Chapters The Element of Corruption
Chapter I: The Extra Element
Twilight Sparkle and her friends were sitting in the park, waiting for their beloved Princess Celestia to arrive.
As the princess' chariot landed, the six ponies kneeled down to welcome her.
"Hello, Princess." Twilight said. "Welcome back to Ponyville."
"Hello, my little ponies. I have another task for you." Princess Celestia said. The other ponies stood back up.
"What do you need us to do Princess?" Rarity said.
"I need you six to go inside the Everfree Forest and retrieve an ancient relic called the Elemental Stone with your Elements of Harmony." One of her guards pulled a map out of her chariot and she pointed to a spot. "It's inside some ancient ruins over here."
"Alright, Princess. We'll leave right away."
"I'm sorry to be a bother," Princess Celestia said, "It's just that I've become extremely busy lately and haven't had time to retrieve the stone myself."
"It's no problem." Twilight said, "We'd be honoured to go get the Elemental Stone for you."
Celestia smiled, and then left on her chariot.
A few hours later, Twilight and her friends were walking along an empty dirt path through the Everfree Forest, cheerfully singing along with Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie stopped and opened her saddlebag. "Anyone want a sandwich?" she said cheerfully.
"What's on it, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Err..." She took a look at them. "Salad."
"Oh yes please!" she said.
Pinkie handed them all a sandwich, except for Applejack.
"Sorry Pinkie. Ahm allergic to tomatoes." she said. "Ah start sneezin' real bad."
They soon arrived at the remains of some sort of temple. It was made of crumbling stone, and was covered in overgrown vines. Inside, was a large boulder. "Alright girls, the Elemental Stone should be inside this boulder. It's time to put on your elements." Twilight said, and the others all put on their necklaces.
Rainbow Dash-Loyalty Pinkie Pie-Laughter Rarity-Generosity Applejack-Honesty Fluttershy-Kindness Twilight Sparkle-Magic
Twilight put on her tiara and cast a spell. A rainbow formed and connected all of the elements together, and then shot at the rock. It split in half in a colourful explosion and both pieces fell to the ground in a cloud of smoke. Once the smoke had cleared, the girls took a look inside and saw a beautiful object. It was a rock, which was encrusted with all sorts of jewels and diamonds. Twilight brought it over to them with her magic. She then cast a spell, which sent the Elements of Harmony back to the library for safe keeping.
"It's gorgeous!" Rarity said. "So many jewels."
"It is pretty..." Fluttershy said quietly as they all stared at it.
While the others were busy staring at the stone, Applejack noticed something around the back. There was some sort of room, which radiated an orange glow. She felt attracted to it, like she wanted to see what was back there. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she drifted towards the glow.
She felt like she was floating as she got closer, dying to know what was back there. She went in, and was quite confused by what she saw. The glow was coming from a familiar object, which was sitting on the cold stone floor. It was her Element of Honesty necklace.
"It's... my element." she said to herself. "But how'd it get over here? Twilight sent 'em back to the library."
She picked it up and examined it. It looked like her element. She went to put it around her neck, but hesitated for a moment. She put it on and she felt a rush of adrenaline, which made her slightly lightheaded. She stumbled to the left, but then regained her balance. She returned to the others, who were still looking at the stone.
"Come on ponies. We have ta get back home, remember?" she said, snapping them out of their trance.
"Oh yeah, right." Rainbow Dash said as she blinked a few times.
Twilight noticed Applejacks necklace. "Hey Applejack. Where'd you get that from?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well I guess I'll just try and send it back to the library again. Hold still." Her horn began to glow again, but Applejack galloped out of the way.
"No!" Applejack yelled. "Ah mean, err... Mind if ah hold on to it, just for a little?" She wasn't sure why she yelled, or why she wanted it so badly.
"Umm, sure. I guess so." Twilight said, shrugging her shoulders.
They then began their journey home. Applejack was silent the whole way, even when they were all singing.
"What's up with AJ?" Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight. "She's being really quiet."
"I don't know. She's been acting kind of weird."
When they arrived home, Twilight asked her for the necklace again, but Applejack once again refused to give it back.
