Time seemed to slow for Prism, Foxglove, Beetroot, and Lorekeeper Tea Leaf as the Krxstiul leaped at them, fanged mouths and serrated pincers open wide. The shrieking cries of the invaders left the Ponyvilleans too disoriented to think or act; all they could do was wince at the sound and watch their doom approach.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Discord and Posey were standing between the Krxstiul and their prey. Discord was wearing an odd blue tunic with ripped shoulders and a white band tied around his head, holding a large bottle of bubble solution at his hip like a sword sheath. Posey was wearing a hairband with large blue flowers on it, and she quickly took shelter behind Discord once she saw what was in front of her.
Discord paid her no mind as he stoically stared down the Krxstiul, who were still in mid-leap. Quick as a blink, he drew a wand out of the bottle and slashed it through the air once, and the Krxstiul were each encased in giant, unbreakable soap bubbles. “Begone, monsters,” Discord said, returning the bubble wand to the bottle with dramatic slowness, “you don’t belong in this world.” The bubbles and the Krxstiul both disappeared, and Discord turned around and started to bow elegantly, but stopped when he saw Prism. “Oh, hello there, Rain-faux,” Discord said. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“What are you playing at, Discord?” Prism replied hotly.
“Saving your flanks, obviously,” Discord retorted. “You’re welcome.”
“And dragging Posey into danger while you’re at it?” Prism snapped.
“He’s not ‘dragging’ me,” Posey cut in before Discord could continue the verbal joust. “I’m here in case anypony needs convincing to let Discord teleport them to safety.” As Prism grumbled and settled his wings, Posey looked at Beetroot, Foxglove, and Lorekeeper Tea Leaf, asking, “Are you all ok?”
“We’re fine,” Beetroot answered, “thanks to your timely arrival. We’re on our way to City Hall to inform Princess Twilight about the Diamond Quarter’s condition.”
“Oh, right,” Prism said, pointing at Discord, “the Princess wants to see you too.”
Discord banished his costume and bubble bottle and looked around, shading his eyes with a paw. “Well,” he concluded, “I think we can safely spare a couple minutes without any creature being menaced by monsters. That’s five bound for City Hall, then?” Without waiting for an answer, he snapped and teleported the group away.
General Blueblood nearly jumped out of his skin when Prism suddenly appeared above the tactical map in a flash of light, and the pegasus barely managed to catch enough air to avoid crashing. Prism shot a dirty look at something behind the General before alighting next to Twilight and saluting. Blueblood turned around to see what had earned the pegasus’s ire and saw Discord, Posey, Foxglove, and a pair of Changelings. “Mission accomplished, Princess,” Prism reported. “And I found Discord too.”
“Good work, Prism,” Twilight said. She looked over at the group and her ears tilted forward in mild surprise. “Princess Beetroot,” she said, “I… honestly wasn’t expecting you to join us.”
“I’ll probably be more help here than in the Diamond Quarter, to be honest,” Beetroot said. “There have been a lot of cave-ins, but nobody’s seriously hurt. Every creature who was at your School made it out, but we’re not sure if it’s actually safe to let them leave the caverns.”
“Have the Krxstiul gotten into the caverns yet?” General Blueblood asked.
“The what?” Beetroot asked, and then looked to where the Krxstiul structures were visible above the nearby roofs. “Oh, is that what those monsters are called? I’ve seen them once, when we left the Diamond Quarter to come here. Discord got rid of them for us. There are weird roots digging through the ground and causing all the cave-ins, but no Krxstiul have shown up down there.”
Twilight conjured up a map of the Diamond Quarter and connected caverns and laid it over a part of the tactical map that was free of tokens. “Show me where the cave-ins are,” she instructed.
Beetroot and Tea Leaf went over to the map, conferred with the Hive for a minute, and then traced around parts of the map with their hooves. “Most of them are are here,” Beetroot concluded, “but the shocks have triggered smaller collapses all over the Quarter.”
Twilight frowned over the map. “As I thought,” she said, “the worst of it is right under the Krxstiul hive. Those roots are building foundations for the towers, and maybe more. You should tell your Changelings to move everyone out of the Quarter.”
“We won’t abandon our homes,” Tea Leaf protested.
