The Seventh Element.

by masorin

chapter 1: An Element of Support

Way over to the north of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor and a squad of Royal guards were making their way up a mountain path. It had only been a few days now since an earthquake had struck the Empire, the source of which was located in the midst of these frozen ice caps. Earthquakes weren't what he would have called common to the area as he had been assured by the crystal ponies he worked with that the ground here was more than stable, however things change in a thousand years and this mountain hike was long overdue.

The roads up these mountains were chaotic, and even as Shining used his magic to pull his cloak tighter to his body, he had to wonder if coming up here with only a small contingent of guards was a smart idea. It had always fascinated him that in the majority of the world, Pegasi were the ones who regulated the weather and yet in places like this mountain range the weather was nothing more than chaotic blizzards and ice storms.

Far off to the distance the wind howled, and he was reminded of the stories of the Wendigo's. Even under the protective cloak which kept out the numbing cold, he felt a sharp shiver of fear which he was quick to suppress. He was the Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard and had been trained in all sorts of survival scenarios. He was convinced that he was just letting his most recent life of comfort get to him.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have sent in a flight group!" One of his fellow guard named Right Hook had to shout just to be heard over the harsh winds. The guard in question was a young Earth stallion from the Empire, his thick coat was like diamonds which made them naturals at surviving in climates outside the Empire’s borders, not to mention they were some of the sturdiest ponies that Shining had ever met.

Shining shook his head as he shouted back, "Where is your sense of adventure? Besides, we don't have any flyers strong enough to maintain airborne in this kind of weather!". The Empire was composed of mostly Earth Ponies. Even among the crystal ponies there were very few Pegasi, and he wasn't about to request a contingent of Wonderbolts for something as trivial as this. They were paramilitary! Not actual Guard. Call it foolish pride but he would rather risk a small contingent of his own ponies than call in a group of aerial show ponies even if it meant he had to lead the expedition himself.

He let out a long sigh, knowing full well that was the second time he had heard that question. Cadence had given him the same talk not six hours earlier when he had started out with his guards.

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"So tell me why exactly my husband has to go out into the wild mountains of the frozen north on a camping trip?" Cadence said with a harsh glare at Shining Armor. She hated when things like this came up. She loved his sense of duty but she could never really understand why a now legally wed prince had to go out onto the field.

Shining, on the other hand remained adamant that he go with the rest of his guard. "It's not a camping trip, it's a scouting mission. You are just as worried as I am about that tremor. We need to know if the source of it presents a threat to the empire."

Cadence huffed a little, her tall frame standing above that of her husband’s as she glared down at him, "Why do you always have to go? You’re a prince, why should you go out into the front lines? Just order up a contingent of Wonderbolts and let them do the survey."

Shining winced, "And if they miss something, then what? I don't want to trust a group of Pegasi, I want to see it with my own eyes and..." He stopped cold for a moment knowing that his next words would be much harder to take. He breathed in deep before trying to make himself more calm. "I'm bored!"
Cadence raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

Shining Armor winced and took a step back, "I joined the guard because I want to serve, see the world, protect the ones I love, and have adventures. I love you, Cadence with all my heart, but... You have me locked away in the Empire, I mean you went off and spent a weekend with Twily and Discord, and I was trapped here talking to diplomats and running the empire. You are the diplomat I am the soldier, and this." He pointed off to the mountain range, "This is actually a job for a soldier! This is why I signed up to the Royal Guard! I became your husband because I love you, but I can feel it in my bones this is an adventure that is calling me!"

Cadence's glare softened to a look of understanding but still held a little annoyance in her features. There had been a lull in things in the empire as of late, she could still remember how excited Shining was when the two of them had first arrived and they had been dealing with Sombra. Compared to that, her husband had been in a bit of a depression lately. "Okay fine, but... I want you to come back to me as soon as you can"

Shining gave a heartfelt look towards Cadence walking up to her and kissing her lightly. "I always do."

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He shook his head, finishing playing that memory in his head. He held up a hoof and signaled a stop only in time to see that the strong winds had dislodged some of the snow from the mountain’s peaks, causing a miniature avalanche that took out the path ahead of them. "This path is finished! We need a new route!"

As he screamed, his voice seemed to be carried away by the howling wind. And the ledge he was standing on only seemed to become more unstable in the ever increasing blizzard. His horn glowed as he tried to shield him and his group of stallions from the blizzard but a lightning bolt struck the side of the mountain above them, sending rocks and snow down to cover them.

In a moment, he and his team were washed from the ledge above and thrown down into the darkness of the valley and crags below. In between the panic and the dire need to keep his shield from failing him one of the thoughts that hit Shining Armor the hardest was quick and simple.

