Broken Harmony

Harmony destroyed.

Hope is but a memory.

The six divided,

Fight.

What hope they have,

Wanes beneath the sunless sky.

A cerulean pegasus opened her eyes as she awoke from her uneasy sleep. She appeared to not have slept long as bags hung heavy beneath her eyes, but she merely yawned, whipped back her rainbow mane, and stood; her bronze armor making moderate noise.

She glanced down at the golden necklace hung around her neck. It was a symbol of her element. A symbol that she lived by. A symbol that nopony remembered. She shook her head and yawned once more before stepping out from the dark cave.

As she stepped outside the rainbow maned pegasus was greeted by a cloudy sky. She sighed and hung her head low as she was reminded of the events that had taken away the sun those five years ago. Memories that burned deeply within her heart.

/////

A black furred alicorn with piercing green eyes and a flowing red mane stood among six young ponies.

The Elements of Harmony were defeated. Their fur was burned and their bodies were bruised. Princess Celestia, the once ruler of Equestria, wasn't faring well either.

“This was easier than I thought.”

Celestia glared.

The alicorn spoke once more. “I had expected some resistance, but this is embarrassing”, she said with venom.

'Luna... where are you?', Celestia thought to herself.

The alicorn smirked and gave Celestia a knowing gaze. “Luna? She's vacationing on the moon for awhile. I don't think she'll be returning anytime soon”. She chuckled.

“What have you done with my sister?!”, Celestia asked angrily.

The alicorn laughed. “It's better if I show you.” Her horn began to glow as Celestia was covered in a reddish aura of magic. “I may not be able to kill you as you are immortal”, she said, “But I can get rid of you”.

The princess struggled against the powerful magic, but to no avail. She knew what was coming. Celestia gave the Elements of Harmony one last look. “Wait...”, she said suddenly.

The alicorn raised a brow. “Last words?”, she asked with a look of annoyance.

Celestia saw this pause as her chance. Her horn began to glow brightly. The light enveloped the area.

“What's this?!”, the alicorn spat angrily.

The light dissipated. Nothing had seemed to change. The unknown alicorn was still holding the princess within her magic, but her gaze shifted to where the elements had been. They were gone. All six had disappeared. She gazed angrily at Celestia.

“Y-you!”, she began. Her eyes were filled with rage. “Agh! I will find them! You cannot hide them from me! I WILL FIND THEM!”. With that, the alicorn's horn glowed brighter.

If Celestia was afraid, she didn't show it. She merely closed her eyes and smiled as her body disappeared from sight.

/////

“Celestia...”, the cerulean pegasus muttered under her breath.

She knew what the princess had done. She knew that she deliberately separated the elements in order to keep them all hidden, but it still hurt knowing that she couldn't see her friends.

Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and lastly herself. Rainbow Dash. Together they were the Elements of Harmony. An unstoppable magical force, or so they once thought.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to reminisce. She had to get moving, otherwise they would find her. She knew the alicorn would easily find the elements if they were close, but she also knew the elements gave off a magical resonance. Although the resonance was weak, it wasn't difficult to track.

With that thought, Rainbow spread her wings and took off into the sky. Her rainbow tail the only color against the dark and gray clouds.

Hours had passed since Rainbow Dash had left the cave. Days had passed since she had anything to eat. That fact had begun to show on her body. Years ago she was the top athlete in Ponyville. Physically fit and well fed, Rainbow Dash had prided herself on her speed. Now, years later, her muscle tone was there, but it had become lean and malnourished. Her once muscular frame was now wiry and light.

She grimaced as hunger pains shot through her. She knew she wouldn't survive long if she didn't find anything to eat, but her hope was beginning to diminish with each passing moment. Rainbow hadn't the slightest idea of where she was. She had spent the last five years running. She avoided large cities and small towns, whatever was left of them, and kept to the forests and mountains.

Rainbow sighed. A town. She would need to find a small town for something to eat, but that could prove difficult.

Ever since that black furred alicorn had taken over, cities have fallen and towns were destroyed. What little civilization was left, was kept in line. Most of Equestria's population now stayed in Canterlot. You must be thinking that Canterlot wouldn't be large enough, but it has grown in the last five years. The royal city was quickly becoming it's own country in terms of size, hence the fallen cities and destroyed towns.

Rainbow stopped in midflight. Music?

Bewildered, Rainbow began a descent below the clouds.

Her jaw dropped at what she saw. It was a fairly large town. It was located between two mountains with high walls constructed in between.

As she came closer, Rainbow noticed something odd. At first she thought it was a griffin only town, but was surprised to see ponies of every variety walking about.

Dumbstruck, and in minor shock, she hadn't noticed the two griffins behind her.

“Who are you?!”, one of them shouted.

Rainbow nearly jumped out of her fur and turned around. She was greeted by griffins in steel armor and sharp talons.

“Who are-”, the one on the right stopped in mid-sentence as he noticed the necklace around the pegasus' neck. “You're an Element?”, they both asked in unison.

Rainbow was surprised at their sudden change in tone, but was even more surprised the griffin's even knew what the Elements of Harmony were, but that thought was quickly answered by the ponies she remembered that resided in the town alongside them.

“The Element of Loyalty”, Rainbow saluted, “At your service!”

The griffin's saluted. “We are under orders to bring any elements to the front gate and to assist them with anything they may need”, they, once again, said in unison before taking off to the ground below.

Rainbow was hesitant. She didn't really trust griffins. After her fallout with a friend of hers, who happened to be a griffin, her trust in them wasn't exactly reinforced, but she decided to tag along. If they knew she was an element, maybe... Rainbow shook her head at the thought. The Elements of Harmony were separated for a reason. If Rainbow was in the Griffin Kingdom, then the others must be in other parts of the world as well.

Shrugging, Rainbow quickly caught up to the pair of griffins and followed them to the gate.