Chapter 2: Elements, Assemble!
“You’re distracted, Rainbow Dash,” said Nine Winds. The sky blue earth pony stood above Dash, one hoof planted firmly on her chest.
“I’m fine, sifu,” gasped Rainbow Dash. The throw that brought her to the dojo’s floor had knocked all of the air out of her lungs.
“Then stand up.”
“Are you going to…” Dash touched the hoof that pinned her to the floor.
“No. Get up.”
Dash closed her eyes. She breathed in as deeply as the hoof planted on her chest would allow, focusing her essence around her lungs. Opening her eyes, she released both her air and essence in a powerful shout.
Nine Winds was buffeted by the air burst. Dash felt his hoof waver on her chest. His moment of instability was all she needed. Twisting her body and kicking against the floor with her wings, she lifted herself out of Nine Winds’ hold.
And straight into the dojo’s padded wall. Somehow, Nine had gotten a hold of her wing and redirected her flight course.
“That would have worked if you were concentrating properly,” said Nine. He released his grip and Rainbow Dash fell to the ground in a heap. “For the past two months, you’ve been dedicating yourself more than ever to your training. It would be admirable if it wasn’t accompanied by this sloppy performance. You’re still hung up on your friend’s exaltation, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry, sifu,” said Rainbow Dash, struggling to her hooves. “It’s just frustrating. You know how hard I’ve worked, how much I’ve trained. I thought I was getting to really be somepony, but what can I amount to that’s even close to what she is? She’s a princess now.”
“That just means she gets to wear a shiny hat.” Nine stroked his gray beard. “The Wonderbolts have recognized your abilities, don’t be so quick to forget about them. Has Twilight Sparkle performed a Sonic Rainboom? Has Twilight Sparkle even begun to master Air Dragon Style?”
“She could do that if she wanted to…”
Nine Winds stomped his hoof. “But she hasn’t! Rainbow Dash, do you have any idea of how few ponies have done what you have done? The sonic rainboom was just a myth before you mastered it, and when you learned your first technique of Air Dragon Style, you stepped into a world that most ponies simply aren’t capable of. I doubt that Princess Sparkle could pick up these charms as easily as you think. You overestimate her, but more importantly, you underestimate yourself and your abilities. As your teacher, I should be insulted.”
Rainbow dash straightened up and bowed deeply. “Master, I meant no disrespect.”
“Then show me what I have taught you!” He bent his knees and widened his stance. White essence washed over his body, leaving his coat solid and shiny like polished stone. “Correctly, this time.”
Rainbow Dash settled into her own stance and pondered how best to launch her opening attack on her sifu. Maybe today would see her land her first blow on him.
Rainbow’s thought process was interrupted when a swirling ball of essence flew in the window and toward her. It hovered in front of Dash for a moment, then solidified into a bound scroll and fell to the ground.
Rainbow looked at Nine Winds. The older stallion sat down and pulled his pipe and a match from his pocket. “Go ahead. That looks like Celestia’s seal. It’s probably important.”
Rainbow Dash looked down at the scroll. Nine was right, the seal that held scroll closed was the princess’s personal emblem, the blazing sun, just like her cutie mark. Dash tore the letter open and skimmed its contents. Her eyes widened.
“Master, forgive me, but I’m going to have to leave immediately. Twilight’s gone missing.”
* * *
“Are you alright, Rarity?”
“I’m fine, Fancy,” said Rarity. She took a sip of tea. “Just coming from a coming from a stressful encounter with Twilight. I fear a rift is forming between her and Applejack.”
“Nothing serious, I hope,” said Fancy Pants. They sat in a corner of the Sleepy Leaf teahouse. It was their regular meeting spot.
“I’m not sure,” said Rarity. “Applejack is feeling like she doesn’t matter anymore since Twilight’s exaltation, and to be fair, she has a point. Twilight’s going to outlive us all by centuries and know the kind of magic that most mortals only dream of. I imagine it must be hard not seeing one’s own work on the same level.”
