Dawn of the Crusaders

Chapters

Prologue: The End of an Era
Chapter One: Ten Years Later
Chapter Two: The Grand City
Chapter Three: The Elements of Harmony
Chapter Four: Reunion
Chapter Five: Harmonious Magic
Chapter Six: The Way Back
Chapter Seven: Preparation

Prologue: The End of an Era

Not a glimpse of sunlight shone from the sky that day. Clouds blanketed the sky no matter where you looked. North, south, east, west, all that you could see was cloud cover and the rain that shot against the windows. Sweet Apple Acres was not functional in this downpour and the Apple Family was stuck in their little barn until the rain would subside.

“How could this happen? Ah thought Rainbow Dash cleaned up the sky just hours ago!” Applejack muttered. “There has to be something wrong. The pegasi would never let a stray storm loose, let along something this big!”

A voice squeaked from the corner. “Maybe something went wrong. Ah mean, if the pegasi would not have let this happen, there must be something wrong.”

“Maybe you’re right, Apple Bloom. I’m going to go out there and see what’s happening near town square. Big Mac, I want you to stay here with Granny Smith in case something happens.”

“Eeyup!” The large red stallion yelled, nodding his head in agreement.

“Apple Bloom, Babs said that she was coming today, so I want you to go pick her up at the train station. It’s not going to be a good day to play, but there’s always tomorrow.”

“Are you sure that we should be going out in this weather?” Apple Bloom looked outside in confusion. “Ah mean you never let me go out in the rain without you.”

“It’s going to be fine sugarcube. The rain isn’t too bad and you should be able to make it back before it gets too bad.”
“Alright then sis, whatever you say.” Apple Bloom muttered.

The two ponies galloped out the barn to their destinations. The rain wasn’t too bad, like Applejack said, but it seemed like it was getting worse by the minute. As Applejack disappeared in the rain, the storm strengthened and strengthened. Each step Apple Bloom made felt harder and harder. Despite the rain in her eyes and the wind pushing her back, Apple Bloom kept on going, knowing that Babs wouldn’t be safe if Apple Bloom did not come to escort her back to Sweet Apple Acres. The path was wet and muddy, the wind in her face, relentless, and the rain in her eyes, blinding to the point where Apple Bloom wanted to turn back and ask Big Macintosh to go for her.

“No, I can’t quit now. I’m almost to the train station and I’ve gone too far to turn back now.” Apple Bloom said to herself as she muscled herself through the rain and wind.

At the center of town, Applejack bolted to the marketplace, greeted by none other than Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her group, “The Mane Six”. Twilight Sparkle was rather preoccupied, as she was conjuring a spell that would help alleviate the current situation. Her horn glowed with a bright lavender aura as she pointed it towards the sky. Swirls of magic started rotating around her body, slowly moving towards the spectacle that is her charged horn within the darkness of the thunderstorm. Her face was scrunched up with her eyes closed and a strong focused look as she continued to draw energy in order to power up her spell.

“I hope this works.” Twilight hesitantly said as she prepared for her spell. The horn, fully charged, started glowing hot white. The aura surrounding her body stopped spiraling towards her horn as she was at full capacity. Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and released her spell. A large purple beam was shot out of her horn. Three purple shockwaves followed the laser as it rapidly ascended towards the unnaturally powerful storm. The beam hit the cloud cover and conflicted with the barrier, a barrier that normal clouds would not have.

“What? How? That’s not possible! Clouds can’t block magical blasts!” Twilight screamed in fear. The Mane six started doing everything they could to pierce the magical barrier. Pinkie Pie brought out her Party Cannon and pointed it towards the sky. Every shot she made, a birthday cake would be released from within the cannon and end up being disintegrated as soon as it hit the cloud cover. Rarity found as many of her precious jewels as she could and hurled each of them at the clouds in rapid fire succession. Although the idea was fantastic, it did not even put a scratch into the clouds. Applejack started finding rocks as fast as she could and started bucking them into the clouds. Needless to say, she was also unsuccessful.

“What are we supposed to do?” Applejack asked desperately. “There’s nothing we can do to stop this rain and the longer we wait, the worse it’s going to be!”

At the train station, Babs was crouched under a chained bench, scared for her life.

“Come to Ponyville during the summer they said. The weather never turns bad they said.” Babs muttered. “This is the worst storm I’ve ever seen! I hope Apple Bloom and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders are ok.” A scream could be heard in the distance.

“Babs! Babs!!” Apple Bloom yelled. “Where are you?”

“Apple Bloom! I’m right here! Underneath this bench!”

“Hurry up, I’ll fill you in along the way back to Sweet Apple Acres!”

The two fillies started their run back to Sweet Apple Acres. What they didn’t know was that they managed to take a wrong road on a random fork along the way back to Sweet Apple Acres. The longer they ran, the more tired they got, until the rain started to let up, just enough for the two to see where they were going.

“Wait.. This isn’t the way home.” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “This is the way to town square! Hey, let’s go see if Applejack can get us a place to hang out until the rain lets up a bit more before we head on home.”

“With this kinda rain, I think it would be better if we stopped halfway through rather than go through this stupid thing!”

At town square, all the pegasi’s efforts were useless. Even Rainbow Dash’s well known Sonic Rainboom would not even move the clouds, but rather making the rain even worse.

“Alright, let’s try this again.” Twilight muttered. “This time, let’s put a little bit of some Magic Barrier breaking magic into this blast.”

Twilight went into her casting stance again. Hooves spread apart, horn pointing towards the blackened sky, face scrunched up, eyes closed, and rain dripping all over her coat. Her horn started to glow once again, but this time, it glowed a deep purple. Magical aura started attracting towards the large collection of pure energy atop Twilight’s horn. As all of this was happening, Apple Bloom and Babs were getting closer to the light at the center of town.

“Hey look, there’s Applejack!” Babs yelled.

“Yeah, but I think we shouldn’t really go over there just yet, Babs! They could be doing something dangerous!”

The longer Twilight charged her horn, the brigher the aura became until it was a huge sphere of violet. She tilted her head until it was perpendicular to the ground. Readying to launch the beam, she gave a small sigh.

“Here we go..again..” Twilight muttered underneath her breath.

“Wait Babs! Let’s stop until Twilight does whatever magic she’s doing!” Apple Bloom yelled at the top of her lungs. Babs kept going while Apple Bloom halted to a screeching stop.

“Applejack! Wait!” Babs yelled.

“What? Babs?? Apple Bloom?? Get away now!!! Ya hear??”

“No! Not now! Babs, get away! Ahhh!!!” Twilight was knocked back by the shot. Her concentration was broken from Babs’s cry for Applejack. The “beam” that Twilight was attempting to create was shot out as more of a small condensed ball. The sparkle flew towards the cloud at lightning speed. The cloud was hit by the misfired spell. A violet barrier became visible and slowly started cracking as the ball impacted. The clouds started slowly dissipating. Twilight had saved Ponyville once again. What wasn’t expected was the direction that the ball went after the barrier had broke.

“No. Nonononono! Everyone run!!” Twilight screamed as the ball started shooting straight back at the Mane Six and Babs.
A flash of light appeared a split second after. The blinding light made it impossible to see more than a few inches away. Apple Bloom, despite being several blocks behind the explosion, was knocked back by the might of the misfired spell.

About fifteen minutes have passed since the explosion. Apple Bloom laid on the ground, still not able to see anything after how bright the explosion had been. She could hear some galloping in the distance, the sound of 8 hooves coming her way. It was too bright to see anything and it felt like her days were over.

“No.. Rarity..” A small voice squeaked.

“Rainbow Dash..” Another small voice squeaked.

“Apple Bloom, get up. Please.” The voice said again.

Apple Bloom started to be able to see once again. Above her she could see two ponies. Both were looking at her. Her vision was still too blurry to identify them, but she could tell who the pony on her left was by the white coat and pink and lavender mane. To her right, an orange pony with a wild purple mane-do.

“Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo. You’re here.” Apple Bloom said weakly.

“Yes.. but.. our sisters aren’t.” Sweetie Belle stuttered as she started to cry.

Apple Bloom started to rise up. Her eyesight started to become clear once again. She couldn’t believe her eyes. In the site of the explosion was a giant crater. No trace of any of the seven ponies remained. A beam of light descended upon Apple Bloom and her friends. The rain had stopped.

“Sis.. Babs.. why?” Apple Bloom choked. Tears started flowing down her cheek as she looked at the town square that was her sister’s last mission.. as the element of honesty.

Author's Note

So, this is my first fanfic and I'm not really good at Language Arts, so pardon any spelling and grammatical errors. Yeah, this scene was very heavily based on the prologue from Golden Sun and all that good stuff. I hope you enjoy the prologue! Hopefully I'll be able to make something like a chapter weekly.

Chapter One: Ten Years Later

[Ponyville]

The birds and animals started stirring as the light of Princess Celestia’s sun shone upon the land that we know as Ponyville. Doors swung open and ponies started to walk outside onto the morning dew to greet the rising sun. The deep red of the sunrise was an amazing sight, poking its rays above the mountains and casting an almost perfect glow upon the citizens of Ponyville. As Celestia rose the sun higher and higher, more and more ponies started to come out, ready to take on the day and show off their near-utopia to the Princess in Canterlot. Everywhere across Ponyville town square, ponies were conversing and slowly trekking to their destination, knowing that today is going to be a great day once again.

Three ponies in particular knew that today was not going to be just a normal day, but a spectacular one, a day that they would never forget. One of these three lived in the Northern edges of Ponyville. Apple Trees orchards covered the landscape and the ground was painted with the luscious green of the 24,567,237 blades of grass that grew on this land. This expansive apple farm was known as Sweet Apple Acres, the go-to place for the freshest apples and most delicious apple cider in all of Equestria. A bright red barn sat upon the only patch of land that was not covered by apple trees. All of Ponyville knew this very barn. It was once known as the home of good old honest Applejack, the best rodeo horse of all of Equestria and the most honest pony you will ever meet. Even after her untimely death, the apple business of Sweet Apple Acres stayed as strong as ever, thanks to the leadership of the estate’s new owner, Apple Bloom.

