Discordant Futureby PegasusTravelsChaptersPrologueWhat I'm Looking ForBridged OverHopelessOne ChancePrologueMy name is Ruby. My mother was the Element of Generosity. My father was Soarin’, a member of a prestigious flight group called the Wonderbolts. I have a sister named Sapphire. We live in the space above Mom’s dress shop, the Carousel Boutique. Mom and I are Magi—we have the ability to use magic. Dad and Sapph are Fliers. They were born with wings and they both make good use of them. For seventeen years after I was born, we lived in peace. The whole world was (relatively) calm and uneventful. Our family was large and happy. While our biological family included only my sister and I, our parents, and our aunt Sweetie Belle, we had a large number of honorary family members. They included the other Elements of Harmony, their children and families, several friends in various cities, and the two rulers of our land. There was also Scootaloo and her adoptive sister, Mint. They were orphans, but they belonged to our family just as much as any of us. My best friends were the ones closest to my age. Apple Spectrum, at the same time the most stubborn and kind girl you will ever meet. Apple Blossom, the most dependable person I know. She would never leave anyone hanging and she’s always calm and collected. She’s Spectrum’s cousin and just as stubborn. Nyx, the worst liar in the world. You could say she couldn’t tell a lie to save her life. I sure haven’t seen her tell one. She’s a mage, like me. There’s Sapphire, of course. She’s far too benevolent for her own god. While she takes after our mother a lot, she’s obviously daddy’s little girl. Sapphire is only a year younger than me. Mint is also part of our group, even though she’s the youngest of all of us. She always knows how to make someone laugh, and always shows us the bright side of the situation. For seventeen years, none of us were anything but happy. But things changed. The world changed. There was a statue in the Royal Gardens of a Draconnequus—a creature whose body is made up of all kinds of animal parts. Only, it wasn’t really a statue. It was a spirit encased in stone, the Sprit of Chaos. The first time he was unleashed upon the world, the royal sisters, Sun and Moon, harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony to defeat him. Then my mother and her friends became the Elements, so they were left to fight him the second time. No one thought there would be a third time. Sapphire and I were the first to notice he was gone. We spent a lot of time in the Royal Gardens (which were in the capital city, though we just called it the City) because our parents needed a place to leave us where we wouldn’t get bored or destroy everything when they had business. We went to the City pretty often—Mom had her stuck-up clients and Dad had Wonderbolts shows. I loved the Royal Gardens because they were vast, filled with open space, and right next to the Palace, where Sun and Moon lived. Best of all, there was a massive hedge maze. Sapphire and I had a lot of races to get to the center; I would’ve won a lot more if Sapph hadn’t used her wings to cheat. And ever since Magic told us the story of how they defeated the Spirit of Chaos (or Discord, as he called himself), my sister and I would make a point of visiting his statue every time we were in the Royal Gardens. Obviously, we reported his absence to the royal guards immediately after we noticed it. I think they thought we were just some stupid kids at first (Sapphire ran up to them calling, “Hey! Hey guardy guys!”), but I convinced them to at least take a look. Next thing I knew, the entire country was in chaos. Sun and Moon and the Elements were going crazy searching for him. All of us kids ended up staying under heavy guard in the Royal Palace. We were all so scared and confused. Discord was free? But how? Our parents had beaten him so soundly! Everyone thought he’d be gone forever. What was going to happen? Even with all of these questions running through our minds, we never once doubted our parents would succeed. We believed in them, held them above any standard. They were our own personal deities, humble enough to associate themselves with us. Wonderful enough to love us. Smart enough to teach us. Brave enough to face all the evils in the world—for they had done just that. And they were doing it again. We were all shocked the day they didn’t come home. There were ten of us in the room at the time—Mint, Blossom, Spectrum, Nyx, Sapphire, Scootaloo, our aunts Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, Laughter’s daughter, Balloon, and me. Two guards entered the room, looking uneasy. They had something to say and they weren’t too eager to say it. The others weren’t paying too much attention to them. They were playing a game—something like charades, but with a different set of rules. The guards had caught my attention, though. The way they were acting…well… I knew they couldn’t have good news. I stared at them intensely, waiting for them to get over themselves and just tell us. Finally, one of the guards—an older, gray-haired man—cleared his throat, wordlessly asking for our attention. The room fell silent. As I looked around, I knew they had all come to the same conclusion I had just minutes before—that these men were the bearers of bad news. The gray-haired guard coughed into his fist nervously before launching into his well-rehearsed, protocol speech. “We…we regret to inform you that your loved ones,” Here he listed their names, “have been terminated in the line of battle.” He paused. “They fought valiantly and we all looked up to them.” At this point, I was fairly sure his index cards had expired, and he was speaking from the heart. “They were heroes and idols to all of us. We are very sorry for your loss.” By this point, the younger guard was quite plainly trying to suppress his tears, and nearly failing. He was clearly attached to one or more of our parents. For a moment (before the words settled in) I wondered how this pair knew our parents. Was the older one a guard when Magic lived here? Was the young one (who looked about our parents’ age) an old friend? My mind ran through different possibilities, trying not to process the news the two had been sent to deliver. Then I didn’t have anything else to think about, and it hit me like a brick wall. So hard I collapsed. They were dead. Mom and all the Elements. Magic, who taught me everything I know. Loyalty and Honesty, who often took us out camping. Laughter, who threw endless parties and pulled candy out of nowhere. Kindness, who found each of us the perfect pet and chaperoned most of our sleepovers. Mom, who raised me and always knew just the right thing to say and gave great advice and never let us have ice cream after 8 and sent us to bed at no later than 10 (even though she knew we wouldn’t sleep) and took us to the City at least once a month. Dead. All of them. That was the day all of our lives turned upside down. The guards were everywhere now. No one laughed anymore. Not even Mint. That was the day everything changed. It was like the punchline to some sick, twisted joke. Dad, Sapphire, and I; we supported each other. At least, Sapphire and I did. Dad…he got distant. He barely talked to us anymore. We never gave up trying to help him. Right up to the end, we tried to help. It didn’t make a difference. Two months after we got the news about the Elements, Dad ended it with a single bullet. Sapphire and I were shell-shocked. We gave up on grief, sadness, any kind of feeling, really. We didn’t talk to anyone but each other, and even that was rare. Mostly we just offered physical comfort. Not a second went by for a good three and a half months that Sapph and I weren’t touching in some way. I don’t know if we were trying to reassure each other or make sure we were both still here, still alive. Maybe both. Finally, the others got sick of it. They cornered us one day (not that hard to do, we barely moved) and reminded us that we had friends. They didn’t even say anything—just gathered around us and wrapped us in a hug. Suddenly, I could feel again. The emotions came rushing back. All the sorrow and grief, all the regret and resentment flooded in. I started crying for the first time in months. I couldn’t stop. Not a single one of my friends loosened their grip as I sobbed uncontrollably. Two days later, we got the news about Sun and Moon. A moment later, I realized that our world now belonged solely to Discord. What I'm Looking ForYear 101, Day 37 Discord’s Reign It’s been over one hundred years since the Fall. That’s what we call that day—the day Sun and Moon were defeated. We rarely talk about it anymore. We’ve said all there is to say about it. A hundred years we’ve been under Discord’s rule. Our world has turned into a horrible place. You can never expect anything because nothing is what you’d expect. Everything is in…well, chaos. What else would you expect? Nobody’s happy. That puppet master Discord has ruined our beautiful land. Nights can last anywhere between a few seconds and a few months. The only way to tell time is the giant clock that floats in the sky, gloating over how long chaos has been our master. While I’m not inclined to believe it’s truthful, I have no choice but to use it. And after the six of us got the news about the Elements, well… First there was a time of grief and disbelief. Time lost all meaning. Come to think of it, we never regained that—our sense of time. I was shocked when I looked at the clock in the sky. Eventually, we accepted what had happened and resolved to do something about it. Obviously, we couldn’t bring our parents back, but I know something that we could revive. The Elements of Harmony. They belonged to our parents. Or maybe our parents belonged to them. It doesn’t matter, the point is that we’re planning to claim the Elements. And it takes a lot of planning. We have to be very secretive about it, too. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if Discord found out. We have to gather supplies—food, first aid, anything we might need—as well as research the Elements of Harmony. The latter is harder than I thought it would be. There weren’t many books on the subject to begin with; take into account that most of the books in the world were destroyed or damaged beyond repair in or after the Fall…well, let’s just say we have our work cut out for us. Nyx, Blossom, and I were tasked with the research while the others worry about the supplies. Our base is Magic’s old house—the public library. It’s the perfect place, after all. I mean, sure, it’s damaged beyond repair and most of the books are illegible, but… It’s better than nothing, right? Anyway, we’re still sorting through the books, deciding what’s helpful. Most of it isn’t. The books have been chocolate rained-on, ripped apart by random winds and cotton candy tornadoes, and eaten by what appears to be a large primate with snake fangs in addition to its normal teeth. I’m still a bit scared I’ll run into whatever it is that’s been eating these old tomes. Even so, this is a task that needs to be done. So far the only useful information we’ve found is a couple of badly damaged, but legible spell books and a book on surviving in the forest. Why do we need to know how to survive in a forest, you ask? Well, stop asking stuff because I can’t hear you, you’re reading this. Anyway, going off my best guess, which is all we really have, we’re going to have to claim the Elements in the same place our parents did—in a ruined castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest. And even if the Elements themselves don’t require it, the spell I need to cast to summon them needs a lot of magic. I happen to know that those particular ruins are full of ancient, powerful magic I can tap into. So into the forest we go. I’ve decided to keep this journal, so we have an accurate account of what happens. I’m not entirely sure why we need one, but I’ve been trying to convince myself that we do. I think the real reason is so that I have an excuse to put my thoughts down on paper. If I really need a reason so badly, I could just say it helps me sort out my thoughts and accept hard truths, which it does. But I digress. Back to the matter at hand, we’ve done well so far, concerning sorting through the books. Both Nyx and I use our magic to skim through the books for anything useful, and Blossom is an exceptionally fast reader. Spectrum likes to affectionately refer to us as “the Eggheads”. We’ve worked through about a quarter of the library in the past two years. What? It was quite a large collection! Magic would bring new books back from wherever she went. I’d even go so far as to call her a bibliophile. Not that it’s a bad thing; I’m a bit of one myself. I’ve always been impressed with the sheer number of books she managed to fit in the small-town library. Wow, I get distracted easily. It may take us several more years to find what we need, but I couldn’t care less. Time hardly matters anymore. After all, it’s not like we’re getting any older. Ah…perhaps I should explain that. No one has aged a day since Discord took over. We can’t really be sure why, but I theorize that the planet has stopped turning, removing gravity’s affect on our bodies and greatly slowing the aging process. I’m sure we’ll die eventually, if that’s the case. Discord probably has everything, including gravity, under his control. The other possibility is that Discord removed aging completely, just because he felt like it. In such a situation, no one would die unless Discord so chose, which is quite a scary thought. Regardless of which theory is the truth, all of us are still the same physical age we were before all this happened. Which leads me to believe we have plenty of time to complete our plans and execute them. Assuming Discord doesn’t…interrupt us. If everything goes as planned, we can finish the library within the next six years. Since we know for a fact that Magic kept several books describing the Elements (one written by herself), we just have to find them and hope they’re not all totally destroyed. Anyway, I suppose I should get some sleep now. I’ve got a long day of book sorting ahead of me. Year 101, Day 43 Discord’s Reign Still no sign of the books about the Elements of Harmony. We’ve reduced our scavenging team—Sapphire is now helping us in the library. The way I see it, the sooner we find information about the Elements, the sooner we can go after them. The process is significantly faster with Sapph on our team. She has a keen eye for detail and can easily decide if a book is useful. She can distinguish between words and smudges at a glance—something unique to her. We’ve examined more books today than on our most productive day before Sapph came. In fact, I believe we’ve nearly doubled what we were doing before. It helps that Sapph, Nyx, and I have a little friendly competition going. We invited Blossom, but she rolled her eyes and declined. So all of us are working even harder than before, and it’s really paying off. If we can keep this up, we’ll be done with the library in three to four years. Anyways, I should be off to bed soon. We’re all getting together tomorrow to count up our supplies. Scoota, Spectrum, and Sapphire (before she was helping us in the library) have all been working hard. Er…by Scoota, I mean Mint. A few years after Discord took over, Scootaloo disappeared. Mint was devastated, but soldiered through with a brave smile. Ever since, Mint asked us to call her Scoota, in memory of Scootaloo. Well, we’ve been working for 18 hours straight and I’m beat. I’ll write again tomorrow, detailing the results of our inventory count. Year 101, Day 44 Discord’s Reign It took us hours to count everything Scoota, Spectrum, and Sapphire had collected. I have to say, I’m very impressed at the sheer amount of supplies they’ve gathered. We’re set for a good five years here, probably more. It’s great because it means we can all focus on sorting through the books. It’s nice to finally have things going our way. After a hundred years of bad luck and chaos, I think we deserve it. Now if we could only find those books… You know, I can’t help but wonder if maybe…maybe we’ve been searching in the wrong place all this time. It’s probably nothing, but I just feel like we won’t find what we’re looking for this way. I have a hunch that this isn’t where the books are. It’s okay, though. I’m not one to be swayed by a mere hunch. After all, there’s no evidence to show that the books we want aren’t here, and it’s the most logical choice. But still…that little voice is bothering me. Maybe if only one person searches Magic’s bedroom, it shouldn’t take too much away from the work on the library. And besides, it makes sense that Magic might want to keep the books close to her. And just to make sure nothing is passed over, I’ll do it myself. Just to be sure we’re being thorough. That’s settled, then. Tomorrow I’ll search the living space above the library for anything useful. ‘Tomorrow’…it barely means anything now. It’s a word that used to have significant meaning, that brought hope because tomorrow was always another day, and you always knew when tomorrow would come. Now it’s just whenever you happen to wake up. Days mean nothing. Well, enough of that random philosophical tangent. Blossom went out for a flight today. She came back looking none too happy, which is saying something. She’s always so calm and collected. All she would say was, “He’s such a bully.” I can only assume she means Discord, and Blossom hates bullies more than anything. She sulked in a corner for the rest of the day. I can’t say I blame her for being upset. Discord has destroyed our world. For all we know, it’s beyond repair. We can only hope it isn’t. And anyway, the Elements were able to repair everything before. But that was when Chaos had ruled for a few days at most…it’s been a hundred years. I guess I should probably explain the Elements of Harmony. The Elements are a set of six ancient magical artifacts. Five of them represent personality traits—honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, and laughter—and the sixth is created in the presence of the others, magic. They are said to be the most powerful form of magic, fueled by love and harmony between people. Nyx’s mother, the Bearer of Magic, used to say that as long as there were at least two people who loved and tolerated each other, the Elements would be alive and strong. Here’s hoping she’s right. The Elements of Harmony are our last hope. Our last chance to beat Discord. We have to claim them and use them against that tyrant. I know we can. Nyx will be the Element of Honesty. Like I said before, I’ve never seen her tell a lie. Apple Blossom will be the Element of Loyalty. She’d never leave her friends hanging; never let anyone down. Sapphire, my sister, will be