A young unicorn filly with lavender-colored fur stood in a realm of white nothingness. No horizon, no landmarks to tell her mind how or where she stood. Her purple-colored eyes jumped back n’ forth trying to make out anything in the mind-numbing void. “Hello” She called out timidly.
Feeling uneasy, she took a step and jumped back in shock. The ground beneath her shimmered like flexible glass. She shivered at the static that coursed through her body.
“Hello?” She looked around at the white nothingness.
Low rumbles echoed across the void’s land.
Fear washed over the filly. Her horn sparked out of instinct causing purple-colored mana to swirl around its tip. The rumbling continued, deeper in a tone similar to the open tone of an E string on a bass guitar. The filly let out a little squeak as she ran to places unknown.
The ground’s shaking intensified causing her to stumble on the marble-like ground. She let off a cry as she slipped and slid across the ground. Letting out a huff, she got back on her hooves and stood on shaky limbs. Looking at the void’s sky she saw it was shimmering like diamonds. She couldn’t decipher whether or not to be awestricken or afraid.
The mood she felt was heavy and thick with dread. She cowered closer to the ground, as she felt like thousands of eyes were glaring down at her… Judging her… She couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were full of tears as she stared horror-stricken at the sky, watching it morph into a shade of midnight black. She felt weightless as the ground around her dissolved. She let out a sob as she flailed her limbs in a helpless attempt to escape a fate she doesn’t know of.
“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” A voice that sounded unnatural to her spoke with authority, shaking the void with its powerful tone.
The filly whipped her head around, desperately searching for the voice’s origin point. “Where am I?” She cried out.
“WHAT IS YOUR NAME!” The shout of the voice took the air out of her lungs. The filly choked on her sobs as she swam through the black void to safety. Where ever safety was. “ANSWER! YOU PETULANT CHILD!”
“MY NAME IS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The filly shouted in a panic.
The voice let out a laugh laced with, amusement, kindness, anger, pity, joy, condemnation, and malice. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE…”
Twilight felt a sudden change in gravity. Her stomach twisted itself into a knot as she began to feel the cold winds rush across her body. She flailed her limbs in a panic as she fell through the void toward the endless bottom. Up, down, left or right, she didn’t know. She trembled as she felt like she was nearing the bottom. “AHHH!” She screamed out, her body balling up as she braced for the impact.
But nothing… No pain. No jolt. No boom… Nothing.
Feeling a breeze tickling her back, Twilight stood still, her limbs shivering. She forced her eyes open. “Hello?” She called out as she looked at her surroundings with tear-filled eyes. She felt confused. Was she dead? She didn’t feel dead. Swallowing her fears, she stepped forward into the black void. “Is any pony here?”
The static silence unnerved her young mind. Her bright innocent eyes scanned the endless abyss as she took little steps forward. She stopped as she felt a cold breeze wash over her as she heard a soft ghostly whisper echo in her ears. “Hello?”
Still nothing…
Twilight let out a soft sigh as she sat down. “Where am I?” She asked out loud.
“You are where you need to be…”
Twilight shivered as she stood up. “Who’s there?”
“Only us…”
Twilight’s eyes are drawn to a white misty figure of a unicorn mare in her late forties. Her main was short, resting just under her chin, and her tail was braided. “Who are you?” She pleaded as she stepped closer to the mare.
“You know the answer to that, little one…”
A low growl echoed all around Twilight. It felt like the void was falling upon her. Seeing the mare walking away, she let out a squeak as she gave chase. “Wait!” Twilight cried. Loud cracks thundered around her. Twilight shivered as she felt like the void was crushing her. “Please! Wait!” She huffed as she ran. “I need help!”
The mare stopped at looked over her shoulders at the filly. “You don’t!” The mare glared at Twilight with her fiery white eyes.
Twilight wanted to stop, but the fear of the void outweighed her fear of the mare. “Please!” She begged, trying to win over the mysterious figure. “I want my mommy!” The mare let out a laugh and faded as Twilight lunged for her. Twilight let out a groan as she slid across the crystal-like ground until she bumped up against a white crystalline wall.
Twilight weakly stood up and stared at the wall of crystal. Shivers danced across her body as she pondered the meaning of the wall. Nervously she touched the wall with a hoof. The wall shook and groaned. The ground around her cracked open and the wall grew around her enclosing her within a crystal cell.
Letting out a squeak, she looked around at her new tomb. “How do I get home?” She looked at the crystal wall and stared at her own hazy reflection. “How did I get here?” Hearing a cry not her own, her ears stood erect as she looked around. Gasping, she walked over to her left and squinted her eyes at a fizzy silhouette of a pony on the other side. From what she could see, the pony had pink fur and had a magenta-colored mane and tail. Her eyes were colored blue. “Hello?” Twilight placed her hooves on the wall. “Can you hear me?”
The filly on the other side lifted her head and looked in her direction. “Yes!” Her cheery squeaky voice called out. “What’s your name!’ She giggled. “I forgot to tell you, my name. My name is Pinkiamena Diane Pie, but my sisters call me Pinkie!”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle!” She smiled.
“Nice to meet you…” Pinkie let out a long-held humming sound. “Well sort of meeting you, with this wall in front of us.” Twilight could see her moving her head around. “How do we get out of here?”
“I don’t know…” Twilight stared at her hooves on the wall. “Try placing your hooves on it like me.”
“Okie dokie.” Pinkie placed her hooves on the wall. “High-hoof on a wall!” She laughed at her own words.