Twilight was about to respond, but Beetroot waved her off and pulled the Lorekeeper aside for a private talk. Trusting the Changeling Princess to handle her own, Twilight turned her attention to her next target. “Discord, I’d like a word with you.”
Discord was in the process of donning a military dress jacket with a conspicuous gap in the row of medals pinned to the left breast, but paused mid-action and frowned at Twilight’s authoritative tone. “Yes?” he said in his best innocent tone.
Twilight glanced over at Citrine and gestured for her to approach with a wing. When the orange unicorn slumped over, Twilight glared up at Discord and asked, “Just what were you thinking, enabling Citrine to build a portal mirror?”
“I did no such thing!” Discord exclaimed, clutching his chest as if wounded. “Quite the opposite in fact; I explicitly told her I was not going to help her. Isn’t that right, Citrine?” He gave Citrine an accusatory look, and the unicorn nodded weakly.
Twilight was not convinced. “Care to explain how she got her hooves on a chaos catalyst for the gem array, then?” she asked. “The mirror Citrine made looked fully functional before the Krxstiul tore it apart, and she did manage to pierce the boundary of the universe, so there must have been a catalyst and you are the only being in all Equestria it could have come from.”
“Twilight,” Discord said, dead serious, “I swear on what honor I have that I did not give Citrine any part of myself and never gave her a chance to steal anything from my realm. I can’t explain how she got got a catalyst, but-”
“I used your tea,” Citrine cut in.
“What?” Twilight and Discord both asked, looking at her.
“Some of Discord’s ‘special’ tea blends are sold at The Tea Pot,” Citrine explained, her despondence fading away as she spoke. “They’ve got some chaos magic in them to produce their effects, so I bought a bunch and mushed them all together until I had a lump of tea leaves with enough chaos magic in it to serve as a catalyst.” She ginned for a second before wilting again under Twilight’s disapproving look.
“Huh,” Discord says, “that’s clever. Genius even.”
“Discord!” Twilight snapped.
“Yes, yes, it was in pursuit of very stupid plan,” Discord said dismissively, “but you still have to admit it was a very brilliant bit of problem-solving.” He crossed his arms and looked down his nose at Twilight. “Either way,” he said, “I think you owe me an apology.”
Twilight hesitated, but then cast her eyes down. “Right,” she said. “I’m sorry I accused you of being part of the problem, Discord.”
“Apology accepted,” Discord said. “now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get back to doing my part to save Ponyville.”
“Wait,” Twilight said before Discord could vanish, “I… I wanted to ask… Well, I was going to insist on your help, but you didn’t actually do anything wrong, so…”
“Twilight,” Discord said, “you know better than to rely on me to fix your problems for you. This is Citrine’s doing, so if anyone should fix it, it’s her.”
“Oh, believe me, Citrine is going to do everything she can,” Twilight said. “Just hear me out. The Krxstiul got here through the portal Citrine made, and Pesci’s told me that as long as that portal remains open, the Krxstiul here are just an extension of the hive in their home universe, so we’re basically fighting an army with endless resources. We have to close the portal to even stand a chance of getting rid of them, but the portal is in the middle of all this,” she tapped the mass of tokens on the map representing the spread of the Krxstiul. “Want I want to ask of you, Discord,” she continued, “is just to take me and Citrine to the portal’s location and keep the Krxstiul off of us until we can get the portal closed.”
“Oh,” Discord said sarcastically, “that’s different.”
“Please,” Twilight begged. “I can’t teleport there myself; I don’t know how much the room has changed. You’re the only one who can make this plan work.”
Discord tried to hold on to his annoyance, but Twilight’s pleading expression made it impossible. “I am going soft,” he sighed. “All right, fine, I’ll help. But I expect an official thank you for all my hard work. And a medal.”
Twilight gave him a warm, grateful smile. “I’ll work something out,” she said. “Stick close, Citrine,” she ordered, pulling the orange unicorn under her wing.
“I’m coming along,” Bella said, trotting over. “Who knows, you might need another horn for something.”
Before Twilight could protest, Foxglove approached as well, saying, “I’ve got your back, Citrine.” Posey and Prism were right behind her.
Citrine tried to wave her cousin off, saying, “I appreciate it, Foxy, but this going to be dangerous.”
