//------------------------------// // 1: Elements of Harmony // Story: A Changed World // by dredaich //------------------------------// Twilight hurried home her friends close behind her. The interrogation of Confidant brought her new insights, but most of them were of the kind, that she never wanted to know. Still they wouldn't leave her alone on her way back. The 'changeling', that has ridden him, was a monstrosity called Arlok. It used death magic, a line of magic, which main purpose, like its name implied, was to bring death. The mere thought of such a vile branch of magic existing made her shudder. Arlok traveled the land, they had come from, to kill creatures without any reason Confidant knew of. Or maybe which Arlok made sure he didn't know anymore. That was another thing, that made her shiver. She had found out, that it had used a spell on Confidant to manipulate his memories. She could come to this conclusion, because of a revelation, that she did like. In the course of the interrogation, he had explained, that he couldn't speak. Instead he used a spell, transmitting, what he wanted to say. Therefore she had deduced, that the strange substances, she could see since whatever Arlok and the wolf have caused, had to be visualizations of magical energies and structures. With this knowledge she had found an inactive magical link between Confidant and Arlok. Confidants end of it was surrounded by some spells, which originated from Arlok. One of these manipulated his brain, whenever he tried to remember something. She was sure, that it suppressed anything Arlok didn't want Confidant to know. He still defended it fiercely even when he was confronted with her findings. Arlok harming him was completely impossible in his eyes. Even if it has used such magic, he stated, it did so with good intentions. That the wolf was bound by creation magic, was the only thing, they found out about it. This magic gave it the ability to create living beings, to make life grow and change spontaneously. He described it as uncontrollable and highly chaotic, eating the sanity away from those who used it. After they ran out of questions for Confidant, they discussed what they should do with him. Lyra had accepted the responsibility to help Confidant to adapt. Bon Bon was not enthusiastic about it, but was persuaded to help her housemate. The three had left for the house of the two girls, but only after Twilight made sure, that Lyra would report to her, if Confidant would do anything suspicious. She didn't think, that Arlok could control him anymore, but some precautions surely couldn't hurt. Twilight and her group reached the library. Since she was deep in thoughts, she tried to cast the spell to open the door. The problem was, that the door didn't open. In fact, she couldn't even see magic touching the door. This caught her by surprise, therefore she couldn't stop herself anymore. Moments later she crashed at full speed into it. Her vision was filled with stars and her muzzle hurt almost as much as her neck and she felt, that she was slowly sliding down the door. She collected her wits, while Fluttershy lend her a helping hoof to erect herself again. “Are you hurt?” she asked concerned, inspecting Twilight. Twilight was standing on shaky legs. She heard suppressed laughter from behind, that ended abruptly with a short whelp from Rainbow Dash. Why didn't … was her first thought, that was almost instantly interrupted by dawning realization. She looked upwards and her worst fear was confirmed. She wasn't a unicorn anymore. She became numb to the headache and wasn't aware, that her plot sagged to the ground. Slowly the initial shock faded. Panic tried to overwhelm her, but she could suppress it, although only barely. The Elements of Harmony will make everything alright, WE will make everything alright, she told herself to quench her fears. She forced her self to look resolute and opened the door by hoof. It felt odd and she wondered, when was the last time she used her hoof to open a door. She couldn't remember, but maybe this was only the case, because she would have never thought, that this might ever be important to her. While doing so, she became aware of her own substance in her hoof. It was like clay, similar to Rainbow Dash’s and still somehow completely different. She felt stupid for not suspecting something that obvious earlier. It was nagging at her and wouldn't let her think clearly. She closed her eyes and took some moments to do the breathing exercise Cadence had shown her to calm her self down. It amazed her time and again, how well it worked for her. After only four deep breaths she felt calm. She opened her eyes to see a truly concerned Fluttershy standing beside her. “I'm OK,” she said to her friends. She entered into her home. It was colder inside, than she expected. Not cold, in fact it was very pleasant, but still way to cold for her house on a summer afternoon. Her eyes fell on the showcase of the Elements of Harmony and her heart skipped a beat. A shriek escaped her, when she run to it to examine the Elements. To her horror she had seen right. The Elements had reverted to the stone form, in which she and her friends had found them in the castle in the Everfree Forest. She couldn't feel any magic in them. The Element of Magic was gone. Her shock was so deep, that she didn't pay the orange ants in the showcase any attention, nor the fact that the pillow the Elements lay on was damp. She heard of a plot landing unceremoniously on the ground followed by a small whimper. “Oh no!” Pinkie and Rarity said in unison, although it sounded completely different from each other. Rarity voice was full of dread, while Pinkie almost sounded mocking. Rainbow Dash rushed past them all, opening the showcase and inspecting one of the stones frenetically, panic written on her