The wall began to shimmer where their hooves touched, but only briefly. The strange sensations they felt running up their arms died with the shimmering. Twilight let out a huff and pushed herself from the wall. “Didn’t do anything!” She sat back down and let out a sigh.
“It did something, though.” Pinkie countered. Hearing Twilight let out a defeated groan, Pinkie sat down and looked around. “We’re in a pickle.” She let a chuckle slip past her lips. “Pickle!” She started laughing.
Twilight raised her brow as she stared at the pink filly’s hazy figure on the other side of the crystal wall. “How can you be in a happy mood after all the scary things I’ve… We’ve seen?” She thought of her own question. “Did you see the same scary things?”
Pinkie hummed as she nodded. “Yeah, saw this blue ghost. She didn’t say a word to me, just floated away from me while something was chasing me!”
Twilight raised her brow at Pinkie’s tone. “And you’re okay with what you’ve seen?”
“No…” Pinkie laid her back against the wall. “I was scared, but Granny Pie always told my sisters and I to laugh at what you’re afraid of. Being scared gets in the way of solving the problem at hoof.”
Twilight squished her lips together and nodded slowly. No sense in arguing with that. “True, but I don’t think laughing at this will help us with getting out of here.”
“I agree…” Pinkie looked at the wall of crystal surrounding her. “Got a plan?”
“No… Not at the moment…” Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. “Do you remember…?”
“Hello!” A southern sounding voice called out. “Can y’all hear me?” Twilight looked to her right and Pinkie looked to her left and saw a hazy silhouette of an orange-colored filly, with a blonde mane and tail. “I heard your voices after I escaped whatever was chasing me.”
“Hello!” Pinkie smiled. “My name is Pinkie and the other pony in the other room is Twilight!” She jumped up n down. “Can you see us?”
“I can but you’re a little fuzzy?” The filly tilted her head. “The names Applejack.”
“Nice to meet you.” Twilight waved.
“Same…” Applejack took the time to look at the dome of crystal overhead. Hearing soft huffing, she looked to her left and saw the silhouette of a filly with white fur and a rich purple mane. “Hello?”
The filly’s ears stood erect as she looked over at the others. “Oh, thank goodness!” She let out a heavy sigh. “I thought I was alone!” She walked up to the wall and sat down. “Are all of you, okay?”
“Yep!” Pinkie hummed. Twilight and Applejack hummed as they nodded.
The filly let out a sigh. “That’s good.” She smiled. “The names Rarity.” She placed a hoof on her chest.
“The names Applejack.”
“My name is Pinkie!”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
“Nice to meet you…” Hearing a soft whimper, Rarity looked to her left and saw the silhouette of a filly with yellow fur and a pink mane and tail. “Hello!”
The filly squeaked as she jumped in fright. “Whose there?” She called out, her voice coated in a sobbing tone.
“Just us!” Pinkie Pie called out before the others could respond. “My name is Pinkie, the pony to my right is Twilight and the ponies to my left are Applejack and Rarity!”
The filly on the other side walked up to the wall, her fuzzy silhouette sort of coming into focus. “Um…” She softly spoke. “I’m Fluttershy.” She looked around. “Where are we?”
“Fluttershy is that you?” A raspy voice called out.
Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack looked around trying to make out the location.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy moved some of her mane from her eyes and looked to her left and saw the fuzzy silhouette of a filly with sky-blue fur and a prism-colored mane and tail. She knew the filly was a pegasus due to her wings that were extended out, showing signs of her panicked state.
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash walked up close to the wall, her wings fold to her sides as she studied the fuzzy silhouettes on the other side. “Who are all of you?” Her raspy voice filled with skepticism.
Before Applejack could speak, Pinkie dramatically took a deep breath. “Her name is Applejack, she’s Twilight, that’s Rarity, and I’m Pinkie!” She took in another breath as she held up her hoof.
Rainbow Dash glared at the silhouettes for a second. “HI!” She smiled. “I’m Rainbow Dash! The best flyer in my school!”
“Nice to meet yah!” Applejack nodded.
“Nice to meet you, well sort of.” Rainbow Dash looked at the foggy crystal wall in front of her. “How do we get out of here?”
“Not sure?” Twilight huffed.
“We’re stuck here in this scary place?” Fluttershy mumbled.
“How did we get here in the first place?” Pinkie wondered.
“What do you remember before waking up in this,” Rarity looked around at the white hazy crystal walls. “strange place?”
“Well,” Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “My brother and I were helping my Ma and Pa work our apple orchard. Then we ate dinner and then I went to bed.” She tapped her chin. “Then I felt something warm on my chest.
“Well, I remember going to bed, then I felt a hot sensation in my, chest,” Pinkie commented.
“Same!” Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her chest. “Very hot.”
“It hurt.” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together as she hid behind her mane, even though the others couldn’t see her.
“Same,” Rarity rubbed her chest. “It felt like I got kicked.”
Twilight pondered their words. She combed over her memories, trying to remember her own events before bed. ‘Bright white…” Chills ran down her spine. ‘A white crystal hovering in front of her…’ Twilight looked at the fuzzy silhouette of each filly. ‘There’s six, including me…’ She felt her throat tighten up. “Six…”
“Six? Six what now sugar cube?” Applejack looked over at Twilight, tilting her head to the side.
“I, I think we were chosen!”
“Chosen?” Pinkie wondered.
“Yes…” Twilight paced around. “I saw a bright white crystal floating in front of me. It woke me up before…” She rubbed her chest. “It hit me in the chest.”