With Big Mac not as much of an apple bucker as he was ten years ago and Granny Smith being old as ever, Apple Bloom decided to take over the business alongside with her childhood friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. These three would always run around the orchards in the morning, helping to clear out the field of all of the ripe apples using Apple Bloom’s great expertise to choose which trees to harvest from and Sweetie Belle’s magic and Scootaloo’s flying skills to harvest them, just fast enough so that the three would have enough time to hang out during the day. Today was different however. Today was not going to be any ordinary day for the three Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Today was going to be the day that they would go visit Canterlot with their old schoolteacher and now mentor, Cheerilee. Cheerilee was more than most ponies would imagine. Despite living as a normal old schoolteacher, she managed to research and memorize the techniques of many different ancient artes that were hidden away from most of society. After the accident ten years ago, the Cutie Mark Crusaders went to Cheerilee for help and she ended up mentoring them in these ancient artes in case the time comes. This ancient magic was very commonly seen before the rise of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and was locked away after a select few would abuse it. Just as unicorns could wield powerful magic in today’s time, earth ponies and pegasi were able to use this kind of magic back then as well and now all three are only able to use just a sliver of the power that was scattered across the land, and now, Cheerilee was going to show the Cutie Mark Crusaders the origin of their tremendous power and show them how it was locked away for centuries.

“Ah can’t wait to see what Miss Cheerilee has in store for us! Ah mean, earth ponies having magic like unicorns? Who knew?” Apple Bloom said ecstatically. She had grown to be very similar to her late older sister. Just as tall and hanging her mane tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon. On her flank, she wore her new cutie mark, an apple and a paintbrush, in which she obtained just weeks after the accident at town square as she was depressed, trying to paint her problems away just as something to mess around with.

“It does seem interesting, although us unicorns are probably not as impressed, seeing how we already have magic at our disposal.” Sweetie Belle replied. She had also grown to be like Rarity, in both personality and appearance. After the accident, Sweetie Belle had to take over Carousel Boutique and look her best in order to please her customers. She eventually grew into it and even as she was about to go on a small adventure, she still had her sister’s signature blue eye shadow and long graceful eyelashes. Her mane is now much longer and dangling down on her side with curls galore. On her flank, she displayed her cutie mark as well, a black musical quarter note on a pink scale, to signify her long love of singing that she discovered at around the same time as Apple Bloom, again to mourn for the loss of her sister.

“Still, unicorns had even stronger magic back then. Who knows what we have in store for us? If we’re headed out for an entire day for just one place, it HAS to be good!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Scootaloo ended up looking more like Rainbow Dash, despite only acknowledging her as a sister rather than being a blood relating sister. Scootaloo also ended up growing out her mane and tail. While still sporting her signature curl on the front, her mane swooped down her neck and ended right before her wings. The bottom end of her mane ended with several spiked points, strongly resembling Rainbow Dash’s wild mane. Scootaloo’s tail looked almost exactly like Rainbow Dash’s, excluding the twenty percent cooler rainbow, but still sporting a very cool light purple. Her cutie mark was a purple butterfly, despite her attitude being nothing like Fluttershy, who also wore a butterfly cutie mark. Scootaloo got this mark long after Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle acquired theirs, as Scootaloo tried to perform her first trick while flying, something she slowly learned after the accident to show Rainbow Dash just how much she had grown. The first move Scootaloo pulled off was one of Rainbow Dash’s favorites and is now Scootaloo’s signature move: The Butterfly.

“Anyways, let’s go then! Ah don’t want to keep Miss Cheerilee waiting!” Apple Bloom cried. She was obviously the most excited about the trip, seeing how earth ponies were always known for not having any magic, not traditional horn magic, not even the magic to move weather.

“Ok Ok! Chill out, Apple Bloom. We’re almost done. Celestia, and I thought I was fast.” Scootaloo replied bluntly.

The three wore their saddle bags and prepared to leave for the Ponyville Library, which Spike now handles after Twilight’s death, and also the meeting spot for the trek.

“Bye, Big Mac! Bye, Granny! I’ll see you guys in a week!” Apple Bloom yelled right before rushing out of the door.

“Bye! Thank you for the stay!” The other two said before running to catch Apple Bloom.

The three galloped towards the library as fast as they can. Well.. only Apple Bloom actually wanted to. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were more trying to simply keep up. Within minutes, they dashed through the town and turned straight into the Library. It looked exactly the same as it had 10 years ago, just with a lack of a purple pony. Apple Bloom walked up, preparing to knock the door. Before she could get her hooves on it, the door opened up.

“Hey guys!” A small dragon answered. Spike, who had been living in the same library this entire time, did not change too much. Dragons tend not to age very quickly if they are very generous and not have the ordinary gem protecting lifestyle of normal dragons. Spike only grew about a foot since the accident and was more of a small kid than a baby now. “Come on in! Cheerilee is still lagging behind but she’s coming.” Spike said with his usual smile on his face.

The three ponies walked in the library. Just as how the outside looked exactly the same, the inside looked no different than ten years ago either. The only big difference was the bright orange glow that came from a perch on top of the door leading to another section of the library. The source of that glow was Spike’s old pet, Peewee, a phoenix that Spike had adopted after he had followed the rare dragon migration and saved its life from bully teenager dragons back when Twilight was still with him. Just as Spike was about to close the door, he noticed a cloud of dust headed his way. At the center, it seemed to be a pony, a redish-purple pony to be exact.

“I think that’s Cheerilee coming, guys!” Spike yelled with excitement.

“Where?” Apple Bloom yelled as she ran out to see if it was really her. “Ohmygosh! Miss Cheerilee’s here!”

The other two ran outside just in time to see Cheerilee slow down just at the library entrance.

“Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! It’s nice to see you girls again!” Cheerilee said with a smile across her face.

“Ah know, Ah’m sorry we didn’t have much time to meet up. You see.. Us three had to tend to all of Sweet Apple Acres after Big Mac was getting a bit rusty at the job and Sweetie Belle here had to take over Carousel Boutique.” Apple Bloom explained. “But it’s fine. So what do you have in store for us, Miss Cheerilee?”

“I think Apple Bloom probably the most excited out of all of us for this trip hehe” Sweetie Belle muttered under her breath.

“This may seem kind of overwhelming, but I’m going to take you all to Canterlot, more specifically to the sanctum of the Elements of Harmony!” Cheerilee explained.

“Why the elements, Miss Cheerilee? I thought they were made by Princess Celestia a thousand years ago, and the artes that you tell us about were used about 1,500 years ago.” Sweetie Belle asked. Despite being a pony of fashion, she was very fond of asking questions and learning many things, like Twilight was.

“Well girls, the Elements were actually created using the magic that I told you about. Some of this magic was abused and Princess Celestia called upon all of the citizens of ancient Equestria to lend her their powers in order to seal this threat using the Elements of Harmony. One of the most notable power abusing individuals is known today as King Sombra, the tyrant who enslaved the Crystal ponies, who was defeated by Spike right here.” Cheerilee lectured with great enthusiasm.

“Aww, it was nothing, just doing my job.” Spike replied with a small red blush across his face.

“Anyways, with Apple Bloom jittering like this, I think we should depart soon. You three agree?” Cheerilee asked.

“Yeah!” All three yelled.

“Then let’s go, to Canterlot!”

The four started galloping towards the Ponyville Train Station, hoping to catch the next train to Canterlot. Nearby the library, two ponies stopped walking as they heard the screams from the library.

“Hmm.. so they’re going to Canterlot..” The first pony muttered.

“Yes, and it looks like Cheerilee is going to show them the Elements of Harmony.” The second pony replied.

“Well.. This may be our lucky break…..”

Author's Note

First official chapter finally up! I was going to make the first chapter go into Canterlot as well, but it seemed like too much so yeah. I hope you guys enjoy it :D

Chapter Two: The Grand City

[Canterlot]

The train boarded on a bright purple platform just outside of the grand city of Canterlot. Ponies from far and wide departed the train in hopes of venturing the enormous metropolis. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Cheerilee stepped out of the train and took in an absolutely amazing sight. The tops of the surrounding mountains towered over the four little ponies. A wide array of pink and purple skyscrapers glowed upon entry of the royal city. The roads were paved with a solid grey cobblestone that extended throughout the length of the city. A huge diverse population flocked around the city. There were old ponies, young ponies, glamorous mares, stunning stallions; even one or two royal guards would be seen roaming the streets of Canterlot. The four were absolutely stunned at what the great city of Canterlot had to offer to them.

“Now girls, remember what we’re here for.” Cheerilee said in the hopes of reminding the three others the point of this trip.

“Ah remember, Miss Cheerilee! Let’s go!” Apple Bloom said with an enthusiastic hype in her voice.

The other two nodded in agreement before setting off to the Sanctum of the Elements of Harmony. They sped through the massive city in the hopes of finding where the sanctum was. The four ran into the center of town, looking out of place compared to the fairly dressed citizens of Canterlot trotting around the many small shops and vendors that were scattered around the streets.

“Look, over there!” Scootaloo yelled pointing towards a single tower to the east overlooking all of Canterlot. The four decided to head over there and see if it was the actual sanctum or not. The closer they got, the sparser the population was and the less intimidating the architecture became. Despite being surrounded by smaller houses, the giant tower still looked considerably large compared to the rest of Canterlot. It was a single tower, no smaller lookout towers and no protrusions of any kind. It shone in a magnificent magenta that made it easy to notice in comparison to the strongly used pink and purple color scheme within the majority of Canterlot. The doorway was adorned with two large gold arcs. In between the arcs it showed a dark background with small stars creating constellations along with a large white crescent moon, exactly the same as Princess Luna’s cutie mark. On the right, showed a bright sky blue background with white clouds scattered around the space. In the center stood a large sun, with a yellow center and orange protrusions, exactly the same as Princess Celestia’s cutie mark. Surrounding the massive structure stood a solid grey stone wall. At the center, a silver gate and a single guard stood. The four approached the guard, hoping to gain access.

“Hello mister, is it ok if I can go in and see th..” Cheerilee started.

“Sorry miss, only the Princess is allowed in the chamber.” The guard explained, interrupting Cheerilee mid-sentence.

“But it’s only for a small field trip. Do you think it’s possible to have just one exception?” Cheerilee asked further.

“I’m sorry, but no exceptions.” The four decided to turn back in disappointment.

“We went all this way just to see that we can’t get in. Darn.” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“What do you mean turn back? We’ll just find a way in there!” Apple Bloom replied.

“What?? Are you crazy, Apple Bloom??” Sweetie Belle yelled.

“Yeah, are you kidding me? We could get caught! Then Princess Celestia is going to do who knows what to us! Maybe even send us to the moon!” Scootaloo added.

“Honestly I would really like to go into that sanctum, despite it being against the rules.” Cheerilee replied.

“What? Miss Cheerilee? You want to go.. in the sanctum.. despite breaking the rules?” Sweetie Belle asked with confusion.

“Yes. I've always lived a slightly boring life as a schoolteacher. Although teaching was fairly fun, it just didn't have the spark of an actual adventure. Besides, going in might be the only way we can learn of such history!” Cheerilie explained with enthusiasm.

