A smile spread across the unicorns face as she stared into her marefriends eyes.
"Do you think I was too harsh on him Belle?" Scootaloo asked softly
"Maybe just a little. Though he does look cute in that suit." Sweetie Belle replied with a giggle.
"Maybe I should talk to him..." Sweetie Belle snuggled close to her, sending a chill up her spine.
"We'll talk to him together...also...um...scoots...theres somethin I wanted to tell you..." Sweetie Belle blushed, turning her head away.
"Belle...is everything alright?" Scootaloo asked worridly, wrapping her hooves around Sweetie Belle.
"well yea...but..." Sweetie Belle surprised her by kissing her passionately, making the pegasus moan.
"I'm pregnant..." she said softly as she pulled away from the pegasus.
"wh...huh...how?! what...you mean...we didn't...did we?" Sweetie Belle nodded, rolling over in the bed to reach into the bedside drawer. A few pictures were lifted up in her magic and set in front of Scootaloo.
"That party Pinkie threw...we were so drunk we didn't even realize it, but Pinkie took these pictures..." Scootaloo looked at the pictures, noticing something strange about them.
"um...i'm..."
"yea...As it turns out...my magic went a little screwy when I was drunk and well...you were a colt for the night and things went from there..."
"so...we're having another foal?!" Sweetie Belle nodded, gasping as Scootaloo hugged her tightly.
"A little unicorn filly..." Sweetie Belle said as she snuggled close to Scootaloo. Scootaloo chuckled and kissed the unicorns forehead.
"So i'll have Piper to teach and you'll have a cute little unicorn." Sweetie Belle nodded and sighed happily.
The silence seemed to drag on forever as they followed Twilight. Spike cleared his throat, dragging the Alicorn from her thoughts.
"Sorry Spike..." Twilight took a deep breath and sat down in front of them.
"We have a problem." she said after gathering her thoughts.
"Problem?" Rarity asked. Spike took a seat, wondering what kind of problem it could be. Twilight had been known to over-exaggerate things after all.
"Yes...Discord's statue has vanished." they sat in silence, letting what Twilight had just said sink in. Rarity leapt to her hooves
"Well we have to do something Twilight!" Rarity yelled. Twilight raised a hoof to silence her.
"I know Rarity, but we don't want to cause a panic" Twilight said calmly
"Panic!? Twilight this is DISCORD! he took away our horns with a snap of his claws!" Rarity argued.
"Rarity, the statue has been missing for a few days now and we have seen no sign of Discord. When we first discovered it was gone we almost gathered the Elements. But realized this would only cause the ponies to panic and on top of that we have no idea where Discord might be hiding or why he is hiding."
"Isn't it obvious?" Spike asked from his seat near Rarity. The two ponies turned to him.
"If he is hiding its because he knows the Elements will just seal him away again." Spike explained. Twilight smiled a little.
"I miss having you around Spike. You've always been a voice of reason." The dragon nodded.
"Even so Twilight. What are we going to do?" Spike asked.
"Well...I want to gather the elements, but discreetly. Its one of the reasons I asked you to come here today, I am interested in Emeralds magical abilities, especially since she has two horns instead of one. I didn't want to bring this up but..."
"But Discord also has two horns and my magic is directly related to his." Spike finished. Rarity stared at him in shock and nearly fainted as she turned to Twilight.
"You think my daughter..." Rarity couldn't bring herself to finish, a jumble of noises pouring forth instead.
"No Rarity. I don't think she will be anything like Discord. Though I do want to have a look at her abilities." Twilight yawned.
"You alright Twilight?" Spike asked. She nodded slowly.
"Just a few sleepless nights. Luna and I have been trying to locate Discords Statue. We think that since he hasn't come back that somepony just took the statue. At least that's what we are hoping for. I wanted to wait until everypony was here but..." Twilight stood and walked over to a small box, opening it with her magic and lifting the Element of Magic out of the box. Rarity and Spike gasped looking at it. The Element had begun to turn into stone.
"Wh...what happened to it?" Rarity asked quietly.
