Discord had been searching for quite a long time, and still there was no pony to be found. He shouldn’t have been surprised, though. After the rainbow one managed to keep him busy with the lemonade faucet (Was his lemonade really that sour?), they could have gone anywhere in this forsaken forest; he would have been surprised to learn he even managed to actually follow their general direction.
This is getting ridiculous, Discord thought to himself. If I keep this up, I’m only going to end up tiring myself out and risk truly throwing myself at their mercy. I need to shift my focus.
Those ponies had been at the bulge, where the Elements of Harmony rested, safely out of reach for anypony. But if these ponies had a way of counteracting the chaos field, however unlikely that sounded, they could grab the Elements. What they would do with them was unclear, but there was a reason Discord wanted them sealed away in the first place.
Perhaps I could go back there and wait, he mused. After all, that box is still there, and if it is what I think it is, they’ll need it; they’ll come back for it. However, his mood fell after a few seconds. No, they’ll just run off again, leading to another game of cat and mouse that could go on for who knows how long. I need something permanent, something to catch them by surprise, maybe even take out the Elements in the process.
He soon smiled. Oh, why didn’t I think of this before? Better get those seeds ready.
Comic had moved on to the interactive part of the routine. The concept was deceptively easy; the audience would ask her questions and she’d provide the punchline, almost like a “jokes on any subject” routine, but with a narrower range of responses.
“So, why does Discord only have one tooth?” one pony asked. He held a hoof to his mouth and air-drew Discord’s notable, lone canine.
“Oh, he has two teeth,” Comic replied. “He just can’t find the other one.”
By now, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and the Doctor had broken into full laughter. Applejack was the first to recover from this latest joke and decided to throw her two bits in. “Hey, this one time, we saw a line of buffalo dancin’ ballet. What’s up with that?”
“Well, square dancing would have just seemed stereotypical.” Anyone who just got over their laughing fits succumbed to them once again.
“Well, I don’t want to be charged with knocking my audience dead,” Comic quipped, “so I think we’re going to leave it at that for now. As always, you’ve been a great audience, and to our new friends, I hope you enjoyed what you heard. Thank you, and good night.”
“It’s 3:30 in the afternoon,” one of the ponies said.
“Ah, it’s nighttime somewhere in the world, especially if Discord has his way.” She waited for the final round of laughter to die down before she said, “Thank you all, you’ve been a wonderful crowd.” She then stepped off the stage as the other ponies applauded.
The four ponies eventually managed to stop laughing, though the smiles were still present. “Well, that was definitely a hoot-‘n-a-half,” Applejack said.
“It was,” the Doctor agreed. “But I think it’s time we hit the road. We’ve got to get back to the chaos energy.” He stood up and stretched his legs, the others following suit, before they all headed toward the stairs.
“You guys leavin’?” Hard Drink asked. Everyone turned to him; he was behind the bar once more.
“We mean no disrespect,” the Doctor said. “We just have some things to do, and they can’t be done from underground.”
“Well, I won’t argue with you,” Drink replied. “You take care of yourselves.”
“Will do,” Rainbow said, saluting with her wing. Everyone walked toward the stairs and Searchlight.
“What’s the word?” the Doctor asked.
“All quiet,” Searchlight answered. “Been that way since you guys came here. If Discord really did follow you, he would have shown up by now.” There was a short pause. “I don’t suppose I can at least try to convince you to stay.”
“Sorry,” Twilight said, “but we really do have places to be.”
“Can’t say I agree with you,” Searchlight said. Her horn glowed dark blue and the bush covering the entrance lifted itself up. “But I won’t stop you either.”
“Searchlight,” the Doctor said, “you’ve done more than enough for us. Thank you.”
Rainbow poked her head out of the hole first and looked around. “No sign of anyone. We’re good to go.” She slipped outside and the others followed her up.
Everyone looked back at the bush and saw Searchlight’s sad smile. “Good luck,” she said as she lowered the bush over the hole.
Looking at the chaotic landscape once again reintroduced the ponies to several unpleasant feelings; fear, confusion, and anxiety, among other things. Thankfully, those feelings weren’t as bad this time around.
“Now what?” Rainbow asked. “I can’t even remember which way we came from.”