Fancy smiled. “Well, at least you don’t have that problem. Speaking of which, do you have the report?”
“Oh, yes. That.” She lifted her hat and levitated a letter in front of Fancy. He opened it and began reading. “I’m just worried about Applejack. She’s always seemed so content working the family orchard. Twilight’s exaltation is really getting to her.”
“Hmm.” Fancy said, continuing to read. His eyes widened. He pointed at the letter. “Captain Blizzard? As in, the captain of the royal guard, that Captain Blizzard?”
Rarity chuckled, “The very same.”
“How did you hook him?”
“It wasn’t difficult, darling. He had a little too much to drink at a party last week. I flirted, and he spilled everything.”
“I’ll say,” said Fancy Pants. “Marital infidelity, accepting bribes, weapon smuggling…”
“That’s the small time stuff. Check the next page,” said Rarity with a smile.
Fancy Pants flipped the page over, read for a moment, then his jaw dropped. “A Windigo cult?”
“THE Windigo Cult,” said Rarity. “I did a bit of snooping, and it looks like our Captain Blizzard is in charge of all the occult activity we’ve been seeing. I would assume somepony else is the brains of the organization – Blizzard gave up the information far too easily – but their loss is our gain.”
Fancy Pants looked around the teahouse. Nopony was sitting close to them. The scented candles and calming colors that filled the room did little to relax him. He leaned in close. “White Veil should know about this,” he said. “This is big.”
“I had hoped to come up with a plan before that. It shows initiative. It might even mean some promotion in the Society. If it existed, which of course it doesn’t.” She winked.
“Did you have something in mind?”
“Planning is your department, darling. I’m just reconnaissance,” said Rarity, adjusting her mane.
Fancy Pants smiled now. “You’re just waiting to shoot down whatever I say. You’ve already got this all figured out.”
“Well, if you must know,” said Rarity, leaning in and resting her head on her hoof, “I was thinking of dropping Princess Luna on them. They’re meeting outside of town at the next full moon. Luna won’t like that if she finds out. All we have to do is subtly suggest that she be in the area on that night.”
“They won’t know what hit them,” said Fancy Pants, his smile widening. “I like it. Subtle, yet forceful. And most importantly, it’s hooves-off. No risk to our own agents and no risk of discovery.”
“White Veil should agree. She does so love dropping alicorns on ponies. Shall I?” Rarity pointed at her teacup. Fancy nodded.
Rarity pulled a feather out of her hat. Her horn glowed as she used it like a quill, writing a message on the surface of her tea. The letters lingered in glowing gold essence until she was finished writing, then faded. Rarity took a sip. “Message sent,” she said.
At that moment, a glowing trail of essence wove its way through an open skylight to Rarity and coalesced into a bound scroll in front of her.
“And message received,” said Rarity, a quizzical look on her face. “That couldn’t be Veil already, could it? She usually responds with a Written on the Water spell.”
She tore open the seal and glanced at the context of the letter. If her fur wasn’t white, one would have seen the color drain from her face. “It’s from Princess Celestia. Twilight’s in trouble.”
“Weren’t you just with her?” asked Fancy Pants.
“Less than two hours ago,” said Rarity, standing. “Cover my check, please. I have to get to the palace immediately.”
* * *
The sun felt nice, Fluttershy thought. She had always liked the sunlight, but she had never really appreciated how nice it really was. She reached out her limbs upward to take in all the light she could. It was warm, and tasted like honey. She had never thought about how light tasted before.
There was a letter below her, in her shadow. She had tried to walk over to pick it up, but her roots wouldn’t let her move. It was a relief, really, having roots. She didn’t need to worry about where to go or when. She could just stay in one place, soaking up the sunshine.
“Oh, would you pick up the letter, please?” came Discord’s voice. Fluttershy was vaguely aware that the draconequus was climbing amongst her limbs in the form of a squirrel.
