Chapter 5: …Are Condemned To Repeat It
Everypony’s jaws dropped straight to the floor when their brains finally registered what the Princess had said.
“But… thats… wait, how?” Twilight stammered. “Every book I have read has told me that there are only six Elements of Harmony. How can there be five hundred of them?”
“Because most books don’t date back four hundred years ago. Most knowledge on the others has been lost over time. Your six Elements; Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, and Magic; are the most current ones. They have been around for four hundred years, since the last humans were spotted in Equestria, which compared to some information I found, said that it would be impossible for that to happen.”
“Why would it be impossible?” Fluttershy asked.
“Because the Elements of Harmony are ever changing. Some are formed by sheer accidents while some are formed by the good deeds of others. But, even though they change constantly, there has only ever been six Elements at a time controlled by ponies. The very first Elements of Harmony, formed before I was even born, were very powerful, capable of doing great things. But with great power, comes great responsibility. A responsibility some were not able to handle.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“Well, when you were fighting Nightmare Moon and Discord, the Elements were relatively easy to control, would you not agree?”
“I guess. I mean, when we used them, I felt as though I was in a deep sleep.” Twilight said.
“Same here.” Rarity agreed.
Pinkie and Fluttershy both nodded their heads as well.
“Even though the Elements are very powerful, you all possess Elements that, compared to others that came before them, are very weak. Over time, all of them have slowly become weaker. The very first six Elements, as well as the most powerful, were the Elements of Courage, Wisdom, Knowledge, Equality, and Friendship.”
“What about the sixth Element?” Twilight asked. “You said there were always six at a time, but you only said five. What happened to the sixth?”
Princess Celestia frowned and turned her head away from the group.
“The sixth Element is lost to history. Nopony knows its name, but every book and scroll I have read about the matter told me that it was too powerful to be controlled.”
“How powerful was it?” Fluttershy asked, cowering away behind Twilight.
“Enough that if you were to compare that off one, singular Element with the other five hundred or so Elements, the original Element would, quite literally, blow the others out of the water. Its power was so great, that it almost brought the end of our world as we know it.”
“But how? How can anypony control something that is that powerful?”
“It wasn’t a pony who controlled it. It was a human.”
Silence permeated the room.
“No, impossible!” Twilight shouted. “How can one of those things control an Element of Harmony? They seem to be the complete opposite of Harmony!”
“You are right. By nature, they shouldn’t have the power to control Elements of Harmony. To generalize, they are selfish, careless, and overall blinded by their own personal gain. It doesn’t seem feasible that they could control them. However, this is where things get... well... odd.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Twilight asked, curiosity hinting in her voice.
“Somehow, in a way that I do not understand, almost all Elements of Harmony come from Humans. Even all of your Elements originated from human owners.. all except for your Element, Twilight.”
Everypony in the room stood there, stunned, not knowing how to cope or respond with this new information.
“But… how?” Twlight muttered.
“Humans don’t have magic in their world. Your Element was created by ponies instead. There are very few though I’m afraid. Yours was formed by ponies in an effort to…”
“NO! How do Elements of Harmony originate from HUMANS?!” Twilight shouted, but quickly brought a hoof over her mouth, realizing she just yelled at her mentor. "Princess, I am so sorry... I didn't..."
Celestia merely held up a hoof.
"It is quite alright." She responded as she let out a long sigh.
“There is an opposite of everything, Twilight. Light cannot exist without dark. This is what I have come up with myself over the years. I believe that the Elements originate from humans because they live in a world full of anger and despair, a world of darkness. But, there must be some good to them, something that outweighs the bad, no matter how small. I think because they can control Elements because they can defeat evil in a way nopony would hopefully ever have to. Humans have the capability to defeat their own evil nature. That in itself is a power beyond anything in the known world.”
“But... then how do the Elements pass from a human to a pony?” Twilight asked.
