Harmony Theory Recap Part 2b (Chapters 26- 34), and New Chapter! · 2:28am Nov 28th, 2016
Part 3 of Harmony Theory begins with Chapter 35, which is up and has been aided by the pre-reading services of CoandCo and Razalon!
Here, as promised, is part 2b of the recap. SPOILERS for those who haven't read it.
As always, I hope you enjoy what I've written!
-Sharaloth
Part 1 (Prologue - Chapter 14)
Part 2a (Chapters 15-25)
Part 2b (Chapters 26-34)
172,881 words
Star Fall meets with the King and convinces him to let her be his spymaster in truth, giving her full authority over the Secret Service. She then uses this authority to deal with the nobles, convincing them not to oppose Dash’s knighthood and giving her greater ability to maneuver in the Kingdom’s politics. She also learns from the King that he’s convinced she can bear an Alicorn foal because his own access to the Deep Power has given him foreknowledge of her part in returning the Alicorns to the world. The price for her official authority is the moving the date of the wedding up to only two weeks hence.
Rarity, Spike, Gamma, Blaze and Calumn prepare to pass through the Everstorm. Spike and Rarity discuss the past, while Calumn tells Blaze that they’re being followed. Blaze confronts Gamma about it, and Melody Drop is revealed to be the one tailing them. She is insistent that she get to Cash to exact revenge for High Fashion. Unwilling to let her go through the Storm without a guide, Blaze gets her to join them.
Later, Umbra and Twinkle Shine are in two different places. The former is flying over the Kingdom to the site of an ancient battle. The latter is inhabiting an ash-body duplicate of herself, going about her duties in the Capital. Their profound connection means each is experiencing what the other is, including unconsciously reacting to what happens to the other. In this state, Twinkle Shine attends a Crown Summit, a meeting of the King’s advisers. There she presents her ‘plan’ to redirect Umbra using an old weapon known as ‘the Chains of Tartarus’. She claims they don’t have enough of the Chain to stop the Nightmare, but can force her to turn her attention to the Republics instead. Several members of the council are horrified at this idea, and Star Fall strenuously opposes it. In the end, however, the King decides to take a moderated path, but still allows Twinkle Shine to prepare to enact her plan. Meanwhile Umbra reaches the battlefied, and spreading her ashes into the soil, she commands the dead to rise.
In Orion City, Hard Boiled discovers that his apartment is being watched. He and Traduce instead goes to Barry’s house, where he discovers that his fellow detective has been spying for the Kingdom. Straff arrives and threatens Barry into helping, then tells HB that he will have to be the one to protect Senator Birchfield from Cash, as the RIA is in a tight position and can’t overtly help. Straff then leaves as he hears that Calumn has returned.
Calumn visits Strongheart’s mother, where he frees her from the magic that was keeping the memory of her son’s death suppressed. Straff arrives soon afterwards. He takes Gamma and Calumn into custody, and is about to do the same with Rarity and Spike before Rarity shows off her magic and proves that Straff cannot hold her if she does not allow it. Straff then invites them to come along as guests, though he is still arresting Gamma. Gamma and Calumn go willingly, as they intend to convince Straff that the threat of Max Cash is even more dire than he knows.
Cash and Charisma are holed up in Cash’s hometown. Charisma is not dealing with the lack of movement or anything to do well, her Talent’s demands becoming louder with every passing day. Cash tells her to deal with it, which she does by murdering a few townsfolk. Meanwhile, Cash is gathering a small mercenary army, preparing for a big push. Lyssa returns, taunting Charisma that she’s been given more important tasks, and is soon to take the enforcer’s place at Cash’s side. Charisma doesn’t rise to the bait, knowing Lyssa’s getting played. Lyssa reports about what Hard Boiled found in the jungle, and with some prompting even remembers Fluttershy’s statue. Cash then has her eat a poisoned cookie. Charisma finishes the assassin off, only to discover that wasn’t Cash’s plan at all, and that he simply wanted Lyssa hurt and angry enough to come after him. Her death has, in fact, thrown all of his plans into utter disarray, and he doesn’t know how he’ll complete the next step anymore. He’s still going through with it, and only hoping that something will come along to fill the role he’d had for Lyssa.
