//------------------------------// // Chapter 42: Grand Conspiracy // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 42: Grand Conspiracy ----------------------------------------- Still bathed in the shade, his features hidden by the darkness, Boss passively awaited on his throne. The two hours were nearly up, and the remaining members were going to be in this room again. He had only risen to check to make sure Discord's essence, which had been siphoned while the spirit of chaos was out and about, wasn't escaping. After confirming it was locked securely within the stolen gem, he had dispatched a few Shadow Ghouls to make sure everything had gone according to plan. His eyes remained closed. I know it is a bit early to get going after that stunt we pulled to get Discord out of his statue... he mused to himself, But if things went according to plan, we can't afford to sit around anyway... Eventually, Boss's eyes opened. While one was hidden by a tuft of what could have been a mane--impossible to tell with most of his body covered in shadow, his other eye was glowing bright red. "There you are...Perfect..." he said to himself. At this point, several cloaked beings began to file in, varying in height and build. While some, like Shade and Noct, had their hoods down, most had their hoods up, obscuring most of their faces. One of them was chronically short, however, and had a bipedal stature. The rest of them were quadrupedal, and some clearly couldn't keep their wings shut. "Perfect timing, everyone," Boss spoke directly to them. "I've just done some scouting with the Shadow Ghouls while you all were preparing for the meeting." "And...?" asked one of the still-cloaked beings there. "The plan worked out perfectly..." Boss responded, the glow in his eye dying down, "So, we will move on to step two now. That is why I've called you all here: we are going to discuss our new game plan now that we've gotten this far." "No doubt those drones are on high alert after we freed Discord," Noct commented flatly. "Settle down, Noct," Tourna reprimanded, "That much we could have figured out." "Precisely, Noct," Boss continued, "But I do request you settle down, since those 'drones' are capable of exercising some level of free will..." "But not nearly the kind we're after," Noct responded, but said nothing else. "It's enough to the point that good intentions do not pave the road to Tartarus, Noct," their leader continued, "At least, not all of the time..." A heavy silence followed. "If we are all ready to listen, shall I start?" "Please tell us..." Shade commented. "Let me first preface this with a status report on Discord himself..." Boss began. When no one said anything, he continued, "He is dead, as planned..." "And here I thought harmony didn't involve killing..." said a deep voice, emanating from a beak under a cloak. "Indeed, it doesn't," Boss said, "Had we not interfered ourselves, he would have been re-sealed in stone..." He cast a nod over to the table. "The item Tagane stole..." another male voice noted, coming from a pony's mouth, "It worked as planned, correct?" "Right down to the spirit of chaos's fate..." Boss said, "Picture a rubber band stretched to its limits between two points. Now, tell me what happens when you cut into that band." "I see," said a deep voice from the short bipedal creature, "So what you're saying--" "No speaking out of turn, Tack!" reprimanded the beaked cloaked being. "He became unstable because his magic, his life force, was being stretched between himself and the stone?" Torpal finished the question that "Tack" couldn't. "And therefore, he..." "Yes," Boss finished, "Though Chaos magic by nature is unstable, it isn't so unstable it would kill without being weaponized by the user. But because his essence, his magic and life force, were stretched out over the distance between Ponyville and here, well...his being hit with the Elements again was actually hazardous to his health." "So then, why did you want him...dead?" Noct asked, "To spread chaos, isn't that what our group was out for?" "Our chaos is far different. His is undoubtedly self-serving..." Boss said, "We're not in this to rule the world, Noct, nor to be ruled by someone. But his death did bring something we needed for our own project..." ----------------------------------------- Ever since the princess had them prepare for a meeting to discuss the events, Azure had remained in his home to think about everything that had happened. The day had been one of the strangest, if not the strangest, he'd ever had. He was trying to piece together what he knew and what he could infer. "Princess Celestia said that those ponies were out to stir chaos this time, just to release Discord, but why?" The unicorn colt asked himself. "What kind of pony would want something like him out and about?" Azure grit his teeth, "He reopened old wounds, all to drive us apart for his own amusement...only a pony with no sense of right or wrong or anything else would..." Azure shook his head, "Never mind that, he's gone now...for a lot longer than any of us could have ever imagined...But why does that only worry the Princess...?" He cast a glance to his bedside table, "Could this tarnished-looking Element of Magic have anything to do with it? The Elements didn't look any different after the fact..." A knock at his door called