//------------------------------//
// Healing 
// Story: The Story Of Sky Blue 
// by Capulus 
//------------------------------//

Sky flew faster than she consciously had before, the time she caused havoc among her friends notwithstanding. She hit the ground hard, stumbled and hit the door of Twilight’s library, going right through.
“Twilight! The moon--”
“I’ve noticed, thank you.” Twilight was reading through one of her books, casually turning the pages without a care in the world. Sky was confused. Even more so at the lack of Colour the pony possessed.
She was just grey.
Sky trotted forward.
“Well, aren’t you going to do anything?”
“No. I think I might just stay here thanks.”
“Twilight! What has gotten into you?”
“I dunno.”
Sky just growled and left the library at speed. She flew towards Rainbow’s cloud home, were the Rainbow Pony was sleeping on a hammock suspended between two cloud pillars.
“Rainbow! Rainbow!”
She noticed that the normally colourful pony was also greyscale. What is going on?
“Rainbow! Do you know what’s happening?”
“Yep.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Nope.”
“Please?”
“Nope.”
Sky just flew away, confused at her friends indifference. She flew towards Fluttershy’s cottage, were the place was devoid of the normal critters. She saw a small brown bunny, similar to the one Sky had seen when she first arrived, running away at speed. Sky looked around and saw nothing. What the hay is happening? Suddenly her vision went blurry, and she was freezing cold, as a bucket of water was dumped on her head. She looked up, and saw Fluttershy holding it.
“Aw, did that get you?”
“Yes *cough cough splutter* It did. Fluttershy, do you know what is going on?”
“Yep.”
“Care to tell me?”
“No.” And with that, Fluttershy slammed the bucket down on Sky’s head, driving it into the ground. She used a spell that popped into her head to melt it away.
“Fluttershy! Dammit!”
Sky flew away again, and headed towards Rarity’s boutique. She landed in front of it, and tried to open the door. It opened half an inch. She looked through the window and saw furniture piled up against it. From inside she heard a shrill voice screech;
“GO AWAY! NO-ONE IS TRYING TO TAKE TOM FROM ME AGAIN!”
Sky just left then and there. She flew towards Sugarcube corner, thinking that Pinkie Pie would be able to make some sense of the situation. But when she got there, Pinkie Pie was kneeling sullenly outside. Sky nevertheless, tried to talk.
“Pinkie Pie! I am so glad to see you.”
“Why? Need a good laugh?” Sky was taken aback by this and realised whatever had happened to the others must have happened to Pinkie as well, and so she flew away as fast as she could.
“What is happening?”  Maybe Zecora knows something? I don’t want to see what AJ is like at the moment. Sky changed her course, and headed for the Everfree Forest. But when she tried to fly in, a brick wall appeared in front of her and she crashed into it, slowly spiraling towards the ground, blood streaming from her mouth. She heard the all-too familiar voice of Discord.
“Oh no, I can’t let you get through that easily can I? Play my game, and I’ll let you through.” Discord appeared in front of her, a smile on his mismatched face.
“I’m not a fan of games.” Sky said this, then blindly attacked Discord, chanting a spell she hoped would keep him in place. Her newfound memories had come with memories of some of the spells she had learned. She knew it was working when she heard Discord trying to move.
“What have you done, little Sky Blue?” Sky could tell he was trying to keep his voice in the light mischievous way it usually was, but there was a slight note of panic in there.
“I have just used what Chrysalis taught me.” And with this, she jumped and head-butted him right in his chest, actually making him stumble.
“How did you do that? You’re more powerful than she said...” With this, Sky broke the spell and Discord teleported away. Sky ran straight into the Everfree Forest. She only just realised the pain her jaw was feeling, from the hit to the brick wall. She just blindly ran through the forest, not really knowing where she was going. She vaguely noticed a broken cliff as she ran down a worn path towards the bottom. 
She could’ve sworn she saw a manticore. 
She didn’t see anything for a minute, just vaguely creepy trees.
And at one point she saw a large purple tail as she crossed a river.
Then she came to a broken rope bridge. She knew that Zecora’s House was very far away at this point, but she kept moving. She just flew over the gap, and saw a large ruined castle. She wandered through the crumbling doorway and saw a huge plinth.
It was empty.
“That’s it? That’s why I came all this way, to see an empty damn plinth?! Come on!” Sky wanted to leave right then and there, but she found herself drawn to it. There were six stone platforms, enough for a small sphere to rest on, jutting out. She looked at each one, and saw the inscriptions on them.