"When Luna cast the Forbidden Spell to make me an Alicorn, my connection with the Element of Magic was lost. Well not lost, rather it was slowly pulling away from me. I was a part of the Element while I was a unicorn, but as an Alicorn i'm a different pony and am no longer bound to it as I once was. I fear that we will have to find somepony else to hold the Element of Magic, maybe even all of the Elements."
"And you believe that Emerald can take over the position as the holder of the Element of Magic?" Spike asked. Twilight smiled and gave a small nod.
"From what I hear she most certainly fits the job." Luna said as she entered the room. Spike and Rarity bowed their heads respectfully.
"It is good to see you again. I trust the ride here was pleasant?"
"It was Princess, Emerald rather enjoyed it i'm sure." Rarity said.
"I'm happy to hear it. Where is she now?" Luna asked, looking around the room.
"Amethyst and Emerald are with Nova. I didn't want them here for this." Twilight explained.
"They will find out eventually Twilight...I thought we talked about this." Luna sighed and shook her head.
"I'll send letters to the others." Spike said to break the tension in the air.
"Oh...um yes, please do Spike."
Applejack blinked as a letter fell to the ground in front of her.
"A letter from Spike? Ah wonder what he could want?" She unrolled the scroll and read over it, mumbling under her breath. She gasped, dropping the letter.
"Macintosh, get Pip and th' girls, we gotta high tail it to Canterlot! Pronto!" The stallion nodded, running towards the Apple family household with as much strength as his powerful legs could muster. Applejack tucked her hat down, ready to race off to Sugarcube corner.
She stopped, seeing the Pink mare she intended to alert was standing behind her along with Braeburn and Strawberry Swirl. The little zebra shook slightly as she stood there, her ears flopping back and forth.
"Ah guess ya'll were right Swirl, somethin is goin on 'round here." Braeburn said softly, looking at Applejack. The work pony nodded and showed Pinkie the letter.
"WHAT?!?! But how!? We beat that big meany already!"
"Now remember Pinkie, this has happened t' us before. Heck, we had to beat Nightmare Moon three times! Though t' be honest we didn't really do so well second time around...But thats not th' point Pinkie, we gotta get t' Canterlot and help Twi!" Pinkie Pie nodded
"Braesy, you stay here with strawberry and the fillies." She said, kissing his cheek.
"Sorry Pinks, but ah can't do that. I'm comin with ya."
"Braeburn..." Pinkie turned to face him. The two staring each other down and neither backing down.
"We don't have time for this!" Applejack yelled in frustration, pushing them both towards Sweet Apple Acres, Strawberry bouncing after them.
Pip spun at the sound of hooves rushing toward them. All it took was a nod from Big Macintosh for him to understand.
"Girls stay close to your Aunt Dash and Uncle Macintosh."
"Where are ya goin pa?" Hayseed asked. He smiled a little.
"Just to get some things i'll need. Be good and stay with your uncle and aunt." she nodded as did Penny. Pip nodded to Rainbow Dash and tore down the path to fetch his hoofblade. He had hoped he wouldn't have to use it again, but the look on Big Macintosh's face told him otherwise. He could faintly hear Applebloom calling him as he ran toward their house.
The yellow mare could only watch as her husband ran. Big Macintosh arrived at the steps, a bit out of breath.
"We gotta...git t' canterlot." He huffed. Rainbow nodded.
"Alright girls, roadtrip. Everyone in the cart!"
"YAY!" they cheered, jumping into a large cart. Rainbow strapped herself into it, surprised when Fluttershy did the same on the other side.
"Shy..."
"Dash, you know you can't carry all of them by yourself. Don't worry, I'll leave most of the work to you and I'll be careful. But we are in a bit of a hurry." Macintosh nodded and turned to Applebloom.
"Ah'm mighty sorry Bloom..." he said. She nodded in understanding. If they were needed now, then they wouldn't be here for the Zap Apple harvest. She shook her head.
"We'll figure it out Big Macintosh, we always do. Ya'll go on ahead t' canterlot. Ah can handle things from here and ah'll meet up with ya once everythin's ready." Macintosh turned to find Pinkie Pie and her family with Applejack.