After the two weeks has passed, it’s time for Star Fall’s wedding to Prince Regal Stature. She is nervous, but cheered by her friends and comforted by Twinkle Shine. The ceremony is long and boring, and soon Dash is fidgeting and desperate to find an excuse to move. That excuse comes with a sudden fog bank blocking the sunlight. Dash declares that she’ll get rid of the fog, and rushes outside, only to realize that the fog isn’t natural, but created. She attacks a shape in the fog, and finds it to be a horrifying ash-pony. When she escapes the fog, she finds that those ghouls are overrunning the Kingdom’s defenders, and they are led by Nightmare Umbra.
Umbra dramatically enters the cathedral, and castigates the gathered nobility for not living up to Celestia’s ideals. Star Fall rebukes Umbra, and says that together they will defeat her. Umbra then lifts the entire cathedral a thousand feet in the air, allowing Dash to get back in. Together, Star Fall, Astrid, Dash and Applejack stand up to Umbra, encouraging the others to do so as well. In response, Umbra throws Applejack out a window, forcing Dash to go to her rescue. Then the Griffins attack, aided by some of the nobles and their entourages. They get nowhere in defeating Umbra, but they buy time.
Star Fall uses that time to come up with a plan to prevent the cathedral from falling, thus killing all the nobles. At the same time the royals are being shuttled down to the palace, until only Star Fall, Regal and the King are left. Twinkle Shine steps forward and wields a length of the Chains of Tartarus against Umbra in a mock battle that is quite convincing to all those watching. Star Fall begins creating a spell-design in the King’s freely-given blood. Her efforts do not go unnoticed, and Umbra readies a spell to throw Star Fall out of the cathedral. Roan and Astrid get in the way, however, which kills Roan and sends Astrid outside. Enraged at her failure, Umbra sends a wave of deadly Ashfire at Star Fall, but this time the King steps in the way, allowing it to burn him to nothing to protect her. In his last words, the King reveals to Star Fall that he’s foreseen that she will bring Twilight Sparkle back to the world.
This throws Umbra and Twinkle Shine completely off, and while they continue the false fight, the distraction has cost them a believable victory for Twinkle Shine. Star Fall, meanwhile, has finished her design and only needs the power to use it. To get that power, she has Regal send her into the Deep Power, where she hopes to tap into Twilight Sparkle. She nearly has it when Umbra interrupts her, showing that she is capable of traversing the Deep Power as well. They battle, and while Umbra is far more powerful than Star Fall, she lacks the same creativity and improvisation abilities. Ultimately, Star Fall is able to get the power she needs from Twilight, but is caught by Umbra and nearly killed. Twilight partially awakens and stops Umbra, and the two have a devastating standoff that is stopped by a mysterious serpentine creature that separates the combatants and goes about repairing the damage the battle did to the Deep Power. This unknown presence also ejects Star Fall back to her body where, with her borrowed magic, she is able to prevent the cathedral from falling hard and killing them all.
While this is happening, Dash has saved Applejack from her fall and left to try to get back into the cathedral. She is prevented by a force of ghouls who intercept her and keep her away, she meets up with Astrid and together they try to rally the Kingdom’s forces and create an opening for Dash to get through, without much success. Applejack gathers ground troops to herself and, after finding a way to destroy the ash-ponies, makes her way to the palace. She fights her way through an army of ghouls, getting her followers to safety and earning the awe and praise of all who see her.
As the cathedral settles to the ground, the nobles flee. Star Fall is nearly convinced by Twinkle Shine to leave herself, but ultimately decides that she can’t let her mentor fight alone. She returns joined by Astrid and Applejack, and together they attack Umbra, hoping to create a distraction for Twinkle Shine. Umbra easily defeats their efforts, and attempts to burn Star Fall to death with Ashfire. Star Fall manages to survive the barrage of magic-eating death long enough for Dash to make her entrance, swooping in to attack Umbra and save Star Fall. The battle moves out of the cathedral, now with Twinkle Shine clearly winning and Umbra trying to escape. It looks as if Umbra is going to let herself lose, but kill Twinkle Shine in retribution. Star Fall’s attempts to help her mentor instead reveal that both she and Umbra are the same person.