Loyalty.
Honesty.
Laughter.
Generosity.
Kindness.
And the last inscription was rubbed off, but she knew it said Magic.
So this is where the Elements of Harmony once rested. But why am I here? Is it to find this mysterious seventh element? Wasn’t it destroyed? Maybe the fragments were kept? I guess all I have to do is look. Then I can take it to Ponyville, and maybe it will show who is the seventh element. I just hope it works. AJ told me that the spell had been changed.
It should. No, it will!
Rainbow told me that last time they had got through because Twilight had healed them with a memory spell. I just hope someone else knows one. Sky looked around and saw nothing. 
“Dammit!” Sky shouted, stamping her hoof on the ground. To her surprise, the plinth shook for a moment and a small door opened up in the base. Sky, slightly suspicious, walked in and saw what she had been looking for. A small stone sphere was resting on a small pedestal in the middle of the interior. Sky flew up and grabbed it, and went to fly back to Ponyville, but before she had left the castle, it slipped out of her hooves, and plummeted towards the ground. She heard a voice in her head, yelling;
“NO! DO NOT LET IT HIT THE GROUND!” Suddenly the sphere flew back upwards and Sky caught it. What was that? Never mind, I just have to keep moving. She flew back to Ponyville without any major incident, but when she got there, something was wrong. It was probably all the grey ponies running around, causing havoc. She stepped away from the element for a moment to try and see what else was going on, but when she turned around, Fluttershy was flying off with it.
“Ha, ha! It’s mine now!”
“Fluttershy! Give that back!”
She flew into the air after Fluttershy, catching up with her in seconds, and slamming in to her to make her drop the sphere. But Sky overshot it, and hit Fluttershy too hard, sending the sphere flying towards the ground, and tangling with Fluttershy from the force of the hit. Sky went to chase after it, but Fluttershy grabbed her, and Sky could do nothing but watch as it flew towards the ground, hitting it and shattering.
“NOT AGAIN!” Sky heard this echoing around her head.
“NO!” This was from Sky herself, who struggled out of Fluttershy’s grasp, and once again let her instincts take over. She pushed her forehead against Fluttershy’s, and entered the pegasus’ mind. She pushed through Fluttershy’s mental defenses like a flaming knife through ice, and found the pegasus’ inner sanctum easily. She noticed it looked like a large forest clearing. Sky looked around, and saw the yellow Fluttershy surrounded by butterflies. At first this confused her, but then she heard that they were speaking in a voice similar to Discord’s, just with a higher pitch. They were talking to her, telling her to be mean, to just fight people and insult them and hurt them. Sky charged forward and stopped in front of Fluttershy, getting in between the Discord-Flies and her.
“Get back Discord! Stop saying those things! GET OUT!” The force of her words were so powerful, the Discord-Flies just faded away. Fluttershy stood up shakily and looked at Sky.
“Oh, thank you so much for that Sky!” Fluttershy hugged her and Sky pulled out of Fluttershy’s mind. When she was back in her own mind, Sky shot towards the ground, knowing that no matter what she did, the Element was gone. She heard Fluttershy land next to her.
“We’ll never beat Discord. The seventh element, whatever it was, is gone.”
“Oh... Rainbow Dash didn’t tell you?”
“What?”
“When we first found the elements, Nightmare Moon shattered them, but when we realised which element each of us represented, they became our necklaces, and Twilight’s crown.”
“What? Brilliant! We just have to free the others and find whoever is the seventh element! Finding out what it was would help.” Sky went to fly away, but her vision flickered, and she fell to the ground. Oh, COME ON! Now of all tim-- Sky lost her train of thought when she blacked out.
Again.
This time she was in what looked like a huge throne room. Chrysalis was standing in front of a large dark green throne. She saw her not-so-young self --Probably about twenty this time-- standing up, an angry look on her face. Sky was confused, until she heard what was being said.
“So, the Elements of Harmony have been restored? And they have been used to defeat Nightmare Moon, who, you told me, years ago, was trying to free Equestria? And yet, I have heard, ‘My Queen’--” Young Sky said this with a sneer on her face. “That Nightmare Moon was trying to take over. She was trying to seal the world in eternal night. Tell me, how does that sound, in any way, like freeing Equestria? What else have you lied to me about?” Young Sky was shaking with rage at this point.
“Fine. I have lied to you. We are not the... Ugh... Good guys. We are the antagonists of Equestria’s history, but would you rather be remembered as a villain, or not at all? I have been trying to free Nightmare Moon and Discord both for over a thousand years! I want to be in control of Equestria.” Young Sky took a few steps back.
