Chapters Prologue
Equestria was a different place from Earth. For one thing, it has no humans living in it. Instead, their nation's dominant species were ponies. There were ponies that looked like regular ones from Earth, some with wings, some with horns, and there were 3 with horns and wings. The latter group were the princesses and autocrats of Equestria, and they ruled with benevolence and love for their subjects. They cared for and protected their kingdom through the powers of magic. Magic was a powerful force that existed in Equestria that Earth had almost none of. The two main Princesses used magic to raise the sun and moon. Magic allowed for unicorn race to levitate objects, teleport, and many other feats of physical manipulation. The Pegasi could fly and manipulate the weather. Earth ponies were the strongest of the 3 races and were the best at growing food due a natural connection to the physical earth.
Since its foundation, Equestria was a nation of peace. All the ponies came in different colors, sizes, and breeds, but they respected one another and worked together to bring the kingdom to prosperity. There were other nations ruled by dragons, gryphons, zebras, and other sentient species, and Equestria always made sure that it would maintain peace between them. It has been centuries since any major wars, diseases or famines plagued the kingdom. The nation was vast, and was inhabited by dozens of millions of ponies. Yet there was no overpopulation, revolts, pollution, or ethnic conflicts Equestria needed to deal with. But they realized that their lush, fertile landscapes and ecosystems of nature was at the core. The 3 races were once divided by hatred and resentment for each other, and that in itself destroyed their old homes and almost wiped out ponykind. The ponies wouldn't let that happen to them again. They would share resources and benefit for every pony and for the kingdom.
The human race is a different story. Since its first civilizations, there has been much conflict in the fighting over resources and ownership, even to this day. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of human civilizations that made them different. Each had its own governments, cultures, religions, customs, and made up of different races of humans that were strange or even frightening to those not part of them. They focused on their differences rather than their similarities. Since trade and industries sprang up, humans were influenced by greed and power. There was little to no magic on Earth, and instead developed advanced science and technology. It greatly increased longevity of the population, communications, agriculture, medicine, and transportation; especially in the past 200 years. But humans were wasteful and polluted their lands, waters, and skies with harmful by-products of these technologies. Crops and livestock declined across the world. Diseases for living amongst them multiplied. Greed for what the resources they owned had increased distrust and hate amongst each other. Humans made destructive weapons that could wipe out whole armies and cities. Even the most powerful of nations were desperate for military and economic superiority. If provoked far enough, they would kill millions and destroy the world just to be on top. Earth was indeed in peril.
Both Equestria and Earth had magical elements that could purify their worlds. Equestria had the Elements of Harmony; composing of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. Earth's Elements of Nature included Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart. When used together, each group could undo the chaos, hatred and pollution that tried to corrupt their land and the people and ponies living on it. Each element's bearer was the living manifestation of that element. The Natural Elements, however could manipulate and generate physical forces of nature that compose their world (Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water) or influence and connect with people to their will (Heart). The Elements of Harmony weren't active like that. They were only used for exhibiting the best qualities of their character. But they were the most powerful forms magic in Equestria. So what happens when the two groups meet?
It was a warm, spring evening in Ponyville. Princess Celestia was busy lowering the sun to make way for the dusk, as the sky turned from blue to marigold and pink. Crickets were chirping across town. Colts and fillies left their fun and games outdoors to come home for dinner. In the local Book and Branches Library inside a massive oak tree near the center of town, five ponies were waiting below on its first floor.
When the ponies walked inside, they saw open books strewn across the floorspace, all helter-skelter. Hung up on the walls were notes and patterns written and drawn by the scholarly lavender unicorn everywhere. The kitchen would have been a mess and the garbage would be overflowing if Spike wasn't there to maintain the place. Twilight's friends grew concerned.
"Um....Twilight?" asked Fluttershy "I don't mean to intrude, but did you have send Spike to get us over here?"
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash added. She flew up a couple of feet and hovered to holler at Twilight above. "You haven't left your house in two weeks! I demand to know what's going on!"
"Easy there, Sugar cube." said Applejack, calmly. "I'm pretty sure she has a good reason to call us over here."
"Just be patient, Rainbow." spoke Rarity with a rich debonair inflection. "She's probably freshening up and making herself look presentable. It's just ....eeeuuugh....improper to remain unhygienic in front of her friends."
"I'm up here" said a feminine voice. When it stepped down the staircase below, it was indeed Twilight Sparkle. But her mane was tangled like a rat's nest. Her coat was disheveled. She had heavy bags under her eyes, and she smelled like one of Applejack's pigs. Rarity fainted upon the sight.
"Ewwwwwww! Twilight! You reek! What is going on with you?" asked Rainbow Dash covering up her snout after getting a whiff of the unicorn's body odor.
"Why the next great step in magic is going on, Rainbow!"
"What do y'all mean?" responded Applejack.
"Remember when we saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra? Princess Celestia said it was now time for me to enter the next level of my studies!"
"You're getting a promotion! This calls for a party!" yelled Pinkie Pie. She reached her cerulean Party Cannon out of hammer space, pulled the fuse, and shot several hundred bits of multi-colored confetti and streamers everywhere. They landed on the loads of open books and charts that lined the floor and walls of the library; partially covering the text written on them. They even covered the collapsed Rarity.
"Not yet, Pinkie. I have more to say." Twilight replied with much less enthusiasm.
"Oh, Okie-Dokie!" Pinkie hit a switch on the back of her cannon and all the confetti and streamers got magically sucked back into the cannon as if it were a giant vacuum. Every bit of paper got sucked in, leaving no trace of the party supplies anywhere wedged between the books or floorboards; and exhuming Rarity in the process. Even Twilight was shocked at the cannon's power as Pinkie put it away.
"Right." Said Rarity, coming around from fainting, unaware she was briefly interred under Pinkie's confetti. "So all of this is research?"
"Correct. This is the next level of my studies, and I've been spending the last month working on a breakthrough. It....uhhh... just got really intense for the last fortnight."
"Oh." Rainbow said softly. "So then why did you call us over?" We don't know magic like you!"
"Because, this is a research upon the natural elements."
"Twilight, don't you know?" asked the silly pink pony. "Were the Elements of Harmony! We saved Equestria twice with them! I have laughter, you have magic, Dashie has loyalt-"
She was silienced by an purple hoof in her mouth. Twilight told her "Not those Elements, Pinkie. I'm talking about the natural elements! You know, water, earth, fire, wind? And I need all of you to help me summon them."
"Summon them?" asked Fluttershy. "You mean like making them?"
"Not just make them. Manipulate them. I intend to summon the physical manifestations of the five elements to be used for practical purposes and magics!"
Applejack asked "Wait, Five?" Ah thought you only mentioned four!"
"Yes, well there is a fifth element that I have yet to figure out. That element is meant to unite the other four into a great power and source of magic. Princess Celestia gave me full authorization to enact the summoning, so I can attempt to create the Elements and its power amalgamation." Twilight gestured to a room behind her. "Now I need you five and the Elements of Harmony to come in here."
The 6 mares walked into the other room where which was just like the messy and book-covered front room, but with one notable exception: In the center was a bare floor with chalk marks. It was in the shape of a pentagram inscribed inside a circle. Twilight had already walked in carrying an ornate box via telekinesis. She opened the box to reveal a tiara and 5 necklaces, each having a differently-colored jewel embedded in them: The Elements of Harmony. Twilight told her friends to each wear their element and stand in one point of the star shape. Twilight herself stood in the center.
"So what are these elements supposed to look like, Twilight?" asked Rarity as she put on her Element of Generosity.
"Well, most magic is incorporeal. They need some physical medium to harness its power. Remember the Crystal Heart that amplified the Crystal Ponies' mirth and celebration? It's like that. So, it should be in the form of gemstones."
"Twilight, are you sure that this is safe?" squeaked out Fluttershy, with a nervous look upon her face.
"Don't worry. You'll be perfectly safe. I swear this spell won't harm you." assured Twilight. Fluttershy smiled a little as she put on her Element resembling a pink butterfly.
For extra assurance, Twilight stood in the center facing Fluttershy. Going clockwise around the center stood Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and finally Pinkie Pie. Twilight lit up her horn. Then the amethyst star-shaped gem within her golden tiara started glowing the same color. The other elements followed suit with their own colors. Then Twilight mentally got a feel for the complex arcane web and leylines that governed the embodiments of magic. She started to levitate and give off a purple aura. So did her friends: Applejack gave off an olive green glow. Rainbow Dash's aura was a deep crimson. Pinkie's was a bright white. Rarity glowed a colbalt blue. Fluttershy's aura was that of a golden yellow. Twilight could feel the natural energies of the elements start to flow down the leylines and coalescence into a physical form.
BZZT
Twilight's aura started to flicker and fade.
BZZT BZZT BZZZZZT ZAP ZAP ZAP
"SOMETHING'S WRONG!" Twilight yelled.
"Twi? What's going on?" Applejack responded.
"I DON'T KNOW! SOMETHING'S INTERFERING WITH MY SPELL! IT'S NOT ME!"
"Stop the incantation or something!"
"I can't! I'm stuck channeling! I can't turn my magic off!"
"WHAT?!"
"Some magical interference from the outside is preventing me from shutting my magic down!"
Twilight's suddenly eyes glowed a deep purple and her horn sputtered and sparked until its glow exploded into a massive conical vortex of power. She saw a vision of the five flashing colors around her. She could have also seen something else: several figures of some unknown animal that stood on two legs. The figures were being sucked towards her. Her horn felt as if it were on fire from the strain as the figures neared her. The color flashes and the figures fused with each other as Twilight blacked out, stopping the spell.
Earth, 10 minutes ago.
"Wheeler's got the ball". Said a 17-year-old white boy with flaming red hair. He was dribbling a basketball in front of a 16-year-old black boy with short curly hair. The black boy was trying to steal the basketball away from the white boy, Wheeler. He stepped left as his younger opponent mirrored him, but then he quickly steps back and runs towards the hoop the black boy was guarding.
"Wheeler fakes and goes right with a clear shot of the basket. he shoots....." He planted his feet and pushed the ball into the air. His friend tried to jump up and block but missed as the ball soared over the court and towards the hoop. It caught the rim, and revolved around it twice before gravity took the ball inside the net.
"AND HE SCORES! MADISON SQUARE GARDEN GOES WILD!" Wheeler exclaimed as sweat poured from his forehead. "Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhh!" said the red-head as he mocked mass cheering of a stadium. The black boy behind just rolled his eyes.
"Are you always going to do that after you win?" asked Wheeler's opponent.
"Kwame, until you beat me at one-on-one; Always." said Wheeler. "But, ya did better than da last round. Work on your aim, and you just might get to 10 points." he added with a smile. He picked up the basketball and threw it to a blond girl who was watching him from the sidelines with an older Asian girl and a younger Indian kid.
"Me and Kwame are gonna take a breath-a. Linka, Gi, Ma-Ti, the court's all yo's." He stated in his native Brooklyn tongue.
As the boys walked away from the court, Wheeler looked back at the two girls on the court. He saw Gi trying to slam the ball onto the ground. She slammed it too hard, as the bouncing ball smacked her in the face upon the bounce-up. Wheeler just shook his head.
Then a ghostly figure of a woman's head appeared before the five teenagers. She had dark skin, long and black wavy hair, high cheek bones and blue eyes. The five weren't surprised.
"Planeteers. I need to speak with you."
"We are on our our way, Gaia" spoke Kwame.
All five teens grabbed their vests and jackets and wore them over their shirts. The T-shirts they wore all bore the same figure: A colored ellipse, with grid lines that curved to fit its surface, much like Earth's coordinate meridians and parallels.
The Planeteers rushed into a spacious room. It had bamboo floors and walls made from a light, purple crystal. At the back at one of the walls stood the same woman that spoke to them just moments ago. She wore nothing but lavender robes.
"We got another mission Gaia? Because we really kicked Looten Plunder's ass three days ago in those diamond mines." Wheeler boasted with confidence.
"No polluters or takeovers this time, Wheeler. This is good news." Gaia replied. She continued:"First I would like to say thank you. To all of you. You and Captain Planet's work over the past couple of years has saved countless lives, prevented extinctions, and getting our environment back on its natural course. And it is paying off."
"Because of your acts of slowing pollution and corruption, I have been getting stronger. Ever since Hoggish Greedly awoke me from my 200 year slumber, I was rather weakened by the increased deforestation, radiation, smog, toxins, and other pollutants being output by mankind. But since I recruited the five of you, I have been getting my power back."
"So does this mean that you no longer need us?" asked Gi, concerned about her duty to the Earth.
"No, humanity still has a lot to learn about nature. I'm just telling you that I can soon do things like forest regeneration and water detoxification to better our world. But I called you here to experiment teleportation.
"Teleportation?" asked the small Ma-Ti.
"It means that I can instantly take you to any location on the planet. That way you can arrive at places that need your help faster."
"And you want us to be your Guinea Pigs?" asked Wheeler, stepping forward. "Did you even test it out yet?"
"Yes, Wheeler, I have. And be careful where you step."
"Huh?" the American asked. Suddenly a small purple, crackling light appeared at his foot. It fired tiny purple lightning bots before it faded and revealed a lime-green frog.
"Боже мой*!" whispered Linka. "Zaht is incredible!"
Wheeler crouched down and held his mouth open in disbelief to see that it had red eyes like those in Ma-Ti's jungle home of the Amazon. Then the frog leaped at his face and dived into his mouth!
"MMMMMMMPH!" he screamed and spit the frog out his mouth and into Ma-Ti's hand. The other 4 Planeteers and Gaia just laughed at the sight.
"Not! Freakin'! Funny!" Wheeler chided. "Put it back."
Ma-Ti set the frog down on the floor as Gaia recast the spell. A purple light appeared at the frog's feet as it slowly enveloped the creature. Then in a flash of light and electricity, it was gone.
"Okay." said Gaia. "Where would you all like to go?"
"Coney Island!" Wheeler interjected before any of his friends could speak. "I'm gonna need a Nathan's chili dog to get da taste of tree frog outta my mouth!" To his surprise, none of them objected.
"What? No that's a stupid place to go, Wheeler? Pick a more enriching or less pollutive location, Wheeler?"
"No." spoke Kwame. "You have been humiliated enough today. Plus you always told us how great Coney Island and New York are. I would like to see this island."
"Me too!" added Linka.
A flat part of the crystal wall lit up and displayed an amusement park. There was a boardwalk with arcades, a Ferris Wheel, a roller coaster, and numerous food stands scattered along the fairgrounds. Hundreds of people were walking all around enjoying the place. In the distance was a massive city with many tall buildings. "Is this the place?" asked Gaia.
"Exactly." Wheeler confirmed.
"Alright then. Contact me with Ma-Ti's ring in half an hour. That's when I'll teleport you back here, okay?
"Sounds good. Start the spell, please."