This revelation puts Star Fall in shock. Umbra contemplates annihilating the city to protect the secret, but Twinkle Shine convinces her other half not to. She warns Star Fall that she will have to run away from the Kingdom, then leaves. Star Fall, seeing the wisdom in that warning, leaves that night with Astrid, Dash and Applejack. They head for the nightlands, hoping to catch up to Gamma and help in defeating Max Cash.
Umbra heads to the Eye of the Everstorm, taking up residence in the reproduction of the Golden Oaks library and awaiting Star Fall, who she knows will be coming there. Indeed, Star Fall is hoping to gain the Element of Magic, or at least confirm that it is on the statue of Twilight found there. They enter the Storm and head to the Eye, and there are confronted by Twinkle Shine. She explains some of her history to Star Fall, and that she has a grand purpose and plan for the world. She then transforms into Umbra, and smashes Twilight’s statue and the Element of Magic, much to Dash’s anger. Forced to flee, Star Fall and the others head for the nightlands.
In Orion City, Hard Boiled takes a task force of police to Senator Birchfield’s mansion. He convinces the Senator that he’s in danger from Max Cash, and that his possession of Pinkie’s statue is the reason. Elsewhere, Calumn is present while Gamma and Straff verbally spar with each other. Eventually, they exchange important information and Calumn is assigned to take Rarity, Spike, Blaze and Melody to assist Hard Boiled. The detective is suspicious of them, but allows them to take part in the defense of the mansion. He also gets more information on the Elements and recent events in the sunlands from Calumn and Spike.
Charisma and Cash note the heavy police presence at Birchfield’s mansion, and alter their plans. Charisma comes up with a way to make the assault work, and Cash uses the Element of Loyalty to turn his mercenaries into crazed fanatical followers willing to die for him. That night they assault the Senator’s mansion, first blowing up the power station and the police headquarters, causing chaos and confusion in order to prevent the defenders of the mansion from getting assistance.
The attack is brutal, with mercenaries and police dying left and right until Rarity has finally had enough. She uses her magic to grab the clothing of everyone in her range, then slams them into the ground and holds them there. When they question one of the attacking soldiers, he chooses to bite off his own tongue before revealing anything. Cash, unaffected by Rarity’s magic and driving a van, crashes through the barricade and into the front doors of the mansion.
Charisma was attacking a police sniper position when Rarity locked everyone down, and she is able to free herself and turn the police rifle on Rarity, shooting her in the head and thus removing her magic. Charisma then attacks Spike, using his concern for Rarity to bait him into making a rash move and allowing her to seriously injure him. Next she fights Calumn, viciously beating him and nearly tearing off his carapace. Blaze speaks to her, trying to get her to see how bad Cash is for her. She reveals that she wants to kill everyone in the world, and that Cash has promised her the chance. Blaze tells her that he loves her, which brings her up short, but it was part of a distraction he used to get close and push her into range of Spike, who wastes no time in slicing into her with his claws. Charisma gets away from Spike, but is grievously injured and can do nothing but wait to see if Cash rescues her.
Inside the mansion, Cash has Birchfield and several police officers, including a disguised Traduce, at gunpoint. Hard Boiled manages to sneak up on him and puts a gun to his head, but Cash uses the Element of Honesty to turn the tables on HB, capturing him and Traduce. Cash gloats a bit, but Melody makes her appearance, killing Cash’s guards and attacking him. They fight, with Cash goading Melody into a greater and greater rage. Melody seems to have the upper hand, beating Cash soundly. However, it was all a ruse as he manipulates her into touching the Element of Laughter, connecting herself to it, then he blows her stomach out. Cash gets up and delivers an angry rant about how he and everyone else is a puppet of the ‘real villains’, and how he hates being used by them. Then he kills Melody, causing the Element to fall off the statue.
Thinking quickly, HB uses his magic to grab the Element. Cash, weakened by his fight with Melody, also tries to magically take the Element, and the two struggle over it. Traduce joins in, but she’s too weak to make much of a difference until Hard Boiled tells her to feed from him. He lets her into his mind and she finds that he’s come to care for her, as a friend and perhaps as the start of something more. Empowered by his feelings, she is able to tip the scales, and they Escape with the Element.