"Can ah hang on to it? Just for a little bit longer?" she asked.
"Uhh, okay." Twilight hesitated. "Remember to keep an eye on it at all times. Who knows what would happen if you lost it."
That night, Twilight and Spike were at home in the library.
"Why wouldn't she want to give her element back to me?"
"I don't know." Spike moaned as he rolled over in his bed, trying to block out the sound if Twilight's voice as he tried to sleep.
Twilight walked over to the chest that had the Elements of Harmony inside and opened it. She was a little confused.
"Hang on a sec! All six elements are in here!" she said. "But... then what does Applejack have?"
"Ugh. Go to sleep!" Spike exclaimed.
"Okay," she yawned. "I'll check it out in the morning."
"It feels so... weird." Applejack said to herself as she stared at Luna's moon from her bedroom window. She put a hoof up against her necklace. "Ah wanna keep it." She stomped her hoof back down. "She can't have it!"
The Element of Corruption
Chapter II: Acting Differently
Applejack was dreaming. In the dream, she was galloping through an endless field of grass, for no apparent reason. She could hear her heart beating wildly. She looked back at where she had come from. The grass just went on forever.
Suddenly, she woke up and realised that the beat of her heart was just somepony knocking on her bedroom door. She looked down and saw that the Element of Honesty was still around her neck.
"Err... Come in." she said.
Twilight opened the door and walked in. "Applejack, we need to talk."
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"So you found it in the back of the temple thing?" Twilight said.
"Yeah, ah found it when you were all distracted by the Elemental Stone."
Twilight studied the necklace.
"Can I take it back to the library with me, so I can-"
"No!" Applejack exclaimed. "I mean, umm, if this isn't the real Element of Honesty, then what's the problem?"
"That is the problem! There can't be two Elements of Harmony, we don't know where it came from!"
Twilight went to take the necklace off her, but Applejack pushed her hoof away.
"I want to keep it!" she said.
Twilight shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, okay." She went to leave. "Just... let me know if anything happens."
Applejack looked out the window and watched suspiciously as Twilight walked away.
"What are you up to?"
Applejack walked through the town, trying to avoid walking near other ponies. She was afraid that they would try and take her from her for some reason. If she saw somepony coming her way, she would turn and walk in another direction.
"Hello Applejack." Fluttershy said from across the street.
Applejack looked at her suspiciously. "Hello Fluttershy..."
"Oh. You're still wearing that?"
"What are you tryin' ta say?"
Fluttershy was a little surprised by this response.
"Nothing, it's just that, you were kind of attached to it yesterday."
"Yeah, I've err, gotta go." Applejack said, trying to make an excuse to end then conversation, and then she galloped off, leaving Fluttershy a bit confused.
Applejack sat on a little bench outside her house and looked at the necklace, which was difficult to do since her muzzle was in the way. Every second she stared at it, she felt more and more attracted to it. She didn't know why, she just wanted it. She didn't want to take it off either.
She looked around and saw a little purple mare walking up the hill toward her house. She stood up and looked at her. "Twilight? What does she want?" she said to herself.
"Applejack," she said when she reached the house. "I just came by to check on you."
"Why? Ah'm fine."
"I don't know, I'm just a bit worried about that necklace of yours. I'm not sure where it came from."
"It's fine. Just leave it." She said sternly. She was lying. She wanted to tell her how attracted she was to it, for no apparent reason.
Twilight looked at Applejack with a concerned expression. She was worried. Applejack didn't normally act like that. Today, she acting a bit... differently.
Applejack surprised herself. She wasn't the lying sort. In fact, she was the opposite. The Element of Honesty.
Applejack was tired as she walked across her bedroom to her bed. She pulled away the blanket and got into it. She took of her hat and pulled her headbands out of her mane and tail, and placed them on her bedside table. She put her hoof onto her necklace, wondering whether to take it off or not. Of course, she decided to keep it on. She pulled the blankets up, over her shoulders and closed her eyes.
