A few days earlier...
---
Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty.
These are five of what a pony needs in order to have a long-lasting friendship with others. They are what he or she needs to be a good pony in general. They are what one needs if one wants to be a true hero of ponykind.
And they are what one needs, along with the support of that friendship or relationship with the people, to activate the "spark." The spark of Magic.
So came the rebirth of the legendary Elements of Harmony, the most powerful sources of magic known in the history of Equestria, after a thousand years of dormant sleep. A thousand years after Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, had used them to banish her corrupted sister to the moon. Alas, the prophecies foretold that the Mare in the Moon would return after such a period of time. She would have, indeed, plunged all of Equestria into eternal night, if it was not for the bravery of six individual ponies that hailed from the town of Ponyville. It was these ponies who had managed to do what Celestia could not: reawaken the Elements of Harmony and utilize them to their utmost fullest potential. And with this fully realized potential at their hooves, the six ponies were actually able to defeat and restore Nightmare Moon back to her former persona, Princess Luna, just as she was a millennium ago before she was swallowed by the sharp jaws of jealousy.
Since then, the six ponies became widely renowned for their victory, forever immortalized into the stained glass windows of the grand halls of the Canterlot Royal Palace. And even now, the spark of Magic continues to be with them, strengthening their friendship as their lives continue on in Ponyville.
However, as a fellow author and scholar who is studying these texts of great wisdom and knowledge alongside my colleagues right here in Canterlot, I had to ponder. Was it truly the full potential of the Elements of Harmony? Did their six representatives truly utilize all that they contained?
The truth, my fellow reader, is that it simply wasn't.
Since the very existence of the Elements of Harmony predates the rule of the royal sisters, there are, of course, historical records of them, dating back to some five hundred years after the founding of Equestria. Most of them describe similar incidents in which the Elements were used to the level of potential as was demonstrated by the six ponies in the current era. Some of them also describe incidents in which some wielders of them didn't quite reach the same level of potential, wielding them with limited power, yet still managed to accomplish their mission. Celestia banishing her sister to the moon was one of these "limited power" moments.
But far, far few of these records, albeit quite detailed, though, tell of one single incident that I now highly regard as something special. However, those neighsayers at the Grand Library seem to disagree with me, claiming that it was all inaccurate and that simply the Elements do not work that way. Curiously enough, though, Celestia herself seemed to be quiet on the subject matter. I wonder if she knows something about this incident? Or I wonder if she suspects the same as I do?
Well, whether you, the reader of this book, are willing to believe it or not, nevertheless, I encourage you to read the special chapter dedicated to this mysterious, yet fascinating incident with an open mind. Once you do, you will know why I said that it wasn't the full potential of the Elements of Harmony that the six ponies wielded. No... There is more than what meets the eye.
Read on, my dear reader, and I hope you will be fascinated by not only the contents of this book, but also the mysterious incident that had happened long ago...
"A mysterious incident, huh? Hmm..."
The blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash, was sitting on the top of her bed, situated in the bedroom of the cloud castle that she called home. She held a black hardcover book in her hooves, holding it up in front of her with her eyes on its pages.
Ever since that fateful day where she had broken her right wing and ended up in Ponyville Hospital trying to recover from the accident, Dash had grown to love the hobby of reading books. Beforehand, the pegasus had viewed the hobby of reading as a thing solely for "eggheads," which greatly contrasted with her being the competitive athlete that she was. It was simply "uncool" for her. That all changed, though, when she ran out of things to do to keep herself from being bored while waiting for her wing to recover. From day one alone, staying in that hospital room for three days straight felt like a jail to her. It gnawed at her, like a rabbit in its cage wanting and wishing to be released onto the free outside world.
With the claws of boredom getting at her, reluctantly, Dash decided to read the book that Twilight Sparkle brought in for her earlier. Before she even knew it, the pegasus was immediately immersed within it. She was into it completely, and she never stopped reading it. She realized she was wrong earlier: that reading was actually fun to her and that, at the end of the day, she should never judge anything unless she tries it.