“Do you know what it could…” Rarity’s eyes widened. “Wait… T-The elements!”
The other’s eyes widened.
“T-The elements?” Fluttershy’s body shivered. “Like the elements?”
Rainbow Dash rubbed her chest. “What?” Her eyes began to tremble. “But why?”
They sit in silence as their young minds tried to comprehend their situation. Twilight stared at the others’ fuzzy silhouettes. Her mind remembered when hers and Pinkie’s hooves touched the wall. It shimmered… ‘Six ponies…’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘If they were really the elements…’ She placed her right hoof on the wall. “Touch the wall.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash raised her brow.
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “There are six of us.” She swallowed. “If what I saw was one of the elements, then they are the reason we’re here.”
“But why touch the wall?” Rainbow Dash huffed. “What’s that going to do for us?”
“Because when Twilight and I touched it earlier, it shimmered,” Pinkie spoke up. “I think why it didn’t work is because it was waiting for all of us to show up.”
“Are they testing us?” Rarity pondered.
Twilight let out a sigh. “I-I think so?”
Fluttershy shivered as she stood up and placed a hoof on the wall. “We have nowhere else to go or do?” She softly spoke. The others nodded and joined her and Twilight and placed a hoof on the wall.
The wall shimmered a cascade of colors that illuminated the space they were in, casting them in a soft glow. The wall hummed as it dissolved into the ground. Blinking the light from their eyes, the fillies were able to get a good look at each other. Smiling, they proceeded to walk up to each other, when a low horn echoed all around them. “What’s Happening?” Pinkie whimpered.
The ground began to shake violently.
“WHAT’S GOING ON!” Applejack huffed as she tried to keep her balance.
The crystal that surrounded them shattered, sending large shards of gemstones into the endless black void. The fillies found themselves floating about. Their limbs flailing about trying to find some sense of security.
Squeaks of panic came out of Fluttershy’s voice. “Hold on!” Rainbow Dash tried to reach her friend. “Gotcha!” As she grabbed her, the black void they were in morphed into a complex spreading out in axis and orientations, similar to the madness of an abstract painting.
The fillies feeling gravity once again fell onto the grassy texture of the maze’s floor. Blinking her eyes, Twilight stood up from the ground and stared in awe at the enormity of it all. The walls of the maze were like polished obsidian and the grass was white in color and soft to the touch.
“A maze?” Rainbow Dash asked as she eyed the maddening alternate paths going on for eternity.
“Looks like it sugar cube.” Applejack stared up at some portions of the maze that were upside down.
“Sugar cube?” Rainbow Dash looked at the earth pony filly with a raised brow.
“It's what I call everypony.” Applejack smiled. Rainbow Dash only looked forward and gave a slight nod.
“It’s quite lovely.” Rarity hummed as she walked forward. “Ooh!” The grass lit up from her touch. “Interesting.” She touched the grass once more and watched the light shimmer out like ripples on a pond.
“This is incredible!” Twilight walked further down the maze.
“Where are you going?” Fluttershy asked nervously as she eyed the maze with terrified eyes.
Twilight looked back at her and the others. “Well, I don’t see anywhere else we can go.” She waved at the maze with a hoof. “We obviously have to go this way.” The others looked at one another, somewhat weary of their situation. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Fluttershy followed Twilight. The others shivered as they followed suit.
They trekked through the maze. It's an eerie place. A static rumbled within their ears. Metallic groans echoed all around them, causing them to think that the maze was a living creature, but one made of gears and metal. Pinkie and Twilight looked at the walls around them, watching them ripple like split-flat displays.
“This is the darnest maze I’ve ever seen!” Applejack ears folded back. “It’s so unnatural!” She jumped as the walls made an eerie groan. She watched with wide eyes as they morphed into themselves as the ripple traveled up and down its length.
“I agree…” Rarity kept her eyes on the grass watching as it lit up around their hooves with each step she took.
Twilight scanned the different paths of the maze above them. Seeing a few ghostly figures of other ponies walking the paths, she shivered as she studied each and every one of them. They were glowing in different colors. Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and white. The colors of the elements.
“You see what I’m seeing?”
Twilight looked at Pinkie and saw she was looking at the figures as well. “Yeah…” She recognized one as the same figure she saw just moments ago.
“W-Who are they?” Fluttershy moaned as she tried to hide behind her mane. Rainbow Dash frowned at the figures and got close to her childhood friend.
Twilight pondered through her thoughts. “If it was the elements that chose us, then they must be past element bearers?”
“Aren’t they dead?” Applejack looked up at the wandering figures.
“Yes.” Twilight’s ears folded back.
“A part of them must’ve stayed with the elements?” Applejack questioned.
“What do we do if we run into them?” Rainbow Dash looked at a red shimmering figure of a pegasus stallion walking slowly along a sideways path to her left.
“Well, we’re going to have to say hi… AH!” Pinkie screamed. Twilight quickly grabbed her rear legs. Both fillies looked over the edge of the cliff, staring at the other half of the maze below with wide eyes. “Whoa!” Pinkie giggled.
“Well, shoot!” Applejack mumbled.
“Where do we go now?” Fluttershy looked at the endless maze that consumed the whole void.
Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest. “I’ll just fly up and look for a way out!” She lifted herself off the ground with a flap of her wings and took off. “AH!” An electrical current shocked her whole body sending her to the ground. “Ow…”
“Are you okay?” The others gather around her.