Cash leaves with the remainder of his forces, taking a moment to creepily say hi to Rarity. He then compels a Healing Talent unicorn to help Charisma, and when he hears that she’s essentially incapacitated for good, he gives her the Element of Loyalty again. This gives an immense boost to her healing abilities, allowing the doctor to fix her up quickly.
In the aftermath of the seige, Calumn, Rarity and Spike are taken to the hospital, while HB stays behind and helps co-ordinate the investigation and clean-up efforts. Straff arrives and they discuss what happened, and the toll it took. In the middle of their conversation Pinkie Pie appears, and proceeds to horrify absolutely everyone with her penchant for cartoon physics. They try to deal with her by putting her to sleep. In the short period of time that she’s unconscious, Straff gets word that Star Fall and the others are in the nightlands, and that another RIA director is heading out to confront them. He leaves to deal with that problem just before Pinkie wakes up. Upon waking, Pinkie is struck by a powerful spasm of her Pinkie Sense, a ‘doozy’, which frightens her. Barry then shoots her, making the situation even worse. Pinkie flees deeper into the mansion, disappearing.
In the hospital, Rarity visits Spike, who is worried she’ll hate him after seeing the violence he’s capable of. She assures him she doesn’t hate him, and indeed comes to an understanding with herself about what she’d seen. An agent arrives to tell her about Pinkie, and Rarity decides the best thing to lure her out would be a party. So she helps the RIA and HB throw a party, which actually works. Pinkie drags Rarity under a table and explains that she’s hiding because her Pinkie Sense is warning her that something terrible is going to happen and everyone around her will get hurt.
Rarity convinces her to join the party, improving the affair immensely. Pinkie’s fears are realized, however, when Hard Boiled brings out the Element of Laughter. Pinkie grabs it, and it begins throwing off intense bursts of energy. Unable to keep herself from putting it on, but knowing something terrible will happen if she does, Pinkie tells everyone to run. Rarity helps everyone else leave, but refuses to go herself. Pinkie’s control finally fails, and she dons the Element, then both she and Rarity are swallowed by a blast of power.
Charisma and Cash both can sense what is happening. Cash tells Charisma that she can stop it using the Element of Loyalty. With his guidance, she is able to access the powers of the Element. Under its influence she sees what is happening with Rarity and Pinkie, but she also sees the power of the Elements at work inside Cash, hollowing him out. She is able to cut off the flow of power between Pinkie and Laughter, stopping what was happening. Cash is pleased with this, and tells her she needs to practice using Loyalty’s powers.
Rarity and Pinkie find themselves unharmed, but sitting at the bottom of a crater where Birchfield’s mansion used to stand. Rarity tosses the Element of Laughter away from them, and she and Pinkie share a laugh at their brush with destruction.
Meanwhile, Star Fall, Astrid, Dash and Applejack are holed up in the same cabin where Dash had her convalescence after crashing when she first appeared in the future. Star Fall, exhausted by their trip through the Storm, required more than a day’s rest, so they have been tending to her. Applejack has even tended some flowers, bringing them back to their pre-Schism glory. Star Fall is having a crisis because the revelation of Twinkle Shine being Umbra is really catching up with her. She is feeling betrayed and abandoned and deeply, deeply hurt. Astrid helps her deal with those feelings, having similar emotions of her own, but their commiseration is interrupted as RIA forces attack.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack fend off the RIA soldiers as Star Fall comes up with a plan. She sends Dash up to create a lightning weapon, then surrenders. Director Broker, who leads the attackers, accepts their surrender and thinks he has them in his power. Star Fall quickly disabuses him of this notion, as she has Dash use lightning to obliterate one of the vehicles Broker’s forces arrived in. The news that there are even more vehicles on the way is a surprise to Broker, which makes Star Fall worry that it might be Cash coming to take them. However, when the new vehicles arrive it is actually Director Straff, who has come to ask for Star Fall’s help in dealing with Cash and has brought along Gamma to help convince her. Accepting his offer, they join Straff and head south.
Charisma is having some difficulty learning how to use the Element of Loyalty, but with some assistance from Cash she manages to find the trick to it. As part of discovering the powers it gives her, she also discovers that it connects her directly to Rainbow Dash.