Now, here she was, still reading books as ever. Dash was still going through the Daring Do series of adventure books, but she was now reading something completely different this time, for it had involved herself in it.
This particular book wasn't a story, however. Instead, it was a book of history and knowledge, and its primary subject was none other than the Elements of Harmony. The pegasus had only just read the introductory preface of it, beginning to read it proper as her hoof turned the page over to the first chapter of the book.
The book had been in Twilight Sparkle's library home for some time now, gathering dust along with the other books as time passed. According to the unicorn, the book had been written sometime after she, Dash, and the other four ponies had used the six Elements of Harmony for the first time. Just today, while cleaning up her home, Twilight had spotted the book sitting on the shelves and took it out, dusting it off. Taking a peek at it, she remembered that she already read it in whole before, and just as she was about to put it back, a gust of wind and the sound of hoof steps behind her had made her look back at who just entered.
Rainbow Dash had entered her home through the window, looking for the Daring Do book she was missing. After looking through the shelves, the purple unicorn had then given it to her. With the knowledge book still on the table beside her, she stopped Dash before she left, as Twilight was reminded of what she read in that book. Something that could be of interest to Dash, the unicorn thought.
The pegasus had preferred reading adventure stories, though. But then, she decided to have a read at it anyway. There was something interesting that had been written in there, Twilight added, and it was something that she personally saw in the blue pegasus on a few previous occasions.
It was now night time. Dash took a quick glance at her bedroom window, seeing that the sky was filled with a great veil of darkness, with its shining stars glistening brightly all over it. The air coming in from the window felt cool and breezy to her, with the distinctive feeling that it carried along whenever night had fallen.
With her little night light sitting on the table beside her that had illuminated her bedroom brightly enough, she turned her head over to her book.
"Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Elements of Harmony," the pegasus read aloud. "Looks like this is gonna be a long book. Wonder if I should skip to that special chapter?"
She looked up and away from the book, raising her left eyebrow.
"Hmm, something that Twilight personally saw in me a few times," she thought aloud. "I wonder...?"
After a few seconds, she then glanced at her book again, lowering her eyebrow.
"Since I already know how the Elements of Harmony work, I don't think I need this book to teach me about them again. I might as well skip these chapters for later, then."
Dash proceeded to turn several of the pages over with her right hoof. She flipped and flipped and flipped, until finally she stopped.
"Chapter 8: The Mysterious Incident. Here we go, then."
The pegasus began to read it, with her rose-colored eyes moving left and right with every second that passed, picking up every single word that had been written upon the pages and putting them into her mind. As time slowly passed and as she read ever deeper into the chapter, slowly, she learned of what supposedly happened thousands of years ago.
Long before the rule of the royal pony sisters, the peace and harmony that Equestria sheltered had been threatened by a mysterious evil force that was not from this world at all. It had come from another unknown world, the evil force had proclaimed, and it had come to this world to claim it as its own. Before all of ponykind knew it, this evil force had obliterated everything that it came across. The cities, towns, and villages were all blown into dust in a matter of time. As it laid waste and destruction through its path, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony at the time finally stood up against it, lest they let Equestria fall completely to this threat.
Unexpectedly, however, the Elements, at their known full potential, had failed to stop the evil force, much to the dismay of their wielders. In a surprise, one of the wielders was then put out of commission by the sheer strength of the darkness, which had rendered the Elements of Harmony inoperable. With all that had happened, it seemed like the evil force was truly impossible to defeat, and thus, it seemed that harmony was on the absolute brink of collapse.
But then, something unexpected had happened. A miracle, it was, and it came from one of the wielders who was truly defiant against the odds. This particular pony, a young, cobalt blue colt with a red mane and tail, firmly stood up against the dark force, never truly giving up hope unlike the others. His strong willpower and bravery was what kept him going, and losing them both would've meant losing all of Equestria as well. Thus, it was that very same willpower that ignited something within the Elements of Harmony. A deeper potential, it was, that had been hidden within them that nopony had known about until that moment.