Generosity, just like Mom. She’s always giving her stuff away. Apple Spectrum represents Kindness. She always wants to take care of sick people and animals. She was apprenticed at the local hospital before all this happened. I’ve never seen her really mad at anyone except Discord and maybe Sapphire, although that’s not really anger. Scoota, who always knows how to make us happy, is the Element of Laughter. And me, the future Element of Magic. Not to brag, but I was a student to both Magic herself and Sun, our previous ruler. And in case you’re wondering, our parents did have real names. We realized a long time ago that bad things happen when you say them. That, and it’s less painful this way. The same goes for Sun and Moon. I’m scared to even write their names here, for the terrible things it might cause. As such, we just call our parents by their Elements, and Sun and Moon by the celestial bodies they controlled. I know I talk about Dad sometimes, but I don’t know…it’s different somehow. Maybe because he didn’t die in the war. Of course, it still hurts to think of any of them. I think we all would have gotten over them years ago, if they hadn’t died the way they did—fighting Discord. We’re all proud of them for fighting so hard, but it just wasn’t enough. Not that it was their fault—it wasn’t. They tried their best. It’s Discord’s fault. Everything is. His fault we’re alone. His fault our world is destroyed. His fault everything’s miserable. All his fault. I don’t understand why he has so much fun with this. He takes so much pleasure in the misery and despair of others. He’s sick. The things he does to people…it’s horrible. You’re probably wondering why he hasn’t come after us in all these 100 years. Well, he has, once or twice, but his chaos keeps him busy most of the time. He does keep his throne here inour town, though. Occasionally he’ll come back and sit on it for days (weeks, years?) at a time, just enjoying the pain and suffering he’s caused. Mostly, though, he travels across the world, making sure nothing goes right or makes sense. Which is good for us, because it gives us time. Anyway, I should be getting some sleep if I’ll be searching Magic’s room tomorrow. None of us have been in there since it happened. Hopefully, I’ll find something useful. Year 101, Day 45 DR It was painful, going through the (most-ruined) belongings of my deceased mentor. She taught me everything and loved me just as much as Nyx. She loved all of us equally. I might need to spend more than just one day on her room. Every few minutes, the pain hits me all over again and I have to stop. It’s a very slow process and I’ve barely made any progress. I keep telling myself that I need to do this, that I should just get it over with. It’s just that…she used to live here. She used to sleep here and work here and stay up all night reading here. She used to tell me myths and legends when I spent the night here. She used to teach me spells here, and I practiced them here. She used to live here…and now she doesn’t. Tomorrow I’ll try to get more done, but for now, I need some sleep. Year 101, Day 49 DR I’ve spent the past few days working in Magic’s room on and off. It gets a little easier each day, but the pain is still there. Sometimes the grief gets to be too much and I need to take a break and join the others. Nyx works with me sometimes. Normally I don’t like anyone else messing with my work, but it was her mother, so I won’t say anything. Plus, she takes after her mother in a lot of ways, including her need to be organized. Together, we’ve made it through about half of the living space. There hasn’t been any sign of the books we’re looking for, but we have found some useful things. So far we have a nearly-undamaged spell book, a magic compass, and two of Nyx’s old practice dummies. The spell book has mostly non-violent spells, although there’s one that immobilizes the target. The compass will point to…something. Right now the needle is pointing Northeast. It was custom-made by Magic herself. I’m sure it’ll be useful, as soon as we figure out what it’s for. And why would we need practice dummies? Well, Nyx and I both used to practice spells on them, so they’ve retained quite a bit of our magic, which we can drawn on later. Maybe I should explain how magic works, since it seems like only Magi really know. Magic is basically a type of energy your body produces, just like regular energy. It’s a lot like the energy you use to move, except you can channel it and it affects the world around you. Fliers produce it too, but in smaller amounts, and they can’t control it. Instead, it goes straight to their wings, allowing them to fly when physics says they can’t. A small amount in the rest of their bodies also allow them to touch clouds, unlike any Mage or Earth. Magic energy also leaves a residue. On everything. How long it lasts depends on the power of the spell and the material of the object it’s being cast on. Things like plastic and metal might hold the energy for a few days or a week, while things like cotton, leather, and wood will hold it for hundreds of years. There are even trees in the Everfree Forest with the magical energy of a young Starswirl the Bearded, and he lived over a millennium ago. That being said, the energy to cast a spell can come from one of two places: The user himself, or an object with magical energy in it. Different people produce different amounts of magical energy. Nyx and I both have a little above average, but it’s nice to have a backup if we need it. Besides magical energy, each spell also uses a bit of physical energy, so using a really powerful spell, like a Greater Arcane Spell (mostly Seeing and altering reality or time) can feel like running a marathon or two. Or ten. In a row. That’s what casting the Summoning for the Elements is going to feel like. Well, tomorrow is another long day of grief and pain. I should get some sleep. Year 101, Day 55 DR We’re done. We finished sorting through Magic’s room today. Not a single trace of the books on the Elements. In the end both Nyx and I broke down and couldn’t go any further, so the rest of our friends finished it for us. I think I just need to…go to bed. It’s been a long day. Bridged OverYear 101, Day 72 DR Things have slowed down lately. Nyx and I are still recovering from our breakdown, and the others were affected, too. And the thing that broke us like that…it was a photo. A perfectly intact photo of the previous Elements, our parents, for Sun’s sake, laughing and having fun. The picture was taken before any of us were born, not too long after Magic moved here. Still, it captured each of their personalities perfectly, and it shattered our hearts. We’re debating whether we should just leave. Nyx and I are convinced that there’s nothing left for us here, but Spec and Sapph say we should finish up. I’m actually torn, because I feel like we should be thorough, and it’s nice to see Spec and Sapph agree on something for once. Spectrum and my sister don’t get along too well, even though Spec is the nicest girl I know. They both take after their mothers far too much. Sapph is girly and enjoys fashion, while Spectrum is boyish with a strong disdain for frilly things. They never do anything mean to each other, but they do get into pretty frequent arguments. So you can see why we’d want to agree with them when they’re on the same side in a debate. Tomorrow we’ll make the final decision, but I think I’ll go with Spec and Sapph on this one. Right now, though, it’s time for bed. Year 101, Day 80 DR It was almost unanimous that we stay. And by that, I mean Spec, Sapph, and I all voted to stay, Nyx voted to go, and Blossom and Scoota didn’t care. We’ll work hard to finish up and get out of here in two or three years. Nothing very interesting has happened around here, discounting the glove storm we had yesterday. Spec and Blossom have been racing again, which is both good and back. Bad because it means they’re both stressed, but good because they’re running it off. Nyx is working extra hard to get us out of here and Scoota has been trying to cheer us up with jokes (I don’t know where that girl keeps getting them, even after 100 years. It’s amazing.) Sapphire and I have spent the past few nights talking. She misses Dad. I do too, but it’s Magic that’s been bothering me most lately. I said before that Sapph was a daddy’s girl, and that wasn’t a lie. They were really close, and Sapphire was the one who found him after he ended it. I felt like I had to keep her close after that. She always tended to follow in his footsteps and it scared me. She talks to me, though. I know what she’s feeling. She’s been particularly down lately, so I think I’ll ask Blossom to take her out for a flight tomorrow. That always makes her feel better. Anyway, I should probably turn in for the night. Year 101, Day 87, DR We have to move. Discord decided he would shake up our lives. For a long time he battered the old library with random objects before he came in to mess with our heads. He talked about our parents. He was talking and all I could think was, ‘How DARE he!’. It made me sick, the things he said about them. We lashed out at him, all of us. Even Blossom. He only laughed. So we’re leaving. We’re packing up and finding another place to stay. We’re discussing exactly where now. We’ve decided we can’t go to any of the other Elements’ houses (too obvious), nor can we stay in the Town Hall (too dangerous), or most of the buildings in town, for that matter. In fact, I think we should head into the Everfree Forest to find the castle ruins. The others are doubtful, but I haven’t lost a debate yet. Year 101, Day 99 DR I finally won them all over. Nyx, of course, observed my logic objectively and agreed that we should carry out my plan. Scoota, being Nyx’s best friend, agreed as well. Spectrum was next (she’s very gung-ho). Sapph and Blossom were harder to convince, but I managed it. We’ll leave tomorrow. Now, about Scoota and Nyx. We’re all best friends, but those two have always been really close. They’ve been just about inseparable ever since they met. I remember once when we were 9 (well, most of us were 9—Nyx and Sapph were 8 and Scoota was 7), Nyx and Scoota got separated at a carnival and they both freaked out. Nyx’s magical energy went haywire (as a young Mage’s tends to do) and burst several light bulbs. She actually caused quite a bit of destruction that day. Magic had to fix everything. Not that it was hard for her, being the most powerful Mage of her time. As I recall, she wasn’t even all that mad at Nyx for it. Magic has always been very understanding about stuff like that. I think that was just after Scootaloo finished the paperwork to adopt Scoota. We all miss those days when everything was okay. Of course we do. Do we have any reason not to? …Besides the chocolate rain, I mean. Maybe now would be a good time to explain just how everyone is related. Since I have nothing else to do. We’ll start with my family. My parents were, as I said, Generosity and Soarin’. Sapphire is my sister, and Sweetie Belle was my aunt. Magic and Moon had a single child, Nyx. Now, Magic and Moon were both very female, but there is a way for them to have a kid: A magic mirror. I don’t know exactly how it works, except that the parents stand in front of the mirror and 1-3 children come out. Sun regulated the use of the mirror, creating a strict application process. Magic and Moon passed this easily, one being Sun’s student and the other being her sister. Spectrum was also a mirror child, for Honesty and Loyalty. Before they had Spectrum, though, they adopted Scootaloo when she was 13 years old. Spec was born the next year. After Scootaloo was old enough and moved out, she adopted Scoota (then known as Mint). Spectrum and Blossom are cousins because Honesty and Blossom’s dad, Big Macintosh, were siblings. Kindness was Blossom’s mother. Laughter also had two children (twins—one boy, one girl) with a man named Pokey Pierce. She named them Balloon and Bubble Berry. Honesty also had a younger sister, Apple Bloom. Sun and Moon were also considered family. They were sort of like aunts. And that is my full extended family. Except now it’s just us six. Year 101, Day 107 DR We’re in the Forest now, on our way to the ruins. We all know the way because our parents used to take us there a lot. Nyx and I especially, because we used to practice powerful spells there. It shouldn’t take us long to get there, although we have to stop when it’s dark. Which could be often. Still, we’ve got all the time in the world. We have to be careful in here, though. The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place. There are hundreds of species of predators, including maticores, basilisks, cockatrices, and wyverns. We’ve been lucky so far—we haven’t seen more than a glimpse of one. Still, that in itself is odd. The whole atmosphere in here is off. There’s an eerie silence surrounding us. I can hear faint sounds in the distance—and even those seem discordant—but it’s dead silent in our immediate area. There’s no rustling of the bushes or shattering of squirrels. Well, there is one sound. A bird. It’s always there. Almost as if it’s following us. Its song…isn’t much of a song at all. It’s heartbreakingly sad and somehow menacing at the same time. It’s foreboding and creepy. And it’s constant. The bird hasn’t stopped for an instant since we entered the Forest and we’re getting to the point where we want nothing more than for it to stop. It’s torture, listening to this mind-cracking tune every second of every day. It’s taken its toll on all of us. Scoota and Nyx have been clinging to each other the whole time, looking for security, reassurance, happiness…I don’t know. Spectrum and Sapphire have been arguing more than usual, and Blossom has been keeping to herself. And me? The bird’s song reminds me of a piece one of my mother’s friends, Frederick, played after he had his heart stolen and stomped on by a serial heartbreaker. He was devastated, but he still wanted to warn the next guy. It’s not exactly the same. It’s significantly creepier and it just feels wrong, somehow. Still, it’s the best comparison I could think of. We’re camped out now. Spec and Blossom are sharing the first shift, and Sapph and I’ll take the next one. I ought to get some sleep before their shift is up. It’s my shift now. I’m sitting across from Sapph, writing this. Spec and Blossom woke us up a while ago, and I decided to write to try to stay awake. I think my mind is playing tricks on me. I keep seeing a faintly glowing pair of eyes, but they disappear when I blink. The bird’s song has changed, too. It’s louder now, and it sounds more distorted and the sadness is gone. Now it’s all pain and warning. I’m really, genuinely scared. It’s getting to Sapph, too. While I’ve been writing, she’s crawled over here and wedged her way under my arm. I don’t blame her. I kind of need the comfort, too. The good news is, we should be getting there soon. We’ve passed Zecora’s hut (in ruins) and that cave where Magic got turned to stone once (funny story, maybe I’ll tell it another time). The bridge shouldn’t be more than a mile or so now. It’s almost time for Scoota and Nyx’s shift, so I’ll write again tomorrow. Year 101, Day 108 DR I’m standing in the ruins; my friends and I forming a circle. All of us have our eyes closed, focusing as hard as we can. My job is the hardest; I have to focus on directing my magical energy into the summoning, as well as each of the magical artifacts I wish to summon. I take a deep breath and let the magic flow out. As I cast the spell, there’s a bright flash of light, a whirring sound, and then silence. I open my eyes, expecting to see an Element on each of my friends, and I do. Each is the Element I imagined her as. They’re staring at me in realization, horror, and disgust. I don’t understand why, until I realize that there is no new weight on my head, nor my neck. I am not bearing a necklace like my friends or a crown like Magic before me. I am not a bearer. Hatred is evident on my friends’ faces just before I wake up. That was my dream last night. I awoke with tears streaming down my face and my friends crowding around me, looking worried. I didn’t tell them about it. I don’t want to worry them. Maybe I’ll explain it to Blossom later on, though. She always seems to make me feel better. I’ve asked the others to do something for me. I gave them each a notebook and requested that, should we be separated, they start keeping a journal. I really do want the whole story so that, if we succeed, we can get the word out. We can tell everyone with first-hand accounts what we went through to fix our world. We’re at the bridge now, resting before we cross. I can’t help but think this has all been too easy. A creepy bird? That’s it? We didn’t run into any monsters or predators or…anything. Nothing. We haven’t even really seen the bird, we’ve only heard it. There’s no way Discord doesn’t know we’re here, and why would he just let us get to the Elements? There’s something going on here. I’ve expressed my thoughts to the others, but most of them think I’m over-thinking things. Only Blossom and Nyx took me seriously. The three of us have discussed what to do, and we sort of have a plan. We’ll see how things go crossing the bridge, although we’ll have Blossom and Sapph ready to fly and Nyx and I will prepare a levitation spell for the rest of us. Once in range of the ancient magic of the ruins, I’ll cast the summoning spell as quickly as is possible without messing it up. There’s every chance that one or more of us will die or become injured between now and then, regardless of how short the bridge is. Every step we take from now on is laced with danger. Things haven’t gone quite as we had hoped. When we got to the other side of the bridge, we should have been standing right in front of the ruins. Instead, we found ourselves in an unrecognizable part of the forest. I should have known this would happen. We all expected the Forest to be as unaffected by chaos as it was by magic, but nothing is as you would expect. We thought we could just walk in here, find the ruins just like that, and claim the Elements. Easy as pie. We decided to keep walking. Not like we have any choice. Either we’ll eventually stumble upon the ruins, or the Everfree Forest spits us out. Or we die here. Whichever way it goes, it’s not looking too good for us. HopelessYear 101, Day 120 DR We've been walking for such a long time. We don't know where we're walking. We don't know how to get there. We don't even know where we came from. The bridge disappeared as soon as we reached the other side. It's like we were teleported to another part of the forest; one we've never seen before. We've been debating what to do next. The others want me to go ahead and cast the spell, but they don't understand. The amount