Discord and Screwball continued to laugh as storm clouds rumbled overhead. In fact, they were beginning to roll on the ground they were laughing so hard. “You ponies are the most fun we’ve had since the leaders of Equestria all those centuries ago!” Discord cried out, wiping a tear away.
“There’s nothing fun about all this,” Pinkie said gloomily.
“It’s always fun to laugh at ponies like you!” Fluttershy said, laughing in Pinkie’s face.
“Hey Rarity, Twilight says y’all should share all them things y’all got, since ya found ‘em durin’ a team mission,” AJ said.
“Try it and I’ll rip your head off!” Rarity yelled back, growling at the apple farmer.
Midnight and her group looked upon all this with varying looks of surprise and concern. “Mom, why are they fighting like that?” Squeaks asked.
“I don’t know Squeaks, but I bet it has something to do with those two.” She glared at Discord and Screwball. “The sooner we stop those two, the better.”
“So, what do we do now?” Windrunner asked.
Midnight looked towards Twilight, who was trying to stop her friends from killing each other. Then the sound of popcorn crunching got their attention.
“It’s just too entertaining,” Discord said, once again sharing a bucket of popcorn with Screwball.
“Stop it Discord, you haven’t been playing fair!” Twilight yelled accusingly.
“I haven’t been playing fair? Let me reintroduce myself: I’m Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. Hello!” He waved his paw in her face and Screwball laughed so hard the bucket fell over. “I just helped your so-called ‘friends’ see a different way of living.”
“But, you cheated! You tricked Rainbow Dash into using her wings!” Twilight yelled. “And what did you do with the princesses and the entire castle staff!?”
“I simply offered them to her. The choice was hers alone on whether or not she took them. Oh, and don’t worry about the princesses…”
-----------------------------
Luna shoved another moon pie into her mouth. “Why wasn’t I told about these sooner! Tia, you could have just given me a month’s worth of these and Nightmare Moon would have folded like a wet blanket, though I would think a wet blanket would be harder to handle…”
Celestia swallowed another bite of cloud cake while doing her best to still look unhappy as she and Luna were stuck in her room surrounded by never-ending desserts. “I highly doubt food would have placated your dark persona. And don’t become too fond of this binging; as soon as Twilight and her friends defeat Discord it’s back to- you’re dripping marshmallow on my pillows!”
-----------------------------
“… They’re enjoying themselves. In the meantime, however,” Discord walked back over to Screwball, who jumped into his miss-matched arms. “Me and Screwball have some chaos to wreak!” He caught the look Twilight was giving him still. “Oh, come now Twilight Sparkle. The ‘magic of friendship’ is sure to work for you this time! Auf wiedersehen!” He snapped his lion’s paw and the two of them disappeared again.
As soon as they were gone a huge bank of cotton candy clouds rolled in and began a downpour. Midnight extended her wings, covering the other three while she took the brunt of the chocolate onslaught. Making sure they all kept pace, Midnight moved over to where Twilight was rapping her hoof against her head.
“Come on, think! Back where you began, back where you began!” Twilight said frustration clear on her face.
“Any other ideas where he might have hid them?” Midnight asked, trying to keep the strain in her own voice in check.
“The maze entrance was a dud and I’d bet all my grades they weren’t up in my room either. Back where you began… maybe-”
“KEEP YOUR DISGUSTING HOOVES OFF OF MY TREASURE!” Without warning Rarity ran headlong into the purple unicorn, knocking her into the mud.
“Twilight was the one who said to take it!” AJ yelled back, running past and pushing her deeper into it.
After the two grayed mares were past, Midnight helped Twilight up. Windrunner made room under Midnight’s wing for Twilight, and as soon as the unicorn was under the wing the dust-colored pegasus began helping her wipe the mud off.
“Thanks,” Twilight said with a small smile.
The pegasus and the kirin nodded at her with smiles of their own, then turned towards the two that had bowled her over. AJ was almost on top of Rarity when first the white unicorn and then the apple farmer went down into the mud, the fashionista’s precious bag of plundered items spilling out everywhere.
“Oops, sorry.” Fluttershy said as she pulled her tail back, her voice sounding anything but.
Pinkie picked up a gem-encrusted vase that had fallen by her hooves. “This isn’t fun either,” she said, dropping back into the mud.
Twilight rubbed her head again. “I can’t believe Discord did this to my friends! Why couldn’t he just let us all stay friends back home in… Ponyville… no, it couldn’t be that!”
“What couldn’t be that?” Sapphire asked.
“Back where YOU began! You ALL! When he first said that I thought he was talking to all of us, so when we didn’t find the Elements under the labyrinth entrance, I thought he was talking to me, maybe as a way to poke fun at Princess Celestia some more.”
“She did seem very angry with him,” Windrunner said.
Midnight nodded in agreement.
“But I was right the first time; he was talking to all of us!”
“And what was he saying exactly?” Midnight asked, wishing she’d get to the point.
“Back where we, this group of friends, began! Back in Ponyville! He’s hidden the Elements back in the place we all first got to know each other as friends!” She turned triumphantly towards the exit from the palace grounds. “He’s hidden the Elements back at Ponyville Library!”
-----------------------------
The trip down the mountain could only be described as infuriating. Getting the grayed-out mares to finally move in the direction of Ponyville was like pulling teeth. AJ constantly pointed out the wrong way down the mountain (the trains had finally stopped on account of circumstances, much to the normal mares’ chagrin), Rarity kept slowing them down as she searched for gems along the pathway, Pinkie needed to be dragged half the time, and Fluttershy did everything in her power to make the descent as torturous as possible.
Twilight somehow managed to stay in a positive frame of mind the whole way down, possibly from the idea that they’d all be normal again when they found the Elements. Sapphire and Windrunner kept up an air of grim determination while Squeaks stayed huddled and quiet on Midnight’s back, afraid to say anything that might get one of the adults angry with her. Midnight would have liked nothing better than to have just flown off back to Ponyville herself and make sure the Elements were where Twilight guessed they were, both so as to get herself, Squeaks, and her friends away from the grayed bearers and to get this new hunt finished as quick as possible.
Thankfully they made it down the mountain without too many incidents and, blessedly soon enough, arrived on the outskirts of Ponyville. “Alright,” Twilight said as she began to jog ahead of them. “Discord must have hid the Elements somewhere in the library, so the first thing we need to do when we get back is- GAH!” Out of nowhere came a roaming hoard of rabbits, each with giraffe-like legs that stampeded over the unfortunate unicorn. Once the herd was clear Midnight and Windrunner helped her back up. “Ow.”
“Good boy Angel!” Fluttershy called out after them. “Somebunny’s getting extra carrots tonight!” Without warning the sun fell below the horizon and the moon shot back up in its place. “Not that he’s actually getting any.”
Midnight and Squeaks quickly looked around. Everypony was still there and nothing seemed to be coming at them.
“How can the moon be out and it still be so dark?” Windrunner asked. “I can barely see anything!”
“Just hold still. Squeaks and I can see fine; we’ll warn you if anything happens.” Midnight assured her.
“This is the best Ah’ve ever seen!” AJ called out into the darkness.
“Anything worth noting anyway.” Then Midnight felt something wet, slick, and sticky on her hooves. “Off the ground!” She called out in panic, getting airborne with a single panic-induced flap of her wings. Sapphire and Windrunner were quickly in the air with her, staring blindly at the ground.
“What happened!?” Sapphire asked, attempting to get closer to Squeaks and Midnight in the dark.
“Something’s wrong with the road!” Midnight turned to see how the bearers were doing. All five of them were slipping and sliding along the road and into each other.
“Hey mom, do you smell that?” Squeaks asked, her nose bobbing slightly as she sniffed.
Midnight took a deep sniff herself. “Is that… is that soap?” The kirin came down to just over the road to take another sniff, but then the sun and moon switched places again. The entire dirt roadway was indeed made of soap; soap that had been mixed with water, allowing for innumerous slips and falls onto backsides and faces.
“Really?” Twilight asked, staring at the new road surface as if it was Discord himself.
Said draconequus skated by on the slippery surface, followed by Screwball in a blue ballerina outfit and hefting a baseball bat. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” He stopped on top of the last rise before Ponyville, allowing the others who couldn’t fly to slowly and painfully catch up.
