Three pegasi landed on a particular block of a dusty back street in Mexicolt. They each wore sunglasses and carried saddlebags that covered their cutie marks.
The few locals within sight began to vacate the street and shut their windows.
Rainbow Dash noticed this, but was more focused on her objective. The three of them opened their saddlebags.
Spitfire and Soarin’ were her teammates for this op. They were good together, experienced in special operations, opposites that filled opposite roles: female and male, yellow and blue, light and heavy. They each took out compact crossbows and fitted bolts.
And then there was Rainbow herself, the finest pointmare the world had ever seen. Nopony was faster, nopony had better hoof-eye coordination, nopony was more awesome.
She took out her own weapon, a slingshot that looked far too nice to be a child’s toy, because it wasn’t.
In her grip, it began to glow. The shimmering magic spread up over her foreleg and briefly surrounded her entire body in ribbons of multicolored light. When the transformation dissipated, it left behind a sleek tactical outfit.
Rainbow felt taller, stronger. Powerful. To ponies’ eyes and to cameras, she looked it, too.
Soarin’ shook his head. “No matter how many times I see you do that, it’s still weird.”
“The glamour magic messes with your mind,” said Rainbow. “You just watched me transform, but your brain tells you that you don’t recognize me.”
She hefted her weapon. As with her body, the slingshot had received an upgrade in the transformation, turning into a finely engraved automatic crossbow with a spring-loaded revolving magazine. It was strapped to her right foreleg. With her other hoof, she held a clipped-point fighting knife. Rainbow didn’t know where it had come from; it was just part of the outfit, which was was part of the Element item’s magic.
With nods of readiness from Spitfire and Soarin’, Rainbow slammed the knife into the doorjamb and tore the lock out of the door. Tossing it open, she flew in.
The three of them swept the first floor of the building. Rainbow reminded herself not to outrun her cover. The other two protected the flanks of their formation, letting her concentrate on whatever was in front. The three of them kept off the floor, eliminating hoofsteps and avoiding any pressure plates.
Finding nothing and nopony in response to their entry, the group moved upstairs. They nearly ran into a stallion armed with a sword, but Rainbow put a bolt through his face before he even had time to feel surprise.
It seemed that they were on the right track. Soarin’ let the body down slowly, so it didn’t thud to the floor. In the silence, they heard low voices coming from the other side of the door the guard had stood by.
Rainbow tore it off its hinges and blazed in, her crossbow spitting steel. There were a dozen ponies in the room, all armed. They had been in the middle of a discussion of some kind. Packages of white powder, weapons, and other contraband filled out the room.
Spitfire and Soarin’ added their attacks to the sides of Rainbow’s main thrust. The loudest sound were bolts hitting bodies and lungs being emptied involuntarily.
It was over in fractions of seconds. Rainbow paused, hovering over the scene and trying to decide where to land. Blood was already beginning to run, as hearts that had not already stopped pumped their last. She looked up, glancing through the back door of the room at one more pony caught unaware who stood frozen by the carnage.
Rainbow fired at him, but he was already in motion by the time her crossbow was level and it only shattered his hip. He screamed but kept moving despite the pain, stumbling out the window and beginning to desperately fly away.
Rainbow sighed in annoyance. She walked into the back room and over to the window. In a flash of magic, her automatic crossbow transformed into a longbow taller than her. She drew it back casually and loosed an arrow that went straight through the escapee from flank to front. He fell onto a nearby roof.
That done, she turned to examine the rest of the back room. Spitfire and Soarin’ came in. The three of them stood looking at a sigil painted in blood that stretched the entire length of the wall.
“Well,” said Rainbow, “I’ve never seen that one before.”
The morning sun warmed up the land and the trees began to respond. Applejack stood on her front porch, drinking a mug of mulled cider. It was going to be a good day. There was no pressing farm work, so she resolved to take a walk in the woods.
Applejack walked back into the house, making sure it was in order before she left. There wasn’t much to do, as it was already clean, but it would be a mite rude if she died out there somewhere and left a dirty house behind. After washing her mug and setting it to dry, she went to say goodbye to her family.
The headstones were clustered in a shady grove near the house, perfectly landscaped and free of any lichen or weathering. Applejack paused there on her way to the forest.
“It’s been a little while,” she said. “Well, a couple of days since we talked last, if I’m bein’ honest. There’s nothin’ much goin’ on. The south orchard is growin’ up real nice this year. I’m thinkin’ we might need the harvest a little early, even.”
