The Balance of Harmony

by The Rising Tide of Night

Chapter 10: A Lack of Foresight

I awoke feeling someone wrapping bandages around my head and over the side of my face. I groaned in pain, and whoever was wrapping stopped suddenly, and I felt my head being lowered into someone’s lap. I opened my right eye and found myself looking up at a crying Spike. I tried to smile up at him, but the movement pulled at the damaged skin on my face, and I ended up half-smiling, half-wincing. He let out another sob at this, and I tried to comfort him.

“Hey, why’s my number one assistant crying?” I asked, trying to push myself up. Everything ached, and the left side of my face was on fire with pain. Spike immediately tried to push me down, but I waved him off. He watched me with apprehension as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

“I thought you were dead,” Spike wailed. “I’m so sorry, I almost killed you!”

I almost smiled once more, but thought against it. Instead I settled for trying to pat him on the shoulder. With my depth perception being off, I ended up missing and grabbing his arm. Squeezing it in comfort, I replied, “I’m alive, though. We all are. That means it’s all right.”

A cry from the others drew our attention. We looked over and saw that Rarity was curled up in a ball once more, screaming at Pinkie Pie, who was trying to get her to put on the clothing we had found in the castle. From the incoherent screams, I gathered that the Changelings had put her through a horrible ordeal the entire time they had held her.

Applejack came over to where I was sitting and sat down next to me, a defeated look on her face. I could see she was holding the chains with the element and Rarity’s crystal. “Snatched ‘em while you were reasoning with Spike,” she said, holding them up to the light. She looked over at me with a look of apprehension and pity, and asked, “Twilight, are you gonna be ok?”

Immediately I bristled at her insinuation, but realized that she was truly concerned for my well-being. “I don’t know,” I replied softly. “I know I’m gonna try, though.” I gestured to where Pinkie Pie was carefully backing away from Rarity, who had grabbed a nearby stick and was waving it wildly in self-defense. “I’m more worried about her. I don’t know if she’ll recover.”

Applejack shook her head, worry plain on her face. “Ah dunno, Twilight. Ah think our best bet is to get her back to familiar surroundings. Hopefully she’ll realize that we’re not the Changelings anymore.”

I nodded, wincing at the pain in my head. “Let me rest for a while longer. I’ll try to bring us home. The quicker we can get there, the quicker we can try to help her.”

Applejack shot a concerned glance at me. “You sure you can do that, Sugarcube?” she asked.

“I have to be, otherwise it won’t work,” I replied. She looked unsure, but let it pass, and nodded.

“All right, Twi. Ah’ll do what Ah can to let you rest. You let us know when you’re ready, and Ah’ll make sure we get ahold of her.” She indicated the still-naked Rarity, who had now turned her attentions to Fluttershy, who was backing away quickly from her wild eyes. Applejack paused for a moment, then said, “Excuse me, Twi.”

She stood, and quickly moved over to Pinkie Pie. After a brief conversation, Pinkie nodded, a grim look on her face. She picked up a rock and vanished, appearing behind Rarity, bringing the rock down on her head, knocking her unconscious. I winced at the sight of Rarity dropping to the ground, but understood the necessity. I huddled there, wrapped in my cloak, as Spike finished bandaging my head, until I eventually fell asleep for a time.

I woke as the dawn began to light the sky, feeling the stiffening in my joints. Stretching myself, feeling my joints pop, I carefully pushed myself up to a standing position. I looked around at my friends, who were in deep discussion over by the unconscious Rarity, who had been wrapped up in her cloak. “Hey, guys,” I called as I headed over to them.

They looked up at me apprehensively. “Hey, Twilight,” replied Fluttershy. “How are you doing?”

“I hurt pretty badly,” I replied honestly. “I’m afraid, and I’m feeling kinda depressed. But I have to get us all home, so I’m determined.”

Taken aback by my honesty, they looked at me with surprised expressions. Shaking off their surprise, I asked, “How’s Rarity?”

“We don’t really know,” Pinkie Pie replied. “She’s been quiet since I knocked her out. At least she’s not screaming at us.”

I looked down at her still form, sorrow welling up in me. I took a deep breath. “All right,” I announced. “Let’s go home.” I gripped my staff tightly, and extended my other hand. The others stood slowly, and Applejack reached down and, with a wince of pain, picked up Rarity, still wrapped in her cloak. We all linked hands, and I concentrated, staff pulsing with light, pouring my energy into the spell. After what seemed an eternity, the spell took effect, and we vanished.