“And... My parents?”
“Killed in a raid instigated by my troops, looking to feed.”
“Celestia?”
“Good, honourable, and currently ruling a free Equestria with her newly freed sister.”
“Discord?”
“Evil, wanting to rule Equestria and send it into chaos. We agreed, a thousand years ago, that we would split the land three ways. Admittedly, Nightmare and I were making a deal with a statue, but he did speak to us in the first place.”
“So... All this time... The training has been for...?”
“The inevitable war with Celestia. I only let you live because of your tremendous mental abilities.”
“And if I leave?”
“You will lose the only true home you have ever known.”
“But you are evil!”
“But I let you do whatever you want, I give you meals, I give you education, a place to sleep. It is only fair that I get payment for these gifts. And you would probably be attacked within minutes of passing into Equestria.”
“Fine... But... I just want you to know... I trusted you... My Queen. I thought you were good.”
“I am, in a way. I am only looking to feed my people.”
“But, conquering Equestria...”
“Is the best possible solution to sate our growing hunger.”
“Fine.”
Sky watched this in silence. So she had been good, but had been blackmailed into serving Chrysalis. The throne room faded, to be replaced with a dark balcony, overlooking a near-barren grey landscape.
“So, Discord was freed?”
“Yes, but not of my will.”
“But... My Queen... Why did we not move then?”
“Luna was not ready. She needed more... Conditioning... To our beliefs.”
“You mean brainwashing.”
“Sky, if you were anyone else, I would destroy you for that. She just needs to be... Reminded... Of our promise with Discord, one thousand years ago. She isn’t ready, and with nightmare night coming up, I have to lay off the... Conditioning... For a while, lest it be noticed.”
“How has Celestia not noticed it yet?”
“Hmph. I learned how to shield those things from her years ago. She knows nothing.”
“When will we strike?”
“I have a plan. A royal wedding is coming up. Weddings are usually saturated with... Love. It will be the perfect place to lower the defenses of Equestria, and attack Canterlot at last. After all, no-one would suspect the bride, would they? Hahaha. They will never know what hit them.”
“Very well, My Queen. Where do I fit into this plan?”
“You don’t. I do not wish to send you into open conflict yet. I prefer using your abilities from afar. I must say, even I was impressed with the Hydra you summoned to attack the elements. Too bad it wasn’t good enough. And the Parasprites? I would never have thought of that. Having Celestia losing faith in her protégée by ruining her visit was inspired.”
“Thank you... My Queen. May I request permission to speak freely?”
“Yes.”
“Then may I?”
“I’d have thought you would figure that out.”
“Sorry, My Queen. I just want to say, that... I think that this plan is extremely ill-advised. There many things that could go wrong.”
“I have my spies gathering information on the bride-to-be, Cadance. I will know enough about her to make sure my cover is perfect.”
“Something will still go wrong Chrysalis. I mean, look at Discord, and Nightmare!”
Chrysalis looked annoyed that Young Sky had used her name, but kept talking.
“I will not make the same mistakes as them. I will prevail. By then, I should have...conditioned Luna, and she will be ready for the final part of my plan, and then together we shall free Discord, and rule Equestria!” Chrysalis had a far away look in her eyes as she said this.
“But... My Queen, you know that they will want more land, and what are you going to do if they decide to start a war?”
Chrysalis sighed.
“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Honour among thieves?’ It means, that while we don’t care about others, we still honour the agreements, and in some cases, treaties made among ourselves. Whether third-rate burglars, or Villains like us--” Young Sky flinched at the thought of being called a villain, “-- We still have some sense of honour. They will stick to our agreement.”
“Very well, My Queen.” The vision faded once more, and Sky expected, no, wanted to see more, but all too soon, she felt consciousness pulling at her, and she awoke to the eyes of Fluttershy, who was softly shaking her.
“Sky? Sky? Are you okay?”
“Yeah... Yeah... I’m fine.” Sky sat up, and looked around for the fragments of the last element. She saw them a few meters away, and bolted for them, looking for a place to keep them. She saw a small pouch on a string held in front of her, and saw Fluttershy offering it.
“Here you go, Sky. I keep this for when I need to hold on to something special.”
Sky took it and put the fragments into the pouch, tightly closing it and putting it around her neck.
“Thanks, now let’s go and find the others.” Fluttershy nodded and they headed for the nearest landmark, which was Rarity’s Boutique. After a quick spell, Sky disintegrated the furniture forming the blockade, and walked in, only to have a few spools of wool thrown weakly at her.