“Give me a moment,” the Doctor said. He took out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on. He held it out and pointed in several directions. Soon, he stopped. “Okay, I’ve got the signal to the TARDIS. Assuming Discord hasn’t touched it, this should lead us back to the chaos energy.”
“Sounds like a plan t’ me,” Applejack said. They all walked in the direction the Doctor indicated. Everyone was careful to watch for any sign of Discord. Luckily, it seemed as though he really had given up, or at the very least, he was somewhere far enough away.
After several minutes, Applejack noticed a look on Twilight; she seemed deep in thought, and given her previous bout of depression, Applejack was worried. “You alright, sugarcube?” she asked.
Twilight shot her head up at Applejack’s call. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.”
“You’re not getting down in the dumps again, are you?” Rainbow asked, making her way into the conversation. “Because after what just happened, there should be no excuse for that.”
“Don’t worry, girls,” Twilight replied. “I’m done with being moody for today. In fact, what I’m thinking about is actually more productive than that.”
“Do tell, Ms. Sparkle,” the Doctor interjected.
“I was just working out some solutions on how to get past the energy. It might be good to have a few solutions ready for when we actually get there.”
“A fair point,” the Doctor agreed.
“So, what’cha got so far?” Applejack asked.
“Not a lot, admittedly,” Twilight sighed. “All I’ve got to work with is our original attempt. I mean, you said we were actually making some headway.” She looked to the Doctor, who nodded. “But all I’m getting from this is, unless we copy all six of the Elements at once, we won’t get much better than what we had.”
Rainbow hummed in thought and turned to the Doctor. “Is it possible for us to go back to the present and just slip the Elements away for a few minutes?” she asked.
“Not likely,” he said. “Believe it or not, we are now entwined in these events. If we attempt to leave, your present will look much like this. And the Elements we’re trying to get will still be under the energy.”
“And the ponies of that time will be like the ones we just met,” Twilight added; “living underground trying to hide from a tyrant, with only their friendship keeping them sane for any stretch of time.”
Suddenly, she stopped walking. Everyone turned to her. She was staring blankly. “Twilight? Are you okay?” the Doctor asked. There was a look in her eye, almost like a twinkle.
“I’ve got it,” she whispered. She started smiling. “I’ve got it!” Everyone just stared at her. “I think I have an idea! Doctor, how far are we?”
The Doctor seemed taken aback by Twilight’s newfound optimism, but looked at his screwdriver. “We still have a ways to go.”
“Let’s hurry then!” Twilight said. Without warning, she galloped past the others, who barely registered what happened before they started running, and flying, to catch up with her.
“Would someone please explain what’s going on?” the Doctor asked.
“Yeah, once Twilight gets an idea,” Rainbow explained, “she can get a little weird.” She spun her hoof toward the side of her head for emphasis. “Remind me to tell you about the time she almost missed a friendship report.”
Not surprisingly, Twilight was the first to notice the TARDIS coming into view. This only pushed her to run faster. The others had tried to keep up, but by the time they all stopped, everyone, even Twilight, was exhausted.
“Twilight,” Applejack breathed. “Next time… you wanna… get here quicker… try not to go so fast.”
The Doctor, meanwhile, looked at the TARDIS. “Looks like she’s okay,” he said, mostly to himself. “Better check the inside, though, just in case. You girls keep an eye out for Discord; I don’t want any surprises.” He fished a key out of his suit pocket, unlocked the doors, and stepped inside.
“So, what’s your bright idea?” Rainbow asked Twilight.
“The way I figure it,” she explained, “the reason our last plan didn’t work was because we tried to channel only three Elements. In order for this to work, all six need to be present, or at the very least, simulated to actually make this work.”
“But the Elements are back home,” Applejack pointed out. “And you heard the Doctor; if we try and go back, nothing here’ll change.”
“I realized that pretty early on,” Twilight continued. “But then I thought about what happened back at the shelter. Searchlight, Hard Drink, and Comic Relief all had what we lacked. Searchlight was kind enough to open the shelter to us and even let us go, despite her better judgment. Drink allowed us to partake in his own stores, even going so far as to refuse payment. And Comic helped us stave off those feelings of sadness and anxiety by making us laugh. Kindness. Generosity. Laughter. The three Elements we need to make this work.”