We reappeared on the outskirts of Equs. Immediately, my legs gave out from under me, and if I hadn’t been holding my staff or Pinkie Pie’s hand, I would have collapsed. Planting my staff and using Pinkie Pie for leverage, I pushed myself up on shaking legs. I noticed that I was having a hard time gripping, and felt tremors run through my arms. The others were still recovering from the usual post-teleportation disorientation, but they were all standing normally.

Spike recovered first, and noticing my distress, rushed over to me. “Twilight! Are you ok?”

I smiled a shaky smile at him. “I’m ok, Spike,” I replied, my voice shaking. “I’m just drained. I’m gonna need to eat like a pig after all of these long-range teleportation spells.”

He disengaged my hand from Pinkie’s. It took almost no effort on his part, though to me it felt like I had been squeezing with all my strength. “Here, lean on me,” he said, putting my arm around his shoulder. I nodded gratefully, and together we slowly picked our way back to the library, Applejack still carrying Rarity, and followed by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

We arrived at the library, and made our way through the secret door. Hearing the sounds of our arrival, we were met at the bottom of the stairs by Big Mac. He was smiling until we came out of the shadows of the stairs, then his expression turned to shock and horror. “What happened?” he cried. At the sound of his voice, Cheerilee rushed into the room, apprehension on her face as she took in our exhausted crew.

I felt my body shuddering, and immediately pointed Spike in the direction of the nearest chair. We limped over to it as quickly as possible and I collapsed gratefully into it as Applejack immediately took Rarity away to her room. Spike explained my situation, and Cheerilee quickly left to get me something substantial to eat. A short while later she brought back a large tray of food and I dug in gratefully, eating as quickly as I dared. After working my way through half of the plate, I started to feel normal again, and slowed my eating to the point where I could talk at the same time.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had already been filling Big Mac and Cheerilee in on the results of our journey. I could tell when they reached the point about what had happened in the throne room by the looks on their faces. They finished up with our escape from the destroyed castle and our final teleportation back to the town. Cheerilee was looking at me with an expression of sadness and pity, and I suddenly felt a surge of anger at her response. Who was she to look down at me with pity? She hadn’t been the one out there risking her life to restore her world. I immediately felt ashamed of my feelings, and turned away from her sorrowful gaze.

Applejack returned a short while later, having settled Rarity into her bed. “Ah can only hope that a familiar sight will help her out,” she said grimly as she sat down next to me, picking at the remains of my plate. I nearly growled at her, but restrained myself, realizing that I was already overfull. I pushed the plate over to her, and she nodded gratefully, scarfing down the last bits of food. Cheerilee noticed her hunger, and half an hour later, four more plates were brought out for the rest of us.

We talked over breakfast, trying to figure out what to do next. We all agreed that we would take what time we could to allow Rarity to recover, but we weren’t sure how long that would take. “They did some horrible things to her,” Fluttershy shuddered. She appeared to come to a decision, for she announced her desire to stay with Rarity. “Twilight was kind enough to stay with me during my troubles. I want to repay the favor. Besides, Twilight can use all of the rest she can get right now.”

“Are you sure, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack. “Ah’ve got no problems staying with Rarity.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I’d like to do this. I want to help.”

As no one had any objections, it was decided that Fluttershy would take Applejack’s bed, and Applejack would take Fluttershy’s. I elected to stay in Fluttershy’s room with Applejack, and Spike and Pinkie Pie would continue to share their room.

The rest of the day was filled with apprehension. Rarity awoke sometime around noon, screaming and crying, and anytime any of us tried to help her, she became unmanageable and violent. She would either try to attack us or hide in the corner or under the bed. She was only marginally trusting of Big Mac or Cheerilee, but as none of them had attempted to hurt her as of yet, she would at least remain silent and still if they entered, watching their every moves.

As night finally arrived, we decided that it was time for bed. “Fluttershy, are you sure you’re up to this?” I asked as we made our way back to the sleeping areas. We paused outside of Rarity’s door, and Fluttershy looked at me with determination.

“Of course I am,” she replied. “If I can show her the kindness that we all need, then I believe she’ll get better.”

I smiled at her. That was the Fluttershy I remembered. “All right, but if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask.”

She smiled back. “I won’t.” And with that, she carefully pushed open the door, and slipped inside. I waited outside for the usual round of screams, but none came. Satisfied, I made my way into Fluttershy’s room with Applejack, and crawled into bed, promptly falling asleep.

