Leading the charge.

by Watercolor the Pegasus

Uniforms and Motivation.

Pinkamena walked through the streets of Manehattan, alongside The Earth Pony Applejack, and The Pegasus Rainbow. She stared forward, mulling over the events of the day before. The gem had quickly faded back to a deep gray, and had not yet lit up a second time. The three had sent a letter to The Princess as soon as they got to the train station the next morning. The Princess had immediately sent back, that one of them must have temporarily activated the Element that they were supposed to bear, but who, or which Element could not be determined, as she had not witnessed it.

Pinkamena had a suspicion that it was The Earth Pony Applejack who activated it. She had been unable to determine what Element had been activated, but knew it was not Laughter, (probably not) Kindness, or (definitely not) Generosity. That left either Honesty, Loyalty, or the mysterious sixth Element, that The Princess said was Magic.

"This is it." Pinkamena perked up at The Earth Pony Applejack's voice. The three found themselves standing in front of a tall brick building. It had a small wooden sign over the door, hanging by a single rope, that had a picture of a soldiers uniform next to a sewing machine. "The uniform factory?" The Pegasus Rainbow asked. The Earth Pony Applejack nodded. "My friend Rarity always had a knack with the sewing machine. When the call went out for uniform makers, she went off to Canterlot faster then ya could blink."

Pinkamena raised an eyebrow in curiosity. There were multiple uniform makers. Finding this 'Rarity' would be like finding a Crystal Tyrant in an army............that's actually a pretty bad comparison but who cares!? The point was, they would have a hard time finding her. Pinkamena sighed, deciding to go along with it for now, and followed the other two through the door.

The group stepped into a dimly lit room with brick walls, a wooden floor and ceiling, and a single wooden desk. At the desk sat an older Earth Pony mare with a yellow coat, a wavy blue mane, thick rimmed round red glasses, and a uniform makers uniform. She flipped through multiple papers, not once glancing up at the three. "Excuse me, ma'am?" The pony looked up at The Earth Pony Applejack, raising an eyebrow. "Yes? What can I do for you?" "We're looking for the uniform makers room." "Are you all looking for anypony in particular?" The Earth Pony Applejack nodded. "We sure are. Do you have a Rarity here?" The mare stared silently for a moment, before returning to her papers. "You won't be finding a Rarity here, I'm afraid." "What!?" The three yelled at once. "Does 'Rarity' not work here?" The Pegasus Rainbow said, glaring at The Earth Pony Applejack. "Oh, she works here. This is just her week off." "Y'all get weeks off here?" Pinkamena felt a growl rising up, but suppressed her urge to explode. She let out a sigh of discomfort. "Tis alright everypony. We can cometh back next week." The Earth Pony Applejack nodded. The Pegasus Rainbow humphed. Pinkamena followed the two out the door, before turning back to the mare at the desk. "We thank thee for thy time." The mare nodded, and Pinkamena continued out the door.

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The Pegasus Rainbow sat on a couch in front of a small coffee table, across from The Earth Pony Applejack, who sat on one of two matching chairs. Pinkamena stood in the kitchen, watching mindlessly as a dish spun slowly in the microwave. The microwave let out a ding, and Pinkamena flipped the door open, pulling out a small bowl filled with assorted vegetables. She picked up the dish, and brought it over to the den, setting it on the coffee table. She plopped down into the second chair, and stuffed a forkful of veggies into her mouth.

The Pegasus Rainbow let out a sigh, sitting up straight. "Of all the Manticore-smog. We come all the way up here to find a pony two of us don't even know, just to find out it's her week off, so we have to wait for her."

"Rarity's a good pony." The Earth Pony Applejack said. "The time'll be worth it if she's gonna help us."

The Pegasus Rainbow scoffed. "Please. I hardly think it's worth waiting a whole week, for somepony who might just be a fake make-believe goose-chase!"

The Earth Pony Applejack reeled back defensively. "Are ya accusing me a' lying?"

"Why, yes. Yes I am."

The Earth Pony Applejack growled. "Ah'll have ya know, It was probably me who activated the Element on the train, and Ah like to think that it was the Element a' Honesty that was activated!"

The Pegasus Rainbow scoffed. "Yeah right, Tirrar."

Pinkamena immediately looked up at The Pegasus Rainbow, who sported a confident smirk. Every Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn knew what that word meant. She glanced at The Earth Pony Applejack, whose eyes narrowed to a glare.

"Now listen here, Ah Told ya before, and Ah'll tell ya again, Ah never break a promise. And if ya think that ya can just up and insult me like that, then ya got another-"

"GUYS!"

Pinkamena stood up, slamming her hooves on the table. "Neither of you have any reason to be fighting. Yes, things have gone wrong. Yes, we are in a bit of a predicament as of currently. But, that is no reason for us to turn on each other. Things could be worse. We could have not activated that Element. The train could have not made it here in the first place. Rarity could not work there at all! Either way, we have to be positive. I plan to be the positivity and optimism in this group, because neither of you are..........Pinkie promise!"

She stood panting, the other two ponies staring in shock at her outburst.

A slight shimmering sound caught the attention of the three, and a gentle light from within the saddlebags was the source. The three walked over to where it was propped against a wall, and they pulled the flap open. They each looked on in awe, at a single gem, flickering a soft blue.

Author's Note:

I immediately regret thinking I could finish this by tonight. It is 12:15. 12:15 sigh. Well, I'm going to another camp tomorrow, so I figured I should get this out now. Enjoy chapter 3

Edit: chapter previously called Apartments and Motivation.

Comments

[Paradise Oasis]

This.. this is an interesting way to wake up the element bearers in this timeline. But how are they going to get the element of magic, I wonder? And where is this world's twilight sparkle?

[Watercolor the Pegasus]

7481625
I'm glad you like it. And I do have some ideas on the Element of Magic. All I can say about how it will be activated will involve Starlight in some way. Or maybe the other timeline. I haven't fully worked out the bugs on that scene yet. And as for this worlds Twilight? She's basically gonna be what Moondancer became. A hermit. I like to imagine she became completely secluded, focusing all her time on what went wrong the day she tried out for Celestia's school. I can imagine that as a Unicorn who held a ton of magic, she sense that there was a powerful magic in that moment that was supposed to occur, and she would want to figure out what it was.

[Crimson Dawn]

I like that Pinkie's way of speaking is already changing.