• Published 6th Sep 2015
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The Elements in Harmony - No One and Nobody



These four heroes must stop the evil. It’s kind of a given. Only problem is, the first is half blind and as heavy as a rock, the second can’t touch anything, the third is also blind and can’t touch the ground, and the fourth can barely exist.

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Chapter 12: Working Together

Chapter 12: Working Together

As Thomas walked down the hallway with Twilight and Rainbow, following Luna, he listened to Lucas.

Most people in his situation would have been talking up a storm now that there was somebody to listen to them. But Lucas preferred to listen more and talk less.

Apparently Lucas's friend William had suggested the show to him a few weeks ago and Lucas had said he would give it a shot. But he hadn't quite worked up the gumption to actually watch the first episode yet.

Sounds a lot like me, first time I heard about the show thought Thomas, then he realized that Lucas had stopped talking.

He came to a halt and looked around to see that Luna had brought them out of the castle and into some sort of courtyard.

"My sister crafted this area many centuries ago," said Luna, looking around cautiously, "Without our guards' knowledge."

Thomas looked at the courtyard a little closer, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, aside from the armored statues.

"She concluded, after my banishment, that t'would be prudent not to rely solely on her royal guard for protection. When I returned from the moon, I agreed with her. Thus, we used our magic to construct this training area."

Makes sense, Thought Thomas, Considering Firebrand thinks your military stinks.

Who? asked Lucas, confused.

I'll explain later, said Thomas, realizing he had to keep a hold on his thoughts. Apparently lacking a mouth for this much time had unconsciously affected what he mentally verbalized.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Both Tom and Lucas were intrigued.

"My sister sowed these statues and the very ground we stand on with a great deal of her magic. When I returned I refined her magic and wove her spells into more intricate mechanisms. Let us begin."

Luna lit her horn and a large wolf-shaped sack, stuffed with straw, walked into the middle of the courtyard.

"Thou seem honorable and of kind natures, so I think we need'st first teach thou to direct thine blows."

Thomas would have done a double-take if he actually had eyes. Writing something quickly on his chalkboard, he walked over to the stuffed dummy and flattened it with one punch.

THAT'S HOW YOU THROW A PUNCH

Lucas, chuckled. Nice one. I really liked that movie.

"Very goo-" started Luna, then stopped as Thomas lifted the partially deflated dummy off the ground and ripped the head off.

"Thine enthusiasm is-"

Thomas then tore the body in two.

Luna stood there. Then she raised an eyebrow.

"Our species isn't exactly shy when it comes to fighting" said Mira, cautiously, "In the past, we've fought for honor, justice, and everything in between. Lately though we've tried to act in a more peaceful manner. But trust me, I think each of us has at least had some experience with fighting."

You ever play Black Opps? asked Lucas.

I'm more a TF2 player myself, returned Thomas.

Luna nodded and said, "I see. How much damage does't thou think thou could'st deal the dummy."

There was a flash of magic and the dummy stood, reformed, in the middle of the courtyard.

"Not much, I'm afraid. I don't think I could actually put enough force behind me to really deal any damage. I'm not exactly Aang."

Luna blinked and Mira continued, "Sorry. Inside joke."

Thomas nodded, both he and Lucas chucked inwardly.

"But I guess I could try."

Thomas could feel the air around him begin to gather, and there was a quiet rushing noise like a miniature jet was preparing to take off.

Thomas set Michael on the ground and waited for Mira to make her move.

There was a rush of wind, a jet of flame, and a column of fire which spiraled up before toppling over to land near the carbide lamp and reignite it.

The rushing sound returned as Mira reformed herself after her attack.

"Michael, why did you do that?"

"One, I was bored. Two, you wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway; You're just air. Three, I wanted to see what I could do."

Luna stared at the smoking pile of straw and then her gaze move over to the two fighting siblings.

"I believe attacking shall not present thee any trouble. However it appears to me that we shall need'st work on thine team skills."

Thomas nodded as Mira and Michael finished their argument.

What are you capable of doing? he asked Lucas.

A lot like Mira, I'm afraid, returned Lucas, I'm not a water bender. About the most I can do is stand up a little.

"Deposit thine friend in yonder pool," said Luna, gesturing to a small fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

"What do you want him to do?" asked Mira, for Lucas.

"We shall see just what he is't capable of accomplishing with his form."

"Tell her I'm afraid of what will happen if I touch the ground, and I don't want to be stuck in a fountain again," said Lucas to Tom.

Tom relayed the message to Luna who nodded and lit up her horn. With a quick flick of her magic and a tap to the ground with her hoof all the stones on the courtyard flipped over in a wave-like pattern to reveal a smooth marble floor similar to the one they had just left behind in the courtroom.