However, she couldn't fall asleep. She was staring at her ceiling, trying to drift off to sleep, but she couldn't. Her necklace kept flashing through her mind. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she still didn't take it off. She still didn't want to.
The Element of Corruption
Chapter III: Fading Colours
Once again, Applejack found herself galloping through an endless field. Except this time, she saw what she was running from. Behind her was a big black cloud, which followed not too close behind her. As it followed her, it engulfed the land in darkness as it rolled over it. She looked back, terrified as it chased her. She saw that she was just fast enough to outrun it.
She awoke once again in her bedroom, drenched in sweat. She was breathing heavily and her mane was pushed up over her face. Applejack sat on the edge of the bed and brushed he mane and tail. She put her headbands back in and her hat back on, and left the house. She didn't even notice what was wrong...
As Applejack walked through the town, she noticed that everypony was looking at her funny. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but she assumed she might have missed a spot when she was brushing.
She knocked her hoof on Twilight's door and waited for her to answer.
Applejack looked at herself in the mirror in Twilight's house. She took a look, and it took her a moment to realise what was wrong.
"What happened to me?" she cried when she saw herself. The colour of her mane and tail were fading, causing her to look dull.
Twilight walked over to the door and locked it. "I'm sorry, Applejack, but you're not leaving until I get that off you."
Twilight took a step toward the orange mare, and she took a step backwards. Twilight charged at her and Applejack galloped out of the way to the other side of the room.
"Twilight, stop. You're insane." Applejack said.
She jumped at Applejack and tackled her to the ground. She held her down and tried to grab the necklace off her.
"Twilight? What's wrong?" Rarity said when she answered the door. "It's ten o'clock at night."
Twilight pulled a book out of her saddlebag and flicked to one of the pages. "Remember that necklace that she was wearing, amd it looked like the Element of Honesty? Well, take a look at this." She showed her the page and Rarity began reading aloud.
"An object known as the Pegasus Pendant, or 'The Destroyer of Innocence', is a jewel of dark magic which will disguise itself as an object to which the user finds desirable, and fools them into wearing it. Once it is worn, it will slowly begin to turn the wearer insane and corrupt, which is why it is known as the Destroyer of Innocence."
"See? That's what Applejack is wearing around her neck. The Pegasus Pendant." Twilight said when Rarity finished reading.
Rarity flipped the page and continued reading. "The only way to stop the effects of the Pegasus Pendant is to remove the pendant from the wearer as soon as possible. After the fourth day, the pendant will completely take over and effects will become irreversible."
They both looked at each other.
Author's Note
I'm Australian, so I spell colour like that.
The Element of Corruption
It was well past midnight, and Applejack was asleep. She was having another dream, but this one was more of a nightmare. She looked back and saw the darkness getting closer. She couldn't outrun it this time. It finally caught up to her. She closed her eyes and screamed as the cloud consumed her into the darkness.
She opened her eyes again and saw that she was in a big white room, which seemed to just go on forever. She couldn't see where the walls were, since everything was the same colour. She wasn't even sure what she was standing on.
She began walking, not sure where she was going or what she was doing there. She didn't even know it was a dream.
In the distance, she spotted a small object, all alone in the long, endless world. She galloped towards it, as it was the only thing she could see. When she reached it, she instantly knew what it was. It was the necklace, the one that looked like her element. She picked it up and looked at it. She heard a voice, whispering to her.
Put it on...
Applejack looked around. There was nopony around. She wanted to put it on, but she knew what was happening. It was evil. It was trying to get her to put it on. She tried her best to hold back, but she couldn't. She clipped it around her neck.
At that very moment, the world turned black and started fading. She looked around, and then realised it was a dream, from which she was waking up.
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She opened her eyes and looked around her bedroom, which was dim in the moonlight. An insane look spread across her face.
"They're coming." she said to herself. "They're coming to take your necklace." She laughed a little. "I have to stop them. I have to protect it..."
Twilight woke up that same morning and quickly remembered what she had to do. She walked over to Carousel Boutique and got Rarity.
"Are you ready for this?" Twilight asked.
"Ready? How ready do we have to be? She can't be that bad." Rarity said.