face. “Listen,” Spike raised his voice, “I know that's a great setback, but whatever trick these monsters have used, I don't believe that they can defeat the magic of friendship. I'm sure your friendship is stronger than their spell. You have awakened the elements once, you can do it again.” “Yes, your a totally right,” Pinkie said smiling, grabbing Applejack and Rarity for a group hug, which Rainbow, Fluttershy and Twilight joined in quickly. Spike stood a bit off, looking uncertain what to do himself. So Pinkie made the decision for him, “You too, Spike.” “Really? But I'm not a bearer of an Element?” Spike said surprised. “You're an honorary one,” Pinkie replied, supported by the others nodding. With a drop of 'liquid pride', how Shining Armor would call it, leaving his eye Spike joined in. The spectacle Twilight saw now was of incredible beauty. Strands of magic, that came from the individuals of group, were mixing with each others forming magnificent patterns. A feeling of safeness and of acceptance surrounded them. From these patterns five branches grew out to the five Element stones. These branches didn't just grew straight to their destination, but divided themselves and formed blossoms that resonated happiness. Below her she could feel a faint mist of reassurance and reliability, that rooted them all, but her in particular to the world. It felt far different from the rest of this magical show, but she couldn't make out why. When the branches touched the stones they became lights of different colors, emanating their respective virtues, floating towards the other five mares and forming the necklaces the Elements of Harmony used to be, while more branches with new blossoms, developed around them. From the treetop of their magic one another light emerged. She felt a warming calmness and firm determination extending from it. Seconds later she felt her tiara touching her head. Twilight was overwhelmed by this majestic display and watched with little regret as this masterwork slowly faded. “Twilight?” Spike asked, waving a hoof in front of her face to bring her back to reality. “I'm fine, I just enjoy the moment,” answered Twilight with a smile. After some moments, she broke off the hug and walked back to the door, “Let's get moving, we have to set things right.” While they were walking towards the statues of the two combatants, she studied the magic of the others. She didn't need to turn around to see it, she seemed to be able to sense magic in every direction. Since the restoring of the Element she could see that they all shared magical bonds. They were unlike than the link between Confidant and Arlok. The link seemed incredible thin, dense and cold to her. It was unnatural. The bonds she shared with her friends were more a feeling of connection, gaseous but at least as strong as the link. They were full of live and somehow seemed to be a natural part of them. ---.--- An eery silence lied over Ponyville. The streets and the sky were deserted and the window shutters in most houses they passed by were closed. Some clouds used their chance to fly over the town without some overeager pegasus bothering them. Spike was walking right behind Twilight and next to Rarity, who had an expression of fierce determination in her eyes. She looked still astonishing. In fact in his eyes she looked even better than before the transformation. Next to Rarity was Rainbow Dash, whose face mirrored Rarities perfectly. Behind them were Applejack and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie was at the moment happily bouncing behind everypony else, no, she just teleported and was now to the left of Twilight. She hummed a cheering tune and some seconds later she teleported again, leaving a small cloud of streamers behind. From the sound of her tune she was now next to Applejack. They reached the statues and to his shame they were to his liking. Arloks silvery shining shell, that looked like an armor and his fearless charge at the giant wolf made him look heroic. The wolf on the other hoof gave a perfect enemy, a huge and powerful predator. In his comics this might be an epic fight between good and evil. He knew, that the roles, who was good and who was bad were reversed at best, or more likely this fight was a greater evil versus a lesser evil. Twilight took position in front of the statues, her face pale but determined. The others formed a semicircle behind her. “Twilight?” he asked. “Yes, Spike?” “Is it possible, that you reverse the spell for everyone but me?” “What? Why should you want that?” Her eyes went wide open, as her jaw fell and her head jerked a bit back. He gulped, her reaction made him nervous. Still he took all his courage to answer, “I might be born a dragon, but I'm a pony at heart. The lifestyle of the other dragons is so alien to me as it would be for you. I would be happy, if I could live as a pony among you, it'll give me chances I'd like to pursue.” He forced himself not to look at Rarity, but he still felt the heat in his cheeks. After a short pause he added, “I also can do well without risking losing my mind just for gathering too many possessions.” Twilight ears dropped while she answered, “I'm so sorry, but I fear I'm not able to exert such fine control over the Elements. Honestly, I think it is next to impossible to control the magic of the elements, once it is unleashed.” “I see.” Spike looked downward. “Do what you must do.” “I'm so sorry, Spike,” Twilight repeated her apology, while she closed her eyes to focus. The necklaces of the other Mane 6 lit up. A whirlwind of colors came from them surrounding Twilight and gathering around her tiara. All six ponies lifted up and levitated some centimeters above the ground. She opened her eyes which were glowing. A fan of rainbow colors emerged from Twilight to the two statues engulfing