Tom could feel Lucas flow out of him through his legs and spread out across the floor, becoming invisible to him in the process.

There was a splash as a small portion of Lucas jumped off the ground and into the fountain. He did it again, with a little more of his substance then he paused and practically lifted his entire being off the ground and into the fountain.

Luna lit up her horn and stabbed a hollow metal tube into the center of the fountain. Next thing they knew Lucas was communicating through the resonating structure.

"I guess all my failed attempts back in that last fountain wrecked my confidence. I'm not as strong as Tom, but I definitely have more substance than Mira. Now the only problem is that I still can't touch the ground."

"Is there not some way thou could'st carry thine friend and find some way for him to help in the battle?" asked Luna, looking at Thomas.

Thomas did have something of an idea. Unfortunately he didn't want to say it because it would place a lot of pressure on both him and Lucas.

"Well?"

I COULD...... JUGGLE... HIM

"Hmmm," said Luna, considering Tom's idea.

What did you say? asked Mira, who had missed Tom's idea and couldn't read his message.

He told her and Tom could feel her frown.

"Isn't that kind of... dangerous?" she asked.

"What is it?" said Lucas from the pool.

"You know, that's kind of what Mira did to me," said Michael, in a thoughtful voice, "I didn't really think about it at the time."

"What is it?!" asked Lucas again, "Come on guys, don't leave me high and dry."

Mira laughed and said, "So I guess jokes and one-liners come with the whole "super-hero" thing, huh?"

"Maybe," said Michael, "Thomas suggested that he could juggle you."

"Are you any good?" asked Lucas.

It was a hobby back home. That and Hacky Sack... Maybe a little Volleyball.

"What are super... heroes?" asked Luna, confused.

"You need to read more comic books," said Mira, "Talk to Spike."

"Maybe later," said Michael, breaking in, "For now do you suppose we could work on my burning stuff. Right now I'm only as dangerous as the guy holding this lamp."

Luna nodded and said, "Alone, thou are only dangerous when thou hast fuel, and oxygen in abundance. Together with thine sister thou can'st punch through the barriers of distance to get all the fuel thou need'st."

She lit her horn again and several torches sprung up spanning the courtyard.

"Here is thine fuel, work together to cross the distance."

Tom, lifted Michael up and lit the first tiki-like torch, then he stepped back.

The flame flickered almost as if Michael was breathing in an out, to psych himself up, then he went still. Mira gathered behind her brother and Thomas held the lamp halfway between the two torches as a safety precaution.

There was a whoosh, a spiraling jet of fire, which engulfed Thomas's hand, the lamp, the second torch and finally died at the third.

Thomas stepped back and patted out the flaming moss on his arm, as the lit lamp burned away in his right hand.

The first torch was still lit, the third was also now lit (with Michael), and the second was on fire.

"Twould seem you are a powerful duo," said Luna.

"Yeah, imagine if I actually had a whole lot of stuff to burn," said Michael, sounding way too excited.

"Could we see what Tom and I are capable of here on this tile? asked Lucas from the fountain.

You actually want to try it?! I thought it sounded Crazy.

"Well if you miss me I can always bounce a little bit of myself up and you can catch that." said Lucas, "And we'll never know what I'm capable of if I don't actually contribute."

Thomas shrugged and reached into the pool, he felt Lucas actively drain into his arm and pulled him out.

"I shall prepare thine targets," said luna, her horn glowing.

Several bags of straw, a couple clay jars and two glass spheres and a bronze disk levitated above the courtyard and stayed there.

Thomas walked under one of the clay jars first and held his arm as though he was about the throw a baseball straight up.

Like an explosive powered piston his arm shot up and hurled Lucas with it, straight through the jar, blowing it to smithereens. Lucas disappeared into the sky as Thomas suddenly realized he couldn't see what he was doing.

Thomas's head jerked back and forth as he ran madly about the yard trying to communicate that there was a blink catcher on the field.

Mira caught his point, darted around him, saying she'd help and then shot up into the sky to find Lucas.


By the time she reached him he was still shooting up like a rocket, all though he was beginning to slow down.

How are you doing?

O.K. That guy should join a baseball team; he's got one heck of a fastball.

Yeah, well he's also blind. Don't worry I'll help him catch you when you land but I don't think he'll be juggling you any time soon.

Mira left Lucas and wrapped herself around Thomas. They looked up together, scanning the sky for Lucas. At last they saw him descending more slowly than his ascent. He had ballooned himself out so he looked like a deformed bubble parachute.


Thomas tucked his head in and rolled across the yard faster than he could run, his hands came out, expanded and he caught Lucas perfectly.

It literally felt like catching a Hacky Sack. Lucas's body splatted against Tom's hands but he held himself together so he didn't splash all over the courtyard.