Indeed, Dash has a vision while sleeping on the transport to Orion City, of Charisma learning to use Loyalty. She relates what she can remember of the vision to Straff and Gamma, who are concerned that Charisma might be unbeatable with the power the Element gives her.
At the RIA headquarters in Orion City, Dash and Applejack are reunited with Rarity and Pinkie Pie. They relate some of what they’ve gone through to each other, and have a big group hug. At the same time Calumn seeks permission from Straff for a secret plan which will require him taking an extremely valuable item, which Straff reluctantly agrees to. Across the room, Hard Boiled watches all of this with some bemusement. The gathering of all the major players seems somewhat ridiculous to him, and he says as much to Traduce.
Once the meeting begins, Straff and Gamma lay out what they know about Cash’s goals. They also point out that the final Element is hidden in a temple in the southern jungles, and Cash has a good two days head start on them. Dash says she could fly there quickly, and that she could take a small group of others with her. A plan is quickly formed to have Dash ferry Applejack, Star Fall, Astrid, Hard Boiled, Traduce, Calumn and Trail Blazer to the temple. Straff warns them that they have to be swift, because news has arrived that Nightmare Umbra is on her way to the Stile Islands, a place claimed by both Republics and Kingdom, and is sure to spark a war when she gets there.
Meanwhile, Cash and Charisma are already on a boat heading upriver into the jungle. The ponies they hired the boat from are intending to rob them, but Charisma uses the power of the Element of Loyalty to dispatch them in gruesome ways. She then pilots the boat towards their destination, her mastery over the Element growing by the hour.
The RIA engineers work through the night to construct a chariot for Dash to pull the others in. Star Fall similarly works to create the spells that will help the chariot stay aloft, as well as all the magic she will need in fighting Charisma and Cash. Spike speaks to her, and during the conversation Star Fall realizes that he must have known about Twinkle Shine’s secret. He admits that he did, but she defers the explanation until later, focusing on the task at hand. At the same time, Dash is speaking with Blaze about Charisma, trying to understand the mare she knows she will have to fight. Blaze provides some insight, but is called away by Calumn. Gamma takes his place, and offers some knowledge of her own, having a measure of responsibility for making Charisma the way she is. She also introduces Dash to Senator Birchfield, who idolizes the ancient pegasus as a kind of supreme warrior. Dash refuses Birchfield’s characterization of her as a ‘warrior’, insisting that she’s just an ‘athlete and weatherpony’.
Once the chariot is finished, the passengers pile in and Dash is strapped into the harness. She takes off and heads south at what for her is a fairly slow pace. She doesn’t pause or stop for rest, food or water, powering south and, paradoxically, gaining strength as she goes.
While Dash is flying, Cash and Charisma reach the temple where they find Fluttershy’s statue. Charisma is wondering who has to die for this one, but Cash tells her that Kindness is special, and that no one has to die for it. He then begins goading Charisma, saying terribly cruel things to her until she nearly snaps, attacking him but not following through. She asks him why he’s pushing her buttons like this, and he replies that he’s being ‘cruel for Cruelty’s sake’ and reaches for the Element, which rejects him in a burst of pink light and force. Cash is thrown clear across the temple, and comes up in a rage. He rushes towards the statue, only to be rebuked again and again. Charisma, knowing that all the ugly things Cash said to her were true, uses the Element of Loyalty to sever herself from all her connections to others. Thus freed from her loyalty to Cash, she beats him up in contempt, deciding that he was never going to keep his promise to her. He tells her that he already has, that the Element she bears is more than capable of killing everyone on the planet. She leaves him to pound uselessly against Kindness’ shield and goes for the one being she still feels any sort of connection to: Rainbow Dash.
Dash had just reached the fallen garden when Cash had woken Kindness, and the feedback from the Elements caused her to fall for a bit. She stabilized, but only long enough for Charisma to attack, wrenching her from the chariot and sending it spinning into the jungle. Everyone manages to get out safely, but Star Fall is slightly injured and they are all separated.
Star Fall and Astrid land in a hollow between giant trees, tending to Star Fall’s wrenched wings. They talk about finding the others before Charisma finds them, but it’s too late. Astrid fights Charisma to protect Star Fall, but it’s a horribly one-sided battle and the enforcer breaks Star Fall’s leg during the fight. Charisma explains that she needs one of them to attract Dash, and decides Astrid isn’t the one. Using the Element, she somehow reverses gravity for Astrid, sending her falling into the sky. Then she starts torturing Star Fall, trying to get her to scream loud enough to bring Dash running. Ultimately, she even tears off one of Star Fall’s hooves.