“Why does life have to be so ironic?! Our grade school teacher, the same one who always told us to follow the rules and never to break any wants to break one of the more reinforced rules of all of Canterlot.. just for information??” Sweetie Belle yelled.

“Yes, I understand that what I just said has contradicted everything that I have taught you in school, but this wealth of information could be just what we need to complete our studies!” Cheerilee exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both let out a sigh. “Ok, we’ll help, just for you and Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo answered.

“So how are we going to get inside?” Apple Bloom asked after staying silent throughout the argument.

“I.. kinda snuck into Twilight’s old spellbook room in the library a few times to study… then I found this one spell. It’s a group teleportation spell. Kinda like the teleportation spell that is taught in unicorn magic schools, only thing is, it teleports a maximum of five ponies and uses a lot more magic unless more than one unicorn is casting it in the group. I think I should be able to teleport all of us into the inner gates and hopefully into the tower as well!” Sweetie Belle told the group. “There’s just one problem.. I’m nowhere as good of a magic user as Twilight Sparkle, so I’m not sure I can handle it….”

“Ah sure you can do it, Sweetie Belle! You've mastered a lot of magic!” Apple Bloom explained.

“Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to at least try.” Scootaloo added.

“Alright guys. I’ll see what I can do.” Sweetie Belle said softly with a smile on her face.

The four decided to run around the streets of Canterlot until they were able to find another road that led to the tower, one that did not involve the guard being able to see them. They circled around a block of Canterlot’s gargantuan marketplace and ended up at the north wing of the tower, exactly to the far left of the original entrance. The four huddled in a tight circle, ready for the next step in their infiltration plan.

“Ok guys, here goes.” Sweetie Belle said with slight hesitation. She took a small step back from the three and closed her eyes. Her horn started glowing in a dull shade of green. Her face kept calm, despite being very nervous both by doing the group teleportation spell for the first time and for infiltrating forbidden ancient ruins. A bright aura started encircling Sweetie Belle’s horn and her face started scrunching up, focusing on the magnitude of this spell. Sweetie Belle pointed her horn towards the ground and touched the ground at the center of the group. On the ground, a small green dot appeared at where Sweetie Belle touched it and as time went on, it started pulsing rapidly. All of a sudden, a single green line shot out of the dot, ending at a point just outside of the circle that the four ponies made, then another line, and another. This continued until there was a total of 8 lines coming from that single point on the ground. At the end of the lines, more lines start shooting out, connecting all of the previously created lines and making a nearly perfect octagon. After the octagon was completed, the lines started pulsing, faster and faster with every second that passed.

“Here we go!” Sweetie Belle told the group with excitement. Boom. A small explosion of magic burst out from the center of the spell and dispelled as fast as it appeared. The four ponies could not believe it. Sweetie Belle’s group teleportation spell had worked! Sweetie Belle, now exhausted from using such a large amount of magic, smiled, despite breathing so heavily.

“You did it Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom whispered, remembering that this was a stealth mission.

“I knew you could do it!” Scootaloo added.

“Good job, Sweetie Belle! I’m proud of you, but there’s no time to waste. There’s a sanctum to explore and discoveries to be made.

The four quietly walked into the archway, not grabbing the attention of the standing guard a mere 10 or so meters away. It was merely luck that the giant golden doors were already cracked open, just wide enough for the four to barely squeeze in. As they entered the tower, they slowly closed the door behind them. The guard did not suspect a thing.

Chapter Three: The Elements of Harmony

[Element Sanctum]

The four ponies couldn’t believe their eyes. This old tower that stood in the center of Canterlot for several centuries was one of the most beautiful structures they have ever seen. The ceiling was equipped with an array of jewels, ranging from rubies to diamonds, shaping into a seemingly flat surface. Seven stained glass windows decorated the round walls of the round room. The window on the very left showed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flying around a draconeques, more than likely Discord. The next window clockwise showed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna on the left both firing a rainbow colored beam at the icy ground. The ground had been split apart by this and a large black unicorn with metal armor and a red cape and horn was shown falling through the hole. The next stained glass window showed Princess Celestia blasting who seemed to be Nightmare Moon. The next window showed the original “Mane Six”, or so they were called, firing a rainbow colored laser onto Nightmare Moon. The next showed the “Mane Six” once again, all lined up at the bottom shooting a rainbow beam at Discord. The next was showed the Canterlot Royal Wedding between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, which the Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were lucky enough to be able to attend. It showed Shining Armor and Princess Cadance connecting horns with a pink beam blasting the Changeling Queen, who Princess Celestia had called Chrysalis after that event due to Chrysalis trapping the Princess in a chrysalis during this event. There was a shockwave created by the beam shaped like a heart, showing the love between the two. The last window was a window of Spike holding up what seemed to be a crystal heart. There is also a large white shockwave and what seemed to be a red horn flying in the distance. The walls were consisted of pale pink bricks and large pale purple columns were scattered around the ground floor. The floor was decorated with different colored tiles, each decorated with a solid gold border. A collection of sky blue, deep purple, pure red, pure orange and forest green tiles were scattered around the floor. At the center of the building was a single lavender tile decorated with a six pointed star surrounded by six smaller white stars, also with six points apiece.

“Wow. This is amazing!” Sweetie Belle yelled. After disagreeing with the idea of sneaking into the tower, it was clear that she had now regretted arguing with the Cheerilee and Apple Bloom in the first place. The four stood in awe, almost forgetting their original mission. They ran around the giant room, looking around every pillar and under every window for any trace of the Elements of Harmony, a switch to show where they were, or even some etchings of what relationship the Elements had with the ancient magic. After about thirty minutes of looking, nothing was found. Every brick was sealed tightly into place, no secret buttons were found anywhere nearby, and even every tile seemed to be the same.. all except the one tile in the center.

“Maybe that tile with Twilight’s cutie mark will do something.” Apple Bloom suggested. She then started poking and prodding the tile, but it was to no avail.

“Despite all the readings, none of the books ever said anything about the inside of this tower, only what it looked like.” Cheerilee added. “Even if this tile was to cause something, what would it do? Would it send down a flight of stairs to lead us to the top of the tower, or is it a trap and it was made just so we thought we did the right thing but ended up being teleported straight to Princess Celestia herself?”

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Cheerilee started searching the room for clues, hoping that one of the bricks on the walls would have some description on how to activate the tile. Sweetie Belle decided to stay back at the tile and simply thought about it more carefully.

“Twilight was the element of magic..” Sweetie Belle thought aloud. “So maybe that means that the tile can be activated through magic!”

Sweetie Belle went along with her hypothesis and pointed her horn to the tile. A small spark shot from Sweetie Belle’s horn and a small green light followed afterwards. Her horn started to become engulfed in her own green magic as she concentrated all of her magic onto the tile. Exhausted from earlier, she was struggling with a simple levitation spell and even some sweat started to dampen her coat. “Boom!” A sound shot from above the four ponies. The jewel ceiling shook with every second that passed by. Then, the pillars started shaking just as violently. The pillar opposite of the entrance started changing colors, from the pale purple to a bright pink. At the base of the pillar, a magical explosion was unleashed, dissipating just as quickly as it started, revealing a small section of a rough diamond staircase. Another explosion happened just ahead of the stairs, revealing another portion of the staircase, then another explosion, and another! A chain of magically set explosions rocked the room and the four ponies were almost knocked off their feet. At the end of the rampage, a full spiraling staircase was built, made of roughly cut diamonds. The stairs led up to a large black hole, which seemed to lead into nothing. Despite not being able to see what was ahead of them, the four decided to go for it and explore.

“You did it again, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo cried in glee.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure I can handle that much more magic. I’m exhausted..” Sweetie Belle gasped with a smile on her face.

“Anyways, let’s go! Who knows what’ll be up there!” Apple Bloom yelled, still bouncing with enthusiasm.

The four climbed up the stairway, first Apple Bloom, then Scootaloo, then Sweetie Belle, then Cheerilee. One step at a time, the ponies ascended to the top of the giant tower. Every step they took, the more their hearts would beat in excitement. What was beyond the void? What will the elements hold? What kind of magic did the ancient ponies have? All of these questions were swimming through all of their minds as they climbed closer and closer to the top. After what seemed to be forever, Apple Bloom had finally set hoof on the highest step of the giant stairwell.

“This doesn’t seem like a hole, guys..” Apple Bloom started. “This seems more like a portal!”

“A portal? Interesting..” Cheerilee added, not being very helpful as she was so engrossed in finding the elements.

“I think we should go in. I’ll go in first to make sure it’s ok. If I get sucked in forcefully, don’t follow me, ok?” Scootaloo told everyone, forgetting that she even had wings and could fly up the stairwell in the first place. She jumped off the stairs and started slowly rising up. “Wish me luck!” She put her right foreleg into the portal first, not feeling any resistance whatsoever. “ I think it’s safe. I’m going in!”

Scootaloo jumped straight into the portal. The other three, speechless at Scootaloo’s bravery, decided to follow her and hope nothing would happen to them.

[Inner Element Sanctum]

The four popped out one at a time. Scootaloo spun out of balance and landed on her back after a few seconds of being airborne. The other three came through slowly, knowing that jumping through would mean bad things, as Scootaloo had just mentioned. The room they had just entered looked similar to the room that they just exited, except with a ceiling slightly higher than Princess Celestia herself. The walls were again pale pink brick and the floor consisting of sky blue, deep purple, pure red, pure orange, and forest green. In the center stood a small alter, just a tad shorter than the ponies were. The alter was a bright gold and shaped like a birdbath, except with a royal blue flat top rather than a cavity like normal birdbaths have. On this alter rested a blue treasure chest adorned with five smaller gems surrounding the chest, each gem sharing a different color of the floor, and a larger magenta gem on the top, similar to the tile that activated the staircase.

“Here it is guys. It’s the Elements of Harmony!” Apple Bloom yelled.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo ran towards the Elements with great joy. After all this trouble, they have finally reached the Elements of Harmony. The three looked at the treasure chest with great awe. In front of them stood the Elements of Harmony, the same elements that helped save the world many times over. They never bothered to look back, too busy examining every detail of the treasure chest and the altar.

“So… what now?” Scootaloo asked. “Miss Cheerilee, you were going to talk to us about the elements right?” Scootaloo asked.

No answer.

“Miss Cheerilee? Hello? You there?” Scootaloo asked again.

“Thanks for getting the Elements of Harmony from us, Cutie Mark Crybabies!” A familiar voice echoed across the room.

“That voice.. it can’t be!” Apple Bloom yelled.

The three turned around to see three other ponies surrounding Cheerilee. Two being familiar faces that they knew all too well.