“I turned you into a tree as a joke,” he continued. “I didn’t think you’d just sit here for hours. You can change back, you know.”
But why would Fluttershy want to change back? When the sun was so bright and her roots dug so deep…
“Fine then, I’ll read the letter,” said Discord. There was a flash of light and he was on the ground in his usual form.
“’Fluttershy, it is our most urgent duty to inform you…’ yada yada yada… Here we go. ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle is missing with signs of foul play. As the bearer of the Element of Kindness, your presence is urgently requested at Canterlot Palace. Enclosed is a priority train ticket-“
“What, missing?” said Fluttershy, hovering over Discord’s shoulder, her branches now wings again. “Oh no. I hope nothing’s happened. I should go. Can you take care of all the animals?”
“Um… well, I-”
“Thank you so much, I have to go.”
* * *
Waiting was boring! Pinkie Pie looked at the sundial out of her window again. It was mocking her, she knew it. Just how long does it take to deliver a letter, anyway?
“Waiting for something, Revels?”
Pinkie spun around. There was a tall male griffon standing in her room. Pinkie let out a sigh of relief.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Leon,” she said, “And it’s Pinkie Pie at the moment.” She pointed to her balloon cutie mark. “Yeah, just waiting for the letter saying Twilight’s been foalnapped. Should get here soon. What are you doing here?”
“It’s about Pinkie, actually,” said Leon. He looked away, scratching the back of his neck. “There’s no easy way to say this. Pinkie Pie has to die soon.”
“What?!” said Pinkie. Her cutie mark shifted into the sign of Venus in vibrant blue, and suddenly she wasn’t Pinkie Pie anymore. She still looked like Pinkie Pie, but she was definitely a different pony. Her name was Azure Revelry, and nopony could mistake her for Pinkie Pie. “Why?! It’s the perfect setup!”
“Dolorous Symphony is worried that it’s too perfect,” said Leon. “She thinks you’re emotionally compromised.”
“Emotionally- That is not true. I am in complete control,” said Revels with a stomp of her hoof.
“Are you? Revels, I’ve seen you interact with them, the other element bearers.” said Leon, frowning. “You’re not that good an actress.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” said Revels. She took a step forward. Leon stepped back.
“Just that it looks like you’ve formed a real bond with them,” said Leon. He didn’t look her in the eye. “Look, this is all on Symphony. She thinks you’re in over your head and she wants you out. You know why we can’t let ourselves get emotional Revels. We have to be impartial.”
Revels sat down, defeated. “How long do I have?”
“It’s at your discretion, though I would act soon, or Symph is bound to force your hoof.”
“Then what? I suppose she wants me off the Elements Convention too?”
Leon hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. Slate’s going to fight that. She might even manage to keep you on the Convention, being Convention Chair and all. If not, you’ll probably be transferred to the Fire Convention. They need help down south.” He put a talon on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Revels. If you need any help with this, I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, Leon, but I can handle myself,” said Revels. A letter dropped to the ground beside her.
“That’ll be the letter I was waiting for,” she said, reaching down to grab it. Her cutie mark changed into three balloons and she was Pinkie Pie again. “I need to head for Canterlot.” She looked up and Leon was gone.
* * *
It was early afternoon and the bar was empty except for her and the bartender. Applejack didn’t care. Why had she said all those things to Twilight? She wanted to be happy for her friend, she really did. But when she thought about those wings…
She threw back another shot. It just wasn’t fair. She had been happy. She was content. She could have stayed home on the farm until the day she died and not regretted a minute of it. Now that all seemed so unimportant.
“Bad day?” asked the bartender, a skinny stallion with a curly mustache.
Applejack slid another bit across the counter. “Just get me something else. Anything without apples in it.”
The bartender nodded knowingly. “One of those days, eh?”
“You don’t know what kind of day I’ve had.”
“Your cutie mark is apples and you want anything but apples,” said the bartender, reaching on the shelf behind him for a bottle. “You want to be anypony but yourself right now, that right?”