of power I'd need to do something like that...I just don't have it. I need an outside source to pull from, and an extremely strong one at that. Of course, Nyx has agreed to let me borrow magic from her, but we already knew I'd need more than that. That's why we were counting on the ruins. I'd expected that maybe the magic in the ruins might have faded a bit from the chaos, but the energy that surrounded them was old and powerful. It's been there for thousands of years and I don't think it's gone now. It surely would have been enough to cast the spell with ease. The Everfree Forest has a small amount of energy on its own (enough to keep other magic from interfering with it), but it's nowhere near enough to pull a Greater Arcane. even combined with mine and Nyx's energy. For something like this, I'd need nothing short of Starswirl's own practice dummy, and that's assuming he used the same one for, say...thirty or so years. Most Magi can only hold on to one for about 10 years before it's too beat up to use and the residual energy begins to interfere with your spells. There just isn't enough magic around for me to complete the summoning. You know, it didn't used to be this hard. When Mom and her friends claimed the Elements, they didn't have to cast a spell. After their first encounter with Discord, Magic began discussing the idea of putting more protections on them. The plans were put into place immediately after an attack on the capital city from another villain. So now we're stuck working around all the firewalls. Still, the others are pressuring me to cast it here and now. Only Nyx is on my side now, even though Blossom usually sees my side in a debate. I'm trying to think of where I could get so much magical energy. I need something powerful, something soaked in magic that I can draw from. I could always search for leylines--places where there's strong, natural magic flowing in a line. In fact, that's probably the best thing to do. Because magic attracts magic, leylines are easy to find. If you let your magical energy trickle away from you, they'll be drawn toward the lines. This doesn't really use magic, because you sort of have to keep a hold on it to see where it's going. Plus, if you're successful, you're getting a whole lot more. Leylines vary in strength. A lot of big cities are built on intersections between several. If I can find one medium-strength one, then it should eb enough, when combined with Nyx's energy and my own. But I convinced the others to rest first. We've been walking for a long time and if I try a Greater Arcane now, I'll probably collapse. First thing when I wake up, though, I'll search for leylines. Hopefully the results will be promising and we can end this Hell we've been living in. Year 101, Day 121 DR As I said, I searched for the streams of magic as soon as I awoke. The results were very interesting, I must say. Instead of being drawn into the air, where leylines generally are, my energy was drawn toward Spectrum's bag. Or rather, something in her bag. I asked her to empty it, of course. Mostly she pulled out supplies--food and water, a few rolls of bandage. A book, some ointment, and a couple of rags were also in there. At the bottom of her bag, she has some more personal items. We all did--things that reminded us of home or belonged to our parents. These were the things I was interested in, since our supplies obviously weren't suddenly magical. Spec pulled several thigns out before we found the magic. There was her first trophy for winning a race, along with the crown Loyalty won in the Best Young Fliers competition. Next came a signed poster, a small locket, and a family photo. Finally, she removed the magical item--Honesty's hat. I'll admit, it confused me at first. Why would Honesty's old leather stetson have so much magic? Then it hit me. It was leather. Leather can hold vast amounts of magic for hundreds of years. What's more is that Honesty, for a period of about thirty years (before Loyalty retired and moved in with her), had a spell cast on her weekly that allowed her to walk on clouds. And the spell was cast by none other than Magic herself. That was exactly what I needed. The hat itself is almost three-quarters of what the spell requires. I should only need to take a little from Nyx, and along with my own magic...I can do this. I can do this, here and now, with magic to spare. Something went very, very wrong. I don't think it was any of us, but something definitely went awry. In fact, I'm sure we did everything right. It was Discord that ruined everything. He popped up and interrupted the spell just before I completed it. All of my magical energy dissipated, which of course left me exhausted. I fell to my knees and looked up to find Discord floating in front of me. "Well, well, look what we have here," he said, turning slowly to face each one of us. "If it sin't the poor little kids abandoned by their parents when they needed them most." He'd barely begun speaking and I was already furious. Can you really blame me, though? That was a lie and he knew it! They didn't abandon us, he killed them. How dare he try to turn them into villains? They were heroes. "You thought you could get away with this? That I would just let you?" He laughed. "Why do you think you couldn't find the ruins?" Now he was in front of me, touching my chin, violating my space. "You, Ruby, of all people should have known." I slapped his claws away and took a deep breath, forcing my voice to be steady. "Of course I knew. It's not like we had any other choice, though, and we'll do anything to defeat you." This elicited another chuckle from the Spirit in front of us, and I felt my anger about to bubble over. I needed to control myself. Lashing out wouldn't help any of us. Apparently, Blossom didn't feel the same way. "Who do you think you are?!" Everyone's attention snapped to her. "What gives you the right to ruin everyone's lives? Who died and put you in charge?" Of course, it was just an expression, but it put a huge grin on Discord' face. "Why, Celestia, Luna, and all of your parents, of course." His voice was positively filled to the brim with sickening glee. It hurt even more that he was using their names; names we hadn't heard in almost a hundred years. "I thought we'd already established that." And so it was, with tears brimming in our eyes, we attacked him. It was to no avail, however, as he simply teleported himself away, his awful laughter hanging in the air. Year 101, Day 125 DR We haven't moved from where we were when I tried to cast the spell. We haven't been able to, really. I've been exhausted to the point of being ill, and even moving my fingers hurts. Nyx has been most sympathetic to my condition, of course, knowing herself the physical toll magic can take. The others haven't exactly been harsh, but I can tell they don't know just how much pain I'm in right now. I'm just now able to pick up a pencil and write, to give you an idea of just how bad the pain was. We'll be stuck here until I can walk again, so the others have been making themselves busy. They've built temporary shelters, which should hold up against most of the chaos. We just have to hope no monsters find us while I'm incapacitated. My current condition wouldn't seem so bad (in the big picture, at least) if Nyx hadn't also lost a good deal of magical energy. While she's recovered from the physical effects, she still has yet to regenerate much of her magic. A Mage's body produces less magic when there is physical damage, and having the energy ripped away from you like we did can cause quite a bit of damage. Children have to be taught very early how to control their magic, because it can hurt them if it's not properly released. So her magic is stunted, and I can barely move, which leaves our group at a virtual loss of protective magicks. Which basically means we're relying on physical strength, should something attack us. And while we're all pretty strong, we're not strong enough to fend off a manticore. Or even a cockatrice. Essentially, if we're attacked, we're just about as good as dead. I realized something today. With how everything's been going, we've been too distracted to notice, but the bird's stopped singing. That creepy bird with the disturbing song? It's gone. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, because now there's nothing but dead silence. I can't even hear distant sounds like I could when we first got in here. It's all gone. It's so quiet, we can hear each other breathing. All the time. But hey, at least we know we're all still alive. Year 101, Day 127 DR I'm still bedridden, but I've been healing rather quickly. We should be able to move soon. We've had quite a bit of luck to be undisturbed. Maybe there aren't any predators in here anymore. For all I know, they could be gone. That would be incredibly good luck for us, which is something we haven't had lately. We're not ready to trust it yet, so we're still being careful. We're moving as soon as I'm able to walk. We're going as far away as possible. I don't know when, but Discord will be back. He made mistakes with our parents, and I don't think he'll make them again. No, he'll be more careful with us. He thought he broke our parents, but he'll make sure he breaks us. We won't stop until we can't even look at each other. The silence that surrounds us now is stifling. I can't stand it, this nothingness. Scoota's been talking almost non-stop for the simple fact that she hates all silence--and knows the rest of us do, too. Well, silence like this anyways. We haven't seen the good kind of silence (comfortable, warm, content) in over a hundred years. So we all try to keep conversation going, but mostly it's Scoota. The rest of us just don't have the energy. About that--a lot of us have been tired and sluggish these past few days, despite our attempts to stay alert. This entire thing has been taking a huge toll lately, partly because we're starting to think we can't fix it. If Discord can disrupt my spell just like that, then how can we claim the Elements? How can we beat him? How did we ever hope to beat him in the first place? Of course he was watching us. Of course he would keep an eye on the children of the former Elements of Harmony. He's probably been expecting us to try this for a hundred years. We've been so painfully stupid. Year 101, Day 132 DR We've finally gotten moving. For the past two days, we've been walking non-stop, trying to find some way out of this forest. In the end, I know it's useless and we're just wasting energy. He'll find us no matter where we go. I don't know what to do anymore. None of us do. We can't beat him unless we have the Elements, and we can't get the Elements until we beat him! We're hopeless. There's nothing we can do until I find some way to break this vicious cycle. I still feel awful. Part of it is that I'm still healing, but it's also because I feel like we're letting our parents down. We were supposed to save the world. We were supposed to succeed where they failed. That's what a parent wants of their kids, right? For them to not make the same mistakes? For them to do better than they have? Well, we've failed in all of that. We've disappointed them, no doubt. I just hope they can forgive us some day. But they have to, right? We've tried so very hard, pushed ourselves so far. I nearly killed myself casting that spell. I could still die, if I catch something. We've given this our best shot, just as they have. It just wasn't enough. Year 101, Day 140, DR We might have a chance to win this. It's very slim and it will take everything we've got, but it's our only hope. Er...maybe I should start at the beginning. We were walking through the forest as per usual, and we were all pretty...well, depressed. Even Scoota was less completely ecstatic than normal. After all we've gone though, here we are without a single hope in the world. Tensions were rising within our group. Spectrum and Sapphire were bickering constantly, Blossom seemed sullen, Nyx refused to talk to anyone, and even Scoota couldn't cheer anyone up. After a while, we had to stop because Spec and Sapph had gotten into a particularly heated screaming match and wouldn't respond to anyone else. Shortly after that, we had to take cover from a cheese storm. While we were waiting that out, we were paid a little visit. "Well, if it isn't my six favorite people!" Immediately, we were all standing back to back to back to...you get the point. Each of us faced a different direction, searching for the source of the voice. He was laughing now, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see him. "Show yourself, Discord!" Yes, I know. Stupid thing to say. Still, it must have worked because, almost at once, he appeared before me. "I've bee watching you," He said. Great. Not only were we lost in a seemingly endless forest, but we were being stalked by the Spirit of Chaos as well. Just perfect. I didn't say anything out loud--just watched him. "You're quite pathetic, really. It's hilarious!" Here he burst into a fit of laughter. Finally, he calmed down enough to speak again. "Still, I've decided to take some pity on you." He paused for a moment, opening his arms wide and donning what I can only assume was meant to be a warm smile. It came off cold and demented. "Aren't I so generous?" He let out another laugh, clapping his hands...er...whatever together. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he soon clarified. "I am going to give you a fighting chance. A slim, miniscule chance, but a chance nonetheless." When he noticed my wary look, a chuckle once more bubbled forth from his lips. "I will give you a riddle, much like I did your parents. You must solve this riddle, complete the game it leads you to, and overcome and obstacles I decide to throw at you." He leaned in close and his voice lost its smug and joyful tone, turning dark. "Deal?" I swallowed hard, turning the offer around in my mind. We had learned from our parents' mistakes, so we wouldn't be so easily fooled by his riddle. We would know to dissect it carefully and completely before doing anything. But Discord will have learned, too. He knows us, he knows our weaknesses, and he knows better than to underestimate us. He's awfully confident to even give us the tiniest chance to succeed--and there's always the possibility that he's lying. No doubt this was just a plan to break us even further. Still...it was our only hope. Looking around, i found my friends gazing back, waiting for my decision. Finally, I turned back to Discord. "Deal." He grinned widely and cracked his knuckles. Spinning upwards, he disappeared into the air. We drew close together again as we saw the shadows moving. "Twists and turns are what you seek, But don't assume your enemy weak. All alone and torn apart, You can't win the game without your heart." And with a haunting laugh, he was gone. One ChanceYear 101, Day 141, DR We all blacked out as soon as Discord left. We woke up today hanging upside-down from the branches of a tree. Well, sort of a tree. Balloons were growing out of the branches. Yes, growing--I checked. Anyway, once we'd carefully extracted ourselves from the tree, we immediately set to decoding the riddle. That's what we've been doing all day. The problem is, there's nothing to decode. Go to the hedge maze in the Royal Gardens, play his game, probably lose. It's a very straightforward riddle. That's what's tripping me up. There has to be something more to this. Something I haven't thought of. "Twists and turns are what you seek," Probably the hedge maze he used against our parents. He said it's what we seek, and said nothing about his own plans or what he wants. "But don't assume your enemy weak." A simple warning not to underestimate him. "All alone and torn apart, You can't win the game without your heart." He was going to try to separate us and break us down. Of course he would--that's what Discord does. I just don't understand why he would give us such a simple riddle. I mean, the one the last Elements was fairly uncomplicated, but it wasn't quite so...plain. There has to be something here. I'll sleep on it later. Maybe I'll have some fresh ideas when I wake up, but I want to exhaust my current ones first. Year 101, Day 142, DR I still don't know anything more about the riddle. None of us do. All I can think of is that Discord has a particularly nasty surprise waiting for us in the maze. So, for now at least, we've begun our journey to the City. It will take us two or three days to get there, so we still have time to think. It used to be you could go to the City for a day trip, but the train isn't exactly safe...or a train at all...So we're stuck walking and that'll take us a while. We've been walking for...actually, I don't know, but the sun has risen and set a few times, not to mention sprouted legs and done a jig in the sky, back when we were walking through our hometown. We're in a patch of forest now, at the base of the mountain that the City rests on. We'd have avoided it if we could, given our last experience in a wooded area, but it's right before the path up the mountain starts. We can't even seen the sky, the trees are so thick here. After all, it's been over 100 years (with some chaos thrown in) since anyone bothered to maintain the path. Hopefully it'll be easier once we get on the mountain, though. The others have seemed less depressed today. Almost happy, in fact. We actually have a chance now. I think I'm going to ask them to start writing in the notebooks I gave them. I should have asked sooner, but I guess it really just slipped my mind. Hold on, I'll tell them now. Okay, they're writing their first entry. Some of them are pretty eager about it, but I know Spectrum isn't going to like it too much. She's not too terribly fond of writing. But who knows? Maybe she'll find a way to make it fun. We're resting now, and eating. There's plenty of food around us--trees turned cotton candy, licorice rope vines, leaves turned into bread and cheese. There are also some apples poking out of the ground. It's quite a good lunch, actually. I figure we can stay here and rest up for a little while. It seems safe enough, and we need to replenish our food supplies anyways. Plus, I'm still kind of tired after my failed spell. Speaking of, I should really get to sleep. I'll write again while we're walking tomorrow. Apple Spectrum: Day 142, Discord's Dictatorship My name is Apple Spectrum. My mothers were the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty. I am a mirror child. I'm being forced to write this journal. I am the future Element of Kindness. Let's see...I guess I should start with describing myself, shouldn't I? Ruby says people will read this in the future and I always hated it when teachers tried to get me to guess someone's personality just from how they talk. I just don't know how you can