Dash is searching for the others, and manages to run into Hard Boiled, Traduce, Calumn and Blaze. When she hears Star Fall’s scream, she tells Calumn to come with her and rushes off. She finds Charisma standing over the wounded Star Fall, and they fight. The battle is furiously paced, both pegasi moving at incredible speed and striking with amazing strength. Charisma still has the edge, though, and Dash is forced to use supersonic speed to defeat her.
After pounding Charisma into the ground, Dash assumes she’s out for good and goes to help Star Fall. With some assistance from Blaze she manages to get a tourniquet on her amputated limb, but before she can do more, Charisma rises to challenge her again. This time Charisma calls upon the power of the Element of Loyalty, transforming herself into a new, more deadly form. Dash flees into the jungle, and Charisma follows.
Hard Boiled, Traduce and Blaze meet up with Applejack, and head to the temple where Cash is still vainly trying to get at the Element of Kindness. They attack him, but he unleashes powerful magic, against which only Applejack has a chance. Hard Boiled manages to make one perfect shot on him, but what should have killed him only distracts him enough for Applejack to bring him down. It looks like they have him, but he uses the Element of Honesty against Applejack, making her seize and lock up. This gives him the chance to escape, and he quickly takes both Traduce and Hard Boiled out of the fight.
Dash and Charisma play a deadly game, with Dash only barely staying ahead of her. When Charisma uses Loyalty to uproot every tree in a mile radius, Dash is forced to take to the skies. She leads Charisma into a cloud, where she uses her weatherpony knowledge to turn the elements against the enforcer and trap her in a whirlwind. This buys Dash enough time to find Astrid and help the stricken Griffin back to the ground. However, Charisma gets free of the tornado and flies towards the city of Hoofprint to wreak some havoc.
Dash arrives at Hoofprint to find Charisma cutting a bloody swath through a crowd of ponies. She begs Charisma to stop, but the enforcer tells her that she’s realized the only way Dash will fight her for real is if there’s other ponies on the line. If Dash tries to run, she’ll slaughter innocents. Same if she pulls her punches or tries to lead Charisma to a more deserted place. Her hand thus forced, Dash fights with everything she’s got. The Element of Loyalty empowers them both, giving them strength and resilience beyond mortal measure. Their battle tears up the city, the Element causing buildings to float and streets to collapse. Finally, knowing this could go on forever, Dash makes a desperate play for the Element. She accepts a grievous wound to touch the gem, but that contact allows her deep into Charisma’s mind. As the power of the Element rips apart reality around them, she finds the place where Charisma cut herself off from all her bonds, and reverses it. Charisma, stricken, takes off into the sky, and Dash follows.
Calumn, acting a little strangely, helps Star Fall as she regains consciousness. She uses healing spells to seal off the ragged end of her leg and also heal some of the damage Dash’s sonic booms did to her ears. She then insists on going after Cash, regardless of her health, and Calumn assists her to the temple. They arrive just as Cash is about to force Applejack to don her Element, blasting him with one of Star Fall’s spells. They buy enough time for Applejack to get her feet back under her. Cash, knowing he can’t fight Applejack and Star Fall together, telekinetically grabs Blaze and holds him hostage, promising them whatever they want if they join him. Astrid arrives shortly afterward, and tells Cash she’d have no problem going through Blaze to get to him. Cash begins ranting like a madman, talking once more about the powers controlling their fates, and how his victory is inevitable no matter what they do. He goes as far as threatening to use the Element of Generosity to make them all eat Blaze.
What Cash didn’t know was that the pony he’d grabbed was not, in fact, Trail Blazer. Back at the RIA headquarters before they left Calumn had enacted his secret plan. He cast an illusion on Blaze to make him look like Calumn, then transformed himself into the Storm Guide’s form. Then, when he judged it was time, he used the special item he’s been granted permission for by Director Straff, empowering himself so that he had the strength to reach into Cash’s mind and make him momentarily weak. Calumn then takes Cash to the ground and snaps his horn.
