a rare refuge in a life that was always between a rock and a hard place.

Twilight was alone in the office. The afternoon sun streaked through the window, the dust particles floating by like a stream of tiny fish through a river. She looked around at the place she was forced to call home. Lately, her mind had been toying with visions of a different Equestria. A world without a queen or a king, a world devoid of a crown. A democracy of sorts. Although she would never admit it out loud anytime soon, Twilight could feel the monarchy’s grip on Equestria lessening, and perhaps that was a good thing. Maybe if the monarchy wasn’t burnt to the ground in the next few weeks, she would have the clarity she needed.

She trotted out of the office, closing the creaky door behind her. The sun seemed to follow her as she walked up the many, many steps to her room. The twists and turns she made through the castle seemed much longer when she was stressed. It felt like heaven had descended on earth when she was finally able to sink down into the comfort of her own bed. After a week of sleeping in a tent, on a train, and on top of some boxes, she could have cried with the relief that her aching joints felt. She let her eyes close, and fell into a deep sleep, even though it was still mid-afternoon.

She awoke a few hours later with a nudge against her side. It was Spike.

Aside from herself, a few others were granted access to her most private chambers. She smiled at him.

“Hey Spike, what are you doing up?”

He pointed at the window. “You know it’s only early evening, right?”

Twilight yawned. “Really, wow! I must be more tired than I thought. I bet I could sleep for a hundred years.”

“Twi, are you feeling better? It’s been hard without you.” He said.

She looked him in the eye. “No, Spike, I’m not okay.”

Spike’s eyes grew big and sad. It made her heart ache. “I know.” He said softly. “I know, Twi, I know.” He didn’t say anything more, and Twilight didn’t need him either. She was just glad he understood so much of what she couldn’t articulate.

She buried her head into his shoulder and sobbed. Her tears were enough to fill an ocean with her pain. But that was the thing about crying. She needed it so badly. As her body was wracked by anguish, she could feel just the smallest amount of weightlessness. It was as if her soul was breathing a little better, like all the tears she had shed were drowning her inside.

“Twilight…I’m so sorry.” Spike spoke up after a long while of silence. “I…I don’t have answers for any of this at all. I just…I’m here for you, and I’m…I’m…going to do my best to be here for you even more.” Spike’s claws were clutching her hoofs as they sat on her bed. It was like when he was little, when the thunder and lightning scared him so much he couldn’t sleep. But it was her baby dragon that was comforting her now. How times had changed.

“Spike…this isn’t what I envisioned being a ruler would be like. Celestia and Luna made it look so much easier than it really was, and I’m so scared!” She started to cry again. “I’m so scared that we’re on the precipice of disaster!” Although she was crying, she smiled just a bit at the silly memory her word choice had conjured up. Spike gave a small laugh. Twilight had lost a lot of confidence within the past year or so, but she still had a fighting spirit.

“Twilight, we’ve got this. I know it’s scary, but we’ve got this. No matter what happens, I’m going to be with you every step of the way.” Spike wasn’t sure if his mini pep-talk had done the trick, but he was glad to see Twilight wipe her reddened eyes, hop off of the bed, and start towards her desk.

“Spike, get some sleep. I still have an hour or so before I have to raise the moon, but in the meantime…I’m going to start on our plans…with some research.”

Twilight put on her reading glasses and grabbed her small white book off the desk.

Spike was suddenly a bit confused. Why was she leaving her room?

“Twilight, where are you going?”

She smirked at him, a fiery glint in her eyes. It was the kind of look that she got before she dove into a long book or started a research essay. She didn’t even really have to say where she was going. Spike understood.

“Where do you think I’m going, Spike? The library, of course!”

With that, she bounded down the hallway outside her room at a record speed. Spike wanted to remind her she could have just teleported to save the convoluted castle hallways from getting her lost, but she was out the door in a flash.

Spike didn’t even have time to ask her about the little white book. He made a mental note to inquire about it later. He was thrilled to see a glimpse of Twilight’s, well, Twilighting.

Spike stepped out the door, carefully closing it shut. He headed down to the left elevator, taking him to his chambers on the floor below. He couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into the new Power Ponies comic book. After over a week of constant meetings, debates, and headaches, he needed a bit of me-time. The elevator doors closed, and he was off to his room.