What they saw made their jaws drop. Ponyville was turned completely on its head, in some cases literally. Buildings and trees were floating free in the air, some upside down, while most of the ground had become brightly colored checkerboards, almost like a linoleum floor in a kitchen or bathroom. Cotton candy clouds covered most of the sky and rained chocolate milk in random patches. Groups of transfigured rabbits and buffalo in tutus roamed around freely. Midnight heard Windrunner growl when she saw the buffalo.
“Nope, not fun either.” Pinkie said.
“This is the new and improved Ponyville. Can you believe these are only our first changes?” He disappeared, only to reappear behind Twilight and Midnight. Pulling them each into one-armed hugs, he showed off his work like a proud father displaying his child’s work. Considering Screwball most likely had a hoof in all of it, it was rather a fair analogy. Squeaks managed to hop from her mother’s back to Sapphire’s forelegs. “Picture it ladies: the chaos capital of the world!” He held them both out for a better look, but then the sun and moon played yoyo again.
“I can’t see anything; it’s too dark.” Twilight said defiantly.
“I don’t have the vision.” Midnight said dully.
Discord dropped them both onto the soapy road. “Well then wait to see it when the sun comes out, if it does, and when you get a bit more imagination. Oh, and Midnight,” he leaned over and tapped the watch hanging around her neck. “You have forty-five minutes left. I hope you’re thinking about it.” With that he vanished.
“If any of you ponies are thinking about entering the soap-skating competition, I’d suggest backing out now.” Screwball swung the bat menacingly. “Accidents can happen. But even if I lose, I can still get on a second-rate comedy show with other has-been talents. Toodles!” She skated down the road and out of sight.
“That mare worries me.” Sapphire said.
“What did he mean ‘you have only forty-five minutes’?” Twilight asked.
“He’s just trying to toy around with me,” Midnight said dismissively. “Let’s just get to the library.”
“Alright then, follow meeEEE!” Twilight, forgetting already the conditions of the roads, slid down them before crashing into a tree.
“I want you two to head home,” Midnight said, turning to Squeaks and Sapphire. “Wait there until this whole thing blows over. Squeaks can guide you until the sun comes out again.”
“Are you sure?” Sapphire asked. Both she and Squeaks didn’t look too happy about separating from the group.
“You’ll be fine, and this will all be over before you know it.” Midnight reassured them, though not feeling nearly as confident.
“Promise?” Squeaks asked.
There was silence for a moment. “Promise.” Midnight said, reaching out to hug her.
Squeaks leaned forward, but surprisingly Sapphire joined them as well. It wasn’t unwelcomed as the warm feeling the kirin had felt barely two weeks prior resurfaced. The pegasus really did care about her and Squeaks. “You two be careful… and come back,” Sapphire said.
“We will, and same to you.” They broke apart and Midnight watched after them as Squeaks led Sapphire into town.
“They’ll be alright,” Windrunner said, managing to hover next to Midnight despite the darkness.
“Yeah,” the kirin said absentmindedly. She continued to watch them for another minute before turning back to the bearers. “Alright, let’s help end this.”
-----------------------------
The walk into town, led by Midnight, was uneventful. Most ponies seemed to have locked themselves indoors in vain attempts to escape from the madness outside, only for some of their homes to simply detach from the ground and begin floating lazily in the air. From what the kirin could see none of her friends’ homes were floating about, which made her feel better. ‘Less things to worry about’ she told herself.
Amazingly, all it took to get the gray mares into the library once they arrived was simply asking them to go in, although there was commentary.
“Ah absolutely refuse!”
“Whatever.”
“Libraries aren’t fun.”
All three of them grayed-out some more as well, almost to the point one would have a hard time guessing their original coat and mane colors. Rarity proved to be the only bump in the road this time.
“I’m not going in there with those two treasure thieves!” She yelled, pointing an accusing hoof at Midnight. The kirin could only assume the unicorn meant Spike as well. “I’ve worked long and hard to get all this, and I will not have it stolen so easily!”
“Rarity, neither Midnight nor Spike are going to touch your ‘treasure’, even if most of it’s stuff you stole in the first place.”
The fashionista made an indignant sound. “These were owed to me by the princess for all the trouble she’s putting me through!”
“Rarity, that’s just… I can’t believe… UGH, fine!” With a wave of her horn Twilight conjured a rope that tied the loot bag closed and then tied itself to Rarity’s leg. “There, a magic rope that only you can untie, and if anypony else tries to they’ll get sent to Tartarus or something. Can we go in now please?”
The once-white unicorn inspected the rope, then nodded her approval. As she followed the others inside, she also grayed-out more. Muttering darkly under her breath, Twilight, escorted by Midnight and Windrunner, went inside themselves, only to be confronted by Spike the second they got over the threshold.
“Twilight, Midnight, what in Equestria is going on? Why is everypony acting so weird, and why do they all look so… gray?” The young drake looked between the two groups with concern clearly evident in his eyes.
“Long story. Right now we need to know if you’ve seen the Elements of Harmony anywhere in here.” Twilight said, making her way into the center of the library floor.
“The Elements? Aren’t they back in Canterlot with the princess?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story and I’ll tell you later, but right now we need to search the whole tree-”
“Hey Twilight, what’s wet and clueless?” Fluttershy asked from above. Spike, wisely, backed away.
“Fluttershy, I’ve had just about enou-!” The Ponyville librarian suddenly found herself dripping wet from the bucket of water drop on her from the now nasty pegasus.
“You are!” She then threw the empty bucket at Midnight and Windrunner, both of whom dodged in time allowing it to hit the stairs with a loud *WANG*.
“What is happening to everypony!?” Spike wailed out again, tugging on his ear-fins.
“Spike, we need to concentrate on looking for the Elements first. You look behind the books. Midnight, you look down in the basement. Windrunner, upstairs. The rest of you… just stay here,” Twilight finished with an exasperated sigh.
“Well, if we’re looking for the Elements, then why don’t we start with the reference guide? It might give a spell that only the bearers can use to summon them, like the way the heros in my comics can!” Spike suggested.
Twilight gave him a quick, lidded stare. “Spike, this isn’t like one of your…” Then her eyes snapped open. “Oh my gosh! You’re a genius Spike!”
The young drake buffed his claws on his chest. “Yeah, I know.”
“So, do you know where the book is?” Windrunner asked.
“Yep! It’s right up here!” Spike bolted to and up the ladder attached to one of the shelves, then pulled out a familiar brown book with gold trappings. “Got it!”
Immediately he was hit with a scroll right in the snout, startling him into dropping the book into the waiting forelimbs of Fluttershy. “I better hold onto this, since you obviously can’t.”
Twilight, Midnight, and Windrunner approached the ladder, the two fliers getting off the ground to help block off the grayed pegasi’ escape routes.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight growled, her resolve finally wearing down. “You’d better give us that book!”
The pegasus just smirked. “KEEP AWAY!” she called out, throwing the book past them to AJ.
“AJ, give me the book!” Twilight yelled as she ran up to her once orange friend.
“Ah don’t have no book!” she said, balancing it clearly on her nose.
Midnight dived out of the air at the apple farmer, but she was able to toss it away before the kirin bowled her over.
The book sailed through the air and towards Pinkie.
“Get it!” Midnight roared at Windrunner, who had been blocking Fluttershy from helping the other grayed mares. Startled, the pegasus dove at Pinkie.
The party pony didn’t say a word as she first caught the book with her back, then sent it airborne again.
“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled as Windrunner followed Midnight’s example and plowed into the pony who no longer had the book.
Said book flew back into Fluttershy’s hooves. Both Midnight, with a loud growl, and Windrunner shot off the floor and back towards her. At the last second she threw the book to AJ once again. This time they were both prepared and immediately back pedaled their wings.
“Got it!” Midnight called out, catching the book. Her victory was cut short as a rope lassoed her tail and dragged her down to the floor. With a swift kick, AJ dislodged the book from the kirin’s hooves, catching it herself.
“Ah got it!” It was gone just as quickly as it had been from Midnight, snatched out of her grip by a speeding brown bullet.