“No! Twilight tricked me into thinking that my beautiful Tom was just a rock! Not again! GET BACK! GET OFF ME!” Rarity said this as Sky pushed her down and put her forehead against the grey unicorn’s.
As she pushed through Rarity’s defenses, Sky saw that some of them were a little cracked. That must mean she was trying to resist whatever Discord is doing to her. She pushed through into Rarity’s Sanctum, and saw that it looked like a huge walk-in wardrobe. 
She saw Rarity in the middle, surrounded by floating Diamonds, with Discord’s face reflected in them. They must be apparitions, not Discord himself, otherwise they would have attacked me. Good. This should be easier than I thought. Sky flew towards Rarity, who was staring at the diamonds in awe. In an instant, Sky had smashed through them, shattering them, and silencing Discord’s voice. Rarity shook herself, clearing her mind.
“Sky? Wh-what happened? I saw... Oh, no. I was worshipping the rock again, wasn’t I?”
Sky just nodded and pulled out of Rarity’s mind. She pulled away from the unicorn, who’s colour was coming back. Then Sky’s vision flickered, again. Not again! I want to see more, but not right no-- Sky stopped thinking as she descended into yet another memory. This time, Her only-slightly-younger self was standing next to Chrysalis, as she surveyed her troops.
“Very good. Soon we shall have lowered Canterlot’s defenses, and we shall finally be in control! Luna has been feeling sick of late, and won’t be attending the wedding. I wonder what is wrong with her?” She chuckled quietly.
“The wedding is in two weeks, and by then I shall have enough information to impersonate Cadance perfectly.” Young Sky looked at the large Queen, and Sky could swear she saw something on her face. Was it... Hate? Regret? Sadness, even? Sky couldn’t tell.
“Yes, My Queen.”
“Now, remember, I want you to stay here until I return. Do not leave the castle under any circumstances.”
“Yes My Queen.”
“Very good.”
Sky felt herself waking up, and figured that this was just a short memory. But it had to be important, or she wouldn’t be reliving it so directly. She woke up, and immediately rolled on to her hooves, and bolted out of the boutique.
“I’ll see you at Twilight’s Library in five minutes! I’m going to go and free Pinkie!” She didn’t wait for an answer as she flew at speeds that would impress Rainbow towards Sugarcube Corner. Needless to day, Sky was at Sugarcube Corner in ten seconds flat. Pinkie was yelling at one of the grey ponies, one of which had discoloured flowers on her flank. She was laughing at Pinkie.
“I don’t know why I ever told my students not to bully others! This is so fun! Hahahaha!” She pointed at Pinkie, with a sneer on her face, and continued laughing.
“STOP IT! STOP LAUGHING AT M-- GET OFF ME SKY! Is this some kind of practical joke? GET AWAY!” Pinkie struggled like mad as Sky put her forehead against Pinkie’s.
Sky felt herself enter one of her friends minds for what felt like the fiftieth time in as many hours. She pushed past Pinkie’s defenses, and found herself in another ‘Sanctum’. This one looked like a huge party hall, with Party food and balloons everywhere. But some sinister-looking balloons were hovering around and laughing at Pinkie, who was on the ground, crying. Sky flew over to them, but the other balloons in the room pushed her back. She just pushed and pushed against them, but to no end. Sky racked her brains for a second, and remembered a spell that would help. She said the words quietly under her breath, and the balloons burst into flames. She then ran over to Pinkie’s shuddering body, and popped the balloons by jumping on them, one by one. When the balloons were gone, Pinkie looked up, tears on her cheeks.
“Did you get rid of them?”
“Yes Pinkie. Don’t worry, they’re all gone.”
“It’s no fun when they’re laughing at you.”
“We would never laugh at you, Pinkie.” And with this, Sky left Pinkie’s mind, and immediately her vision flickered, signaling a new memory was about to be remembered. Sky just lay down, and let it come.
Sky was standing on a large balcony, almost like a place for multiple ponies to take off and land safely together. But instead of Ponies, there were changelings running around, and Sky saw herself and Chrysalis standing on the sidelines. Sky flew over to them, wanting to hear what was being said.
“Now, remember, you are not, I repeat, not allowed to leave the castle. I can not risk losing you... your abilities, that is.” Chrysalis took on the form of what Sky guessed was Cadence, and her voice changed dramatically when she next spoke.
“Now, just... Study... Or something. We must go. The wedding is in three days, and I need to capture the real Cadence and assimilate myself.” With this, Chrysalis flew off, with a swarm of Changelings on her tail.