“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash huffed as she looked up at the maze. Her eyes shrank as she saw the countless figures had stopped walking and were staring down at them. The hollowed glowing eyes glared at them.
“What are they doing?” Rarity watched magical aura leaking out of their eyes.
“I don’t know?” Applejack felt her fur stand on end. “I have a feeling it ain’t good…”
A loud groaning echoed all around them. The maze shook causing the fillies to lose their balance. Hearing a horrid noise, they looked down the maze where they came from and saw that it was being torn apart by a cloud of endless black abyss.
“What do we do?” Fluttershy cried.
Rainbow Dash stood close to her as she stared up at the figures staring down at them. Seeing them disappear as the maze paths they stood on were torn apart, she swallowed her fears. “We need to go!” Her raspy voice cried out.
Looking over the edge of the cliff and at the black abyss approaching them, Rarity shivered as she thought of the unthinkable. “Follow me!” She jumped.
“Rarity!” Twilight yelled. Her eyes widened as she saw Rarity’s body readjust to the new orientation from the vertical path’s gravity taking hold. Stumbling over her hooves, Rarity got her balance and looked over her shoulders, giving the others a shocked but ecstatic smile. “WHAT!” Twilight yelled as she stared at the clear violation of physics itself.
“It’s getting closer!” Applejack yelled as she dove off. “JUMP!”
Seeing the others falling past her, Twilight shivered as she heard the ungodly sound of the abyss approaching. Twilight groaned as she let go of Pinkie and slipped off the cliff. Stumbling from the change in gravity, she got on her hooves and stood beside the others. “Is everypony okay?” The others nodded.
Hearing an awful moan, they looked up and saw the black abyss consuming the top of the cliff. “RUN!” Pinkie shouted. The others follow as they ran down the path.
“What happens if we find a dead end?” Rainbow Dash cried.
“DON’ THINK ABOUT THAT!” Fluttershy yelled.
Rainbow Dash looked at her usually timid friend with wide eyes. “U-Uh… Understood!”
Twilight stared at the different paths of the maze morphing into themselves. “We’re going to have to work together!”
“How?” Applejack huffed.
“We need to agree on where to go!” Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw the black abyss gaining ground.
Feeling a chill run down her back, Pinkie looked over at Twilight and Applejack and saw a fork in the road. “RIGHT!” Pinkie felt another chill.
“What?” Twilight asked.
“Turn right!” Pinkie ran up ahead of the group and turned down the path.
The others follow suit. “Why did you pick this way?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew low to the ground.
Pinkie felt another shiver as she looked at the decaying maze overhead. “Just a feeling!”
“A feeling?” Twilight blathered out.
“Just trust me!” Pinkie looked back at the others. “You trust me?”
The others looked over their shoulders watching the endless abyss ripping apart the maze with extreme fervor. They looked at Pinkie and gave her a nod. “We trust you sugar cube!” Applejack smiled. Pinkie nodded as she looked forwards and turned left leading them down a decline.
Their little legs that were running with all their might began to speed up from the angle of the decline of the path they were on. Soon the decline became so extreme that they began sliding down it like a slide. The soft white grass provided some resistance, but their speed kept increasing. “No! No! No!” Twilight cried.
“WEE!” Pinkie cheered with her front hooves in the air.
“Really?” Applejack glared at her. “You find this fun?”
“Yep!” Pinkie laughed. “You got to find the fun in everything!”
“Even with a big scary… Thing! After us?” Fluttershy looked back at the abyss making its way toward them.
Pinkie nodded as she saw a ramp. Seeing a hexagonal platform past the ramp, her eyes narrowed as she stuck out her tongue. ‘Just like sledding with my sisters!’ She giggled as she dug her rump into the ground and tilted her body to line up her trajectory. “Get ready to jump!”
“JUMP!” Rarity looked at the ramp in the distance. “Oh, you got to be kidding me!”
“No, she’s not!” Rainbow Dash extended her wings and lined herself up. The others followed suit, manipulating their bodies to the right orientations until it was too late. Each filly launched off the ramp with little swooshes as they soared through the air, landing on the glass-like floor of the hexagonal platform with soft thuds. Except for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy who landed softly with several flaps of their wings.
Groaning out the soreness that danced across their bodies. The fillies stood up and saw the black abyss had stopped a few yards from the platform. They stared at the swirling mass just mindlessly floating, staring at them like a hungry lion glaring at a meal it can’t reach.
“T-That was close…” Fluttershy whimpered as she cowered from the black abyss.
“Can’t believe we did that!” Rarity sputtered.
“We did though.” Applejack chuckled due to her nervousness.
“Let’s do that again!” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie cheered.
“Let’s not do that again!” Twilight grumbled.
“Rainbow Dash and Pinkie giggled at her plight. “Come on Twily, it wasn’t that bad!” Pinkie waved a dismissive hoof.
“Hey! Only my brother calls me Twily!” Twilight huffed.
“You have a brother?” Applejack smiled. Her tail wagged from her excitement about the prospect of bringing up the subject of family.
“Y-Yeah…” Twilight let her frustrations subside. “He’s my older brother.
“What’s his name?” Applejack tilted her head. The other fillies tilted their heads to the side too.
“Um. Shining Armor.” Twilight blushed as she found herself the center of attention.
“That’s cool!” Applejack smiled. “I have an older brother as well and another sibling on the way!” Applejack smirked pridefully. “Mah brother is name Macintosh. And for my future baby sibling, well I’m not sure of it yet. We’ll just have to find out when they’re born.” She looked over at Fluttershy. “You know, my brother is shy like you.” She smirked jabbing her elbow against Fluttershy’s shoulder.