do that... Then again, it probably won't be entirely credible if you hear it from me. Maybe I'll get the others to describe me instead. That way you'll have an unbiased opinion of what I'm like. And in return, I'll write about them! Ruby's probably already written about all of us, so I'll just tell the rest of them. Alright, I guess I'll start with Ruby, since I'm thinking about her. She's probably the smartest of any of us, that egghead. She loves reading and learning, but she also likes to party. She's kind of crazy, in a good way. She's the one who introduced the rest of us to our favorite game. We don't really have a name for it, we just call it 'the game'. She calls it a "word association" game. We go around in a circle saying the first word that comes to mind after hearing the last person's word. It's really fun for us because the words almost never make any real sense. ...Um, anyway. Ruby's really good at magic, and she's also pretty funny. Sometimes she doesn't understand jokes because she spends so much time reading and studying, but she tells the best ones. Her humor is a lot different from the rest of ours, but it's still funny. Sometimes she gets stressed, though, and that's a scary sight. I remember Mom (er...Loyalty, that is. Honesty was Ma.) used to say she was "every bit the egghead" Magic was, and Ma would agree with, "She sure is a spittin' image." Which I always found funny because Ruby isn't even Magic's daughter. Sapphire seems like the next logical step, since she's Ruby's sister. She's the most generous person I know but she's pretty hardheaded sometimes. She loves competition and flying. Ruby and Sapph are really close. During that one time when they were shutting the rest of us out, they were always touching each other somehow. Like they were what was keeping each other grounded. I wish we could have gotten through their thick heads sooner, but I'm glad they had each other. Anyway, Sapphire is cool and all, but we don't really get along that well. I'd never admit this out loud, but I'm just as stubborn as she is, and we're often on opposite sides of arguments. We just tend to look at things differently. Still, I would never directly insult her. Call her stubborn, sure. Say she's wrong, duh. But I don't call names--that's just mean. I'm not like the old Kindness, who would never argue with anyone, but I am the Element of Kindness. I would never do something that I knew would hurt someone's feelings. Next...let's go with my cousin, Apple Blossom. She's calm, cool, and collected. She's also athletic and loves races. We're pretty evenly matched, but I almost always beat her in a foot race. She's much faster when she's allowed to use her wings, though. She's honest and dependable, and loyal, too. She's probably my closest friend, out of all of them. I know I can always trust her with my secrets, and she's the only one I've told about...certain things. She knows me better than anyone else in the world, and I don't know what I'd do without her. She's the Element of Loyalty, just like my mom. Nyx and Scoota kind of have to go together. You can't talk about one without mentioning the other. Scoota is the Element of Laughter, and Nyx is the new Honesty. Nyx has two moms like I do, but she's not a mirror child. Magic never let Moon tell her--or anyone--how she was made, but we're old enough to figure it out now. Gross, if you ask me. Scoota's parents were Shit, I keep forgetting. Scoota's...she's an orphan. It's just...she feels like part of the family, I just forget sometimes. I always see her as like, a little sister, and I don't even see Nyx that way. I always feel so bad when I make that mistake, and I do it a lot. Well, I used to. No one really mentions parents anymore. It hurts too much. Right, well, Scoota is sweet and funny and loves candy. If there's one thing she hates, it's spicy things. She's always glued to Nyx's side. Even though they're younger than the rest of us, they're both pretty cool. Sometimes I race with Scoota, but she's not very athletic, so it's more of a casual jog. We're the only two Groundlings in our little group and it's comforting to have someone else around who doesn't rely on magic or wings. She's really fun and easy to talk to, and like I said, she's like a little sister to me. I'd protect her no matter what. I mean, I'd do that for all my friends, but you know...more in a sisterly way for Scoota. Nyx is open, honest, and easygoing. She managed not to get any of Magic's social anxiety or OCD, surprisingly. Although she does keep her room rather neat, she's never gone overboard with it. I think it's really just from habit after years of Magic making sure the entire house was in order. She's sweet, smiles a lot, and loves to read. We used to talk about books a lot, until she took a liking to sappy romance novels. They're not really my style. You know, I'm not really too sure about this Elements thing. I mean, Nyx is definitely Honesty, Ruby is Magic without a doubt, Scotta can't not be Laughter. I'm confident that Blossom is Loyalty and that Sapph is Generosity. The problem is, I don't think I'm Kindness. I fight with Sapphire a lot. Sure, I was apprenticed at the Children's Hospice before all this crap happened, but I'm nothing like the last Kindness. She was soft and sweet and compassionate and I don't think she even really knew how to hate. I'm kind of blunt and I say how I feel and I'm rough around the edges. I hate Discord and Scoota's biological parents and anyone who would abuse anyone else. I know hate, I know anger. I'm familiar with these emotions. I'm not Kindness. Anyway, I think that's enough writing for now. I'm going to take a nap. Apple Blossom: Day 142, Year 101, Discord's Calendar Ruby told us to start writing in our journals, so here's my piece. My name is Apple Blossom, but usually people just call me Blossom. My mom was Kindness and my dad was named Big Macintosh. We used to live in a little cottage that bordered Sweet Apple Acres, but was also pretty close to the Everfree Forest. Sweet Apple Acres was an apple orchard that my dad's family owned. It was also Honesty's (and later Loyalty's and Spectrum's) home. Auntie Applebloom lived there as a kid, but when she grew up she moved away to start her architecture business. I used to love running through the rows and rows of apple trees, or flying above them. The Acres was such a peaceful place, and I really miss it. I can still relive some of it when I race with my cousin, Spectrum. Speaking of Spec, she had a pretty good idea today, to describe each other instead of ourselves. I agree, it'll paint a more accurate picture of each of us for the reader. I'll start with her, since I'm already on the subject. Spectrum is not the most gentle person, generally. She can be if she wants or needs to, but she's also quite...assertive. She would never let anyone bully her, and she'll always stand up when she sees someone else being bullied. Sometimes she's a little gullible, but most of the time she can tell when she's being duped. She always gives the benefit of the doubt, no matter what. I think she would have given it to Discord, under different circumstances. Spec talks to me when she's upset. I know her better than anyone else. The truth is, she's pretty insecure. She just can't see the good in herself, no matter how hard she looks. I mean, sure, most people are like that. If you're not, people call you arrogant. But I know myself--I know my strengths and my flaws. But this is about Spectrum, who happens to be very stubborn. Overall, she's a very sweet girl, even though she and Sapphire fight a lot. She puts everyone else's needs before her own, and during times when we didn't have much food, she would make sure the rest of us ate first. She tried to, at least. We refused to let her not eat. When we saw she didn't have anything, we each gave her a little bit of our food. This is actually getting long, though, so I'll try to keep it short for the others. Sapphire is a bit of a drama queen, but she loves to give. One of her favorite things in the world, it seems, is to deliver gift baskets of her own making to the Children's Hospice. Still, she can be pretty snooty sometimes, which is why she and Spec argue so much. They're both very stubborn and proud, and they don't like admitting when they're wrong. Nyx is the worst liar I know. The only time I've seen her pull off a lie is when she was protecting Scoota from getting in trouble. She and Scoota are always together, no matter what. I don't know if anyone else sees it, but I think their relationship is different. The rest of us see each other as friends or sisters, but I dunno...they seem closer. I can't quite place it--maybe like twins or something. But anyway, Nyx is shy, but hardworking. She's absolutely devoted to everything she does, and is always determined to succeed. She's more gullible than Spec is, and most of the time she's a little more trusting than she should be, but she's honest and open and loves to read. Scoota's a lot like Nyx--she's determined and cheerful. She's also very sweet and loves to make candy. If anyone can make us laugh in these dark times, it's her. Somehow, she never seems to run out of jokes. I think if it weren't for her, we'd all be crazy or dead by now. She's like the glue that holds us together. Finally, there's Ruby. She's the one who comes up with the plans, although sometimes they need a little...refining. She's also the best mage I know, except for maybe Magic. It's because of her that we have even half a chance to beat Discord now. Besides that, she's smart, caring protective, and quite introverted. She used to barely socialize outside of our group, and she has a tendency to get lost in her studies. Runy's also a bit of a neat freak, probably because her mom was too. Anyway, most of the others are done writing already so I'm going to cut this off here. I need to sleep. Sapphire: Day 142, Year 101, Chaos Time Well, hello! I'm sure Ruby has already told you all about me, but I'll introduce myself anyways. My name is Sapphire Shine, sister of Ruby Radiance, daughter of the Element of Generosity and a famous Wonderbolt. Ruby will probably be mad when she sees I wrote our full names here, but I don't care. Just because she hates them doesn't mean we should deprive our wonderful audience of the facts I'm sure they crave so much. After all, who wouldn't want to know all about their saviors? That is, I've decided to write this in the assumption we will win, since that is the only circumstance under which this will be published. Fear not, though, dear Ruby, I shan't withhold a single thought. Every bit of my frustration, desperation, and loneliness will be recorded here. At the moment there isn't much of any of that, though. We're all quite a bit more cheerful than we have been in decades. We have a chance, no matter how slight, and it's more than we've ever had before. Just the smallest opportunity to outsmart Discord puts a spring in our steps. Imagine the joy we'll feel when we win! Anyway, it's about time that I describe my dear friends, as per Spectrum's idea. Stubborn and blunt though she may be, she's quite intelligent. Not that any of us are truly stupid. I believe I shall begin with my own dear sister, Ruby. Out of the six of us, we are the only biological siblings. We're quite different, though. While she is rather serious, I would describe myself as lighthearted. Then again, she didn't used to be so somber. She used to laugh with the rest of us, before Mom and Dad...passed. Now, she can barely smile. Oh, and I was so worried about her after Discord disrupted her spell! But I'm getting sidetracked. Ruby is one of those girls who has a natural sort of beauty--something I envy her for. She doesn't even need to try to look good, which I suppose is a good thing, since she doesn't care to. She is completely disinterested in fashion and has always preferred to focus on her studies. Apple Spectrum is next on my list and she is the most stubborn, irritating, insufferable girl I have ever known and still manages to be the nicest. She worked at the Children's Hospice where I used to drop off gift baskets full of candy and other treats for the kids. Even though she was the youngest, she was by far the favorite nurse of every child. She's always had this strange way with children. Blossom is calm and collected, rarely gets angry, and is always there for us. She's easy to talk to and knows how to keep a secret, so she's an ideal confidante. She's our rock. Nyx and Scoota are closer than anyone else. They go everywhere and do everything together and, as our little secret, I ship them. They are my OTP. Honestly, they'd be such an adorable couple! Well, ahem, anyways...Scoota hates spicy food, Nyx hates loud noises, they both love candy. Scoota always has this endless supply of jokes and I just don't understand where she gets them all. Nyx is a mage, like Ruby, but she specializes more than my sister does. Ruby has focused on general magic, but Nyx has channeled her magic toward studying astronomy, which she loves dearly. Scoota's own talent lies in the candy-making industry. Well, I feel it's about time to take a rest. My next entry will detail the next interesting thing that happens, which I hope is soon. Nyx: Day 142, Year 101, Discord's Clock Hello, I'm Nyx. I had two moms, Moon and Magic. I study astronomy--or I did, back before Discord. My best friend's name is Scoota. She's really sweet and innocent, and probably wouldn't know a crush if it slapped her in the face. She makes candy, which is awesome, because candy is the best. Back then, in the old days, if you wanted candy you went to Scoota. No questions. There was just no one who could compare! She also happens to specialize in jokes. The others seem convinced that it's effortless on her part and she just has this bottomless supply of humor, but I know better. It takes a toll on her, but she does it to keep our spirits up. She hates to see any of us sad. I guess I'm supposed to be talking about the others too, huh? Well, there's Ruby. She's good at organizing and planning, but she's a little too serious. Spectrum is competitive, stubborn, and incredibly caring. Her cousin Blossom is calm, but protective, and always there for you. Sapphire loves fashion, but she's the most benevolent of the group. But like I've said before, I know Scoota the best. The two of us have first watch while the others rest, then it's Spectrum and Blossom, then Ruby and Sapphire. I think...I mean, there's something that I've been meaning to tell Scoota for a while now, so I think I'll do that soon. I'll write again soon. Scoota: Day 142, Year 101, Chaos Time Oh, look, people! Hello, future residents of this world! Or maybe you live in a different world. But I'm assuming you're still on this world since you're reading this. Still, the world must seem like a whole different world compared to mine! Hopefully it's a much better world. That's what we're fighting for, after all. In our group, I'm known as the joker. I tell the jokes and keep the spirits high. Well, I try to, anyways. It gets really hard sometimes. Discord comes along and messes with our heads, or we lose some supplies to a chaos disaster, or something else happens, and I'll get sad. I try not to let the others see that I'm sad, but Nyx knows me too well--I can't hide it from her. But there's no sense worrying the others, so I just try to act happy. When Ruby was bedridden was one of the worst times--I couldn't even act happy! But I tried to keep talking because no one in our group really likes silence. Oh! Spectrum had a great idea! I'm going to tell you all about all of my friends instead of talking about myself. Well, I was going to anyway, but it was still a great idea. Okay, well Ruby is our Fearless Leader! She's really smart and great at plans, but sometimes she overlooks some details, but she knows that so she looks extra hard to catch her mistakes! But sometimes she looks too hard and Blossom has to take over. She's a little bit prone to panick attacks, but not as much as Nyx is. Ruby usually needs a pretty big trigger before she freaks out, but she's not calm all the time like Blossom is She likes to work and tries to always have a project. She tries really hard to be a good sister to Sapphire, too, although you can't really tell. They care a lot about each other, and they've gotten even closer since their dad took his life. That was a really sad time and I was really worried about both of them. Sapphire loves clothes. She's fascinated by all things fashion, and she talks about it all the time, especially to me. I'm not particularly concerned with fashion, but I like to see my friends' eyes light up when they talk about their passions. So I kind of have a lot of random knowledge about things like gardening (from Blossom) and astronomy (from Nyx). Oops, I got distracted...anyway, Sapph is really nice, but sometimes she can get really competitive. She used to get upset when Ruby came home with a new achievement because it felt like she had some big shoes to fill. But then she realized she didn't have to follow in anyone's footsteps, and she could be her own person! I don't think Ruby ever found out about her being jealous, though. Spectrum is an athlete. She loves to run and race and compete. Sometimes we go jogging together, but I feel bad since I can't run with her the way she likes. I wouldn't be able to keep up. She likes to read mystery books and she used to tell me about them while we jogged. We haven't jogged in a while, though...I should ask her about that! Later on, that is. Right now everyone is resting, except for me and Nyx of course. Speaking of Nyx, she looks a little nervous. I'll ask her about that soon, but I'll finish my journal first. Still, I'm going to hurry this up because she looks like she might panic. Blossom tends to bottle everything inside because she doesn't want to worry anyone. She's a great listener, though, so the others go to her with their problems a lot. I'm not sure how healthy that is for her. Nyx is my best friend. She's very open about her feelings, but sometimes that gets her hurt. She's always been there when I needed her, and I try to be there for her. She's sweet and kind of innocent and really shy. One of her biggest fears is rejection, even though most of the time she has no reason to be afraid. Like this one time, she had a crush on this boy at school but she was too afraid to ask him out so he ended up dating some other girl but then they were talking once and she accidentally mentioned it and he said he'd liked her for a long time but now it was too late. She was really sad about that, but I don't think he deserved her anyways. He kind of treated his girlfriend badly. And then there was that guy that Nyx actually dated and he was just awful. He hit her really hard! Well, I'm going to stop here and talk to Nyx. I'll write again soon.