“Yeah, study." Young Sky took off for the library. Sky followed her, and soon found herself looking at a large book of spells. Her young self was looking at an extremely complicated spell, and was writing something on a small sheet of paper. She heard her young self muttering quietly.
“Okay, I just need to get away from the castle, then I need to find somewhere to wake up. Not too far away from a town. I’ll need to leave some hints for myself, but it will mostly need to stay hidden. Can’t have myself coming right back here.” There was a creak from the back of the room, and Young Sky said a word quickly under her breath, and the paper disappeared. Sky saw a changeling walking up to the small desk where Young Sky was sitting. She had quickly turned the pages of the book, to make it look like she had been studying hypnosis spells.
“Excuse me, ma’am. The Queen wishes me to keep an eye on you.”
“How many times must I say it, don’t call me ma’am. That is why that last guy is still looking for his teeth. Call me Sky.”
“Very well... Sky.”
“Alright. Now I need something to eat, I just had to look something up about hypnosis.”
Sky felt the tug of consciousness, and once again woke up and looked into the eyes of one of her friends.
“Hey Pinkie. Meet me at Twilight’s library, okay?”
“Okie dokie!” Sky flew off towards the library, and landed on the threshold, kicking the door open.
“Twilight!”
“Oh, hey Sky...”
Sky just ran forward and tackled Twilight.
“Oh, great. Now what are you going to do?”
“Just SHUT UP!” Sky put her head against Twilight’s, and entered yet another mind. Sky was starting to feel tired and weak, knowing that Rainbow would be the toughest to heal, and dreading the healing itself. Then she remembered that she had to find AJ as well.
She pushed back into the familiar library, casting away these thoughts, and saw purple and white stars, like the ones that made up Twilight’s cutie mark hovering around her, saying nothing. Sky didn't care as she charged them, and hit one, shattering it. Sky made short work of the others and helped Twilight stand up.
“Wh-what happened? I don’t remember anything, except... Well... Nothing! I just felt, numb, almost.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a minute.” Sky pulled out again, and fell directly into another memory. A familiar one. She was standing on a dark stone floor., and she suddenly saw herself walk past. Keeping in mind what had happened last time she was in this memory, she followed herself... again. She found herself, and... Herself... Kneeling in front of Chrysalis again. This time Sky could hear what was being said, and, based on what she was saying, Chrysalis was keeping very calm.
“You were right, Sky, the mission was a complete failure. The pony, Twilight Sparkle, blew my cover, and I was forced out of Canterlot. But now we know that we can get in. We just have to be more careful next time, and gather more intelligence.” Suddenly Chrysalis looked up, straight at Sky.
“Ah, it would seem we have a visitor.” Sky froze as her maybe-a-month younger self turn around.
“What is it My Queen? Oh. It’s just you.” Sky was confused for a moment, then turned around and moved out of the way of a changeling who was walking towards them.
“My Queen, we need you immediately! Our researchers have discovered some information regarding freeing Discord once more!” Chrysalis nodded.
“Very well. Sky, leave us.”
“Yes My Queen.” Young Sky wandered away, and Sky followed her, not wishing to leave the boundaries of her memory. She followed close behind, and heard herself talking quietly. Sky leaned in and heard Young Sky saying;
“I hope you’re listening to me, me. If you are seeing this, you are obviously getting our memories back. Just hang on for a little longer, and I will be able to explain. Just keep doing whatever it is you’re doing, and you will get an explanation.” Sky gasped, and felt herself pulled back once more. She woke up, and saw Twilight looking into her eyes.
“Sky, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m just dreading having to heal the others. I don’t want you to, no offense. It’s just, every time I free one of you from Discord’s spell, a special memory comes back. Don’t interrupt!” She said this as Twilight opened her mouth. “The one I just saw was about a month ago, by my reckoning. I told... Me... To hang on and I would get an explanation.”
“Well, at least let me heal Applejack.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I already did.”
“What?”
“While you were unconscious, Applejack came in and I saw that she was grey, like when Discord had made her a compulsive liar. I just couldn’t stand those lies anymore coming out of her mouth, and I used the memory spell on her. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Rainbow should be enough to give me that last memory.”
“Well at least let me help.” Twilight’s horn glowed brightly and Sky felt some of her fatigue fade. “I gave you some of my energy. I hope it’s enough.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” With these two words hanging in the air behind her, Sky flew off out the door towards Rainbow’s Cloud Palace.