And just like with the frog, a deep purple light glowed at the Planeteers' feet. The glow became an aura as it surrounded each of them. Gaia could feel the leylines of Earth work with her magic. But suddenly, the Planeteers' aura changed. As it faded and flashed, the hues of the auras flashed from Gaia's purple to their respective colors on the rings they wore: Kwame's Green, Wheeler's Red, Linka's White, Gi's Blue, and Ma-Ti's Yellow. Gaia could feel great stress as it felt like something was interfering with her magic. It was like someone was pulling her heroes away from her grasp. "NO! I'm losing control!" Now the teens' bodily features had been reduced to basic human figures as the multicolored auras grew in intensity. She saw the auras get brighter and brighter until they seemed to explode, Gaia shielding her eyes. When she reopened them, her heroes were gone. She tried sending out a message to them:
"Planeteers, are you there? Did you make it?" Nothing responded. Gaia's fear grew.
"Planateers! Come in!". She heard no voices.
"I lost them."
Author's Note
* Russian for "Oh my God!"
"Twilight! Please wake up!" yelled a young voice as he shook Twilight. Spike was really worried that the spell may have seriously hurt his best friend.
"Uggghhhhhhh...." moaned the purple unicorn as she came to. Her eyes narrowly opened to a small purple dragon with green spikes that was jostling her around. "Spike? What happened? Did......Did it work?" she asked.
"You knocked yourself out trying to do that weird elemental spell or something. Your friends and some others must felt the same thing. I wanted to wake you first."
"Oh, at least my friends are oka- Wait. What others?" Spike helped Twilight up to her hooves where she saw all five of her friends, still passed out and scattered along the floor. But she saw no gems or orbs or any trace of the elements she tried to conjure. But there was something else. Instead, there were some other ponies in the room Twilight didn't recognize that were also dormant: two earth ponies, two pegasi, and a unicorn. Suddenly, Applejack started waking up and Twilight walked over to her.
"Wallop my withers, Twi, that's some powerful spell y'all got there."
"Except that it didn't work" said Twilight as she helped her farmer friend up. "There's no elemental crystals or spheres containing the earth, fire, wind or water."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie started to come around. They opened their eyes and shook their heads to clear their confusion at they tried helping up Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Twilight? What did your spell do to us? And who are these ponies?" asked Rainbow as Twilight snapped her head back at her. The athlete pegasus helped the now awake Fluttershy up to her hooves.
"I don't know who they are. They just appeared out of nowhere just after my spell got out of control."
"Well we all must help them." said Rarity. "They could be hurt from that spell."
"Girls, Spike, group meeting over here." gestured Twilight as she pointed to the front room, still littered with books. Her friends carefully walked over to Twilight without stepping on or disturbing the new arrivals.
"So what are we going to do to help them?" questioned Fluttershy with meek softness. She wondered if anypony heard her.
"Can we even trust these ponies?" asked Rainbow loudly with a stern look her her face as she hovered above the ground. "What if they're here to cause us harm to us or the princesses? What if they're some unstable element or compound in the shape of a pony or something, ready to blow up?"
"Rainbow!" Applejack responded, shocked by her friend's outburst. "I highly doubt these ponies mean us any harm. They need our help! Are you always going to act so hostile in a situation like this? Could ya learn to trust others?"
"And all I'm saying is that we shouldn't always automatically throw a welcome party to everypony we don't know!"
"Yay! Welcome party!" yelled Pinkie Pie as she once again took out her party cannon from hammer space and blasted it in Rainbow Dash's face with a loud "TOOOOOOOT!"
"Pinkie! Be quiet! you're disturb our guests!" whispered Rarity in Pinkie's ear.
Except is was already too late. The 6 mares heard a moaning and grunting sound from the other room. They figured one of the ponies was waking up.
"Girls, let me and Twi handle this." calmly assured Applejack. She and Twilight walked into the other room where they indeed saw one of the ponies slowly awaken. He was a midnight blue earth pony stallion with a short, curly black mane. On his flank stood a green mountaintop with a brown base. But noticeably, he had a gold bracelet with an embedded emerald around his front right hoof.
"errrrrrrrrr....." said the earth pony as he slowly opened his eyes. He saw not an amusement park with lights, games, and tall wood and steel machines, but books. Loads of them; on the shelves and the floors. He thought to himself: "This does not look like the island Gaia showed us. This looks like a library." He heard footsteps coming his way. "Ah, there's someone here. He or she can tell us where we are."
"Are you okay?" asked Twilight. "And who are you?"
"My name is......" said the pony as he turned his head to greet his caretakers. Except that they weren't human. He only saw an orange and purple horse. The orange horse was wearing some brown cowboy hat, the purple one had something sticking out of her head.
"Who said that?" asked the stallion.
"Uhhhh.....me." said Twilight. The stallion saw her lips and jaw move as she said it. The colt could tell the words were coming out of her mouth.
"What in the world? You're some sort of talking horse!?" The pony was dumbfounded.
"What is with ya? It's like y'all never seen a pony talk before!"
"I never have! Horses are not supposed to speak!"
"Well, you're a pony, and you're speaking to us right now."
"What are you talking about?"
The pony saw Twilight's horn glow with a fuchsia aura. After a few seconds he saw a body mirror float in the air behind the two ponies. Twilight moved it over and ducked to allow the mirror access through the doorway and put in front of the foreign pony. The colt held his mouth open not just to see an act of telekinesis but himself. He saw a deep blue-colored horse in the mirror with a short, black curly mane. He raised his left arm, or rather front leg. So did the mirror. He put the leg on his face, now looking and feeling like it was more protruding than his regular human face because of the snout. He started to hyperventilate over the mutation of his human form as his face turned red with panic.
"Great Gaia. I've been turned into a horse."
Twilight started to get irked by the word. "Okay, first of all, we're ponies. The word horse makes us sound......."savage". Secondly, we never got your name."
"My name is Kwame. And where am I? " softly spoke the pony, calming down.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle." said the unicorn. "And I'm Applejack!" spoke her orange companion.
"And you're in the library here in Ponyville." said Twilight as she put the mirror away.
"Ponyville. So your whole town is full of these talking ponies?"
"Our whole kingdom of Equestria is populated full of them."
Kwame sighed. "This is unbelievable. I do not know what happened, but this place cannot be Earth."
Twilight went up to him with a disappointed look on her face. "You're really not from here, are you?"
"That is correct." said the stallion. "I do not know how I got here, or why I am a pony."
Applejack walked over to him and put a hoof over Kwame's shoulder with a confident smile. "Well we'll help you. We'll do everything we can to help you get back to where you belong."
"Thank you, Miss Applejack. I think I can trust you and Miss Twilight." He tried to step forward, but tripped.
"That's a good thing to hear, Kwame. And it looks like you're not used to your body."
After he carefully took some steps, he managed to slowly walk with Twilight and Applejack into the front room, where he saw four other multicolored ponies. A cyan and yellow one had a pair of wings, a white pony had a horn like Twilight, and the other was pink all around and lack any horns or wings, like Applejack, and himself. "These are my other friends: Pinkie Pie....."
The pink earth pony zoomed to Kwame and said "Hi, I'm-Pinkie-Pie, and-this-is Rarity, Rainbow-Dash, and-Fluttershy -and-welcome-to-Ponyville-I-never-seen-you-before-this-calls-for-a-party!" all really fast, pointing to each pony mentioned. Then she took out her party cannon and blew out another burst of confetti at the newly-arrived pony. Kwame was speechless.
"Yeah, she's really enthusiastic and hyper. But you get used to it." Twilight mentioned.
"So where do you hail from?" asked Rarity, curious about the stallion.
"I come from a world called Earth." said Kwame. "And there are none of you talking ponies there. We do have ponies, but none of them talk, nor are they sentient." The other ponies just looked at each other with confusion after hearing about his strange information.
"I can't imagine a world with ponies not being sentient and the dominant species." said Twilight. "So what is your world made up of? Is that what you normally are?"
"Earth is inhabited by humans. They walk on two legs, and have no fur. They have existed for millenia, built civilizations, and even amenities just like this library."
Twilight thought about what he said. Two legs. Just like in her vision. Could it be? "Kwame, before you blacked out here, were you alone? Or were there others with you?"
"There were some others with me. My friends and I- Wait! My friends! Where are they!?"
"Oh, there were four other ponies that passed out beside you. They were in the room where I woke you up, still asleep there."
Hearing this, Kwame rushed to the entrance to the back room where he saw four other ponies there. He deduced that they were the friends he told about to Twilight and her companions.
"They're fine, and they'll come around. There's nothing to worry about, I promise. And we'll help them, too." A smile appeared on Kwame's face. Little did they know another one was stirring and awakening.
"But, I have more to say." Twilight added, and Kwame turned to face her. Her heart sunk, knowing there was some connection to the vision she saw and the five new ponies. She had to clear things up. "I think I know why you ended up here, Kwame. You see-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!" screamed a voice in the other room. The seven ponies and Spike looked to see who made the noise. It was a turquoise pegasus with a bright red-orange mane. He had a flame for a cutie mark, and a silver band with a ruby on one side covering his front right hoof. He just stood there looking scared at his new form, and rolling and flapping his wings. He looked around and saw the other ponies.
"YOU!" he pointed at Twilight." He charged right at her, and tackled Twilight to the ground before she got cast a defensive spell to protect her.
With a menacing glare, he looked at Twilight, flaring his wings. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU FREAK?!"
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME YOU FREAK?" asked the pegasus assailant as he pinned Twilight down to the ground. Before Twilight could build up a counterspell, Kwame looked angry. The earth pony rushed and tackled the pegasus off of Twilight and wrestled him to the ground.
He shouted "Get your hands off of Miss Twilight! She's only helping me! And she didn't do anything to you! I would ought to-" Kwame paused. He took a really good look at the attacker. Those green eyes. The turquoise coat. But the thing that stood out the most was the pony's bright orange-red hair, as if it were fire. He only knew of one person that had that.
He gently asked:"Wheeler?"
The pegasus stopped jerking around as he recognized that tone and accent of the voice. Then he looked at the earth pony's black curly hair and brown eyes.
"Kwame?" he asked. Kwame got off of the pegasus and helped him up to his hooves. "Yes. It is me." he replied.
"You know this pony?" asked the still-frightened Twilight.
"Of course. We have been friends for years. You can trust him." Kwame confirmed. He went over to his pegasus teammate and pointed to Twilight and her friends and confronted him in a serious tone. "Wheeler, I realize that this is a difficult situation. I am just as confused and panicked as you are. But these ponies are here to help us. I promise that we will find a way to revert to human form and get back to Earth."
"Sigh...........You're right. I just overreacted. I'm not used to being......well.....not human! Why am I pony? This whole place feels I'm like that colorful and sugary My Little Pony Cartoon for little girls." Wheeler replied.
Kwame didn't know how to answer that. He was more intrigued by Wheeler's new form. "Say, how come you got a pair of wings and I did not? Can you fly with them?"
"Of course you can fly with them!" Rainbow Dash spoke up. "I'm doing it right now!" she added, beating her wings as she hovered to the ceiling. Wheeler was in awe.
"I have GOT to learn that. Me and Kwame may be here for a while. Wait-are the others here too?" asked the red maned pegasus. Then it hit him. "LINKA!" he yelled as he rushed to where he woke up. Kwame followed him to help him.
Wheeler came across a mauve pegasus mare with a long, blonde mane. She had a cutie mark of some white, wavy lines. She was wearing a golden bracelet around her hoof with a white diamond adorning one side.
"Linka! Wake up! It's me, your boyfriend, Wheeler!" He said shaking his crush. The pegasus mare was awaking as she heard her teammate's voice. But when she opened her eyes, she saw some green horse with red hair.
"GEET OFF OV ME!" She snapped in her Slavic accent as she jerked Wheeler of her. She got up and stepped forward, but tripped with clumsiness of her new form. She just looked down and saw four mauve legs, with no hands, fingers, or toes on them. Like Kwame and Wheeler, she was speechless over her new appearance.
"Linka, I swear it's me! My name is Joey Wheeler, I came from Brooklyn, New York, in America, and I've been trying to hit ya for years! We've all been turned into ponies for some reason!"
"It...It cannot be!" Linka said. "I am some winged horse? Did Gaia do this?" she asked, all stressed out.
"They prefer the word "ponies", Linka." said Kwame, walking up to her. Linka turned around and saw a blue colt with Kwame's hair. "And I'm pretty sure that our arrival here is an accident."
"Oh, Kwame, not you too!" Linka said in desparation. "Должно быть, я схожу с ума.* "
"What is going on here?" asked another feminine voice. It came from the now-awake unicorn mare. She had a magenta coat and a long and straight black mane. A picture of an ocean wave was adorned on her flanks. Lastly, she also had a golden bracelet, but with a sapphire embedded in the front.
"Gi, Linka, Twilight will explain everything. Get Ma-Ti up." mentioned Kwame, gesturing to the lavender unicorn.
Gi got up and held her eyes open in shock. She and Kwame went to their last friend who was just awakening. Ma-Ti, in pony form was a younger and smaller earth pony with sky blue fur. He had a long, wavy, black mane, and a pink heart was pictured on each of his rear legs. He wore a silver bracelet like Wheeler, but his gemstone was yellow, not red.
"Gather round everypony. I think I have an explanation to how Kwame and his friends got here." Twilight proclaimed. But first, these are my friends: Applejack," She pointed to an orange earth pony doffing her hat.
"Howdy, y'all." she replied in her southern drawl.
"Rarity," Twilight pointed to the white unicorn as she curtseyed.
"Rainbow Dash," who in turn waved at them while hovering.
"Pinkie Pie," who then zoomed over and vigorously shook their hooves, telling them that she'll throw a welcoming party for them, much to Rainbow Dash's chagrin.
"Fluttershy," Twilight pointed to a yellow pegasus who crouched and shied away in a corner while still keeping a smile.
"and my number one assistant, Spike.", she mentioned to a small, purple dragon.
"They have dragons in this pony world? Kick-ass!" Wheeler said.
"And we got gryphons and manticores and buffalo and giant bears with star-spangled fur, and loads of other creatures."
"I am practically an animal expert, and I know that they don't exist on Earth. They're only represented in some magic stories and myths." spoke Ma-Ti. Fluttershy perked up when she heard the words "animal expert".
"Kwame told us a little bit about Earth. You're all from there?"
"Of course." said Gi. "We each come a different part of the world, met up with one another, and worked together since then. I just don't know what we're doing here in..........What is this place called?"
"Equestria. And to be more specific, in the heart of a wonderful little town called Ponyville." said Rarity
"Thank you. Still, how did we get here? I just remember some flash of purple light and a vortex before we blacked out."
Twilight knew that this is where she would tell them that she's responsible for bringing them here. How would they handle it?