According to the few records that tell of this incident, the book said, it was later found that not only the colt's willpower had awakened this hidden potential of the Elements, but he had also displayed all of their qualities in the past, from Honesty to Loyalty. Another requirement he had met was the backing of his friends, the other wielders, who had shouted that they were with him always. As Dash knew herself from reading this, it was that having a group of friends around and sharing feelings with those same friends creates the "spark" that was needed to unlock the sixth Element, Magic. At least, that was how Twilight interpreted it at the time, the unicorn once admitted.
Maybe just having the support of your friends creates the spark, Dash thought.
One final requirement that the colt had also met was merely the dire situation around him: that harmony was on the brink of collapse, which could actually be said for any of the times throughout history when the Elements of Harmony were used, the author had wrote. But this particular moment was different and unique, standing above all others. Unlike the many times where the Elements had succeeded in saving the world, this time, the Elements were actually overwhelmed by the sheer might of this evil force, even with their known full potential. They had tried to stop it, but they failed in the end when the force had fought back and with one of the wielders being put out of the picture completely. It truly seemed like it was the end of Harmony itself.
But it wasn't, thanks to this strong-willed colt. With the hidden potential of the Elements unlocked, the magic energies from his friends' Element necklaces began to transfer over to his necklace, and the miracle that would restore Harmony was born. Wielding the true full power of the Elements of Harmony in his hooves, the colt was able to finally obliterate the evil force once and for all, saving the world from it at last.
Dash blinked her eyes a few times at the text, widening her eyes a bit. A pony, a blue pony like herself with a strong will to boot, that wielded all of the Elements of Harmony at once and saved Equestria with them. It was really fascinating to her.
The pegasus read onwards. Before this incident happened, the historical records had also claimed that there had been signs beforehand; signs that had pinpointed the colt as being "the one with the strongest connection to Harmony itself. The one chosen by destiny to be the Flame of Harmony." What these signs actually were, however, the records did not say.
So, did it truly happen some untold thousands of years ago? The author asked. He believed it did happen long ago, and he believed it could happen anytime in the near future as well. But his fellow colleagues and scholars had disagreed with him otherwise.
As it is with pessimism, they had greatly questioned these so-called historical records. Do the Elements of Harmony really have a hidden side in them? At what exact point in time did this incident happen? "Thousands of years ago" seemed too vague. And if it truly was the hidden potential of them that this colt wielded, then why didn't Princess Celestia, who also wielded all of them at once and had met the other requirements as well, revert her sister back to her former state instead of sending her straight to the moon?
Dash stopped reading at that point. She didn't really care about a group of people arguing with one another unless she personally had a problem with it or was involved in it. The incident itself was what interested her more at the moment, as she glanced back at the previous pages of the chapter while keeping the question of validity in mind.
"Huh… Why am I getting this strange feeling that it really did happen long ago?" Dash thought aloud again, staring at the pages. "Well, true or not, I see what Twilight was talking about now. Strong will and bravery. One of the things needed to unlock the hidden potential of the Elements... Yep, definitely sounds like me alright."
Looking up, she pondered about one of the other requirements needed to unlock it. She knew she was strong and brave already, but did she exhibit all of the five Element qualities in the past? Can she exhibit all of them at all?
"Let's see. Besides Loyalty, the Element that I obviously represent... Well, at least I'm as honest as Applejack. I know that one very well. And I know I laugh a lot with others and for good reasons, like Pinkie Pie. But generosity and... kindness?"
Dash sighed, lowering and shaking her head. Both kindness and generosity were never her strong suit, especially kindness. She always saw it as a trait that displayed weakness, particularly when standing up against somepony who's looking for trouble, and this view of hers was all the more reinforced whenever she spent some time with Fluttershy. A true epitome of kindness, the yellow pegasus was. Perhaps the only pony who was most truest to her Element. Yet, this strongest trait of hers was what made her vulnerable to her surroundings as well, making her the shy pony that she was.
Due to this, Dash had to struggle with her on many occasions, often slowing her and the rest of their friends down as well. But despite this, Fluttershy did overcome her weaknesses in the end on some occasions, being the one to help all of them succeed in their objective.