them. Spike watched in horror, that some seconds later a black lightning broke through it hitting Twilight. A moment it looked like she was surrounded, by the same green mist that this Arlok had, but it vanished with the lightning. Relieved he took notice, that beside a small flinch she didn't seem to be affected. After that the magic of the Elements formed a pillar that reached up into the sky. It extended outwards passing them almost immediately revealing the two statues. Arlok's sword, which Confidant had called Destiny's End, was surrounded by lots of arcs of the black lightning, while the statues themselves remained unchanged. Confidant was really scared of the blade and warned them, that it shouldn't been touched in any way. The amount of arcs on the blade slowly decreased and gave view to the weapon, that has reverted again to be made of blueish-black metal. The grass in a circle of about two meter diameter around Arlok was slowly turning brown. “Twilight!” he heard the others of the Mane 6 screaming. Twilight lied on her back, her body twitched erratically. “We need to bring her to hospital,” Applejack commanded, but right after she said that Twilights legs sagged and her body came to rest. “Ouch...” moaned Twilight with closed eyes. When Spike looked at Twilights face, he realized that her horn was still missing. He looked down at himself to still find hooves at the ends of his arms. One moment he was overjoyed, that his wish came true. The next moment this feeling was crushed by the guilt he felt, because of the high prize his friends have to pay for his pleasure. “Where are my wings?” screamed Rainbow Dash, while trying to jump at Twilight, but was luckily intercepted by Applejack in mid flight. “I understand your anger Darling, but Twilight is certainly not at fault,” Rarity stated with stern face and in a voice that demanded an apology. Rainbow starred back at Rarity for a moment, before she lowered her eyes and mumbled a faint “Sorry.” Rarity raised an eyebrow, but was stopped to pursue this any further by Twilight asking, “Wha... what happened?” Her eyes were closed and she was still lying in the grass. “We don't know exactly, but as it seems, we...” Rarity made a short pause, visibly struggling for a way to sugarcoat the result without lying. After some moments she exhaled in defeat and finished her sentence with a depressed “... failed.” “What?” Twilight sprang up into a sitting position, her eyes wide open. Here eyes fell on Applejacks wings, only to move upwards a moment later to look for her horn. “That's impossible, the Elements have done their work and ended the dark spell they used. I felt it!” “What went wrong? What went wrong?” Twilight said to herself, her left eye twitching. “What will Princess Celestia say? Will she be disappointed? Will she send me back to magic kindergarten?” Spike suppressed his urge to facehoof. “Calm down,” he said trying to sound sympathetic, but in his own ears it didn't work, “Your are a princess yourself, she can't do that anymore. Not that she would do it if she could.” He laid his hoof around her and sat down beside her. “She cares for you! You have done your best and she knows that. We will find a way to reverse this, I'm sure.” He wasn't sure, if he believed in his last statement himself, but he garnished his words with the best reassuring smile, he could manage. He hadn't expect that it to work, so he was surprised, when she hugged him. “Thank you, Spike.” “You're welcome,” he replied smiling relieved and hugged her back. Being hugged definitely felt way better as a pony than it felt as a dragon. He felt just more in every way, the sensation of her fur against his body, her body warmth and even his warm emotions. After some moments he deeply enjoyed he decided, that it was time to tell the others, what happened. “When the magic of the Elements struck those two, the sword of Arlok stroke back at you, Twilight, with some kind of black lightning. I think that was the reason you went down after the power of the Elements left you.” “How is that even possible?” Rarity asked shocked, “Even Discord couldn't fight the power of the Elements!” Some seconds of silence passed, while everypony was looking at Twilight, who was looking at the evil weapon. “I don't know,” she finally replied, “but as it seems Confidant was right with his warning. It shouldn't be touched, not even through magic. At least it shouldn't be able to do any harm as long as nopony tries to take it.” As if the world tried to drive this point home a pigeon landed on the upper side of the hilt. It fell immediately to the ground like a stone. A shrieked outcry later, Fluttershy rushed to it, but was stopped by Applejack. “I don't think that's a good idea, sugercube!” The body of the bird was lifted off and floated towards Fluttershy, who looked wide eyed at it. “Did I do that?” she asked a bit baffled more to herself, than to anypony else. Still she didn't waste a moment to marvel her new found magic ability, but inspected the poor bird. Tears were filling her eyes soon. “She's dead,” she whispered. The others offered their condolence and gave her time to mourn. “We've got to do something,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, after some time. “I won't sit here mopping. There must be something we can do.” “Maybe Princess Celestia knows something, but...” Twilight started. Only Rainbow Dash didn't wait for her to finish her sentence. She started running after the word 'Princess' has left Twilights mouth, leaving her trademark rainbow trail behind her. Now she was already on the other side of the town, going straight to Canterlot. Spike was impressed. He had never seen a pony, who ran that fast. In fact he hadn't even seen many pegasi flying that fast. He wondered if she might be able to do a sonic rainboom on the ground.