Windrunner, book in hoof, tried to bank back towards Twilight with Fluttershy hot on her tail. Just as the other pegasus was almost in reach of her tail Spike shot out of nowhere and tackled her, clearing Windrunner’s six. That would have left the pegasus in the clear if they hadn’t forgotten about the other unicorn in the room. In her fixation on getting the book back, Windrunner didn’t notice her wing getting enveloped in a blue magical aura until she was pulled on. The act caused her to crash into the ground a few hooves away from Twilight and sending the book sliding across the floor.
Just as Rarity was aiming her horn at the book she was viciously yanked backwards by her tail and Midnight threw her back into the other mares, allowing Spike to scramble out of their hooves. A quick glance behind her confirmed that Twilight did indeed have the book now and she let Windrunner use her as a support as she got up. The other’s had recovered but didn’t try and get the book again. With Windrunner and Spike forming a determined barrier between them and Twilight, centered around the growling and flame-snorting Midnight, it didn’t seem worth the effort.
“Go on Twilight; see if there’s a tracking spell or something!” Spike said over his shoulder.
Twilight, who had been clutching the book while looking at her friends with both anger and worry, shook her head clear and flipped open the book. Her loud gasp of shock caused the three protectors to whirl around. Laid out in the now hollowed out book as if it was a secret hiding place were the Elements of Harmony with not a scratch on them.
“The Elements… we finally got them back!” Twilight cried out with glee.
“Are you sure it’s really them and not another one of Discord’s tricks?” Midnight asked.
Twilight quickly scanned them with her magic, and more relief flooded through her as she felt them react to her magical touch. It was almost like old friends seeing each other again after a long time apart. “Yes, it really is them!”
“Great, now we can beat Discord!” Spike said with a grin.
“See girls,” she addressed her friends. “We found the Elements! Now we can stop Discord and put everything back to normal!” The others continued what they were doing as if they hadn’t heard her... “None of you care, do you?”
“Nope,” was their resounding answer.
Twilight snorted. “Well, we’re just going to have to fix that!” Using her magic she picked up four of the necklaces and shot them each to their respective owner. Each Element magically attached itself onto their bearer’s neck as soon as it got close enough. Once they were all on Twilight placed the Element of Magic on her head. “Alright, we’ve all got our Elements so let’s go!”
As she began trotting out Spike ran up next to her. “Aren’t we missing somepony?” he asked a little hesitantly.
“Nope. We’ve got the liar, the hoarder, the buzz kill, and the brute. That pretty much covers the bases.” Twilight’s voice rung with the air of annoyance now, as if the task before her were simply an inconvenience.
“But, what about Rainbow Dash? She’s a bearer too.” Spike stuck out his claw which held the Element of Loyalty in it. The Element glistened for a moment, and Twilight briefly had the impression of a friend asking not to be left behind.
She stared at it for a moment, then picked it up with her magic. “Congratulations Midnight;” she stuck the necklace on Midnight’s neck, “you’re the new Rainbow Dash. You've been loyal enough.”
Midnight sputtered “H-Hold on a second! I can’t use this thing!”
“Tough, you need to. We don’t have time to go chasing Rainbow down. Now let’s go defeat Discord so we can just get away from each other!”
“YEAH!” the other bearers cheered, hauling tail after Twilight and out of the library.
Windrunner and Spike looked at Midnight, worry etched on both their faces. Worry that she shared and had no problem letting show. “Let’s just hope this works,” she told them, following the rest outside.
“Alright,” Twilight said as soon as Midnight had joined them. “ Now we just need to find Discord and-”
“Well, well, well, it seems you found the Elements of Harmony. Excuse us while we wet ourselves.” All heads turned to see Discord and Screwball a little ways off. Both pulled out a glass of water and dumped it on themselves.
“Yes, we found the Elements!” Twilight trotted forward, a determined look on her face. “You two are going back to stone!”
“Of course we are. You all have clearly outsmarted us, and now it’s time to get our just desserts.” He conjured up two sets out sunglasses and traded Screwball one of them for one of the targets she had created. “We’re ready anytime now ladies; fire when ready!”
“Alright everypony, let’s get this over with!” The others let out non-committal groans, but didn’t stop Twilight from activating her own Element.
One by one the Elements flared to life, light shining from them and raising their bearer off the ground. When the Element of Loyalty around Midnight’s neck lit up she didn’t start floating into the air but felt something, something down in her very core. It was like somepony had tapped on her shoulder as if she was somepony they recognized, only to realize they were mistaken when she turned around and immediately gave her the cold shoulder. The feeling baffled the kirin for a moment, then voices started to echo in her mind.
‘When I was forced to use the Elements on my corrupted sister, our connection to them was severed…’
‘…after trapping me as a pigeon-leavings collector, she seemed to think confiding in me might help me through my long sentence…’
‘…our connection to the Elements was lost…’
‘The Elements aren’t going to save Equestria this time Midnight Storm’
A thick, icy knot began to form in Midnight’s stomach. If Discord was telling the truth, then Celestia would have told him about banishing Luna. She would have told him how the Elements no longer worked for her. He corrupted the bearers to be the exact opposite virtues they represented, and if Twilight tried to force the Elements to work in this state…
Midnight returned from her mind to the outside world. Swinging her head to look at Twilight, she could see eldritch light both in her eyes and around her Element. “Twilight, STOP, DON’T-!”
But it was too late. Without warning the eldritch light on not only her Element, but the ones around the other Elements as well, winked out, dropping them all to the ground.
“What… what happened!?” Twilight yelled out.
“Mine’s working. Y’all must have the broken one.” AJ told her.
“What a load of garbage!” Fluttershy took off her Element and threw it away, only for Rarity to catch it and stuff it in her loot pouch.
“What happened?” Windrunner asked as she and Spike raced up to them.
Midnight looked at Twilight. “Princess Celestia said that when she banished Nightmare Moon, she forced the Elements to work, and when it was all over she couldn’t use them anymore.”
“But, Twilight and the others weren’t turning them on each other, and that was only after they worked on Nightmare Moon!” Spike said.
“No Spike, but…” The look of dawning horror on Twilight’s face told the kirin she was coming to the same conclusion she had. “… but we… I did try and force them to work! The way everypony is and Rainbow Dash not even being here… but I was just so dead set on defeating Discord that I-!” Tears began to well up in the unicorn’s eyes. “I don’t think we can use the Elements anymore.”
The last sentence hung in the air as the implications slowly sank into those present who could understand or even care.
The sound of clapping caused them all to turn towards the draconequus and his lackey. At least it started off as clapping, but then each time his claw and paw came together a completely random sound was made.
“Bravo ponies, bravo! Thanks to you, harmony in Equestria is officially dead!” He laughed at the distraught looks on their faces. “Oh, and Midnight? I know Twilight forced you to participate as well, so I’m just going to give you back, say, fifteen of those minutes you lost helping them find the Elements.” He reached forward and moved the hand on the clock from fifteen minutes left to a half hour. Then he flicked Twilight’s nose. “Discord rules; Celestia drools.” With that he and Screwball skated off down the soap-road, laughing all the way.
“What do we do now?” Windrunner asked, her voice anxious. Spike also had the same anxious, but still a little bit hopeful, look on his face. Neither Midnight nor Twilight looked them in the eye.
“I’m leaving; this isn’t fun.” Pinkie said, getting up and heading in the general direction of Sugarcube Corner.
“Wha- Pinkie, wait!” Twilight called after her.
“Ah’m leavin’ too. Ah got better friends waitin’ at the farm fur me!” AJ left them in a huff.
Rarity left without a word, her bulging bag of loot balanced on her back.
“I’m tired of you losers anyway!” Fluttershy flew off.
Something finally snapped in the unicorn. “Fine! Go ahead and see if I care! With friends like you, who needs… enemies.”
“Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked. She didn’t answer him. Instead she simply stood up and began walking away; her body turning gray as she walked off. “Twilight…”
Wordlessly, Midnight took off the Element of Loyalty and shoved it into Spikes claws. “Take care of this Spike; somepony will need it eventually.”
“Wait, where are YOU going!?” Spike demanded, looking even more desperate.