"I have something to tell you. I cast a spell along with my friends to summon magical entities. After I did so, I passed out too, and saw you five come along with it."
"I knew it!" yelled Wheeler. "This is some trick Dr. Blight or someone set up so she'd have us out of the picture while they destroy the Earth! I knew we couldn't trust these ponies! Let's go, Planeteers. We're getting the hell out this is freak Ponyland." He started walking out the door.
"Wheeler! Get back here! Twilight Sparkle is trying to tell us that is an accident! She didn't mean to do this to us!" Linka pleaded. "You have to trust her and her friends!"
"Give me one good reason why I should!" Wheeler snapped as he opened the door, spreading his wings as he attempted liftoff. Twilight glanced at the picture of a flame on his flanks. That's when it came to her:
"Because I know that you're the bearer of the Element of Fire!" Twilight quickly replied in desperation.
The turquoise pegasus froze in his tracks.
Meanwhile high above the nighttime Equestrian atmosphere, a car-sized metal sphere hurdling through the void of space got caught in the planet's gravity. It burst into flames at it met air resistance upon its descent. It careened though the layers of the thin air and further towards the ground at it slowed down. After several minutes, it slammed into an island off the coast of Equestria with surprisingly little force. There was no mile-wide crater, but a huge, dug out gash into the earth. It piled up a lot of earth and stone behind it as it skidded upon the ground. When it stopped, it sat there and cooled for several minutes. Suddenly, a hatch on one side opened up as something emerged from it. As the dust and shadow cleared, the figure revealed a tall, faded brown alicorn. He had a graying wavy mane and a long spiraled horn. Pictured in his flanks was a blood-red horse's skull. He took a look at his surroundings:
"A new world..........One that I, Zarm can destroy. And no Gaia or Captain Planet or their teenage knights can stop me here."
Zarm took a look at his equine form, admiring his build, new wings and horn. "I like this new body. I feel stronger after so much time banished in space. But let's see what it can do..."
His horn glowed a sickly green as at he aimed it at a nearby bush. It fired with great intensity as the bush burst into flame. He lowered his horn into a fertile patch in the ground where many flowers were growing. They immediately turned black, brown, and gray as they withered and died. Zarm spread his wings as he took flight and hovered above the water. His horn yet again glowed the same sickly-green as he fired it into the water. Seconds later, hundreds of dead fish floated to the surface. Zarm only grinned at the damage he was causing, only for him to start frowning as he sensed something:
"I sense the powers of the elements.......It......It cannot be!"
Author's Note
* Russian for "I must be losing my mind."
"What did you say?" the stunned Brooklyn pegasus asked.
"You have powers over the element of fire. All of you wield the powers of the natural elements. You, Kwame have earth." Twilight pointed to him. "You Gi, have Water. And Linka, your power is Wind." Twilight concluded. "And you........."she pointed to Ma-Ti. "I don't know what your element is, but does it have something to do with love?" Twilight asked as she looked behind the colt.
"You are close, Miss Twilight. My element is Heart." Ma-Ti responded. Rainbow Dash just snickered before she bawled laughing.
"BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Heart? Your element is heart? What kind of lame power is that?" she chuckled out. But in spite of her amusement, none of her friends joined her. The Planeteers just glared at her.
"Rainbow Dash. Please." Rarity chided out with mild disgust.
"But how did you know that we bear and control the elements?" Gi interrupted.
"Ooh! I see it now!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "Your elements match your cutie marks!"
"Our cutie whats?" asked Linka.
"What Pinkie here's saying that yer respective elements match those tattoos on your flanks, like mine." spoke Applejack as she pointed to the three red apples that decorated her muscular back legs. The Planeteers looked at their own as well and each saw either a mountain top, a flame, a gust of wind, a wave of water, or a heart. Twilight turned back to Wheeler, with the door still open.
"Please, Wheeler." begged Twilight. "The reason you're all here was all an accident. I tried summoning a magical manifestation of the natural elements that govern our physical world, but brought its bearers here by mistake somehow. None of us mean you any harm, and you see yourselves as some important people in your world. Don't leave us; we can help you." The purple unicorn started to frown with worry, knowing Wheeler might reject her with distrust. It was her fault that he and his friends were on this world, and in an unnatural form. She had to do something.
Wheeler just paused and stood there for several moments. "Alright." he conceded. "I shouldn't deny help when someone offers it. And I believe you, Twilight."
"I believe we should also tell everyone who we are and about our powers." Kwame added. He yawned as his eyes started to grow heavy. And as he yawned so did Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Then everypony else did in contagion.
"But save it for mornin'. That spell you got must have knocked some energy out of ya or sumthin'. Why don't y'all come over to my place. It's big enough for all of ya to sleep tonight." The Planeteers agreed.
Applejack led them out of Twilight's tree house as they followed her to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight's friends disbanded to their respective houses, but Rarity stayed behind for a moment.
"Twilight, do you think there's something you can do to reverse your spell and send them home?"
"That's the thing, Rarity. I have no idea where their home is. I can't do teleportation magic without knowing exactly where I send them to."
"But there's a way for them to return, right?"
"There must me. Princess Celestia may know the answer. I hope so. I really do."
The next day around noon, Twilight and her friends barring Applejack made it over to Sweet Apple Acres to check up on their new friends. Before they opened the barn doors, Applejack opened the side door where the farmhouse was and greeted everypony else.
"What took ya so long, Twilight? Kwame and his friends already got up well before you showed."
"Sorry about that. Rarity dragged me over to the spa to get me cleaned up the minute the place opened. She made me get the full treatment, massage, hoof-icure, facial, sauna, you name it. Plus, I had to get train tickets to Canterlot."
"What for?" asked Applejack. "Your magic can do just about an'thing!"
"Not reverse something like this." Rarity pointed out. "She's going to get help from the Princesses. Maybe they have an answer."
"Maybe who has an ans-uh?" said a familiar stallion voice. Wheeler poked his head out behind a corner and tried flapping his wings to glide over. He flew barely a foot off the ground as he traveled about 20 feet. "AAY! I did it!" he exclaimed in triumph. But trying not to be boastful, he said "........Soht of" right afterwards.
"Twilight's mentor happens to be a Princess of Equestria. She'll sort things out for ya. Anyway, Did you find Sweet Apple Acres okay?" Applejack asked.
"I've got to admit. It's a pretty nice place. But Kwame and Ma-Ti are in some state of ecstasy. They're in love with it."
"Well then! Even alien ponies love my apples." Applejack smiled in confidence.
"I thought they were some alien fruit dat looked like an apple. But Kwame is some sort of self described "crop expert" and somehow he knew dat these are just like the same apples we 'ave on Earth." Applejack just grinned and rushed off to find Wheeler's friend.
"HEY KWAME!" yelled Applejack, getting his attention. In the distance, a deep blue stallion rushed over to her.
"You called for me, Miss Applejack?"
Walking back to her friends, she said :"You can just call me Applejack. Now, why didn't y'all tell me you were an apple farmer like me?"
"Not just apples. Barley, wheat, corn, flowers, any plant really. I was the one who help tend the crops in the village where I was born. And here, me and my friend Ma-Ti could really feel something in the ground. It's like I could feel the trees grow, and he could feel your animals from a distance."
"Well, that's surely something. Me, my big brother, and my little sister lived here on our orchard our whole lives and never felt something like that."
"I'll ask that to Twilight later. Ah! Everyone is here!" Kwame said as he saw Wheeler and the other Planeteers with Twilight's friends, sitting on bales of hay.
"Um......Take a seat, Kwame. You were going to tell us your world and your powers?" asked Fluttershy.
"Right so." He joined his friends while Applejack joined hers as they each took a seat on a hay bale. The two factions faced each other as they seated.
"Earth is a wonderful and diverse place." Kwame started. It has tall mountains, rivers of crystal-clear water, fields of green, and oceans full of life. In fact, the landscape just like your Equestria. But the main difference is the fact that humans rule it, not ponies. And like I told you, humans had their own civilization that managed farms and built massive cities. They had their own trades, religions, cultures, traditions, and even more things that made them diverse. Humans were also intelligent, like yourselves we had the ingenuity and cleverness spread around the entire world, rather than limited to a kingdom."
"So where do you come in?" impatiently asked Rainbow Dash.
"Ve are getting zere. Do not vorry." interrupted Linka.
"Another question. How come you sound like you're from Stalliongrad and Wheeler's from Manehattan?" replied Rainbow Dash, wondering about Linka's Slavic accent. Wheeler rolled his eyes about the equine portmanteaus of actual cities on Earth.
"Oh. Zat. Because groups of humans developed differently from one another, Ve had our own ethnicities, languages, governments, and religions. It even affected speech patterns. Me and Wheeler's nations just stand out ze most." Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Getting back on track." Linka continued "I don't know anything about pony history, so I can't assume the same has happened to you. Anyway, humans vere smart, but ve vere covetous and jealous of each other's wealth and prosperity. Ven a crop failed or a dispute over land or ownership occurs , humans would go as far to fight to ze death over it. Unfortunately, this still exists in our present day. And zey used fear of our differences between warring groups of humans as an excuse to fight."
"Well that's not very nice. We ponies have gotten WAY past that! I cannot imagine what that's like to still kill over everything!" spoke up Pinkie Pie, shuddering on the word "kill"
"It got better and worse as centuries wore on." Continued Gi. "Science and Technology has improved our agriculture, transportation, communication, health, and overall, our knowledge about the world. But there was a terrible side effect. Weapons also improved to destroy armies. Industries that could produce a mass amount of goods could yield to human's instant gratification, but made these harmful wastes that if left unchecked, damage the very earth we lived on. Smoke could turn the sky black. Waste made our waters dirty and muddy. Garbage piled up in mountains as trees were being cut down to make room for an exploding population. All that damage is what we call pollution."
"Yeah! And it was hurtin' us too!" interrupted Wheeler. Seeing as it was his turn, he continued the tale. "All dat hatred 'cause of your skin color or who you worship got ugly. Dey were looking fo' any reason to start a fight. And a lot of our leaders grew lazy and greedy too, only wanting money and powuh. Revolts happened, wars got started. And we had the technology to wipe out da entire human race. That's when Gaia saw the damage we was doin' to Earth and to each other."
"ummmmm.....Who is Gaia?" asked Fluttershy, raising her hoof and hoped no pony ignored her.
"Gaia is the Spirit of the very Earth we came from, and our leader." this time from Ma-Ti. "One day, she became dormant after watching over Earth for thousands of years. Unfortunately she fell asleep right when humans made that huge step in technology making, which I think she said was about two hundred years ago. Then one day, a powerful and incredibly wealthy tycoon tried to drill for a power source that fuels our modes of transport. And it was right under a place that forbade human development so animals and plants could be protected." The Elements of Harmony, especially Fluttershy shuddered and became sickened about who would harm and destroy the homes of such creatures for money. "But little did he know, he awakened Gaia."
"And she kicked his flank, right? using an earthquake or hurricane to stop him?" asked Rainbow Dash in anticipation.
"THAT." Wheeler replied "is the part where we come in. Gaia didn't stop him. Because she knew that if she fixed all the world's problems, humans won't learn a thing about protection. What's the point of cleaning things up if it just gets dirty again the next day, right? So she created and sent out these." Wheeler held out his hoof that held a thick silver bracelet with a ruby embedded in it. When he did so, the other Planeteers showed theirs. "These rings (well I guess, bracelets now thy fit over our pony legs, but we'll still call them rings.) contain a fraction of Gaia's powers. They control those natural elements that, I guess you already know about. She sent them out to a different part of the world, where the five of us Gaia chose were to have it power. Wanna see?"
"See what?" Twilight asked.
"Hey, Rainbow." Wheeler said as he stood up, and grabbed the bale of hay he was sitting on. "Can you fly up and throw this bale into the air?"
"Sure, I guess." she complied. She took his bale and spread her wings to start flying. She flew up 20 feet before she hurled the hay high into the air. Wheeler had a smirk on his face as he raised his ringed hoof up.
"FIRE!" he yelled. Suddenly, a bright scarlet light emitted from his gemstone before surrounding his entire hoof. It then shot out a bright ray of red that zoomed towards the mid-air hay bale. When the ray made contact, the bale immediately burst into flames! the burning bale tumbled down and slammed into the ground, still ablaze on impact. The Elements of Harmony held their mouths open in awe.
Wheeler saw the conflagration start to spread to the grass beneath him slowly. He turn to his magenta unicorn friend, saying "Gi, do you mind?" She nodded.
"WATER!" she exclaimed. Behind her was one a conveniently placed barrel full of water. It seemed to defy gravity as a blue beam shot out from Gi's hoof and met with it. The barrel-sized volume of water soared over Gi's head, and then as it doused the burning bale of hay. As the smoke cleared, the fire was gone, and Gi was still manipulating the bubble of water in front of Twilight and her friends, mouths open as wide as ever.
"It's okay, you can breathe now." said Gi, wondering if their new friends stopped respiration in their magical acts. But in her lapse of concentration, she deactivated for her ring. The bubble instantly started to collapse, and was about to soak Rarity and Fluttershy in its path. With only a split second, she wished "If there was someway for water to freeze in its place-."
With her eyes closed, she heard a quick crackling; but there was no splash sound. She opened her eyes and held her mouth open like when they saw her and Wheeler's powers. In place of the bubble was a pillar of ice. It was inches away from Rarity's face as she poked it, testing its strength.
"Amazing, Gi!" said Kwame in sensation. "I've never seen you do that with your ring!"
"Her ring didn't do that." Twilight stated. "I saw her horn glow when she froze that water. It was her magic. Gi's a unicorn now, and she can do perform feats of magic related to her talent; and hers seems to be of hydrokinesis."
"Hydroki-what?." said Rainbow Dash.
"She can manipulate not only the motion of water, but its states as well."
"So I can make ice now? That is pretty....awesome!" said Gi as she smiled. "I have much to learn about magic."
"I can continue this." spoke up Kwame as he pointed his gold and green ring over the the ground to his left. "EARTH!" he cried out. At his word, a green beam of light shone out from his hoof and covered a tablecloth-sized patch of land. A fissure in the earth appeared as a low rumble danced across the ponies' hooves. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the air, thinking Kwame started a full-blown earthquake! But as they watched from below, they saw that the vibrations didn't even make it to the barn. In fact, it only seemed to concentrate around the widening fissure. It was like he was controlling the quake! As the fissure widened, it revealed a grey, pony-sized boulder. I faintly reminded Rarity of Tom. Kwame then surrounded his green beam to focus on the boulder. He lifted it up, above the ground and over his head before levitating it over the ice pillar Gi made. With great force, he slammed it back onto the pillar where the boulder now lay on top a pile of tiny ice crystals. Kwame then gently rolled the giant stone off the ground as he cast off his ring.
