Discord continued to laugh in front of the shocked and frightened girls.
"You–You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!"
Twilight stepped forward, scowling. "What did you do to our magic!?"
"You'll get them back in good time. I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. This is the first rule of the game...." He leaned down and lifted Twilight's chin with his lion paw so their eyes met."...no magic. Super powers included."
"The first rule?" Rainbow asked.
Discord then teleported behind Rainbow, startling her. "Why yes. Every game has rules, otherwise they would be too easy! The second is no 'pony ups' as you like to call them. Third: no using those 'calling boxes' I've seen people use to contact each other." Indeed immediately after he said this the girls checked their phones and saw they were all out of order.
"The final rule is simple: everybody has to play, or I win!" He grinned mischievously.
"What exactly is this 'game' you want us to play?" AJ asked.
"I'm glad you asked my country bumpkin friend! You see, I've put together a sort off scavenger hunt. I've scattered the Elements all across the city. If you find them all and use them to defeat me, you win! Otherwise, you lose! Good luck everybody!" And with one final laugh, Discord vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Great...now what?" Rainbow asked. "Without my super speed it's gonna take a while to look around the whole city."
"Not to mention what Discord has in store." Rarity pointed out.
"I know." Twilight said as she though for a moment. "I think we should split up. That way we'll be able to cover more ground."
"But splitting up the party is one of the biggest mistake horror movie characters traditionally make." Rarity commented in an understandably scared tone.
"This stinks! He makes us go all over town to find things that belong to us and he won't even let us use our powers to get them." Rainbow fumed.
"I don't like it any more than you do, Rainbow, but we're going to HAVE TO play his sick game for the time being to have ANY chance of stopping him." Twilight admitted. "Let's go find a map."
"Gotcha covered!" Pinkie said as she reached into her hair and pulled out a map of Canterlot along with some markers.
"Perfect! Thanks Pinkie." Twilight set the map on the ground and began to mark off six section. "We'll each take on a different section of the city to see if we can find any clues about where the Elements are. We'll meet up back in about...two hours?" The others nodded and Twilight gave them directions for where each of them should go.
"Alright girls we can do this! As friends!"
"As friends!" The other girls cheered before they went on their own searches.
Meanwhile, at the Canterlot museum of natural history.....
Civilians were screaming in panic as they ran down the halls. Chasing them were two herrerasaurus skeletons brought to life. They both let out a loud screech-roar and raced even faster. Before they could catch up, two blasts of blue and gold magic hit them and they fell to pieces.
"Well that takes care of that." Celestia said, carefully stepping through the bones. "Though I am NOT looking forward to getting the bill for the damage we're probably going to have to do. I just hope the Mage council will understand."
Luna turned to the crowd. "Everyone please try to find a safe to place to hide until this is all over! There are several restrooms, closets and the curator has opened up the basement for people unable to make it home!"
Soon the crowd scattered, leaving Celestia and Luna alone.
"Well that takes care of the two walking fossils. Now all we need to do is deal with the stuffed animals and hope the magic hasn't reached the cavemen or mummy exhibits yet." Celestia summed up. "I hope the girls are doing better than we are."
"They will be fine. I'm sure of it."
Suddenly a loud roar echoed throughout the building. Celestia and Luna rushed to the source and found, standing in the middle of the jurassic exhibit, the T-rex model moving and looking at them hungrily.
"Yup. I'm almost certain they're having a better time than we are." Luna reiterated as she and Celestia combined their magic to generate a force field strong enough to withstand the T-Rex's jaws, claws and tail.
Applejack explored her orchard. She had been given her farm and the nearby woods since she knew the area so well.
"Now where can they be....?" AJ looked around to all the normal hiding spots she could think of, in trees, bushed and she even searched the CMC's clubhouse! But there were no signs of any Elements.
Just when she was ready to leave and search a different section, she heard laughter.
She turned about and found an apple settles on the ground. It was followed by another and another, forming a trail.
"Ok...I know that wasn't there before." Seeing as she had no other leads, she followed it through the orchard before coming upon a pond.
"Alright, trail ends here, now what?" AJ began to look around, hoping to find her Element.
Then a bunch of apples fell from the trees at one and began to form in groups based on color. The groups circled AJ, laughing mockingly as faces formed on the piles!
"What in tarnation!? What the heck are ya!?"
The red apples spoke first, then the light red ones, before finishing off with the green ones before circling around again. "The keepers of the grove of truth. You may ask us..."
"...one question..."
"...past, future or present."
Now Applejack wasn't a prodigy like Twilight, but she was smart enough to be skeptical. "Now hang on a minute! Ah've been here hundreds of times and ah've never heard of any 'keepers of the grove of truth'."
"We were summoned..."
"...by the magic of the Elements..."
"....to help you on your quest."
"We are here to show..."
"....the truth to..."
"....the Element of that nature."
"But be warned..."
"...that the truth..."
"...may not always be pleasant."
Still hesitant but desperate for answers she nodded. "All right then. I don't trust this place worth a hill of beans, but I've got a really bad feelin' about this feller Discord. What's gonna come of this mission we're on?"
"For the answer you seek..."
"...go ahead, take a peek."
The piles of apples nudged AJ until she was at the ponds' edge. She looked in and the waves ripples, revealing an image.
The six of them were together as usual, only this time they were glaring at each other.
"You guys are the worst!" Pinkie shouted.
"Your the worst friends anybody could ask for!" Fluttershy snarled.
"You girls are simply the most uncouth people I've ever met!" Rarity turned her nose up.
"I hope I never see you losers again!" Rainbow declared.
"Fine!" Pinkie agreed.
"It's settled then." Twilight said firmly.
The image faded, leaving the reflection of a wide-eyed and jaw-dropped Applejack.
"No! Our friendship? Over?!" AJ was horrified. How could their friendship turn into the debacle she just saw? It was too terrifying for words. What she didn't notice however, was Discord, floating high above her, chuckling and using marionette strings to manipulate the apple piles.
"T-that just can't be the truth..." AJ muttered to herself for comfort.
"When all the truth does..."
"...is make your heart ache..."
" ...sometimes a lie is easier to take."
As Applejack looked into the red apple piles eyes as they said the last line, a vision of Discord's face appeared in front of it, eyes swirled. Applejack's eyes swirled the same as the color seemed to drain out of her, leaving her looking a little grey.
The apples rolled away and disappeared as the Element of Honesty fell from a nearby apple tree.
"Applejack? That you girl?"
AJ blinked, returning to the present as her Grandmother approached.
"There ya are! I was checkin' out the trees for any of that weirdness that's been goin' on when I thought I heard voices over here. Who were ya talking to?"
AJ became all fidgety and looked away. "I was talking to... uh... nobody! Nobody whatsoever!" She then went over and grabbed her Element. "I...uh...gotta go! No need to worry! Ah've got this covered!" She then rushed off as far from Granny Smith as she could.
Granny Smith blinked and scratched her head in confusion. "Did Applejack just...?"
She shook the idea out of her head. "Oh come on ya old gal, this is Applejack we're talkin' 'bout here! She wouldn't lie to anybody, 'specially family!"
Granny Smith then went home, sure that the crisis affecting Equestria would be over soon.