Nopony Can Do That!

by bigbear

The Girls Are Counting On Me

Shaking her head, Twilight flapped her wings and rose toward the hole in the roof of Canterlot Castle. She hoped everypony inside was okay.

As she got to the roof, Twilight summoned a wind to blow the billowing black clouds away so she could see inside. Looking down, she saw that the hole went down through multiple floors, deep into the castle.

Movement on one of the floors caught her eye. A pink head poked out into the hole and looked up. “Hey Twilight, down here!” Pinkie bounced and waved a hoof.

Twilight flew down carefully, avoiding any hanging debris. She got to the level Pinkie was on and hovered. The hole continued down into the depths of Canterlot Mountain.

Twilight recognized the remains of the archive. It was a disaster zone, with bookcases blown over and books scattered everywhere. Her heart sank as she surveyed the devastation. This had been her second home while she studied with the Princess as a fillie. “What is it about villains blowing up libraries,” she thought. “First Golden Oaks, and now this!”

“The mean black thingies took the Elements!” Pinkie exclaimed. She pointed at the whole in the back wall. Twilight recognized the opening to the vault where the Elements had been stored. Peering inside she could see there was nothing left. Fluttershy and Pinkie were right, the Elements of Harmony had been taken.

The girls rushed over and all talked at once. “Are you alright?” “Is it safe to be in the castle?” “Where’s Fluttershy?” “Have you seen the Princesses?”

Twilight took a deep breath, “I’m fine. The castle is safe. Fluttershy is trying to track the Elements. And I haven’t seen the Princesses. They were supposed to be deep inside Canterlot Mountain saving the castle.” She looked over at the hole that lead deeper down. “And that looks like the fastest way to get down there.”

The girls moved to the edge of the hole. Rainbow Dash hovered over the hole and peered down into the darkness.

“Ready girls,” Twilight asked. Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity gathered close. Twilight lifted off and picked them up in a field of magenta magic. Rarity lit her horn so they could all see. Dash flew ahead, and the girls moved down the hole, a bubble of light descending into the darkness.

---

High over Equestria, Fluttershy followed the shadow trail North. She could feel the Element of Kindness receding away from her. “Got to go faster,” she thought, and increased the rhythm of her wing beats. The air was like a wall, buffeting her face, and keeping her from speeding up.

“How does Dash do this?” she thought. Fluttershy imagined how Dash flew when she wanted to go really fast. Hind legs straight back and touching. Fore legs straight out and parallel. Head hunkered down between the fore legs. Eyes straight ahead. Wingbeats small and fast.

Fluttershy adjusted her body to emulate Dash. She took in a breath, gritted her teeth, and flapped for all she was worth. Faster she went, and faster still. The Elements were still receding. She made her wingbeats smaller, but faster. They were practically humming. It wasn’t enough.

The air around Fluttershy turned milky white. “I don’t know if I can do this.” She beat her wings faster. The air turned yellow. The Elements were still receding. “I don’t know if I should do this.” The air turned pink. “Sorry Rainbow Dash,” she thought. “Nopony but you should do this. But I can’t lose the Elements. The girls are counting on me.” Fluttershy beat her wings even faster. The air exploded around her, creating shockwaves of yellow and pink in her wake.

Strangely, after the explosion, it go easier to fly even faster. Fluttershy kept her body posture straight, and her wings humming. The yellow and pink shockwave behind her appeared to be so solid, it looked like somepony could walk on it.

“I’m gaining on them,” Fluttershy thought. “I can feel myself getting closer to Kindness.” The shadow trail was descending now, taking the Elements of Harmony toward the Crystal Mountains. She had flown halfway across Equestria in her pursuit.

Fluttershy looked down and saw the glittering towers of the Crystal Empire as she rocketed past. The yellow and pink shockwave behind her spread out and covered the countryside, rustling trees and rattling buildings as she flew over.

Fluttershy scanned the sky for the Elements. At the front edge of the black trail, she saw glitters of gold. It was them! She put on another burst of speed, to try and catch the Elements before they got to the ground.

Then she saw where they were headed.

The Elements, carried by the shadow trail, angled down toward a huge, smoking volcano in the middle of the Crystal Mountains. Fluttershy banked left and right to avoid the plumes of smoke and heat that rose from the volcano. But before she could catch them, Fluttershy watched in horror as the Elements splashed down into a lake of lava and disappeared from view.