Midnight didn’t answer him. She simply opened her wings and took off into the pink sky. Windrunner gave him an apologetic look before flying off after the kirin.
-----------------------------
Midnight landed outside the side door back at home with Windrunner close behind. “Midnight, what do we do now!? Say something!” But Midnight continued to remain silent as she went through the door.
“Mom!” Squeaks immediately ran up and hugged her. “Did you beat him?”
Again, Midnight said nothing, but picked up Squeaks in her forelegs and hugged her as soon as they fully entered the kitchen.
Sapphire could see plainly from the kitchen window that everything was still wonky looking and chaotic. For them to be back and have those looks, it could only mean something had gone horribly wrong.
“Midnight?” she asked softly.
As with Windrunner, Midnight didn’t answer her.
“Mom?”
Only when Squeaks made her plea did the kirin finally speak. “Discord beat us,” she said simply. She quickly yet quietly explained to Sapphire what his plan had been all along and how they had figured it out too late. When she was done Sapphire had the same look of numb horror she had when they figured it out and Squeaks pulled herself tighter into Midnight’s chest.
“Now what?” Sapphire asked, unknowingly repeating Windrunner’s question.
“Now… now I need you three to stay here.” Midnight said finally in a voice that sounded utterly defeated.
Sapphire was about to ask her what she was going to do when she saw the kirin unconsciously touch the clock around her neck. A fresh wave of dread washed over her. “You can’t!” she cried out earnestly.
Both Midnight’s and Windrunner’s wings shot out in surprise at her outburst, but Midnight quickly recovered, placing Squeaks down next to the corner of the table between herself and the blue pegasus. “I have to. What other choice do I have?”
“You’re going to turn your back on Equestria, on Ponyville, on us, just on the chance that he might be telling the truth about knowing about the kirins!?” Sapphire yelled, the feeling of hurt and betrayal clear in her voice.
If Sapphire had ever started yelling at her before then about a choice, the kirin might have felt a little guilty or even cowed in the face of such emotion. All it served then was to bring all her fear, anger, and feeling of hopelessness to the surface with a vengeance. “YOUTHINK THAT’S WHY I’M DOING IT!?” She roared at the pegasus, getting up and slamming her front hooves on the table so hard it actually cracked slightly under the force. The other three in the room immediately shrunk away. “DO YOU REALLY THINK I’D TURN MY BACK ON YOU SO EASILY!? HE COULD OFFER ME ALL THE KNOWLEDGE IN THE WORLD, ALL THE POWER I COULD EVER DREAM OF, AND I’D STILL TELL HIM TO SHOVE IT! I’M DOING THIS BECAUSE HE SAID HE WOULD SPARE YOU THREE! I’M DOING THIS TO KEEP YOU SAFE!” She slammed her hooves down again and this time the table broke under her fury. A few splinters bounced off them all, but Midnight continued to snort angrily, wisps of blue flame occasionally flaring out her nose. Her eyes shot from one pegasus to the other, daring either of them to disagree with her.
Finally, Sapphire dared to break the silence. “And-” The kirin’s eyes landed on her and she flinched slightly. “And… what about the rest of Equestria?”
“The rest of Equestria can be flung into Tartarus for all I care! Ever since I was born practically every pony has been dying to do the same to me!”
“And Ponyville?” Sapphire asked, her voice becoming a bit steadier.
“I don- I can’t help them! He only said he’d leave you three alone if agreed to help him. I… I can’t risk you.” Midnight finally sat down, her voice quieting from anger to defeat.
“My mom and dad are in Cloudsdale. Even if I’m safe, how can I be happy knowing they’re still out there?” Sapphire asked quietly.
“And my buffalo herd!” Windrunner added. “Can you really expect me to just sit by while that monster makes them dance around in those ridiculous outfits?”
“And what about Berry and Derpy?” Sapphire said and had a guilty bit of satisfaction at seeing Midnight finally squirm a bit. “They’re your best friends and you’d let them face all this alone?”
“And what about Dinky?” They all turned to Squeaks, who was sitting away from Midnight since the kirin’s outburst. “And Pinchy and Twist? They’re my friends… and… and you promised it would all be alright.”
Midnight flinched at that. Slowly, she reached out a wing and a stabbing pain shot through her when Squeaks flinched at the touch. Then, sensing only care and concern behind the motion, Squeaks let her mother lead her back over and into a hug. “I’m so sorry Squeaks; sometimes we promise things but then the choice is taken out of our hooves.”
“And what about your mom and dad?” Sapphire pressed.
Midnight said nothing but a small, barely noticeable frown formed on her face.
“If you join Discord, finding them might become all but impossible.”
“It probably already is.” Silence gripped the table again. “What would you have me do?” Midnight asked finally.
“What?” Sapphire asked, looking back up at her.
“I said what would you have me do? Either way our families and friends are going to be at his mercy. How do you think I’ll feel if one day I see one of you hurt by something he does?” The anger in her voice was coming back. “Do you have any idea what it would do to me, to see Windrunner or you or SQUEAKS get hurt by him and know I could have done something to stop it!? EQUESTRIA IS DOOMED, AND THE LEAST I CAN DO IS MAKE SURE YOU THREE ARE SAFE!”
The two other mares didn’t respond to this new outburst. They’d gone back around to square one but this time they both had more to chew on. As much as they didn’t like it, they both had to agree with her, at least partially. If the choice had been in their hooves, could they have condemned the ones they cared about most to suffer with the rest, or would they grasp that lifeline, even if it was thrown by the worst demon from Tartarus? They knew Midnight cared for Squeaks more than life itself, but to care for them as much as well that she’d let Equestria burn for them… it touched them both, especially Sapphire, deeply.
“Ponies survived his first reign.” Sapphire finally said, to which Midnight snorted.
“Unscathed? I doubt it. Besides, there were the Elements back then.”
“We still have them now.” Windrunner offered.
“The bearers are no longer connected to them, you know that.” Midnight snapped.
“But if history is any indicator, then there will be others.” Sapphire said.
Midnight snorted again. “A thousand years is too long a wait. Besides, do you really think Discord is going to just wait for more bearers to appear? As soon as he’s finished conquering all of Equestria, or maybe he’ll even wait to take over the entire world first, but either way as soon as he’s finished I guarantee he’ll take the Elements and either keep them under lock and key someplace only he can get to or destroy them by chucking them into a volcano or something.” She gripped Squeaks tighter. “There just… there just isn’t any other way.”
They all fell silent again. Truly this time there was no more points to be made, no more choices to be seen. Either Midnight would join Discord and hope he kept his word or she would decline him and wait with them for the eventual, chaotic end.
The inhabitants all whipped their heads around at the sound of several loud knocks on the side door. Windrunner made to get up, but Midnight waved her back down. If it was Discord at the door, she wanted to face him without the others in harm’s way. Getting up, she moved over to the door and, with a steadying breath, opened it.
“Midnight! Thank the princess you’re still here!” To the kirin’s amazement Twilight Sparkle was standing on her doorstep, her Element perched on her head, and her colors fully restored. “I was afraid you might have flown away!”
“Uh… no, I wasn’t planning to.” Midnight said, still trying to figure out how what she was seeing was possible.
“Good, because we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Twilight let Spike, who had been riding on her back, hop down before making her way past Midnight inside.
“And what work would that be? The Elements are useless.” Midnight reminded her. “And how in the name of the almighty Faust did you get back to normal?”
“Princess Celestia began sending back all my reports on friendship. As I read them, I started remembering all the wonderful times with my friends, and how I was just going to throw it all away even though I knew Discord was behind it. They’re some of the most important ponies in my life and I just can’t let Discord think he can drive us apart that easily. I guess I just needed to be reminded of that. As for the Elements, I don’t think we lost our connection to them, only strained it really badly. We didn’t actually force them to do anything, and I can still feel the connection to mine. It’s weak but it’s there.” Twilight took a breath. “Midnight, I need your help to get the others normal again. Will you?”
Midnight stared at the unicorn for a few more moments, then at Spike who had the Element of Loyalty still in his claws, then finally back at Sapphire, Windrunner, and Squeaks.