“Then why didn’t we go back to the shelter?” Rainbow asked. “It sounds like we could use their help.”
“That was my first thought, but something even deeper came to mind. It wasn’t just that we were trying to stick to three Elements. We were trying to embody those Elements. But friendship is more than what we are; it’s what we experience as well.”
“Where exactly are ya goin’ with this?” Applejack asked.
“We have to expand the scope of our memories,” Twilight answered. “Think of everything that relates to the Elements: what we just experienced, our friends back home, what we’ve all done for each other. If we want to create an offshoot of harmony, we have to include all its components.”
There was a small pause as Rainbow and Applejack took in what Twilight was saying. Soon, Applejack said, “Alright, we’ll give it a try. Better wait for the Doctor, though, run it by him first.”
“Won’t need to,” the Doctor’s voice said. Everypony turned and saw him just walking out of the TARDIS.
“How’s the TARDIS?” Rainbow asked him.
“Couldn’t be better. Discord hasn’t touched her at all,” he answered. “Anyway, I heard everything from in there. The plan has plenty of merit to it.”
“Then let’s do it,” Twilight said, her voice filled with determination. She walked up to the bulb of chaos energy, with Rainbow and Applejack taking either side of her. The Doctor stood in front of them, sonic screwdriver in hoof.
“Remember, girls,” Twilight said, “concentrate on harmony in all its parts.” The other two nodded once. Everyone closed their eyes and concentrated. Twilight saw several images, many more than during their first attempt, about all the ponies she ever cared about, and vice versa, especially the ponies they just met. Once again, she felt a pair of hooves hold on to her. She activated her magic.
This time, something felt truly different. Twilight remembered struggling against the energy only to produce barely noticeable effects. Here, she felt no resistance. She squinted open one eye, followed by both eyes bursting open when she saw what was happening; the stream of magic had not only pierced the bulge, but it looked as though the energy caved in at its mere presence. Eventually, any remaining energy furthest away from Twilight’s spell faded out of existence.
The Doctor had been holding his screwdriver to energy, now merely a large hole in the ground. “It’s actually working,” he whispered. “The chaos energy isn’t just moving away, it’s being destroyed. All that harmonic energy must be too much for it to handle.”
“Does that mean we can stop?” Rainbow asked.
“No,” the Doctor replied, “there’s still some energy left, especially in the big chamber surrounding your Elements.”
“Not a problem,” Twilight said. “I can keep this up all day.”
They waited for a few more minutes. The Doctor kept his screwdriver close to the hole. Finally, he said, “That should do it. The chaos energy should be completely gone by now.” Twilight’s magic stopped and the other two mares let go of her.
“Alright, what are we waiting for?” Rainbow said almost immediately. “Let’s get the Elements to the princesses ASAP!” Just before she could fly into the hole, she felt herself being stopped by her tail. She turned and saw Twilight holding it in her magic grip.
“We can’t,” Twilight said. “The princesses don’t know about us yet. If we take the Elements directly to them, we could risk hurting the future.” Rainbow stopped struggling and Twilight let her go.
“So now what?” Applejack asked. “We freed the Elements, but if the princesses don’t so much as see ‘em, it’ll all be for nothin’.”
“We could find a way to bring them here,” the Doctor suggested, “let them find the Elements for themselves. Although that would require some expert tracking skills, as well as extreme secrecy.”
There was another pause; no one seemed to have an answer to this latest development. However, Twilight slowly said, “I think I may have an idea.”
“Well, they’ve worked so far,” Rainbow pointed out. “What’cha got?”
“When I first became Princess Celestia’s student, she taught me spell that could call her to me if I was ever lost or scared. I think I still remember the spell.”
“Is it safe?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, it was taught to you by the princess herself. Won’t she figure it out it once she teaches it to you?”
“Is it weird that saying that actually makes sense?” Rainbow asked, though to no one in particular.
“Maybe,” the Doctor replied. “But back to the matter at hoof, we don’t have much else to work with. I say it’s a risk worth taking.”
“Well, rule number one was, ‘Do everything you say,’” Twilight said with a smirk; the Doctor smirked back. She held her head up, pointing her horn to the sky, and it glowed.