"Alright, looks like we got everypony...wheres Pip?"
"Gone t git his sword no doubt." Macintosh mumbled so only Applejack and Pinkie heard him. Strawberry Swirl smiled as her eyes spotted the cart.
"WOO-HOO! Road trip!" she cheered, jumping in with the others.
"Everypony ready back there?!" Rainbow Dash called back to them.
"We're ready!" they all said together. Rainbow smiled at Applejack who winked at her.
"Ya'll go on ahead Dashie, me an Macintosh will catch up." Applejack said with a smile.
"Be careful Shy..." Macintosh said, nuzzling the pegasus. She smiled and gave him a small kiss.
"You too Mackie." they nodded and lowered their heads, buzzing their wings as they began to run, pulling the cart along with them.
Rainbow kicked off the ground, letting most of the carts weight rest on her, Fluttershy pushing her wings to help keep them in the air. Soon they were high in the sky, cruising just below the clouds. The fillies in the cart behind them giggled as they ran their hooves through the fluff of white above them.
"What do ya'll think we are goin t' canterlot for?" Penny asked. Strawberry put a hoof to her chin.
"Hmmmm, I dunno. Maybe we're gonna go fight dragons!"
"Dragons!?" Honeycrisp squeeked, hiding in her mane. Sunburst sighed, adjusting her glasses.
"Ah doubt they would send a bunch o' kids t' fight dragons."
"Y...Yea! That'd be crazy." Hayseed added, trying to hide her own fear of dragons.
"Ah wonder what it could be though. Th' zap apple harvest jus' started and we're runnin off t' canterlot. Somethin bad musta happened..." Sunburst put a hoof to her chin and closed her eyes. It didn't add up, why would their parents cart them off to canterlot so quickly?
"Somethin bad? Like what?" Honeycrisp asked.
"oh oh oh! maybe something exploded!"
"what if Canterlot exploded?!" Penny asked in shock.
"HEY! Calm down. We can't jus' jump t' conclusions everypony. Ah don't think anythin exploded and ah don't think we'd be goin to' Canterlot if it exploded. Most likely it has t' do with th' Elements." Sunburst was only guessing though. It was no secret that their parents were the famed Elements of Harmony. Though the Elements hadn't been needed in Equestria since sometime before they were all born.
"The Elements?" Strawberry Swirl asked, munching on a cupcake she had seemingly pulled out of the clouds.
"Yea. Did ya see my ma's face? Somethin's goin on...and ah don't like it."
Pinkie Pie watched as the cart left, sighing a little as she lowered her head. Braeburn gently nudged her side.
"I know Braesy...I had just hoped we would be done with it all. That we could just have our family and be happy."
"Pinks...we can be happy. Jus' cause th' princess needs ya doesn't mean that has t' change. Now c'mon cupcake, we need ya." She smiled a little and nodded, standing tall.
"Thanks Braesy" The pink party pony turned to her friends.
"Well, we got all th' buckets dropped and we've got maybe four days til th' harvest. Is there anypony we could get t' help ya Bloom?" Applejack asked. The mare only smiled and looked up at the clouds for a moment. She tucked her bottom lip in and let out a long loud whistle, followed by a quick shrill of a whistle.
"Help should be here soon. Ya'll don't have t' worry 'bout me." Applejack tilted her hat a bit, Applebloom doing the same with her black stetson. The orange workhorse turned to the ponies behind her and together they ran off toward Canterlot.
"Good luck..." Applebloom said with a quiet sigh.
Scootaloo's eyes snapped wide open as a shrill whistle broke the peaceful silence of her home. She recognized that whistle. It was the old crusader whistle. It sounded like it was Applebloom. Scootaloo flew to her hooves from the bed, Sweetie Belle quickly beside her. Before they could take off, another whistle reached their ears, a calm whistle. Scootaloo sighed in relief. While Applebloom did need them, there wasn't any danger.
"Maybe she needs help with the harvest." Sweetie Belle mused.
"But doesn't she have her entire family helping her? How could they need more help?" Scootaloo asked, relaxing a bit. She had been prepared for a fight just moments ago and the adrenaline was still pumping its way through her body. Sweetie Belle shrugged and sighed softly.