Sapphire gently cleared her throat. “Midnight, you’ve said your piece about wanting to keep us safe, and I think Squeaky and Windrunner will agree with me that we’re very touched that you care for us so much.” Windrunner and Squeaks nodded in agreement. “But, since this decision affects us as well, we should have a say in it as well.” She smiled at her. “I’d rather you go and help Twilight again. Even if Discord wins again, even if he come after us, we’ll have each other; that’s all I care about.”
“I agree!” Windrunner said, standing up. “Besides, I’d like to get a chance to kick that Screwball’s flank!” They all got a chuckle out of that.
“You can win mom!” Squeaks said as she came over to give her a nuzzle. “You can kick anypony’s plot!”
“Language, young filly!” Midnight scolded. Then she smiled. “But you’re absolutely right I can!” They all laughed out loud and Midnight bent down to return the nuzzle. When she lifted her head back up, a bit of worry had crept back into her face. “Are you sure?”
“I don’t think I’ve been surer of anything else before.” Sapphire said. Windrunner and Squeaks nodded their agreements. “We can win.”
A warmth was creeping through Midnight as she looked around at them all. All her life ponies had treated her with contempt and fear and for the kirin it had become the norm. Then she’d come to this small town and had everything she was used to flipped on its head, and not in a bad way. The ponies around her now knew what she was and still cared for her. Whatever she did now, whatever she decided, it had to be for them. She silently weighed the options in her head again and this time there was only one right answer. She turned to face Twilight, a small, determined grin on her face. “Twilight, you and Spike lead the way; Windrunner and I have your back.”
-----------------------------
Sweet Apple Acres looked normal enough, if you ignored the green sky, checkered ground in places, huge apples, pop corn, and flying pigs. “Can’t tell Squeaks that anymore.” Midnight said.
“Can’t tell her what?” Spike asked.
“’When pigs fly’.” Despite their predicament, they all chuckled.
“Applejack!” Twilight called out as soon as her friend came into view. “We’re here to fight for our friendship!” The fact that she said that with such a serious face made it hard for Midnight not to laugh.
“Oh, NOW ya want ta fight? Where were y’all when Ah was battlin’ Discord?” AJ said, getting up from her apple pile and jabbing at the air.
Twilight turned back and nodded to the two fliers. They had agreed on the way over that if any of the other bearers showed resistance Midnight and Windrunner would hold them down while Twilight performed her memory spell on them that would, in theory, make them normal again. In the blink of an eye both fliers had rushed forward and tackled the farm pony to the ground, making sure to stay clear of her back legs as they kicked and bucked.
“Applejack, you’re not a liar! You’ve got to remember!” Twilight rushed over as soon as it was safe and touched her horn to AJ’s head. The earth pony just went limp with her eyes wide open.
“Uh… you sure that was a memory restore spell Twilight?” Midnight asked as she and Windrunner got off the now docile earth pony.
“Just give it a minute,” she assured them. Sure enough, almost immediately after she’d told them to wait, AJ twitched and the color started to return to her.
“Ugh… what happened?” Then she saw the rest of them.
“Discord did something to you that made you start telling lies.” Twilight told her gently.
AJ grimaced and kicked a hoof. “There was a mirror that showed us all fightin’, and Ah thought that if Ah lied about what Ah saw, it wouldn’t come true. Ah’m so sorry y’all.” The orange pony looked around at them all apologetically.
Twilight laid a hoof on her whither. “We forgive you AJ. Now come on, we’ve got to snap the others out if it too!”
-----------------------------
It was a good thing they had gone to AJ’s first. Midnight was sure they’d be chasing Fluttershy for hours if the farm pony hadn’t lassoed her, allowing Midnight and Windrunner to hold her down for the memory spell. Rarity was even easier, as all Midnight had to do was threaten to eat one of her gems and the white mare practically threw herself at the kirin. Pinkie was so far down in the dumps that she didn’t even put up a fight. After each pony was cured they were given their Element to put on, and once they were done with Pinkie that left only one more pony to find. Unfortunately, their once-loyal friend proved to be more difficult than they had anticipated.
“She’s not here!” Windrunner announced as she came back out of Rainbow’s house. She, Midnight, and Fluttershy had done a thorough search of the cloud-house/mansion and the only rainbow to be seen was the rainbow waterfall that ran down the side.
“Darn it! Where else would she be!?” Twilight rubbed her head in concentration while the other performed similar thinking gestures.
“Don’t you hang out with her a lot?” Midnight asked Windrunner. If she wasn’t working with Midnight, the tribal pegasus was with the multi-chromatic mare. She was nearly as fast as the Cloudsdale native and the two of them spent their times together racing around Ponyville, performing stunts Rainbow practiced for getting into the Wonderbolts, or both.
Windrunner nodded. “Yes, but almost never in the same place twice. She might not even be in Ponyville anymore.” If Rainbow was no longer in Ponyville airspace, finding her in the now chaotic world would be almost impossible.
“Oh, I hope she hasn’t gone all the way back to Cloudsdale.” Fluttershy said softly.
“Where do we even start lookin’?” AJ asked, worry clear in her voice as well.
“Over there!” Pinkie said simply, pointing a hoof at a small, nearby cloud.
Indeed, a gray Rainbow Dash was lounging upon said cloud as if it was just any other day. Not even a cotton candy cloud that went zipping by roused her. Midnight and Windrunner face-hoofed. How they, as fliers, missed her while Pinkie, a ground-pounder, had seen her hit them both in their winged pride.
“Rainbow! There you are!” Twilight called out in relief, moving closer to talk better.
“Hey guys.” Rainbow called down, not even turning around.
“Rainbow, we need your help! Discord is still on the loose and is terrorizing all of Equestria!” Twilight pleaded.
“That’s nice.” Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof.
“We need you to wield your Element of Loyalty again, or else none of the Elements will work!” Twilight tried again, to, dismally, the same results.
“Loyalty? Pah!” Rainbow finally turned around to face them. “Ponyville’s a disaster and the rest of Equestria is just as bad! I’m staying here in Cloudsdale where everything is normal and awesome!” With that she flopped back down on the cloud to go to sleep.
“How in Equestria can she think that a cloud smaller than a couch can be Cloudsdale?” Rarity asked.
“The same way Discord made you grab anythin’ shiny like a loose diamond dog.” AJ told her with a smug smile.
The fashionista glared at the apple farmer. “Or like how he made you the biggest liar the Apple Family has ever seen?”
“Girls, focus!” Twilight scolded, putting an end to the argument. “Appealing to her won’t work, so it’s time we went to plan B. Applejack, you still have your ropes, right?” The apple farmer held up several lengths of rope and nodded. “Alright, that’s plan C. Midnight, Windrunner, Fluttershy; start plan B!”
With a nod, Midnight and Windrunner shot at Rainbow. Fluttershy flew at a slower pace, not wanting to be so confrontational. Luck, however, was not on their side, and Rainbow cracked an eye open when she heard Twilight yell. Seeing the two speeding mares racing at her she gave a start, then grabbed the cloud and zipped up and away from them. Both mares instantly gave chase.
It became immediately apparent that Dash may have lost her colors, but she hadn’t lost an ounce of her speed or endurance. As soon as the chase began both pegasi began outdistancing the kirin, her wings, muscles, and flight style more suited for long hours gliding on thermals than speeding over great distances. Windrunner was doing far better than Midnight and staying close to the once-rainbow-maned pegasus as they shot around the sky. Having spent long hours training with her, Windrunner had a better grip of Rainbow’s moves than almost anypony else and was using that to her advantage. Zig-zags, loops, and immelmans did nothing to dislodge her from Rainbow’s six. But, this was still Rainbow Dash, and as fast and skilled as Windrunner was she was still slightly slower and only reacting to Rainbow’s moves. The Cloudsdale flier was slowly and steadily gaining airspace between the two of them and, when they were about ten pony lengths apart, the apparent nasty streak that came with being ‘grayed-out’ finally kicked in.