"I want to get it off her as soon as possible. We have to get it off before the end of the day."
"It'll be fine, Twilight. It'll only take two seconds. We get in, we get her down, we take it off. Simple as that."
Twilight and Rarity gathered the rest of their friends and they all went to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight pushed open the door of the house, and was quite shocked. The place was trashed.
They went upstairs and knocked on Applejack's bedroom door.
"Who is it?!" they heard Applejack yell from inside.
"It's us, your friends." Twilight said.
"Go away!" she yelled. "I know why you're here!"
"We're here to help you."
"No you're not. You just want my necklace!"
"Listen Applejack, it's evil! It's hurting you. You have to take it off!"
"Never!!"
Twilight pushed on her door to go in, but it didn't budge.
"Don't bother!" Applejack yelled. "I've pushed my bed in front of the door! You can't get in, and I can't get out."
Twilight turned to her friends. "We have to get in there somehow."
"What's wrong with Applejack?" Fluttershy asked.
"She thinks that we're always trying to take her necklace off her." Twilight said.
"He he. As if." Pinkie commented.
Fluttershy thought about this for a moment. "But isn't that what we're doing now?"
"Hmm... Oh yeah." Twilight realised. "Well, this is for a different reason."
Twilight looked through the crack between Applejack's door and the wall. She saw Applejack, whose colours weren't just faded. They were gone!
"Applejack! She's... missing her colour!" she cried.
Her friends looked through the crack as well.
"Whoa!" Pinkie Pie yelled
The four ponies sat on a bench outside of Applejack's house.
"What are we going to do?" Rarity asked. "She's insane."
"No I'm not!" Applejack yelled from her bedroom window, which was boarded up.
"We have to get it off her before today, or she'll completely lose it!" Twilight said.
"What are we gonna do?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Hang on a sec..." Pinkie Pie said as she looked around. "Where's Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy nervously knocked her hoof on Applejack's bedroom door. As the Element of Kindness, she thought she might have been able to convince her to let the others in.
"Go away, leave me alone!" Applejack said angrily.
"It's me, Fluttershy."
"Fluttershy? What do you want?"
"The others are trying to help you. Why won't you listen to them? It's for your own good."
"Good? My own good? If they were true friends, they'd leave me be!"
"But it's hurting you. You're not even orange anymore. Why won't you let them help?" she pleaded.
There was no answer. Instead, Fluttershy heard Applejack pushing her bed out of the way of the door.
"Come in." Applejack said, monotonically.
"Oh, thank you Applejack." she said as she entered.
Applejack stood by the doorway, with a plank of wood in her hooves. As soon as Fluttershy walked in, she struck it down onto her head. Fluttershy crashed onto the ground, blood dripping down her forehead.
She whimpered and cried as she lay on the floor, shocked by what Applejack had just done.
"Now tell them to leave me alone!" Applejack yelled.
Fluttershy didn't move. She was petrified of the plank that she held in her hooves.
"I said go!" Applejack yelled, striking the plank against her quivering body.
Fluttershy screamed as it slammed against her chest. In fear of getting hit again, she crawled out of her room. Applejack slammed the door behind her and pushed the bed back.
"Now leave me alone." she said as she lay down on her bed.
Fluttershy limped out the front door, causing her friends to scream when they saw her.
"Fluttershy, what happened?!" Twilight asked her.
"I wa- wa-" she stuttered under her tears. "I was asking her to l- let us in, but instead, she hit me with a plank of wood."
"That's it!" Rarity yelled. "She's taken this too far! I'm going to go have a chat with her."
Rarity went inside and the others heard her shouting at Applejack.
"How DARE you do that to Fluttershy!!" she screamed at Applejack. "Get out her now!"
The others heard silence for a few seconds, but then they heard a bang and a crash. A few moments later, Rarity returned with a bloody nose.
"That's it. She's lost it." Rarity said.
"We have to get in there and get the necklace off her!" Rainbow Dash said.
"We don't have to get in there," Pinkie Pie said thoughtfully. "We just have to get it off."
"Yeah, so?" Rarity said, holding her nose.