Author's Note

Well, I'm learning FimFiction slowly but surely! If you got like 2 notifications for this chapter, sorry! I just found the save button after publishing and unpublishing to edit a typo then publishing again =_______= I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Four: Reunion

“No! Miss Cheerilee!” Apple Bloom yelled.

Cheerilee was surrounded by three ponies, all of whom looked around the same age as Apple Bloom herself. The pony to the front was no stranger. Her light pink coat and purple tiara cutie mark brought back horrible memories from elementary school. Her pale purple and white striped mane looped around the top of her head and fell in curls down to her chest. On top of her head, she wore her trademark blue and white tiara. It was none other than Diamond Tiara, the same pony who bullied the three Cutie Mark Crusaders throughout all of elementary school for being the last three ponies in the class to gain their cutie marks. To the left stood a gray pony with brilliant blue framed glasses and a well groomed silver braid as her manestyle. She wore an exquisite pearl necklace and had a cutie mark reminiscent of her name, a silver spoon. Another pony stood at the right of Diamond Tiara. A dark blue hooded cloak covered the majority of her body, showing almost no signs of the pony’s coat. A dark red mask covered her face, shielding her identity from the three. Nothing could be seen of her other than her hooves, which were unmistakably brown.

“Give Miss Cheerilee back!” Scootaloo yelled. She crouched down with wings stretched out, preparing to fight whenever she had the chance.

“Nuh uh, Scootapoo! One step forward and Miss Cheerilee is going to be wishing she had wings like you!” Diamond Tiara replied. She nodded her head slightly and Silver Spoon turned her back towards Cheerilee, preparing to kick her back down the portal in which they came.

“No, you wouldn’t!” Sweetie Belle yelled hesitantly.

“I won’t, if you hand over the Elements of Harmony!” Diamond Tiara suggested.

“Why do you need the Elements? How did you get in here in the first place?” Apple Bloom yelled.

“Why we need the elements is none of your business! And how did I get in? Well you could say thanks to your little unicorn friend right there.” Diamond Tiara explained. “You see, the group teleportation spell isn’t an instantaneous spell, but a continuous spell. Your teleportation was still open for a few seconds after you had casted it, giving us three the power to teleport using the small window that you created!”

Sweetie Belle flinched. “Then you just followed us through the tower?”

“You catch on quick...for a loser. Yes, we simply waited until you were up in the portal then we ran after you. We were actually hoping to catch all four of you at the altar and surprise you, but we were lucky enough for you to leave your little schoolteacher as a gift to us.” Diamond Tiara explained with a grin smile across her face. “So, the elements or else!”

“No, save the elements!” Cheerilee cried. “Forget about me!”

“Diamond Tiara, I don’t think they will give up the elements that easily.” The cloaked pony whispered.

“Well, why don’t you go take it from them?!” Diamond Tiara yelled.

The cloaked pony sighed. “Fine, as long as we don’t hurt Apple Bloom.”

“Who cares if she’s hurt!? What matters is that we get the elements!” Diamond Tiara yelled. “Now go!”

The cloaked pony walked up to the three. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were poised to defend anything that this pony would do, whether it would be magic or just brute strength. There was a minute of silence as the ponies had a miniature standoff. The cloaked pony acted first, charging recklessly to the left, trying to strike down the exhausted Sweetie Belle first. Scootaloo then dashed straight into the path of the cloaked pony, ramming her hoof into the mask of the cloaked pony and knocking her into the brick wall. She shook her head and stood up once more. Small red shards started falling from the right half of the mask. Piece by piece, more of the pony’s face had been revealed. She started charging once again, this time aiming for Apple Bloom. Scootaloo again started flying towards this cloaked pony, but she was ready this time. In a split second, the pony planted her front right leg into the ground and started spinning counter clockwise until she was facing directly away from the approaching threat. She then lifted her legs and, before Scootaloo could stop, kicked the Pegasus across the room. Scootaloo flew a great distance before landing on the floor and sliding back first on the tiles. While the pony wasn't looking, Apple Bloom ran up and planted her left hoof into the floor and spun exactly as the cloaked pony did. As the mystery pony turned, a yellow hoof was headed towards her face and there was no time to dodge it. The pony was launched back to the wall that she had hit before, but this time, more shards started falling off her mask. Bit by bit, more and more cracks starting appearing on her mask, mostly concentrated on the right eye. A large chunk then fell off the right eye portion of the mask, revealing a light brown coat and a bright green eye. Locks of red hair could be seen as well.

“No, it can’t be.” Apple Bloom muttered.

The pony ran right past Apple Bloom and whispered. “I’m sorry Apple Bloom, but I have no choice.” The mysterious pony turned and launched a devastating kick to Apple Bloom and sent her towards Diamond Tiara and the portal.

“No, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo yelled. She immediately jumped up from the floor and sprung into action, flying as fast as she could to catch Apple Bloom.

“Now’s our chance, Silver Spoon! Let’s go!” Diamond Tiara yelled. The three started running towards the Elements of Harmony while Apple Bloom was flying through the air. Apple Bloom bounced on the floor several times but did not slow down. Cheeriliee, who was trying to catch up to Diamond Tiara, ran into the bouncing earth pony and was sent rolling towards the portal as well. Scootaloo flew as fast as her wings could take her. She knew that even though she was no Rainbow Dash, she could make it if she just tried a little bit harder. The more she pushed herself, the closer she got to Apple Bloom and Cheerilee. The two stopped bouncing and slid across the tile for the rest of the 5 meters between them and the portal.

“Here’s my chance!” Scootaloo said as she started passing up the two. She flew directly in front of the two and turned around. She put her front hooves on Cheerilee’s back and her back hooves onto the floor. The three started to slow down, but were still headed closer to the portal. Scootaloo pushed harder on the tile, slowing the three even further. Inches away from the portal, they stood to a halt. Scootaloo, exhausted from that event, fell on her side, breathing heavily as she tried her best to recover from such an incident.

“At last, the Elements!” Diamond Tiara said with a wicked smile stretched across her face. She jumped up and grabbed the treasure chest containing the Elements of Harmony using her mouth. “Alright, we’ve done what we came to do, now let’s go!”

Diamond Tiara carefully placed the treasure chest in her saddlebag and started galloping towards the portal. Silver Spoon shortly followed and the brown pony shorly after. As they ran, the presence around the room shifted, having a totally different feeling. Sweetie Belle noticed this and was frozen in place by the change in atmosphere.

“What? What’s happening to me?” She knew that this was no ordinary effect, but a magical effect, which was the reason why only she could feel such a sensation flowing though her body. The alter itself started to glow bright gold, pulsing a white light that illuminated the entire room.

“See ya, losers!” Diamond Tiara yelled as she walked down the portal, followed by Silver Spoon and the brown cloaked pony.

The altar started pulsing faster with every second and the room started shaking violently. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both felt a short energy burst flow through them and got up immediately, as if they were never exhausted at all. Sweetie Belle moved forward, trying to resist the great forces at work that put her in the situation that she was in before.

“What’s going on??” Scootaloo asked.

“The elements have been removed from its resting spot. It’s a trap!” Cheerilee yelled.

The ceiling started to crack open with a strangely straight opening. The ceiling split into four equal parts, each rising slowly as the altar started to pulse faster and faster. Every tile started to glow in their respective color and beams of light shot out of them, headed towards the altar. The ceiling opened up, each part of the ceiling rising, as if it was connected by some sort of joint, until every point created by the splitting was pointing towards the sky. Dust and gems started raining down on the room, making it near impossible to stay in there.

“We’ve gotta get outta here!” Apple Bloom yelled franticly.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Sweetie Belle agreed.

The four galloped as fast as they could to the black void that led to the lower area of the sanctum and jumped into it without hesitation. The rest of the tower was feeling the same effects, with every tile shooting a beam of light into the center of the ceiling and violent shaking making the stairwell extremely hard to traverse.

“There’s no way we can make it in time!” Sweetie Belle yelled. “The longer we take, the more powerful the magic will be, and then we’ll be all destroyed!”

“So you got any suggestions??” Scootaloo asked.

An idea popped up. “This may not work, but it’s our only hope!” Sweetie Belle yelled. “Stop and huddle around me!” Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and started concentrating, hoping to cast the group teleportation spell once again despite being almost completely out of energy. She suddenly felt another huge surge of energy flow through her body and a large burst surrounded all four of the ponies. They opened their eyes once again and saw themselves standing on the cobblestone streets of the Canterlot marketplace.

[Canterlot]

The four looked around the area and were shocked at the amount of ponies that were roaming around. None. No pony was out in the usually bustling marketplace of Canterlot. It was eerily empty and the four knew exactly why. To the east, they can see the tower from where they came from, except it was glowing rapidly in different shades of colors, from blue to green to purple and more. A giant crowd was surrounding the tower, wondering what had happened. After a few seconds of watching, the top of the tower started glowing. A giant ball of light appeared coming from the room where the Elements of Harmony were located before Diamond Tiara had stolen them. The ball of light grew larger and larger. The citizens of Canterlot started retreating, knowing that an explosion was bound to happen sooner or later. The four took advantage of this chaos and headed closer towards the tower. The closer they got, the more magical energy Sweetie Belle could feel. Although it wasn’t to the scale as the energy that Sweetie Belle met in the element room, it was still enough for her to feel a drastic change in the atmosphere.

They decided to stop a block away, in order not to cause any suspicions. From here, they could see the royal guard members surrounding the tower, knowing that there was absolutely nothing that they could do to stop this explosion. The captain of the royal guard, Prince Shining Armor, was at the front of the gate, casting his well known barrier spell around the tower. Since it was used at such a small scale compared to the Canterlot Invasion, it was much stronger and almost impenetrable. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had come out to see what was happening to the Elements of Harmony. All of a sudden, there was a loud noise reminiscent of an explosion. A giant rainbow colored beam shot out of the top of the tower. The barrier that Shining Armor made was shattered instantly and the beam shot further, piercing the heavens. Small twinkles were seen exciting the opening and flowed with the wind until they dissipated in the air. The tower slowly began to stop pulsing and shaking, yet the beam continued to stream out of the opening. The sky around Canterlot changed color just as the tower did, from its normal blue to red, green, purple, and more. The clouds were nearly destroyed due to the shockwave of the beam and made an almost perfect circle shape, despite being torn to shreds.

“What’s happening?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“The Elements.. So that’s why! It wasn’t a trap after all!” Cheerilee muttered. “But when Twilight Sparkle and the others went to retrieve them, nothing happened.. So something like this would only happen if the wielders of the Elements have passed on...”

“So since Applejack and the others are…. not here… then the tower would act up like this?” Apple Bloom asked.

