//------------------------------// // The New Elements // Story: In the Spotlight // by Lvl11Bard //------------------------------// It was mournfully quiet in Twilight's castle. After the capture of the Elements of Harmony and Princess Cadence, Shining Armour sent two of the Pegasi Guards to find Celestia and Luna hoping that they might be able to come and help. However, it had been two hours since then with no reply. The adults went out into town, trying to find any help they could to save their spouses while their children sat around in Spotlight's room, still trying to overcome the shock. Bright attempted her best to hold back her tears as Appleslice and Soothe tried to calm her down. Cookie, who normally showed very little emotion, had her face scrunched up with concern and intense thought. Spotlight hadn't moved from the window, holding onto the hope that her mom would come trotting back home. Meanwhile, Rosegold angrily walked in a tight circle, grumbling to herself. “I can't believe this. I trained for years and I let my own mother get captured by a monster. I should have been out there with them,” the pegasus started to get louder. “Well, you weren't, so there's no need to get all huffy about it,” Cookie snarled, annoyed that Rosegold's muttering was interrupting her thoughts. “Oh!? Is that another one of your dumb little facts?” Rosegold's eyes narrowed as she snapped back. “As a matter of 'fact', yes it is,” Cookie rose to her hooves. “Come on girls, can't we calm down?” Bright sniffled as she asked. “Shut it!” Both Rosegold and Cookie shouted, making Bright's eyes well up with tears again. Appleslice growled and stood up to bark at those arguing “Hey! She was jus' trying to help. No need to act like a rabid badger!” Rosegold walked over to Appleslice until she was only a few inches away from her face. “Well I don't see how that's helping.” “Maybe if you wiped that sense of superiority out of your eyes, you'd see things better,” Soothe sneered from above. “And what's that suppose to mean?” Rosegold yelled as she flew up to meet Soothe. “It means that you've been acting like you're so important and that even talking to us is such a drag,” Soothe spat. “Now listen here you little-” “Stop!” Spotlight shouted, now finally away from the window. The others stopped their bickering and turned to the amateur magician. Spotlight took a deep breath. “We're in the Friendship Castle. Is this how you think our moms would want us behaving while they were captured. We're better than this and besides, fighting isn't going to bring them back.” “Then what is?” Bright asked, wiping her eyes. “We are.” Rosegold stated as she landed back on the ground, her anger replaced with determination. “What are you talking about?” Cookie questioned, regaining her composure. “We haven't heard from the Princesses and the guards won't do anything without their say. Discord can't do anything to help and the rest of our parents are too busy trying to get volunteers to go in themselves. We're the only ones who can save them right now,” Rosegold explained. “But what can we do? We're just a bunch of kids,” Soothe landed as well as she asked. “Wrong. I'm the daughter of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining, rulers of the Crystal Empire. And you... you are the children of the Elements of Harmony. Together, we can save our parents and Equestria. It's in our blood.” “But why do ya want us to come along. We didn't think ya even liked us,” Appleslice pressed. “I'll admit, you wouldn't be my first choices, but no one else will listen to me. And we all have the same thing to lose in this. I don't know about you, but I don't want to wait for help. Who knows how long we have before it's too late?” Rosegold looked around the room for a response. The others looked between themselves before looking back to the ivory pegasus. “I'm in,” Spotlight chirped. “Let's do this,” Soothe pumped her hoof into the air. “Count me in,” Appleslice nodded and smiled. “Well, there's no point in refusing I guess,” Cookie shrugged, but gave a small grin. The girls turned to Bright, who was watching her hoof trace circles in the ground. “I should stay here. I would just get in your way. All I do is mess things up.” Before any of the others could say a thing, Rosegold marched up to the pink unicorn and lowered her head to meet her gaze. “Bright?” “Y-yes,” Bright stammered. “You're soon going to learn that I don't leave anypony behind. Especially when I need as much help as I can get. Now, do you want to save your mom?” “I do...” Bright nodded. “Then will you please come with us?” Rosegold asked earnestly. “Um... Yes,” Bright stood