PrologueMy name is Ruby. My mother was the Element of Generosity. My father was Soarin’, a member of a prestigious flight group called the Wonderbolts. I have a sister named Sapphire. We live in the space above Mom’s dress shop, the Carousel Boutique. Mom and I are Magi—we have the ability to use magic. Dad and Sapph are Fliers. They were born with wings and they both make good use of them. For seventeen years after I was born, we lived in peace. The whole world was (relatively) calm and uneventful. Our family was large and happy. While our biological family included only my sister and I, our parents, and our aunt Sweetie Belle, we had a large number of honorary family members. They included the other Elements of Harmony, their children and families, several friends in various cities, and the two rulers of our land. There was also Scootaloo and her adoptive sister, Mint. They were orphans, but they belonged to our family just as much as any of us. My best friends were the ones closest to my age. Apple Spectrum, at the same time the most stubborn and kind girl you will ever meet. Apple Blossom, the most dependable person I know. She would never leave anyone hanging and she’s always calm and collected. She’s Spectrum’s cousin and just as stubborn. Nyx, the worst liar in the world. You could say she couldn’t tell a lie to save her life. I sure haven’t seen her tell one. She’s a mage, like me. There’s Sapphire, of course. She’s far too benevolent for her own god. While she takes after our mother a lot, she’s obviously daddy’s little girl. Sapphire is only a year younger than me. Mint is also part of our group, even though she’s the youngest of all of us. She always knows how to make someone laugh, and always shows us the bright side of the situation. For seventeen years, none of us were anything but happy. But things changed. The world changed. There was a statue in the Royal Gardens of a Draconnequus—a creature whose body is made up of all kinds of animal parts. Only, it wasn’t really a statue. It was a spirit encased in stone, the Sprit of Chaos. The first time he was unleashed upon the world, the royal sisters, Sun and Moon, harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony to defeat him. Then my mother and her friends became the Elements, so they were left to fight him the second time. No one thought there would be a third time. Sapphire and I were the first to notice he was gone. We spent a lot of time in the Royal Gardens (which were in the capital city, though we just called it the City) because our parents needed a place to leave us where we wouldn’t get bored or destroy everything when they had business. We went to the City pretty often—Mom had her stuck-up clients and Dad had Wonderbolts shows. I loved the Royal Gardens because they were vast, filled with open space, and right next to the Palace, where Sun and Moon lived. Best of all, there was a massive hedge maze. Sapphire and I had a lot of races to get to the center; I would’ve won a lot more if Sapph hadn’t used her wings to cheat. And ever since Magic told us the story of how they defeated the Spirit of Chaos (or Discord, as he called himself), my sister and I would make a point of visiting his statue every time we were in the Royal Gardens. Obviously, we reported his absence to the royal guards immediately after we noticed it. I think they thought we were just some stupid kids at first (Sapphire ran up to them calling, “Hey! Hey guardy guys!”), but I convinced them to at least take a look. Next thing I knew, the entire country was in chaos. Sun and Moon and the Elements were going crazy searching for him. All of us kids ended up staying under heavy guard in the Royal Palace. We were all so scared and confused. Discord was free? But how? Our parents had beaten him so soundly! Everyone thought he’d be gone forever. What was going to happen? Even with all of these questions running through our minds, we never once doubted our parents would succeed. We believed in them, held them above any standard. They were our own personal deities, humble enough to associate themselves with us. Wonderful enough to love us. Smart enough to teach us. Brave enough to face all the evils in the world—for they had done just that. And they were doing it again. We were all shocked the day they didn’t come home. There were ten of us in the room at the time—Mint, Blossom, Spectrum, Nyx, Sapphire, Scootaloo, our aunts Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, Laughter’s daughter, Balloon, and me. Two guards entered the room, looking uneasy. They had something to say and they weren’t too eager to say it. The others weren’t paying too much attention to them. They were playing a game—something like charades, but with a different set of rules. The guards had caught my attention, though. The way they were acting…well… I knew they couldn’t have good news. I stared at them intensely, waiting for them to get over themselves and just tell us. Finally, one of the guards—an older, gray-haired man—cleared his throat, wordlessly asking for our attention. The room fell silent. As I looked around, I knew they had all come to the same conclusion I had just minutes before—that these men were the bearers of bad news. The gray-haired guard coughed into his fist nervously before launching into his well-rehearsed, protocol speech. “We…we regret to inform you that your loved ones,” Here he listed their names, “have been terminated in the line of battle.” He paused. “They fought valiantly and we all looked up to them.” At this point, I was fairly sure his index cards had expired, and he was speaking from the heart. “They were heroes and idols to all of us. We are very sorry for your loss.” By this point, the younger guard was quite plainly trying to suppress his tears, and nearly failing. He was clearly attached to one or more of our parents. For a moment (before the words settled in) I wondered how this pair knew our parents. Was the older one a guard when Magic lived here? Was the young one (who looked about our parents’ age) an old friend? My mind ran through different possibilities, trying not to process the news the two had been sent to deliver. Then I didn’t have anything else to think about, and it hit me like a brick wall. So hard I collapsed. They were dead. Mom and all the Elements. Magic, who taught me everything I know. Loyalty and Honesty, who often took us out camping. Laughter, who threw endless parties and pulled candy out of nowhere. Kindness, who found each of us the perfect pet and chaperoned most of our sleepovers. Mom, who raised me and always knew just the right thing to say and gave great advice and never let us have ice cream after 8 and sent us to bed at no later than 10 (even though she knew we wouldn’t sleep) and took us to the City at least once a month. Dead. All of them. That was the day all of our lives turned upside down. The guards were everywhere now. No one laughed anymore. Not even Mint. That was the day everything changed. It was like the punchline to some sick, twisted joke. Dad, Sapphire, and I; we supported each other. At least, Sapphire and I did. Dad…he got distant. He barely talked to us anymore. We never gave up trying to help him. Right up to the end, we tried to help. It didn’t make a difference. Two months after we got the news about the Elements, Dad ended it with a single bullet. Sapphire and I were shell-shocked. We gave up on grief, sadness, any kind of feeling, really. We didn’t talk to anyone but each other, and even that was rare. Mostly we just offered physical comfort. Not a second went by for a good three and a half months that Sapph and I weren’t touching in some way. I don’t know if we were trying to reassure each other or make sure we were both still here, still alive. Maybe both. Finally, the others got sick of it. They cornered us one day (not that hard to do, we barely moved) and reminded us that we had friends. They didn’t even say anything—just gathered around us and wrapped us in a hug. Suddenly, I could feel again. The emotions came rushing back. All the sorrow and grief, all the regret and resentment flooded in. I started crying for the first time in months. I couldn’t stop. Not a single one of my friends loosened their grip as I sobbed uncontrollably. Two days later, we got the news about Sun and Moon. A moment later, I realized that our world now belonged solely to Discord.
What I'm Looking ForYear 101, Day 37 Discord’s Reign It’s been over one hundred years since the Fall. That’s what we call that day—the day Sun and Moon were defeated. We rarely talk about it anymore. We’ve said all there is to say about it. A hundred years we’ve been under Discord’s rule. Our world has turned into a horrible place. You can never expect anything because nothing is what you’d expect. Everything is in…well, chaos. What else would you expect? Nobody’s happy. That puppet master Discord has ruined our beautiful land. Nights can last anywhere between a few seconds and a few months. The only way to tell time is the giant clock that floats in the sky, gloating over how long chaos has been our master. While I’m not inclined to believe it’s truthful, I have no choice but to use it. And after the six of us got the news about the Elements, well… First there was a time of grief and disbelief. Time lost all meaning. Come to think of it, we never regained that—our sense of time. I was shocked when I looked at the clock in the sky. Eventually, we accepted what had happened and resolved to do something about it. Obviously, we couldn’t bring our parents back, but I know something that we could revive. The Elements of Harmony. They belonged to our parents. Or maybe our parents belonged to them. It doesn’t matter, the point is that we’re planning to claim the Elements. And it takes a lot of planning. We have to be very secretive about it, too. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if Discord found out. We have to gather supplies—food, first aid, anything we might need—as well as research the Elements of Harmony. The latter is harder than I thought it would be. There weren’t many books on the subject to begin with; take into account that most of the books in the world were destroyed or damaged beyond repair in or after the Fall…well, let’s just say we have our work cut out for us. Nyx, Blossom, and I were tasked with the research while the others worry about the supplies. Our base is Magic’s old house—the public library. It’s the perfect place, after all. I mean, sure, it’s damaged beyond repair and most of the books are illegible, but… It’s better than nothing, right? Anyway, we’re still sorting through the books, deciding what’s helpful. Most of it isn’t. The books have been chocolate rained-on, ripped apart by random winds and cotton candy tornadoes, and eaten by what appears to be a large primate with snake fangs in addition to its normal teeth. I’m still a bit scared I’ll run into whatever it is that’s been eating these old tomes. Even so, this is a task that needs to be done. So far the only useful information we’ve found is a couple of badly damaged, but legible spell books and a book on surviving in the forest. Why do we need to know how to survive in a forest, you ask? Well, stop asking stuff because I can’t hear you, you’re reading this. Anyway, going off my best guess, which is all we really have, we’re going to have to claim the Elements in the same place our parents did—in a ruined castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest. And even if the Elements themselves don’t require it, the spell I need to cast to summon them needs a lot of magic. I happen to know that those particular ruins are full of ancient, powerful magic I can tap into. So into the forest we go. I’ve decided to keep this journal, so we have an accurate account of what happens. I’m not entirely sure why we need one, but I’ve been trying to convince myself that we do. I think the real reason is so that I have an excuse to put my thoughts down on paper. If I really need a reason so badly, I could just say it helps me sort out my thoughts and accept hard truths, which it does. But I digress. Back to the matter at hand, we’ve done well so far, concerning sorting through the books. Both Nyx and I use our magic to skim through the books for anything useful, and Blossom is an exceptionally fast reader. Spectrum likes to affectionately refer to us as “the Eggheads”. We’ve worked through about a quarter of the library in the past two years. What? It was quite a large collection! Magic would bring new books back from wherever she went. I’d even go so far as to call her a bibliophile. Not that it’s a bad thing; I’m a bit of one myself. I’ve always been impressed with the sheer number of books she managed to fit in the small-town library. Wow, I get distracted easily. It may take us several more years to find what we need, but I couldn’t care less. Time hardly matters anymore. After all, it’s not like we’re getting any older. Ah…perhaps I should explain that. No one has aged a day since Discord took over. We can’t really be sure why, but I theorize that the planet has stopped turning, removing gravity’s affect on our bodies and greatly slowing the aging process. I’m sure we’ll die eventually, if that’s the case. Discord probably has everything, including gravity, under his control. The other possibility is that Discord removed aging completely, just because he felt like it. In such a situation, no one would die unless Discord so chose, which is quite a scary thought. Regardless of which theory is the truth, all of us are still the same physical age we were before all this happened. Which leads me to believe we have plenty of time to complete our plans and execute them. Assuming Discord doesn’t…interrupt us. If everything goes as planned, we can finish the library within the next six years. Since we know for a fact that Magic kept several books describing the Elements (one written by herself), we just have to find them and hope they’re not all totally destroyed. Anyway, I suppose I should get some sleep now. I’ve got a long day of book sorting ahead of me. Year 101, Day 43 Discord’s Reign Still no sign of the books about the Elements of Harmony. We’ve reduced our scavenging team—Sapphire is now helping us in the library. The way I see it, the sooner we find information about the Elements, the sooner we can go after them. The process is significantly faster with Sapph on our team. She has a keen eye for detail and can easily decide if a book is useful. She can distinguish between words and smudges at a glance—something unique to her. We’ve examined more books today than on our most productive day before Sapph came. In fact, I believe we’ve nearly doubled what we were doing before. It helps that Sapph, Nyx, and I have a little friendly competition going. We invited Blossom, but she rolled her eyes and declined. So all of us are working even harder than before, and it’s really paying off. If we can keep this up, we’ll be done with the library in three to four years. Anyways, I should be off to bed soon. We’re all getting together tomorrow to count up our supplies. Scoota, Spectrum, and Sapphire (before she was helping us in the library) have all been working hard. Er…by Scoota, I mean Mint. A few years after Discord took over, Scootaloo disappeared. Mint was devastated, but soldiered through with a brave smile. Ever since, Mint asked us to call her Scoota, in memory of Scootaloo. Well, we’ve been working for 18 hours straight and I’m beat. I’ll write again tomorrow, detailing the results of our inventory count. Year 101, Day 44 Discord’s Reign It took us hours to count everything Scoota, Spectrum, and Sapphire had collected. I have to say, I’m very impressed at the sheer amount of supplies they’ve gathered. We’re set for a good five years here, probably more. It’s great because it means we can all focus on sorting through the books. It’s nice to finally have things going our way. After a hundred years of bad luck and chaos, I think we deserve it. Now if we could only find those books… You know, I can’t help but wonder if maybe…maybe we’ve been searching in the wrong place all this time. It’s probably nothing, but I just feel like we won’t find what we’re looking for this way. I have a hunch that this isn’t where the books are. It’s okay, though. I’m not one to be swayed by a mere hunch. After all, there’s no evidence to show that the books we want aren’t here, and it’s the most logical choice. But still…that little voice is bothering me. Maybe if only one person searches Magic’s bedroom, it shouldn’t take too much away from the work on the library. And besides, it makes sense that Magic might want to keep the books close to her. And just to make sure nothing is passed over, I’ll do it myself. Just to be sure we’re being thorough. That’s settled, then. Tomorrow I’ll search the living space above the library for anything useful. ‘Tomorrow’…it barely means anything now. It’s a word that used to have significant meaning, that brought hope because tomorrow was always another day, and you always knew when tomorrow would come. Now it’s just whenever you happen to wake up. Days mean nothing. Well, enough of that random philosophical tangent. Blossom went out for a flight today. She came back looking none too happy, which is saying something. She’s always so calm and collected. All she would say was, “He’s such a bully.” I can only assume she means Discord, and Blossom hates bullies more than anything. She sulked in a corner for the rest of the day. I can’t say I blame her for being upset. Discord has destroyed our world. For all we know, it’s beyond repair. We can only hope it isn’t. And anyway, the Elements were able to repair everything before. But that was when Chaos had ruled for a few days at most…it’s been a hundred years. I guess I should probably explain the Elements of Harmony. The Elements are a set of six ancient magical artifacts. Five of them represent personality traits—honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, and laughter—and the sixth is created in the presence of the others, magic. They are said to be the most powerful form of magic, fueled by love and harmony between people. Nyx’s mother, the Bearer of Magic, used to say that as long as there were at least two people who loved and tolerated each other, the Elements would be alive and strong. Here’s hoping she’s right. The Elements of Harmony are our last hope. Our last chance to beat Discord. We have to claim them and use them against that tyrant. I know we can. Nyx will be the Element of Honesty. Like I said before, I’ve never seen her tell a lie. Apple Blossom will be the Element of Loyalty. She’d never leave her friends hanging; never let anyone down. Sapphire, my sister, will be Generosity, just like Mom. She’s always giving her