Fluttershy blushed. “Oh…” She tried to hide behind her mane.
Applejack and Rarity giggled at her reaction. “So, do you have any siblings?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “I have one, his name is Zephyr Breeze. He’s my younger brother…” She managed to say.
“I have three sisters!” Pinkie jumped up n’ down. “There’s Maud, my big sister. She’s very smart and loves rocks! Then there’s Limestone, she can be mean sometimes, but she has a soft spot, especially for pie! And then there’s my twin sister Marble, who's my baby sister by a minute!” She giggled as she skipped around the group.
Rarity watched her curiously. “Well since we’re on the topic. I have a baby sister named Sweetie Belle whose one-years-old.”
The others looked at Rainbow Dash. Her ears folded back as she looked at the ground. Her head was downcast as her magenta eyes stared at the shimmering black surface of the platform they stood on. “I have none…”
The fillies’ smiles left, except for Fluttershy who gave her friend a warm smile.
Not liking that Rainbow Dash was in a sad mood, Pinkie scooted up close to the pegasus and laid her arms around her neck. “Cheer up silly-willy!” Pinkie hummed, rubbing her cheek against Rainbow Dash’s “Because you have us as your friends!” She tightened her hug.
Rainbow Dash blushed from the affection. “Friends! But we just met?” She stared at the pink-colored filly with a skeptical eye.
“SO! Pinkie sighed dramatically. “We survived running from a crazy void thingy, I think that’s enough to put us into the friend zone!” She and the others looked at the calm mass of the abyss swirling around the platform. “And besides, we need to work together to get out of here and why not do that as friends!” She started bouncing around them once more, her long magenta mane and tail flowing with her movements.
The others laughed at her antics.
“Well shoot, I can’t argue with that!” Applejack smirked, “Count me in!”
“Same.” Rarity hummed a tune.
“Me too!” Twilight nodded.
Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy, her closest friend and schoolmate. “Fluttershy?” Her ears folded back as she rubbed her hooves together. “W-What do you think?” Fluttershy looked at the other fillies. Looking back at her friend, Fluttershy gave a nod. “YEAH! New friends!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she reared in excitement, her wings fluttering.
The others giggled at Rainbow Dash.
Looking around at the platform, Twilight started walking along the outer perimeter of the hexagonal ring. “Come on fillies, let's figure out how to get off this platform.” She looked over at the black abyss still swirling around them, “Before that thing starts to move.”
Rarity studied the gazebo within the center of the platform. It was hexagonal in shape similar to the platform. It was twenty-five feet tall and fifteen feet in diameter and made up of white marble with black specks. The platform itself was made of polished obsidian. “What a strange gazebo?” She muttered out loud as she wandered up to the structure.
“Why is it here?” Applejack questioned.
“Not sure?” Twilight stepped onto the gazebo’s platform and studied its underbelly.
“It looks like the only thing here?” Fluttershy looked around the bare platform.
Rarity stared at the trim along the six sides of the gazebo. Seeing six different symbols, her right brow raised as she tilted her head pondering their meaning. “I think it’s a puzzle?”
“A PUZZLE!” Twilight giggled as she ran up to Rarity and stood beside her looking up at the underside. Her smile grew the longer she stared at the symbols scarring its surface.
“What kind of puzzle?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m not sure…” Twilight tilted her head. “I’ve never seen symbols like this before?” The six symbols were in the shape of a circle. Each contained a different number of lines and dots that distinguished themselves from one another.
The first symbol was a circle with a vertical line running through the center with dots on the right and left of the line within the circle. The second symbol was a circle with a plus sign in its center with dots at each end. The third symbol was a circle with a triangle in the center with each corner of the triangle poking out of the circle and containing a dot in each exposed corner. The fourth symbol was a circle with four lines in the center. The fifth symbol was a circle with five dots in a similar arrangement to the five side of a die. And the sixth symbol was a circle with a star in the center with a dot in the center of the star.
“They’re so pretty! Ooh!” Pinkie stared in awe as the fifth symbol lit up.
The others stared at the symbol’s blue glow with wonder-stricken eyes.
“Pinkie! How did you do that?” Twilight asked, her voice cracking with excitement.
“UH?” Pinkie jumped at her tone and stepped back. The symbol’s glow dimmed and slowly faded away. “I didn’t mean to!” she cried. “It just looked pretty!”
“Pinkie, wait! Do that again!” Twilight held out her front hooves.
“Uh… Do what?” Pinkie looked at her skeptically.
“Walk back to where you were!” Twilight mentioned with her hooves.
Pinkie looked down at the obsidian floor and slowly stood on the spot she was just on. The symbol on the trim and a copy of the symbol on the floor beneath her hooves lit up blue in color.
“That’s it!” Twilight shouted with a wide smile.
“That’s what?” Applejack looked at her crazed look with some hesitation.
“We each have to stand in front of the symbols!” Twilight giggled at herself. Proud that she solved the mystery.
“Well, that’s easy enough!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Come on fillies! Pick a spot!”
The fillies nodded and picked a symbol that caught their fancy. Twilight picked the fourth symbol. Fluttershy picked the second symbol. Applejack picked the sixth symbol. Rarity picked the third symbol, and Rainbow Dash picked the first symbol.
Rarity’s symbol lights up, glowing a rich purple hue. However, the other symbols remained unlit.