The next two days were filled with tension, as Rarity’s sobs and screams began to grate on everyone’s nerves. The time between the outbursts was getting to be longer, but every time it felt like we were making progress, she would lapse back into terror and either attack whoever was nearby or scuttle away and hide.

All the while, thoughts were turning over and over in my mind. Something that the Changeling Queen had said to us was gnawing at me, but I was too focused on Rarity to truly explore the meaning behind it. Unfortunately, everything came to a head on the third day, and I was forced to face the meaning of those words.

We awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots. Panicked, we all scrambled out of our beds, nearly tripping over one another to get down the hallway to Rarity’s room. Shoving the door open and turning on the light, we were met with a scene of horror.

Rarity was huddled in her bed, holding one of Fluttershy’s guns, and was staring down at the prone form of Fluttershy, who was groaning, still dressed in her nightclothes. I saw blood spattering the walls opposite her and blood was dripping from Fluttershy’s shoulder where she had been shot. Tears were streaming down Rarity’s face, and I could see her mouth moving silently. She appeared to be apologizing over and over as she stared, hands shaking.

I carefully stepped into the room, and stopped as she immediately trained the gun on me. Raising my hands, I did my best to show her that I meant no harm. “Rarity, it’s alright,” I spoke soothingly. “It’s just us. It’s really just us.”

“How do I know that?” she demanded, her voice breaking. “So many times you came to me, saying that, but it was just the beginning of more pain!” The sobbing intensified, and the gun shook in her hands as she babbled in terror. “The torture, the pain, it never stopped! Every time any of you came to me, it was hope dashed by pain, pain, and more pain!”

“Rarity, please! You have to let us help you!” I pleaded. “We’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you anymore.”

Applejack had moved into the room behind me, eliciting a fresh scream from Rarity. Her gun was now jerking back and forth between us. Applejack moved slowly, keeping an eye on her gun, until she was next to Fluttershy. Pausing there, she waited to see if Rarity was going to do anything drastic, and when nothing came, slowly knelt down next to Fluttershy, inspecting her wound. Trying to keep Rarity focused on me, I took a hesitant step forward, and she trained the gun on me. “Get back! Get back!” she screamed.

I heard Applejack murmur next to me. “It looks like the bullet just passed through,” she observed quietly, “but we gotta get her patched up right quick.”

The whispering was apparently too much for Rarity to take. “No more, no more,” she repeated over and over. “I can’t take it anymore.” Suddenly, her hands stopped shaking, and I noticed that she was staring at the gun she was holding. A feeling of dread formed in the pit of my stomach as I saw her eyes narrow in determination.

“Rarity?” I cautiously spoke. She looked up at me with a vacant smile on her face. Ever so slowly, she pulled the gun back until it was pointing upwards. A feeling of anticipation filled the room as she stared into my eye. The silence dragged on as we stood there, each watching the other, Applejack kneeling next to Fluttershy, and Spike and Pinkie Pie still standing in the doorway. She cocked the gun, the sound deafening in the silent room, and I braced myself, waiting for the barrage of bullets.

They never came. With one swift motion that left us all dumbstruck, Rarity placed the gun under her chin and pulled the trigger.

Time slowed to a crawl. The deafening blast of the gun intermingled with our screams as I watched Rarity’s head jerk upwards, blood spattering the walls behind her, and her body slowly slumped down onto the bed as I reached forward in futility, the gun clattering to the floor. I saw Spike rocket past me, leaping onto the bed in a belated attempt to save the one person he’d loved so dearly for the longest time. He picked her up, cradling her lifeless head in his arms as her blood coated him.

I stood there, thunderstruck. Never in my wildest nightmares did I ever expect the scene that had unfolded in front of me. I moved forward, as if in a daze, and knelt next to the bed, placing my hands on Rarity’s forehead. Her skin was cold and lifeless, and her sightless eyes stared back at me, finally exhibiting a measure of peace. All of the horrible bruising and cuts on her body seemed as decorations on a lifeless shell, and as I carefully pried her head from Spike’s trembling hands, ignoring the blood that now began to coat my nightgown, she seemed to be a dead weight.

Holding her head in one hand, I gently closed her eyes with the other, and then bent down and kissed her pale, bloody lips. “Good night, sweet Rarity,” I whispered, feeling the full weight of what had been done to her over the course of those painful days. Handing her head back to Spike, I stood, moving with a distinct purpose, ignoring the cries and queries from my friends.