Generosity, the trait of giving others the things they wanted or needed. It also meant giving away to others the things that a pony cherished the most, as Dash recalled, remembering when Rarity gave a piece of her tail to the sea serpent in order to "restore" his mustache. The blue pegasus had never thought about it, and never did she once generously gave things to others in the past. She could easily get something like ice cream for somepony, though, but giving somepony the things that she personally cherished the most... No, she couldn't see herself doing such a thing ever, and especially not with her various Wonderbolts merchandise and memorabilia.
"Well, strong willpower and bravery's definitely my game, but representing all of the Elements as well except for Magic... You can definitely count me out on that."
Dash sighed again, knowing that she couldn't possibly be the one who will unlock the hidden potential of the Elements of Harmony should such a disastrous scenario arise. That will have to be somepony else, she thought.
Still, this incident fascinated her for some reason, glancing back at some of the pages that she turned to with her hooves.
"'The miracle that would restore Harmony was born.' Hmm, it sounded like he... transformed?"
Having been a best friend of Twilight Sparkle since they first wielded the Elements together, Dash was no stranger to the natural, magical affinity that the purple unicorn had within, taking her place as the representative of the Element of Magic itself. The pegasus, along with the rest of their friends, had praised her as being the best magic user in Ponyville, becoming evident when she managed to put the rampaging Ursa Minor back to sleep a while back.
Ever since Dash began to read books a lot more often, she also stayed in Twilight's library home more often as well. Whilst reading books, the pegasus also gave witness to the unicorn's many magical experiments and trials, with some succeeding and some failing. Among all of them, transformations were ones she saw on a frequent basis, ranging from simple object transformations to increasing Spike's dragon fangs to a humongous size. Dash had found some of them hilarious, often causing her to roll on the floor in laughter.
Since the colt had the magical energies of all the Elements combined into one inside of his necklace and then using that combined power, from seeing Twilight's many experiments, it then made sense to Dash that the colt had to change his form to harness that power. There was simply no other way he could harness it, the pegasus thought.
So what did this colt exactly transform into? The pegasus pondered. The book did not say, but there was one thing in there that could be a hint.
"'The Flame of Harmony...' And what exactly were these signs from before?"
Further trying to ponder about it, the pegasus opened her mouth and a loud long yawn was heard from it. A weary feeling began to take over her body and being, spreading all over her until her face formed a droopy weary expression on it, her eyes looking half-closed.
"Man... Time for this awesome pony to get some rest, then," she said, with a weary smile on her face. "Guess I'll start reading this from the beginning tomorrow."
With the book in her hooves, she folded it and closed it shut, moving it towards the table and placing it on top of the pile of books on there. Then, moving herself back and upwards a bit, she moved her little lower hooves into the warm comforts of her bed blanket, the top of it adorned with what looked like her rainbow lightning cutie mark, but with a long curling tail that was extended from the lightning part of it. With her hooves in, she moved the rest of her body in and laid herself down.
Positioning herself a bit further with her upper hooves still out, she reached for her night light on the table, pressing the button on the top of it to turn it off. With the light off, the darkness of the night filled her room, further suiting her need to rest.
Putting her hooves inside the blanket, turning herself to the side, and facing the window, Dash's eyes began to close in until they were shut, drifting off to sleep with a smile on her face.
---
Wake up... destined one.
Dash's eyes snapped open from the darkness, orange colored light filling them at a slow pace as they tried to come into focus. Something had awakened her from the deep sleep she was in. A voice, it was, startling her as if a loud horn blared obnoxiously into the depths of her pony ears.
As her eyes moved left and right, wondering what she had just heard, she tilted her head up to assess her surroundings. No one or no pony was in the room, with the bright orange tint of the sunlight that was now radiating inward from the window. At least, with her half-focused eyes, she saw that no one was in here, but she needed to be sure.
Dash slowly sat up from the comforts of her bed, her body still half-asleep. A few seconds had passed, and her eyes became focused enough for her to clearly see.