“At least that’s what I think, Apple Bloom.” Cheerilee replied.

“When the Elements of Harmony are removed and the wielders of the Elements at the current time are no longer on this world, then the magic that was contained in the Elements are unleashed, the magic that was used by ponies everywhere over one thousand and five hundred years ago.” A voice said behind them. The four turned around to see long white slender legs. They slowly looked up as they greeted with the stern face of Princess Celestia looking down on them with great anger.

“What? Ho-“ Cheerilee started.

“I know what you four did, and there will be severe consequences for you.” Princess Celestia said crossly. “Come, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Author's Note

Here's the part you've all been waiting for! I hope you guys like it!

Chapter Five: Harmonious Magic

[Canterlot Castle]

The four ponies were led through magnificent rooms, each differing in one small detail. The first room had several paintings of Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna. The next room showcased a grand display of crystal sculptures of Princess Celestia herself, each sculpture composed of a different gem from rubies to sapphires to emeralds. Even the statue of the embodiment of chaos, Discord, sat in the corner of the sculpture room. The next room had another display of art and the next room with another. Unfortunately, they did not have too much time to gander at these magnificent pieces of art as Princess Celestia and the guards quickened their pace on their way to the throne room. Princess Celestia walked at the front of the four ponies. A cold and intimidating look lay upon her eyes and her mouth almost froze in place in the same snarl she had when she first confronted these adventurous troublemakers. Her graceful body walked with uncharacteristically heavy steps that could be felt throughout the many rooms that they were walking through. To the right of Princess Celestia was Princess Luna. Unlike Princess Celestia, Luna had a much less intimidating face, but rather more of a worried face. Her eyes were constantly locked onto her feet and her head was slightly tilted downwards. Her mouth drooped down slightly and even through that dark blue coat, small circles could be seen underneath her eyelids. Every step she made was very soft and graceful. Every once in a while, she would look up to Princess Celestia then droop back down just as she had before. Surrounding the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Cheerilee were 8 guard ponies, 4 on each side. The front four shone a brilliant white coat and wore shining gold armor. Each of their armor sets had an opening on the side in order to let their wings out. Their blue manes stuck through the rectangular opening in their golden helmets, giving them a small Mohawk, which was essential in the Canterlot Royal Guard. The back four all had a stunning silver coat and also wore the official Canterlot Royal Guard uniform, blue mane and Mohawk and all. The only difference between their uniforms were that there were not any openings for wings, but rather one hole in the helmet in order to place the precious horn.

After a series of rooms, they finally stepped upon the throne room. Compared to the other rooms, this was much much larger. The room itself stretched across the same length of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, maybe even more. The grand lavender walls were studded with diamonds lined up neatly on the top and bottom trims. The same stained glass windows found in the tower were evenly placed along the walls. Beyond the windows Apple Bloom could see the black night sky and the full moon shining directly into the room. Blue tiles sparkled on the floor, each polished so well that a clear reflection can be seen on every single tile. White marble columns stood on the floor, rising up and touching the seemingly sky high ceiling. A long red carpet decorated the path to the giant throne that was at the end of the bright red road. With every step, Apple Bloom could feel the smooth silky carpet rubbing against her hooves. A cold air filled the room and made each step towards the throne just that much more intimidating. The look Princess Celestia had sent a large shock down Apple Bloom’s spine as she kept walking closer and closer to the giant throne that sat in the far side of the room. The monstrosity of a throne was a pure solid gold carved in a very cubic format. Each armrest had 6 gems engraved into it, one blue, one purple, lavender, red, orange, and green. The back of the chair had half of a sun and half of a moon carved onto it, the top half being the same sun found on Princess Celestia’s cutie mark and the bottom half being the full moon. Surrounding the shape were ancient carvings of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna circling the said sun-moon. Bright purple curtains flowed behind the throne ever so gracefully. The throne room was so beautiful in any way imaginable that Apple Bloom could not believe that she was coming here for a punishment.

The four ponies walked until they were a small distance away from the throne itself. Two Pegasus guards stopped and spread out their wings in unison, blocking the group from advancing any further. Princess Celestia slowly trotted up the small set of stairs that led to her throne. Her wings opened up with grace as she jumped up to her seat. She turned around slowly, finally facing the four for the first time since they started going towards the castle. Apple Bloom could finally see the full context of the goddess’s face. Her stirred and disrupted brow and glaring eyes showed no signs of the great peacekeeper who has watched over all of Equestria for the last millennium. Silence fell upon the room. Apple Bloom and her companions looked up in fear as they faced the ruler of Equestria face to face.

“Sweetie Belle!” Princess Celestia boomed. Her voice echoed across the entire room, louder than she had ever been seen yelling before.

“Y-yes, Princess?” Sweetie Belle replied with hesitation and nervousness. She looked Princess Celestia in the eye with her head drooped down and a large frown stretched across her face.

“You were the one who casted the group teleportation spell, correct?” Princess Celestia said with an obvious anger in her tone.

“Y-yes, Princess.” Sweetie Belle murmured. She looked as if she was going to cry at any second.

“And despite the guard’s warnings you did it anyway. Correct?” The Princess continued with her interrogation.

“Y-yes, Princess.” Sweetie Belle mumbled while choking up.

“I see.” The Princess replied. “You four have made a fatal mistake that can cause all of Equestria to fall.” The goddess walked down her seat and started pacing back and forth. “The tower of the Elements, the tower that you have disturbed, is the final resting place of the Elements of Harmony. After the holders of the elements were to pass away, the elements themselves are to be kept in a hidden location due to their unstable nature. The explosion from the tower is one of the powers that the elements have in store. The original reason for the creation of the elements was to contain the power that was once spread across the land. Ponies far and wide were able to use ancient magic that would seem like fantasy today if they have enough of any of the five main elements, with magic being an exception. For example, anypony who is extremely honest, good or evil, is able to cast spells that correspond with that element. This is the why we sealed it!” Princess Celestia started raising her voice. “We sealed it in order to stop something like the Crystal Empire from ever happening again! We did it to stop FILLIES like YOU from endangering the world and causing the end of all ponykind!!”

“Please calm down, my sister.” Princess Luna interrupted calmly.

“But the magic has escaped, the magic that plagued the world back then!” Princess Celestia screamed infuriatingly.

“My sister… please, let me handle this situation. I will tend to these four.” The dark blue alicorn suggested. “You should go rest as you have had a long day. Don’t worry, as always, I shall watch the night.”

Princess Celestia looked out the window, not noticed how much time had passed by. “Fine. Give these four what they deserve.” The once peaceful guardian of Equestria stomped away to the door in a very aggressive manner. With a small glint of her long alicorn horn, the doors to the room opened up and the goddess left the giant room. The doors glowed yellow once again and with a thundering slam, Apple Bloom and her friends were once again contained in this royal prison.

“I apologize for my sister’s…. rude behavior.” The ruler of the night started. “She has been like this since her faithful student passed on.”

Apple Bloom knew exactly what Princess Luna was referring to. The night that changed everyone’s life, even the ruler of Equestria’s.

“There was much more to that night than what you four had witnessed.” Princess Luna started

Apple Bloom looked up in surprise. “Do you mean there was something going on while this was happening, Princess?”

“No, not during. The cause of the accident is what I shall share with thee.” The Princess’s ancient Equestrian started coming back again for some reason. “Do you four remember how the day was beforehand?”

“It was really sunny and not a cloud in the sky was found.” Scootaloo answered. “The Pegasus weather reports said that there was not going to be any chance of rain that day.”

“Correct, young Scootaloo, and the cloud that Twilight fired her magic at. Magic of that caliber would dissipate the storm quite easily.” Luna went in more deeply.

“Yeah, but the magic bounced right off the clouds.” Sweetie Belle continued.

“Wait! So it was a cloud that nopony expected to appear and it wasn’t affected by Twilight’s magic?” Apple Bloom yelled with enthusiasm.

“You are correct, my little ponies. So, if you were to put the points together…” Luna started.

“Then it wasn’t a normal storm at all.” Scootaloo continued.

“It must’ve had some magic in it.” Sweetie Belle finished the statement.

“Indeed. The storm that happened that night was an unnatural phenomenon that was caused by a disturbance of magic.” The goddess of the night started explaining. “A magic that is stronger than what thy and Celestia can conjure. The only magic that is that much stronger is the power of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Wait, so the Elements of Harmony was what caused the storm?”

“Not just the Elements of Harmony, but disrupting them during one of two circumstances. Either when chaos is not eminent, or if the holders of the elements are no longer on this world.”

“So… Wait, so why didn’t we cause a storm to happen?” Cheerilee raised her voice after keeping quiet behind the three crusaders.

“Removing the Elements while the holders are still of this world causes unnatural events centered on one certain part of Equestria, in the last case it would be Ponyville. Removing the Elements after the holders have passed causes the once natural events of the entire world to start again, which would be the reappearance of Harmonious Magic, Spells that can be casted by anypony who has an embodiment of one of the six Elements of Harmony, whether that pony is using that harmony for good or evil.”

Princess Luna walked down the carpet and stopped halfway between the door and the throne. She turned around and faced towards the four in a regal pose. She spread out her wings as wide as the carpet itself. The end feathers of the wings started to glow bright red, one at a time. Small red clouds started appearing at her sides, one for each wing. The small clouds stared swirling with great velocity

“Behold the power of the Element of Loyalty.”

She flapped her wings forward with a small thrust, but what came out was nowhere near as natural as a normal pegasus’s flap. The swirling clouds shot towards the four ponies and opened up. What were once two spinning clouds now resembles a bright red crescent moon headed towards the crusaders and lightning fast speeds. Strong winds pushed Apple Bloom and her friends back, making it near impossible to dodge the attack effectively. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked with great fear in their eyes, knowing that this may be the last sight they ever see. Inches away from contact, Apple Bloom could feel the wind pushing upward. The red crescent shifted ever so slightly up, barely missing them. The attack slowly scattered into small red particles of magic, sprinkling all over the room. Apple Bloom and her friends were in total shock. Not only were they almost killed, but the magic that they had just witnessed was one of the strongest spells they have ever seen.

“I assume you are in shock of what you had just witnessed, am I not correct?” Luna asked, breaking the silence.

“So what you’re saying is, if this Harmonious Magic was still here when Twilight Sparkle and the rest were still alive, does that mean that Rainbow Dash would be able to do something like this?” Scootaloo replied.