up straight with a small smile. The six fillies stood in a circle, each giving a confident nod, ready to go save the Elements of Harmony. “So our first step is how are we going to get into the forest? They probably have guards stationed to keep ponies out,” Rosegold asked. “I know a hidden path by house that we can use,” Soothe offered. “I use it all the time.” “Great. Now let's pack our saddlebags and go,” Spotlight declared. After about another hour, the young mares had packed what they thought they would need, ventured through Ponyville and towards the secret path that Soothe knew about. It was concerning that they still didn't see any signs of the other princesses. Also, they overheard that their parents were trying to come up with a plan now that they had some help as they trotted through town, but had no idea how to go about it. The fillies finally arrived at the edge of the Everfree Forest and looked within with anxiousness. “So how do we find them?” Cookie asked. “It sounded like Blight was taking them to the Tree of Harmony,” Spotlight replied. “Mom took me there a few times. I think I can lead the way.” “Well we'll be right behind ya, sugar,” Appleslice urged her friend on. Spotlight nodded confidently as she strode into the forest, her friends following close behind. It took only took twenty minutes for Spotlight to get her bearings as she lead the group towards the Tree of Harmony. The girls remained as quiet as they could, nervous about all the noises and shadowy movements of the forest as they got deeper and deeper. It was after travelling for what felt like hours that the group stopped when the ground lightly shook beneath them. Before any of them could say a thing, the ground gave way to a pit underneath.. Soothe and Rosegold took to the air as Spotlight and Cookie dove to the sides. However, Appleslice and Bright weren't quick enough and tumbled into the opening. “Oh no! Are you okay?” Spotlight shouted into the pit. “Yeah, we're fine. It's not that deep,” Appleslice called back up. “The hole's too small for either me or Soothe to fly in. Hold on, we'll find a vine or something,” Rosegold reassured them. The ponies up top started to look for something to pull their friends up, but quickly ran back to the hole when they heard a screech. “What is it?” Soothe asked frantically. “Snakes! A lot of them!” Bright screamed. “They're coming outta openings in the wall and getting closer. They look poisonous,” Appleslice called, fear in her voice. “Stomp your hooves,” Cookie shouted to them. “What!? But that will just attract them,” Bright protested. “No, snakes track their prey through vibrations in the ground. If you make yourselves seem big, they'll get scared and go away,” Cookie explained. “Are ya sure?” Appleslice asked. “It's a fact. You know I wouldn't lie about it,” Cookie desperately tried to convince her friends. “Well, here goes,” Appleslice gulped as sounds of hooves stomping were heard from the hole. “It's working! Thank goodness,” Bright cried with relief. “They left us. We're safe again,” Appleslice let go of her breath as she reassured her friends. Soothe quickly found a vine and the girls used it to pull up the earth pony and the unicorn. “Thanks Cook, that was some real fine advice there,” Appleslice patted Cookie on the back. “Yes, thank you ever so much. I did not want to become some snakes meal,” Bright hugged the chocolate mare tightly. “No problem. It was just something I knew,” Cookie shrugged. “Huh, I guess it does help to know all those facts,” Rosegold praised. “You can't argue against truths,” Cookie gave a tiny smile back. “How much farther do we have to go?” Bright asked. “If we are where I think we are, it's another few miles,” Spotlight answered. “A few miles!? I thought we were getting close,” Rosegold sputtered and looked back to Appleslice and Bright, who were already scratched up. “Maybe we should fall back. I don't want to put you all in any more danger.” “This was a bad idea,” Bright sorrowfully whimpered. “We'll never get there,” Appleslice sighed. “Hey now, lighten up. We can do it,” Soothe cheered. “I know, how about a joke?” “I don't think now's the time, Soothe,” Cookie grumbled as she trudged forward, followed by the reluctant others. “Come on, how do tight ropes know how to stay so tight? They're taut!” Soothe flew ahead of them with a big grin, but the rest of the group just groaned. “No? OK, Why is a mushroom great at parties? Because he's a fungi!” Most of the other rolled their eyes, but Spotlight snickered. “Don't encourage her,” Rosegold scolded her cousin, but had a small grin. “Not laughing makes me want to try harder,” Soothe