There was no response, but she went on. “I saw Scootaloo the other day, AB. Didn’t talk to her, she seemed busy. She’s still ridin’ that scooter. Cheerilee still teaches up at the school. Lots of ponies back to what they were doin’ before. Really, not much has changed since y’all left.”
The conversation seemed like it was at a natural resting point. “Well, I better be gettin’ on,” said Applejack. “Take care, now.”
She didn’t find anything strange about talking to them. They were still her family, after all, and she loved them.
Applejack headed for the Everfree. The forest had always held a reputation as a place where nopony went voluntarily. It was a place that was just wrong. Things didn’t work like they should. It was a place where the old maps said here be monsters. They didn’t put that on maps anymore; it was now just implied.
She paused at the treeline, already able to feel the tinges of darkness in the air, as if it was a fog or mist. Applejack took out her Element, which took the form of a practical folding knife, and opened the blade.
She had never paused to consider that hooves shouldn’t have been able to manipulate the small parts of such an item. Applejack was good with her hooves, sure, but it didn’t seem designed for that. Not that it mattered. Whether the knife was made for a unicorn, it was hers now and Applejack didn’t question how it worked. She didn’t question a lot of things, and liked it better that way.
As the blade clicked open, the magic washed over her. Her transformed outfit was maybe a little flashier than Applejack herself would have picked, but she appreciated the practical nature of the fabric and armor. The knife transformed into a scythe taller than she was. Again, maybe not what she would have picked, but at least she knew how to use it.
She walked into the forest. The environment here was different. Some would say even the trees themselves were dangerous. Well, they were. But one just had to know them, and Applejack did. She probably knew trees better than she knew ponies. Plus, trees offered a few advantages over ponies.
She touched her hoof to a particularly straight and tall oak and stepped inside. There wasn’t a door or anything, but why should that matter? Doors were made of wood. It made sense to Applejack.
She stepped out of a pine a hundred paces away. The softwoods were a little more tricky, but Applejack had a lot of practice. She glanced around, and then continued her movement, walking at an easy pace, but covering a lot of ground and stopping each time to scan the area. It wasn’t long before she found what she was looking for.
Despite the sun being up, a bearlike creature the size of a locomotive grazed quietly in a berry patch, chewing up entire bushes. Its body was nebulous and dappled as if a starry night sky. Applejack surveyed the area, to ensure that it was alone.
This was an ursa minor. Applejack didn’t see its parents anywhere, so it must have just graduated to adulthood. Ursas were not inherently creatures of evil, but so many of them had been enlisted by Nightmare Moon’s forces of darkness that they might as well have been. If nothing else, they were threats to Harmony because of how easy they were to manipulate into violence.
Applejack walked forward. “Hello there, little feller.”
Seeing her approach, the ursa immediately stood up on its hind legs, raising its clawed forelegs. Was it trying to make itself look bigger? It was already big enough, and that still hadn’t phased Applejack.
She stepped sideways into a tree, confusing the ursa, who took a step towards where it had last seen her. That cleared Applejack to emerge from a tree behind it and perform a surprise slice to the tendons on the back of one of its legs.
The ursa roared in pain, even as it began to topple over. As its leg collapsed, rolling its body sideways, Applejack flicked her scythe upwards, making a clean and complete slice through its neck.
“Nothin’ personal,” said Applejack to the creature’s empty eyes. “It’s just how life is.”
The other high schoolers were starting to give Twilight looks as she continued to gallop on the treadmill. That was probably a good indication that she was getting close to the half hour limit for equipment use imposed by the school gym.
Twilight slowed down, glancing at the clock. She’d timed her cooldown perfectly and stepped off just as her time limit was up. The other students didn’t seem to appreciate this, but she hadn’t exceeded the limit. Rules were rules. At least some of them seemed to notice that she got full use out of her workout time.
Strictly speaking, the Elements made their wielders better in every physical respect than normal ponies. It was part of the job. But still, Twilight trained, even though she was retired. It had become a habit. Working out was also a good way to to keep herself occupied. But most important...Twilight was terrified of being weak again.
It was a contradiction and she knew it. Why have the power if she refused to use it?
Twilight headed for the showers to wash off the heavy lather she’d sweat. As she opened her locker, there was a snap and something hit her from behind.
Twilight whirled, drawing back her hoof. Behind her was Lyra, holding a towel. She chuckled. “Wow, sorry, Twi, if I’d known you’d react like that I wouldn’t have done it. You look like you were going to kill me.”
If Lyra knew how close to the truth she was, she wouldn’t have been laughing.