"WIND!" Linka interrupted as a tiny vortex with streaks of white erupted from her ring. It swept up the crystals into the air in a mini-tornado. It flew up into the air, higher than where Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovered as the crystals dispersed. The Russian pegasus cut off her powers as the fine crystals gently fell back to earth, making a tiny snowstorm for Twilight and her friends.
"So Rainbow Dash, you said something about my "lame" powers?" Ma-Ti asked as the snow cleared. "HEART!" he yelled out as his ring glowed a golden yellow. At that moment, Rainbow Dash felt like somepony had invaded her mind; except that it didn't feel an invasion. She felt a warm presence in her thoughts, like someone was there to watch over her with great benevolence, not force.
"Ma-Ti! I can feel you, somehow!" she thought.
"Yes, it is what my power can do." Said the young Planeteer's vocal projection. "I can communicate through your thoughts with my ring. Oh, and call my power lame again, and I'll tell your friends you constantly wet your bed until you were six years old." Rainbow Dash nodded in slight embarrassment. As Ma-Ti shut off his ring.
"What happened between you and Dashie?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"My heart ring allows me to read the minds of other people and establish a telepathic link between them. But Dash has a point here: my powers are more passive than the other four. But I do have the greatest power of them. I can influence and persuade people to do my bidding, even acts of violence. But I don't. Gaia made me the Ring of Heart's bearer because I'm exactly the person not to do use it for that."
"Okay, I admit it, Heart is a cool power." said Rainbow, defeatedly. "Oh wait! Did you use those powers of yours to kick the tar out of that mean driller?"
"Well, no. Not exactly-"said Wheeler before whispering in Kwame's ear: "Should we really summon the Cap just to say Hi? There's no burning building or monsters made out of factory smog for him to stop."
Gi joined the two. "I don't even know if he can even retain his form here since we're not on Earth anymore."
"Captain Planet is an amicable person. He won't mind saying hello. Plus with us being in this new pony world, he'll have some time to adapt to its changes. But I am confident that he'll remain intact." Kwame stepped forward and held up his hoof. "Let our powers combine! EARTH!"
"FIRE!"
"WIND!"
"WATER!"
"HEART!"
"GO PLANET!" the five said in unison. As their beams collided in the air, a plane of energy grew. And it grew and grew until a large pony figure with a horn and wings took its place.
"By your powers combined, I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!" shouted a rich tenor voice as the energy matrix around the figure cleared. It revealed a massive alicorn, taller than Princess Celestia. His coat was a shimmering cyan like the sky. He had a long, green, grass-hued mane that flowed down past his neck. His hooves seemed strong enough to turn boulders into gravel. He wore some red leather armor around his chest and hooves. And his cutie mark depicted a yellow ellipse with horizontal and vertical grid lines fit to curve within it. The alicorn flapped his wings slowly to descend upon his fellow teammates. He looked at his new form: hooves, a snout, a long, spiral horn, and a pair of wings that could start a hurricane upon flapping. "Well then, It looks like I'm a horse of nature!"
"Captain Planet, welcome to Equestria." Kwame explained the situation from below. "There's no danger here, but us Planeteers have been turned into ponies. We're not on Earth anymore."
"That's okay Kwame. As long as I can combine within an Earth-like atmosphere, I can still form without missing abilities. Still, this Equestria place is much like our beautiful Earth." The demigod saw that his teammates have taken on an equine form, and could tell who they were do their color and hairstyles. But then spied some ponies he didn't recognize. "Who are your friends here?"
"Captain Planet, meet Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy."
"Put 'er there!" he boomed out in his boisterous voice as he held out his hoof. Twilight Sparkle shook it.
"This is amazing." she said. "You must me some energy being in a pony form. You have power that could even rival the Princesses!"
"So are you some sort of superhero?" asked Rainbow Dash, reminiscent of her childhood days.
"That's right, Rainbow. Normally the Planeteer's powers are normally too weak to go up against evil directly. The rings have been used more as tools than weapons."
"I beg to differ." Wheeler coughed out quickly. Fortunately, no pony heard him.
"So when the going got tough, they combined their powers and summoned me. I have the full range of elemental powers and some others to boot." He stood up and concentrated to try summon some lightning from his hoof. But it shot out of his horn and struck on of Applejack's trees! It immediately exploded into mushed Apples and splinters as there was nothing left of it if a charred trunk. Applejack was flabbergasted.
"Not to worry, I specialize in this kind of stuff." He flew over to an a pile of apple pulp and pulled out a seed. He then went over to the damaged tree and placed a seed within the stump. He planted his rear legs down on the ground where something remarkable happened: His back legs and tail glowed as they turned into wood and roots sprung up from the ground. "Super- Enriched soil......" He cast a blue beam from his horn high into the sky as a pony-sized cloud appeared and turned gray. It suddenly started to downpour as it soaked the charred trunk. "Add some water.......now give it some energy...." he said as his front hooves glowed green and put them on the trunk. After the ground started rumbling, and without warning, a wide brown column shot up for the stump, complete with green foliage as the new tree blossomed with apple flowers. He turned his legs to normal flesh as he admired his work. Applejack's mouth of shock immediately turned up its corners into a massive smile.
"That........is..........INCREDIBLE!" applauded Applejack. Her friends cheered wildly after she clapped her hooves.
"Well, thank you for the gratitude. If there's nothing left to ask, I'll be going now." The Captain said.
"Going?" said Twilight after the applause died down. "Why do you have to go?"
"Periodically, I tire out and get weak from my enemies. That's because they have weaponized the very pollution I sought to to fight against. Excessive pollution is my weakness. And when I tire, I return to the Planeteer's rings to restore myself. Oh, and their elemental powers don't work when I'm out of them."
"Still........" Rarity added. "Why would the powerful nature spirit of a planet entrust some potentially dangerous artifacts to ponies like you? None of you sound like you're past eighteen!"
"Hahaha. Excellent Question, Rarity!" Captain Planet laughed out. "Because by giving it to younger people, it means that their generation one day will inherit the Earth. Do you really want to be given control of a world riddled with pollution and corruption?"
"No, I suppose not."
"Well let that be a lesson for ya. You ponies will inherit your world, if you haven't already. Keep it clean! If there isn't anything else, then THE POWER IS YOURS!" A multicolored aura appeared Captain Planet as he started dissolving into energy. Then like his summoning in reverse, the energies separated into 5 beams of green, red, white, blue, and yellow light before being sucked back into the Planeteer's rings.
"Princess Celestia would sure like to meet him!" Twilight said. Remembering her obligations she said "Also, I have train tickets for all of us to go to the capital city of Canterlot with meet with the Princesses today. They'll figure out a way for you to get back."
"Ven does ze train leave?" asked Linka.
"In about half an hour."
"Well let's get going!" Wheeler said in anticipation.
The eleven ponies made it over just in time to the Train station to wait for an arriving train. When the locomotive pulled up, it showed it was pink and purple and decorated with hearts. It made Wheeler sick just looking at it. The ponies all boarded and pushed themselves into a car towards the front. Moments passed as the train lurched forward towards its next destination: Canterlot. On the way there, Twilight would tell them all about Equestria's history and the Elements of Harmony.
Meanwhile, on a desolate island once teeming with life. Zarm was awoken from his rest and was alerted of a familiar presence.
"The amalgamation of the five elements. They formed.....HIM! There's no denying it now! Captain Planet and the Planeteers are here on this world! And without Gaia to guide them, and their lack of a home field advantage, I can defeat them once and for all! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
On their way to Canterlot, Twilight figured it was her turn to inform their guests about the workings of Equestria and its royalty.
"So how is it that you know the Princesses?" asked Gi. "You must be a very important pony."
"Gi, you don't know the half of it. Prepare for a snooze-fest." quickly replied Rainbow Dash before Twilight could start one of her expected sleep-inducing lectures.
"Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll keep this concise as possible." Twilight assured the impatient pegasus. "Anyway, when I was a filly at 8 years old, I got my cutie mark in magic."
"Vhat kind?" asked Linka.
"All kinds. I'm skilled in magic in general. I'm not limited to a certain division or branch of magic, like transfiguration or divinity or hydrokinesis like you, Gi. Anyway, the day I got it, Princess Celestia not only secured my spot in her School for Gifted Unicorns, but became her personal student. And to this day I've become one of the nation's best scholars and spell casters."
"Well If you're so powerful and important, then how come you live in Ponyville and not in your big, capital city?" asked Wheeler.
"It's true that I was born and raised in Canterlot, but there was a special assignment that I'm still carrying out since two years ago. I've come to learn about the magic of friendship." She saw the American's mouth start to move, and figuring he would start mocking her about how lame it seemed, Twilight cut him off. "-And Friendship is a genuine and legitimate form of magic, and is the most powerful known to pony kind, so don't cast it as "useless"". She rolled her eyes towards Wheeler as he closed his mouth.
"That's where the six of us came in. The most powerful magic we know is harnessed within the Elements of Harmony. They are meant to, and can purify or banish any corruption, hatred, evil, or chaos that causes any harm to the land, ponies, or between ponies. They consist of Honesty," Twilight pointed to Applejack sitting next to her by the window. "Kindness," as Twilight pointed to Fluttershy, sitting next to Rarity in the seat in front of her. "Laughter", she said as she pointed to Pinkie Pie from the seat across from her, waving at them. "Generosity." ,she pointed to Rarity. "Loyalty" she reached her hoof over to Rainbow Dash, next to Pinkie pie. "And I myself am the Element of Magic. Just like you ponies, we are the living embodiments and bearers of our respective elements."
Ma-Ti was curious about his power and theirs. "Can you use your powers to make ponies more generous or kind to one another?"
"I'm afraid not. Alone, the magic within the elements doesn't work like that. You can't use them to influence the thoughts and emotions of other ponies; individually that is. Only when they're combined together do they wield immense power. When I first arrived in Ponyville, there was a big festival called the Summer Sun Celebration that I was to oversee. And I was a student who read books all day and didn't have, or see a need for any friends. Princess Celestia was supposed to raise the sun, kicking off summer. But in her place, she was kidnapped by Nightmare Moon. She once was our Princess Luna, a good pony turned by an evil after she thought no pony cared for her nights she maintained. She once tried to make Nighttime last forever, but Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon for a millennium. After the banishment spell wore off, she returned and vowed to make Eternal night again. But I made friends with these ponies here, and we were able to find, activate, and wield the Elements of Harmony. We freed the Princess and purified Nightmare Moon so she would become Princess Luna."
"So you're a national hero that saved Equestria? You deserve more recognition!" exclaimed Wheeler.
"Twice, actually. A year later, an ancient evil creature named Discord broke free from his prison. His magic was that of chaos, or disharmony. He managed to turn the six of us into the opposites of ourselves: liars, traitors, brutes, grumps, and greedy ponies. We caused each other to fight and break up so the Elements wouldn't work when we tried to use them. But we manged to defeat him. Because we learned that Friendship isn't always easy, but it's definitely worth fighting for!" Twilight said proudly.
Then, the Train started to slow down, towards it arrival. The Planeteers looked out the window and saw a massive alabaster city and castle on top of a mountain. As they got closer, they saw the tall spires and buttresses and domes that made up the city's architecture. Moments later, the train came to a stop at the main station. The ponies all got off and started walking towards the castle. The Planeteers just smiled and looked around at the cafes and high-society ponies hanging around the streets.
"Nice place ya got here, but it's no New York." said Wheeler.
"Thank you. And I'm guessing this New York you keep yammering on about place is a city on Earth?" asked Twilight.
"My home city, and it's only the greatest city in the world!"
Before he could start his boasting streak about his birthplace and country, Kwame interrupted. "Twilight. Does your Princess even know that you are coming here?"
"Of course. I sent a letter to her."
The Bearer of Earth was confused. "A mail system is something I didn't grow up with and only learned about a just a few years ago, but a letter would take days to be processed. And we only met each other last night."
"How right you are, Kwame. But remember Spike?"
"Yeah, where is the little guy?" asked Wheeler.
"He's watching the library for the day. Spike can breathe fire, and a special magical green fire. When I need to send a letter to the Princesses, Spike burns it up, but it instantly teleports the letter to Princess Celestia's current location."
"Interesting. And did you tell her about our connection to the natural elements."
"That's exactly what you're going to demonstrate for her. I arranged for us to meet her in the courtyard and gardens so you would use your powers better outdoors. Ah! We're here."
The eleven ponies suddenly realized that they were standing in front of a wooden drawbridge to an immense castle precariously perched over a steep cliff side. The castle must have been twenty stories high, and decorated with purple and yellow turrets and minarets. It was painted white with a tint of lavender as it glistened in the afternoon sun, much like the rest of Canterlot. An earth pony guard wearing a golden Roman helmet and armor stood at the gate and he straightened up and stood aside for Twilight Sparkle and friends as they stepped inside. Twilight led them behind the grand staircase and through several corridors covered with paintings and suits of armor. Eventually, they wound up outside in a lush and green garden adjacent to a large ballroom.
"Princess? Princess Celestia?" Twilight called out. To her dismay, her mentor wasn't anywhere in the gardens.
"Did you arrange a specific meetin' time? Or she said sumthin' about a different about a meetin' place?" Applejack asked her.
"No, I said to meet her here in the gardens at 2 PM. She's always punctual about these. Wait, am I an hour early or late? Did I forget to set my clocks back for daylight savings? Or is this A TEST?" Twilight started hyperventilating and losing her cool.
Linka whispered to Pinkie Pie "Does she always overreact to zese things?"
"Are you loco in the coco? One time she thought the world was ending because she saw a grim-looking Twilight claiming she was from the future, warning about what will happen in a matter of days, so she ran herself ragged trying to prevent it. And then she and me and Spike snuck into the Canterlot Archives to steal a time traveling spell, and Twilight temporarily back to the past to warn her not to overreact, but it turned out that her overreacting about what happened made her look so grim in her travel back in time." she said in one breath.
Confused from the rambling pink pony's tale. Linka blurted out: "I-I'm sorry. What?"
Suddenly, a bright yellow and white light exploded in front of the ponies, causing them to cover their eyes. When they uncovered them, Twilight's friends and The Planeteers saw a majestic snow-white alicorn that was twice Twilight's size. She had large, angel-like wings resting on her sides. Her horn was fairly thin and nearly a foot long. Her mane and tail was made of a pastel green, pink, and blue; and seemed to sway in the wind despite there was to wind to blow it around. Twilight and her friends got on their knees and bowed their heads before her.
"I apologize for my tardiness." she spoke. Her voice was powerful, and yet very gentle so a child could approach her. "I had a last-minute run in with a griffin envoy. Their fishing grounds off the Manehattan coast suddenly went completely bare and needed to negotiate a temporary trade agreement. I told them to meet with me in my throne room in an hour." She then noticed the five ponies she didn't recognize. "Twilight, are these the ponies you told me about from your accident?"