Twilight, on her part, was heading to the ground floor of the castle, where the library’s massive, circular shelves rose up from. Research, she told herself. It was just research.

But she knew she was preparing for something bigger.

The library was filled to the brim with books on every subject. Everything from finances to gardening to cheap romance paperbacks had found a home here. As ruler, one of her first official acts was to diversify the library’s collection. Ancient spell books shared shelf space with genres of all kinds. There was even an erotica section, and on the rare occasions a non-staff member was allowed to peruse the library, they were often found huddled amongst the more…colorful books in the collection. It certainly brought a few snickers out of the more conservative members of Canterlot’s elite, but she wanted the iconic space to highlight the progress of the modern world.

She trotted up to the highest level, which was the seventh. It housed books that were not suitable for being at the entrance. Nopony would feel welcomed if they saw a kiosk of occult books, spell books, and some of the darkest treatises the world had ever seen. There was even a copy of Starlight’s manifesto somewhere amongst the stacks of literature. Twilight was ready to search. If this section didn’t work, she would go back down to the Canterlot Archives, where all the extremely rare books were housed. If that didn’t work, then…well…she didn’t let herself finish the thought. It was too much. She focused on the task at hand, which was her need to know more about her attackers. Perhaps there was some kind of key to their motivations that she would find here.

“No, no, no…” Twilight was muttering to herself as she went through book after book. A printed version of a public speech against Equestria’s integration of other creatures into society? An opinion piece arguing for the windigos to be treated as citizens? A spell book written by Discord’s alter ego, Drocsid? None of these would work…

She went through pile after pile. She found a book by an infamous separationist, which were ponies that believed unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi should have separate thirds of Equestria. She even read a few chapters of an essay collection about the virtues of Tirek as a potential leader. She was utterly baffled by some of the material she found! But then again, Canterlot Library was about preserving literature, not censoring it. She just sighed and turned away at the stream of awful messages being put her way.

She found a few anti-monarchy texts, but it didn’t tell her anything specific. That is, until a title caught her eye.

The Elements of (Dis)Harmony

It was a recent-looking book, which was unusual. Rarely were there new books about the elements, save for scholarly journals and the like. But this book, this book was wrong. What were the elements of disharmony? Were those…were those what the dreams were about?

She took a chance on the book. She opened to the first few pages, trying to find publishing details or one of the short author bios on the flaps. But there were none. It didn’t look to be authored by anyone at all. All she found was a short introduction:

The Elements of Harmony are perhaps the most well-known and influential objects in Equestrian history. Made famous by their role in Princess Celestia’s defeat of Nightmare Moon and the subsequent quests of Princess Twilight Sparkle, these magical gemstones are among the most sacred cultural artifacts in history. There are six elements of each. Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, and Magic. While some scholars have posited the existence of multiple other elements(some believe there are up to ten or more!), there are just six that have been confirmed.

Each element is connected to a different pony, and this group of six has had several iterations. Nopony is for certain why each element is assigned, and perhaps it will never be known. It lies beyond the conventions of science and technology.

Together, these six elements form the basis of interpersonal relationships. The elements of friendship have been used to teach school ponies for generations, and even world leaders rely on their lessons.

However, it is my opinion–and that of others—that these elements are not what they are cracked up to be. In this work, I will be arguing against these six elements as a foundation of Equestrian life. This book is about disproving the elements as they are commonly seen, by the ponies that represent them.

I am not of the opinion that the six elements are being used improperly, or that we as a society rely on them too much. I am arguing that the concept is intrinsically flawed. This book has six sections, and it will end with Twilight Sparkle, who represents the element of magic.

Twilight stopped reading as soon as she saw her name being written about in such a way. As a public figure, she was used to the slander of gossip magazines. But this…this was different.
She flipped to her section, glancing at sentences aimed at her friends along the way.

Regarding generosity: Rarity is supposed to represent the element of generosity, but why? Her clothing empire isn’t nearly as sustainable or affordable as her advertisements claim it is. Her business relies on the exploits of common ponies, while she gets all of the glory! She steals the work of past fashion giants and rebrands it as her own! It’s not generous inspiration, it’s selfishnessI I will admit that while she definitely started out as a small-town pony, she certainly isn’t one now.