“I think we picked wrong?” Applejack huffed.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash grumbled in frustration. They looked sadly at their symbols. “I guess we switch places… I mean if you want to…” Fluttershy murmured.
“We have to, Fluttershy.” Twilight sighed, stepping off her symbol. Studying the others. “I guess I’ll stand here.”
Twilight stood on the second symbol. Applejack stood on the first symbol. Fluttershy stood on the sixth symbol, and Rainbow Dash stood on the fourth symbol. Fluttershy’s symbol lit up green and Rainbow Dash’s lit up red. Seeing theirs were not lighting up, Twilight and Applejack quickly switched places. Applejack’s lit up yellow and Twilight’s lit up white.
They stared at the glowing symbols with smiles on their faces. They solved the puzzle; they were proud of themselves and sat down. But as the minutes passed with nothing of note happening, their excitement fell. Then five or more minutes passed. “Now what?” Rainbow Dash huffed. Her wings twitched from her building anxiety.
“I’m not sure…” The ground shook, interrupting Twilight.
“What’s happening!” Fluttershy shouted.
“I don’t know?!” Rarity whimpered. Her ears folded flat against her head.
The gazebo suddenly broke apart, launching the fillies into the air. Gravity abandoned them as zero-G’s took control. They floated around in the vast starry void, trying their best to avoid the razor-sharp shards of obsidian and or marble that surrounded them. “What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash cried out as she flailed her legs and flapped her wings in a desperate attempt to flee.
“MOMMY!” Fluttershy sobbed. “DADDY!”
Twilight watched in fear as an all-encompassing white light rolled across the void above and below them. The starry void faded as the light consumed it. Bathing them in bright light, they covered their eyes. But as soon as the light came it faded and a pitch-blackness engulfed them. Feeling the pull of gravity once more, the fillies screamed as they fell toward the bottom of the black abyss. Or what they thought was the bottom. Panic wrapped their young minds in its embrace as the wind sped up around them. Feeling like they were about to slam into the ground, they shut their eyes.
Twilight felt a warm breeze gently blowing over her. She shivered as its touch. Her legs trembled as she stood. Forcing her eyes open, she was shocked that she found herself surround by foothills covered in grey colored grass, and a white sky that stretched for miles, beyond what she could possibly see.
Confusion took hold of Twilight’s mind as she began wandering this strange place. “Pinkie? Applejack?” She whipped her head around. “Fillies?” She ran, her heartrate increasing. “Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash? Rarity?”
“I’m here!”
Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw Rarity making her way up the hill she stood on. Her small legs propelled her at a steady pace. “Are you alright?” Twilight asked.
“I’m, okay?” Rarity looked at her surroundings. “W-What is this place?” Her ears folded back.
“I don’t know…” Twilight looked towards the horizon. “I’ve never seen anything like it… It’s like a dream.”
“You think we’re dreaming?” Rarity pondered. “You think it’s not the elements?”
Twilight could hear the desperate tone coating her question. She wondered the same. It was obvious that it was the elements that had chosen them, and that they were being tested. All orchestrated by the elements themselves. Still, the overwhelming weight of stress that they are the new element bearers, especially for ponies their age… It scared her.
“I’m not sure Rarity.” Twilight sighed. “I know what I saw. We all felt the same thing…”
Rarity nodded. “I know…”
“Come on let’s find the others.” Twilight nodded, “We’ll figure this out, one way or another.”
“Of course…” Rarity’s eyes lit up. “Hey, I see the others!” She shouted, running towards the others that were down the hill in a little valley.
“Hey! Wait for me!” Twilight grumbled as she gave chase.
Meeting up with each other, they all sighed in relief.
“This place is just as strange as the other.” Applejack stared up at the white void and grey grassy hills.
“Oh… I want to go home!” Fluttershy began to sob. “This place is scaring me!”
“Me too!” Pinkie’s optimistic mood seemed to be gone as she started shivering.
“Calm down you two! We’ll be home soon…” Rainbow Dash’s ears folded back. “I hope?”
Twilight looked towards the horizon once again. Her eyes squinting, searching for something in the endless hilly landscape. Her spine shivered as she laid eyes on six figures standing on hill tops four-hundred yards away. These figures glowed the colors of white, green, red, blue, purple, and yellow. ‘Six figures, six colors, six elements…’
“They’re back?” Pinkie sighed.
“Yes…”
“Who are they?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving them a stern glare.
“The first element bearers.” Rarity stated matter of factly.
“I was about to say that.” Twilight let a small smile adore her lips.
“I also like to read… And they do teach about the element bearers in school.” Rarity smiled.
“But they don’t look like the statues in Canterlot.” Fluttershy softly commented.
“I’m sure they changed once they died and fully bonded to the elements.” Twilight watched as the figures just stood emotionless. “We need to go.”
“Where?” The group asked.
Twilight looked over her shoulders and scanned the hills. Seeing a large tree, the only tree in the land of grass, she smiled. “This way! To that tree!”
“Tree?” Applejack started to question until her eyes laid upon it. “Never mind, I see it.”
“Maybe it’s another puzzle?” Pinkie smiled. “Maybe the puzzle is that the tree wants a friend?” She hummed. Twilight rolled her eyes at her playful ramblings.
“OW!” Rarity shouted as she stooped and clutched her chest with a hoof.
“You alight Rarity?” Applejack stopped and looked at the unicorn with a raised brow.
“No… My chest hurts… Ow! It burns!” She began to panic.