She observed her surroundings once more, looking left and right. Again, no one was there, only the bright rays of the morning sun that filled her room.
Dash sighed deeply, closing her eyes and putting both of her hooves on her face, rubbing it a bit. What just awakened her from her deep slumber? She wondered. What was that voice she seemingly heard? Was it in here just now?
Moving her hooves away, she opened her eyes halfway, with the lingering feeling of deep slumber still within her. She took another sigh and then glanced at the open window to her left.
That was weird, she thought. Very weird. But whatever or whoever it was, at least it woke her up at the right time. At least it stopped her from sleeping in like she usually does most of the time.
Another couple of seconds pass. As her pony nose was the last to wake up, the cool air of the morning filled it in. Soon, though, she began to smell a strong, disorienting aroma as she looked at the window, causing her eyes to be fully open. To her, it smelled like a large pile of wood logs that was lit with a match.
"Huh...? Is something burning out there?"
Getting off of her bed and standing on all four hooves, Dash walked on over to the window, putting her front hooves on it and peeking out. She glanced around, trying to find the source of the burning smell.
"Oh, man, I hope it isn't a darn dragon camping inside of a mountain again."
From this view, nothing was in sight that pinpointed the source of the burning smell, only the black clouds of smoke above that partially covered the sky. She closely observed them, instead, trying to trace them back to their source.
"Hmm, they seemed to be coming from… Ponyville...?"
The thought of it startled Dash, with an uneasy feeling growing inside of her. Seeing the smoke’s trail made her worry, for any of her friends could be in danger if a fire really was engulfing the town. But even though the smoke seemed to be coming from it, she had to be sure that it was.
The pegasus unfolded her wings and pulled herself out of the window, jumping out of it. She descended past her floating cloud home and stopped herself at the bottom of it with her wings flapping to keep herself afloat. She turned towards the direction of the town and glanced at the distant town in whole.
The smoke seemed to be coming from, not the town itself, but a corner of it, past the large field of apple trees. From that, she knew in an instant that the smoke was coming from the centerpiece of Sweet Apple Acres.
"Oh, no. Applejack!"
With her eyes wide open and with the confirming thought that one of her friends was, indeed, in danger, the pegasus pushed and propelled herself forward with her wings flapping as hard as they could, flying over to the burning barn.
---
Huge, raging flames had engulfed the once-standing barn in whole, burning every single piece of it and turning them into ash. Already half of the building had crumbled and crashed to the ground, and the flames were just beginning to burn the rest of what was once the home of the Apple family.
Dash arrived at the burning place, stopping high above it and quickly scanning the area all over. The smoke became thicker than ever now, penetrating her lungs and making her cough a lot with the upper part of her hoof covering her mouth.
"What the hay happened here?! Did Applejack light the barn on fire by accident or something? Where the hay is she, anyway? Did she escape already? And what about the others?"
Glancing over the area further, the pegasus tried to look inside of the barn’s remnants, past the raging flames. Applejack couldn't possibly be in there. The flames had already nearly engulfed the interior of it. Unless she was stuck in a corner of it, that is.
Was Dash willing to go in there, even if it meant getting caught by the fire herself? If there was an indication that Applejack or any of the others were in there at all, she would definitely have to in order to save them. So far, there wasn't a sign that they could be in there.
Until, a cough was heard. A loud cough, it was, followed by another one. Somepony was trapped in the burning barn after all, as Dash could hear. Then, she heard a weak groaning voice coming from down there.
"...Rainbow Dash...? Ugh, is that... you up there?"
Albeit a weak voice it was, it had the female accent of a southern country pony. Dash recognized it in an instant, confirming her thoughts.
"Applejack! Hold on, I'm coming!"
Swiftly moving her hoof away and forming a determined look on her face, the pegasus propelled herself towards one of the holes in the barn's roof and entered it, stopping and floating above the flames that raged. With her hoof at the mouth again as the smoke became more intense and disorienting along with the seething heat that engulfed her in whole, she quickly found the orange pony slouching in a corner to the far left, several feet away, and trapped by the flames that kept her cornered against the barn walls that still stood.