Rainbow reverse-immelmaned back over Windrunner and aimed herself at the struggling, but still determined, Midnight, aiming as though she meant to ram her out of the sky. Midnight, however, didn’t try to dive away or avoid her, as those on the ground and in the air were calling out for her to do. Instead, she continued to flap hard right towards the rouge pegasus, a determined look in her eye. At the last second before it looked like they would collide Midnight pulled up straight and snapped open her large wings, giving Rainbow no chance to pull away from their game of chicken. The grayed mare slammed into the kirin, the cloud she had been clutching the entire time exploding from the impact, and the two of them began tumbling out of the air. Midnight snapped her wings shut around them as they fell, ensuring that where heading for the ground and that Rainbow would have a harder time of escape. For her part, Rainbow was biting, punching, and kicking her captor as fast, hard, and frequently as she could, making Midnight twist, dodge, and counter to avoid injury while a loud ringing was going off in her ears.
“Midnight, the ground!” Twilight yelled out at her as the two became dangerously low.
The kirin twisted around once more and this time snapped open her wings, resuming forward motion again at barely the height of a door. The fall had helped build up airspeed, and now she was zooming right at the four ponies on the ground, grappling with Rainbow all the way.
“Applejack, when they get close catch Rainbow with one of your lassos so we can bring her and Midnight down safely.” Twilight told the earth pony.
AJ nodded and began swinging the rope around, lining up the shot. Just as she was about to throw, Rainbow finally got a shot in at Midnight, throwing her off balance enough to slam both her rear hooves into the hybrid’s stomach. With a loud “OOF!” Midnight clutched her stomach and veered off to the left and slammed into Twilight as they passed by, sending both of them tumbling. The veteran rodeo pony still took the shot, and her aim was true. Rainbow zipped through the loop, only for it to close around her middle. AJ whooped at her success, but what she didn’t know was the rope she had thrown hadn’t been the one she had secured to herself. In the mess of ropes at her hooves the rope she had thrown had actually been the one she’d ask Pinkie to hold for her. The rope went taught, and as the party pony was pulled up into the air she grabbed hold of Rarity, and the two of them went skyward.
“PINKIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Rarity screamed, a mix of terror and fury.
“Oops,” was all the party pony could offer.
AJ’s throw hadn’t been in vain, though, as the combined weight of two ponies had a noticeable and desirable effect on the pegasus in the form of her struggling, and failing, to maintain her speed and altitude. Jumping at the opportunity, Windrunner put herself back on Rainbow’s tail, but not before grabbing another one of AJ’s ropes. She was not going to repeat Midnight’s attempt at holding her down with her bare hooves; instead she caught up with the struggling Rainbow and caught her with another loop around the middle. Once she was sure it was secure, she folded her wings and dropped like a stone, pulling Rainbow down further once the line went taught.
“Fluttershy!” she called out, beckoning her over to grab the rope as well. Seeing it as a non-confrontational way of stopping her friend, the shy pegasus eagerly flew over and added her weight to the rope. There was a loud, pained grunt below them, and they looked down to see Midnight in the air below them, clutching her stomach with a look of pain and determination. As soon as the rope was low enough, Midnight simply grabbed on with her teeth and went limp. They immediately dropped half their current height and continued to fall rapidly.
Soon enough, Midnight landed with a grunt but got up and began moving away with the rope still in her mouth. As soon as they touched down, the others did the same, with Rarity, Pinkie, and AJ and Spike, who had run over to help, pulling one way and Windrunner and Fluttershy on Midnight’s side pulling the other. Rainbow couldn’t move forward, back, left, right, or fly up again.
“LET ME GO!” she roared at them, bucking wildly and futilely. Not missing a beat, Twilight rushed up to the enraged pegasus and put her horn to her head. Without warning Rainbow simply stopped moving and stood there with a blank expression. The others didn’t let the ropes go until all her colors were restored. “Wha… what happened?” she asked, dazed, then her eyes flew open. “What happened to the Elements!?” She jumped on top of AJ. “Did we beat Discord!?”
The rest of the mane six ran in to hug their un-grayed friend while Windrunner helped Midnight back up. The kirin grunted in pain as her stomach shot another bolt of pain through her. “That mare can bucking buck,” she gasped out.
“Do you need a minute?” The brown pegasus asked with concern.
Midnight waved her off. “I don’t think I have a minute anymore.” She lifted the watch around her neck for Windrunner to see, and the pegasi’ eyes widened with worry. The watch had struck zero while she had been struggling with Rainbow. Discord would be wanting her answer.
“…right Midnight?” A voice made her turn her head. Behind her with the six bearers, each wearing their Element and a look of determination. Twilight inclined her head. “Are you alright? Rainbow hit you pretty hard.”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, embarrassed. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
Midnight nodded. “I can- urgh!” She had barely taken a step before grabbing at her stomach again.
Twilight gave her a sad smile, then opened her saddle bags and pulled out a vile of bright green liquid. “I had a feeling at least one of us would get hurt bringing the others around. Drink this; it should stop the pain for a bit and help you heal quicker.”
Knowing time was of the essence, Midnight didn’t so much as grimace at the unknown liquid and downed it in one gulp. It didn’t taste that bad, and the pain in her stomach almost instantly faded away.
“Better?” Twilight asked.
Midnight nodded. “Definitely. Now, let’s put an end to this.”
-----------------------------
The draconequus and chaos pony (as Screwball’s tribe will now be called) weren’t hard to find. With Ponyville now the chaos capital of the world, it only made sense for its rulers to be seated in the very middle of it. When the nine of them came upon the chaos entities they were toasting with glasses of chocolate milk.
“Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing!” Discord cheered. He and Screwball tapped their glasses together, only for his to change into a gecko while hers became a cello.
“It’s not as wonderful as friendship!” Twilight called out, making Midnight groan again at the cheesiness of it.
Discord snorted. “Oh, this again? Didn’t you ladies learn anything from the last time you tried using those things?” He snapped his claws and another glass of chocolate milk appeared in his claw. He drank the glass, then threw the chocolate milk, somehow still holding its in-glass shape, over his shoulder where it exploded as it impacted the ground behind him. “And I see the great Midnight Storm is here as well.” The addressed kirin snorted in kind. “I trust you have an answer for me? Seeing as I didn’t swoop down on you the moment time was up, I hope it’ll be a favorable one.”
All eyes went to the kirin as she stared back at Discord, then looked down at the watch around her neck. She could give into him and secure the safety of her foal and friends. It was the right, responsible thing to do as a mother and friend. But thoughts about all the other friends she had made, their families, and other friends as well surfaced in her mind, and what kind of world would she be allowing Squeaks to grow up in? A second of hesitation more, and then Midnight yanked the clock off her neck, ripping the cloth that held in on her, and threw it down at the base of his throne.
“No” she said simply. “I may be the only kirin alive today, and I’d want to know more about my kind more than anything, as well as keep Squeaks, Sapphire, and Windrunner safe, but Celestia knows just as much about them as you do. Probably even more, and I have more family and friends in my life than just those living with me right now. And then there’s this town. Before I came here I was wandering from place to place because I was never accepted by other ponies.” Discord smirked. “But then I came to this town, and you know what? They welcomed me with open hooves. Even after they knew what I was, all that I was, they still wanted to be my friends and make me happy to be here. I am happy to be here, and I owe it to them as my friends to not throw all that away for a moment’s satisfaction and a false sense of safety. You told me that they would turn on me, and in the worst possible way. I can only assume you were speaking from experience.” The draconequus’ face flashed with a mix of emotions for a brief moment at that. Midnight backed up to be closer with the ponies she was throwing her lot in with. “Yes, they will eventually disappoint and even hurt me in some ways, but they’re only ponies and I know I’ll eventually forgive them, as they will when I make similar blunders. I’ll take my chances and put faith in my friends that history won’t repeat itself.”
Twilight, Windrunner, and the rest nodded respectfully and encouragingly at her. “You see that Discord? Friendship isn’t always easy, but there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for!”
The embodiment of chaos simply looked at them all for a moment, then face-palmed.
“Oh, GAG!” Screwball said, rolling her eyes.
“Can you two be anymore sappy?” he asked. “But fine, whatever, stay on their side. See if I care.” What looked like pain flashed over his face again, but it quickly returned to contempt. “But are you really planning on threatening me again with those useless trinkets? Last I checked you followed in dear old Sun-butt’s hoof-steps and tried forcing them to work, which I believe broke your little trinkets.”