“Actually, young Scootaloo, the holders of the Elements were already able to do feats like this on a much smaller scale.” Luna answered. “Take the famous Sonic Rainboom for example. It was once called impossible to do and was only seen in ancient lore. That is because this was one of the spells of Loyalty before the magic was locked away in the Elements of Harmony. Since Rainbow Dash was the holder of the Element of Loyalty, she had access to much weaker magic and was able to do the art. To be honest, the attack I just launched was a work in progress by Rainbow Dash herself. She was able to create the clouds and shoot the crescent, but was unable to keep it intact for long enough. With the Magic of Loyalty, I was able to do such a move successfully without much practice.”

“How is the magic released when you said it was locked inside the elements?” Sweetie Belle noticed. “If they were locked in the elements, they should not have come out in the first place.”

“Like I said before, the elements are fairly unstable after their respective owners have passed on.” Luna explained with a grim look on her face. “Although the magic is still sealed within the elements, some of it had leaked out during the explosion of the tower. As the elements stay intact, only the most pure embodiments of the Elements of Harmony are able to use this magic and I can only assume that the closest of kin to the actual elements are already naturally gifted enough to learn this type of magic.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged looks. The two ponies put on a small grin, already knowing the message behind Princess Luna’s words. Scootaloo looked down in slight jealousy. Despite being so close to Rainbow Dash and being treated as if she was her sister, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were in no way blood related, let alone being “the closest of kin”.

“I suppose you would want to know the true reason for my sister bringing you all the way up here.” Luna said quietly.

“You mean she didn’t want to punish us?” Scootaloo replied with fear in her voice.

“If I hadn’t taken her place, I would assume that she would have… but after all you have done in Canterlot and the threat you have put upon the world, do you supposed that some responsibility might have to be put on your shoulders?” Luna said softly, trying not to sound as demanding and fearful as her sister was earlier that night.

The three ponies looked at each other and smiled. Cheerilee stepped back and shook her head with an equally large smile on her face. Apple Bloom stepped forward. Her eyes striking with confidence and her mouth shaped into a small but noticeable grin. “Ah understand, Princess. We’ll get those elements back and stop the evil uses of Harmonious Magic.” Apple Bloom yelled.

Princess Luna closed her eyes and gave off a smile fit for a goddess. “Then you should get prepared. The longer you wait, the further those three other ponies get away.”

Apple Bloom flinched at the thought of this. “Umm… where exactly are they going?”

“Ah, yes.” Princess Luna started, noticing that she had forgotten to tell them how to start their quest in the first place. “My apologies for such forgetfulness, but I can only assume that they are going to destroy the Elements of Harmony.”

“What? Destroy them?” Sweetie Belle yelled in reaction.

“Yes, but they cannot be destroyed on their own. Despite looking fairly fragile, they cannot be destroyed by anything… except the core of the lighthouses where the Elements were created.”

“The lighthouses where they were created?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yes, each element was made in a different lighthouse. The elemental lighthouses were once the source of all of the magic of the world until Princess Celestia and I sealed the flow of magic from each lighthouse and compressed them into the small necklaces that you know of today. The only way to release that magic again is to throw it into the core and rekindle the magic that rested.” Princess Luna explained. “The closest lighthouse from Ponyville is located in the Crystal Empire, not too far north from Canterlot.”

“Do you mean The Crystal Empire that Twilight and rest saved from that King Sombra pony?” Apple Bloom blurted out.

Princess Luna sighed and looked down with sadness for a few seconds. She then looked back into the crusaders’ eyes with a false smile “Yes, the land that Twilight Sparkle and her friends saved.”

“Thank you, Princess. Ah guess we’d better get going now.” Apple Bloom yelled, noticing the time of night.

“Yes.” Princess Luna said calmly. “Retrieve the elements, and save the world, my little ponies.”

The four started to head out the door slowly. Apple Bloom lagged behind the rest, who were eager to return home and prepare.

“Princess Luna?” Apple Bloom asked one last time.

“Yes, Apple Bloom?”

“That pony with the mask at the tower.” Apple Bloom remembered the red lock of hair and the brown coat that she knew from back when she was a filly. “W-was she?”

“Yes, Apple Bloom.” Princess Luna said softly. “That pony… was your cousin, Babs.”

Author's Note

Schoolwork delayed this chapter by quite a long time, but here we go! I'm planning on making chapters longer now, maybe like 100-500 more every chapter if possible? I don't know, but I hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter Six: The Way Back

“Then why is she going with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? She knows that they’re bad!” Sweetie Belle followed up.

“I’m not sure, Sweetie Belle. I cannot sense the feelings of a pony unless they are dreaming about it but I can tell that Babs Seed is not asleep at the moment.. I’m sorry.” Luna answered.

Apple Bloom tilted her head downward. Her red mane dropped down and covered her face to prevent Princess from seeing the tears flowing down her face. “Thank you, Princess Luna.” She choked. The yellow earth pony turned around and slowly walked towards the other three ponies who were waiting for Apple Bloom near the door. As Apple Bloom walked past the giant blue door, it glowed with a dark blue aura. The whole room shook as the double doors slowly moved towards the center of the room. A small creaking sound was heard throughout the loud rumble. There was a large bang as the doors finally shut behind the ponies’ backs. The four moved in silence towards the exit of the castle.

[Canterlot]

The four came out after a long night in Canterlot Castle. The streets were dark and abandoned with the exception of the few clubs that were still open at this time at night. The bright pink and purple that was splashed across the town faded into a dark blue. A small chill ran through the mountain wind throughout the streets of Canterlot. The full moon shone just enough to light the many streets of the royal city. Atop one of the many towers of Canterlot is a large yellow clock. The numbers were written in black Romane Numerals. Each hand stretched across the size of a typical house in Ponyville. The minute hand slightly moved and hit the 12, overlapping with the hour hand. A chime shook the majority of Canterlot. Loud enough for everyone to hear, yet quiet enough to not cause an annoying racket to those who live near the towering clock. The four started their trek back to the Canterlot Train Station at the other side of town. Each step they took was followed by a clop, echoing as the sound bounced off the walls and buildings located around town. The stone path that was so warm and homelike in the day felt cold and uninviting in the dark depths of the night. After a long period of silence, Sweetie Belle broke the ice.

“Hey, Apple Bloom. You ok?”

Apple Bloom looked up for the first time since she asked Princess Luna. Her eyes were still soaked with the tears that she shed back at the castle after she had learned that her beloved cousin, Babs Seed, had joined forces with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to destroy the Elements of Harmony. After all they’ve been through, all their adventures looking for their Cutie Marks, even the adventure Apple Bloom had trying to stop Babs from joining Diamond Tiara’s group and becoming a big bully. She wiped her tears to confront Sweetie Belle and answer her question. Her eyes shimmered with the light of the lit moon. Tears still trickled down her face as she prepared to answer.

“Why would she try to help destroy the Elements of Harmony? Why would Babs Seed, my favorite cousin, try to kill me?”

Scootaloo flew back to Apple Bloom’s side and started walking at the same sluggish speed.

“I don’t know, Apple Bloom, but we’ve got a job to do.” Scootaloo paused, thinking of any strong words to cheer her up. “Right now, the fate of Equestria is in our hands. I’d hate to say this, but we can deal with Babs later. If she’s going to stop us from succeeding, she’s an enemy… for now at least. I really don’t want to fight her again either, but we’ll have to sooner or later, and who knows? Maybe she’ll notice her wrongdoings and stop, or even better join us!” Apple Bloom still retained the same sad face as before. “Look, Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo stopped in her tracks and pointed toward Apple Bloom, stopping her in her tracks. “What I’m trying to say is that even though Babs is bad now, it shouldn’t stop us from saving Equestria.”

“Ah, know it’s just..” Apple Bloom choked as she began to break down crying again. “Ah don’t want to fight mah own cousin. We’re family and..”

“And that’s why we should keep going.” Scootaloo interrupted. “You heard her at the element tower right? She said that she didn’t want to hurt you. There has to be some good still in her to defy Diamond Tiara like that.”

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo straight in the eyes. Tears rolled down her cheek constantly like a waterfall from Cloudsdale. She lifted her front right hoof and wiped of as many tears as she could. “Then why did she help Diamond Tiara if she knew that it would cause trouble?”

Sweetie Belle turned around and looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes. “I don’t know, Apple Bloom. I really don’t know, but I know that she’s not doing it for her own benefit. The way she fought, the places she attacked, the hesitation before each hit, everything showed that she did not want to fight you as much as you didn’t want to fight her.” Sweetie Belle stated her analysis with surprising accuracy. “I think that for now, we should all go home hang out before we on our quest, what do you say? It’ll take quite a while for Diamond Tiara to find the nearest train ride to the Crystal Empire.”

Apple Bloom sniffed a bit before smiling back at Sweetie Belle. Tears still flowed down, but much more subtly. “Ok, sure.”

Cheerilee looked back at her pupils. A small grin crept up her face as she watched just how much her former elementary school students have grown in what seemed like such a short period of time. She knew that despite how close they were and just how excited and anxious she was to go on such a long adventure, Cheerilee knew that even though The Cutie Mark Crusaders have just barely began their epic journey, the old schoolteacher, Cheerilee’s journey was going to end soon. At their young age, the crusaders are able to go far and wide without too much hindering them. At the age that she is now, Cheerilee would just slow them down and ultimately could cause them to lose track of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. A wind of nostalgia stroke her mane as she remembered the last few memories that she will have with her favorite three students before they will be separated until life decides to bring them back together again. She decided to keep silent as the four of them walked towards the Train Station at the end of the street. The train had arrived at the station just in time for the four to get on. Three earth ponies exited the train, all running as if they were late for a party in one of the few night clubs in Canterlot. Luckily for Cheerilee, the Ponyville Express was free after midnight and so she did not have to waste time to buy tickets for the other three. A large stallion stepped out of the train wearing a blue suit and wearing a conductor hat. The stallion opened the door for them and led them into an empty car. The chairs were small green beds so that ponies could sit in any way they wanted without any restriction whether it is laying down, or even sitting upright on their rear ends. Purple trims decorated the many windows on each side of the car and red curtains made it look very homelike. A dark purple carpet laid on the floor and a golden door showed the border between this car and the next.

“Enjoy the ride.” The conductor with a fake smile. It was obvious that he did not want to be working at this late, but at least he showed some consideration towards the passengers. He exited the car and closed the door behind him as he trotted towards the front of the train. The four laid down in separate beds, each adjacent to each other. They did not say a single word throughout the entire boarding sequence.

“Next stop, Ponyville!” A familiar voice said on the intercom. The train started moving, gaining momentum with every turn of its wheels. With every click of the wheel, their eyes got heavier and heavier. Next thing they knew, they were sound asleep on the path back to Ponyville.