Pinkie smiled. "Well girls, I have an idea."
"Are you sure about this Pinkie?" Twilight asked her. "It's not long until sundown."
"Sure I'm sure. It's at least worth a shot."
"Okay. Go ahead."
Pinkie Pie walked over to Applejack's bedroom window, which was still boarded up. She had to get Applejack to look out the window, so she began her plan to get her to remove the planks.
"Applejack. Hey Applejack. Applejack? Hey Applejack, guess what? Applejack. Hello Applejack? APPLEJACK!!! Applejack..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Several Hours Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Applejack? Are you there? Applejack? Hey Applejack. Hellooooo. AJ?? Do you want to come and play?"
Her friends were all covering their ears, when suddenly...
"Ahhhh!!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!" Applejack ripped the planks of wood off of the windows and looked out at Pinkie Pie. She was still holding her wooden plank. "What the hell do you want?!"
"Catch!" Pinkie Pie hurled a small red object at Applejack's face. It took AJ a moment to realise that it was a tomato, but by then, it had already exploded on her face. "Oh no. I'm allergic to tomatoes!" She began drawing back for a sneeze. "A- Ah- ACHOO!"
She sneezed, which caused the necklace to fly off of her neck, and to drop the plank of wood from her hooves. They fell to the ground.
"Quick! Get it! Get the necklace!" Rarity yelled.
Twilight walked over to necklace and picked it up. She looked at it and watched as it changed, before her own eyes, into her Element of Magic tiara.
"Oh no!" said Pinkie Pie. She picked up the plank of wood off the ground, and whacked the tiara out of Twilights hoof and smashed it to pieces.
"Whoa, Pinkie. Calm down." Rarity said.
They all turned and looked up at Applejack, who was looking slightly faint. They watched as she collapsed and fell out the window
"Applejack!" Twilight yelled.
They rushed over to AJ, who was unconscious, lying face first in the dirt. Twilight rolled her onto her back and put her ear up to her chest. Her heart was still beating, but it was much slower than it should have been.
The Element of Corruption
Chapter V: Applejack's Back
Applejack woke up and looked around. She was in her bed, with her friends standing around her.
"Oh, mah head..." she moaned. "What happened?"
"You don't remember? You were insane! You wouldn't take off that stupid necklace!" Rarity said.
Applejack thought for a moment. "That wasn't a dream?"
"I'm afraid not."
She looked down at her hooves, which had regained their colour.
"Is Fluttershy okay?" she asked.
"Err... She's more or less okay." Twilight said.
"Then where is she?"
"I'll go get her." Rarity said.
She left the room, and returned a few moments later with Fluttershy. She had a blood-stained bandage wrapped around her head where Applejack had hit her.
"Hello Applejack." Fluttershy said quietly.
"Oh Fluttershy," she said sadly. "Ah'm so sorry."
"That's alright. You didn't know what you where doing."
"Ah know, but you were just trying to help me." She turned to Pinkie Pie. "Thanks for helping me."
"No problem." she said with a smile.
Twilight smiled. She was happy that her friend was okay. She was glad she didn't have to go to 'more desperate' measures to save Applejack.
"Where's the necklace now?"
"Pinkie destroyed it." Rainbow Dash said with a laugh.
Applejack buried her head into her hooves. "Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't mean to hurt anypony. You were all trying to help me."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Twilight said. "It was the Pegasus Pendant."
"Pegasus Pendant? What's that?"
Twilight passed her the book.
"Oh, wow." Applejack said as she looked at the next page. "That was close. A few more hours and Ah would have gone completely insane."
"Yeah, more insane than you already were." Rarity joked, who still had some dried-up blood under her nose.
"Thanks for helping me. Ah was being really stubborn." Applejack said.
"No problem. We're your friends, we would have done anything to help you." Twilight said, thinking about what she would of had to do if Pinkie's plan had failed.
"Pinkie Pie? How'd ya know Ah was allergic to tomato?"
"You told me." Pinkie said. "Remember the other day when I offered you a sandwich?"
Applejack got out of bed and gave her friends a group hug. "Thanks."
