Discordant Future

Year 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.