I hate it when she’s right.

~~~

The heavy rain and turned to a slow drizzle and thunder could no longer be heard and the sky around Ponyville was still dark and grey, not likely to let up until the next day. Six ponies and one dragon were all gathered around an unmarked grave some distance from the town. Spike was standing next to Twilight as they paid their respects.

"Shouldn't someone say something?" Spike asked, tentatively. His claw was holding onto Twilight’s leg. Even though there was no reason to grieve and Twilight was standing right next to him, he had held the other Twilight in his arms as her life had gone out. It was an experience he was still trying to rationalize. What in the name of Celestia could have happened too future Twi that she was no longer with any of her friends? He was still trying to recover from all of the fear he had felt during the event.

Twilight nodded after a moment, it seemed odd to be able to speak at her own funeral. It was a confusing thing that should never have happened and yet the guards had tested everything from magic residue to a blood sample the Twilight that was now in this plot of land was exactly the same as her. There was no mistaking it, this was the funeral of one Princess Twilight Sparkle.

The event was hardly formal, they couldn't have allowed it to be. A formal funeral would have raised a lot of questions that no one had answers to and would’ve taken too much time. Only two of the six mares had bothered to actually dress up for the occasion. Rarity was standing next to Spike and wore a black dress and a dark hat and an umbrella that she levitated to shield herself from the rain. Rainbow was a little off to the left, standing in the open rain. If anything, she seemed confused by all of this. After Rainbow was Pinkie, whose colors all seemed a little more muted than normal, her eyes were less focused on the grave but rather looking over at her depressed friends. On the other side of Twilight was Fluttershy, who was holding an umbrella with her wing and sobbing lightly, and past her was Applejack.

Applejack had on a black suit jacket as she stood next to Fluttershy, taking advantage of her umbrella. The jacket itself was clearly a size or so too large for her, and Spike's only guess was that it was actually a hand down from Big Mac. After another moment of silence, it was Applejack who actually stepped up at Spike's offer to speak, "Ah don't know what happened to ya but y'all did it. We got the warning so now we can do whatever we need to to prevent our Twilight from meetin’ such a fate."

Everyone nodded lightly to the sentiment. There was no doubt in their minds that it was going to be dangerous, they had just witnessed what would happen should they fail and none of them wanted that to happen. Still, it was a long time before anypony moved after that until Twilight stepped forward, having finally found a voice after Applejack.

"We all know this is kind of awkward, but thank you all. I... She wouldn't have wanted anything less than to have all of you around for this day. I know that this is deeply troubling, but I am glad we could put her to rest." Twilight said as the others turned to leave, her included.

Of the several figures that departed, Spike stayed behind for a moment, and was surprised to see that out of all of his friends only Applejack remained as the others all had to go back about their days. Spike took a few steps closer to the grave, "I'm sorry, I... I should have done more."

Applejack walked forward and put a firm hoof on Spike's shoulder. "Yah got nothing to apologize for Spike, y'all were there when she needed you. If Twilight was willing to break all those space timey rules she kept yelling about all morning then Ah think ya did all ya could for her."

Spike actually smiled for a moment nodding as he turned back to Applejack and pulled her into an embrace, crying into her shoulder. His tears mixed with the rain, further helping to mess up her suit but she didn’t care about that, she just focused of comforting her friend as she patted his back lightly "It's okay Spike, just let it out."

Spike had to pull back after a moment when when he hiccuped a burst of green fire escaping his mouth as he was quick to turn away so he didn't burn Applejack. "Thank you..."

"It ain't no skin off my flank. Now come on, Twi and the others will be wanting to get to work. We have a lot to do." She said as she turned and started making her way back to town. Spike let out a more relaxed breath, feeling a little light-headed and walked back with Applejack still hiccuping and belching fire every few steps.

"Yah know sometimes Ah forget y'all are only about five years younger than I am."

Spike blinked in confusion, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh... just a lot. Now come on, we ain’t got time to waste." Applejack said, holding at least one secret to herself as she walked down the streets with Spike. A light smile on her face as the two of them got ready to face tomorrow. There was a lot of work that needed doing in order to find a brand new element and then figure out who in Equestria was meant to use the thing.

Author's Note:

I'm kind of only half okay with how this chapter turned out. My mind was split on how to write the second half of this chapter down the middle. Half of me wanted this to be something completely different, it was going to be a council meeting full of bickering and anger, but in the end I decided to go a much more subdued route.

Now it's time to play FIRE ZE HEAD CANNON: in my mind all of the mares are around 18-21 with Twilight the college student, who has been raised and primed for leadership coming in at the oldest, and applejack who claimed to be the last in her grade falling in after that. Rainbow and Pinkie seem to be the youngest in the group as they hold relatively easy going jobs and reputations.

The CMC are about 7 or 8, and Twilight was around the same age as applebloom is now when she hatched Spike which means that spike is about 15 when compared to the people around him.

The reason these ages are important? I go under the theory that applejack was close to spikes age when she lost her parents. I make this assumption because Applebloom doesn't seem to remember her parents as much as say big mac or applejack. The way she acts and the way she looks up to her big sister kind of tells you that it was probably around the year she was born that she lost her parents. So if applebloom is 5-6 and applejack is 20, then she was 14 going on 15 when she lost her parents...

Either that or

Comments

[DARKPHANTOM13]

So shit probably went down somewhere near the Crystal Empire. Though I wonder just what kind of element the one missing is.

[Smoker]

One of the few "seventh element" stories which is actually decent.

[Frostbite4]

I get it the element of the elements earth, fire, water, and air... I really don't know where that came from but it was just a thought I had since spike breaths fire and air and cries.. Lol I'm soon confused from what I just said

[Aura Zero]

possible AppleSpike? Awesome!!!

[masorin]

4519199

Sadly no, I didn't include a romance tag, and so the chances of me actually sitting down and writing anything romantic is probably not gonna happen. In my head it's a solid shoulder for spike to cry on because of Applejack's own experience's with death, which is why she dressed up to the funeral despite it being short notice and informal.

SpikedApple is just gonna have to wait until my next fan fiction... though it is my favorite spike shipping.

[MegAnimefreakx3]

I to say i really like how the story is going

[NobleValor]

You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.

[Nameless cow]

4517571
Avatar Spike, you must master the four elements before Celestia's comet arrives and when the unicorns will harness its power to Rarity-afie everything

[SkyDragonMC]

METAL GEAR!!!!!!!!!!!! *pulls out box and proceeds to hide in it*

[Outis]

4650719 Something tells spike would have little to no problems with everything getting "Rarity-afie'd"