---

The girls kept descending into the dark and finally found the bottom of the hole, deep within the Crystal Caves beneath Canterlot Mountain. Dash got there first and hovered. Twilight landed and released her magic. “Whew,” she thought, “my horn is getting tired.”

Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity dropped to their hooves, and spread out to examine the area around them. The crystal walls of the cave glittered in Rarity’s light. It reflected and spread out far and wide.

“What are we looking for, sugarcube.” Applejack scanned the area for anything she could recognize.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were down here re-weaving the Keystone spells that keep Canterlot Castle attached to the mountain. They were successful, I felt the spells return.” Twilight looked around the crystalline cavern. “But they haven’t emerged. Maybe they’re still down here.”

“After all the explosions, I suggest we stick together,” Rarity said. The others nodded. They began a methodical search of the caves, looking for signs of the Princesses.

Pinkie bounced over to a crystal pillar and looked up. The ceiling curved as it rose up and receded into the darkness far above her. Pinkie bounced over the pillar next to it, and watched it curve toward the first pillar and recede into the darkness above as well. Pinkie turned her head far to one side, and then far to the other. The rubbernecked pony decided these pillars were worth checking out.

“Twilight, how high is the ceiling here,” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Pretty high up, I’m not sure how far.”

“And how much do these pillars curve?”

“From the part that is in the light, they appear to be pseudo ellipsoids, with a compound radius of...” Twilight stopped. “Rarity, point your light up to the top of these pillars.”

“Of course, darling.” Rarity narrowed her light into a beam, and directed it to the ceiling. At the apex, the curved crystal pillars met, with a giant wedge shaped crystal between them. “It’s the keystone!” Twilight pointed up. “You’re a genius Pinkie.”

“I get that a lot!” Pinkie smiled.

Rarity shone her light around the ceiling. Pillars arced in from every direction, all terminating at the giant wedge. She followed one pillar down, and then another, and another. They were in a veritable forest of crystal pillars, all focused on the crystal wedge.

“It looks like that there wedge is holding up this entire cave.” Applejack gazed up and shook her head.

“I think it’s holding up the entire mountain,” Twilight answered in awe.

“If that’s the keystone, the Princesses must have done their magic around here somewhere,” Dash said. “Look for signs.”

“I don’t see any signs,” said Pinkie. “Just two black sooty circles on the otherwise clean crystal floor.”

The girls rushed over to Pinkie and saw the blackened circles. “Don’t anypony touch it,” said Rarity. “The crystals on the floor there feel wrong to me. Very wrong.”

Twilight looked at the blackened circles and saw small black crystals around the edge. “Dark magic, like Sombra used,” she said.

Everypony else backed up half a step.

“I don’t dare use my magic on the black crystals, I don’t know how it will react.” Twilight pondered what to do next. What had happened to the Princesses was a mystery, but she couldn’t even touch their best clue. She looked around the crystal cave, and had an idea. “Rarity, is there any Golden Amethyst in this cave?”

Rarity looked about, both with her eyes, and with her gem finding magic. “There darling, the big flat crystal there is Golden Amethyst.” Her spell made the gem glow so everypony could see it.

“Perfect!” Twilight said. “Some crystals absorb the light that shines on them. Golden Amethyst is especially good at holding light for a short time. I have a spell that will make the gem radiate the light back in the order it was absorbed. It will be like a moving picture show. No sound though.”

Twilight lit her horn and surrounded the Golden Amethyst with a field of magenta magic. “I’m going to be out of it while I keep the spell running. Can you girls please watch and tell me what you see when we’re done?” They all agreed and gathered around.

Twilight closed her eyes and scrunched up her muzzle in concentration. After all of the magic she had been using today, this spell felt like it was one too many. Twilight was running on empty. But they needed to know what had happened in order to help the Princesses. So Twilight gritted her teeth, dug deep, and unleashed her magic one more time.

The surface of the Golden Amethyst danced with light. The two images that appeared were soft... out of focus. A moving white shape and a moving indigo shape. Gradually the images sharpened, until they resolved into Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

The girls were looking at the diarchs from behind. Each alicorn had their wings at full extension. They swayed back and forth in synchronization, as if dancing to music the girls couldn’t hear. Celestia directed a stream of golden magic back and forth in rhythm with their movement. Luna directed a stream of indigo magic in the same rhythm. When the streams crossed, they intertwined, forming a mystical forest green tapestry that was slowly covering the crystal walls.

“They really are re-weaving the spell,” Applejack said. “It looks just like Granny Smith’s knitting.”