Stepping out into the hall, I noticed that a crowd had gathered at the end of the hallway, their expressions ranging from curious to horrified as I stepped into their view. I momentarily vanished from sight as I slipped into my room, grabbed my staff, and stepped back out. I must have been a terrifying sight to behold as I approached the crowd, the bandages on my head covering the left side of my face, my hands, face, and nightgown coated in Rarity’s blood, my glowing staff in hand, and such an expression of fury on my face that they all immediately parted to allow me to pass.

Cheerilee and Big Mac were near the back of the crowd, which suited me just fine. I strode directly towards them, their faces growing more and more nervous until I reached them. Without stopping, I grabbed Cheerilee by the throat with all the force I could muster, forced her backwards until we hit the wall of the meeting room, and slammed her up against it, my fury lending me enough strength to hold her a foot off of the floor. “WHY!” I screamed. “WHY DIDN”T YOU TELL US!”

I heard Big Mac growl behind me, and felt his presence getting closer. I spun my staff behind me and grabbed him with my magic, pulling him around and forcing him up against the wall as well. Pushing my face up close to Cheerilee and ignoring Mac’s struggles, I hissed at her, “The Changeling Queen had some interesting things to say when we faced her. She told us that they had been driven out of the land, and that Rarity was the biggest reason why.” She struggled against my grip, her face changing colors as she fought to breathe, but I was too furious to notice.

“You knew!” I shrieked, shaking her like a rag doll. “You knew what we were getting into, and you said nothing! You knew that bringing Rarity there would be like a slap in the face to them. Now she’s dead, and you. Said. NOTHING!” I screamed the last word, crushing her against the wall. Suddenly I felt hands on my shoulders, pulling me away from the wall. I lost my grip on Cheerilee, and she tumbled to the ground, hands at her throat, coughing and gasping for air.

I whirled around, swinging my staff at whoever had dared interrupt my fury. Pinkie Pie blocked my attack, catching the staff and holding it tightly as she looked down at me in sorrow. I glared up at her, but as she wasn’t the target of my ire, the glare was only half-hearted before I broke down sobbing into her arms, resting my head on her chest. I heard a soft thump as my magic dissipated, and Big Mac landed on the floor.

Pinkie Pie pulled me away from everyone, bringing me back through the silent crowd, and herded me back into my room. She sat me down on my bed, took my staff from me, and leaned it against the wall. “What was that all about?” she asked, concerned.

I looked up from where I had buried my face in my hands. “You heard the Changeling Queen and what she said about Rarity. There has to have been some truth behind that, or they wouldn’t have tortured her that badly.”

“I just thought she was trying to get under our skin,” she replied, looking worried. “You really think she was telling the truth?”

I nodded grimly. “And I aim to get as much truth out of them before we go anywhere else.”

“Ok,” she agreed. “But can it wait until you’ve calmed down? You look really, really scary right now.”

I looked up at my kind, gentle friend, who had spent the majority of her life trying to make people laugh, and who I had seen not more than a day ago brutally killing Changelings in an effort to save our friend. If she felt that I was too scary, then who was I to judge? I nodded in resignation, and she smiled. “There’s my Twilight. You stay here,” she ordered. “Applejack and I will take care of everything else tonight.” And with that, she was gone, and I was left alone with my thoughts and my grief.

I stayed there until morning came, staring at the wall separating my room from where Rarity had been only hours before and thinking. Shortly after morning, Applejack came into the room, looking exhausted. “We managed to get her cleaned up,” she said as I glanced up at her. “We should be ready for the funeral anytime today.” She grimaced, holding her side, and sat down on the bed opposite me. She waved away my questioning look, and rubbed her side a little. “Just hurt myself a little during the fight at the castle. Ah should be fine, no problem.”

“Did you find out why she shot Fluttershy?” I asked.

Applejack nodded. “First thing Ah asked her when she came to. Turns out Rarity woke up sometime in the middle of the night crying. Fluttershy was just trying to get her calmed down like she had before, when Rarity suddenly pulled out one of her guns and started firing. She must’ve stolen it sometime during the day when we weren’t looking. Fluttershy went down after she was hit in the shoulder, and must’ve passed out from the shock.” She looked down sadly. “She was in a right state when she woke up again and we had to tell her what happened. Thought she’d never stop crying.”

I drew my knees up and hugged them to me. “I know how she feels,” I replied.

Applejack looked over at me curiously. “Pinkie Pie told us what you did to Cheerilee and Big Mac. You really reckon that there’s more that they didn’t tell us?”

I nodded, determination creeping into my voice. “I do. And I aim to get the answers before we go anywhere else.”