“You may have weakened our bonds with the Elements, Discord, but you didn’t break them!” The rest of the bearers gathered around Twilight as they got ready to use the ancient magic once again.
“Well, this should be entertaining,” Discord chuckled. “But, why not make your last stand a bit more interesting?” He snapped his eagle claw, and a series of flashes began appearing around the group of resisters. When each flash cleared, a giant piece of chocolate bar, marshmallow, or graham cracker had appeared, each wielding a toothpick like it was a spear or a sword. When the flashing was done, there were easily a hundred of them surrounding the ponies, dragon, and kirin. “You know that limbo song where they sing ‘how low can you go’? Well, how long can you go?” He snapped his claw once more and a whole tray of movie snacks, including pop corn, nachos, goobers, and the like appeared before the throne.
“SPIKE!” Midnight roared, letting loose a long blast of fire at the surrounding chaos soldiers. Following her example, the young drake let loose with his own green fire, matching hers to form an encircling wall of flame between the bearers and their attackers. Midnight and Windrunner both jumped up into the air while the sugary enemies stumbled back from the flames. “Stay behind the fire and protect them!” She called down to him. “Patch up the fire if it starts getting too low!” When she was sure Spike knew the plan, she and Windrunner flew out over the crowd of would-be s’mores.
Windrunner soon found an odd patch of dirt in the checkerboard ground and quickly began making a dust storm to confuse and blind the enemy, if they could be blinded. Midnight, for her part, dive bombed the massed hostile treats and gouged their lines with her fire. After the first few passes it looked like the hundred Discord had called on would fold easily, but then she noticed that the ones that had melted together due to the heat were still moving forward, some still brandishing their toothpicks, and that the ones she had charred or melted completely were being replaced by reinforcements appearing in more flashes of light along the outside of the crowd.
She grunted and continued her dive bombing. All she could do was to continue slowing the sweets’ advance and pray the bearers did something quick. Discord was no fool, and he was not going to make this easy on them.
-----------------------------
Twilight had closed her eyes, concentrating on the Element sitting on her head, and when she opened them again she had somehow appeared in a void of some kind. She didn’t linger on what was going on long as she could see in front of her the Element of Magic, out of the crown and floating a little ways away. It was dull and didn’t radiate magic like it had done before, as if all the energy had been drained out of it.
Twilight tried to reach out for it, but soon realized she couldn’t move from her present spot. She tried to call out to it after a few seconds of thinking, wondering if this was some sort of plane that the Element could communicate with her. Once again, her attempts seemed in vain, as only the feeling of trying to get the Element’s attention left her, no sound emanating from her mouth. This time her efforts seemed to bear fruit as her need for the Element somehow seemed to reach it just by her wanting it to. It turned a bit, as if looking at her from over its shoulder, then quickly twisted back around. A feeling of betrayal and anger hit the unicorn hard as if the Element had physically shot the emotions at her. Confused, the mare tried to get its attention again, but it only continued to ignore her.
Twilight had no idea how to reach through to the Element, but she needed to soon if there was going to be any hope of beating Discord at his own game.
-----------------------------
Midnight was forced off her strafing run as several toothpicks flew up at her, sharpened wooden points somehow glistening in the sunlight. They sailed past her and rained down on several of the throwers’ compatriots. The impaled only stopped for a moment, ‘looking’ down at their injuries, then proceeded to pull the weapons out of themselves and began their forward march again, now armed even further.
Some took their toothpicks, let them sit over the open flames consuming their comrades, and then turned them on Windrunner. She was moving the dust storm around their formation now, using the dust to not only give her cover but to lessen the chance of counter attack by using the dust cloud as a shield as she kicked, bit, and threw any enemies that got caught in her blinding winds. Most thrown toothpicks went wide as the winds caught them and threw them away. The few that did make it through had their fire snuffed out and hit their own more often than not, but the close calls couldn’t last forever.
Neither could Spike. The young dragon was doing as he had been told and was adding his own fire to the barrier, blocking off the concentrating bearers from their assailants. He was doing a valiant job plugging any perceived weaknesses and holes opening in the ring of fire, but the marshmallow soldiers had actually begun throwing themselves on the flames, their melting bodies suffocating the very flames devouring their bodies, and then more popped up along the edges to take their places. Midnight shot back occasionally to help reinforce the defense, but if nothing changed, and soon, their efforts would end up amounting to nothing.
Discord’s and Screwball’s laughter rang in her ears.
-----------------------------
Twilight still couldn’t get the Element of Magic to yield to her pleas, but there had been some welcome signs of progress.
Only a little while ago there had been a bright flash off to the side of her vision, and for a terrifying moment thought Discord had come once again to try and finish what he started. What came through, however, was a pink gem in the shape of a butterfly. It was the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy’s Element, and as it came near the starburst-shaped gem it began to orbit it, producing an air of calmness and security as it seemed to comfort the other one. A barely perceptible lighter shade came over the Element and it even seemed to want to follow the other Element, but stopped and turned back as it came close to facing Twilight.
Almost as soon as this had finished another bright light had appeared, and a blue gem in the shape of a balloon had come zooming over to take its place around Magic. This Element of Laughter produced an air of joy and happy ease, a feeling like that of being at a party hosted by a dear friend, far removed from the patronizing and humiliating perversion of it that was Discord’s hallmark. Magic brightened a little further.
Now it was clear to Twilight what had to be done. Just like when they had first found them about a year ago, the other Elements had to be found first before hers could. Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, and Generosity had to be present before Magic could fuse them all together into Harmony. Two of her friends had done their jobs in reconnecting with their Elements, now the other three needed to do so as well. She hoped they wouldn’t take too long.
-----------------------------
Midnight swung her tail, smashing a graham cracker soldier to bits as it struck. Unfortunately, this only served to aid the marshmallows. Somehow, one of them had discovered that the broken graham crackers shielded them from the fires enough as to allow them to continued forward, and soon the rest of them were armoring themselves. Midnight had fallen back to help Spike keep the barricade up and was currently striking out from within the fire wall, using the flames as an avenue of escape from retaliation. It was only a moderate protection, as the several shallow stab wounds adorning her sides could attest.
Windrunner continued her dust storm, driving it into some of the more packed parts of the enemy crowd. She was showing signs of fatigue, not ever having kept such a storm going for so long or so vigorously. The scrapes and cuts from near misses from toothpicks weren’t helping her matters either.
“Mi… Midnight… I can’t… can’t keep this up!” Spike called out to her, gasping for air. His flame was only a small flicker now every time he tried.
With a grunt, Midnight jumped into the air and did a circuit around the parameter, reinforcing it again with her own fire. It too was beginning to peter out, and Midnight was slowly beginning to lose hope. She had been sure the Elements would have done something by now. Were the bonds truly broken like Discord said and all this a valiant but futile effort?
She didn’t linger on her own diminishing hopes for too long, as a sharp, sudden cry of pain rent the air, causing her to twist her head in the direction of the dust cloud. Windrunner shot out of it and crashed into a group of enemies, sending some flying along with pieces of their comrades as she plowed into them. Without its master, the dust cloud quickly began to dissipate.
With a vicious snarl Midnight took to the air and zoomed over to her fallen friend. The chaos soldiers were quickly regrouping and surrounding the downed pegasus, but with a long, strong blast of fire, Midnight cut through them, grabbed her friend, and jumped back into the air and over to their defensive line.
She laid the panting pegasus down gently on her right side; a toothpick sticking out of her wing joint on the left. Thankfully the wound was shallow, but Windrunner still stifled a scream of pain as it was pulled out and the wound cauterized by a small tongue of flame from Midnight. “Sorry, I’ll get back- ah!” Windrunner tried to get back up and into the air, but a single flap of her wings brought her back down to her knees.
Midnight first looked from her, to Spike, the Bearers, Discord and Screwball, the soldiers, then back at her two fellow defenders again. She could change into a wyvern, but she’d be limited in her fire use as it could overwhelm the barrier and incinerate those she was trying to protect. Her great size would also make the floating homes, certainly with ponies inside, impossible to avoid.