The image the girls watched started to shake. Crystal shards fell into the picture, impacting the alicorns. Luna winced in pain, but Celestia mouthed unspoken words, and the two resumed their rhythmic task, even as the cavern threatened to collapse around them.

“Come on...” Dash urged the Princesses. “You’re almost done.”

The Princesses crossed their streams one last time, and the magical tapestry was finished. It reached from ceiling to the cavern floor. The tapestry glowed brightly, then was absorbed into the very crystal of the walls and pillars. The cavern glowed with emerald light that flowed through the crystals toward the wedge shaped keystone in the ceiling. The Keystone glowed for a full minute. Then the shaking stopped, and the glow faded. The spells were complete.

The diarchs collapsed to the floor, spent from their great task. They silently mouthed words to each other. They displayed weak grins and the satisfaction of completing a difficult job.

Suddenly a huge shower of crystal shards battered the alicorns from above. Moments later, two great waterfalls of shadow crashed down upon them. Before Celestia or Luna could react, they were swept up by the shadows, as if being carried in sacks. The shadows bucked and bulged, a testament to the struggles of the sisters. But as fast as the streams of shadow had fallen from above, they receded, taking the Princesses with them. Nothing was left but two rings of black crystals where the Princesses had been.

Rarity gently nudged Twilight Sparkle. “We’re done dear, you can stop now.” There was worry in her tone.

Twilight’s jaw relaxed. She opened her eyes and looked at Rarity. “Did you see anything?” she asked.

Before Rarity could answer, Twilight’s legs wobbled. Rarity tucked herself under one of Twilight’s wings to keep her from falling. “No more magic from me for a while.” Twilight said weakly.

---

Fluttershy was despondent as she felt the Element of Kindness recede from her, under the lava of the largest active volcano in the Crystal Mountains. The Element felt like it was still intact, just impossible to get to.

“I can’t lose the Elements,” Fluttershy thought. “The girls need them. Equestria needs them.”

Fluttershy zoomed low over the giant pool of lava, searching for options. A large bubble appeared in the lava, right in her path. She was going too fast to dodge! the bubble burst, showering her in molten rock.

“Aaaaaaaa!” Fluttershy screamed. Everywhere the lava touched her burned, worse than any fire. She blindly zoomed up, climbing away from the danger. Her hooves madly clawed at her barrel, Trying to brush away the molten stone. Everytime she brushed a piece off, her hooves burned as well. It hurt so much! She couldn’t take in a breath, and the pain almost made her blind. Through her tears, Fluttershy’s gaze darted from her hooves to her barrel. Where she brushed off the lava, she was in agony, but her fur and skin were not burnt! The fur was not even singed.

Twilight's words came back to her. “Right now, you can do things nopony can do!”

Nopony could survive touching lava. But today, maybe she could. Everywhere the lava had touched her hurt worse than anything she could remember. There was only one pain that she conceive of that could be worse: failing her friends.

Twilight was the smartest pony she knew. Fluttershy decided to trust her. If the lava brought pain, but not death, then she would just have to learn to live with the pain.

“I’ve got to do this now, before I panic.” Fluttershy thought. “I have every reason to panic, and only one reason not to: my friends.”

Fluttershy could still feel the direction to Kindness, down in the lava pool. With a powerful beat of her wings, she launched herself downward, closed her eyes, and did a power dive into the lava. The lake received her with a giant splash that showered the rim of the crater.

Pain exploded across every surface of Fluttershy’s body. Her face, neck, barrel, legs, and wings all burned. The pain was worse than before because the lava touched all over her body.

Through the pain, she could still feel the Element of Kindness, shining like a beacon in her mind. She had to make this pain worth it. She had to get Kindness.

The lava was thick. Moving through it was like a combination of swimming with her hooves, flying with her wings, and working really hard not to scream.

Fluttershy kept her eyes closed, and used her connection with the Element of Kindness to make a beeline for it. It came closer and closer in her mind, until she felt it slip around her outstretched left fore hoof.

As soon as she touched the Element of Kindness, she could feel the other Elements around her. Her pain did not cease, but it receded. The feelings of Kindness overwhelmed the burning sensations. Fluttershy swam under the lava from Element to Element, until her hooves were full of 5 necklaces and a crown. Then she rolled until she was facing upwards, and with a mighty flap of her wings, rocketed out of the volcano and into the sky.

Molten rock fountained high, sucked into the air by her ascent. A great cloud of lava and smoke followed in her wake. Her pains receded even further, until they were naught but a memory.