Azure from his thoughts. "That must be the others..." Azure grabbed the unknown crown and stuffed it into a saddlebag, making his way for the door. He stood up, ignoring the dull aches that had still managed to settle in after everything had finally cooled off, for the most part, and speed-trotted to his door, opening it. On the other side was a purple unicorn mare and an orange earth pony mare with a hat he'd know anywhere. Azure realized none of the others were there, but couldn't immediately figure out why... "Azure...You know just as well as I do we need to talk this out..." Twilight spoke up. Applejack still looked as though she were ashamed of herself for some reason, but she spoke up. "Az, there's somethin' you gotta know about before we start..." Applejack started up. "It's not your fault that you acted the way you did, either of you," Azure cut in, "He only opened the old wounds..." "It was enough to nearly drive us all apart for good, Az! Or..." It became clear Twilight wasn't the only one that understood what Discord had gotten at in his egotistical haze. "Azure," Twilight called the group together. "What happened at Sweet Apple Acres when I tried to bring Applejack back to her senses...she just wouldn't listen to me...And I feared she was right about me...That I didn't work for anything in my life..." ------------------------------------------ "Prove me wrong, name one time you didn't have something hooved over to you," Applejack stated. Twilight's eyes widened as she continued to fumble for answers, her mouth opening, only to close as she realized that wasn't the case. Nothing felt like it was coming up. Twilight began to wonder if... She's right... Over and over again, Twilight could only think about what Applejack was saying. She couldn't think of anything that would prove Applejack wrong straight away. Applejack stared at her intensely, her colors just as faded as ever. She huffed. "I thought so..." She turned around and began to walk away, leaving Twilight to bask in her supposed failure, her supposed prestige. It really did seem like, at that moment, Twilight couldn't fight for something she wanted due to what Applejack said. "Who was I kidding...how could I have thought I could help them...?" For one terrible moment, Twilight thought that was it. It was over, Azure was going to fail because she couldn't bring any single one of their friends back to the light. But just as the last of her hope began to elude her once again, a voice rang out in her head. Always remember who you are...Discord has filled their heads with half-truths and lies...I fell into that trapping myself... Azure's words of wisdom from his earlier confrontation with Discord echoed in her mind, and she stood up straight, walking after Applejack with renewed determination, which caused Applejack to stop and turn to her. "No, Applejack, you're wrong..." Twilight said, stepping towards Applejack, who faced her fully once more. "I may have lived a different life than you, but I did earn what I have today..." Applejack snarled, stepping forward. "Yeah right!" she interjected, going back to spewing more of Discord's lies, "Like you've ever got your hooves dirty with some good old hard labor in your life!" The guilt trip didn't work this time; Twilight didn't back down. Step for step, the two mares matched each other. "I won't stand here and say that I've worked hard like you, I doubt anypony in Equestria works as hard as you." Twilight closed the gap between the two mares as she spoke up, "But I did work hard, at everything. The Princess took me as her student because I proved to her I had powerful magic, and ever since then I'd studied hard and practiced harder still to control it. Just like you, I've had to earn everything I had! Some things came easier than other, but in the end I had to work for it all." They stopped, face-to-face. Twilight finally felt like she'd understood Azure's need to fight Virid all that time ago. Though Virid had more or less been born spewing venom as opposed to Applejack being forced to... "If getting my hooves dirty is what I have to do to save our friendship, then so be it!" Applejack, in her state at that time, was certainly not expecting Twilight to follow through by tackling her to the ground. Both of the mares rolled around, the whole time Applejack's hat somehow remaining on her head. Twilight could have used her magic, but she had a point to prove, not to Applejack, but to herself. The struggle continued for a few seconds, seeming it could go either way, but suddenly Applejack managed to get the pin down on Twilight, using her forehooves to press down, hard, into Twilight's shoulder areas. "All that talk, and this is all you got?" Applejack asked. Twilight tried to struggle free, but Applejack was stronger than she was. However, Twilight realized she could still move her hind legs; Applejack had forgotten to pin her down there too. More hope surged into her. "I'm not done yet!" With all her strength, she moved her back legs to Applejack's stomach and kicked outward, flipping her forward off of Twilight. Twilight quickly moved while Applejack had been dazed, and Twilight made sure to pin Applejack to the ground. She didn't have much time before Applejack would realize what was going on, but it would be enough. "Now let's do this again..." Twilight said. Try