“Nonsense,” Discord said, positioning himself in the middle of the group, “the more the merrier, never turn down a friend, that sort of thing.”
Twilight bristled at Discord's caviler attitude. Taking a deep, slow breath, she prepared to give the dragonequus a piece of her mind. “Dis-”
Wink
“-cord…” Twilight’s voice trailed off in a mixture of frustrated acceptance of the inevitable and a need to quickly assess the groups’ new situation. The first thing she noted was that along with her, her two students, Foxglove, Posey, and Prism, Discord had also brought along Beetroot. The second thing she noted was that they were still outdoors. “Where are we?” she asked.
“Not at all where I intended to go,” Discord answered, looking genuinely perplexed as he pulled a large roll-up map of Ponyville out of thin air and consulted it while rubbing his chin. Rather than wait on him, Twilight and the others looked around to get their bearings. They were outside of the city, within sight of the Everfree Forest, and uncomfortably close to the border of the Krxstiul hive, around which now hung a translucent barrier that swirled with grey-blue and yellow patches. Twilight could just make out a few Krxstiul drones pacing just inside the barrier, growling at the group outside but not making any move to cross the line. Everyone decided to back away from the barrier, just in case, except for Discord, who continued to stare at his map.
“What happened, Discord?” Twilight prompted.
“If I knew, I’d have said so,” Discord replied crossly. He vanished in a blink, and then returned a few seconds later looking even more cross. “I can’t get in there!” he exclaimed. “That shouldn’t be possible! I can do anything!”
“Maybe that barrier’s to blame,” Bella pointed out.
“Hmph,” Discord pouted. “No measly magic shield can block the Spirit of Chaos. Observe.” He walked up to the barrier, returning the snarls of Krxstiul on the other side, and then slashed his eagle claw across the barrier. There was a sharp crack and a sizzling sound, and Discord backpedaled quickly from the barrier, grasping his now blackened and smoking claw in his lion paw. “Ouch,” he said, his tone flatto downplay the pain he was clearly in.
“I think the barrier’s to blame,” Prism said, smirking.
“Oh, laugh all you want,” Discord grumbled, shaking his claw until it returned to normal, “but if you have any bright ideas on how we’re going supposed to get to Citrine’s portal now, I’d love to hear them.”
“Maybe we could have the Guard use a bunch of that magic-nulling gel of theirs,” Beetroot suggested, “to open a hole for Discord to teleport us through.”
“That assumes it’s a magic barrier,” Citrine pointed out.
“What else could it be if it’s not magic?” Bella asked, giving her compatriot a scandalized look.
“These things aren’t from our universe,” Citrine argued. “Maybe they’re using some power other than what we call magic.”
“Six are gathered. It is time.”
Citrine and Bella immediately dropped their argument to look at Twilight. “What was that, Princess?” Bella asked.
“That wasn’t me,” Twilight said, looking around in confusion. “Wait, look!” She pointed toward the Everfree Forest, and everyone turned to see. Something glowing was rising into the sky above the trees, and as the group watched it split into six parts that shot off in different directions over the horizon, each trailing a different color behind it.
“What in Equestria?” Prism wondered.
“The Elements of Harmony,” Twilight and Bella said in near unison. Student and teacher exchanged a significant look, and then Twilight’s gaze swept over the group. “Six are gathered,” she said wistfully.
“I count seven here,” Discord said with a cheeky wave.
Twilight gave him a flat look. “I’m not counting you,” she said, “for obvious reasons, and my time as Bearer has passed. That leaves six.”
A slow wave of comprehension rolled through the six in question, leaving Bella beaming like a filly at Hearth’s Warming, Citrine troubled, and the remainder struck dumb in a mixture of awe and disbelief. “P-princess Twilight,” Foxglove managed to stammer out, “are you implying that… that… The Elements of Harmony and us?!”
Twilight nodded solemnly. “Yes,” she said, “the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. It’s not my choice to make, but if it were, there’s not a single one of you I wouldn’t approve of being an Element Bearer.”
“Even me?” Citrine asked, “After I caused all this?”