“I took some aikido once,” said Twilight, turning away for the showers.
“Whoa, that’s really cool,” said Lyra, tagging along. “Can you teach me?”
“I was never really good at defensive fighting.”
“I saw you running, so are you practicing to run away?”
“Sometimes,” Twilight replied after consideration.
“Well, it’s really doing wonders for your flanks.”
Twilight looked at Lyra, who was still grinning. She sighed and got on with showering.
Back in the classroom later, Twilight encountered Moon Dancer. She looked up as Twilight sat down and smiled.
Moon Dancer was doing the crossword. Twilight glanced at it. “Seventeen across: an instrument of pirate persuasion: cutlass.”
“That fits,” Moon Dancer agreed. She started to write it down, but the point of her quill broke. She looked at it glumly. There wasn’t enough left to resharpen. She looked at Twilight. “Can I borrow something to write with? I’ll need it for class, too.”
“I switched to pens, but you can borrow one,” said Twilight. She opened her school bag, revealing three pens, all neatly arranged in loops inside her bag. She plucked one out, a black ballpoint, and offered it.
Moon Dancer took it, but was distracted by the third pen in the row. “That’s a really nice one. Where did you get it?”
“Th-” Twilight closed her bag. She shook her head. “Sorry, that’s personal.”
“If you have such a nice pen, why don’t you use it? I bet the calligraphy would be beautiful.”
“Same answer.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask you anything uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine,” said Twilight. She turned suddenly. “Speaking of uncomfortable, is Lyra into me?”
Moon Dancer blushed. “She didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“Well, I hope not,” said Twilight.
“Would your parents not approve?”
Twilight’s heart sped up. She’d already lied that Cadance was her sister. But there wasn’t really any lying away why she lived in an apartment of her own, if that topic were ever to come up in the future.
Out with it, then. “My parents were both killed in the Nightmare War.”
Moon Dancer covered her mouth with her hoof. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. I didn’t think. I...don’t know anypony in this neighborhood that was affected.”
“Well, now you do.”
Moon Dancer composed herself. “Twilight, if you ever need anything, or just somepony to talk to, I want to be there for you.”
“Thank you.” What else could Twilight say?
At the end of the school day, Twilight walked back to her apartment. As she passed a hedge, a voice whispered, “Hey Twilight!”
She turned to find a small, scaly face framed by the leaves of the bush. “Spike! What are you doing here?”
Though most of his body was currently concealed, Twilight remembered him perfectly. Spike was a jolly round-bodied spirit of magic who resembled a cute lizard. He may have been closer to a dragon in shape, but was far too small and jovial for the comparison. No one seemed to know where he came from, including Spike himself, but Princess Celestia had introduced him to the Elements and he’d been a valuable support asset, able to act as a messenger, spy, and all-around helper.
“Did Cadance ask you to come talk to me?” Twilight said accusingly. “I know she wants me back in the group.”
“Nope,” said Spike.
Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “You were never a good liar.”
“I’m not lying,” Spike protested.
“Maybe...” Twilight cocked her head. “So who did put you up to it?”
Spike’s mouth twitched and he sighed. “Princess Celestia.”
He came out of the hedge, hovering in front of her on his small wings. “But this is for a good cause, I promise.”
“Aren’t they all?” said Twilight. “Why would anypony do anything for a bad cause?”
“Do you want to hear what the Princess has to say?”
“Is it any different than what Cadance had to say?” Twilight asked skeptically.
“Are you going to give the Princess’ word any more weight than your sister in law’s?”
Twilight’s lips curled. “When did you get so sharp-tongued?”
Spike blushed. “I’ve been doing a lot of work with Rarity.”
Twilight paused. “Wait, I thought she was also out of the group.”
“She is. But she still connects with me. She uses my perspective to self-model.”
“Are you kidding me?” Twilight said. She shook her head. “This is what you came to tell me? That the group needs me because everypony else is too busy so it’s okay to take me away from high school again?”
“Fluttershy is going to school, too. This doesn’t have to be either-or.”
“At school, they want me to join the band or library club. You want me to kill things.”
“Your country and your ponies need you to protect them,” said Spike. “If you have that power, can your conscience handle turning away from those in need?”
Twilight stared at him. “Are you connected to Celestia right now?”
Spike suddenly looked guilty.
“I have protected Equestria,” said Twilight, speaking to Spike, but also speaking through him. “I know too many ponies who have died protecting Equestria. What did the other ninety nine percent of citizens do? Why can’t I have a normal life like them?”