Twilight felt the burning sensation swelling in her chest as well. “Ow…” She glared at her chest. Her left eye twitched from the pain. ‘Why its it hurting? Why now?’ Pinkie and Fluttershy started sobbing as they rubbed their chest to rid themselves of the pain, to no avail. Rainbow Dash breathed in her discomfort and Applejack took shallow breaths to dull the pain.
“GO… TO… THE… TREE…”
The fillies felt their spines tingle as they shivered in fear. “Who said that?” Twilight looked around franticly. Her teeth clenched as she kept a hoof on the spot that was causing her chest pain.
“Could it be them?” Applejack looked over her shoulder at the figures still standing on the hill tops.
“Maybe?” Twilight felt her eyes begin to water.
“If the voice said go to the tree!” Pinkie growled through her pain. “Then we need to go!”
“W-Will it s-stop the p-pain?” Fluttershy mumbled as she followed them.
“I hope so!” Rainbow Dash huffed with each step she took.
Glaring at the tree, Twilight forced herself to move forward. The pain coursing through her chest intensified. Choking on a cry, she looked back at the figures. Seeing a few more appearing, just like in the maze, she felt a chill run down her spine. ‘What test is this?’ She asked herself. Seeing more glowing figures appearing out of thin air, she turned around and kept walking to the tree.
“I-I can’t do this!” Fluttershy’s legs trembled. Her head hung low to the ground. Her pink mane covering her face as she cried.
Rainbow and Applejack looked back at their friend. “Come on Fluttershy! We need to get to the tree…”
The ground began to tremble. Horrifying trumpets calls echoed all around them. Afraid, they turned around and stared at the countless mass of figures standing behind them on the foothills. The figures narrowed their eyes as they morphed into each other, creating a horrifying crystal worm similar in shape to a blood worm.
“RUN!” Rarity yelled. The others waist no time and followed her command as they made a mad dash towards the tree. Ignoring the pain that was slowly building with in them.
Nearing the tree, they were able to see its features in full. Their eyes lit up and their mouths hung opened as they gawk at its beautiful appearance. It’s a tree made of a white frosty crystal. Its leaves are crystals as well and are pinkish purple. But what caught their eyes were six round shaped crystals familiar in colors to the figures they have seen. Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and white.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Pinkie whined through clinched teeth as the pain in her chest became to much for her to bear.
Applejack hissed through the heat that felt like a hot rod-iron was being plunged into her chest. Her strong limbs, for a nine-year-old collapsed, sending her to the ground. Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had to stop and huddle close to the ground so they could find a pose that would allow them to breathe.
“AH!” Fluttershy screamed out in pain. “I can’t!” Panic consumed her. “It hurts! It hurts!”
“PATHETIC!”
Fluttershy whimpered. Rainbow Dash growled as she looked back at the monstrosity that was the crystal worm creature. “My friend is not pathetic!” She managed to stand up on all fours as she gave her best stare down at the monster.
“ALL… OF… YOU… ONLY… CARE… FOR… YOURSELF…” A voice boomed across the void.
“FOR… THAT… YOU… WILL… FAIL…” Another voice, feminine in tone shouted with venom.
Pinkie gritted her teeth. “I care for my friends!”
“FRIENDS… THAT… YOU… JUST… MET…” Another voice laughed.
“WHAT… IF… THEY… ARE... NOT… WHAT… THEY… SAY... THEY… ARE…” A deep statistic filled voice asked.
“I trust them!” Applejack looked at her fellow ponies, before glaring at the crystal worm monster.
“LIER!” The worm screamed, causing the void to shake violently, knocking them off their hooves. The void’s imaginary walls shattered like glass and spider webbed out, flickering like a static-filled television screen.
Tears swelled in their eyes as the pain overwhelmed their young minds. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground. Her wings extended out and laid flat. Her breathing was heavy. She desperately sucked in air as she kept her eyes of the worm making its way towards them. Its teeth filled maw tore through the grassy foothills like a hot knife through butter. She watched in horror as the hills disintegrated from the worm’s touch.
Looking at her friends, she saw they were struggling to stand. Feeling a pulse shoot through her body, she growled out a hiss and closed her eyes. Reopening them, they glowed red for a split second. She felt the pain reside. Letting out a shallow breath she stood up. Feeling like she could take on the world she walked over to her friends. “COME ON! STAND UP!”
“I CAN’T!” Fluttershy cried.
“You have too!” Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder.
Fluttershy felt a warm sensation wash over her. She shivered as the pain lowered to a more tolerable level. Slowly standing up, she looked at her friend and smiled. “I’ll help them!” She pointed her head at Twilight and Pinkie. Rainbow Dash nodded and ran over to Applejack and Rarity and tapped their shoulders with her hoof. Fluttershy did the same. The fillies shivered from the wave of warmth that swam through their bodies.
Looking at the monster that was now a hundred yards away. Twilight and her friends narrowed their eyes and ran with all their might. “Hurry! Before that thing gets us!”
“If they’re the past element bearers, why are they trying to kill us!” Pinkie huffed.
“Beats me!” Applejack growled at the worm.
“I think they’re testing us?” Twilight moaned as she saw the worm approaching with wild vigor.
“SOME TEST!” Rarity yelled with a whine in her tone of voice.
“We’re almost there!” Fluttershy yelled happily.
“Yes, we are…” A wave of heat slammed into them sending them to the ground hard. They laid on the ground, slowly gasping for air. The sounds of the worm tearing up the foothills in the distance echoed in their ears, causing shivers of fear. Twilight slowly forced herself to her hooves, but the weight of her pain was too much for her to bare. Crying, she fell into a fetal position.