In the open air, Fluttershy opened her eyes, set her body, and accelerated until the air glowed yellow and pink around her once again. She turned towards Canterlot and kept accelerating. Her yellow and pink shockwave did more than just rattle buildings this time.

Molten rock ran in rivulets in all of the cracks and hollows of her body. It streamed behind her, solidified in the supersonic wind, then fell to the mountains below and shattered on impact. Fluttershy shook her head, to dislodge any last drops from her mane, then focused on flying as fast as she could back to the castle. Fluttershy had to get back to help her friends.

---

The girls galloped and flew out of the castle into the castle garden where they had first met the Princesses. Applejack had an exhausted Twilight Sparkle unceremoniously slung across her back.

The garden was abuzz with government officials, Royal Guards, and castle staff. Commander Fairweather, a large white pegasus in golden armor and a helmet with a purple crest, was the head of the Royal Guard. He had taken charge in the garden and was directing operations with crisp commands.

Spike was by his side, relaying orders to the proper ponies. He spotted the girls and hustled over. “Twilight!”

Fairweather’s gaze followed Spike. “We need a medic over here for the Princess!” he called. Two earth ponies with nurses caps rushed over.

Twilight rolled off of Applejack’s back and dropped onto all four hooves. Her head was bowed, her tail and wings drooped. She struggled to raise her head and look confident. “I’m fine Spike,” she said weakly, “just tired.” Twilight looked at Fairweather. “We need to talk, without so many ponies around.”

Rarity nonchalantly saddled over next to Twilight and gave her a body to lean against. Twilight silently took advantage of the support.

“We’ll go to the gazebo over by the garden’s edge,” Fairweather said. “It has cover from the sun and places to sit.” He turned to a pair of guards. “Make sure we are not disturbed.” The guards saluted and took up positions between the gazebo and the bustle of the rest of the garden.

The girls, Spike, and Commander Fairweather gathered in a circle in the gazebo. Twilight flumped onto a bench and didn’t raise an objection when the nurse ponies started fussing over her.

“Did you find the other Princesses?” Fairweather asked.

“We’re pretty sure they’ve been taken.” Twilight bowed her head.

“We saw them get swept up by streams of shadow magic after they finished saving the castle,” Dash said.

“And I saw streams of shadow explode out of the roof of the castle.” Twilight looked to the sky. “One went straight up, and another went East to the horizon.”

“Toward the noonday Sun and the location of tonight’s rising Moon,” Rarity gasped.

“If the Princesses have been taken to the Sun and the Moon, I don’t know any way for the Royal Guard to get there to rescue them.” The commander slumped, then looked up at Twilight and the girls. “You are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. This sounds more like your territory. How can the Royal Guard support you?”

“Unfortunately, there was a third stream of shadow that took the Elements out of the castle and headed North.” Twilight scratched her head with her hoof. “Fluttershy, the bearer of Kindness, flew North to track them, but hasn’t returned yet.”

“Why don’t you pop up and see if you can spot Shy anywhere to the North, Dashy,” Applejack said.

“I’m on it!” replied Dash. She rocketed into the sky, rainbow trail in her wake. All pegasus had good eyes, and Rainbow Dash was extremely proud of her keen vision. “I see something yellow and pink, coming in from the North. It’s moving really fast.”

Everypony scrambled out of the gazebo and looked up into the sky. Before they could blink, a yellow and pink comet impacted in the center of the garden. There was a great BOOM. Dirt and grass erupted into the air. A yellow and pink shock wave washed over the area, accompanied by a long sound of thunder.

When the dust settled, Fluttershy was standing in a shallow crater in the middle of the clearing. Her head was high and her wings were at full extension. She wore the Element of Kindness around her neck. The other elements hung around her fore legs.

“Fluttershy!” everyone yelled. Royal Guards scrambled toward her, but Fairweather recognized the famous pegasus and waved them off.

Fluttershy looked around at the mess her landing had made. She ducked her head in shame. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

But no one heard. They rushed up noisily. “You got them!” “Are you okay?” “That was amazing!”

Fluttershy recoiled from the rush and the noise.

“Woo, woo, back off everypony!” Dash rose up on her hind legs and spread her wings to protect Fluttershy. “Give her some room.”

They all backed off and quieted down. Rarity approached a half step and spoke quietly. “Fluttershy, we are so happy to see you. Are you well?”

“I’m... alright,” she replied in a whisper.