stuff away. Apple Spectrum represents Kindness. She always wants to take care of sick people and animals. She was apprenticed at the local hospital before all this happened. I’ve never seen her really mad at anyone except Discord and maybe Sapphire, although that’s not really anger. Scoota, who always knows how to make us happy, is the Element of Laughter. And me, the future Element of Magic. Not to brag, but I was a student to both Magic herself and Sun, our previous ruler. And in case you’re wondering, our parents did have real names. We realized a long time ago that bad things happen when you say them. That, and it’s less painful this way. The same goes for Sun and Moon. I’m scared to even write their names here, for the terrible things it might cause. As such, we just call our parents by their Elements, and Sun and Moon by the celestial bodies they controlled. I know I talk about Dad sometimes, but I don’t know…it’s different somehow. Maybe because he didn’t die in the war. Of course, it still hurts to think of any of them. I think we all would have gotten over them years ago, if they hadn’t died the way they did—fighting Discord. We’re all proud of them for fighting so hard, but it just wasn’t enough. Not that it was their fault—it wasn’t. They tried their best. It’s Discord’s fault. Everything is. His fault we’re alone. His fault our world is destroyed. His fault everything’s miserable. All his fault. I don’t understand why he has so much fun with this. He takes so much pleasure in the misery and despair of others. He’s sick. The things he does to people…it’s horrible. You’re probably wondering why he hasn’t come after us in all these 100 years. Well, he has, once or twice, but his chaos keeps him busy most of the time. He does keep his throne here inour town, though. Occasionally he’ll come back and sit on it for days (weeks, years?) at a time, just enjoying the pain and suffering he’s caused. Mostly, though, he travels across the world, making sure nothing goes right or makes sense. Which is good for us, because it gives us time. Anyway, I should be getting some sleep if I’ll be searching Magic’s room tomorrow. None of us have been in there since it happened. Hopefully, I’ll find something useful. Year 101, Day 45 DR It was painful, going through the (most-ruined) belongings of my deceased mentor. She taught me everything and loved me just as much as Nyx. She loved all of us equally. I might need to spend more than just one day on her room. Every few minutes, the pain hits me all over again and I have to stop. It’s a very slow process and I’ve barely made any progress. I keep telling myself that I need to do this, that I should just get it over with. It’s just that…she used to live here. She used to sleep here and work here and stay up all night reading here. She used to tell me myths and legends when I spent the night here. She used to teach me spells here, and I practiced them here. She used to live here…and now she doesn’t. Tomorrow I’ll try to get more done, but for now, I need some sleep. Year 101, Day 49 DR I’ve spent the past few days working in Magic’s room on and off. It gets a little easier each day, but the pain is still there. Sometimes the grief gets to be too much and I need to take a break and join the others. Nyx works with me sometimes. Normally I don’t like anyone else messing with my work, but it was her mother, so I won’t say anything. Plus, she takes after her mother in a lot of ways, including her need to be organized. Together, we’ve made it through about half of the living space. There hasn’t been any sign of the books we’re looking for, but we have found some useful things. So far we have a nearly-undamaged spell book, a magic compass, and two of Nyx’s old practice dummies. The spell book has mostly non-violent spells, although there’s one that immobilizes the target. The compass will point to…something. Right now the needle is pointing Northeast. It was custom-made by Magic herself. I’m sure it’ll be useful, as soon as we figure out what it’s for. And why would we need practice dummies? Well, Nyx and I both used to practice spells on them, so they’ve retained quite a bit of our magic, which we can drawn on later. Maybe I should explain how magic works, since it seems like only Magi really know. Magic is basically a type of energy your body produces, just like regular energy. It’s a lot like the energy you use to move, except you can channel it and it affects the world around you. Fliers produce it too, but in smaller amounts, and they can’t control it. Instead, it goes straight to their wings, allowing them to fly when physics says they can’t. A small amount in the rest of their bodies also allow them to touch clouds, unlike any Mage or Earth. Magic energy also leaves a residue. On everything. How long it lasts depends on the power of the spell and the material of the object it’s being cast on. Things like plastic and metal might hold the energy for a few days or a week, while things like cotton, leather, and wood will hold it for hundreds of years. There are even trees in the Everfree Forest with the magical energy of a young Starswirl the Bearded, and he lived over a millennium ago. That being said, the energy to cast a spell can come from one of two places: The user himself, or an object with magical energy in it. Different people produce different amounts of magical energy. Nyx and I both have a little above average, but it’s nice to have a backup if we need it. Besides magical energy, each spell also uses a bit of physical energy, so using a really powerful spell, like a Greater Arcane Spell (mostly Seeing and altering reality or time) can feel like running a marathon or two. Or ten. In a row. That’s what casting the Summoning for the Elements is going to feel like. Well, tomorrow is another long day of grief and pain. I should get some sleep. Year 101, Day 55 DR We’re done. We finished sorting through Magic’s room today. Not a single trace of the books on the Elements. In the end both Nyx and I broke down and couldn’t go any further, so the rest of our friends finished it for us. I think I just need to…go to bed. It’s been a long day.
Bridged OverYear 101, Day 72 DR Things have slowed down lately. Nyx and I are still recovering from our breakdown, and the others were affected, too. And the thing that broke us like that…it was a photo. A perfectly intact photo of the previous Elements, our parents, for Sun’s sake, laughing and having fun. The picture was taken before any of us were born, not too long after Magic moved here. Still, it captured each of their personalities perfectly, and it shattered our hearts. We’re debating whether we should just leave. Nyx and I are convinced that there’s nothing left for us here, but Spec and Sapph say we should finish up. I’m actually torn, because I feel like we should be thorough, and it’s nice to see Spec and Sapph agree on something for once. Spectrum and my sister don’t get along too well, even though Spec is the nicest girl I know. They both take after their mothers far too much. Sapph is girly and enjoys fashion, while Spectrum is boyish with a strong disdain for frilly things. They never do anything mean to each other, but they do get into pretty frequent arguments. So you can see why we’d want to agree with them when they’re on the same side in a debate. Tomorrow we’ll make the final decision, but I think I’ll go with Spec and Sapph on this one. Right now, though, it’s time for bed. Year 101, Day 80 DR It was almost unanimous that we stay. And by that, I mean Spec, Sapph, and I all voted to stay, Nyx voted to go, and Blossom and Scoota didn’t care. We’ll work hard to finish up and get out of here in two or three years. Nothing very interesting has happened around here, discounting the glove storm we had yesterday. Spec and Blossom have been racing again, which is both good and back. Bad because it means they’re both stressed, but good because they’re running it off. Nyx is working extra hard to get us out of here and Scoota has been trying to cheer us up with jokes (I don’t know where that girl keeps getting them, even after 100 years. It’s amazing.) Sapphire and I have spent the past few nights talking. She misses Dad. I do too, but it’s Magic that’s been bothering me most lately. I said before that Sapph was a daddy’s girl, and that wasn’t a lie. They were really close, and Sapphire was the one who found him after he ended it. I felt like I had to keep her close after that. She always tended to follow in his footsteps and it scared me. She talks to me, though. I know what she’s feeling. She’s been particularly down lately, so I think I’ll ask Blossom to take her out for a flight tomorrow. That always makes her feel better. Anyway, I should probably turn in for the night. Year 101, Day 87, DR We have to move. Discord decided he would shake up our lives. For a long time he battered the old library with random objects before he came in to mess with our heads. He talked about our parents. He was talking and all I could think was, ‘How DARE he!’. It made me sick, the things he said about them. We lashed out at him, all of us. Even Blossom. He only laughed. So we’re leaving. We’re packing up and finding another place to stay. We’re discussing exactly where now. We’ve decided we can’t go to any of the other Elements’ houses (too obvious), nor can we stay in the Town Hall (too dangerous), or most of the buildings in town, for that matter. In fact, I think we should head into the Everfree Forest to find the castle ruins. The others are doubtful, but I haven’t lost a debate yet. Year 101, Day 99 DR I finally won them all over. Nyx, of course, observed my logic objectively and agreed that we should carry out my plan. Scoota, being Nyx’s best friend, agreed as well. Spectrum was next (she’s very gung-ho). Sapph and Blossom were harder to convince, but I managed it. We’ll leave tomorrow. Now, about Scoota and Nyx. We’re all best friends, but those two have always been really close. They’ve been just about inseparable ever since they met. I remember once when we were 9 (well, most of us were 9—Nyx and Sapph were 8 and Scoota was 7), Nyx and Scoota got separated at a carnival and they both freaked out. Nyx’s magical energy went haywire (as a young Mage’s tends to do) and burst several light bulbs. She actually caused quite a bit of destruction that day. Magic had to fix everything. Not that it was hard for her, being the most powerful Mage of her time. As I recall, she wasn’t even all that mad at Nyx for it. Magic has always been very understanding about stuff like that. I think that was just after Scootaloo finished the paperwork to adopt Scoota. We all miss those days when everything was okay. Of course we do. Do we have any reason not to? …Besides the chocolate rain, I mean. Maybe now would be a good time to explain just how everyone is related. Since I have nothing else to do. We’ll start with my family. My parents were, as I said, Generosity and Soarin’. Sapphire is my sister, and Sweetie Belle was my aunt. Magic and Moon had a single child, Nyx. Now, Magic and Moon were both very female, but there is a way for them to have a kid: A magic mirror. I don’t know exactly how it works, except that the parents stand in front of the mirror and 1-3 children come out. Sun regulated the use of the mirror, creating a strict application process. Magic and Moon passed this easily, one being Sun’s student and the other being her sister. Spectrum was also a mirror child, for Honesty and Loyalty. Before they had Spectrum, though, they adopted Scootaloo when she was 13 years old. Spec was born the next year. After Scootaloo was old enough and moved out, she adopted Scoota (then known as Mint). Spectrum and Blossom are cousins because Honesty and Blossom’s dad, Big Macintosh, were siblings. Kindness was Blossom’s mother. Laughter also had two children (twins—one boy, one girl) with a man named Pokey Pierce. She named them Balloon and Bubble Berry. Honesty also had a younger sister, Apple Bloom. Sun and Moon were also considered family. They were sort of like aunts. And that is my full extended family. Except now it’s just us six. Year 101, Day 107 DR We’re in the Forest now, on our way to the ruins. We all know the way because our parents used to take us there a lot. Nyx and I especially, because we used to practice powerful spells there. It shouldn’t take us long to get there, although we have to stop when it’s dark. Which could be often. Still, we’ve got all the time in the world. We have to be careful in here, though. The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place. There are hundreds of species of predators, including maticores, basilisks, cockatrices, and wyverns. We’ve been lucky so far—we haven’t seen more than a glimpse of one. Still, that in itself is odd. The whole atmosphere in here is off. There’s an eerie silence surrounding us. I can hear faint sounds in the distance—and even those seem discordant—but it’s dead silent in our immediate area. There’s no rustling of the bushes or shattering of squirrels. Well, there is one sound. A bird. It’s always there. Almost as if it’s following us. Its song…isn’t much of a song at all. It’s heartbreakingly sad and somehow menacing at the same time. It’s foreboding and creepy. And it’s constant. The bird hasn’t stopped for an instant since we entered the Forest and we’re getting to the point where we want nothing more than for it to stop. It’s torture, listening to this mind-cracking tune every second of every day. It’s taken its toll on all of us. Scoota and Nyx have been clinging to each other the whole time, looking for security, reassurance, happiness…I don’t know. Spectrum and Sapphire have been arguing more than usual, and Blossom has been keeping to herself. And me? The bird’s song reminds me of a piece one of my mother’s friends, Frederick, played after he had his heart stolen and stomped on by a serial heartbreaker. He was devastated, but he still wanted to warn the next guy. It’s not exactly the same. It’s significantly creepier and it just feels wrong, somehow. Still, it’s the best comparison I could think of. We’re camped out now. Spec and Blossom are sharing the first shift, and Sapph and I’ll take the next one. I ought to get some sleep before their shift is up. It’s my shift now. I’m sitting across from Sapph, writing this. Spec and Blossom woke us up a while ago, and I decided to write to try to stay awake. I think my mind is playing tricks on me. I keep seeing a faintly glowing pair of eyes, but they disappear when I blink. The bird’s song has changed, too. It’s louder now, and it sounds more distorted and the sadness is gone. Now it’s all pain and warning. I’m really, genuinely scared. It’s getting to Sapph, too. While I’ve been writing, she’s crawled over here and wedged her way under my arm. I don’t blame her. I kind of need the comfort, too. The good news is, we should be getting there soon. We’ve passed Zecora’s hut (in ruins) and that cave where Magic got turned to stone once (funny story, maybe I’ll tell it another time). The bridge shouldn’t be more than a mile or so now. It’s almost time for Scoota and Nyx’s shift, so I’ll write again tomorrow. Year 101, Day 108 DR I’m standing in the ruins; my friends and I forming a circle. All of us have our eyes closed, focusing as hard as we can. My job is the hardest; I have to focus on directing my magical energy into the summoning, as well as each of the magical artifacts I wish to summon. I take a deep breath and let the magic flow out. As I cast the spell, there’s a bright flash of light, a whirring sound, and then silence. I open my eyes, expecting to see an Element on each of my friends, and I do. Each is the Element I imagined her as. They’re staring at me in realization, horror, and disgust. I don’t understand why, until I realize that there is no new weight on my head, nor my neck. I am not bearing a necklace like my friends or a crown like Magic before me. I am not a bearer. Hatred is evident on my friends’ faces just before I wake up. That was my dream last night. I awoke with tears streaming down my face and my friends crowding around me, looking worried. I didn’t tell them about it. I don’t want to worry them. Maybe I’ll explain it to Blossom later on, though. She always seems to make me feel better. I’ve asked the others to do something for me. I gave them each a notebook and requested that, should we be separated, they start keeping a journal. I really do want the whole story so that, if we succeed, we can get the word out. We can tell everyone with first-hand accounts what we went through to fix our world. We’re at the bridge now, resting before we cross. I can’t help but think this has all been too easy. A creepy bird? That’s it? We didn’t run into any monsters or predators or…anything. Nothing. We haven’t even really seen the bird, we’ve only heard it. There’s no way Discord doesn’t know we’re here, and why would he just let us get to the Elements? There’s something going on here. I’ve expressed my thoughts to the others, but most of them think I’m over-thinking things. Only Blossom and Nyx took me seriously. The three of us have discussed what to do, and we sort of have a plan. We’ll see how things go crossing the bridge, although we’ll have Blossom and Sapph ready to fly and Nyx and I will prepare a levitation spell for the rest of us. Once in range of the ancient magic of the ruins, I’ll cast the summoning spell as quickly as is possible without messing it up. There’s every chance that one or more of us will die or become injured between now and then, regardless of how short the bridge is. Every step we take from now on is laced with danger. Things haven’t gone quite as we had hoped. When we got to the other side of the bridge, we should have been standing right in front of the ruins. Instead, we found ourselves in an unrecognizable part of the forest. I should have known this would happen. We all expected the Forest to be as unaffected by chaos as it was by magic, but nothing is as you would expect. We thought we could just walk in here, find the ruins just like that, and claim the Elements. Easy as pie. We decided to keep walking. Not like we have any choice. Either we’ll eventually stumble upon the ruins, or the Everfree Forest spits us out. Or we die here. Whichever way it goes, it’s not looking too good for us.
