//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Not Fireworks // Story: Chaos and Harmony - Crossing Paths // by ShootingRainbowStar13 //------------------------------// Applejack swept a muddy hoof across her forehead, wiping away her sweat. “Hoo-ey, that was a mighty hard job jus’ now,” She said to herself, looking over the newly dug field, ready for seeds to be sowed. “A’m tuckered out!” As the sun was just touching the horizon, she decided to go back to the barn for a cool glass of homemade apple cider. She sauntered over to the pigsty. “APPLEBLOOOOM!!” Applebloom came galloping out, mud all over her grinning face. “Yeah sis?” Applejack smiled at the sweet little filly. “Let’s you ‘n me go get some apple cider, alright?” Applebloom tried to say something, but Applejack cut in with a stern “And apple juice for ya, little missy!” “Awww!” protested Applebloom. The pair trotted back to the farmhouse, talking and laughing. They almost didn’t notice the streaks of light until Applebloom said, “Hey! What’s that shiny thingamajig?” and pointed a hoof towards the sky. Applejack looked, and saw a bright beam of red light shooting across the sky. “Tha’ couldn’t be Rainbow Dash, could it now?” she muttered to herself. “Too small for a pegasus…” “There's another!” cried Applebloom, spotting a streak of white light arching towards ponyville, in the direction of the majestic building of carousel boutique. “And another!” hollered Applejack. This time a green jet of color soared at Cloudsdale. “Gee, is it some sorta firework display gone wrong?” Big Mac came outside from the farmhouse, hauling a sack of chicken seed. He looked up and called, “If y’all are looking fo’ them bright lights, there’s another over yonder.” He pointed a shaggy red hoof at a bright burst of blue streaking towards the Everfree forest. As the last trails faded away, Applejack took off her hat and scratched her mane. “Now wha’ in the hay could those have been?” *** Rarity hummed a sweet little tune to herself as she lifted and folded outfits and materials with her magic. Sweetie belle was upstairs, hopefully not making mischief, and Rarity had had a fine day of dressmaking. She proudly floated a lovely lavender dress with lots of ruffles onto a mannequin and admired her handiwork. “Gorgeous, darling!” she squealed to herself. There was a crash and a tinkle of glass on the wooden floor. Rarity spun around. “SWEETIE BELLE!!!” screamed Rarity. “What did you do?!” She rushed upstairs. To her surprise, Sweetie Belle had not caused the breaking of the window. What the unicorn did find however, was broken windowpane all over the wooden floor, but that was not what caught her attention. What did was an absolutely beautiful gemstone, lying amidst the glass. It glittered like a diamond, but it didn’t seem like one. It was different from any jewel Rarity had ever seen before. Sweetie Belle’s voice pierced Rarity’s thoughts. “Rarity, I didn’t do anything, I swear! I’m just painting a picture!” Rarity called back. “It’s all right Sweetie! I’ve got control of it!” She didn’t even grimace at the prospect of the mess in Sweetie Belle’s room she would have to clean up. She picked up the gem carefully with her magic and carried it down the stairs, fixing the broken glass into place on the window as she went. The jewel wouldn’t go on a dress; it was too pretty for that. Instead she locked it in a golden chest, putting the key in a vase. “There you are, my little darling” cooed Rarity. “Safe with mama.” *** The female Timberwolves dragged in a carcass of some poor animal into the lair. The male Timberwolves snarled and growled in excitement, and they all dug into the meal. The lair was hidden deep in the Everfree forest, hidden by bushes. Nopony knew where it was, so the Timberwolves were safe. Or so they thought. A blue crystal crashed through the trees and landed in the shrubbery, bouncing couple of times before falling into the hole. It tumbled down into the Timberwolves lair. The wooden monsters pricked their leafy ears. They eyed the faintly glowing object that clattered into the small underground area. One of them sniffed it cautiously, but retreated in fear, ears flat against its head. For the jewel had begun to shimmer with strange power, illuminating the cavern. The Timberwolves tried to scatter, but found they could not move. They lost control of themselves, being drawn towards the chaos emerald. Suddenly this gem was their master, their queen bee. They knew they had to protect it with their lives. The Timberwolves left the fresh meat forgotten, and they prowled out the entrance to defy any wretched intruder that happened to stumble into the Everfree forest. *** Diamond Tiara pulled the golden brush through her hair. She admired her reflection in the mirror, turning her head from side to side. When she was satisfied, she smirked, put down the brush and picked up her tiara. Through the open window flew a shimmering red gemstone. It missed the plush carpet and rattled across the floor. Diamond turned, putting down her tiara. She saw the jewel and gasped. She dashed across the floor, kneeling on all four legs on her rug. She carefully picked it up, her eyes glimmering red. “Where did this come from?” She asked herself. She turned back the mirror and spotted her momentarily forgotten tiara. She had an idea. As she held it to the tiara, comparing their colors, the gem began to shrink. Diamond gasped and dropped it onto her dressing table. It immediately grew back to normal size. As soon as the filly got over her shock, her eyes lit up with delight. She picked up the gem and held it back to the tiara. It shrank until it was the size of a seashell. Hardly daring to breath, Diamond quickly fixed it to the tiara. It clicked into place. Diamond put it on her head. The tiny red stone glittered against the silver. It was beautiful. And then it started to glow. Suddenly, Diamond Tiara’s forehead erupted in agony. She clasped her hooves to her head. She didn’t even hear herself squeal in pain. It hurt too much. Suddenly it stopped. Diamond opened her eyes. She cautiously got off the floor, rubbing her forehead. Thunk. Her hoof hit something. Then Diamond saw her reflection, and almost screamed. She had a horn! A short, pink horn stuck out from her white and violet locks. Diamond touched it, and it fizzed. She felt a reservoir of magic flooding through her. It felt wonderful. A smile broke out on her face. Then it turned to a sneer. She turned to a picture of the Cutie Mark Crusaders on the wall. It had little holes and hoofmarks from the times she threw darts and punched it. She aimed her new horn at the picture and concentrated. Almost instantly, red magic beamed from her horn in a powerful torrent that she almost couldn’t control. The picture crumbled to ashes. Diamond chuckled. To her it sounded normal, but in reality it was filled with a more ancient power. She turned and admired her new look in the mirror. This would come in very useful. *** Rainbow Dash barely dodged the green stone, crying out as it flew past. One moment she was flying free, and then she was facing a miniature comet… She hesitated, and then raced after it. It was going insanely fast, burning up, and soon Rainbow Dash couldn’t see it anymore. She flew over Cloudsdale, scanning it for signs of the mysterious light, but it was gone. She hovered in the air for another few seconds, and then gave up. She flew towards Ponyville to report it to Twilight, just in case it was dangerous. She didn’t know that it landed on the roof of the rainbow factory, ploughing through the cloud and landing in the engine. There were no rainbows scheduled for a while, so there was nopony there. If there had been, they would have seen the engines glow with a strange green light, and then they might have known the cause of the rainbow disaster to follow.