smirked. “Try harder to give me a headache?” Cookie quipped, causing the others to giggle. “Oh, it's on now,” Soothe's grin became mischievous as she flew next to Cookie and poked her in the rib, causing the earth pony to yelp. “Hey, cut it out, Soothe, you know I'm ticklish,” Cookie growled. “Sorry, I was hoping to get a laugh out of you,” Soothe half heartily apologized as she stuck out her tongue. The group continued to laugh and joke as they travelled this with Soothe leading with her terrible puns, making the others forget about their previous distress. Soothe just finished another joke when Spotlight suddenly stopped. “Hey, I recognize that tree. We're really close now!” “Really, it didn't feel like much time had passed,” Appleslice commented. “Did we just walk a couple miles?” Bright asked with amazement. “What did I tell ya? A positive attitude and a good joke could really turn around a situation,” Soothe bragged. “I admit, it really helped,” Rosegold conceded, starting to see Spotlight's friends in a different light. It didn't seem like it at first, but it seemed like these small town ponies were more responsible and talented than she gave them credit for. The pegasus was thinking about how she would apologize when they got back when her cousin came to a stop with a gasp. “This wasn't here last time!” Spotlight exclaimed as she looked up at a tall wall of vines preventing them from going any further. “Blight must have put them up to keep out interlopers,” Cookie suggested. “That's just great,” Soother pouted, “and the canopy is too thick here to fly over.” The girls pondered how they were going to get through their newest obstacle when they heard a quiet rumble. They turned around to see Bright smiling nervously with a blush. “S-sorry. I'm just starting to get a little hungry. Don't mind me, please,” the unicorn giggled with embarrassment. “Ah think now would be a good time to take a snack break,” Appleslice suggested. “Build our energy back up. Here, ah even brought some apple nut bars. “Well I'm glad one of us thought of food, because I sure didn't,” Soothe laughed as she accepted one of the bars. “Of course Appleslice would, she always has something to share,” Cookie stated. “Thanks Appleslice,” Spotlight said, followed by a chorus of thank yous from the others. “Aw shucks, it ain't no trouble,” Appleslice smiled warmly before she opened her mouth to bite her own treat. However, she was interrupted by the sounds of chittering close by. She looked to find a chipmunk watching longingly at her food. “Aw, you hungry too little guy?” Appleslice asked before she stretched out her hoof. “Here, take mine.” The chipmunk looked surprised before it happily ran over and took the gift and began munching on the snack. “Isn't that all you brought? What are you going to eat?” Rosegold questioned as she swallowed her last bite, looking concerned for the farm pony. “Meh,” Appleslice shrugged, “I'm a well fed pony as it is and ah like giving to those who could such things more than ah could.” “Right, I forgot,” Rosegold replied, “but now we need to focus on getting around this wall.” The chipmunk, now finished, jumped up and started pointing into the forest. “What is he doing?” Bright asked. “Ah think he knows a way through. Is that right,” Appleslice asked. The chipmunk nodded before it took off, followed by the young mares. After a minute, they came across a small hole going underneath the vines, just big enough for each girl to crawl through. “Well I'll be. Thanks little guy,” Appleslice patted the rodent on the head. “I guess your generosity pays off some times,” Rosegold offered with a smile. “Ah don't do it for the reward,” Appleslice defended, “but ya, it is nice sometimes.” One by one, the fillies crawled through the hole and managed to get to the other side. They smiled to each other before continuing forward. “Down there! That's where the Tree of Harmony is!” Spotlight shouted as she ran down the path. The group made it to the opening, but is was blocked by magic seal. “Darn it! What is it now?” Rosegold cried as she stomped her hoof in anger. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” A raspy voice called. This fillies looked up and saw a small humanoid creature, impish and wrinkled creature, wearing nothing but a bright orange, pointed cap, sitting on a ledge. The creature stared back down at them with a wicked grin. “A goblin!?” Spotlight asked in surprise. “What are you doing here?” The goblin chuckled as it tossed a small red gem into the air and caught it again. “Some lady offered my this shiny stone if I used my magic to keep anybody from entering that cave until sundown." “But we need to get in there! She has our moms,” Rosegold protested. “Does that look like my problem?” The goblin snickered. “Listen here you little varmint, we went through a lot to get here,” Appleslice growled. “We went through a lot to get here,” the goblin mocked. “We're not going to take that from some pipsqueak in a dumb hat,” Soothe declared as she flew up to the monster. “My hat is not dumb!” The goblin shouted as he stood up, glaring at the orange pegasus. “Please, that thing looks like a traffic cone on your head,” Rosegold sneered. “Yeah, why would you even wear that,” Spotlight laughed, taking her frustrations out on the monster. “It really is bad,” Cookie added. “Stop it!” The goblin cried, tears forming in its eyes. “HEY!” Everypony and the goblin stopped to look at Bright, who looked positively angry “I know he's not being nice to us,” Bright started, “but that's no reason to make fun of him or his choice in clothes. I can tell you from experience that it doesn't feel nice to have somepony make fun of your fashion. We're all tired and frustrated, but that gives us no excuse to be mean to anyone, no matter what!” Bright's friends all looked ashamed as they backed away from the goblin. The unicorn approached the ledge with a soft smile. “Um, Mr Goblin?” “What?” The goblin spat. “Do you like your hat?” Bright asked. “Of course I do,” the goblin huffed as it crossed its arms. “Then I think it looks great on you. Don't listen to anypony else because there's nothing wrong with your style,” Bright grinned. “Re... really?” The goblin looked over the edge with hopeful eyes. “Of course. And you can trust that I know what I'm talking about. Both of my moms are fashion designers,” Bright replied happily. “Wow, no one's ever said anything nice like that to me before,” the goblin mumbled before it went into deep thought. “Alright, you can go through, but it wasn't me who let you in, OK?” Bright gasped happily. “Thank you Mr Goblin! I hope you have a nice day.” The barrier disappeared and the group trotted through. “Great job Bright!” Soothe congratulated. “Yeah, we'd still be stuck out there if it wasn't for you,” Appleslice added. “I-I just did what I thought was right,” Bright replied in embarrassment. “I'm glad I convinced to come along,” Rosegold smiled earnestly. “Thanks,” Bright smiled back. “There they are!” Spotlight shouted as she pointed to their mothers, who were still wrapped in vines and looked very tired. “Girls? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked with immense fear. “You need to run now!” Rainbow Dash called out. “We're here to rescue you!” Rosegold declared. “Dear, this is not something that you can handle. Please leave,” Cadence desperately cried out. It was then that the Tree of Harmony flashed and Blight appeared with a scowl on her grey, wooden face. “How did you get in here? Lousy good for nothing goblin!” Blight grumbled. “Let our moms go!” Spotlight demanded. “Not a chance. When the sun sets, I'll have drained all of my magic out of them and restore myself to full power! Then I can go and destroy that horrible civilization you wretched ponies built on my beautiful nature,” Blight answered as she walked forward, “but first, I'll have to deal with you.” “Oh dear, what do we do?” Bright questioned as she began to shake. “Spotlight, your trick!” Rosegold suggested. “My what?” Spotlight gave her cousin a confused look. “That one you were going to show us back at the castle,” Rosegold tried to convey what she wanted without tipping off the Dryad. “Oh, OH!” Spotlight remembered but then became nervous. “But I can't do that here! Not in front of everypony!” “Yes you can,” Rosegold countered. “You're the greatest magician in Equestria.” “Yeah, you can do it Spotlight,” Soothe cheered. “We believe in ya,” Appleslice encouraged. Spotlight looked back at her friends and smiled before she turned to Blight with determination. Just as the Dryad was about to grab Spotlight, the unicorn took a deep breath and her horn lit up a let out a flash, directed at Blight's eyes, who recoiled. “Gah!” The spirit of nature screamed as she rubbed her eyes. “Now!” Rosegold shouted as she led the charge towards the Elements of Harmony. However, as they were about to reach their parents, more vines sprouted from the ground and entrapped the fillies, except for Rosegold who managed to dodge out of the way. “You fools! Did you really think you could save them?” Blight grinned evilly, her sight now clear. “Rosegold, get out!” Spotlight ordered, struggling against the vines. “You need to go get help!” Cookie shouted before she was muffled by the animated plants. “Yes