“Still plan on going after the rest of the elements?” Applejack asked, her voice neutral.

I glared up at her. “Of course,” I replied testily. “I owe it to the memories of Rarity and Rainbow Dash to try and save this world. They will not have died for nothing.”

Applejack stared at me for a moment, then broke into a satisfied smile. “That’s my Twilight,” she said, echoing Pinkie’s earlier observation. “Ah wouldn’t have it any other way.”

My interrogation of Cheerilee and Big Mac didn’t occur until late in the afternoon. We held a small funeral for Rarity. There didn’t appear to be any of her family present in the town, so we were the ones who provided most of the information for her eulogy. I insisted that she be buried next to Trixie, as the best connection to our old world.

After we came back inside from laying her to rest, I immediately cornered Cheerilee and Big Mac, though with much less violence than the night before. Cheerilee’s throat was heavily bruised from my attack, but I refused to feel any sympathy for her. “Well?” I demanded, as we all got ourselves settled in the meeting area. Fluttershy’s shoulder was heavily bandaged, and Applejack was still favoring her side. “There’s a few things you’ve been keeping from us, isn’t there?”

Cheerilee and Big Mac looked at each other, and they sighed together. This time it was Big Mac who spoke, outlining the history that we had been unaware of. “Rarity was instrumental in getting the Changelings banished, yes,” he rumbled. “After the six of you banished Nightmare Moon, you were lauded as heroes. Unfortunately, while most of you kept your senses after that, Rarity let it go to her head.”

We looked at each other. “She’s always been a little full of herself, but not that badly,” I replied.

Big Mac shook his head. “This was more than that. She took it upon herself to act as a leader, and rallied people around causes she deemed important. One was the banishment of the Changelings. Up until that point, it had been a mutual existence. We tolerated them, and they tolerated us. Nothing big, but no open antagonism either. Rarity felt that their abilities were disgusting, and their appearance even more so. So she was able to convince the Princesses that they were a threat to us, which led to their banishment, and ultimately to the incident at Princess Cadence’s wedding where the Queen attempted to take over the kingdom by posing as your brother.

“The problem truly came when Discord appeared. As we found out later, Rarity’s arrogance had grown to the point where she was no longer a representation of the element of Generosity. When the six of you attempted to challenge him, the elements didn’t work.”

Fluttershy looked astonished. “What do you mean, didn’t work?”

“Just that,” he replied. “From what we heard, you tried using the elements, but without Rarity’s element, the magic just fizzled out. At that point, Discord just laughed and proceeded to kill you mercilessly, taking the elements for himself.”

“How do y’all know this?” Applejack asked, suspicious. “Y’all weren’t there, were you?”

Big Mac shook his head. “Nope. Rainbow Dash told us. She was the only one to escape the massacre and live to tell the tale. She didn’t last too much longer, though,” he continued sadly. “She blamed herself for your deaths, for leaving you all when you most needed her. She eventually left once more to go after Discord, but never returned. News of her death fighting Discord reached us later, after Discord announced that he was the true ruler of the world.”

There was silence as we digested this information. After a few minutes, I spoke up. “Is there anything else you’ve been keeping from us about… us? Was Fluttershy secretly an assassin? Did Pinkie Pie spend her days torturing little creatures?”

The both shook their heads vehemently. “No, nothing of the sort,” replied Big Mac. “Ah promise.”

“I want to ask about a few people. One, are any of Rarity’s family still alive right now?”

They shook their heads. “As far as we know, none of them,” replied Cheerilee. “Sweetie Belle was the last seen, and that was on her way to the Crystal Empire. She was following your brother’s trail.”

I glared at them. “So you do know what’s happened to my brother!”

“Well, what we told you was a portion of the truth,” admitted Big Mac. “No one’s seen him since you were killed. Rumor has it that he went north in a depression, and may have joined with King Sombra. One thing’s for sure, though,” he continued, “anyone who has seen him with any certainty hasn’t lived to tell the tale. He tends to kill anyone who gets close enough to identify him.”

I stared openmouthed. “My brother? My Shining Armor?” I shook my head. “It can’t be true. He was never a killer…”

“With Cadence gone, and you dead, there was no one to help him,” Cheerilee continued sadly. “I think something snapped inside him.” She looked over at me, uncomfortable and eager to change the subject. “You said you wanted to ask about other people?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer to my next question, but I had to ask. “You already told me what happened to my brother. Do you know what happened to Princess Celestia?”