“Princess Celestia wants you to come to the castle,” said Spike, his eyes turned to the side as if listening to somepony. “She wants to talk to you.”
“She can come to me,” said Twilight. “But I’ll tell her the same thing to her face.”
She turned and walked away.
“Y-you wanted to see me, Princess?” Twilight asked. She’d been escorted upstairs by a pair of guards. What could Princess Celestia want with a student?
To be fair, Twilight wasn’t just a student. She was the top student of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Twilight had seen the Princess around, of course, but had never received a personal invitation to her office.
Celestia’s office was just about as Twilight had always pictured it: large, bright, welcoming. That didn’t mean she wasn’t fascinated by the sight of the place the moment she saw it with her own eyes.
“Please, sit down,” said Celestia, gesturing to a chair. Twilight did so, her trepidation still spiking.
Celestia sat down across the desk from her. She clasped her hooves in front of her mouth for a moment before speaking. “I have a problem.”
“Can I help?” Twilight asked immediately.
“That’s why I’ve brought you here. Are you familiar with the Mare in the Moon?”
“Of course,” said Twilight. “I think everypony knows that old pony tale.”
“She isn’t an old pony tale.” Celestia placed a heavy, old book on the desk. On one page, there was an intricate, golden bookmark intricately engraved with the Princesses’s cutie mark. She opened the book and slid it across the desk.
Twilight looked at the old pages and read aloud. “A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony, and imprisoned in the moon. On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal.”
She looked at the date notation. She looked up at Princess Celestia. In a tiny voice, she said, “That’s...next week during the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“You are correct,” Celestia said. “However, the Elements of Harmony worked before, and can work again.”
“But what are they?” Twilight asked.
“Let me show you.” Celestia got up from her desk, walking to an open space in her office. Her crown began to glow, a shimmer of magic that spread down her body. Twilight’s mouth dropped open at the mare who now stood before her. Her wings and body were armored with red and gilt plates. Her mane and tail were not hair, but fire. She was powerful and beautiful, but difficult to look at, as if staring at the sun.
“Who-” Twilight said.
“It’s still me,” said Celestia. “This is the power of the Elements. I am the Element of the Sun. You, Twilight, will be the Element of Magic.”
“Do-do I get a choice?”
Celestia smiled. “Magic is your special talent, is it not? Would you choose something else?”
“I suppose not,” Twilight replied after a moment of consideration.
“You can choose your Element item, though,” said Celestia, walking closer. “Something to keep near you, an avatar of the power of the Elements.”
“Something to keep near me,” Twilight said, thinking. “I think I would like something mundane, something nopony would think was out of place. How about...a pen? It’s practical, and being newer technology it will be awhile before it’s obsolete.”
“Very well.” Celestia knelt to Twilight. “Give me your hoof.” Celestia closed her eyes in concentration. Her crown glowed with magic that Twilight could feel, though it was unlike any she had ever experienced before. A ball of light coalesced in the air between the two of them. Celestia poured more magic into the spell. An object began to materialize, slowly building into an ornate fountain pen. It dropped into Twilight’s outstretched hoof.
Celestia opened her eyes. She smiled. “Why don’t you try it out? I choose the Element, you choose the object. The magic chooses what happens next.”
Twilight gulped. She, too, took a few steps to an open area of the floor. Holding the pen in front of her, she uncapped it.
Nothing happened.
“You have to will it,” Celestia advised, concealing a smile. “Otherwise, how would you write with the pen?”
That made sense. Twilight capped the pen again, took a deep breath to focus herself, and then repeated the process.
The magic hit her, literally lifting her hooves from the floor, though it wasn’t unpleasant. Twilight could almost feel her body changing shape. Clothes that hadn’t been there before appeared, a white blouse and green skirt surprisingly well matched with utility pouches. The cap of the pen lengthened into a sheath belted onto her side. The fountain pen became a sword, thicker than a rapier, but with unbelievable intricacy about the handle and blade. No hooves could have made such a thing, and they hadn’t, because it was magic.
“This is amazing!” Twilight gushed. Reality hit her. “But-but I don’t know how to use any of this!”
“It’s very personal to you,” Celestia assured her, coming over. They embraced. “Some of it is instinctive, some of it is learned. I know you’ll figure it out, and surpass what you or anypony thought possible.”
The scene was rather rudely interrupted by Twilight’s alarm clock going off.
She sat up in bed. Unlike the previous nights, she hadn’t woken with memories of painful sadness or ache of loss. Today, she was angry.
At no point had Celestia even asked if Twilight wanted to become an Element.