//------------------------------//
// The Elements of Harmony 
// Story: A New Begining 
// by Emeris Moonglade 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 11: The Elements of Harmony

Sunlight filtered in through AJ’s eyelids. She covered her face with her foreleg and moaned, then eventually rolled out of bed. Staggering a little, she made her way to a mirror hanging on the wall. Her vision was blurry but, she could still see to walk. She looked in the mirror and was shocked to see her hair was a mess.
“How long was ah asleep?” she asked no one in particular. She glanced at the bed and saw John there. Her brow arched in curiosity. “John?” she strode over to his side of the bed. “John.” He didn’t move. This time she shoved him, but he still did not wake. Her bottom lip started to quiver and her limbs started shaking. “John wake up!” she shouted as she pounded on his chest. “Com’on, wake up please.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. They created small dark circles in the dust covering the floor. She sank to her haunches and covered her eyes with her hooves. She wiped the tears away then struggled to her hooves. “Don’t worry, ah’ll go get Princess Celestia. She’ll know what ta do.” She trotted to the thick doubled doors on the opposite end of the room. “Ah’ll be back.” She whispered, then exited the room.
On her way to the throne room AJ nearly toppled over several servant mares. Whenever she bumped into one, she would receive a very unfriendly comment afterwards. She ignored all the rude ponies. Her goal right then was to find Celestia, and help John. Everything else was lost to mind. Applejack stormed around a corner, only to come face to face with Twilight. The two collided into each other and books scattered across the hallway. Twilight rubbed her head and groaned. 
“Applejack? What’s going on?” she asked, but when she looked around, she was the only one there. 
AJ felt bad about running into Twilight, and she would have to apologize later. But she was still on an urgent mission. She rounded a few more corners and climbed a few flight of stairs. She knew she was getting closer to the throne room because there were more servants. Com’on. Just a little further. There! 
She skidded to a halt in front of a pair of grand double doors. Panting hard she shoved the two doors open with her shoulder. “Princess Celestia...” she took a deep breath, “There’s somethin’ wrong with John. He won’t wake up.” It wasn’t Celestia she was talking to though. Instead it was Princess Luna who was sitting there. “Where’s Celestia?” she asked desperately.
“She’s gone Applejack.” Luna spoke; she wasn’t using her normal Canterlotian voice this time, but AJ dismissed the thought. 
“Gone where?” AJ demanded.
“She had an important meeting in Manehattan to attend to. Is there any way I may be of assistance to you?” Luna had that unwavering look of command, but it seemed as if she was trying to act normally.
“Yes ya can. It’s John. He won’t wake up.” She tried not to rush but the words just flowed out; she was panicking. “Please ya have ta help him.” She pleaded. Luna took a minute to decide.
“Where is he?”

