//------------------------------//
// Gathering 
// Story: Elements of Redemption 
// by Draxonos135 
//------------------------------//

It was a calm day in the realm of Equestria, where Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship, walked in on her fellow princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, looking at a hexagonal gem resting on the table.

"Oh, greetings, Twilight," Celestia greeted as soon as she and the other princesses noticed her. "You arrived just in time."

"For what, exactly?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head.

Twilight walked up to

"This is a hexagonal gem that was created in the space between Equestria and the alternate universe puplated by those bipedal counterparts of ours."

"I think they're called "humans," princess," Twilight remarked. "And besides, how did you even manage to get this thing?"

Suddenly, Discord appeared.

"Who has a pair of fingers, and is the answer you're looking for?"

Discord snapped his fingers, and his head transformed into a glowing neon sign reading "This guy!" in bold letters.

"Right, I guess it's not out of the question that you could head to the space between the worlds no problem," Twilight shrugged. "Now, do you know why you had to retrieve this thing?"

Discord's head turned back to normal with a poof.

"I'm afraid I'm just as lost as you are, Twilight. Celestia gave me an order, and knowing not to mess with her too much, I did it without asking any questions."

Discord threw a glance at Celestia.

"However, perhaps the princess wouldn't mind telling you about it?"

Twilight turned back to Princess Celestia, who briefly explained.

"We needed to gather this device, because if we can manage to power it with our magic, we can use it as a communication device between Equestria and the other world."

Twilight, however, wasn't fully convinced.

"Is that really necessary? I mean, we can just wait for Sunset Shimmer to jump out of the portal and inform us about it. Or maybe we could also wait for her to use her journal, that can alert us too, right?"

Cadence shook her head.

"That would put a bit too much pressure on Sunset, Twilight: You're saying that, alongside adapting to a new world, she also has to keep us informed of any magical happenings in that dimension. Don't you think that's a bit much for one pony."

"Right, I see where you're coming from..." 

Twilight glanced at the gem again.

"But is this particular object really necessary?"

"It's most certainly necessary."

Celestia smiled.

"After all, something big is going to happen in the alternate world."

Twilight's eyes widened at the statement.

"What's going to happen?!"





In the alternate world, a shadowy figure stood on a rooftop, looking at the city in search for a certain group of people.

One of which, Flash Sentry, was found at the park, playing his guitar.

A perfect start, if the being could say so himself.

So, he spread his bat-like wings and flew past Flash at high speed, getting his attention.

But what also caught his attention was that his guitar had suddenly vanished.

And the why became clear once he turned and looked at the winged figure's arm: he was holding it.

Not willing to let his instrument leave his hands, Flash stood up and chased after the figure, who flew away into another part of the city.

On this side of the city, Vignette Valencia almost took a selfie with her phone, before the figure flew past her and snatched it, causing her to give chase.

Soon after, in a nearby store, Juniper Montage came out of a technology store holding a new camera.

A camera that the figure promptly snatched, prompting her to give chase.

In yet another part of the city, Wallflower Blush was watering the plants at the entrance of Canterlot High School, before the figure flew by and snatched the flowers.

Not the watering can, the flowers themselves.

Obviously, Wallflower gave chase.

Finally, in what looked like a forest, Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce were setting up a picnic table, until you-know-who came and snatched the most important thing of any picnic table ever.

The picnic basket.

Three guesses as to what they did next.





With the items stolen, the figure landed at a large rock in the middle of the forest and put the items on the ground, before he looked at the rock.

For the most part, it looked like an ordinary rock, except in the center it had a spiraling pattern, ending in five circled objects, their placement forming the shape of a star.

He heard the group coming soon afterwards, bringing a smile to his face as he vanished, just in time for everyone to arrive through the bushes.

The first one to react to the others was Juniper, surprisingly enough, who chirped up upon seeing Vignette Valencia.

"Vignette!"

As soon as Vignette heard her voice and looked at her, however, she sneered.

"You?!"

Juniper flinched and backed away with a nervous smile and wave.

Now was Flash's turn to be surprised.

"Counselor Gloriosa?"

Daisy winced.

"Oh, Flash Sentry! I didn't expect one of my former campers to be here."

Just as Timber tried to explain his and his sister's presence, a blue glowing light was seen from afar, as a peculiar, magical sound of unknown nature was heard.

Naturally, the group followed the path where the glow was seen, making sure to grab their objects as they walked.

Once at the spot of the glow, they found the source to be a large rock, sitting in the middle of a path, with a pentagonal design that was connected to five circled images: A phone, a mirror, a necklace with a gemstone, the memory stone, and a shield with a thunderbolt symbol inside.

"Is this the thing that reacted to my full name?" Flash inquired.

"Only one way to find out man," Timber Spruce replied. "Flash Sentry."

The pentagonal figure glew and the line connecting to the shield glew until it spread to the circle, causing it to shine for a moment before the light vanished.

"Hmm, okay," Flash scratched his chin. "Saying my name causes it to glow and spread to the image of the shield..."

"Wallflower Blush."

The team turned and saw Wallflower crouching down next to the image of the memory stone, which glew soon after.

"I knew this image seemed familiar," Wallflower spoke as the rest walked to her side. "It resembles the stone I used to disrupt everyone's memories a long time ago."

"Whoa, you messed with the memories of people once?" Flash folded his arms and glared. "Not cool."

"I found the thing buried near the school, I used it to try make myself more memorable, and eventually I got so angry I used it without thinking," Wallflower responded, rolling her eyes. "Nobody thinks straight when they're angry!"

Gloriosa, Vignette, and Juniper exchanged looks before they nodded in agreement.

"Well, one thing's clear," Flash turned back to the rock. "This thing reacts to our names."

"And it seems to have some connection to magic, too," Wallflower spoke as she stood up.

The group exchanged looks, nodded with determination, and outside of Timber, they said their names to the stone.

"Wallflower Blush."

"Juniper Montage."

"Vignette Valencia."

"Flash Sentry."

"Gloriosa Daisy."

"Donkey!"

The team turned around and saw a talking donkey nearby, looking particularly proud of himself.

Then, once he noticed the team looking at him, he quickly made haste and left.

"Okay, we all saw that, right?" Vignette inquired.

"Yeah, but it's probably not important," Wallflower said.

"A talking donkey's fairly average compared to the other strange stuff magic's done," Flash remarked, before he felt an intense glow coming from the stone. "Like what's about to happen!"

The rest of the team closed their eyes and blocked them as the rock's symbols glew, and then each of the circled images conjoined to form a message, one that was thankfully not as bright as the last light.

Now being able to see, Flash walked forward and read the message as the girls walked up to him, listening.

"Karma, Guilt, Reflection, Communication, Purification.
These are the current Elements of Redemption.
The stepping stones for all of creation.
To rid themselves of ill intentions."

Though ominous, the team couldn't figure out what exactly the message actually meant, or if it even meant anything other than a cryptic statement.

Then the message glew as it rewrote itself:

"Flash Sentry, Wallflower Blush, Juniper Montage, Vignette Valencia, Gloriosa Daisy... you are the new elements of redemption."

Before anybody could react with appropriate shock, the message shot a beam of light at the group, sending all but Timber Spruce elsewhere as the donkey from before returned, flashing a satisfied smile...