"Well, lets go see what she needs. I'll get Piper." Scootaloo nodded, gently kissing her cheek as she passed by her. Sweetie Belle smiled, gently knocking a hoof on Pipers door.
"Piper?" She called. She heard him mumble something and pushed the door open, finding him sulking in a corner with Rarity's new outfit scattered around the room. He sniffed loudly as he turned his head to look at her.
"Oh Piper..." She pulled him into a hug, letting the colt cry against her.
"She hates me...I know she does..." He mumbled into her coat. She sighed and kissed his forehead gently.
"Piper, she loves you more than anything in the world. You're why she signed up for the wonderbolts. Because she wanted to spoil you rotten and be able to buy you anything you wanted. She wanted you to be able to go to school and say 'my mom is a wonderbolt'. She doesn't hate you. She isn't even the tiniest bit mad at you."
"S...She isn't?" he sniffed, looking up at her. She smiled down at him.
"Nope. Not even a little. Come on, we're gonna go see Applebloom and maybe we'll be able to get some zap apples." he smiled, wiping away the last of his tears as he followed her out of his mess of a room. His smile faded as he spotted Scootaloo, lowering his head. Sweetie Belle nudged him gently and he looked up at the pegasus before him. She looked back with tears in her eyes, pulling him into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry I got mad...I'm sorry I let Rarity put you in that stupid suit...a...and I'm sorry I haven't been here..." He hugged back, burying his muzzle in her coat.
"I...Its ok mom...I had it comin anyway...I shouldn't have lied and I shoulda behaved..." they pulled away from one another, Sweetie Belle smiling at them as she lifted a camera in her magic.
"Smile!" she said, surprising both of them as she took a picture. The unicorn nodded proudly as she tucked away the new memory into a photo album. Scootaloo laughed a little and placed a wing over Piper, the other resting over Sweetie Belle.
"Come on, lets go see Applebloom."
The cart touched down on the castle grounds, guards quickly gathering around the ponies pulling the cart. They stopped themselves from drawing weapons as they realized the two pulling it were none other than the Elements of Kindness and Loyalty.
"We apologize for the rude welcome." A guard said through the group. The other guards shifted into ranks and stood at attention as the commander made his way to the cart.
"Things aren't as calm and peaceful as they could be and everypony is a bit jumpy as of late." he turned as he saw Big Macintosh charge through the gate, Applejack not far behind as well as Pip, dressed in his armor and his hoofblade strapped to his side.
"Commander, pleasure to see you again Sir. I thought you retired." Pip said to his old mentor. Chrome merely smiled.
"Ya never really retire from a job like this kid. You just slow down a bit more every year. Last I heard, you were in Ponyville taking care of that family of yours. What are ya doin here?" Pip tilted his head toward the cart, a group of young ponies poking their heads out to look around.
"Ah, I see. So which of em are yours?" Pip chuckled.
"That'd be the twins sir. Hayseed, Penny!" Pip called out, both mares zipping in front of him and giggling.
"Do you remember the stories I told you about the brave commander who fought to protect Princess Mia?" they both nodded and he pointed a hoof at Chrome Mist.
"Well here he is." They looked up at the old warrior and he cast a gentle glance down on them.
"Whoa..." they said together.
"So you've been tellin stories about me Pip? I think I recall that it was a certain young stallion in training who saved the princess that day. As well as my old hide."
"I may have changed the story just a tad bit, it was a better bedtime story that way."
"Well, I'll just have to tell them the real one later. Right now we have more serious matters to tend to." Chrome nodded to the guards and they quickly shifted into formation around the ponies.
"Princess Twilight is expecting you, lets not keep her waiting." Chrome said to them, leading the way through the castle. Rainbow and Fluttershy had since released themselves from the cart, the fillies gathering around them, staring in awe at Canterlot in all its beauty. Strawberry pouted a little and sighed.
"I thought momma woulda been here by now." She said, her ears flat against her head.