“Yes, Citrine, even you,” Twilight said. “Being a Bearer doesn’t mean you never create… problems,” she gave the Krxstiul hive a dark look. “Celestia knows I caused more than a few problems myself. We can’t just look at the current situation, either. The responsibility of a Bearer doesn’t end after just one crisis. It’s long-term commitment. Life-long, for most…” She trailed off into a brief melancholy, but quickly shook it off and regarded the group, who had instinctively lined up in front of her. “I’ll admit,” she said, “that I’m largely going off a hunch here, but this timing can’t be a coincidence and I’m confident the power of the Elements will be more than a match for the Krxstiul. Still, if any of you don’t want to take on the task-”
“We’ll do it!” Bella and Citrine exclaimed.
Foxglove nodded and put a claw on Citrine’s shoulder. “I’ll always have my cousin’s back,” she said.
“Like heck I’d turn down a chance to follow in Rainbow Dash’s hoofsteps so closely!” Prism declared.
“It would be an honor,” Posey said. “I think Grandma ‘Shy would approve, too.”
Twilight put on her best Celestia smile and nodded along, keeping any slight misgivings about certain motivations to herself, until she got to Beetroot, who was frowning with a thousand-yard stare instead of chiming in. “Uh, Beetroot?” Twilight asked.
“Geh!” Beetroot startled, her eyes focusing on Twilight. “Er, sorry Princess Twilight,” she said, sheepish. “Tea Leaf is just really against the idea of me being a Bearer.”
Twilight sighed as the other five all gave the Changeling a variety of surprised or betrayed looks. “That’s fine,” Twilight said, “I’m sure we can find somepony else-”
Beetroot’s eyes widened and she waved a hoof frantically. “Whoa, whoa, I didn’t mean it like that!” she said. “I’m all for it. I still need to do something of great import, and this feels like the perfect fit. The Hive’s supporting me,” she finished, her voice dropping to a growl as her gaze slid away from Twilight, “so the Lorekeeper just needs to shut up and let me do this.”
“Uh… right,” Twilight said. “So you’re all on board?”
“Seems like it,” Bella said, watching as Beetroot finished her mental argument with a stomp. “Now what, though? It looked to me like the Elements all flew off to different places. Are we supposed to go hunt them down?”
Twilight glanced up to the sky and frowned. “I… guess so,” she said.
“But they could have landed anywhere!” Citrine said. “We don’t have the time to comb every inch of Equestria, let alone the whole world! There won’t be any Ponyville left by the time we get back!”
Discord mumbled something mostly unintelligible, but Twilight did make out the words “...could help.”
“Something you’d like to share, Discord?” Twilight asked.
Discord let out a long sigh that left him looking like a half-deflated balloon. “I can help,” he admitted. “I know, generally, where the Elements landed.”
“And how do you know that?” Prism asked.
Discord reinflated and gave the pegasus a long-suffering look. “I am the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony,” he said, “and while I am willingly submitting to the social rules of you Harmony-types, I’m still it’s polar opposite. Opposites attract, or something like that, therefore I can tell where in the world Harmony magic is at its strongest, and that is wherever the Elements are.”
“You’re making that up,” Prism accused.
“No, it makes sense,” Twilight said, “as far as ‘Discord’ and ‘sense’ can coexist. And time is of the essence. Would you mind speeding them along, Discord?”
Discord folded his arms and glowered at the Krxstiul hive. “It really rustles my sprinkles to leave before beating that barrier myself,” he said, “but it will probably be less frustrating and more entertaining to watch these kids discover themselves.”
“What do you mean ‘kids’?” Citrine demanded. “I’m over thirty.”
Discord conjured a baby bonnet onto Citrine’s head. “I am older than the universe itself,” Discord said, “child.”
“Don’t forget that you’re looking for the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight said, banishing the bonnet, “so try to get along with each other. And yes, that includes you Discord. Don’t be a saddle-burr for no reason, ok?”
“Oh, if I must,” Discord huffed.
Twilight nodded once in satisfaction. “Good luck, all of you,” she said. “I think I’ll be less worried about holding the Krxstiul back just knowing you six are on this quest.”
The six would-be Bearers returned the Princess’s wish for luck, and then Discord herded them into a tighter group and teleported away with them. Twilight took a moment to stare at the vacant space they had occupied, trying to unknot the complex feelings in her gut, until a chorus of Krxstiul cries reminded her that she was still needed in the present. With a last longing glance to the horizon, she gathered magic into her horn and teleported back to the Market Square.