as she may, Applejack couldn't move away. Twilight leaned in, her horn less than an inch from Applejack's forehead. Remember, Applejack, remember who you are! Applejack's eyes shot open as the memory spell took effect, hundreds of images flooding her mind. She began to remember it all, her friends, family, everything she'd learned from them, it was all slowly coming back. Applejack's body seemed to shine as her color returned, and the glow on Twilight's horn faded as the spell began to end. Applejack was once more orange-and-blond, and her hat was back to being its usual color. With the spell done, Twilight backed off, letting Applejack figure things out for herself. After a few seconds of motionless pondering, Applejack blinked, and shook her head, standing up straight. Her mouth was ajar, her eyebrow furrowed. She obviously remembered what she was doing while Discord's mind was clouded. "Applejack," Twilight walked up to her, "Is this you? Are you back?" Applejack could only nod, feeling the shame of what she'd let happen well up in her. Twilight pulled her in for a hug. "Oh, thank goodness!" Twilight said, relieved. Her spell had worked; she hadn't had a means to test it or anything before all this started. While Twilight was happy, Applejack wasn't. "T-Twilight...About everything I said...I-I...I'm sorry..." "It's not your fault, Applejack," Twilight said, pushing Applejack away so she could see the green in her eyes. "It's Discord's. He did everything in his power to destroy any bond we could form with each other. I don't mean to rush, but we have to get the others, now! Azure is getting Discord's attention as we speak..." "Az is facing him alone!?" Applejack yelled out, clearly worried. "Yes," Twilight responded, "But he's going to be alright, all we need to do is get the real Elements of Harmony together again, so we can put a stop to Discord...and after we're done here...I think the three of us should sit down and have a much needed talk..." Applejack swallowed hard; she definitely knew what that was going to entail, but she knew she couldn't dwell on it. Right now, her friends needed her. Applejack stood straight up and nodded to Twilight. The two then, without much else said, galloped out of Sweet Apple Acres, intent on clearing up the mess Discord had made of things... ------------------------------------------ Azure blinked, and sighed, "No wonder he was so confident he'd even corrupted the Elements themselves when he saw you...So confident he could tell you to kill me...But it all worked out in the end. Still, he made today hard on us all. But he hit you two especially hard. I can't help but feel that I could have prevented both of them..." "No, Azure," Twilight shook her head, "There was no way you could have possibly known this would happen..." "But it did happen, Twilight," Azure interjected, "Discord knew about the secret role the princess had assigned me even though I would have done it anyway, and he knew about Applejack's feelings. And he exploited them, with all the glee of a schoolyard pony going to his first day of school. If I had been honest from the beginning, Twilight, he wouldn't have been able to twist the truth so easily..." Azure then turned to Applejack, "Applejack..." She avoided his gaze, ashamed of what she'd allowed herself to do, "Look at me..." It took her a few seconds, but she mustered the strength to meet his eyes, "Even if you didn't say anything, I should have noticed you still hurt inside. And if I had, I would have talked to you again and tried to help you move on." There was nothing but silence. Eventually, a smile tugged at the corners of Applejack's mouth. "The truth is, Az...I was startin' to, I really was..." But then her smile faded faster than it had appeared, "But then...in the maze, when Discord went posin' as you..." Applejack took a deep breath, "You've gotta understand, Twilight, Az, I would never want to come between you two, but...I'd always wondered, 'what if''..." "I think we can all understand that, Applejack," Twilight said, offering her a reassuring smile as she put a hoof to Applejack's shoulder, "If it had been the other way around, I'm sure I'd be hurting too..." Twilight turned to Azure, giving him a slight smile, "But I know, given time, I would be able to move on, because in the end I'll remember that both of you would be there for me, as friends." "And the same goes for right now," Azure said, "Just because it's the way it is now doesn't mean my feelings for you are any less significant. You're one of my best friends, Applejack, one of the closest I have, and because of that I'll always be there for you when needed." "We both will," Twilight added, "And trust me, you'll find the right colt someday..." The three fell into silence again as Applejack let all of that sink in. Eventually, tears began to fall, but this time, they weren't from pain, or sorrow, but rather, pure joy. A smile spread across her face as she pulled both of the unicorns in for a hug. She didn't have to feel ashamed, nor did she have to feel alone. "So...Az..." Applejack said, "Is Blitz single?" This was followed by laughter. Laughter that only three close friends could have after enduring such a testing ordeal. It would still take time for Applejack to heal, but this time, it certainly seemed like she was going to finish moving