"Yes they are, Princess. I'd like you to meet Wheeler, Linka, Ma-Ti, Kwame, and Gi. They each represent one of the natural elements, and I accidentally brought them here upon summoning the natural elemental manifestations like you told me to."
"Hmmmmmmm........." the Princess quirked an eye. "So you teleported five ponies from their homes instead of the expected crystal or gemstone the elemental powers could be harnessed in?"
"Ya not that far off." Wheeler spoke up. "See this?" he rhetorically asked Celestia. Gi and Kwame held their hooves to their held, shaking them, muttering "Please don't. Please don't......"
Spying a gate nearby behind the Princess, he saw that it was secured by a single iron padlock. He pointed his ringed hoof to the lock as he yelled "FIRE!". Out shot a scarlet beam of light from his hoof as it was concentrated on the thick, U-shaped shackle. The beam instantly melted through the shackle, like a hot knife through butter as the lock clattered to the ground. Princess Celestia went wide-eyed in amazement. "How did you?"
"My ring." He pointed to the ruby embedded in his silver bracelet ."That gemstone was what we're guessing Twilight tried to make. She summoned me and my friends instead, and I have no idea why." While he talked, Celestia picked up the lock with her magic. He fed the broken shackle through the loop and fused the break in it back to normal, undoing the firebug's process.
"I see. And are you the leader of your little faction?"
"I wish. That's Kwame's job." Wheeler and the Princess had walked back to the other ponies, where he could see his leader looking down and kneeling before some withering daisies in a dry patch of land. To his right was an empty planter. "Kwame, what are ya doin'? We're here to tell royalty about our magical powers, not gardening tips!"
Kwame just laughed. "Either is perhaps better than simply melting iron locks." Wheeler rolled his eyes. "EARTH!" Kwame shouted as a green beam from his hoof shone upon the flowers. He expected to just lift the soil with the flower roots intact and put them into the planter, but something else happened: As he started to lift, the wilted flowers started erecting as their stems turned a richer green, and the daisies themselves sprung new white petals in the place where they were blackened, dried-out, or missing. In awe of this new feat, he decided to leave the flowers where they were and let his apparently new super-soil enrichment do its work. When he cast his powers off, it was as if the daisies never succumbed to their sickly state.
He turned to face Celestia with an explanation. "Princess, I did not mean for that to happen. I just tried to move your flowers with the soil into that box over there, but somehow I made the ground extremely fertile instead. My powers were of manipulating earth, but not like this."
"Hmmm....." Celestia muttered. She inhaled while Kwame looked worried. He just wanted to be back on Earth. Did the all-powerful monarch of a kingdom think this was dark magic? He feared that she would keep them in custody for weeks of interrogation and magic and scientific tests. "Could I see the other powers?" Kwame sighed in relief.
"With pleasure." said Linka. She held up her gold and diamond-ringed hoof towards Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. "WIND!" she exclaimed. The moment she said her power, a vortex of wind sucked up the four. The mini-tornado acted as a centrifuge that spun the ponies high up into the air.
"AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!" screamed Rarity, Twilight, and Applejack
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed Pinkie Pie, who in contrast was enjoying her flight.
Down below, Linka looked at Gi and nodded at her. She nodded back. Gi put her ring up and yelled "WATER!". She didn't know where the water she needed to manipulate came from, but there had to be some system of keeping this garden hydrated. As her ring glowed blue, a nearby spigot suddenly gushed water without being turned on. The deluge was stopped in mid air as Gi brought it up the forming bubble towards Linka's vortex. She elongated and shaped the water into a long, thick bubble that enveloped the four ponies, save for their heads. Linka stopped the wind as Gi slowly and safely brought down Twilight and her friends. As they touched the ground, Gi brought the bubble back up over them, and thoroughly dispersed her element all over the garden in a fine mist.
"Gi, darling." said Rarity. "Could you perhaps next time ASK US if you want to demonstrate your abilities?!" she yelled.
"And what abilities you have!" Princess Celestia said. "I am impressed. All of you possess powerful magic. Elemental magic like yours is a rather new branch that there is much to learn from. And I'm glad you have come here to donate your time for a demonstration."
"Thanks for the offer, P.C., but we're not here for to do magical research." Wheeler said. "We need to get home. We're not from Equestria."
Celestia frowned at this. "Please address me as Princess, Princess Celestia, Your Majesty, or Your Highness. I don't deal with such informalities amongst ponies who are not my subjects, never mind ponies I do not know. Otherwise, where is your home?"
"Our home is called Earth." Kwame spoke up, making sure Wheeler wouldn't interrupt with another insult. "We call our alliance the Planeteers, and the Spirit of the Earth, Gaia, is our leader." Suddenly, the Princess' eyes went wide and suddenly inhaled a gasp. Twilight noticed this.
"Is there a problem, Princess?" asked Twilight.
After pausing for several moments, she said "I want all of you to stay here for the night. I have dozens of rooms here in the castle you can all sleep in. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to those griffins I met with earlier. All of you are free to roam around the castle. Dinner is at 6:30. Good-bye!" She teleported out of sight in a brilliant lit-up fashion, the same way she came into sight.
"What was that all about?" asked Ma-Ti.
"I don't know, Ma-Ti. But I think that either alarmed the Princess, or she struck up on an idea." said Twilight. Remembering her rushed exit, she added "I really hope it's the second one."
That night, the Planeteers and the Elements of Harmony were fed a gourmet dinner and found their rooms. The Planeteers took 5 adjacent bedrooms on the fourth floor, each with a four-poster bed with their windows facing Canterlot. Twilight's friends took the rooms on the opposite side of the hall. Twilight went to her old room in the Library tower. In the meantime, Twilight wrote to Spike to tell him he'll be alone for the night, and to tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle that their sisters are in Canterlot until tomorrow. Afterwards, every pony was bushed from the traveling and performances. They all eventually went to sleep; all save for Princess Celestia.
After handing over her throne to Princess Luna so she could conduct the Night Court, Celestia crept down into a hidden cellar towards the back of the castle. Inside the cellar were several notes and scrolls, scrawled in runic symbols and diagrams. But the most noticeable feature was the large mirror in the back of the room. She touched her horn to the mirror, and the runes engraved in the gilded mirror frame lit up in a brilliant white. She let her horn off and channeled her magic into the mirror. She focused on one thing in her mind. Gaia . After moments of channeling and focusing, the mirror lost its reflectivity and revealed a foreign blue ocean. Celestia kept focusing, and that ocean zoomed in to reveal an island. The island had a tall, purple mountain, and rich and fertile jungle surrounding its base. The zooming continued to reveal figure that had a strange form to Celestia. The figure was a woman meditating cross-legged on a stone dias inside the mountain. She had no fur, except on the top her head. This "fur" was very long, wavy, and black as it went past her shoulders. Her skin was tinted bronze. She wore lavender-dyed silken robes. Celestia had seen enough.
"Gaia." she whispered.
Celestia stood at her tall, multi-paned, clear glass window and looked out to the east as she concentrated her energy. Her horn glowed as the sky turned from black to navy blue to shades of pink and orange. Then a giant yellow orb rose up from the horizon as Celestia carried the sun to start the day. She shut off her magic, giving the sun enough momentum to race across the sky towards the west when it was time for her to lower it.
All night, she was observing Earth, a far away planet whose physical and environmental states were maintained by her newcomers' leader: Gaia. Her scrying magic was proven to be strong enough for inter-world observations, but she could only see, not speak. Celestia needed to tell her sister so she could help with a possible method of communication. But that would wait after breakfast. She could smell that fresh batch of cinnamon rolls the kitchens were preparing, and it was almost as good as the cakes she loved to devour.
Meanwhile on some floors below, two earth ponies were awakening. They were grown up among a life of agriculture and were used to getting out of bed at the crack of dawn. As Applejack was leaving her room to get breakfast, she saw a familiar midnight blue earth pony from down the hall do the same.
"Hey Kwame! You an early riser too?" Applejack said to him.
"Of course. I'm used to getting up in the dawn. It's when I normally water my garden so I don't waste water from the sun's evaporation." He knocked on Ma-Ti's door, coaxing him out of his soft bed.
"Ma-ti? Are you awake? Applejack and I are getting breakfast!"
Applejack saw him and remembered to so the same with her other friends.
KNOCK KNOCK "Rarity! Get up! We're going to eat!"
While alarming her other friends, Applejack decided to continue her conversation. "You mean you water your plants yourself? I thought you humans don't have wings."
"I am confused. What do possessing wings have to do with watering?" Kwame replied.
"Well the pegasus ponies here in Equestria manage our weather. That's what Rainbow Dash does for a living."
"We do not have a system like yours. Our clouds and skies move on their own. It rains, snows, hails, without cause. Humans do not control it." Kwame also remembered to tell Wheeler and Linka about what the pegasus ponies can do with weather. Meanwhile, one by one, Applejack's and Kwame's friends came out of their rooms to start the day.
"Are ve getting somzing to eat?" asked Linka as they started walking down to the dining room.
"And what were the two of you talking about?" asked Fluttershy. Her voice was barely audible, but Applejack heard her just fine.
"Hey girls, get this. Apparently in Kwame's world, the weather just acts on itself, just like the Everfree Forest!"
"How chaotic!" Rarity piped up
"It is just natural, Rarity." Ma-Ti assured. "Is that not normal for you ponies?"
"Oh, right." Kwame interrupted. "Linka, I have good news for you. The weather is managed by pegasus ponies like yourself. Maybe your wind powers could help?"
"Ve may be here a while, so I suppose it is better than waiting for a way home and doing nozzing."
"That's very generous of y'all perhaps Dash can show you and Wheeler how to fl- Wait a minute." Applejack did a head count. She knew that Twilight was in her old room on the opposite side of the castle, so she wasn't here. She saw herself, Kwame, Linka, Ma-Ti, Rarity, Gi, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. She sighed and walked back to the rooms.
"Rainbow! Get up!" Yelled Applejack as she pounded on her door.
"Rainbow, Darling, it's impolite to keep royalty waiting!" added Rarity. On the opposite of the hall, the Planeteers gathered around the lazy American's room.
"Wheeler!" said Kwame in a louder voice as he knocked away.
"MMMMMMMGGGGHHHHHHH" a voice moaned behind the inch-thick oak door. "Go away!"
"I got this one." said Gi. She knocked on his door and said "Hey Wheeler! I just saw Linka making out with Ma-Ti!" She quickly skidded back away.
Seconds later, the door slammed open revealing a turquoise pegasus colt with a messed up bed-mane and flared wings. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" he yelled at full attention. His other friends just started giggling. Linka was just laughing in his overreaction.
"Is this the thanks I get for saving the world countless times?" he asked in irritation.
"Relax, yankee. Ve got you out of bed did ve not?" Suddenly, and idea came to Pinkie Pie's mind. She knocked on Rainbow's door and said:
"Oh, Rain-bow Daa-a-a-a-a-sh" she said in a sing-song voice. "They've got cold Apple Family Cider in the dining room!"
Suddenly, a cyan and rainbow blur knocked her door open and zoomed at breakneck speed downstairs to obtain her alleged cider. The others just watched her incredible rush down. By the time the other nine ponies had walked down to the flight of stairs between the second and first floors, they saw the blur again; but slowing down as it approached them. As it slowed down, Rainbow Dash appeared from the blur and started hovering above them.
She squinted down with an irked look on her face at Pinkie Pie. "I hate you." she said dejectedly.
After a nourishing breakfast, Twilight had joined the other ten ponies.
"Did you sleep well?" Twilight asked.
"Of course. I don't even remember the last time I felt silk, let alone sleep under it!" Gi replied.
"Yeah! It definitely beats those piles of hay!" Wheeler followed up.
"Twilight!" Ma-Ti interjected. "Have you asked why Princess Celestia kept us here?"
"Well......no." Twilight said with a frown. "After her dinner and conclusion of day court, she hurried downstairs somewhere right after. I still have yet to see her."
"See who, Twilight?" asked a wise, gentle voice behind her. Twilight turned around and gazed at her white alicorn mentor.
"Oh....Princess....you're here!" said Twilight in surprise.
"Alright. Princess, what's really going on?" piped up Wheeler. "Are ya keepin' us here in Canterlot as not to make your subjects afraid of our powers or sum'thing?"
Celestia was really disappointed and insulted by this pony. The other Planeteers glared at him behind his back. She always treated every one of her subjects and guests fairly, and they loved her back. Why was he being rather hostile? She was only helping them. Before she mounted a counter-argument, Linka came to his defense.
"Vhat Wheeler is trying to say..." as she looked back and squinted his eyes at him "....is that ve are appreciative of your hospitality. But vhy were you so eager to have us stay over?" All of us are concerned by this. And Wheeler only acts like zis because he cares for and protects us. And Twilight mentioned about how you just hurried away after dinner......"
"I have a very good reason, for your sleepover here was not out of fear, but out of ingenuity. All night I was working on your way home. And if you would all follow me, I having something very important to show you." Celestia took the herd and led them towards her destination.
The Princess led the eleven ponies down several flights of stairs and into a stone cellar lit by her horn that illuminated much of the complex. She navigated them through several corridors, making several twists and turns until they arrived at a plain wooden door at the end of one of the hallways. Inside was a room that must have been 20 feet high and 40 feet long. Inside was a large, gold-framed mirror that hung on the end of the room, a table and several bookshelves, each covered in book spines and texts; but most importantly was another pony that had horns and wings like the Princess. Her mane was wavy and ethereal, like Celestia's but was navy blue and sparkled like stars in the night sky. Her coat was a blue like her mane, and her flanks featured a black patch with a white crescent moon on each side. She wore a simple silver tiara and shoes on her hooves.
"Princess Luna. I believe I have told you about our guests?" Asked the sun Princess.
"FELICITATIONS, ELEMENTAL GUARDIANS!" she boomed out, with every pony covering their ears. "DIDEST THOU ENJOY MINE NIGHT HERE IN OUR FAIR NOBLE CASTLE?"
"Luna! What did we talk about with the Royal Canterlot voice?" asked Celestia.
Wheeler whispered to Twilight "Does she come with a mute button?-"
"But sister!" Luna cried out. " 'Tis a tradition to greet such high-regarded outsiders within our wards with thine voice!"
".......Or at least a modern-English button?" Wheeler continued.
"She's gotten better." Twilight told him.
Luna held out her hoof. "'TIS BE A SIMPLE HOOFSHAKE. THOU SHALT NOT BE AFRAID!" the echo of the stone room made things worse. Ma-ti just crouched and shivered.
"Luna, the spell?" Celestia reminded her.
"Oh! But of course!" She said, this time in a softer tone.
Just like what she did last night, Celestia touched her horn to the glass of the mirror. She lit up her horn as she cast her magic into it. The runes engraved in the golden frame lit up as the the surface of the mirror blurred and clouded. The eleven non-royal ponies just stared at her in confusion.