“I don’t want to die!” Pinkie cried.
“MOMMY! DADDY!” Fluttershy sobbed.
Looking at her friends with panicked eyes, Rarity huffed and activated her horn. Blue aura washed over her friends. Feeling her magic, Twilight knew it wasn’t strong enough. ‘I can do this…’ She took a deep breath and activated her own horn. Lavender aura mixed with blue, but soon their magic’s natural color faded and morphed into white and purple.
Feeling a soft warm sensation on her chest, Twilight looked down and saw it was glowing white. With wide eyes she looked at Rarity and saw her chest was glowing purple. “Woah?” She spoke softly.
Seeing their glowing chest, Rainbow Dash swallowed her fears and channeled her thoughts and remembered the warm feeling she felt just seconds ago. ‘If it is the elements, help me…’ Her chest began to glow red and the pain she felt slowly faded away.
Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy looked on at the trio then looked at each other. “I guess it is true…” Applejack looked on with wide eyes.
“You’re just now accepting it?” Pinkie questioned.
“No… I just wanted to believe I was just having a bad nightmare.” Applejack sighed.
“Well, it’s real…” Twilight saw the crystal worm approaching. “Channel them! We need to get to the tree!”
Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy sighed as they closed their eyes. Slowly one by one, their chests glowed the colors of their elements. Blue for Pinkie. Yellow for Applejack. Green for Fluttershy. Feeling their pain fading, they all looked at each other and smiled as they ran for the tree.
“NO!” The crystal worm shouted. Thousands of razor-sharp spiked tentacles popped out from its body. With a roar it flung them at the fillies. Seeing their impending doom, they coward and closed their eyes, expecting the worst.
The tree roared a beautiful melody. Its thin branches morphed into six girthy ones and covered the fillies just in time as the tentacles slammed against them with a loud crack. The worm growled as it slithered around the tree. The tree let out a soft melody as its branches opened up. A warm sensation, similar to honey pouring out of a bottle washed over the fillies. Their eyes opened glowing the colors of their elements.
Levitating off the ground, the fillies hovered around the tree and glared at the crystal worm.
“EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE MUCH TO LEARN… I PUT MY FAITH IN THEM…” The tree spoke.
“THEIR TEST WAS A WAIST! THEY HAVE FAILED!” The worm growled, its tentacles flailing madly.
“I ONLY NEEDED A SMALL SAMPLE OF THEIR HARMONY THAT FOLLOWS THROUGH THEIR HEARTS!”
“YOU ARE NAÏVE! THEY MUST CONSUME THE DARK EMBRACE OF TRUTH!”
“YOU’LL NOT TAINT THEIR YOUNG MINDS!” The tree shimmered in and out of reality.
“THE SAME GOES FOR YOU!” The mass lunged at them. Its roar shook the void to its core.
The tree channeled its magic through the fillies. “SPEAK AS ONE MY CHILDREN!”
The fillies glared at the monster. “WE ARE THE BEARERS OF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!” The elements appeared on their chests. “AND WE WILL NOT FAIL!” Beams of hot white light erupted from their chests. The beams converged and mixed with one another as they rocketed towards the worm. It slammed into the beast. The heat burned through its darkness. It screamed out in pain as the beams ripped through it. With one final burst of energy, it died.
Twilight opened her eyes. They’re heavy and caked with discharge. “Mmm?” She heard the beepings of a heart monitors. With a pained groan she tried lifting her head up, but her body refused to do so. With a sigh, she rubbed her eyes so she could look at the ceiling in detail. For some reason, tears swelled around her eyes. ‘Was it… a dream?’ She blushed. ‘Did I hurt myself because of the dream?’ She looked at the IV bag to her left.
“You’re awake.” Twilight felt her spine tingle. She looked at the foot of her bed and saw Terren sitting by the entrance to the room. “How are you feeling?” He walked up to her bedside.
“Uh… I…” The presence of her prince was intimidating. She had never been this close to any of the royals in all her young life.
Terren laughed. “It's alright little one.” He smirked. “You took a beating.” He pointed at her chest.
Curious and confused, Twilight forced herself to lift her head once again, just enough to look at her chest. She jumped as her body shivered from the white crystal sticking out of it. “AH!... mmm!” Terren put his hoof to her lips.
“Quiet child!” Terren said in a low tone as he patting her head. “I don’t need the future bearer of the ‘Element of Magic’ to hurt herself even further.”
“E-Element! Ma-Magic!” Again, Terren covered Twilight’s mouth.
“Yes, little one.” He points at the others. “You and the other five have been chosen to be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”
Twilight looked at the other fillies laying in their own medical beds. Her eyes went wide. She knew these ponies. She’s seen them in her… dream? She studied their chests and saw their elements were pulsating like hers. Instinctively, she placed a hoof to her chest. ‘It wasn’t a dream… It really was the elements…’
“Don’t worry, they stopped growing hours ago.” Terren chuckled as he stepped away from her bed.
“Prince?!” Twilight asked.
“Yes?” Terren looked back.
Twilight cowered a bit. His fiery-orange eyes scared her. She felt like their ripping her heart out. “Where are m-my parents?”
Terren sighed. “You’ll see them soon. Just rest, continue to bond to your element.” Twilight tried to counter him, but she closed her mouth and laid her head back down on her pillow from the look he gave. “That’s what I thought!” Terren huffed. “Now sleep Twilight Sparkle, starting tomorrow, your life and the others start anew.”