HopelessYear 101, Day 120 DR We've been walking for such a long time. We don't know where we're walking. We don't know how to get there. We don't even know where we came from. The bridge disappeared as soon as we reached the other side. It's like we were teleported to another part of the forest; one we've never seen before. We've been debating what to do next. The others want me to go ahead and cast the spell, but they don't understand. The amount of power I'd need to do something like that...I just don't have it. I need an outside source to pull from, and an extremely strong one at that. Of course, Nyx has agreed to let me borrow magic from her, but we already knew I'd need more than that. That's why we were counting on the ruins. I'd expected that maybe the magic in the ruins might have faded a bit from the chaos, but the energy that surrounded them was old and powerful. It's been there for thousands of years and I don't think it's gone now. It surely would have been enough to cast the spell with ease. The Everfree Forest has a small amount of energy on its own (enough to keep other magic from interfering with it), but it's nowhere near enough to pull a Greater Arcane. even combined with mine and Nyx's energy. For something like this, I'd need nothing short of Starswirl's own practice dummy, and that's assuming he used the same one for, say...thirty or so years. Most Magi can only hold on to one for about 10 years before it's too beat up to use and the residual energy begins to interfere with your spells. There just isn't enough magic around for me to complete the summoning. You know, it didn't used to be this hard. When Mom and her friends claimed the Elements, they didn't have to cast a spell. After their first encounter with Discord, Magic began discussing the idea of putting more protections on them. The plans were put into place immediately after an attack on the capital city from another villain. So now we're stuck working around all the firewalls. Still, the others are pressuring me to cast it here and now. Only Nyx is on my side now, even though Blossom usually sees my side in a debate. I'm trying to think of where I could get so much magical energy. I need something powerful, something soaked in magic that I can draw from. I could always search for leylines--places where there's strong, natural magic flowing in a line. In fact, that's probably the best thing to do. Because magic attracts magic, leylines are easy to find. If you let your magical energy trickle away from you, they'll be drawn toward the lines. This doesn't really use magic, because you sort of have to keep a hold on it to see where it's going. Plus, if you're successful, you're getting a whole lot more. Leylines vary in strength. A lot of big cities are built on intersections between several. If I can find one medium-strength one, then it should eb enough, when combined with Nyx's energy and my own. But I convinced the others to rest first. We've been walking for a long time and if I try a Greater Arcane now, I'll probably collapse. First thing when I wake up, though, I'll search for leylines. Hopefully the results will be promising and we can end this Hell we've been living in. Year 101, Day 121 DR As I said, I searched for the streams of magic as soon as I awoke. The results were very interesting, I must say. Instead of being drawn into the air, where leylines generally are, my energy was drawn toward Spectrum's bag. Or rather, something in her bag. I asked her to empty it, of course. Mostly she pulled out supplies--food and water, a few rolls of bandage. A book, some ointment, and a couple of rags were also in there. At the bottom of her bag, she has some more personal items. We all did--things that reminded us of home or belonged to our parents. These were the things I was interested in, since our supplies obviously weren't suddenly magical. Spec pulled several thigns out before we found the magic. There was her first trophy for winning a race, along with the crown Loyalty won in the Best Young Fliers competition. Next came a signed poster, a small locket, and a family photo. Finally, she removed the magical item--Honesty's hat. I'll admit, it confused me at first. Why would Honesty's old leather stetson have so much magic? Then it hit me. It was leather. Leather can hold vast amounts of magic for hundreds of years. What's more is that Honesty, for a period of about thirty years (before Loyalty retired and moved in with her), had a spell cast on her weekly that allowed her to walk on clouds. And the spell was cast by none other than Magic herself. That was exactly what I needed. The hat itself is almost three-quarters of what the spell requires. I should only need to take a little from Nyx, and along with my own magic...I can do this. I can do this, here and now, with magic to spare. Something went very, very wrong. I don't think it was any of us, but something definitely went awry. In fact, I'm sure we did everything right. It was Discord that ruined everything. He popped up and interrupted the spell just before I completed it. All of my magical energy dissipated, which of course left me exhausted. I fell to my knees and looked up to find Discord floating in front of me. "Well, well, look what we have here," he said, turning slowly to face each one of us. "If it sin't the poor little kids abandoned by their parents when they needed them most." He'd barely begun speaking and I was already furious. Can you really blame me, though? That was a lie and he knew it! They didn't abandon us, he killed them. How dare he try to turn them into villains? They were heroes. "You thought you could get away with this? That I would just let you?" He laughed. "Why do you think you couldn't find the ruins?" Now he was in front of me, touching my chin, violating my space. "You, Ruby, of all people should have known." I slapped his claws away and took a deep breath, forcing my voice to be steady. "Of course I knew. It's not like we had any other choice, though, and we'll do anything to defeat you." This elicited another chuckle from the Spirit in front of us, and I felt my anger about to bubble over. I needed to control myself. Lashing out wouldn't help any of us. Apparently, Blossom didn't feel the same way. "Who do you think you are?!" Everyone's attention snapped to her. "What gives you the right to ruin everyone's lives? Who died and put you in charge?" Of course, it was just an expression, but it put a huge grin on Discord' face. "Why, Celestia, Luna, and all of your parents, of course." His voice was positively filled to the brim with sickening glee. It hurt even more that he was using their names; names we hadn't heard in almost a hundred years. "I thought we'd already established that." And so it was, with tears brimming in our eyes, we attacked him. It was to no avail, however, as he simply teleported himself away, his awful laughter hanging in the air. Year 101, Day 125 DR We haven't moved from where we were when I tried to cast the spell. We haven't been able to, really. I've been exhausted to the point of being ill, and even moving my fingers hurts. Nyx has been most sympathetic to my condition, of course, knowing herself the physical toll magic can take. The others haven't exactly been harsh, but I can tell they don't know just how much pain I'm in right now. I'm just now able to pick up a pencil and write, to give you an idea of just how bad the pain was. We'll be stuck here until I can walk again, so the others have been making themselves busy. They've built temporary shelters, which should hold up against most of the chaos. We just have to hope no monsters find us while I'm incapacitated. My current condition wouldn't seem so bad (in the big picture, at least) if Nyx hadn't also lost a good deal of magical energy. While she's recovered from the physical effects, she still has yet to regenerate much of her magic. A Mage's body produces less magic when there is physical damage, and having the energy ripped away from you like we did can cause quite a bit of damage. Children have to be taught very early how to control their magic, because it can hurt them if it's not properly released. So her magic is stunted, and I can barely move, which leaves our group at a virtual loss of protective magicks. Which basically means we're relying on physical strength, should something attack us. And while we're all pretty strong, we're not strong enough to fend off a manticore. Or even a cockatrice. Essentially, if we're attacked, we're just about as good as dead. I realized something today. With how everything's been going, we've been too distracted to notice, but the bird's stopped singing. That creepy bird with the disturbing song? It's gone. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, because now there's nothing but dead silence. I can't even hear distant sounds like I could when we first got in here. It's all gone. It's so quiet, we can hear each other breathing. All the time. But hey, at least we know we're all still alive. Year 101, Day 127 DR I'm still bedridden, but I've been healing rather quickly. We should be able to move soon. We've had quite a bit of luck to be undisturbed. Maybe there aren't any predators in here anymore. For all I know, they could be gone. That would be incredibly good luck for us, which is something we haven't had lately. We're not ready to trust it yet, so we're still being careful. We're moving as soon as I'm able to walk. We're going as far away as possible. I don't know when, but Discord will be back. He made mistakes with our parents, and I don't think he'll make them again. No, he'll be more careful with us. He thought he broke our parents, but he'll make sure he breaks us. We won't stop until we can't even look at each other. The silence that surrounds us now is stifling. I can't stand it, this nothingness. Scoota's been talking almost non-stop for the simple fact that she hates all silence--and knows the rest of us do, too. Well, silence like this anyways. We haven't seen the good kind of silence (comfortable, warm, content) in over a hundred years. So we all try to keep conversation going, but mostly it's Scoota. The rest of us just don't have the energy. About that--a lot of us have been tired and sluggish these past few days, despite our attempts to stay alert. This entire thing has been taking a huge toll lately, partly because we're starting to think we can't fix it. If Discord can disrupt my spell just like that, then how can we claim the Elements? How can we beat him? How did we ever hope to beat him in the first place? Of course he was watching us. Of course he would keep an eye on the children of the former Elements of Harmony. He's probably been expecting us to try this for a hundred years. We've been so painfully stupid. Year 101, Day 132 DR We've finally gotten moving. For the past two days, we've been walking non-stop, trying to find some way out of this forest. In the end, I know it's useless and we're just wasting energy. He'll find us no matter where we go. I don't know what to do anymore. None of us do. We can't beat him unless we have the Elements, and we can't get the Elements until we beat him! We're hopeless. There's nothing we can do until I find some way to break this vicious cycle. I still feel awful. Part of it is that I'm still healing, but it's also because I feel like we're letting our parents down. We were supposed to save the world. We were supposed to succeed where they failed. That's what a parent wants of their kids, right? For them to not make the same mistakes? For them to do better than they have? Well, we've failed in all of that. We've disappointed them, no doubt. I just hope they can forgive us some day. But they have to, right? We've tried so very hard, pushed ourselves so far. I nearly killed myself casting that spell. I could still die, if I catch something. We've given this our best shot, just as they have. It just wasn't enough. Year 101, Day 140, DR We might have a chance to win this. It's very slim and it will take everything we've got, but it's our only hope. Er...maybe I should start at the beginning. We were walking through the forest as per usual, and we were all pretty...well, depressed. Even Scoota was less completely ecstatic than normal. After all we've gone though, here we are without a single hope in the world. Tensions were rising within our group. Spectrum and Sapphire were bickering constantly, Blossom seemed sullen, Nyx refused to talk to anyone, and even Scoota couldn't cheer anyone up. After a while, we had to stop because Spec and Sapph had gotten into a particularly heated screaming match and wouldn't respond to anyone else. Shortly after that, we had to take cover from a cheese storm. While we were waiting that out, we were paid a little visit. "Well, if it isn't my six favorite people!" Immediately, we were all standing back to back to back to...you get the point. Each of us faced a different direction, searching for the source of the voice. He was laughing now, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see him. "Show yourself, Discord!" Yes, I know. Stupid thing to say. Still, it must have worked because, almost at once, he appeared before me. "I've bee watching you," He said. Great. Not only were we lost in a seemingly endless forest, but we were being stalked by the Spirit of Chaos as well. Just perfect. I didn't say anything out loud--just watched him. "You're quite pathetic, really. It's hilarious!" Here he burst into a fit of laughter. Finally, he calmed down enough to speak again. "Still, I've decided to take some pity on you." He paused for a moment, opening his arms wide and donning what I can only assume was meant to be a warm smile. It came off cold and demented. "Aren't I so generous?" He let out another laugh, clapping his hands...er...whatever together. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he soon clarified. "I am going to give you a fighting chance. A slim, miniscule chance, but a chance nonetheless." When he noticed my wary look, a chuckle once more bubbled forth from his lips. "I will give you a riddle, much like I did your parents. You must solve this riddle, complete the game it leads you to, and overcome and obstacles I decide to throw at you." He leaned in close and his voice lost its smug and joyful tone, turning dark. "Deal?" I swallowed hard, turning the offer around in my mind. We had learned from our parents' mistakes, so we wouldn't be so easily fooled by his riddle. We would know to dissect it carefully and completely before doing anything. But Discord will have learned, too. He knows us, he knows our weaknesses, and he knows better than to underestimate us. He's awfully confident to even give us the tiniest chance to succeed--and there's always the possibility that he's lying. No doubt this was just a plan to break us even further. Still...it was our only hope. Looking around, i found my friends gazing back, waiting for my decision. Finally, I turned back to Discord. "Deal." He grinned widely and cracked his knuckles. Spinning upwards, he disappeared into the air. We drew close together again as we saw the shadows moving. "Twists and turns are what you seek, But don't assume your enemy weak. All alone and torn apart, You can't win the game without your heart." And with a haunting laugh, he was gone.
One ChanceYear 101, Day 141, DR We all blacked out as soon as Discord left. We woke up today hanging upside-down from the branches of a tree. Well, sort of a tree. Balloons were growing out of the branches. Yes, growing--I checked. Anyway, once we'd carefully extracted ourselves from the tree, we immediately set to decoding the riddle. That's what we've been doing all day. The problem is, there's nothing to decode. Go to the hedge maze in the Royal Gardens, play his game, probably lose. It's a very straightforward riddle. That's what's tripping me up. There has to be something more to this. Something I haven't thought of. "Twists and turns are what you seek," Probably the hedge maze he used against our parents. He said it's what we seek, and said nothing about his own plans or what he wants. "But don't assume your enemy weak." A simple warning not to underestimate him. "All alone and torn apart, You can't win the game without your heart." He was going to try to separate us and break us down. Of course he would--that's what Discord does. I just don't understand why he would give us such a simple riddle. I mean, the one the last Elements was fairly uncomplicated, but it wasn't quite so...plain. There has to be something here. I'll sleep on it later. Maybe I'll have some fresh ideas when I wake up, but I want to exhaust my current ones first. Year 101, Day 142, DR I still don't know anything more about the riddle. None of us do. All I can think of is that Discord has a particularly nasty surprise waiting for us in the maze. So, for now at least, we've begun our journey to the City. It will take us two or three days to get there, so we still have time to think. It used to be you could go to the City for a day trip, but the train isn't exactly safe...or a train at all...So we're stuck walking and that'll take us a while. We've been walking for...actually, I don't know, but the sun has risen and set a few times, not to mention sprouted legs and done a jig in the sky, back when we were walking through our hometown. We're in a patch of forest now, at the base of the mountain that the City rests on. We'd have avoided it if we could, given our last experience in a wooded area, but it's right before the path up the mountain starts. We can't even seen the sky, the trees are so thick here. After all, it's been over 100 years (with some chaos thrown in) since anyone bothered to maintain the path. Hopefully it'll be easier once we get on the mountain, though. The others have seemed less depressed today. Almost happy, in fact. We actually have a chance now. I think I'm going to ask them to start writing in the notebooks I gave them. I should have asked sooner, but I guess it really just slipped my mind. Hold on, I'll tell them now. Okay, they're writing their first entry. Some of them are pretty eager about it, but I know Spectrum isn't going to like it too much. She's not too terribly fond of writing. But who knows? Maybe she'll find a way to make it fun. We're resting now, and eating. There's plenty of food around us--trees turned cotton candy, licorice rope vines, leaves turned into bread and cheese. There are also some apples poking out of the ground. It's quite a good lunch, actually. I figure we can stay here and rest up for a little while. It seems safe enough, and we need to replenish our food supplies anyways. Plus, I'm still kind of tired after my failed spell. Speaking of, I should really get to sleep. I'll write again while we're walking tomorrow. Apple Spectrum: Day 142, Discord's Dictatorship My name is Apple Spectrum. My mothers were the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty. I am a mirror child. I'm being forced to write this journal. I am the future Element of Kindness. Let's see...I guess I should start with describing myself, shouldn't I? Ruby says people will read this in the future and I always hated it when teachers tried to get me to guess someone's personality just from how they talk. I just don't know how you can do that... Then again, it probably won't be entirely