Wasn't there something called the Elements once?
Pinkie stirred in her bed, and the ponies gathered around her froze, slowly turning their eyes towards her.
Pinkie opened her mouth, and the ponies in the room’s jaws hit the floor.
Pinkie began to speak, and Twilight began to cry.
“Wasn’t there something called the Elements once?”
“You’re okay!” came a unanimous cry, tearfilled.
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“Yes, Pinkie,” sighed Twilight, ruffling Pinkie’s mane gently. “Once there was. We’re the only ones that remember though, as far as we can tell. If someone else remembered, what would happen?”
-
In another section of Canterlot Hospital, a now rundown building, sat a near-creme unicorn.
“I know there was something once, something peaceful. Do you guys remember?” asked Sweetie Belle, turning towards her two friends.
“You’re out of your coma!” they exclaimed simultaneously, embracing her. She shook them off, waving her hooves.
“Do you guys remember? Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, and their friends. They were all a part of something. Something big, something peaceful. Harmony maybe?” she asked, puzzling over the just-out-of-reach memory.
“Ah know wha’ ya mean,” continued Apple Bloom, scratching her head. “Applejack was… something with an L. Loyalty? Or was it Honesty?”
“Rainbow Dash was the L one!” exclaimed Scootaloo suddenly, sitting up from her shocked thoughts.
-
Deep under Canterlot Castle, a small, subtle glow began to pulse from a worn golden box. Its caretaker, an alicorn that had clearly once been pure, ponified beauty, sat up, staring at it intently. As the glow intensified, she visibly relaxed, and her greasy locks gained the slightest wave.
-
“Sis! Sis!” exclaimed a yellow blur, bursting into Pinkie’s hospital room with a yelp.
“Now calm down, Apple Bloom. Wha’s the commotion fer?” asked Applejack, affectionately swatting Apple Bloom on her hammer-covered flank.
“D’you guys remember… the Elements of Harmony?”
As the ponies in the room each gasped, an ‘aha’ expression covering their faces, the sun outside shone a little brighter.
"I-I do," whispered Fluttershy, and the others soon nodded their agreement.
"Sis, Sweetie Belle's 'wake. D'ya wan' me ta bring her in here?"
"Go git 'er," commanded Applejack, her voice choked as she turned towards the others.
"Don't you see girls? This is exactly what we need!" exclaimed Twilight, whipping out a notebook and magically enlarging it. Lifting her pencil in a magenta grip, she began to scrawl across the pad in loopy, barely legible magicwriting. "When we fought, the Elements lost their power. That means they either completely lost it, as the bearers ceased believing in them, or their power returned to the Princess, who wouldn't know because she's too busy guarding them! We need to tell her," she added, magically copying the paper and shrinking it to scroll-size before mailing it.
"Twilight? This is totally awesome, but even if we remember these thing-a-majiggers, who says they'll work anyways?"
Twilight froze mid-letter, the pen dropping from her magic as the realization hit her.
"There's no guarantee, Rainbow. For all I know, I'm grasping at something because I'm lonely. Or maybe I'm making up things so I can fill in the blanks. Don't you guys have blanks? Try to remember what happened three years ago!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders then entered, and Sweetie Belle spoke up.
"I remember everything. You guys, three years ago today, fought Nightmare Moon. Do you remember the Mare in the Moon?" she asked, and the room fell silent once again.
"I remember too guys! I remember when we fired the big rainbow, and it went BOOM all over Discord even though I liked his chocolate milk!"
"Are you sure?" asked Twilight, lifting her pen once again, hesitating half an inch from the paper.
"If we both remember, Miss Twilight, I'm pretty sure it's right. Don't you feel it?"
The others, who had been silent to this point, nodded, murmuring.
"Twilight? It, um, does feel right. I kind of remember now, like I never forgot. I was the Element of Kin-Kindness," Fluttershy stuttered shyly.
"Twi, ah'm the Element of Honesty, an' ah swear t' ya, we were, no, we are th' Elements. Don' y'all have some sert o' fancy book on this?" asked Applejack, her southern twang echoing through the room.
"I think I do, girls! Let me ch—" she cut herself off as she remembered where she was. "Even if I can't check my fancy book, we can talk to Celestia! If she's been guarding the Elements, and we're remembering, maybe they've changed!"
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Elements Rescuers!" cheered the trio, and Rarity snickered.
"Let us go, darling."