"Ah'm sure she's on her way, maybe she found somethin on th' way. We all know how yer ma is Swirl." Penny said with a giggle.
"Hey! My momma may be a little weird, but that doesn't mean you can just laugh at her like that!" Sunburst pushed her way inbetween the two ponies as they glared at one another.
"Fighting amongst ourselves isn't gonna solve anythin you two. Swirl, don't worry. You and Ah know your mom is the fastest earth pony in Equestria. She's th' only pony who can chase down mah mom for Celestia's sake. She'll be here." Sunburst said with a smile.
Strawberry nodded, bouncing a little as they entered the Throne room. There in front of them sat Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with a big grin on her face.
"Momma!" Strawberry pushed past the guards and practically tackled her mother, the pink earth pony giggling as she caught her daughter.
"Well hey there puddin'! Did ya have a fun trip?" The zebra nodded and looked around.
"Wheres dad?" she asked, pouting a little.
"He's here, just doin some stuff." Pinkie Pie winked and turned her smile toward Rainbow Dash.
"Thanks for giving her a ride Dashie." Pinkie said with a giggle. Rainbow Dash merely nodded, not at all surprised the mare had beaten them to Canterlot. The Elements of Harmony sat together, looking between one another and to their children. It had been a long time since they had all sat in a room together. Finally Twilight broke the silence.
"Thank you for coming everypony...I am afraid I have to be the bearer of bad news for you all today. I had hoped to leave the fillies out of this. But i have been otherwise convinced that they need to be here for this."
"Whats all this about Twi'?" Applejack asked, tipping her hat back a bit. Twilight sighed, a box hovering beside her, held in her magic. The box opened to reveal the Elements of Harmony. Each necklace rose into the air, followed by the crown. All they could do was stare, noticing each Element had begun to turn back into stone.
"I wish I could say that this is our only problem. But there is more. It seems our connection with the Elements has been broken as we have drifted from one another to live out our own lives. While our friendship is still strong, we are no longer the Elements of Harmony." Twiilght said grimly, turning to Luna for a moment as she heard Hayseed whimper. Luna nodded and Twilight took a calming breath as she continued.
"I have already begun searching for those who will be the new bearers of the Elements." The Element of Magic settled itself atop Emeralds head. It flashed bright white and changed, forming into a small necklace, a single emerald buried in its center.
"I have already found the Element of Magic. As you know, the Elements are bound to one another through bonds of Friendship."
"Let me just stop you right there Twilight. Why is this such an issue? We beat Nightmare Moon, we beat Discord and Chrysalis. Heck we even beat those heartless freaks. Do we even need the Elements anymore?" Rainbow Dash asked. Nyx was the one to answer as she entered the room, followed by Riku.
"Discords Statue has gone missing. We don't know when or if he will attack us." She explained, taking a seat near Twilight.
"There is also the matter of the Organization. I spotted a few of their scouts the other day. I can only assume they are planning to come after the Princess' and the bearers of the Elements as their hearts will be the strongest." Riku said softly.
"So its important that we find the new Elements and protect them." Celestia finished. Emerald gulped, touching the Element of magic with her claw. She turned to her parents and then to her brother. They all smiled at her, silently letting her know that they would protect her, no matter what. She took a deep breath and stood.
"They are right. The Elements have always been there to keep Balance and Peace in Equestria and without them everything will fall into chaos. While it may be risky we have to do whatever it takes to reconnect them." everypony was surprised by the young kirin's speech, but found themselves moved by it. The youngest of the room stepped forward, holding their heads high.
"Looks like we get to have an adventure" Penny said with a grin, holding out her hoof. Hayseed rested her hoof over her sisters, Sunburst adding in her hoof. Strawberry bounced in excitement, resting her hoof on the others.
"Just like our parents." She said, turning to Honeycrisp who nodded, placing her hoof on top of theirs. Emerald laid her claw over their hooves, surprised when Amethyst did the same.
"I'll protect you Emy, and all of the Elements." he said with a proud smile, a bit surprised when Nova placed her hoof over his claw.
"Can't forget me now can ya?" She said with a giggle. They all looked at one another and nodded.
"For Equestria."