Thinking Cash defeated, they debate what to do with him. Star Fall, Astrid and Blaze are for killing him then and there, but Applejack is staunchly against that. After some reflection, Calumn agrees with her, saying that everyone, even those as terrible as Cash, deserved a second chance. Cash sees his opportunity and pushes Calumn into the Element of Kindness, which yields to the Changeling and comes off the statue. Enraged, Astrid swoops down on Cash and eviscerates him, reaching into his chest and pulling his heart completely out.
Moments later, Fluttershy’s statue becomes the mare it represented, and is taken out of the temple by Applejack. Blaze and Calumn then help take the wounded outside, and Calumn searches through Cash’s bag, finding his copy of Harmony Theory for Star Fall.
Back in Orion City, Rarity and Pinkie talk about their friends, then Pinkie tells her that the Element of Laughter is acting up, and they want her to investigate. Rarity finds Straff, Gamma and Spike watching the Element as it sends out a torrent of energy that seems to be vanishing to some distant place. Spike tells Rarity that, as a bearer of an Element herself, she should be able to see where the energy is going. She tries, and discovers that it’s not only coming from Laughter, but from herself and the other bearers as well. She follows the flow of power to its end, where she finds what she can only describe as a dark egg, through whose cracked shell something terrible looks out at her and speaks her name.
High above the world, in space, Charisma watches the sun and contemplates her life. She knows that she is a monster, and resolves to end it all, one way or another. When Dash catches up to her she rejects Dash’s offer of help, instead proposing one final race. A race for the fate of the world. If she reaches ground first, she will use Loyalty to destroy the planet. For Dash to win, she has to kill Charisma before that happens. Dash tries to dissuade her, reminding her of her feelings for Trail Blazer, but while affected she brushes that aside. She descends, flying faster than she ever thought possible, with Dash a moment behind her and gaining. Together they touch the spectrum and perform the Sonic Rainboom, sending a wave of shattered light across the world. She was still ahead, and Dash was still gaining, the outcome was in doubt but could go either way. Then Charisma sees Blaze, and she realizes that she really does care for him. Her descent stutters in that moment, and in that moment Dash catches up and crushes Charisma’s spine.
They crash into the ground, Dash ensuring that the impact doesn’t kill Charisma immediately, even if her blow already guaranteed her death. Lying there, Blaze comes to her. Her Talent demands that she kill him, but she resists it one last time, revealing to Blaze that she loves him. The Element-fueled transformation ends as the Element is taken away, but its power still burns in her. She tells Blaze to keep smiling for her, no matter what, and wishes Dash good luck. Then she dies, and the Element utterly consumes her.
Dash, sickened by what she had just done, tries to apologise to Blaze, who will not have it. He tells her not to be sad that Charisma’s dead, since she’d only be happy if the situation were reversed. Worse for Dash is Fluttershy, who knows what Dash did, but doesn’t understand anything of what’s going on yet, and can’t reconcile her friend with the act. Finally, Dash hears about what happened with Cash. Knowing that she can’t just trust the story that he’s dead, she goes into the temple to check the body herself.
Unfortunately, her fears are justified. Cash is not alive, but he is not dead either. With the power of the Elements he has become something that cannot truly die. He ambushes Dash, using Loyalty on her to incapacitate her. Then, using an eerie echo of Discord’s words from long ago, he offers her a choice: she is going to put on the Element, she has no choice in that, but she can do so willingly and bind herself and her friends to him, or he can force it on her and cause her to become like Charisma was, Inverted. Knowing the terrible, impossible choice laid before her, Dash can only watch in horror as he brings the Element closer and tells her: “think fast”.
Image credits to HydrusBeta
A new chapter?
This will keep me up late tonight. Oh well, better late than never. 
I didn't really need a refresher, but it was fun to read through this recap regardless.
Oh wow, Sharaloth, this is just so neat! I really appreciate the summary. When I started re-reading the story way back, I started making synopses of the chapters as I went along, but I didn't keep it up. Now I don't have to! And seeing my drawings up there with the text... you're awesome! I love this story so much.
With Christmas break, I'll finally have some time to draw; I might just have to make another Harmony Theory one.
But first! I must go read that new chapter.