“When they enter this world, the Element that they possess is released into our world. Once it is released, it desperately finds a host worthy of controlling it. The human can still control it while he is here, but most don’t know how. This allows for a pony and a human to both control the same Element. However, there is a downside to having a new element. New ones will be spontaneously created, or even repeated if there are not six Elements alive. But, if there are six Elements, the new element searches out the weakest Element and replaces it. This process though…”
The Princess cut off mid-sentence, trying to figure out how to say the next part, her eyes looking down at the ground.
“Princess?” Fluttershy asked. “Are you okay?”
Celestia shook her head, keeping her face toward the ground.
“When this process occurs, the host of the Element it replaces is killed as well… and a new host is found.”
Everyone in the room stood motionless, fear building up in their minds. Even Pinkie Pie’s usual smile slowly turned upside down.
“But… but that means…. that…” Twilight stammered.
“Yes. If these humans are indeed bringing over a new element into our world… one... or more of you will…”
Celestia stopped her sentence, not daring to proceed further. She just continued to stand there, facing the ground, a small tear forming in her eye.
“Do… do you know who it will be?” Rarity whispered quiety.
“No. All I know is that it will pick the weakest Element out of you six. I do not know who, when, or where. It is a process that can take a week, a month, a year... however long it needs.”
A dead silence filled the room for what seemed to be hours, when a knock at the door broke their trance.
“Um… I… I will get it.” Fluttershy mumbled, slowly walking over to the door.
As Fluttershy opened the door, a pair of familiar faces appeared in front of her. One with a sling over her left shoulder.
“RAINBOW DASH! APPLEJACK!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The sudden outburst threw both of them back.
“Ah! Come on Fluttershy. I don’t want to go back to the hospital with a busted ear drum next!” Rainbow said sarcasticly.
Fluttershy went over to Rainbow and hugged her, being careful to not put pressure on her left shoulder. By this time, everyone was over next to the door to great their friends, memories of the conversation that happened only minutes ago slipping out of their minds.
“I was so worried about you Rainbow darling!” Rarity said.
“How did you get out? It’s only been a couple of hours.” Twilight asked, only to then turn her face towards the clock. It read 10:15PM. They had been here since 7:00 in the morning.
“A couple of hours? I’ve been there for the whole day! Nurse RedHeart said that I could use my wings, but that I should not try to walk around a lot for at least one week.”
Rainbow looked around to see the Princess standing behind everyone, a slight smile on her face. Rainbow could tell though that something was wrong, and so could Applejack.
“Did we miss anything? Did you get that weird monster?” Rainbow asked.
Everyone in the room fell silent again, tears forming in Fluttershy’s eyes once more.
“What happened?” Applejack asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
“You have a lot to catch up on.” The Princess said quietly.
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“Ok, so…” Grinch started. “We are in the middle of some messed up country where talking, colorful ponies rule the land. Some can fly and some can use magic. They trapped you in a shield and were going to have the Princess of the land come and talk to you?”
“Yes, it sounds really weird, but that’s what I know.” Sandman said.
Grinch let out a chuckle.
“I’m sorry, but how did we even get here? Last thing I remember we were in the middle of a diamond mine in Siberia.”
“Yeah, that part I haven’t figured out yet, and it’s something I think would be valuable to know.” Truck agreed.
“The only way we are ever going to figure this shit out is if we go back into the town. Regardless of what happens, we need to find a radio or something.” Grinch said.
“Unfortunately, your right.” Sandman said. “Although, if we go into that town, they will probably try to attack us or capture us, just like they did to me back at that cottage.”
“Well, we got guns. Anything that gets in front of us we can just drop. Besides, they are a bunch of taking ponies.” Truck said.
“You good with that Grinch?” Sandman asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Then it’s settled.” Sandman said, reloading his M9. “We are going back into the town. However..." Sandman stated loudly, gathering the two other soldiers attention. "You will only shoot if they try to capture you or harm you. I do not want to piss off the populace any more that we need to, ponies or not." He eyed the two others. "Understood?"
“Roger that.”