“Stay down,” she said, gently pushing her back down with a wing. “Spike and I will keep fighting.”
-----------------------------
‘Come on Rainbow! Come ON!’ Twilight fumed as she waited with ever decreasing patience for the fifth and final Element to show. Honesty and Generosity had taken a while getting there as well, but come they had, floating around Magic along with Kindness and Laughter and brightening Magic up even further. But it wasn’t enough. Loyalty still needed to be present in order to spark Magic back to full power. The Element had even begun warming up to Twilight herself again, albeit with still some reluctance.
The unicorn forced herself to be calm. Rainbow was her friend, and as her friend she had to trust that the pegasus would come through, no matter how dire the situation was. She was the bearer of Loyalty, and she would always be there for her friends.
As if in answer to this, a final flash of light appeared and the red lightning bolt that was Loyalty shot into view and joined with the others. Great joy and happiness emanated from the Elements as their final lost member came back to them. It joined them in their orbit of Magic, and as one they all began to spin faster and faster until they became a blur.
Slowly, and with the others still orbiting it in a blur, Magic made its way over to Twilight. It stopped a short distance away and seemed to just stare at her. A feeling of being asked something came over Twilight, and she sent back to it a wave of sorrow, apology, regret, and of wanting to be close again. At first, the Element seemed unsure of her feelings, but the more they ‘talked’, the more it began to believe her. Finally, it seemed to offer her to connect with it again, emphasized by the slight tilt forward towards her. Slowly, and with great reverence and thanks, Twilight reached for the Element and when they touched, she felt the same feeling that had overcome her back in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters in the battle with Nightmare Moon, that same spark. She let the feeling envelop and guide her.
----------------------------
Screwball eyed the scene in front of her with a critical, swirled eye. It was almost over for them. The fire wall was finally failing in spots and the bearers' defenders were on their last legs. Any minute now they would fall and they and the bearers would be taken prisoner. The Elements, and where they were from, would finally be dealt with, permanently, but there was something about the bearers that the chaos mare just couldn’t place. “You’re sure their ties to the Elements were broken?” she asked Discord, worried about how an eldritch light still played about them.
The draconequus waved her concerns away as he sipped from a cup of cola-flavored motor oil. “They tried to force the Elements to work, and just look at how well that went. Dear old Tia would be proud of them. Now stop being such a worry wart and enjoy the finale!” He shoved more popcorn into her hooves and turned back to the last moments of the battle. Reluctantly, she began snacking again.
After her third hoofful of popcorn, something red shot by her head. It was quickly followed by something orange, then blue. Looking back down at the bearers, she began nudging Discord. “Not now Screwball. Midnight’s about to get- ooo that had to hurt!” But the poking wouldn’t stop, and soon they became hard jabs. “Screwball, what is-!?” She hopped up, grabbed his face, and pointed it at the bearers. Lights in the shapes of the Elements were shooting out from them and the eldritch light was quickly growing brighter.
“Awww, poopy.” Discord said flatly before launching himself towards the bearers. He was shot back into his throne as several of the lights impacted him in the face and gut.
“What was that about not worrying!?” Screwball said accusingly as he groaned in pain.
Spike, Windrunner, and Midnight were backing away from the ever increasing light, there hooves and claws up to help stave off being blinded, only to be stopped at the fire wall. Thankfully, the edible soldiers were too busy turning away from the light to jab at them through the greatly diminished defenses.
Just as the light became almost too much to bear, a rainbow shot up from the Elements, going high into the sky. It quickly reversed direction, and came screaming down on the two chaos entities. Before the Rainbow of Harmony hit them, they exchanged quick nods to each other.
They let out twin screams of “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” as the rainbow enveloped them. Surprisingly it sounded less like pain and more like someone who’d walked in to find a favorite model broken on the floor.
A blast wave shot out from the impact, changing everything back to normal as it passed over. The sky was again blue, the ground back to its normal green and brown, and even the mutant s’mores ingredients disappeared.
When the light cleared, Twilight and the rest of the mane six settled gently back down to the ground, having hovered from the power of the Elements flowing through them. Before them, Discord and Screwball were once again statues but they had gotten one last bit of revenge before being defeated. Discord was wearing a shirt that said “Sun-Butt Has a Fat Flank!” while Screwball had a shirt that said “Twilight Likes It and She Just Cannot Lie!” Both shot the world unamused, tabled glares.
Resisting the urge to break them, Twilight turned around to see how Midnight, Windrunner, and Spike were doing when the young drake ran into her. “You did it!” he yelled, relief and happiness evident in his voice as he hugged her.
“We all did it Spike,” she told him as she returned the hug.
“Oh, enough with the sappy lines!” They all looked over to Midnight who was giving them a look that somehow combined relief with exasperation. “I mean who seriously says that kind of stuff!?”
“Ponies who’ve just saved the world.” Twilight said smugly.
The kirin had no rebuttal.
-----------------------------
The award ceremony at Canterlot castle was the largest event in public memory up to that date. All six bearers were awarded for their service to Equestria for stopping Discord and Screwball. Even Midnight, Windrunner, and Spike were honored for their parts in helping them in the victory. While the press was of course present, Celestia made sure her guards curbed them from harassing them; at least during their victory party. Many a photographer would later develop film that mostly consisted of close ups of the bottoms of guards’ hooves.
Before the ceremony had gotten underway, Midnight and Windrunner had been whisked off to the castle’s medical wing to look over their injuries. Thankfully all of them, including the stabbed wing-joint, were pronounced relatively minor and the best remedy for quick healing was plenty of rest and good food. Celestia had shooed the bearers and Spike out after this in order to let Windrunner know that her induction into the Bearer Guard was approved, much to the pegasi’ confusion. After some explanation by both the princess and Midnight, the pegasus took the news with a much more positive light. “I wondered why we kept going so deep into the forest for trees when there were so many so much closer to the house.” So did the Bearer Guard gain its first lieutenant.
The hour after the party found the bearers and Spike on a train home while Midnight and her group stayed behind so that Windrunner could, like her new captain, be fitted for her formal outfit and armor. While they waited, the alicorn pulled the kirin to the side for a report on what occurred, not really having a chance to ask any of the others before then.
“…and then the Elements shot them with a rainbow and turned them back to stone. Everything went back to normal after that.” Midnight finished with a shrug.
Celestia looked out a nearby window towards what she could see of the gardens. “I believe I’ll stop talking with Discord from now on,” she said with a tone that was completely absent of any humor.
“Why did you talk with him in the first place? He was your enemy, wasn’t he?” Midnight asked her, slightly confused.
“I never imagined he’d get free, or remember all of it. I’ve underestimated him again.” She turned back to Midnight. “And he wasn’t always my enemy.” This last part she said with a hint of deep remorse. “But I am grateful you didn’t take his offer, Midnight. I know you took a great risk to yourself, your daughter, and your friends in standing up to him.”
“I nearly didn’t, when we thought the Elements wouldn’t work anymore.” The kirin bit her lip. “He said that you were lying about the kirins, about what happened to them.”
Celestia stiffened. “’Disappeared’ was a vague word to use on my part,” she admitted. “But I use it because I do believe you aren’t the first one born in over a thousand years. It’s too lonely and sad a feeling to let myself think like that, to think myself truly alone for all that time.”
Midnight looked up at her. To be alone for a thousand years as the only alicorn in Equestria, possibly the whole planet; Midnight could sympathize with her on that note. “He was right though. You haven’t told me anything about what happened to the kirins.”
Celestia turned back to her after another minute’s pause. “Even after all this time, it’s still a painful memory. One which I still feel almost daily, even more so now that you’re here.”
A painful memory. Another thing she could relate to with the princess. “I want to know about them, someday. Not in fifty years mind you, but not right now either. They aren’t here now and that can only mean something horrible happened, and I don’t want to ruin the others mood.” She looked Celestia in the eye. “Just promise me that when I do ask, you’ll hold nothing back. I want to know everything.”
Celestia stared down at her with a thoughtful expression. Then she stuck a wing out in a formal gesture. Midnight stretched her own out after a moment and gripped the princess’s with it, shaking gently. When they were done sealing the accord, they went back to staring out the window in a much more easy silence.