"Rainbow..." Applejack uttered with a weak tone to her voice, coughing a bit. Her expression appeared to be very drained and very weak with a bit of a pain-stricken look to it, looking like she was on the verge of collapsing. Parts of her mane, tail, face, and body had been singed by the fire, leaving burnt marks all over her, and her cowboy hat was missing.
"Applejack! I'm gonna get you out of this place!" exclaimed Dash, coughing a lot. "Just don't let the fire get to you!"
"No! L-leave me..." The orange pony raised a hoof towards her.
"Huh?"
"Leave me... It's too late to save me now. These darn flames are everywhere, and I don't, I don't want you to get caught up in them... I believe my time in this good ol' doggoned world... is finally up."
Dash became surprised at this, startling her and widening her eyes a bit. Applejack was already appearing to be giving up on trying to stay alive. She was willing to let her life go at this point. No, that's just plain stupid, the pegasus thought, not while she was here to save her.
The flames were beginning to move towards the orange pony now, creeping up towards her lower hooves like a snake that was itching to bite her.
"Guess this is it, then," the orange pony said. "I'll miss yo—"
"No! What in the hay are you thinking?!" Dash yelled, with a furious look on her face. "Telling me to leave when I could save you from the fire right now?! Are you crazy?! No, I'm getting you out of here right now, even if it means getting caught by the fire myself!"
The pegasus propelled herself towards her, with both hooves at the front. Descending downwards and flapping her wings as hard as she could, Dash plowed through the sea of flames to reach her friend. The fire singed and stung her as she went through them, making her grunt in pain. As much as it hurt her, she ignored the pain, focusing on saving the orange pony from the fire and nothing else.
Reaching her, she grabbed Applejack by the body and flew upwards with immediate haste, right as the flames had managed to reach the corner. She flew towards the nearest opening in the roof, trying to avoid the ever-increasing fire. Like a swift bullet, she exited out of the barn and flew away from the site of the fire as fast as her wings allowed.
Both ponies, coughing and gasping for air, descended towards the middle of a large, open, grassy field and landed there. Dash let go of Applejack, causing her to lie on her side, and the pegasus stood on all fours, continuing to cough loudly. Having come out of the burning barn, the pegasus felt like she had been drowning underwater in there, with no air to breathe in.
This was definitely not how she imagined her day to start, she thought.
"We're safe here now," she said, breathing heavily. She opened her eyes at Applejack, forming a furious look on her face again. "Darn it, A.J.! Were you really allowing the flames to get to you like that?! Especially when somepony's there to save you from them?!"
"I... I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said, still lying on her side with the same drained look on her face. "I just... didn't want you to..."
Dash sighed, calming down. "It's alright. Just don't die on me like that again. Besides, everypony's gonna cry their eyes out if the town's top tree-bucking pony’s suddenly gone in a fire like that."
Walking around her and stopping, with her upper hooves, Dash grabbed and picked Applejack up by the undersides of the orange pony’s upper hooves. The pegasus’ wings began to flap, slowly ascending into the air and taking her friend along.
"Even you, R.D.?" asked Applejack.
"Yes, even me, A.J. Even me," Dash said, with an admitting tone to her voice, sighing. "You're my friend after all, and friends gotta stick by each other, right?"
The orange pony nodded in response, with a faint smile on her face. "Still loyal as ever, eh?"
Dash nodded. With Applejack in her hooves, she turned around and observed the burning barn again.
"Is anypony else in there, by the way?" she asked. "I didn't see anything."
"No, they're not," Applejack replied. "Didn't I tell you the other day that the family had went on vacation to Las Pegasus?"
"Oh, right. I forgot."
"Yeah. Thank the apples that they're not in there. It would strike me to death if they were... Guess I now know how you feel, R.D."
"Yeah..."
Staring at the area for a bit, the pegasus then turned towards the town and flew on.
"Alright, let's get you to the hospital. You can tell me how the fire had started in the first place when we get there," Dash said.
"I will. It's not gonna be so surprising to you, though," the orange pony said.