Queen Monalla stepped forward. Her body shimmered from the gems in her mane and along her body, her movements matched the beat as she twirled around and danced. The siblings could only stare at their mother in awe. Her dance was beautiful and she neared middle of the dance, King Harth stepped forward with a small box. Monalla twirled and swayed to him opening the box slowly there were five crystal shards. She tapped each one with her horn softly, there was no reaction till the second to last crystal. It had the faintest of glows and she smiled, lifting it up with magic and showing the crowd. The ponies who lived here and knew of its importance cheered at the sight, stomping their hooves in approval.
Monalla started to pour a bit of her magic into the small crystal. The magic looked like water was inside it, the color was of a light blue, like the sky above. "With the Element of Joy, I give my power to you." She then handed it to a very strong looking stallion who took it with his own magic.
"With the Element of Honesty, I give my power to you!" his words were strong and powerful, his own liquid magic poured into the crystal, the yellow mixing in with the light blue. He then handed it to another stallion who smiled softly. This one was smaller but still had a strong presence about him.
He closed his eyes and then opened them back up slowly. "With the Element of Kindness, I give you my power." his voice at almost a whisper as a light pink liquid entered the crystal, the colors swirled and shimmered together. He then faced a beautiful mare with a mane of gold, a lot of ponies were staring at her, her beauty almost matching that of the queens.
She took the crystal and looked upon it, giving it a small kiss before placing her horn on it. "With the Element of Generosity, I give you my power." her voice sounded like liquid silk as a red liquid entered into it, joining the other colors in the swirling dance in the crystal. She the walked to the king and bowed as he took it from her magical grasp.
Harth walked and matched his wife's dancing with a bit of his own, "With the Element of Loyalty, I give you my power." his voice was husky as he watched his wife, the feeling of love poured from him. A couple of ponies shifted in their seats, the obvious empaths becoming slightly embarrassed. A bright yellow liquid poured into the crystal. As he twirled away from his wife he then traveled to his daughter and smiled.
Her eyes were alight with excitement and she was shifting a bit side to side. Excited for her turn, the last Element. He bowed to her and she bowed back, taking the crystal gently with her magic. "With the Element of Magic, I give you my power." Argante spoke as loud as she could so that others could hear her. There were several stomps of approval and she touched her horn to the crystal. The crystal shone as bright as the sun when she touched it, a purple liquid pouring in and making the light even brighter. The other ponies of the ceremony looked at each other. Monalla and Solano looked in shock as well. Never before had the crystals shone this bright when the Elements came together. Harth kept a straight face and walked with his daughter to his son. They bowed before him.
Solano shook his head and took the crystal, walking to the tree he bowed to it and spoke in a loud and clear voice. "With this crystal we offer a prayer, that we continue to live in the Harmony you give us o' Great Tree." he stood up and was about to put the crystal among it fellows in the branches when a loud roar was heard. Everyone stopped and stood still, looking around for the source of the noise.
Then from the forest it arose, a manticore. Somepony shrieked and panic was let loose. Solano grit his teeth and placed the crystal back in the box. It would have to wait, the town needed protection. He started to run, ignoring the cry of his parents. Unaware of another pony following his tail.
He approached the beast and unfolded his wings to look bigger. "Get back beast!" he yelled. The manticore looked very unimpressed with the young prince.
"Brotherrrrrrr"
"Argante!? What do you thin-" his sentence could not be finished as he was hit with the manticores large paw. His vision went blurry as he tried to struggle to his feet. "A.....Argante..r-runnn" he could barely speak and he heard a shriek and then saw black. His body collapsed as he passed out.
Argante shrieked in terror at the sight. She didn't know what to do, her mind raced. The manticore slowly closing in on the young filly. She started to cry a bit and screamed. "Great Tree help me!"
Those simple words, change her world forever. The burning started, it went from her legs to her flank, then traveled her spine, her head was last, a large headache that made her feel like she was going to puke. When it started to fade that's when she felt it. Power. Raw power. She felt like she could take on the world. And that's what she would do.
She faced the manticore with steel in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and charged, her body moving almost all on its own. The manticore swiped at her but she dodged just in time, jumping up on his arm. She then took one of her offensive spells and tweaked it ever so slightly. She pointed it at the beast and screamed as the power shot from her horn. The recoil from the shot made it miss her original target, but, she had hit. Its right forearm had been blasted off. The manticore screamed in pain. Running away from the crazy power that caused it to lose its arm.
Argante snapped out of it when it screamed. She felt bad, but it was gone before she could fix the damage. She sighed and looked down. From the corner of her eye though she noticed her mane. It was no longer its usual white, but now a dull purple. She looked at it in shock as the color then faded back to its usual color. She wished to ponder over this more but not till her brother was safe.
She walked to the passed out stallion and tried to nudge him up, only to fail and be trapped beneath his body. She got frustrated and wished his body was lighter. Getting a bright idea though she cast the levitation spell she used on the crystal earlier. She hadn't lifted anything heavier than a small box before. However with this surge she lifted him with ease. She stood up and wondered, her thoughts all over the place as she walked back to the ceremony stage.
Everypony stared in awe as Argante walked back with her brother in tow. She set him down neatly. Then the strangest compulsion come upon her. As graceful as her mother she took the crystal from the box and walked to the tree. She bowed low and recited what her brother said before. "With this crystal we offer a prayer, that we continue to live in the Harmony you give us o' Great Tree." she stood up. Though she was only a small filly, she felt like she was wiser than all of the ponies there. No one had stopped her, no one spoke, but everypony held their breath as she placed the crystal on the tree's branches.
The tree started to glow, at first it was dim as it went to accept the crystal and then it shone, like a beacon that had been lit. A small gasp came from the light and then as quickly as it came, it left. Then another gasp came from the crowd. Argante had received her cutie mark. It was in the same shape as the crystal she was just holding. However that was not what everypony was staring at her for. She had a new pair of wings to go along with her new cutie mark.