“Close enough,” said Applejack.
“Feel like talking about it?”
“No,” said Applejack, but she did anyway. “You ever wonder what the point of it all is? You can live your whole life being the best in the world at what you do, but then it all turns out to be just a footnote in the history of some alicorn who could do your job better than you without even trying.”
The bartender smiled and poured out a drink. “Not sure if anypony could do my job better, but I catch your meaning. So I guess the question is why she exalted and not you.”
“I don’t know!” said Applejack, taking the new drink in her hoof. “I’m just not good enough, I guess. Never was, never will be. I just- I feel used. Emotionally violated. Our friendship was just a means to an end for her.”
“For Princess Sparkle?”
“For Celestia,” said Applejack. “I mean hell, I won’t say Twilight didn’t deserve what she got. Nopony could say that. But why just her? We were all there too. We faced down Nightmare Moon and Discord. All those friendship lessons she wrote back about were things she learned from us. What did I do wrong? Is it because I’m an earth pony? Is exaltation a unicorn thing?”
“I don’t think so,” said the bartender. “Princess Stony Silence back in the second century was an earth pony prior to exaltation, I believe.”
“Well then I guess I’m just not good enough then,” said Applejack, bringing the glass to her lips. “Whatever happened to her, by the way?”
“Buried under Canterlot mountain, if I’m remembering my history correctly,” said the bartender. “She was fighting a demon in the catacombs below the city and couldn’t beat it, so she collapsed the whole tunnel. They were both dead when workers dug them out.”
“Huh,” said Applejack. “So I guess they’re not invincible.”
“Not by a long shot,” said the bartender. “Princess Sparkle is the thirteenth monarch of Equestria. All but the current four are dead now.”
“Do you know a lot about them?” asked Applejack.
“Yes. I always did like history, even as a colt” said the bartender.
Applejack stared down at her glass. “Tell me more.”
The bartender smiled. “Oh, where to start. Well, the first alicorn princess to die was just called the Shadow Princess. Nopony knows what her real name was or how she died. Nopony even knew she existed until her public funeral in the early second century. Stony Silence came after her. She built the forge that’s still used to craft artifacts for the highest members of the nobility and military. Completely mute, as well. After her was- oh, hang on here’s a letter coming.”
Applejack looked up. A shifting ball of essence was coming toward her. When it was a foot away, it turned into a letter and fell onto the bar.
Applejack sighed and reached for it. The seal on the front was Celestia’s sun. Probably something official like another party for Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“Keep talking, I’m still listening,” said Applejack as she broke the seal and started reading.
“Well, after Princess Silence, there was Prince Silver Lotus. He was actually born a prince amongst the unexalted nobility. Now the funny thing about him is-”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” said Applejack, raising a hoof. She didn’t take her eyes off the letter. “Well, damn. That’s not what I was expecting.” She crumpled the letter and stood up. “Got to go. Princess needs help from her favorite underling.” She pitched the letter in the waste bin on her way out.
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I see what you did with the Fluttershy=tree thing here as well, lending logic and substance to what people would typically just see as a nod to the fandom. Fluttershy has stated in canon that she would like to be a tree, and Discord has the ability to make that happen with ease. The animators even gave her a tree disguise at one point!
And here we have Applejack still failing miserably to empathize with the dragon who saved her from a towering monster once.
I know rather little about Exalted, but these footnotes are rather helpful. Can't wait to see what Rarity is NOT planning, and how she does NOT advance in a NONEXISTENT organization.
Wow. Thank you so much for all that feedback. This is my first real effort at writing a fic, and I appreciate the thought and care you put into your comments. I'll keep these things in mind for future chapters.
Poor Applejack - life really sucks for mortals in Creation. I get the impression that Exalts are a bit rarer in Equestria though - it's the princess thing. Is every Exalt automatically a monarch, or just solars, or just a few of them?
And of course Pinkie is a Sidereal. That explains so much