Purpose of Harmony

by Rapthorn2ndform

Chapter 4: Ultimatium

Twilight stood too stunned to check how her friends were faring, each of them as shocked as she was. They had managed to traverse a subterranean city, find a secret passage to a hidden forge, sneak into the hidden forge, find their stolen artifact and get out so easily. But now, everything had fallen apart. Just behind them stood a goliath of a unicorn that had snatched the Element out of their grasps. And he did not look happy.

“H-how did you know we were here?” asked Rainbow dash finally breaking the silence. The look on the unicorn’s face relaxed slightly.

“If you must know thief of honor, I could sense you the moment the moment you set hoof onto my mountain” he chuckled, though he wore a smile, the girls could feel unbridled rage just beneath the surface “You four, are very special, but I’m sure you already knew that”

“W-what do ya mean; ya knew we were comin’ from the beginnin’?” stammered Applejack, put off by the antagonist’s new demeanor. “I ya knew all that, why? Why would ya let us get all the down here and nearly get away with the prize?”

“We were never getting away, it was bait…” Twilight shuttered at the realization “This was just a trap.”

“Quite astute of you spellthief, but I wouldn’t say trap,” the green stallion corrected, fishing in Twilight’s bag “forced meeting, that’s more like it.”

“Well hear we are” said Rainbow feeling powerless, “Now what, are you gonna spout some evil plan before you kill us or what?”

“You think I went through all this just to kill you, if I had wanted to do that, I would have done it already” He let out a deep laugh that shook the very foundations of the mountain “No, you four, whether you know it or not, are very special. Oh and spellthief, I dimension locked this entire mountain, so no teleporting.” a glow faded from Twilight’s horn.

“Special how?” chirped Pinkie, finally removing the tape from her mouth “I mean, everypony is special in their own way and all, but…” Pinkie continued for several minutes, without pause. Strangely enough, the green stallion listened intently to every word. “…so unless you brought us here to play the kazoo, I don’t know how THAT little talent could help.”

“Very good question joyful thief,” the unicorn responded after finally retrieving the Element and tossing back Twilight’s bag “You four, along with four others, are the only being in existence, which have ever wielded ultimate power. I’ve been aware of you sense your defeat of the thief of dusk. Good show by the way, my plans wouldn’t be possible if you hadn’t saved her.” For a split second, a smile came to his face. Not a malicious smile, ore a cocky smile, a true smile. But it quickly faded back to the menacing grin that seemed to be his default.

“Then why are ya callin’ us thieves? We ain’t stole nothin’!” the stallion held up the Element of Magic that he had retrieved, and Applejack paused for a moment after turning a decent shade of red knowing that she couldn’t end this statement on a high note“…that…you can’t…that wasn’t stolen from us first.”

“You speak truly, ‘thief’ is not the proper term for you.” stated the unicorn stallion to all of their surprise. “After all, if a lord grants a squire a sword to defend the country, and knows not that his lord acquired it in less than honest circumstances, should you truly blame the squire?”

“Don’t you EVER insult the princesses!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she tried to charge the giant pony, only to be held back by Applejack and Pinkie.

“So you know the truth of the origin of the Elements of Harmony” asked Twilight surprised “Pease, tell me. Where did they come from?

“Alas, that is not my story to tell” he responded “That story should come from the thieves of dusk and dawn.” He turned and began to walk away “When you see the dear princesses, give them a message. They have eight sun cycles to return the Elements to where they belong, or Canterlot will burn.”

The group was silent. They had been played, manipulated like pieces on a board. The mysterious pony wanted them to follow, all to deliver a message, a message that repeated over and over in their minds. Canterlot will burn.

Up the stairs, out of the city, through the tunnel, until they reached the open sky. The sun was setting, they had been underground for over a day and a half. They decided to make camp, and head for Canterlot at first light.

“Can you believe that guy?” barked Rainbow “To not only insult, but THERATEN the princesses! I mean, sure he could’ve wiped the stairs with us, but the princesses are Demi-gods. Does he have some kind of army or something?”

“No, I don’t think he’s spoken to any pony in a long time” Twilight said as she though back “He seemed to be enjoying the interaction.”

“Yeah, I felt SOOO bad for him” sighed Pinkie. Her friends were staring at her in horror “What?”

“Sugar cube, ah’m not so sure you followed what was goin’ on.” Applejack smiled nervously “He stole the Element, trapped us, and threatened to destroy CANTERLOT! And you felt sorry for him?”

“Well, yeah. He was so sad” Pinkie said without her normal up-beat attitude. Her friends listened in confusion as the now somber Pinkie continued. “Every word he said sounded like he wanted to cry, but couldn’t. Kinda like when you cry so much and wanna keep crying but all the tears are used up. When he mentioned burning Canterlot, I could feel he didn’t want to, but would.”

“Pinkie, are you sure” asked Twilight, as tears rolled down Pinkie’s face “I didn’t notice anything like that. I just saw anger and maybe some sadistic pleasure.”

“Positive,” said Pinkie as she wiped the tears from her eyes “You girls don’t usually notice when somepony else is hiding a lot of pain. But I hear it, clear as day. Whenever I talk to a pony, I know what they really feel. That’s why to trust you when we first met Twilight; you were sincere about wanting to help the princess and had an idea how to do it. How I know Princess Celestia is proud of you, no matter what, and that she dreads the day she’ll lose you, like she’s lost so many before. How…” the tears began again “how I know you’re all my true friends.”

The girls a hugged their hysterical friend. “Don’t worry Pinkie Pie, we believe you.” Wisped Rainbow “but we still need to tell the princess. Maybe they can find some way to do all this where nopony gets hurt. Including him.”

“Really?” Pinkie gave a weak smile.

“I won’t lie, I don’t know.” Said Twilight “Bu what I do know is that we’ll try. And none of us will stop trying until the end.”

“You all really mean it” Pinkie’s mood began to improve

“Of course sugar cube, ah’d trust ya’all with mah life.” Applejack wiped the last of the tears from Pinkie’s eye “And you can do the same”

“I don’t trust that guy,” said Rainbow “but I trust you, and if you say he’s not as bad as he looked. I believe you”

“Oh thank you, girls” squeaked Pinkie, a smile finally returning to her face “you’re the best friends a pony could ask for.”

“Alright everypony, get some rest,” said Twilight as she doused their small cooking fire “We make for Canterlot at dawn.”