"Uhhh.....Princess?" asked Twilight.
But then the cloudiness in the mirror started to clear. As the colors started to separate, there an image of a island with a purple mountain started to show.
"That is our home! Hope Island!" Ma-Ti cried out.
"There is more, young elemental bearer." said Luna. The image of the island zoomed into the base of the mountain and inside showed a chamber with a dark skinned woman with long, wavy black hair and purple robes meditated on a flat stone dias.
"That's her! That is Gaia!" Gi could barely contain her excitement.
"Yo! Gaia! We're ova' here! Can ya hear us?" Wheeler asked.
"I'm afraid she cannot, Wheeler." Celestia sighed disappointingly. "My scrying magic is not that powerful."
"Uhhhhh......Scrying? What da hell is that?"
"It's a magical practice that involves seeing things psychically in a medium, usually for purposes of obtaining spiritual visions and less often for purposes of divination or fortune-telling."
The Element of Fire thought about it for a moment. "Ohhh! That crystal ball junk! Got it!"
"Anyway...." Celestia said with an annoyed look at the American's comment for calling her vision magic "junk", "That's why I brought Princess Luna here. Perhaps a sheer increase of magic power can have us leap past a threshold in which both ends of the observation can attempt communication. Sister, if you will?"
Luna strode over the the mirror and lit up her horn in the same fashion. As she touched to the mirror, the runes grew an even brighter white for a moment before they started to rapidly scintillate in various brightnesses. However, the magic mirror still showed the Spirit of Earth still unaware of her surroundings. Luna and Celestia were really straining now, but there was still no change.
"Is it vurking?" asked Linka.
The royal sisters were sweating now, and the runic symbols still glowing a bright light. But then Luna withdrew, panting lightly. Celestia followed suit upon her sister's breath as the image of Gaia faded back into the reflection of all the ponies in the stone room.
"I'm afraid not, Linka. We can't amass the power to overcome the communication threshold. Maybe if there some magical item used for communication, but there is none I know of that exists."
That's when a fluorescent light bulb turned on inside Ma-Ti's head. "My ring!" he yelled out. "My power is the Element of Heart! I used it to influence the thoughts of actions on others, but also used to establish a telepathic communication with my friends, including Gaia! Maybe if your raw magic could amplify my ring's ability to transmit a message, it could cross dimensions so Gaia can talk to us!"
"Like cranking up the power on a radio!" Gi added.
"Hmmmm.......That actually just might work. I think you should try it!" said Twilight.
"Very Well. Ma-ti, use your ring."
"Heart!" he yelled, pumping his hoof in the air. It glowed yellow as a wide golden beam struck the mirror. As it did, Celestia and Luna refocused their energy at his ring. This time, the runes on the mirror frame glowed bright white before they turned a rich shade of violet. The image of Gaia reformed again with her mediating, eyes closed on the dias as before, but then her eyes shot open in a rush of energy.
"Who is there?" asked her comforting alto voice as the woman in the mirror moved her lips.
"Gaia, is that you?" asked the Princess of the Sun.
"C-C-Celestia? It has been centuries since we have spoken!"
"Centuries?" thought Kwame. And how did these two know each other?
"Gaia, I believe I have something that is yours." spoke Celestia, now facing the mirror as Gaia spoke directly to her.
Back on Earth, Gaia saw a crackling purple-edged, human sized portal with an alabaster alicorn looking and speaking to her. "You have my young Planeteers?"
"See for yourself." said Celestia, smiling. Into view popped five multicolored ponies that looked unfamiliar at first, but then Gaia recognized their rings on their hooves and their hairstyles and hair colors.
"Planeteers! You are safe and unharmed!" she thankfully cried.
"It is a great thing to see you, Gaia. And Celestia is a wonderful Princess." Kwame assured.
"How is that we you speaking?"
"Like how we normally do!" yelled Ma-Ti in the back, with his silver-banded ring still projecting a golden glow. "The Princesses used their magic to amplify my telepathic powers so they can cross the space between our worlds!"
"Well done, Ma-ti" Gaia replied. "Do you know what caused this accident to occur? Or your transformation in equine form?"
"Allow me to explain." said a purple unicorn Gaia didn't recognize. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, protege to Princess Celestia. Two days ago, i tried to use a spell to summon a physical manifestation of the Natural Elements; apparently those of your domain. Earth, Fire-"
"Wind, Water, and Heart." finished Gaia.
"Exactly. But I believe that you must have used a teleportation spell on your.........subjects?" Twilight didn't know what Gaia was to the Planeteers, or the people of her world.
"I rule over no one." stated Gaia. "I chose these five teenagers to save my world from pollution. They are my protectors and friends."
"Anyway, we must have not only cast our spells at the same time, but we also have identical casting frequencies."
"This may explain why this has never happened before. I have not done routine teleportation in a very long time, most likely before you were born."
"Also, when our spells were cast, they must have collided and interfered with each other in the universal spell matrix. I must have "pulled" your heroes from your casting into mine. I summoned Elements, and you had them. I guess it also brings along the bearers as well."
Gaia paused to process her information from the unicorn. "A bright student, you have, Celestia. And as for their new bodies?"
"My best guess is that the magical environment of Equestria allowed them to adapt from your form-is that what humans look like?" Gaia nodded. "-to our form. The fact why some get horns or wings depends on one's traits and personalities." Now that she thought of it, someone aggressive and cocky like Wheeler would make a good pegasus, like Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, Gaia!" Wheeler spoke out.
"Speak of the Draconequus" Twilight whispered to herself.
"Did anything happen while we were gone? Did Verminous Skumm try to poison the Nile or something?"
"Fortunately, nothing has happened here on Earth. Yet. Celestia, I wish for the Planeteers to be back on Earth as soon as possible."
"We will get to work right away. Twilight, do anything to dig up a teleportation spell on the Elements."
"Yes, Princess!" Twilight was giddy for a new assignment.
"If there is nothing else, we need to cease our tidings. This magic is starting to exhaust me." Luna said.
"Wait!" Kwame said. "How do you two know each other?"
"I once was much, much more powerful than I am now, Kwame. I was able to speak to other beings beyond Earth unaided. I once found and talked to Celestia centuries ago, before my dormancy. We talked of our kingdoms and our subjects. But our conversation didn't last too long. I knew that Celestia was a pony and was the autocrat of her kingdom of ponies. she knew from me that I was the spirit of Earth, populated by humans and caused every force of nature there. That was all."
"So you only managed to speak to each other once?"
"I was lonely, and Zarm had left Earth. I was looking for someone in the Universe to talk to, and didn't know where Equestria was. I was a rare stroke of luck that I communicated with Princess Celestia. I never found her again until now."
"I cannot summon my strength!" Luna exclaimed.
"Goodbye, Planeteers. I wish to see you soon." Luna gave out as her horn's aura faded, and Ma-Ti's ring stopped its glow. Gaia faded out from view of the mirror. From her end, Gaia saw Celestia's portal turn purple and fade out of the plane of existence. Celestia rusher to aid her sister whose legs began to buckle.
"I need to take Luna to her room to rest. then I need to start my royal duties. As the ponies walked out of the scrying room, she added "Twilight, I want you to take your friends and Planeteers back to Ponyville. There, i want to look into our assignment."
"Princess Celestia, I accept." she complied. The other ten ponies nodded back.
Hours later, all the Elemental bearers hopped off the train from Canterlot back to Ponyville.
"Hey Dash, Can you teach me an' Linka how to fly while we're here?" Wheeler asked.
"And get us jobs at your.....veather station?" Linka added.
"It's pronounced weather, and of course I can."
"Job?" asked Wheeler. "You mean a paying job? Can't the Princess give us some monthly cash to live off of?"
" Princess Celestia told me the economy and treasury has been tight recently. And she doesn't just grant a stipend to every new foreigner she meets through me. Where did you get that idea?"
"I don't know. Maybe because you're the closest one to her?"
"That's not how it works. You'll need to find a way to make a living for yourself."
"Anyway," Rainbow Dash continued "I also take it you never slept on a cloud before either."
"Are zey any good to zleep on?"
"Remember those silk sheets at Canterlot?" the two pegasi nodded. "They'll feel like old burlap compared to clouds. i even had to drag a cloud in the night sky to act as my surrogate mattress last night."
"Sounds good." Wheeler said.
"Sweet. Then the two of you can crash at my place. I'm sure the two of you can flap your wings to get thirty feet off the ground."
"It's okay, Applejack." said Kwame as the farmer pony turned to his voice. Me, Ma-ti and Gi can stay in your barn."
"Actually...." said Fluttershy's weak voice. "Ma-ti told me that his gift was talking and caring for animals. I just couldn't resist having another pony who shares my talents not live under my roof.......if that's okay with you."
"And Kwame, Twilight's has a library as her house. How could I say no? Maybe I could learn some magic?"
Kwame saw no harm in their lodging plans. "It is all right. My suppose I could lend my hand at Applejack's fa-" The bearer of Earth felt something under his hoof. It was if he could feel a shifting or vibrations through the very earth he was stepping on. And it was moving!
"Did you feel that?!" he hurriedly asked.
"Feel what?" asked Gi.
"I didn't feel anyzing!" Linka said.
"Neither did I!" Wheeler added. "Are you okay, man?"
Kwame felt the movement again. "There is it again! I can feel it beneath the Earth!"
"Wait!" Ma-Ti said. "I feel it too! It's coming our way!"
"What is it dear?" asked Rarity.
"Trouble."
The eleven ponies rushed to the source where Kwame and Ma-Ti felt the trembling, wishing to see what this "trouble" was.
"What is that you're -pant- feeling, Kwame? Is -pant- an earthquake? a stampede?" said Twilight, trying to catch her breath as she ran.
"I'm not sure. I have never felt anything like this." he replied.
"And how come you and Ma-Ti are the only ones who know where it's coming from, anyway?" asked Rainbow Dash, flying above them.
Suddenly, there a vibration that could be heard and felt within the ground. This time, all the other ponies heard it or felt it.
"I take that back." she added. "And it sounds like it's coming from the Everfree Forest to the southeast!" as she pointed in said direction.
"She's right! I can feel the tremors coming from there!" Ma-ti exclaimed. "We must move!". The vibrations and thuds were just getting louder as the Elements approached the forest.
As all eleven were clearing the last block of houses, they saw the town's residential ponies start running and flying away from the source; earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. The heard the screams and shrieks of the scared along the way.
"Get away from them! They'll eat you!" yelled a cream colored mare with a short red mane and a rose cutie mark.
"Help me, mommy! Help me!" squealed a purple, blonde maned unicorn filly with tears in her eyes.
"The horror! The horror!" yelled a pink earth pony with a blond mane and a lily in her hair.
Both Twilight's gang and the Planeteers still rushed against the crowd of ponies making for safety when they passed the last of the houses and crossed a bridge going over the town's river nearby the surrounding pastures. Twilight also swore she saw a mulberry-coated Earth pony running away with her face covered in some sort of black tar. But because it obscured her face, she couldn't exactly tell who it was.
That's when they saw them, just a hundred yards away.
There must have been several dozen of them. They were all were black and had piercing red eyes. Their coats, or their skin or whatever it seemed was shiny as it reflected the afternoon sun. They dripped some oily substance that made a big mess where they walked. The creatures stood on four legs, but some just had blackened insect wings as they buzzed above the horde. Those flying ones looked more like legless wasps, with their abdomens tapering off to a point. Each all were slightly larger than a pony, and were headed the hero's way.
"Bozhe Moi" said Linka. "I have never zeen or vent up against somezing like zis."
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I thought you said you fight bad guys like this all the time!" Surely, she thought that these "heroes" must have some experience in fighting.
"That's different!" Wheeler exclaimed. "We went up against whacko scientists and corrupt businessmen with no morals. Otherwise, we save people from natural disasters like volcanoes and avalanches and-"
*HOCKCK-PTOOOOIE*
In the distance, one of the creatures hocked up a ball of the black sludge they were composed of and spit it at the pyromancer's face. Before he could even react,
*SPLAT*
Wheeler got knocked off his hooves as he lost his balance from the attack. He felt the black and green grime on his face: gooey, dirty, and started to tingle.
"Oh, you didn't." he said softly as he stood back up. He was really mad now. "FIRE!" he yelled as he shot his ring-covered hoof at his attacker. The ring shot out a crimson streak of heat and flame as it shot across the field at alarming speed and struck his foe. Upon contact, the mucky opponent exploded from the blast of heat and energy. It gibbed into slime as it rained into a big puddle.
"What the-?" Wheeler said in confusion; trying to process what he just saw. In the past, he used his ring for melting, burning, and fusing, but not much else. He this was just like he destroyed something, and it went down easy. But before he could get another blast off, one of the wasp creatures shot a wad off at high velocity, headed right for him. This time, he ducked in the nick of time to have it splatter against the ground.
"WIND!" yelled Linka who stepped forward. Her golden ring glowed white Then a powerful gust of air emanated from her hoof as she directed her airflow to the vespid sludge monster that attacked her ally. As the wind rushed past it, it threw the creature's flight off balance as it slammed and splatted into a puddle on the ground below. The other hundred of pollutant-based enemies just looked at their fallen comrade. Then they set their sights on the ponies before them and glared.
"eeep!" squeaked Fluttershy as she cowered behind Applejack.
"Ma-Ti," said Kwame, making out a plan. "Take Fluttershy and head back to Ponyville. Use your powers to get the towns-ponies to safety. We must fight them off."
"You are taking them on yourselves? What if you need me to summon Captain Planet?"
"You'll see our rings shoot up in beams towards the sky, like always. Come to us when you're finished."
"Understood. Let's go, Fluttershy."
Mustering up the courage to move her hooves, she ran eyes closed away from the inevitable fight. The others saw her and Ma-Ti run towards the town to quell the panicking citizens. Twilight then turned around to catch another glimpse of her enemies, but now they were in a sprint! Another one shot out a wad of black pollution at her, but Twilight quickly charged up her horn and shot her purple-aura magic at the projectile. Not only did it vaporize of ball of sludge upon contact, but it also penetrated and hit its shooter as it decomposed.
The next instant, about a dozen of those oily constructs on the front all shot out a ball of black sludge from their mouths at once. The balls fused together into a single wave of slime that was big enough to hit all the ponies, and it was too big for Twilight to counter-spell.
"EARTH!" yelled Kwame as he called out his power. His hoof shone green as his power shot to the ground. A thick wall made of brown stone as high as three ponies immediately shot out of the earth and blocked the wave as it splattered against the edifice. A good and quick defense, but it wasn't perfect. Moments later, the Elements all saw a wave leap right over the wall in a charge.