Bad idea? he asked.

Bad idea, confirmed Tom.

"Twould seem juggling is out," said Luna, "But shall we not still see what thine friend is capable of on his own?"

The targets descended to the ground and Lucas agreed to hit them from a much less precarious position.

He approached another clay pot and jumped into it, a few seconds later a crack zipped across the surface of the jar. There was a gurgle from the jar as though Lucas was jumping up and down in it and then cracks spider-webbed down the jar on all sides, flattening the jar into a crumbled mess.

Lucas slid across the tiled floor like a snake to his next target, a glass orb.

Wrapping his body around it in a tight bubble of water, the orb began to vibrate back and forth slightly.

Suddenly it exploded, spraying glass across the yard.

"Interesting use of acoustics," said Luna, intrigued.

Lucas darted underneath the bronze disk, and it began pumping up and down like a speaker, causing a tinny voice to reverberate from it, "Actually I just started spinning it until the centrifugal force ripped it apart. I'll use acoustics on this one.

Sure enough the metal began pulsing up and down faster and faster, until ripples danced across the surface. Then, suddenly, it ruptured with a resounding "BLANG!"

"It would seem that thine strength shall not a problem make, but rather thine speed and interaction as a team," said Luna, "How fast canst thou travel or dodge?"

"Well," said Mira, speaking for Thomas, "Tom says that he can move pretty fast even though he's made of stone. However he tires quickly and needs to rest. As for me I'm not actually sure. At first when I was on my way to Ponyville I just kind of cruised above the clouds. Then I got tired and didn't really want to go that fast."

As she said this, Lucas made his way back across the smooth tile to the pool and, getting in, remained silent.

Mira left the ground behind her and soared up into the sky.

"WAIT!" called Luna from below, "Take this so that we may track thine progress."

Some dandelion seeds wafted up to Mira and she discovered that by concentrating and turning herself back inwards in a sort of infinite loop she could keep the seeds within herself.

With that she took off across Canterlot, pushing herself to see just how fast she could go without losing the seeds within her.

Unfortunately she soon realized that this wasn't that easy. She was very light and could slip through the air fairly easily. However the minute she tried to go faster the air resistance became too much and she couldn't seem to get a grip on the air she was pushing against. It was like trying to push yourself on a skateboard with a broom by sweeping.

Meanwhile Thomas had been watching the pool of water, since he couldn't see Mira even with the dandelion seeds.

Approaching the pool, he bent down and stuck his hand into the water. His mind was overwhelmed by the the intense sensation of speed and he could practically see something similar to a flash of light zipping around the pool like the Indie 500.

How are you doing that? He asked in astonishment.

It's not about how fast you can travel in the water, but how fast you can travel through the water, said Lucas, "Tell Mira that the secret to speed is how fast she can can convert the air in front of her into herself. In short it's not really her body that's moving but rather her consciousness. From what I can see there's no speed limit, G-forces aren't a problem, and medium resistance is non-existent."

Thomas nodded and walked over to Luna, who was observing Mira's progress through the sky.

"It would appear thine friend's speed is limited by her form," she said.

Thomas held up his chalkboard.

TELL HER TO COME DOWN HERE. LUCAS FIGURED IT OUT.

Luna nodded and called to Mira.

After Thomas explained what Lucas had told him, Mira agreed to give it a try.

There were a couple restrained grunts as it sounded as though Mira was giving it her all and the dandelion seeds drifted to the ground.

Lucas's voice resounded through the metal tube, "Practice converting a little bit at first, then give a good thrust and fall into a smooth rhythm. It will take a little time to get up to speed but you'll get used to it."

Tom, Luna and Michael could hear Mira's sounds of concentration quickly getting farther away. Then suddenly they disappeared completely.

Luna looked around, her ears moving this way and that.

Then Mira's voice came suddenly from behind Thomas.

"IT WORKED!"

They all spun around only to hear Mira's voice behind them again.

"This must be how Superman or the Flash feels. I just give myself one good push and suddenly it's like I'm in a video game with one of those speed boosts. I just went all the way around Canterlot to get behind you guys and it only took about five second. THIS IS SOOOO AWESOME!"

Thomas raised a finger to ask Mira a question, "How do you react that fast?"

Mira chucked and answered, saying, "I don't need to react that fast, Thomas. I'm made of air, remember? If I crash into anything it doesn't exactly hurt."

Thomas lowered his hand as he realized it was a stupid question.

"Now tis not the time for dejection," said Luna, knocking Thomas on the back with her hoof, "We must prepare for battle."

The way she said 'battle' made Tom chuckle inwardly.

The rest of the day was devoted to learning strategy, teamwork, and how to apply different fighting techniques to each of their forms.