on... ------------------------------------------ Time passed quickly in the secret lair. Boss had, for the most part, explained the items they were to collect, and picked fitting enough ponies to go retrieve each of them. He noted one of them was already in the hooves of the harmonics, but he said not to worry about it for now. "Alright, so we're all clear then on what to do?" Boss asked, looking over the retrieval unit he'd put together. "Shade and Mendex will go the settlement of Appleloosa for their assigned item. Mendex is the one that should hold it, Shade. It just fits him better..." "Fine. I'm just in it to see if I can't put that cyan idiot in his place once and for all..." Shade retorted. "Bronclav, you will take Tack with you to the Hayseed Swamps. If anypony asks, just tell them you're taking him on a field trip." Boss said. "That's believable..." Tack mumbled. "Do not speak ill of Boss's plan!" Bronclav did not take too kindly to the shorter member's snark. Tack merely dropped one hand to his side, but said nothing in response. "Noct, Tourna, you two will proceed to the Ghastly Gorge, and then Las Pegasus. Two of the six are in that general area. Remember which ones you were assigned..." "Torpal, wait here with Crugus for your assignment." Boss said, "One of the Elements also landed close to home for them." "Is that what we're to gather, then?" A different, male voice said. "No, Crugus. I'm going to be patient, first. Losing it now might result in some missteps..." Boss continued passively, "If they get another one or two of these items, it isn't a big deal..." "How are you so certain?" Torpal cut in. "Maybe your magic gem's ability, maybe not. I know not how we would get any we miss back, but we already are guaranteed to be short one of these items..." The leader explained away. "If we miss a couple more, it isn't enough to worry about." "The harmonics will be out searching for these, too, correct?" Tourna asked. "Almost certainly," Boss said, "You know what to do if they should come along...So, are we clear on the objectives?" "Yes, sir!" All except Tack cheered; Tack merely nodded. "Then move out..." ------------------------------------------ At the Canterlot station, a train came to a screeching halt on the rails, blowing its whistle. Ponies were told to get on or off the train before the train went to its next destination. One of the cards, towards the engine, contained some special passengers. Twilight Sparkle, with Spike sitting on her back, was the first to disembark. Closely following her was Azure Courage, with a small saddlebag around his head. Close behind him, Applejack. Rainbow Dash was next, hovering her way out of the car. Pinkie Pie was next, hopping her merry little way along. Rarity and Fluttershy were the last to exit. As per Princess Celestia's request, they had showed up as soon as they had taken care of some things, but none of them had more than the slightest idea why. All they knew was it had something to do with the tarnished silver crown that Discord dropped after the Elements hit him. However, the group knew that the Princess usually never disappointed when it came to explaining things...after the fact. The group made their way away from the station, trying to get out of the crowd of ponies towards the station's exit. However, once they had made it to the city streets... "Shining?!" Twilight called out, upon seeing her brother nearby, closely followed by a small legion of Royal Guards. Shining's professionalism fell away just a bit, however, as Twilight ran up to him. "Glad to see you're okay, Twily..." he said. Upon realizing exactly who it was, Azure raised an eyebrow. If he was around, certainly-- "Over here, Azure!" Azure whipped his head around to see one of the ponies he expected standing just off to the left. A red unicorn pony who had more scuffs on him and his armor. "Blitz! What happened to you..." Azure's voice broke off as he recognized the shellshocked, green unicorn to Crimson Blitz's right. It was an unrecognizably guilty look that Virid was saluting the ground with. Physically, though, he looked no better off than Blitz. "And him?" "Well...apparently after Discord...altered us, we wound up going rogue...before we snapped out of it, we had been mid-battle..." "With each other?" Azure asked. Blitz merely shook his head. "It was with our captain..." Virid whispered, the guilt apparently eating away at him. "Yeah...with our captain," Blitz commented. Azure's jaw dropped, and he whirled around. While Shining did show some sign of being in a battle, he definitely didn't seem worse off than either of his cousins did. "I don't think either of us could fight at our max capacity due to what happened to us before, but I don't think he went all-out either..." Blitz said. Blitz and Virid, when they work together, they can do some amazing things...but for Shining to be able to outstrip them... Azure thought to himself, looking over at the reunion between brother and sister. As captain... "We're just lucky he knew something was already wrong..." Blitz clarified. "And he isn't the type to hold grudges..." "Huh..." Azure thought for a moment, "Wait...where's Silver? He was with us before...But..." Blitz raised his brow and looked around, "Just saw him a little while ago..." Azure looked around now, mimicking Blitz's suggestion, but a