Reacting quickly, Rainbow Dash flew up and dive-bombed onto one of the heads of the flying mooks, pummeling it towards the ground. Applejack countered a charging creature by doing a 180 and kicking. Years of bucking apple trees on her orchard gave her rear legs the strength to send it flying back over the wall, and had plenty of stamina to spare. Rarity, meanwhile kicked not nearly as hard as Applejack, but enough to send her enemy into confusion. But she stunned it enough for Pinkie Pie to work her "magic". She pulled her Party cannon out from hammerspace and blasted it back with the mass of confetti emitted at great velocity; just like the Changeling attack on Canterlot many months ago.
Wheeler and Twilight kept blasting their energies, being careful not to hurt thier friends, and Linka and Kwame kept pushing them back for more room. Gi, meanwhile used her water ring to pull water from the nearby river to clean off and wash away the ooze. She and her teammates, after years of protecting Earth from pollution like this, had built up an aversion and habit to make sure this oil and sludge and grime would get cleaned up no matter what. But when the Oozers started to flank and form a circle around them, she acted. She brought up a massive volume of river water and heavily splashed it on them. Knowing that oil and water don't mix, she had to do this quickly. She concentrated until her horn glowed and then suddenly, the water, and the soaked Oozers froze in place. Seeing what happened, Kwame lifted a boulder off the ground using his ring. He spun around in a wide circle, hitting every frozen monster. As the boulder collided with each one, they shattered into a million pieces of blackened ice.
"Keep hitting them!" Twilight commanded. "Their numbers are dwindling!"
Meanwhile, in Ponyville, ponies were still fleeing and cowering all over town.
"Um, could you......" Fluttershy said softly. But like always, stressed ponies tended to ignore her.
"Ma-Ti here can......." she spoke with desperation, but without raising her voice.
"Excuse me, but....." she felt a hoof on her shoulder. It was her cerulean Earth pony companion with the heart ring.
"I'm so sorry, Ma-Ti. It's just not in my nature to-"
Ma-Ti cut her off. "It is okay, Fluttershy. You don't want to cause any more alarm. You're as passive as I am. But there is more than just volume and violence to control a crowd. HEART!" As he raised his hoof up, waves of yellow spread out from his ring. Ponies everywhere stopped running around in blind panic and listened.
"Everything is under control. Group together with your families in your Town Hall or your homes, and barricade the exits."
That's when every pony started cantering towards Town Hall, somehow influenced and compelled by the voice they heard. They didn't know who it was, but it was comforting yet forceful as they listened to its advice. One by one, Ponyvillians, young and old, filed themselves into the big carousel-shaped building in the center of town. Fortunately, the hall was large enough to encompass most of its citizens, with only the Northern and Western residents locking themselves inside. Even Fluttershy was compelled to do so as she started to go there, but was told to stay with Ma-Ti.
"Oh my. You didn't even need to raise your voice." said Fluttershy. "And I almost went with them."
"That is my power. I can communicate and make ponies do my bidding. But I do not wish to control anyone."
"Oh...." she replied with her head down and ears drooped.
"What is the matter?" the Heart-bearer asked.
"It's just that my friends are brave and ponies listen to them, and you can touch other ponies' hearts, but I can't. *SNIFF*" Fluttershy started to sniffle in frustration.
"Fluttershy....." said Ma-Ti as he wrapped his hooves around her neck. "All that matters is what's in here." he pointed to her chest. "I cannot imagine some pony as compassionate and passive as you being hated by anyone. And you wish for the best of everypony, right?"
She nodded.
"Good, because that is all that matters.True courage is speaking your heart. One day you will embrace it." Fluttershy hugged Ma-ti back.
Suddenly, Ma-Ti saw a green, red, white, and blue streaks of light being shot up in the air in that order behind Fluttershy. He knew what that meant:
"Heart!" he yelled as he punched his ring into the air as a yellow ray of light converged with the others. Fluttershy turned around just in time to see the beams collide, and the two ponies ran back to the battlegrounds.
Meanwhile...........................
"Fire!" commanded Wheeler as he shot another ray at his hoof, killing what looked like the last of the oily sludge monsters. After the last one gibbed into onyx goo, the ponies all saw the ground was in about hoof-deep of the tar. They were covered in head to tail with oil, and smelled of a landfill.
-PANT- -PANT- "We did it! We did it!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "We beat away the ickies! This calls for a party!" -POOOOOOOM!- Her party cannon fired one last time in a burst of streamers and confetti.
"Yes, it looks like we have saved the day once again." said Kwame.
"You know, I have never read about or seen these kinds of creatures. I should tell the Princess about this."
"You might be right, Twilight." Gi said. She picked up a glob of the gibbed slime. "This compound is similar to crude oil."
"Excuse me?" asked Twilight.
"On Earth, crude oil is a fossil fuel like coal or gas that is mined beneath the ground and is used as fuel, lubricant, and other uses. And it also kills a lot of animals and plant life if they get coated in it for too long."
"Gi is right. Ve should get thees off ov us." Linka said.
And true to her word, the oil and goo started to melt off all the ponies. It just dripped and ebbed away for a moment until their coats and manes were all oil-free.
"Well that was convenient!" said Rainbow Dash. "See ya!" as she started to dart off. She really had a long day now.
"Rainbow Dash! Wait! Come Back!" yelled Gi.
The cyan pegasus heard her. "What is it?"
"Look."
The sludge was indeed gone from their bodies, but now it started to move on its own. The puddles slowly started converging together as it oozed into a single mound fifty feet away from them. They saw it build up higher and higher until it was just a thirty-foot tall blob with an equal diameter. Suddenly, five pillars of the sludge jutted out from the base of the black blob, with four of them bending to meet the ground and pushing the rest of it body up. The fifth lengthened behind the construct, while the "body" seemed to elongate. Two red spheres opened at the end opposite the long limb. Then the body partially split itself open until it almost met the eyes. The Planeteers finally saw what is was: A massive, artificial lizard made out of oil, and it gave out a big roar.
"I think this is a good time to...." Wheeler started.
Kwame nodded. "Let our powers combine. EARTH!"
"FIRE!"
"WIND!"
"WATER!"
And far away, the youngest Planeteer yelled "HEART!"
The five beams collided, and their amalgamated energies took on a shape of an equine. "GO PLANET!" the five elemental guardians chanted.
"By your powers combined, I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!" boomed the blue alicorn that emerged from the light.
"What do we have here?" rhetorically asked the superhero pony as he looked at the long oil-lizard. Upon his question, the monster quickly turned around 180 degrees as its tail whacked the Captain several dozen yards back and into the nearby river. As he sunk, he just processed the attack on him, and readied a plan.
"Now what's a nice guy like me doing in a dive like this?" Captain Planet effortlessly used his wings and hooves to swim through the water in circles, stirring up a current. Seconds later, above the surface, a swirling vortex column of water erupted out of the river, with the alicorn still spinning inside of it.
"Time to clean up your act, slimeball!" he punned as he redirected the water right at the lizard's head. Before it could hock up another glob or dodge it, Captain Planet drilled the swirling water at high velocity into its mouth. The head sprayed and rained down more oil everywhere until its head was completely gone in, like an apple in a blender. The Cap deformed the water back to puddles when he saw it. The body of the sludge monster re-elongated at the head as two new red orbs appeared on top and the mouth reopened. Meanwhile, the spray of the flung oil globs that he just dispersed moved again on their own and slowly crawled back to the big lizard as they re-absorbed back into its skin.
"Tough guy, aren't ya?" he asked as he flew back up. Suddenly, the monster quickly spat at him, but Captain Planet easily dodged it.
"Too slow!" he said. It fired three more shots of oil at him, but none it its target.
"Missed me!" he taunted as he just looped and swerved each body-sized shot. The Cap then spotted a medium-sized, dead tree on the edge of the Everfree. He dived down to easily uproot it as the oozing oily being kept lobbing more shots at him.
"So you want to play ball, huh?" he asked. As more of the globs zoomed right towards him, he swatted them away with his makeshift stick.
"Batter up!" he yelled as he just repelled glob after glob of the oil. After the wave of sludge-balls was over, Captain quickly karate-chopped one end of the trunk he was carrying several times until it was a finely sharpened point. He then ignited the tip with his horn and chucked his fire-tipped spear right at the monster's chest. It hit dead center, igniting the skin, and spreading fast.
"UUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHH!" the lizard cried out as it fell and curled up, seeming defeated.
"Way to go, C.P.!" Rainbow Dash cried out."
"Thank you, Miss Dash. Now I'll just need to finish up and clean-" said the alicorn with his back at his opponent. But he was cut off as he felt a sharp blow to his back. It felt like he was being pegged with rapid-fire bits of oil.
"AAAAAAACCCCKKKK!" Captain Planet interjected as he turned around, still taking fire as he saw the lizard now back up with the spear still stuck in his chest, but now the flames smothered. It finished his pelting as he then hocked a big loogie of pure pollution right at the captain at great speed. Before he could do anything,
-SPLAT-
All that was left of him was a big, taxi cab-sized ball of sludge on the ground.
"CAPTAIN PLANET! NOOOOO!" cried Ma-Ti. After several years of working and fighting alongside of him, The Planeteers knew that pollution like oil was Captain Planet's weakness. Practically a demigod of nature back on Earth, weakened by the very thing he fights, and so common on their world. Had he been defeated? The Planeteers just waited, and nothing happened afterwards. All the ponies were screwed.
"HA HA!" boomed Captain Planet as without warning, he exploded right out the bubble of pollution without a stain on him. How could it be?
"Time to kick some tail for real!" he exclaimed as he flew over and grabbed the lizards by the neck and held tight, pinning him down with his renewed vigor. He aimed his horn at the ground as he fired an emerald beam of light at it, covering the plot of land large enough to accommodate his slimy opponent.
"Let's shift the ground a little bit under there...." the Cap said.
From the sidelines, Wheeler whispered to Kwame "What's he talking about? He didn't do anything!"
But because of his new Earth Pony form, Kwame could feel the ground move below his hooves in a specific manner. "Oh, he definitely did, Wheeler. And I think he has got it covered."
Then, Captain Planet flew up with his Mack Truck sized monster in tow high in the sky. Then with a swing of his front hooves, he flung it up above him as he let out a red blast of energy right from his horn right at it, juggling it up even higher.
"Gotta set up a wall to contain the mess...." He said as he fired yet another emerald ray of magic from his horn and it widened and struck the perimeter of the prepared ground. Then a wall of stone, a pony-length thick sprung up from the ground and erected itself at least a hundred feet high, enclosing the ground for whatever is going to happen.
"Gotcha!" he said as the oily reptile came back down from its juggle. But instead of grabbing onto it, he flew topside and pushed it down to the ground hundreds of feet below. They fell and fell until it was just above the enclosure. Then Captain Planet gave it one final punch his hoof as he slammed it down into the ground.
-BOOOOOOOOOOM-
Was the sound as the two of them collided into the lithosphere. Just over the top of the raised ring of stone wall was several pony-sized globs of oil and sand flying up and barely leaking over the sides. Wait- sand?
"Is it gone?" Gi asked.
"See for yourself" said The Cap. With his horn lit, he lowered the wall. It revealed a black patch of sand, but no monster.
"They say that life's a beach but this is crazy!" he added. "I turned the ground below me into layers of sand and charcoal: nature's best filtration system! The oil stuck to the sand and charcoal so it cant re-form!" As he spoke, the sludge that got gibbed in the final explosion made contact with the sand as it slowly got absorbed into the ground.
"That's pretty smart, Captain!" Twilight said. "Thank you!"
"You're Welcome, Miss Twilight. And remember, if anything like this comes back up, look for me or the Planeteers! If we're all done here, then THE POWER IS YOURS!" he boomed. The alicorn diffused back into the red, blue, yellow, green, and white lights to be re-absorbed back into the Planeteer's rings.
"That was AWESOME!" cried Rainbow Dash.
"The six of you are true heroes." said Rarity. "I'll even buy you dinner."
"You know what this calls for........"
"A party!" Pinkie Pie finished as there was an evening soiree at Twilight's library, by now cleaned up of books that were scattered on the floor from her long research. Lots of ponies in town were there, thanking the new arrivals for their herosim. There was music on the record, punch, cookies, and all that party stuff everywhere. Kwame and Gi told the tale to curious ears. Wheeler was chatting up with Linka still trying to make ground in their on-and-off relationship, while Ma-Ti was with Fluttershy ,discussing arrangements. Meanwhile, Twilight was upstairs, writing a letter.
"Twilight, you're such a workaholic, can't you party?" asked Spike who just walked in.
"Not right now." Twilight said. Spike sighed. "I need to send a letter to the Princess about the attack."
"Oh yeah, the Planeteers told me everything, with all that ZAP ZAP from you and Wheeler and that Captain Planet went WHAM!" as he smacked his fist into his other claw "....kicked that lizard's butt."
"That's fine, Spike. But this is important. Our new friends just fought a monster within two days of their coming. And none of us knew how to fight it. Equestria could be in danger tomorrow for all we know. ......-Twilight Sparkle . Done. Send it, Spike!"
Her dragon assistant took the freshly written scroll and inhaled. He exhaled his signature green flame as the parchment ignited before the flames traveled out the window towards the capital.
"Twilight, we've got nothing to worry about. The Planeteers and you will just use their awesome magic to fight and fix all of it! I'm sure!"
Meanwhile, on an island to the east, it had been transformed from a luscious biome of flora and fauna to a land of dead and charred trees, animal bones, and dried soil. In the middle of the island was what looked like a small, black building that was growing everyday. Inside was Zarm, looking at a large crystal screen, observing what happened that day.
"So......Captain Planet can form here, off of Earth. And this land here has its ponies as its dominant species. They all seem at peace with one another, with no wars or pollution. But I can change all that. And not even the Captain Planet or his Planeteers will stop me. HE HE HE." he softly snickered.
"But you were gone all day yesterday, Twilight!" Spike complained.
"I'm sorry, but Princess Celestia needs to be informed of this. And she's expecting for the eleven of us to come back today." Spike just pouted.
"Tell you what. I'll tell Rarity that you are going spend all day tomorrow with her in her Boutique. Happy?"
"Definitely!" said Spike, who couldn't resist being around his crush.
"Good. We will be back before this evening." Gi said.
"Alright, bye Twilight." said Spike as she and Gi walked out the door.
"So you like books, don't you?" Twilight asked the hydrokinetic.
"Of course, Twilight. Education is something I hold in high regard."
"I also noticed you picked up basic levitation pretty fast, too."
"Yes. I am also what you may call a "fast learner"".
"I guess it's also your mind is focused and developed enough to learn it overnight. It took me days to do that."
"But you are the Element of Magic. Did you not say you were skilled in all kinds of it?"
"First of all, i was just a filly when I started. Other ponies of my age would've taken months to learn telekinesis. And I thought I didn't have it in me."
"What do you mean?" asked Gi.