[Ponyville]]

The four got off the train, yawning after just waking up from the one hour ride from the top of the majestic mountains of Canterlot back to the fertile lands of Ponyville. The moon still shone brightly across the area, making all the streets still fairly visible, despite the lack of street lamps in the area.

“Hey, Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo yawned. “Do you think we can sleep over at your house tonight? It is the closest after all.”

“Sure thing, Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom yawned in response. “Ah just want to go to bed.”

“Doesn’t everypony at this hour?” Sweetie Belle chuckled. The four let out a weak laugh.

“Well, I’m going back to my house for the night. I’ll see you three in the morning!” Cheerilee said with a delightful tune.

“Bye, Miss Cheerilee!” The three said in unison. The group split with Cheerilee headed back to the center of Ponyville and the other three headed towards the giant apple orchard that stood about a mile away from the train station. That night was going to be the last night that the three would have in Ponyville before the adventure that they would have to partake, as well as the last time they would be able to see everypony else.

“Y’Know, Ah’m gonna really miss Ponyville.” Apple Bloom said with a sigh.

“Yeah, me too, but at least we’ll be able to go to new places and the sort.” Scootaloo said optimistically.

Sweetie Belle walked in silence, being as curious as Rarity and as obsessed with magic as Twilight Sparkle did have its downsides. What kind of magic will she have? Will she be able to use that magic at all? If the harmonious magic is most likely going to be found in the closest sibling to the original beholder of the related element, then will she have the same gem based magic as Rarity? Will Apple Bloom have the same absurdly enormous strength as Applejack? Will Scootaloo have any magic at all since she isn’t related to Rainbow Dash by blood? What about Fluttershy’s magic? She doesn’t have any siblings after all. Would Pinkie Pie’s older sisters gain her magic even though they aren’t the most comedic ponies in the world? Would Shining Armor get Twilight Sparkle’s magic? So many questions to be answered and so many—

“Hey, earth to Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom yelled out, interrupting her thought sequence.

“Huh? What?” Sweetie Belle jumped back into real life and looked at her surroundings. Apple Trees flourished around her. Small garden were carefully placed around a giant red bard staring down at Sweetie Belle. Throughout the entire time she was pondering about the Harmonious Magic, she had walked all the way to Sweet Apple Acres without even noticing it. “Oh. Hehe.” Sweetie Belle let out a weak laugh.

“You’ve gotta stop spacing out randomly like that!” Scootloo scolded. “If you start not paying attention out there then we could all get killed!”

“I’m sorry! I just have so many questions about that Harmonious Magic stuff!” Sweetie Belle rebutted childishly.

“Girls!” Apple Bloom screamed. The Pegasus and unicorn both looked at the yellow earth pony. “We shouldn’t fight over something like this.” A tear fell out of Apple Bloom’s eye. “This is the last time that we’ll be able to spend time together with anyone in Ponyville, the last time that we’ll be able to play together like old times, maybe even the last time we’ll even see Ponyville!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other in sadness. “We should make tomorrow a good day to remember for the rest of our lives and enjoy everything that we have right now.”

“You’re right, Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo said to the earth pony. She turned and faced Sweetie Belle apologetically. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle…”

“Apology accepted.” Sweetie Belle answered. The three jumped together and wrapped their arms around each other. The last group hug that they’ll ever have in Ponyville until they come back. Apple Bloom let go first, with Scootaloo right after.

“Come on, you guys can sleep in my room tonight.” Apple Bloom suggested. The other two simple nodded their heads and followed in her footsteps. The earth pony slowly opened the giant barn door and the three went inside, closing the big red door behind them.

Author's Note

I think this is one of my weaker chapters and it didn't really hit my goal of 3k words, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. Next chapter is coming whenever this onslaught of genetics homework is beat down -.-

Chapter Seven: Preparation

The next morning came before they know it. A bright light uncovered the shroud of darkness that had blanketed Equestria for the last twelve hours. The lush apple orchard outside of Ponyville glowed in a bright green, complementing the red barn that sat in the middle of the orchard. A warm orange glow peeked through the cracks in the window blinds, illuminating one of the small rooms. A small ray of light shot right in between the eyes of the now half-asleep earth pony.

“All the way in Canterlot and Celestia still has perfect aim..” Apple Bloom mumbled. She grabbed her pillow in rage and covered her face, failing to notice how her two guests were already awake.

“You said you wanted one last good day before we are going to leave right?” Sweetie Belle said with an annoyed tone.

“Yeah, but five more minutes…” Apple Bloom sleepily moaned.

Sweetie Belle lifted her hoof and placed it atop her face as she sighed. “I can’t believe you sometimes, Apple Bloom. I’m going to get packed back at my place. You want to meet at Ponyville square at, let’s say, 8?”

“Yeah, sounds good!” Scootaloo yelled in enthusiasm, grinning from cheek to cheek.

“Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked, hoping that the sleeping pony wasn’t truly asleep.

“Yeah, yeah. 8 o’ clock, sure.” Apple Bloom waved her hoof signaling the other two to leave her room so that she could get that last few minutes of sleep.

The two ponies quietly trotted outside of the room, closing the door slowly. With the click of the knob, the two descended downstairs towards the exit of the barn. During the trek downstairs, a wonderous aroma spread throughout the house, with the exception of Apple Bloom’s room for some reason. At the bottom of the stairs, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo peeked into the kitchen to see a large scarlet colt stirring up a delicious meal of what seemed to be sunflowers and fried hay strips.

“I didn’t know you could cook, Big Mac!” Scootaloo said with excitement.

“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh replied with his signature form of agreement.

“Well, Scootaloo and I were going to go pack up and leave, but honestly, I would feel really bad if you were cooking that for us..” Sweetie Belle said with some guilt.

“It’s fine. I think that your journey is a bit more important than breakfast, ain’t that right?” Big Mac said. It was strange to hear him say anything other than “eeyup” or “nope”, let alone full sentences, but despite that, the two ponies nodded their heads in agreement. Sweetie Belle started to turn around. She looked back at Big Mac and waved her hoof.

“Goodbye, Big Mac. I’ll see you at the farewell party!” Sweetie Belle said with optimism.

“Eeyup!” Big Mac replied, once again using his signature phrase.

The two ponies cracked open the large barn door and stepped outside. The orange glow of the sunrise beamed onto the unicorn’s eyes. Sweetie Belle squinted to look at the amazing work of Princess Celestia. Scootaloo, being a Pegasus, was immune to most weather effects, including the glare of the sun, even though it wasn’t technically a weather effect. The two looked at each other and nodded their heads as if they knew what the other was going to say.

“So 8 o’ clock then?” Sweetie Belle reminded Scootaloo.

“Yep, 8 o’clock!” Scootaloo replied with a large smile. Sweetie belle merely nodded at this and started galloping towards the road to Carousel Boutique as quickly as she could. Scootaloo spread her wings out and looked towards Rainbow Dash’s old house in the sky. She brought her wings down with thunderous speed as she started dashing towards the cloud shaped house in the sky.

[Carousel Boutique]
The purple door opened, letting a small beam of sunlight into the dimly lit room. The white unicorn peeked in to make sure that everything still stayed exactly where she had put them last, and in fact, everything was still intact. The light purple tiles didn’t have a single scratch on it and the royal purple curtains were still in a perfectly folded fashion. The many “works in progress” that Rarity had started still sat upon the same mannequins that they have been sitting on for the last 10 years. Most of the plain mannequins have been moved to the back and were replaced with music sheets and equipment. A microphone stood at the center of the room along with a giant pile of sheet music and unfinished songs, just the same way that Sweetie Belle had placed them. The organized chaos was complemented by a large amount of music equipment on the right side of the former store, all hooked up to a white laptop, one made by a distant member of the Apple family to be exact. Speakers and a keyboard cluttered the bright pink desk where the laptop was sitting on, and a pile of black wires wrapped around the stool and would trap anyone who did not know how to effectively navigate through that maze of equipment.

Near the windows stood Sweetie Belle’s lesser skill, the ability to be at least somewhat like her sister and have some sort of fashion sense. Four mannequins stood with one on each window. The one on the very left had a simple black dress, perfect for just about anything really. The next one to the right wore a bright pink hoodie with the letters “SB” printed in an elaborate bubble-cursive hybrid on it, obviously a product of Sweetie Belle being a musical star in Ponyville after all. The next one had on a dark purple cloak. It was fairly simple compared to the others, being just a cloak and nothing else. No designs, no gems, no embroidery, nothing at all. Despite being very bland, the cloak was known to be Sweetie Belle’s favorite form of clothing and she would wear it whenever she wanted to go out to the market or someplace that wasn’t a concert or some sort. The fourth mannequin was completely naked. Nothing was on it and no designs were drawn on its body. Sweetie Belle had no designs for this last one and she didn’t really want a fourth design in the first place. The unicorn slowly walked up to the cloak, despite how badly it looked compared to the other two designs.

“For an adventure, I think this one would be the best. Even though it is kinda dark… Maybe we’ll explore caves and this cloak will make it harder for anypony else to see me!” Sweetie Belle said to herself. Her horn started glowing in an olive green as the cloak started getting engulfed by the same color aura. In the flash of an eye, the cloak exploded in a shockwave of magic and instantly appeared on Sweetie Belle’s body. Her face brightened with the fact that she could now wear this whenever she wanted and not only when she had to go undercover. She turned around and picked up her saddlebag from the center of the room. Inside the saddlebag stored the essentials, rationed food, water, apples, and emergency winter gear. At the bottom of the bag was a large red fire ruby in the shape of a heart. This ruby was Spike’s present to Rarity before he went on his first rampage, a day that Ponyville would never forget. This gem was one of Rarity’s most prized possessions and the only gem that Rarity would never ever use on anything. A tear fell out of Sweetie Belle’s eye as she remembered the events of that faithful night.

[Cloudsdale]

An orange blur shot out of the white fluffy clouds, not stopping for anything except the thought to be back at home after such a long and life changing day. A bright blue stretched across the sky, only obscured by the few clouds that manage to float away from the reach of the squad of pegasi overlooking that area. The constant sound of flapping wings muffled the chatter of the many ponies flying around the center square of Cloudsdale. Every once in a while, a puff would pop out of a cloud, revealing a Pegasus who had just returned home after a good day’s work down on ground level. A large fountain sat in the center of Cloudsdale, shooting a stream of Cloudsdale’s famous Rainbow water.