soft giggle from behind him. After this long, he'd know that sound. He turned, seeing Silver talking to Fluttershy, or rather, appearing to be finishing up a conversation with Fluttershy. Silver didn't look like he'd been in any other fights other than the ponies' assault on Canterlot. "He doesn't remember what happened to him, though..." Blitz said, returning to his manual-mandated stony countenance alongside Virid as Shining began to refocus. "Relief, really..." Azure nodded, "After what he was put through, I wouldn't want to..." Silver said something to Fluttershy, and she nodded to him. Afterward, he walked over to Azure. After entering range, they bumped hooves. "Glad to hear you guys pulled through in the end..." Silver spoke up. "You and me both," Azure sighed, relieved none of Silver's other side was visible now, "It didn't come easy, I'll tell you that..." "I can only imagine..." Silver chuckled. Azure could see it; unlike with the others and himself, Silver retained no memory of what Discord had done to him. "...Azure..." Silver's next question confirmed it, "What happened when we confronted Discord? Last I remember, I felt this disgusting presence...and next I remember I'm standing on the edge of a roof..." Brushing past the implications of such a position given what the corrupted Silver had said, Azure closed his eyes. Oh, what a benevolent spirit he was...not. "Not sure if you'd want to know, Silver..." Azure responded, opening his eyes. Silver shifted a bit, but did not falter. "Shouldn't I be the one to decide?" Silver questioned. Azure sighed. It wasn't going to be easy, but ultimately, undoing Discord's machinations did rely on jogging memory... "If everypony is ready, we're going to escort you to the castle now," Shining announced aloud. Azure looked. "Alright, I'll tell you along the way what happened..." As the group walked, Azure picked up where Discord gave Silver his sight but took the one thing that was by far his talent: his hearing. After toying with Azure by making Azure believe he had won, he then quickly corrupted Virid, Blitz, and of course Silver. "Then, you left after berating me for being stupid...." Azure finished. "That...isn't me...at all..." Silver reacted. "That was his point, but whatever happened with you after that I couldn't tell you for sure..." Azure sighed. "So..." Silver said, "I could see, even for a moment, but can't even remember what I saw..." Then, something unexpected happened after some silence: he chuckled, and let out a "Well, that sucks." "That's...it...?" Azure asked after taking a moment to make sure he had heard his blind friend correctly. "You find out you were given sight, can't remember what you saw, and all you say is 'that sucks'..." "Honestly, though, it would have been worse if I did remember..." Silver said, "If he was the first thing in a world I got to see, I'd rather not have had sight to begin with." "Wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, I can tell you that much..." "If I ever have the chance to see again, though..." Silver's eyes were the milky grayish they were all his life, but Azure could see he would have been looking at Fluttershy, who was currently talking to Rarity in a very hushed tone (or: her regular tone), "I'd prefer it'd be...somepony else." Azure chuckled. At the very least he didn't irreparably damage your sense of humor, Silver... ------------------------------------------ It didn't take too long for the group to reach the castle. A few minutes later, they were inside the castle; later still, they were escorted to the hall where, just that same day earlier, both Azure and the Bearers had been separately. Now, together with Shining, Virid, Blitz and Silver, they had noticed the hall had barely changed since the last time they were there. Princess Celestia was waiting, standing up, much more calmer than she was before yet still looking stern. "You've come..." The solar princess stated, "I know you've got a lot of questions you all want to ask right now, but let me first say this." She looked to each pony as she stated their name, "Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Azure Courage...thank you for the services you have done to Equestria for foiling Discord's schemes for Equestria. If you hadn't mended the bonds he tried so hard to sever, we'd surely would have seen an era nopony would have wanted to see..." "Nopony in their right minds..." Azure mumbled under his breath, almost inaudible to himself. "Virid Strategem, Crimson Blitz, Shining Armor, and Silver Espada," she continued, "Thank you for the services you have done in saving the capital..." She turned away for a bit, mouthing something about paperwork and watertowers, but quickly regained her composure, "And, anything you have done while under Discord's influence will not be held against you; you clearly weren't yourselves..." Azure wasn't sure if he imagined Virid whispering something to himself or not, but decided not to press it now. "However..." Celestia's voice went back to being unquestionably stern, "Though I wish we had some time to celebrate these achievements--" "There's always time to party!" Pinkie interjected, seeming to have forgotten precisely why they were called there in the first place. "...I do wish I could say that..." The princess continued, "But...there's something pressing we