Cheerilee’s face fell, and Big Mac bit his lip. “We were afraid of that,” he rumbled.

“We didn’t want to disappoint you,” Cheerilee pleaded.

“What. Happened,” I demanded through gritted teeth.

Big Mac paused before answering. “She’s the ruler of Camelot,” he said quickly, as if speed would make the subject go by faster. I shot him a questioning glance, and he continued. “She’s joined with Discord, much like her sister, and guards the element of Honesty.”

“What?” demanded Pinkie Pie.

“We think that Discord brainwashed her,” Cheerilee explained. “It’s the only explanation that we can think of. She’s completely subservient to him and guards the element under his orders.”

“We’re gonna have to fight Princess Celestia,” groaned Applejack, mortified. “How’re we gonna do that?”

“Maybe we can reason with her?” asked Fluttershy. “We might be able to convince her to give us the element if she realizes it’s us.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Big Mac replied, shaking his head. “But I suppose it’s worth a try.”

I was silent for a minute, thinking. “What’s on your mind, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

“That settles it,” I said. “We’re going north next, to the Crystal Empire. I need to know what’s happened to my brother.”

“Remember, he’s not the brother you used to know,” pointed out Applejack.

“I know that,” I replied. “But he’s still my family. You know how it is with family.”

She looked at me for a minute, then nodded. Turning to the others suddenly, she said, “You know with all that’s gone on, we never checked on your families. D’you know anything about them here?”

“Oh, I already know where my family is,” Pinkie Pie said brightly. “They’re at the north end of the cemetery. I found their spot the first week we were here.”

Taken aback at her frankness, Applejack and I sat there openmouthed. Shaking myself, I turned to Fluttershy, who had been silent. “How about you, Fluttershy? Did you want to check up on your family?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not especially,” she replied, a flat expression on her face. “I expect that dad would still be disappointed in me, and mom would be drunk.” Seeing our disbelieving faces, she continued. “They disowned me long ago, when I failed flight camp and got an ‘inferior’ cutie mark. Not that mom ever noticed me anyway, or did much of anything that dad didn’t want.”

“Ah’m sorry about that, Sugarcube,” apologized Applejack. “Ah never –“

Fluttershy shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I never told any of you.” She turned back to me, and asked, “Well, Twilight? What’s the plan for getting there?”

I gaped at her. “W-well, I guess we rest for a while before heading north.” I turned to Big Mac and Cheerilee. “How long do you think it’ll take us to get there?”

“Well, if you can get the old train moving again, it’ll be about a day’s ride north,” replied Big Mac. “Otherwise, it’s at least a few weeks on foot.”

“Where’s the train?” I asked.

“Day and a half’s walk to the northeast,” he indicated, pulling out the map of the area. He indicated a point a ways in the northeast, on a line that I had originally taken to be a river. “It’s been at least a year since it ran,” he warned. “Might not work too well.”

“Well, if it’ll save us the time, we’ll give it a go,” Applejack stated confidently.

“What can you tell us about the Crystal Empire?” I asked suspiciously.

“Honestly, there’s not much to tell,” Cheerilee replied. “It’s always been a secretive country, and especially so since King Sombra was resurrected.”

I looked her in the eyes for a long while, but nothing further was forthcoming. I dropped my gaze and nodded. “All right.” I pushed myself up, standing. “We’ll rest for a while. We all need to recover from our last ordeal, so we’ll give it at least a week before we start off again. Our first goal will be the train. If we can get it running, great. If we can’t, it’ll be a long walk. Applejack, I’ll be counting on your mechanical know-how to get it working.” She nodded in response, determined. “Good. After we get to the Crystal Empire, we’ll have to reassess the situation. Remember, we’re looking for two elements this time.”

With that, we all stood and started to go our separate ways. Applejack pulled me aside before I could go far, and handed me something. Looking down, I saw the chains that she had taken from the Changeling Queen; one had the element of Generosity and the other had Rarity’s crystal.

“Ah thought you should hang on to these,” she said.

I looked down at the element, staring into the crystal diamond, a pang of grief welling up within me. As I stared, I noticed a small shimmer of light deep within the diamond, much as I had with the element of Loyalty, and bent my head to look closer. There was a shimmering there, but it faded before I could inspect it too closely. Disappointed, I looked up at Applejack. “Thanks,” I said, closing my fingers around the items. Ignoring the look of curiosity she threw my way, I headed back towards my room to store the element with its companion.

Comments

[DX-1118 C]

Saw that commin.