The houses around Cloudsdale were all unique, but composed of the same material, condensed clouds. A sea of cloud houses covered almost every square inch of Cloudsdale. Rounded cubes, spheres, even fairly abstract houses were scattered around, each personalized to the owner’s liking. Rainbow waterfalls spewed out of some houses, giving a slight tint of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple onto the plain white clouds. Despite the giant flurry of wonderful cloud houses covering most of Cloudsdale, a larger house stood in the background. Scootaloo looked straight to that house and instantly launched herself towards it. The closer she got, the more she could see. A pathway of cirrus clouds led from the metropolis of Cloudsdale to this house in the outskirs. Large arcs decorated the doors and windows, giving it a look that could only be described as “cooler” than the other houses. Two rainbow waterfalls streamed down the far left and right sides of the house, topped off by a larger rainbow shot off the dome atop the third floor. With every floor, there were columns that seemed like they were from ancient Equestria.

With this many rainbows, Scootaloo instantly knew whose house this was. She instantly shot herself towards the wooden door, the only flaw with an almost perfect cloud house. A loud creak echoed across the empty house as Scootaloo took her first step in the dark room. Despite the only light source being a beam of light emanating from the hole in the dome, the atrium of the house was fairly bright. A rainbow carpet led from the door to the center of the large atrium. A spiral staircase stood where the carpet had ended, leading up to the bedroom. The walls were plain clouds with not even a slight tint on them. Two more rainbow waterfalls were flowing down the fluffy cloud walls down to a pool of swirling colors. Scootaloo flew up the stairs and onto the second floor, which was also just as majestic. The entire floor was basically a bedroom, with a small bed in the back with a cloud-like design covered with sheets the color of the sky. Cloud furniture lay scattered around the room without any real pattern. Unlike the barren walls of the first floor, the second floor was almost entirely covered in posters. One had Daring Do swinging across a river filled with crocodiles using only her trusty whip. Another showed a minimalistic portrait of the original Wonderbolts from ten years ago. The biggest poster happened to be of the owner of the house itself wearing her very own Wonderbolts costume. With a rainbow mane and tail, everypony in Equestria was able to immediately notice the second in command of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash.

A tear started rolling down Scootaloo’s neck as she looked at the poster of her adopted sister. She turned around, going back to what she was originally here for. She caught a glimpse of it in her eye and flew straight towards the nightstand without hesitation of causing any damage. On top was Rainbow Dash’s most prized possession, her “Lead Pony” badge from the Wonderbolts Academy. Alongside it was a golden chain, making this badge of merit into more of a necklace. Despite Rainbow Dash disliking the majority of jewelry, she thought of this as an exception as it was pretty cool, according to her standards anyways. Scootaloo grabbed the necklace and wrapped it around her neck, hooking the chain at the end. Just as she had expected, it was a perfect fit, seeing how Scootaloo would be the same size as Rainbow Dash now.

The orange Pegasus walked to the window and looked into the bright blue sky. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. I’ll stop those three ponies. They don’t call me “Little Dashie” for nothing right?” Scootaloo started to tear up, remembering her older sister and the events of that rainy day in Ponyville. “I miss you, sister. I’ll do anything to get you back.” Scootaloo jumped out the window with great velocity. As soon as she got to the apex of her jump, she pointed downwards and nosedived back to the ground, tears flying out of her eyes.

[Sweet Apple Acres]

The further the sun came up, the brighter the room became and the agitated Apple Bloom became. She covered her face with the blanket, only relieving the bright fury of the morning sun by just a bit. In the background, the loud crow a rooster echoed throughout the field. Not looking even close to fatigued at all, Apple Bloom exploded into action.

“Rise and Shine, Ponyville!” The yellow pony yelled at the top of her lungs. She instantly dashed into her bathroom and started getting prepared for the day ahead of her. Just as fast as she cleaned up, Apple Bloom ran down the stairs without a care in the world, smelling the delicious sunflowers and hay strips that lay on the breakfast table. Unlike most mornings, a certain red stallion was not sitting on the table, ready to talk to Apple Bloom before she would start her morning farm duties. Instead, there lay a note, written in horrendous yet legible mouthwriting. The many scratches and lines that were plotted around the paper made it fairly hard to decipher, but the yellow filly could distinguish every letter that was written on the piece of paper.

Good morning Apple Bloom,
Since you’re going to be out enjoying yourself for today, I have decided to take on the farmwork myself. Don’t worry about me. Even though I may be rusty, it’ll take more than a few apple trees to take me down. Breakfast is on the table, and if you need to talk to me about anything, I’ll be starting in the northern apple orchard.

Love you, sis.
Big Mcintosh

Apple Bloom sat down on the chair, staring at the delicious breakfast that Big Mac had made for her. The delectable hay strips let out an amazingly savory aroma into the air and even the sight of them made her mouth water, but despite this, Apple Bloom could not help but think about the pony who would help Big Mac every morning. The thought of Applejack and the events of that eventful night could not leave her mind, no matter how much she tried to forget about it. The cracking sound of the thunder and the screams of all the residents of Ponyville would still haunt her every once in a while. Strangely, it was caused by something as simple as breakfast. Not thinking too much about it, Apple Bloom wiped the tears off her face and stuffed a hay strip into her mouth. It was seasoned to perfection and made exactly the way that Apple Bloom loved it, with a pinch of brown sugar to give the usually salty hay strips a slight sweet zing to it. The sunflowers were picked straight from the garden, planted just the right way in order to give it enough taste to be eaten alone, yet just bland enough to help compliment the taste of the hay strips.

After finishing the dish, she jumped out of the chair and started treading back towards the stairs. In the corner of her eye, she saw a bright orange book on the countertop. She recognized it immediately. Being one of the few books within the Apple barn, she instantly knew that the orange book was the family cookbook. Apple Bloom was never a really good cook, depending more on others to cook for her, so she never had a reason to look in the cookbook, let alone read it thoroughly. She walked to the book and opened it up, not knowing what to expect. Every page was crusty and old, being the cookbook that was supposed to be passed on from generation to generation. On top of each page was the name of the dish followed by the creator of the dish. Every page was handwritten and had many different kinds of dishes that the family would eat every once in a while, like the famous Apple family Apple Fritters or Granny Smith’s Zap Apple Jam. Recipes were scattered throughout the book, spanning dozens of pages, but there was an end to all of it. Halfway through the book, a blank page stood staring at Apple Bloom. Unlike the rest of the book, the later pages were new and smooth, yet still blank. Nothing was on it and looking through the usual Apple Family meals, there was no intention to continue the book for now. Apple Bloom decided to flip back to the most recent recipe, just to see the last addition to the Apple Family tradition. The yellow filly widened her eyes at the sight of the last written page. The writing on it was a style that she had known all too well. Unlike the majority of the family, this recipe was written very neatly. Every letter was legible and every letter had a shape that Apple Bloom had known for all her life. “Hay strips and freshly bloomed sunflowers” was written on the top, the exact breakfast that she had eaten just a few minutes ago. The recipe had everything to make this simple breakfast into an extraordinary meal. Fresh sunflowers picked at 7:00 in the morning and hay strips grilled for exactly 5 minutes in order to keep its taste. The recipe book said it all, but what surprised Apple Bloom wasn’t the fact that Big Mac had used the newest addition to the recipe book, but the name at the message at the bottom of the book.

“This is an Apple family regular that I started myself. The great balance of the hay strips and sunflowers make it nearly the perfect breakfast for any occasion. It’s really simple compared to the other Apple family recipes, yet still just as good. The best way to serve this is to your little sister just before she is going on a trip just to let her remember that you’ll always be back at home waiting for her. Apple Bloom, if you’re reading this, I’ll be here waiting for you, have a great day! –Applejack”

A single tear fell off Apple Bloom’s face. The trickling drop of water splattered on the floor, breaking the silence with a quiet pat. She gently wiped her face with her right hoof, alleviating her of the pain that she had kept locked away all these years. Her eyes scrunched up from the earlier sad and mourning look. She knew what she had to do. The yellow filly turned her head towards the kitchen window, staring into the sky as if Applejack was there herself.

“Don’t worry sis, I’m gonna bring back those elements if that’s the last thing I do. I wasn’t able to protect you earlier, but at least I can protect the world.” Apple Bloom reached over to a coatstand and grabbed the last piece of clothing sitting on it, a yellow scarf. “Do you remember this scarf, big sis? You gave it to me when I was a little filly. You told me that if I was ever scared and you weren’t there with me, just wear this scarf and you would be by my side, not physically, but in spirit. I hope you’ll watch over me throughout my journey, and don’t worry, I’ll have a wonderful day.” Apple Bloom twirled the scarf around her neck as if it were a lasso, fitting snugly as if she had practiced that move many times. She closed her eyes and tilted her head downward. “I miss you, Applejack.” Apple Bloom mumbled. She slowly walked towards the door, knowing that this is going to be the last time that she would see her house until the quest was fulfilled. Trying not to think about it too much, she opened the knob and ran out the door, leaving it open.

[Ponyville Square]

A loud ring echoed throughout the entirety of Ponyville, emanating from the giant clock that looked over the small town. The marketplace surrounding the square was just as bustling as ever, with everypony rummaging around to buy their respective groceries on their day off. From the west, a white unicorn bumped through the crowd, hoping to get to the center in time to meet her two other friends. She knew that she was already fairly late and she could not waste another second leaving the other two to worry about her whereabouts. At the same time, an orange blur shot down from the sky, causing many ponies to look up and see the spectacle that came down from Cloudsdale. Some were whispering about how they remembered when Rainbow Dash would do the same thing while others were whooping and cheering for her speedy performance as she descended from the skies.

“Scootaloo!” The white unicorn yelled. Sweetie Belle ran over towards the calculated impact site of the orange blur, knowing that this was her old Pegasus friend just from the color of the moving smudge in the sky. The orange pegasus steered as hard as she could towards Sweetie Belle, hoping to make a perfect landing in front of one of her biggest supporters. Just as she approached the ground, she extended all four of her feet and stopped flapping her wings. The orange pegasus slid a few feet after impact, but still ended up right in front of Sweetie Belle.

“Still not a perfect landing...” Scootaloo sighed with frustration.

“Well at least you landed, you dodo!” Sweetie Belle joked. The two giggled for a full 10 seconds before realizing that their third member was still not here.

“Where’s Apple Bloom? And here I thought I was late…” Sweetie Belle said, annoyed at the fact that Apple Bloom is once again late. Just as she finished that statement, Scootaloo noticed a struggling grunt over the engaging conversations that surrounded the square. The two looked behind them just to notice Apple Bloom barely squeezing through the dense crowd with difficulty.

“Hey, girls…” Apple Bloom gasped as she finally made it through the giant crowd surrounding the market. Just as Apple Bloom opened her mouth, a shriek pierced the peaceful landscape.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, guys! I had like no free time at all for the last 4 weeks and my entire Spring Break was spent playing Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, so yeah T.T I hope you guys still like it and thanks for reading!