Twilight winced. He…he wasn’t exactly wrong, here.

Regarding honesty: Applejack’s story is similar to that of Rarity. Sweet Apple Acres is a fraudulent business. They drove out the pear family in their greed, and they partnered with Filthy Rich on far too many occasions. Their “small town values'’ contradict with their business practices. They have bought up almost all of the land surrounding Ponyville, and have completely overrun the actual small businesses in the town for their manufactured authenticity. Is that honest? Absolutely not.

Twilight could feel a full-body cringe coming on. Although this book was written rather unprofessionally, she could sort of understand what made somepony think like this. Although she had a much more favorable view of her friends, she knew she was looking through rose-colored glasses. She continued.

Regarding kindness: Fluttershy’s element couldn’t have been further from the truth. I for one had the chance to meet her at a book signing event several years ago, and she was curt and snippy. Furthermore, what is kind about being a right-hoof mare to the most consequential ruler of modern Equestria? She is supposedly a paragon of compassion, and yet she spends so much time abroad on royal trips that she rarely visits the animals she claims to love so much! An entire staff works at her massive animal sanctuary while she is out parading around as the element of kindness. What a joke!

Twilight rolled her eyes at that one. That book signing, which was for an updated edition of the Friendship Journal, was just a few weeks after her beloved pet rabbit, Angel Bunny, had passed away. Who could blame her for not being her normal self? She was grieving! Additionally, Twilight knew for a fact that every waking moment of Fluttershy’s life outside of the Crown was spent in Ponyville at her wonderful sanctuary. Fluttershy had never once claimed credit for her sanctuary, always thanking her staff by name at every public appearance. Clearly, this pony had a bone to pick with her friends and it overshadowed their capacity for reason. This pony was obviously never at odds with their own intellect, because they had none.

Okay, maybe that was too harsh. But Twilight was starting to feel…upset by this book. Yet, she couldn’t stop reading. She scanned some more pages in each section.

Regarding laughter: Pinkie Pie is not funny. While her baking skills are a true marvel, her designation as the element of laughter feels bizarre. Is that the true humor of her? The painfully unfunny irony of it all? When she cracks jokes and pulls out party cannons at serious events, it feels insulting and demoralizing. Furthermore, the element of laughter feels out of place with the five others, because it's ultimately meaningless. Kindness, generosity, loyalty and the like are all words with depth. Laughter is merely an action. It does not fit with the others, because it only exists to fulfill Pinkie Pie’s class clown narcissism. Of all the designated element representatives, this is one that feels most egregious. That’s because it isn’t the pony that is wrong for the job, it’s the element itself that is flawed.

The opinions flowing from the pages almost made Twilight want to cry. She knew that her and her friends weren’t perfect, and far from it. They weren’t always in their element, so to speak. Sometimes, Applejack lied. Fluttershy had several instances of rudeness. Rarity could be selfish, especially if it came to a rare fabric or design. There were times when Rainbow Dash bailed on her friends. Pinkie Pie had moments of awkward unfunniness. But that was what made their friendship real. They argued, fought, bickered, and didn’t always communicate poorly. They squabbled over the simplest of decisions, like which restaurant to go to or which film to see in the cinema. They weren’t perfect. No pony was. It felt like this book was taking their flaws and putting them under a microscope. As she continued reading, she felt like a bug being dissected in a science class.

On loyalty: Rainbow Dash is an exceptionally good flier, and an exceptionally bad pony. Who could forget when she left Cloudsdale behind for the glitz and glamor of Canterlot Castle? Or when she had her tax evasion scandal? Rainbow Dash’s claim to the element of loyalty is laughable at best and dangerous at worst. She made headline news a few years back after selling her iconic Cloudsdale home and moving to a swanky neighborhood in Manehattan! Clearly, she has no loyalty to the city that gave her everything. She spends more time with unicorns and earth ponies than she does with her own kind. She’s a traitor! That doesn’t sound very loyal to me.

It seemed that the more Twilight read, the more unhinged and unprofessional the writing got. She couldn’t believe that a piece of writing like this was bound so beautifully, with gilded edges too. It was an object far too beautiful to hold such hatred like this.