must attend to as soon as we can. First of all...those shady ponies' attacks had only one purpose: to free Discord. However, I could not figure out why until after I saw that Discord wasn't re-sealed, but seemingly gone, and in his place..." "Azure..." Twilight whispered. "Already getting it..." Azure reached into his saddlebag, withdrawing the corroded silver crown that had earlier been discovered. "Yes, that crown..." The princess then sighed, "For all of his crimes, I still could not wish such a punishment on anyone..." Azure wasn't sure if Discord was truly worthy of Celestia's compassion, but it wasn't his call to make, either. "Listen to me, what happened to Discord was in no way your fault," Princess Celestia finally began to explain, "When they took the item from you two," She nodded to Virid and Blitz. "Way back then, when he said it..." Azure mumbled, recalling Tagane's words on the subject. "That item, as I said before, was meant to weaken Discord. However, even that alone wasn't supposed to do as it did..." Celestia finally said it, "But combined with the item, the Elements of Harmony caused Discord's physical form at least to be destroyed..." The entire room gasped. "That crown is a side effect of that...It is not an Element of Harmony. It, along with five other items which are now scattered throughout Equestria...form the inverse, the Elements of Chaos..." Another gasp, and this time the entire room fell silent. "I'm still not entirely sure; I did not expect this to happen," Celestia said. Virid, who had been practically a lifeless dummy up until about a minute ago, finally came to life. "If that's the case, then..." Virid said, "Would putting them all together mean bringing back Discord's physical form?" "Perhaps, perhaps not..." The princess responded, "The Elements of Harmony came from an entirely different source than this..." "And why didn't this crown go flying around Equestria with the rest of them?" Twilight asked. "I believe that one is the most connected to Discord in terms of what it is...if I had to give it a name, I'd say...'Conflict', the opposite of friendship." "With what he stirred up between us..." Applejack said, "Makes sense..." "Each of the elements has their inverse, and as far as I know do not link to specific ponies," The princess continued, "But...even if their true power can be attained when all six are gathered, just having the one probably isn't going to mean as much..." "So then, what you want us to do is find the other Elements of Chaos?" Twilight questioned, "But, Princess...we don't have a means to track them down...we don't even know where the first one would be..." The room fell silent again. "There has to be a way..." Azure said to himself. "As of now, I can not say how to find these Elements of Chaos," Celestia walked toward the group by a few steps. "But I now have guards looking for anything regarding where they are, and as soon as we have any information, I'll--" The door loudly banged open. "Princess Celestia!" All eyes turned to a dark gray pegasus in armor, "I have a report from Appleloosa!" Azure, who had been briefly startled by the noise, along with some of the others, quickly calmed down and shook his head a little as his body's aches came back on him. He hadn't been healed yet due to the rush that had occurred after the fall of Discord, as well as the retreat of those cloaked ponies. "After what happened today..." Azure mumbled, "We're all a little on edge..." "I understand," the pegasus stated, bowing his head. Only now was it noticeable he was clearly winded. "Now, you stated you had a report?" "Yes," the pegasus said, "Less than two hours ago, a strange light was seen falling from the sky. It went down and made some kind of impact close to Appleloosa." The others turned their heads to the solar princess, who only noded. "Excellent...now, if you don't mind telling me, I would like to know the coordinates of where the light fell." "Of course, Princess," The newcomer saluted, "But there's something strange about it..." Shining arched a brow, taking over, "Strange?" "Where the light landed, by the time teams got there, a maze seemed to have come up out of the ground, made of said barren ground. Flying over it was useless; if you tried to land right on top of it, you merely wound up back to start. Going on the ground, many teams exited the maze finding that no matter where they went, it just seemed like they were running into one dead end after another..." The mares immediately let out a collective gasp. "That's what Discord did to all of us in the hedgemaze here!" Twilight called it out. "Except...this time, at least, a book won't be hollowed out with the Elements inside of it..." "I do not know how we can get to the center of the maze, or wherever the object truly is, but reaching the object is impossible..." Everypony fell silent for a long while, but Virid eventually called the group to focus, having roused himself out of his depression. Crimson would eventually wonder if this was truly a strategy from his mind or if he just wanted to "make up" his behavior earlier to their captain. "I think I know what we should do about not only this particular element, but about the situation in general..." Virid spoke up. "Then, tell us, if you would..." said the solar princess, prompting Virid to give his key strategy...