little pony,” Blight laughed, “go and get help. You'll never get back here in time. Face it, you lost. Now go retreat and wait for my uprising.” Rosegold looked to the exit and then to her friends and family before she straightened up a defiantly stated “No.” “Oh? You won't even save yourself in this hopeless situation? And why is that?” Blight asked in a taunting voice. “Because...” Rosegold trailed off as she looked to her fellow rescuers again, remembering all that they did to get here. And how they were so nice to her when she arrived, even with the way she treated them. “Because they're my friends and I won't abandon them.” Suddenly, the Tree of Harmony glowed as the elements inside of it shook and broke free of the bark. One by one, each element flew to one of the younger mares and became necklaces. Loyalty went to Rosegold. Honesty flew to Cookie. Laughter hooked itself around Soothe. Generosity landed on Appleslice. Kindness chose Bright. And magic became a tiara as it crowned Spotlight. All of the vines released their captives and shrunk away as the new Elements flew into a circle and faced Blight. “Impossible! Why is my magic abandoning me?” Blight bellowed. “Your magic didn't abandon you,” Spotlight explained, “You abandoned it.” “Now it's time for you to get a reminder in what harmony is,” Rosegold stated as the six girls fired a blast of rainbows at the corrupted Dryad. “Noo!” Blight cried out as she was consumed in magic. When it was finished, Blight was still there, but no longer did she have a cloak of rotted leaves. Instead, vines grew out of her head to resemble hair. Also, her wooded skin was now a vibrant brown. “My anger... My hatred. It's gone,” Blight whispered, amazed. “Oh my goodness! What have I done?” Blight turned to the ponies with a look of regret. “I'm so sorry. I can't believe I let myself become corrupted like that.” “Wait, so blight isn't evil?” Soothe asked. “Also, my real name isn't Blight. Please, call me Meadow,” Meadow explained. “And no, I would never want to harm a living creature. I was corrupted... by something. But thanks to you, I have been re-infused with the magic of friendship and I am free of my curse.” “We... we did it!” Spotlight cheered. “We saved our moms and Equestria! We actually did it!” “Does this seem familiar to anyone else? Because I'm getting some serious deja vu,” Pinkie asked as she looked around. “Oh well.” The girls ran to their respective mothers and hugged them tightly. “I can't believe you're the new Element of Magic,” Twilight said with tears in her eyes. “I'm so proud, but don't do dangerous stuff like that again!” “Sure mom,” Spotlight replied, crying as well. “Well, let's head back if and let everpony know that we're all right,” Twilight told the others. “Um, if it's OK, I'd like to come too. I want to make up for the mess I created,” Meadow offered. Twilight nodded, familiar with reformed villains, before she began to trot out of the cavern, followed by everyone else. The group emerged from the forest to be swarmed by their spouses and parents, who were fanatically relieved about their safety before scolding the children about their adventure. Even Celestia and Luna had finally arrived, explaining that they couldn't abandon Fillydelphia when such a large Timberwolf attack was taking place. Soon, everyone was back at the castle and sharing the story, even Meadow, who explained that she wanted to redeem herself. “It's good to see you back to normal again, Meadow,” Celestia smiled happily. “We'd be happy to take you back to our castle and discuss plans on how we can get nature and ponies to get along.” “I would like that,” Meadow smiled back. “You'll have to get used to Discord being around though,” Luna added, making Meadow drop her smile. “He's still around!?” The Dryad asked Incredulously, causing the others to laugh. When they calmed down, Shining looked to his daughter. “Well Rosegold, it looks like you got the hang of friendship a lot faster than we thought. I guess you can come home now if you want.” Rosegold looked to her new friends before answering. “Actually, I feel like there are still more things that I could learn. If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay a bit longer.” Shining and Cadence gave each other a knowing look before Cadence continued. “Of course dear. We're so glad that you're happy here. And we couldn't be prouder that you're and Element of Harmony now.” “Cheers to the new Elements!” Trixie shouted as she took a swig of her cider. The others cheered as well, laughing and enjoying each others company, but also wondering what challenges the new Elements would face in the future.