Rainbow Dash was as loyal as they come. While she did move to Manehattan, it had nothing to do with a lack of loyalty towards her hometown. She simply wanted to be closer towards the wonderbolts training facility in Rainbow Falls, which was just outside the city. She was always visiting Cloudsdale, and had personally funded affordable housing projects in the city, as well as a new community center. She made appearances at city hall, toured the expanded Rainbow Factory, and much more. When she wasn’t in public, she was enjoying home-cooked meals and merry conversation with her parents. While Rainbow Dash’s failure to pay her taxes was an immense disappointment to her friends and a hit to her public image, she was earnest and apologetic, completing her community service in record time. Even today, Dashie’s eyes clouded with shame whenever that tumultuous period of her life was brought up.

But this author would never know how sorry she was. They would never see her tears, and her hatred towards herself. They would never see the countless hours she spent trying to better herself, in therapy and in charity. They would never know who she truly was. They would know who any of them truly were.

Well, she wouldn't lie to herself. While the author was certainly mean-spirited with their words and sloppy with their sourcing, the opinions shared weren’t…uncommon. Twilight’s reputation had certainly taken a hit, and she wasn’t in a bubble of her own merit. Of course there were many ponies that thought this way. A large swath of the public disliked or even hated her. She wasn’t stupid. So why did this hurt so much? Why did it scare her? Why did she feel like a ticking bomb, just waiting for the rug to slip from under, just waiting for the other shoe to drop? Just waiting for the explosion?

It was obvious. Of course she was hurt by this, and the dozens of other books, pamphlets, and radio shows that said the same thing. Political disagreement was normal, but this level of dissent wasn’t…

The word was war. Equestria was going to cannibalize itself, tear the meaty flesh off its own bones until there was nothing left. She could almost visualize the sickly sweet smell of blood, feeling its warm metallic rush against her tongue.

That is, unless she and her friends would do something about it.

But first, she was going to rip the band-aid off and read her section.

On magic: Even Twilight Sparkle’s name feels like a stereotype of her own self. The relatively new ruler of Equestria is lost in her own head. Unlike the untouchable grace of Celestia or the warm relatability of Luna, Twilight has little to offer her Kingdom outside of a frozen smile. Don’t forget that it was her behind the Neighagara Falls disaster, it was her behind the raised taxes in Canterlot. She forced schools to add the history of non-ponies to the curriculum, a sickening paradigm shift to pander to the youth of today. Twilight Sparkle sits on her ostentatious throne while cities are ravaged by poverty. She enjoys a lavish garden while the average citizen is lucky to have a potted plant that isn’t made out of plastic. Furthermore, she doesn’t fit the element of magic, because she doesn’t fit in any element of friendship. Many anonymous school ponies have confirmed that she was indeed studious, hard-working, and socially inept. While the narrative is that her worldview shifted when she moved to Ponyville, that’s hard to believe. Most ponies embody her element from the time they are young. Her story isn’t inspirational, it’s a familiar tale of a privileged city transplant finally seeing the world for what it is. It’s demeaning, and frankly silly that such a non-friendly pony represents what she is not. Her technical skills are marvelous, of course, but her social skills are not. Ceremony attendees report on her awkwardness and aloofness. Certainly, no single pony, and especially not her, should be making such monumental decisions for the entirety of Equestria. She’s supposed to be the glue that holds the world together? Her?

Twilight couldn’t read it anymore. She had to put the book back on its shelf to calm her raving mind. Of course, what the pony had written was nothing more than an opinion piece devoid of any critical thinking or research. It was a gossip magazine spiel under the literal cover of prestige! The author wasn’t even credited!

But what the piece had been right on, was that she and her friends were flawed, and perhaps not the most equipped ponies to handle an entire nation. Celestia and Luna had put so much faith in her that they misted up their own perspectives. She would never be ready to be the pony they wanted her to be. Because no pony would. This document was ridiculous, but it had offered her a peek into the mind she didn’t understand. They may have unnecessarily blamed her for the failure of Equestria, but deep down they shared a common thread.