~*~*~*~*~

AJ and Luna strode into the room where John slept. Though standing right there next to the bed was the other five ponies. Twilight stood there and padded John’s temple with a damp rag. Fluttershy sat in the corner whimpering to herself with Pinkie Pie trying to comfort her. Rainbow Dash flew in circles above the bed while Rarity paced across the room.
“Twi!” AJ shouted. “Do ya know what’s wrong?” Twilight shook her head and continued to pat John’s cranium.  AJ looked to each pony in the room, and every one of them gave the same answer. She almost began to cry until she noticed Luna walking to the bedside. 
“Twilight Sparkle,” she began, “would you please step aside.” Twilight hesitated a moment and gave Luna a confused look then went to stand beside Applejack. “I will try all that I can. But I can make no promises.” He horn began to glow a deep blue, it was almost black. The same hue danced across John’s face. Luna’s eyes twitched as she probed his mind—she looked as if she was in pain. Twilight and AJ glanced at each other. “Aaaaaaaah!” Luna screamed and was shot backward, slamming against the wall.
“Ugh.” The sound came from the bed. Slowly John sat up, clutching his head with bloody hands. Rainbow crashed into him and squeezed the breath from his lungs. “Rainbow? What’s the matter?” he asked. She released him and right after she did Applejack was hugging him. Her tears were streaming down her face and soaking his shirt. “Better yet, AJ are ya alright?” She was shaking and her grip was getting tighter and tighter. Everypony was staring at them, including Luna who had just recovered from her crash. She still rubbed her head. John slowly embraced AJ back and together they sat there in silence—John unsure of exactly what was going on.
“Would somepony like ta fill me in?” He asked. He looked at each pony until his sights finally fell on Luna. He glared at her a moment then went back to Fluttershy.	
“Um...you were asleep for a very long time.” She said timidly.
“Ya, for about three days you’ve been out.” Rainbow flew over and sat beside him. AJ had finally let go of John but she wouldn’t get off his lap.
“What happened?” Twilight asked. “I mean, we woke up and you and AJ were still sleeping and wouldn’t wake up.”
“Oh mah gosh!” AJ blurted out. “John, ah almost forgot. Arak’arahm told me ta tell you he’s back.” John eyes widened in fear. He stood up quickly, knocking AJ off his lap. 
“Now what in Celestia’s name does that mean?” Rarity asked. Playing with a lock of her mane with her hoof. “John?”
“It means yer planet and race is as good as gone.” He answered. All seven ponies gasped; Rarity nearly fainted. “Unless ah do somethin’ ‘bout it.” He turned toward Luna. “Luna, do ya have anythin’ that we can use as a weapon of some sort?” She thought about the question for a little while, but eventually came through with an answer.	
“The only thing I can think of are The Elements of Harmony.” The six other ponies gasped again. “The Elements have been used to defeat evil more than once.”
“Good! Where are they?” John asked urgently. “We’ll need everythin’ ya got ta take this fucker down.”
“Now John.” Luna began. “Why the sudden the rush to defeat this Arak’arahm?”
“’Cause ah’ve seen what he can do.” He tightly clenched his fists. “He killed mah whole race, leavin’ only me. He blocked out our sun and left mah world a cold, lifeless wasteland. He killed mah family, mah friends, and Elizabeth. Ah will take him here and now if ah have ta. He will not take more lives.” He relaxed a little. “Now take me ta these elements.” He demanded. Cold hard rage plainly visible in his features. That look startled the ponies.
“Not just anypony can use them. They can only be wielded by the ponies whose personalities match that of the elements. And those ponies happen to me in this room.” She gestured toward Fluttershy. “The spirit of kindness.” Rainbow Dash, “The spirit of loyalty.” Pinkie Pie, “The spirit of laughter.” Rarity, “The spirit of generosity.” Applejack, “The spirit of honesty.” Then finally Twilight, “The spirit of magic.”
“Well let’s hop to it.” John was unfazed by the fact his only friends were the wielders of the only weapon in Equestria. “Arak’arahm ain’t gonna kill himself. Ah wish he would, but he’s not.” Pinkie Pie giggled. The six ponies exchanged worried glances.
“Ok, let’s get a move on already before ah drag ya’ll down there by yer ears.” He rushed out the door. Glancing each other’s way one last time, they followed him out the door.

~*~*~*~*~

“So, where’s the vault?” John asked as his sight swept the room. “All ah see are walls.” Luna walked up to one of the walls and inserted her horn into a hole in the wall. For a brief second her horn glowed, then a section in the wall began to open. Inside was a medium sized jewelry box. “Are ya sure that’s gonna stop Arak’arahm? ‘Cause those look kinda small.”
“Remember John, magic.” Luna tapped her horn with her hoof. “Now girls, are you ready to wield the elements once more, and partner up with John to defeat this common foe?” All six ponies nodded their heads. “I present to you the Elements.” As Luna opened the box there was a bright flash of light. Everypony winced and covered their face with their forelegs. “This isn’t right!” Luna exclaimed. John slowly backed away and the Elements slowly dimmed to nothing. 
Everypony stared at the Elements in wonderment, then at John. Luna gawked at John in bewilderment. She knew more about the Elements than anypony in Equestria, other than Celestia, and nothing like this has ever happened before.
“What was that?” Twilight asked. Her eyes wide as saucers. “It felt...I don’t know what it felt like, but it was as if the Elements were trying to escape.” She glanced over to Luna, questions bubbling up inside her.
“Maybe that’s something you should ask John here.” She looked at John, but he was just as surprised as she was. 
“Ah suggest we just leave those in the box until we actually need them.” He advised. “Don’t want them breakin’ before we need them.” All six of them nodded their heads. Luna stared at the Elements and back at John before she closed the box. She had an idea, or at least a theory.
“John?” Luna asked, “Would you please carry this for me?” she levitated the box over to him.
He backed away, “Ah don’t think that’s a good idea.” He backed farther away.
“You’re more qualified for the job.”
“Other than a goddess?”
“Yes.” She shoved the box at his chest, causing him to grunt. He grabbed it, holding it as if it were going to bite him. “Now, take good care of those Elements until the time is right.” She glared at him and he glared back.
“Yes mam.” he ground his teeth. His grip on the box grew tighter and tighter until it began creaking. He looked over to the ponies. “So, where do ya wanna go hang out today?”