credible if you hear it from me. Maybe I'll get the others to describe me instead. That way you'll have an unbiased opinion of what I'm like. And in return, I'll write about them! Ruby's probably already written about all of us, so I'll just tell the rest of them. Alright, I guess I'll start with Ruby, since I'm thinking about her. She's probably the smartest of any of us, that egghead. She loves reading and learning, but she also likes to party. She's kind of crazy, in a good way. She's the one who introduced the rest of us to our favorite game. We don't really have a name for it, we just call it 'the game'. She calls it a "word association" game. We go around in a circle saying the first word that comes to mind after hearing the last person's word. It's really fun for us because the words almost never make any real sense. ...Um, anyway. Ruby's really good at magic, and she's also pretty funny. Sometimes she doesn't understand jokes because she spends so much time reading and studying, but she tells the best ones. Her humor is a lot different from the rest of ours, but it's still funny. Sometimes she gets stressed, though, and that's a scary sight. I remember Mom (er...Loyalty, that is. Honesty was Ma.) used to say she was "every bit the egghead" Magic was, and Ma would agree with, "She sure is a spittin' image." Which I always found funny because Ruby isn't even Magic's daughter. Sapphire seems like the next logical step, since she's Ruby's sister. She's the most generous person I know but she's pretty hardheaded sometimes. She loves competition and flying. Ruby and Sapph are really close. During that one time when they were shutting the rest of us out, they were always touching each other somehow. Like they were what was keeping each other grounded. I wish we could have gotten through their thick heads sooner, but I'm glad they had each other. Anyway, Sapphire is cool and all, but we don't really get along that well. I'd never admit this out loud, but I'm just as stubborn as she is, and we're often on opposite sides of arguments. We just tend to look at things differently. Still, I would never directly insult her. Call her stubborn, sure. Say she's wrong, duh. But I don't call names--that's just mean. I'm not like the old Kindness, who would never argue with anyone, but I am the Element of Kindness. I would never do something that I knew would hurt someone's feelings. Next...let's go with my cousin, Apple Blossom. She's calm, cool, and collected. She's also athletic and loves races. We're pretty evenly matched, but I almost always beat her in a foot race. She's much faster when she's allowed to use her wings, though. She's honest and dependable, and loyal, too. She's probably my closest friend, out of all of them. I know I can always trust her with my secrets, and she's the only one I've told about...certain things. She knows me better than anyone else in the world, and I don't know what I'd do without her. She's the Element of Loyalty, just like my mom. Nyx and Scoota kind of have to go together. You can't talk about one without mentioning the other. Scoota is the Element of Laughter, and Nyx is the new Honesty. Nyx has two moms like I do, but she's not a mirror child. Magic never let Moon tell her--or anyone--how she was made, but we're old enough to figure it out now. Gross, if you ask me. Scoota's parents were Shit, I keep forgetting. Scoota's...she's an orphan. It's just...she feels like part of the family, I just forget sometimes. I always see her as like, a little sister, and I don't even see Nyx that way. I always feel so bad when I make that mistake, and I do it a lot. Well, I used to. No one really mentions parents anymore. It hurts too much. Right, well, Scoota is sweet and funny and loves candy. If there's one thing she hates, it's spicy things. She's always glued to Nyx's side. Even though they're younger than the rest of us, they're both pretty cool. Sometimes I race with Scoota, but she's not very athletic, so it's more of a casual jog. We're the only two Groundlings in our little group and it's comforting to have someone else around who doesn't rely on magic or wings. She's really fun and easy to talk to, and like I said, she's like a little sister to me. I'd protect her no matter what. I mean, I'd do that for all my friends, but you know...more in a sisterly way for Scoota. Nyx is open, honest, and easygoing. She managed not to get any of Magic's social anxiety or OCD, surprisingly. Although she does keep her room rather neat, she's never gone overboard with it. I think it's really just from habit after years of Magic making sure the entire house was in order. She's sweet, smiles a lot, and loves to read. We used to talk about books a lot, until she took a liking to sappy romance novels. They're not really my style. You know, I'm not really too sure about this Elements thing. I mean, Nyx is definitely Honesty, Ruby is Magic without a doubt, Scotta can't not be Laughter. I'm confident that Blossom is Loyalty and that Sapph is Generosity. The problem is, I don't think I'm Kindness. I fight with Sapphire a lot. Sure, I was apprenticed at the Children's Hospice before all this crap happened, but I'm nothing like the last Kindness. She was soft and sweet and compassionate and I don't think she even really knew how to hate. I'm kind of blunt and I say how I feel and I'm rough around the edges. I hate Discord and Scoota's biological parents and anyone who would abuse anyone else. I know hate, I know anger. I'm familiar with these emotions. I'm not Kindness. Anyway, I think that's enough writing for now. I'm going to take a nap. Apple Blossom: Day 142, Year 101, Discord's Calendar Ruby told us to start writing in our journals, so here's my piece. My name is Apple Blossom, but usually people just call me Blossom. My mom was Kindness and my dad was named Big Macintosh. We used to live in a little cottage that bordered Sweet Apple Acres, but was also pretty close to the Everfree Forest. Sweet Apple Acres was an apple orchard that my dad's family owned. It was also Honesty's (and later Loyalty's and Spectrum's) home. Auntie Applebloom lived there as a kid, but when she grew up she moved away to start her architecture business. I used to love running through the rows and rows of apple trees, or flying above them. The Acres was such a peaceful place, and I really miss it. I can still relive some of it when I race with my cousin, Spectrum. Speaking of Spec, she had a pretty good idea today, to describe each other instead of ourselves. I agree, it'll paint a more accurate picture of each of us for the reader. I'll start with her, since I'm already on the subject. Spectrum is not the most gentle person, generally. She can be if she wants or needs to, but she's also quite...assertive. She would never let anyone bully her, and she'll always stand up when she sees someone else being bullied. Sometimes she's a little gullible, but most of the time she can tell when she's being duped. She always gives the benefit of the doubt, no matter what. I think she would have given it to Discord, under different circumstances. Spec talks to me when she's upset. I know her better than anyone else. The truth is, she's pretty insecure. She just can't see the good in herself, no matter how hard she looks. I mean, sure, most people are like that. If you're not, people call you arrogant. But I know myself--I know my strengths and my flaws. But this is about Spectrum, who happens to be very stubborn. Overall, she's a very sweet girl, even though she and Sapphire fight a lot. She puts everyone else's needs before her own, and during times when we didn't have much food, she would make sure the rest of us ate first. She tried to, at least. We refused to let her not eat. When we saw she didn't have anything, we each gave her a little bit of our food. This is actually getting long, though, so I'll try to keep it short for the others. Sapphire is a bit of a drama queen, but she loves to give. One of her favorite things in the world, it seems, is to deliver gift baskets of her own making to the Children's Hospice. Still, she can be pretty snooty sometimes, which is why she and Spec argue so much. They're both very stubborn and proud, and they don't like admitting when they're wrong. Nyx is the worst liar I know. The only time I've seen her pull off a lie is when she was protecting Scoota from getting in trouble. She and Scoota are always together, no matter what. I don't know if anyone else sees it, but I think their relationship is different. The rest of us see each other as friends or sisters, but I dunno...they seem closer. I can't quite place it--maybe like twins or something. But anyway, Nyx is shy, but hardworking. She's absolutely devoted to everything she does, and is always determined to succeed. She's more gullible than Spec is, and most of the time she's a little more trusting than she should be, but she's honest and open and loves to read. Scoota's a lot like Nyx--she's determined and cheerful. She's also very sweet and loves to make candy. If anyone can make us laugh in these dark times, it's her. Somehow, she never seems to run out of jokes. I think if it weren't for her, we'd all be crazy or dead by now. She's like the glue that holds us together. Finally, there's Ruby. She's the one who comes up with the plans, although sometimes they need a little...refining. She's also the best mage I know, except for maybe Magic. It's because of her that we have even half a chance to beat Discord now. Besides that, she's smart, caring protective, and quite introverted. She used to barely socialize outside of our group, and she has a tendency to get lost in her studies. Runy's also a bit of a neat freak, probably because her mom was too. Anyway, most of the others are done writing already so I'm going to cut this off here. I need to sleep. Sapphire: Day 142, Year 101, Chaos Time Well, hello! I'm sure Ruby has already told you all about me, but I'll introduce myself anyways. My name is Sapphire Shine, sister of Ruby Radiance, daughter of the Element of Generosity and a famous Wonderbolt. Ruby will probably be mad when she sees I wrote our full names here, but I don't care. Just because she hates them doesn't mean we should deprive our wonderful audience of the facts I'm sure they crave so much. After all, who wouldn't want to know all about their saviors? That is, I've decided to write this in the assumption we will win, since that is the only circumstance under which this will be published. Fear not, though, dear Ruby, I shan't withhold a single thought. Every bit of my frustration, desperation, and loneliness will be recorded here. At the moment there isn't much of any of that, though. We're all quite a bit more cheerful than we have been in decades. We have a chance, no matter how slight, and it's more than we've ever had before. Just the smallest opportunity to outsmart Discord puts a spring in our steps. Imagine the joy we'll feel when we win! Anyway, it's about time that I describe my dear friends, as per Spectrum's idea. Stubborn and blunt though she may be, she's quite intelligent. Not that any of us are truly stupid. I believe I shall begin with my own dear sister, Ruby. Out of the six of us, we are the only biological siblings. We're quite different, though. While she is rather serious, I would describe myself as lighthearted. Then again, she didn't used to be so somber. She used to laugh with the rest of us, before Mom and Dad...passed. Now, she can barely smile. Oh, and I was so worried about her after Discord disrupted her spell! But I'm getting sidetracked. Ruby is one of those girls who has a natural sort of beauty--something I envy her for. She doesn't even need to try to look good, which I suppose is a good thing, since she doesn't care to. She is completely disinterested in fashion and has always preferred to focus on her studies. Apple Spectrum is next on my list and she is the most stubborn, irritating, insufferable girl I have ever known and still manages to be the nicest. She worked at the Children's Hospice where I used to drop off gift baskets full of candy and other treats for the kids. Even though she was the youngest, she was by far the favorite nurse of every child. She's always had this strange way with children. Blossom is calm and collected, rarely gets angry, and is always there for us. She's easy to talk to and knows how to keep a secret, so she's an ideal confidante. She's our rock. Nyx and Scoota are closer than anyone else. They go everywhere and do everything together and, as our little secret, I ship them. They are my OTP. Honestly, they'd be such an adorable couple! Well, ahem, anyways...Scoota hates spicy food, Nyx hates loud noises, they both love candy. Scoota always has this endless supply of jokes and I just don't understand where she gets them all. Nyx is a mage, like Ruby, but she specializes more than my sister does. Ruby has focused on general magic, but Nyx has channeled her magic toward studying astronomy, which she loves dearly. Scoota's own talent lies in the candy-making industry. Well, I feel it's about time to take a rest. My next entry will detail the next interesting thing that happens, which I hope is soon. Nyx: Day 142, Year 101, Discord's Clock Hello, I'm Nyx. I had two moms, Moon and Magic. I study astronomy--or I did, back before Discord. My best friend's name is Scoota. She's really sweet and innocent, and probably wouldn't know a crush if it slapped her in the face. She makes candy, which is awesome, because candy is the best. Back then, in the old days, if you wanted candy you went to Scoota. No questions. There was just no one who could compare! She also happens to specialize in jokes. The others seem convinced that it's effortless on her part and she just has this bottomless supply of humor, but I know better. It takes a toll on her, but she does it to keep our spirits up. She hates to see any of us sad. I guess I'm supposed to be talking about the others too, huh? Well, there's Ruby. She's good at organizing and planning, but she's a little too serious. Spectrum is competitive, stubborn, and incredibly caring. Her cousin Blossom is calm, but protective, and always there for you. Sapphire loves fashion, but she's the most benevolent of the group. But like I've said before, I know Scoota the best. The two of us have first watch while the others rest, then it's Spectrum and Blossom, then Ruby and Sapphire. I think...I mean, there's something that I've been meaning to tell Scoota for a while now, so I think I'll do that soon. I'll write again soon. Scoota: Day 142, Year 101, Chaos Time Oh, look, people! Hello, future residents of this world! Or maybe you live in a different world. But I'm assuming you're still on this world since you're reading this. Still, the world must seem like a whole different world compared to mine! Hopefully it's a much better world. That's what we're fighting for, after all. In our group, I'm known as the joker. I tell the jokes and keep the spirits high. Well, I try to, anyways. It gets really hard sometimes. Discord comes along and messes with our heads, or we lose some supplies to a chaos disaster, or something else happens, and I'll get sad. I try not to let the others see that I'm sad, but Nyx knows me too well--I can't hide it from her. But there's no sense worrying the others, so I just try to act happy. When Ruby was bedridden was one of the worst times--I couldn't even act happy! But I tried to keep talking because no one in our group really likes silence. Oh! Spectrum had a great idea! I'm going to tell you all about all of my friends instead of talking about myself. Well, I was going to anyway, but it was still a great idea. Okay, well Ruby is our Fearless Leader! She's really smart and great at plans, but sometimes she overlooks some details, but she knows that so she looks extra hard to catch her mistakes! But sometimes she looks too hard and Blossom has to take over. She's a little bit prone to panick attacks, but not as much as Nyx is. Ruby usually needs a pretty big trigger before she freaks out, but she's not calm all the time like Blossom is She likes to work and tries to always have a project. She tries really hard to be a good sister to Sapphire, too, although you can't really tell. They care a lot about each other, and they've gotten even closer since their dad took his life. That was a really sad time and I was really worried about both of them. Sapphire loves clothes. She's fascinated by all things fashion, and she talks about it all the time, especially to me. I'm not particularly concerned with fashion, but I like to see my friends' eyes light up when they talk about their passions. So I kind of have a lot of random knowledge about things like gardening (from Blossom) and astronomy (from Nyx). Oops, I got distracted...anyway, Sapph is really nice, but sometimes she can get really competitive. She used to get upset when Ruby came home with a new achievement because it felt like she had some big shoes to fill. But then she realized she didn't have to follow in anyone's footsteps, and she could be her own person! I don't think Ruby ever found out about her being jealous, though. Spectrum is an athlete. She loves to run and race and compete. Sometimes we go jogging together, but I feel bad since I can't run with her the way she likes. I wouldn't be able to keep up. She likes to read mystery books and she used to tell me about them while we jogged. We haven't jogged in a while, though...I should ask her about that! Later on, that is. Right now everyone is resting, except for me and Nyx of course. Speaking of Nyx, she looks a little nervous. I'll ask her about that soon, but I'll finish my journal first. Still, I'm going to hurry this up because she looks like she might panic. Blossom tends to bottle everything inside because she doesn't want to worry anyone. She's a great listener, though, so the others go to her with their problems a lot. I'm not sure how healthy that is for her. Nyx is my best friend. She's very open about her feelings, but sometimes that gets her hurt. She's always been there when I needed her, and I try to be there for her. She's sweet and kind of innocent and really shy. One of her biggest fears is rejection, even though most of the time she has no reason to be afraid. Like this one time, she had a crush on this boy at school but she was too afraid to ask him out so he ended up dating some other girl but then they were talking once and she accidentally mentioned it and he said he'd liked her for a long time but now it was too late. She was really sad about that, but I don't think he deserved her anyways. He kind of treated his girlfriend badly. And then there was that guy that Nyx actually dated and he was just awful. He hit her really hard! Well, I'm going to stop here and talk to Nyx. I'll write again soon.