It was fear. Ponies and creatures alike that hated Twilight were scared. Twilight and her friends were scared too. Not for the immediate tasks in their control, but for a future they could not see. A new chapter of Equestria was coming, but those pages couldn’t be turned until they were turned. A new dawn was rising, and it was terrifying and exhilarating and anything else under the sun.

Twilight was struck with a sudden empathy for those that she often derided as no more than vultures. She didn’t want war or strife, or any kind of violence. It’s not like singing songs and shooting lasers would solve everything, but there was a common, if vague goal. To save Equestria, to change it for the better. They just had vastly different ideas on how to do that. She had always known to see the best in others, no matter the situation. She would just have to figure out how to do that now.

Twilight yawned. She needed to go to bed. The deep philosophical thoughts would be paused in favor of the dream world. She trotted down from the seventh level, carefully placing the piles of wayward books back to their respective shelves. She yawned many more times before even reaching the stairs. It had been a long day.
was so tired from the events of recent memory that even her horn seemed to ache as she lowered the sun and rose up the moon. Considering it was a spell that no common pony knew, the burden was always on her shoulders. Sometimes she wished that the communal practice had stayed beyond ancient times. But that was not how modern society worked, so she just sighed and did the routine act, all by herself.

She slept soundly that night, with no nightmares. There was only an inky blackness waiting for her in the dream realm. She would realize later that the lack of color should have scared her, but it didn’t. It made her feel at peace.

A buzzing from the little white book alerted her. The book was almost falling off its perched table with the movements. Twilight roused from the land between sleep and wakefulness. She quietly trotted over to the book, which by the looks of it was filled to the brim with messages from the guard in Trottingham. She hadn’t been able to make out the words very well; it was all so rushed. But everything was clearly a warning, and her heart leapt into her throat. Something was happening. Something terrible was going to–

A sound louder than anything she had ever heard rattled her steel-strengthened windows. Her bedside lamp crashed over onto its side, sending shards of glass into the thick carpet under her hooves. Outside, there were flashes of brightness. But that couldn’t have been right, couldn’t it? She hadn’t raised the sun yet. By the looks of the clock, Canterlot was still a few hours away from the sunrise. Every corner of her brain screamed at her to look away, every fiber of her being wanted to curl up under her bedspread and never again get up. But she had to look outside, even if she knew in her heart that Equestria would never be the same.

Fire. Fire everywhere. Buildings far into the distance, including the city’s famous gates, were blown apart. The normally moonlit night sky had traded its rich navy hue for a bloodied, smoky orange. More sounds rattled her eardrums, and her beloved city was besieged in front of her eyes. That’s when she realized just exactly what was causing those sounds.

Bombs. The massive, hulking death machines not seen since she had glimpsed the alternate futures of Equestria during her battle with Starlight. When the future was shattered because Rainbow Dash couldn’t make the sonic rainboom. But this wasn’t a product of vengeful time-travel, and it wasn’t a bad dream. It was, it was…unequivocal to anything she had seen before, anything but the spinning mental threads of her darkest days. Twilight couldn’t even fathom the horrors in front of her. She thought she could hear screams in the distance, but perhaps that was only in her mind. Maybe they were just echos of her own.

She heard the most dreadful knocking on her door and the panicked but professional voices of her guards. She didn’t think the rapp of a pony’s hoof could ever have sounded like that. The taps against her door sounded like the keening cries of loss, like the castle staff were preparing for a funeral of the world. She just shook her head. There was just no way that Equestria would fall at the feet of these incendiaries.

She bounded out of her door into the swell of concerned guards. No matter the guttural, animalistic fear that penetrated to her very bones, and no matter that the room was spinning and shaking. No matter that she knew her friends’ dreams weren’t just nightmares, but warnings. She wondered if Luna had given them a heads-up of what was to come. But she didn’t know if she could even trust her mentors anymore. Even though her emotions more often than not felt like a hamster wheel, she knew one thing for certain.

Twilight wasn’t going to give up. Not this time. Not ever.

All throughout their time as the Mane Six, her friends had done one single thing. Try and save the world.

And they would try again.

Author's Note

So this chapter is a bit all over the place and random, and it certainly strays from the outline I planned! We are about forty percent of the way through the story, and I am glad to see that there is engagement with this story from the kind strangers of the internet.