“That is good news,” Rarity said. “Your landing was... sudden.”

“I’m sorry about the garden,” Fluttershy ducked and hid behind her long pink mane.

“Don’t worry about it, state of emergency and all that,” Fairweather said. “You have retrieved the Elements?”

Fluttershy pulled away, then nodded her head.

“A wonderful job dear, let me distribute them for you,” Rarity said. Fluttershy put out her fore hooves. Rarity lifted the Elements with her magic and distributed them to the Bearers. They all put them on. There were looks of relief and all the Bearers stood a little taller. Everypony felt better when the Bearers were together and they all had their Elements ready.

“Bring on the bad guys!” called Dash. They all smiled.

“Except we don’t know who the bad guys are, where they are, or what they’ve done with the Princesses,” Applejack said.

“Sounds like a research project,” said Twilight, hopefully.

There was a loud rumbling sound from the direction of the valley below the castle. The ground began to shake.

“Or, we could see what’s making all the ruckus,” Applejack replied.

They galloped and flew over to the edge of the garden and looked far down into the valley below.

A great geyser of shadow erupted from the valley floor. The shadow rocketed into the sky, and reached as high as the tops of the towers of Canterlot Castle above them. A massive pool of roiling shadow, several miles across, emerged from the base of the geyser and spread across the hollow.

“Time to show those shadow meanies,” Pinkie said.

“I hope the Elements can reach that far,” Twilight thought. But her voice was strong. “Ready girls?”

The Element bearers all instinctively moved into formation and nodded their heads.

Commander Fairweather stepped back and motioned the nurses to step away as well. “This is hero work.”

Pinkie focused her ever present happiness and optimism into her Element. Her Element sang back in her mind, filling her with energy and joy. No matter what darkness was before them, Pinkie believed with all her heart that tomorrow would be filled with laughter.

Rarity focused her charity and selflessness into her Element. Like all generosity, her Element returned it a thousand fold. For all of her cynical exterior, Rarity was sure the future was brightest when everypony gave all they could for the greater good.

Applejack focused her unstoppable determination into her Element. It returned the honest emotion with seemingly limitless vitality. Applejack had a rock solid conviction that no evil would stand against a fair reckoning.

Dash focused her will to be the best into her Element. Her striving was echoed back to her again and again as a certainty that united they would triumph. Dash reveled in her belief that if they all worked as hard as they could for each other, their loyalty would be rewarded with victory.

Fluttershy focused her infinite reserves of gentleness and affection for all into her Element. It returned the gifts with confidence and assuredness. All doubts and fears were banished by the embrace of her element, and Fluttershy exalted in its grace.

Twilight focused the magic of her friendships into her Element. Magic was her special talent; friendship her life's work. Her Element was a friend who opened up the vistas of infinity for her and flooded he being with power. Twilight’s heart sang in response.

But the song of the Elements sounded somehow different this time.

The Element Bearers glowed rapturously and levitated. Their individual lights expanded and merged into a single great iridescent globe. Twilight’s eyes glowed all white in the center of the globe. Twin streams of rainbow shot into the sky, higher than the towers of Canterlot Castle, circling and intertwining as they rose. At the apex of their travel, the streams merged into a single broad rainbow stream, and rocketed down.

Straight into a flabbergasted Fluttershy.

Comments

[kurusagi16]

Goodness! Why are the elements heading to Fluttershy? this is quite a predicament.

[Filraen]

“What is it about villains blowing up libraries,” she thought. “First Golden Oaks, and now this!”

“The mean black thingies took the Elements!” Pinkie exclaimed. She pointed at the whole in the back wall. Twilight recognized the opening to the vault where the Elements had been stored.

If this is after the Tirek incident, then the Elements were back to the Tree of Harmony and the Mane 6 have that Rainbow Power which don't need some specific artifact to work.

.... yeah, that breaks a lot of your story this chapter.

[Meadow Feather]

The air around Fluttershy turned milky white. “I don’t know if I can do this.” She beat her wings faster. The air turned yellow. The Elements were still receding. “I don’t know if I should do this.” The air turned pink. “Sorry Rainbow Dash,” she thought. “Nopony but you should do this. But I can’t lose the Elements. The girls are counting on me.” Fluttershy beat her wings even faster. The air exploded around her, creating shockwaves of yellow and pink in her wake.

This was strangely very very satisfying encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrshCa1-_1HUvtm4f8gtDCi-ZgRzgTGqQD1b3jn2WWXcTQyK9sZg