"I applied to be in Princess Celestia's school when I was very young. My entrance exam was to hatch a dragon egg. I was about to fail until a distant explosion somehow unlocked all my magic potential. The egg not only hatched, but I magically aged it into a full grown dragon. Princess Celestia was so impressed she made me her protege. That's also how I got my cutie mark." as she pointed to the six-pointed star on her rear leg. "And that dragon I hatched was Spike."
"That's quite a story."
"It gets better." Twilight continued. "My friends only met eachother about two years ago, but we all got our cutie marks at the same time."
"How is that possible?" Gi asked.
"That distant explosion? That was the ultimate aerial move performed by Rainbow Dash. It's called the Sonic Rainboom. The consequences led to my best friends getting their cutie marks as well."
"That is quite something." she said. "What are the odds?"
"INCOMING!" yelled a voice above her. It was a familiar turquoise pegasus that was careening through the air, right at the two unicorns. He tried flapping his wings to control his reckless flight, but couldn't slow down. It seemed he would crash right into the two unicorns as he closed his eyes, braced for impact. That was until he felt his body freeze in midair. When Wheeler opened his eyes, he saw Twilight and Gi with their horns aglow, Twilight's in a maroon color and Gi's in a fuchsia.
"Nice one, Gi." whispered Twilight.
"Having fun up there?" Gi asked Wheeler.
"Da." said Linka, who came up behind him with Rainbow Dash. "Ve are liking zees bodies. Ze are quite agile."
"Keep listening to me and they'll be flying like me. Well, not as good as me, but alright." added Rainbow Dash.
"Look who showed up. It's 'bout time y'all got here." said Applejack who appeared from walking around the platform.
"Oh there you are, Applejack." said Twilight. "Have you seen Rarity or Fluttershy or Kwame around anywhere?"
"We are right here." said Ma-Ti as he popped around the corner. "And Kwame's got something to show you and the Princess when we get there."
"Oh yeah? What is it?" asked Rainbow.
The young Planeteer frowned "Just what we're afraid of."
"Yeah, Kwame borrowed one of my large jam jars and filled it with that black goop from yesterday." Applejack followed up. As she said so, Kwame pulled a a clear glass jar, but filled with the onyx-hued, near gelatinous sludge.
"Ewwwwwwww!" said Rarity, disgusted at its oozy texture and structure. "That must be the very essence of dirtiness!"
Kwame chuckled. "Just be glad that you didn't have to smell it."
One train ride and a stroll through Canterlot later, The eleven elements were in Celestia's throne room, ornate with a tall golden chair and stained-glass windows of Twilight's previous adventures and triumphs. The Princess of the Sun was already seated, and Twilight reiterated about the attack.
"Are you alright, Twilight? You ended up unharmed after the battle?" Celestia asked.
"I'm perfectly fine. And none of my friends, or the Planeteers suffered any damage either."
"That's good to hear. And Kwame," Celestia mentioned to the midnight blue earth pony: "You had something to show me?"
"Yes, Princess." he replied as he pulled out the mason jar filled with crude oil. "I think I can safely assume you ponies have mined for minerals, like gold, diamonds, or even coal."
"Don't get me started." said Rarity, now thinking about gems, and how Kwame would look with an emerald-studded morning-coat. Fortunately, her comment didn't break is resolute concentration. Celestia just nodded.
"But have you ever come across this substance before?" he asked the Princess, holding out the jar in front of her.
Celestia looked at it for a moment and swirled its contents with her magic. "No, Kwame, I haven't. I have never seen this material, or heard a description of it by the mining guilds. What is it?"
"Oil. Crude Oil." he said with dejection.
The Princess was confused. "You mean what you put on a salad to flavor it? Or to prepare a pan for cooking?"
"Not so. On Earth, this is an abundant yet harmful fuel source. We already mentioned this to Twilight and her friends about our duty to planet Earth, but I think you see first hand its effects. Wheeler? Care to demonstrate?"
"You mean it?" He asked in a skeptical look. "Is it really safe for me to ignite a combustible, possibly explosive compound known to kill hundreds of species of fauna within 8 feet of the very autocrat of a nation of equines?"
Everyone, especially Wheeler's friends just looked at him. "Who are you, and what have you done with Wheeler?" asked Gi.
Wheeler sighed irritably. "One of you just put a hole in the ceiling and some magic barrier or something please?" being careful not to raise his voice.
Celestia's horn glowed as she made the ceiling of the throne room transparent and intangible. Meanwhile, Twilight and every pony else stood back as she conjured a lavender magic shield. She also made a hole in the center that would been wide enough for the fire pegasus to cast his power on.
"Here goes nothing. FIRE!" he yelled as a scarlet ray of concentrated elemental fire shot out of his silver bracelet. The instant it struck the jar, the oil inside it burst into flames as a massive fireball shot out of the top. It stretched for nearly 40 feet up and out, grazing the walls of Twilight's shield. Then it wafted into a thick black smoke that seemed to blot out the sun as it went up and phased through the now-intangible ceiling. After the smoke cleared back on the ground, there was only small bits of broken, hot glass that surrounded a large scorch mark on the throne room floor. All the ponies started coughing from the bits of smoke that got over the shield as it dissipated.
"And that's just the beginning what oil can do." said Kwame.
"And you fought this?" asked Celestia, caring for her subjects' safety. "It's a miracle of Faust that you didn't suffer medical burns."
"Except zat conflagration did not happen." Linka said. Twilight and Wheeler handled the actual counter-attacks of zese.......blastings, but zey just gibbed into more of ze oil you saw. Zere vas no combustion."
"I have no explanation for this." Celestia said solemnly. "I have been around for centuries and know quite a bit of the Everfree Forest, but I have never seen creatures like you fought, or this oil material. But I'm glad all of you managed to defeat it without getting yourselves or anypony in Ponyville hurt."
Wheeler looked down at his ring. For years, he and his friends regarded his fire powers were the most offensive and weaponized, rather than a supportive tool. He could summon fire, waves of heat, lightning, and block nuclear radiation, but it was never this useful until he arrived in Equestria. "Rev up that mirror, Princess. We're gonna need to talk to Gaia again."
20 minutes later, thirteen ponies had gathered inside Celestia's scrying chamber.
"HEART!" exclaimed Ma-Ti as his ring absorbed the the Princess' magic and re-directed it into the glass messaging portal.
"Planeteers?" asked the calming human voice that emanated from the mirror as the image of the tanned, silk-robed woman appeared.
"Yes, Gaia. It is us." said Kwame. "I know we just spoke a day ago, but we got attacked."
"By whom?" asked Gaia, alarmed that someone would try to harm her protectors within 3 days of their arrival.
"I would not say whom, but what." said Gi. "They came by the dozens. They were black and shaped like giant lizards. They were these constructs made of petroleum oil."
"How can this be?" Gaia asked. "Where did they come from?"
"I am not sure." Gi continued. "But not even Princess Celestia knew of these creatures."
"There's more." Wheeler spoke up. "We managed to beat them. Us, and Dash and Twi and AJ, and Captain Planet, too."
"Captain Planet? But you're not on Earth anymore; and he can form?"
"Yeah! He's a pony like us, but he got summoned and all his powers work an' everything!"
"Ahhh." Gaia sighed in relief. "Your great ally can be summoned for emergencies like these. And I trust that you cleaned up the damage like you do on Earth?"
"Not just cleaned up, but cleaned out!" Wheeler boasted. Gaia was puzzled.
"I think what Wheeler means...." Ma-Ti said this time "....is that our powers are stronger here. We are actually able to hold out oil-enemies off for a while with our powers. We only summoned Captain Planet after things got very bad."
Wheeler remembered the fight "Yeah, Gaia? Can I please use my powers here fo' once? You never let me burn or explode anything, and now we actually get to fight!"
"Hmmmmmmmm......" Gaia thought. She knew the American's powers of fire were the most destructive of the five, and they tended to cause damage to her forests and wildlife. She also knew that fire would be the least useful in healing the Earth.
"Did you say they were made of oil?" Gaia asked. She had to be sure.
"Da." Linka said. "Eet ees just like ze like oil from Earth that you drill for, and the same that hurts the planet.But vithout Wheeler's powers, ze monsters may have reached a civilian settlement."
"I'm starting to lose sync!" Luna exclaimed as her horn's aura started to flash out.
"Then.........yes. Planeteers, I have a new mission for you. If anything comes to hurt the ponies or the nature of Equestria, then I give you carte blanche to fight it."
"Carte Blanche?" Wheeler asked.
"Ughhhh. Americans. " Gi sighed. "It means she's letting us use our powers however we want to beat any new monsters if they strike again."
"Kickass!" Wheeler exclaimed.
"I can't hold it!" Luna said in desparation.
"Good-bye, Planeteers. Goodbye, Celestia. And good luck to you all." said Gaia as she waved. At that moment, Luna released her hold, and her horn faded. Ma-Ti's ring stopped glowing as Celestia rushed to her dear sister, and Gaia faded away.
"Luna, return to your chambers. You need your rest." Celestia told her. Luna, tired from the advanced scrying magics walked out of the room to go upstairs.
"Hey...." said Twilight. "How come Luna peters out in such a short time?"
"Well, scrying takes up a lot of magical energy; and even more when you're trying to observe across dimensions. I even planned for you to start next year. But I've been practicing it for millenia. Luna, being trapped on the moon for a thousand years, has not."
"I suppose that makes sense." Twilight said.
Celestia turned to the five elementalists. "I also have several questions for you Planeteers. You mentioned some Captain as your leader?"
Kwame spoke "Celestia, we explained most of this already to Twilight and her friends. But you have the right to know as well. Essentially, humans were a clever species. They built technologies that made living easier as the population exploded. But their means of production cut down a lot of our natural resources and left nothing but trash and wastes in its path. Gaia awoke from this pollution and summoned us to save the world with her powers and Captain Planet. "
"And who is this Captain Planet?" asked Celestia.
"Our ace in the hole." said Wheeler. "When a job gets too tough for us, or when the time is right, we combine our ring powers to summon a powerful superhero: Captain Planet. He always ends up finishing off the polluters in our missions. He also has a horn and wings in the world. Like you!"
"Can I see him?" Celestia asked.
"I don't think he can fit in this room, never mind summoning him." said Gi. "And I think he is bigger than you are, Princess." Celestia just looked up. The scrying chamber was small, and her horn was less than a foot away from touching the ceiling.
"Good point. And you told me he can be combined here despite not being on his home planet?"
"We do not know why that is." Ma-Ti added. "Once me and Wheeler were trapped in a rocket in space over Earth, but when the five of us attempted a summon, he combined all wrong and messed up his abilities."
"A rocket?" asked Pinkie Pie?
"It's a long story." Ma-Ti answered.
"I was just wondering something." said Rarity. "You try to make your cause sound noble but you destroy places of business and demand humans revert to a more primitive state?" Rarity shuddered at the thought of a sentient species living in dirt and without class.
"We're not eco-terrorists, Rare. We're Planeteers!" said Wheeler.
"What's the difference?" she replied.
"The difference bein' one's a job and the other's mental sickness!" the pyromancer said in disgust.
"Anyway , " Kwame restarted the conversation before Wheeler and Rarity could derail. ".....Not everyone is in favor of letting the factories and automobiles pollute while the owners got rich. We did gain allies and contacts from our adventures that helped us in our missions and led to beneficial developments. But we also gained enemies. We fought the same ones at least once a week for several years now. They all either wanted to ruin or beautiful planet in the pursuit of wealth, or worse: just because they felt like it."
"Felt like it?" asked Twilight.
"Some humans aren't looking for anything logical like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some people just want to watch the world burn. Granted, money does play a big role in it all, but eventually, we got foes that just want to wreck our environment for their amusement."
"And by humans we really mean a mutant rat and a chick with a nasty facial scar; but that's another story." Wheeler mentioned.
"Another thing......" Ma-Ti said. "We got lucky that we got sent here in between missions. Our enemies, the Eco-villians could be scheming a plot to burn down rain forests as we speak!"
Meanwhile, on Earth......................
On the penthouse of a tall building in New York City, 4 men gathered around a circular green velvet table. On one curve stood a thin man in a green suit and long, brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Next to his elbows were stacks and stacks of small plastic chips, a folded-up Hawaiian shirt, and a golden watch. To his left was an obese man with a olive green shirt and tie, a crew cut, and his face looked like a pig's. He had a few stacks of chips, but not as much as the first man. To his left was a small man-that really looked like a giant, mutated rat. He wore black robes and a scarlet red veil that barely covered his snout-like nose. He had a couple of short-stacked chips. Finally there was a hulking man that was at least seven feet tall and seemed to weigh at least 350 pounds. He was bald and was covered in some sort of skin that resembled yellow cake Uranium all over his body.
"Isn't this nice?" asked the green-suited man. "we should forget those dumb kids and get together more often."
"Hrm." muffled the rat-man as he held up his cards. "And I thought the scarf would give me an edge. I fold." he said putting them down.
"Speaking of the scarf", said the thin green man across from him. "Might I recommend a new wardrobe? You look like an Arab terrorist with that garb."
"I AM a terrorist, Looten." said the small man. "But I'm no Arab. Hell, I'm Jewish!"
"That explains the nose." whispered the giant to Looten.
"What was that?" asked the small robed man.
"Nothing."
"Let's continue." said Looten. Three cards were placed down: a two of hearts, a seven of spades and a two of clubs.
The other three men each placed a handful chips in the pot.
The next card was flipped over: a jack of clubs.
"Fold." said the fat man. "I knew we should've invited Babs."
"Aw, Greedly. You're just sore 'cause I'm about to win back my earnings." said the yellow giant.
The two remaining men each put a few more chips in the pot.
The river card was now flipped over: a four of clubs.
"All in." said the big yellow man as he pushed all his chips into the center of the table.
"Are you sure you want to do that? You can fold right now." replied the green-suited man.
The yellow hulk turned over his cards for his opponents to see: A queen of clubs and a six of clubs
"A flush! Beat that, Looten!" he cheered proudly. But as he leaned forward to grab the chips in the pot, his smile faded. His jaw suddenly dropped as he glanced at Looten Plunder's cards: A seven of diamonds and a seven of hearts!
"Full house, Dukey." Looten then took all his chips with a smug grin on his face.
"GOD DAMMIT! I HATE YOU!" He yelled as he repeatedly banged his head against the table. Looten, Greedly, and Skumm just laughed at his misery.
"The point ees is zat ve must return to Earth. Ve are needed zere." said Linka.
"And all of us will do our part do send you home." said Twilight.
"We'll be there for ya. And we'll stick together." said the loyal Rainbow Dash.
"And if those butt-ugly oil creeps come back, you know who to call." added Wheeler.
"Ghostbusters?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"Good luck My Little Ponies." said Celestia as the eleven elements walked out the door, back to Ponyville. For tomorrow, they would officially get used to life in Equestria. They could be here a while.
