The Elements of Harmony

by MarcellusMiro66

Chapter 4: "A Countenance More In Sorrow Than In Danger"

Spoiler alert: They survived the fall. Otherwise, the story would be over real quick.

The crates had fortunately broken their fall, but unfortunately at the expense of some of the high-quality fruit Ponyville had to offer for Canterlot. For Apple Cobbler, she was about ready to lose it upon laying her eyes on the travesty that was practically carnage for food. Something of a silver lining was located when she noticed a few survivors (and her seemingly lost glasses) amidst the massacre and picked them up for safekeeping. Sunset had noticed this and offered to place them in her satchel, to which she thanked her for and accepted. As they did, the five other ponies dried themselves up and nearly broke down.

"So..." Starlight shook her head in dizziness, "Does anybody have a recap on what the heck just happened?"

"Isn't it obvious, Starlight?" Trixie twisted her wizard's hat to squeeze the water out, "We just got our flanks kicked by the world's best fighter ever! The Great and Powerful Trixie is utterly appalled!"

"You're telling me," Sunset approached them with Apple Cobbler in tow, "Honestly, I think she has superpowers."

"Should it matter?" Photo Finish cleaned her glasses, "We have to go back! Go back and fight them!"

"Photo Finish," Apple Cobbler rubbed her head in frustration, "you saw the size of those goons; we all did. You seriously wanna go back?"

"So now what?" Sunset glanced amongst the group, "We can't hide here forever, they can't fight there forever, and – let's be honest – we can't go back. Look at what they did to the Princesses and the Changeling Queen. We have to think something."

"Well, what do you think, Twilight?"

The purple unicorn herself was gazing at her reflection in the water. Oh, what have I done? I should've stop her in time. But I didn't... Even though I wished not to, they're my friends. They don't deserve this fate inflicted upon by her. They deserve the fate inflicted upon by me. Worried for the sake of her new friend, Sunset approached Twilight from behind and tapped her shoulder. She flinched as she whirled around in alarm, but calmed down when she did.

"I'm not sure, Sunset," Twilight shook her hand, "but you and Photo Finish are right."

"We are?" Photo Finish stumbled backwards in shock before smiling to herself. "I mean, yes! Of course, we're right!" Then she reverted back to confusion, "Um...right about what?"

"We have to do something," Twilight clarified. "I have to do something."

Sunset frowned and shook her head, "Twilight, you don't have to take them on by yourself. Let us help you. We each have something that makes us special in our own way. You have your powers, I have my brains, and the others have...whatever they have. What I'm saying is, you can't do this on your own, and even if you could, it would be suicide."

"... That's not what I'm worried about," Twilight shook her own head in return.

"Then what exactly are you afraid of, Sparkle?" Trixie raised her head up high, her eyes meeting hers.

"I said worried, not afraid," Twilight shot her a scowl, but her expression saddened nonetheless. "I'm worried about the possibility of you girls getting caught in the crossfire and becoming a liability to the mission at hand...for that possibility is extremely high. I mean, save for Sunset and possibly Trixie, none of you have been in an actual fight."

"I was gonna say," Sunset smirked, "but we did try to escape from those guards just now, right?"

"That was different," Twilight shook her head once more. "They were merely trying to round up the nearest ponies and put them in prison cells. Believe me, if they wanted to kill you, they would and could have so easily."

That sent a shiver down the more frightened-prone ponies' spines, but Twilight didn't want to leave their spirits despondent. "With that said... We need a plan. We need a strategy. We need...to find the Queen."

"What Queen?" Apple Cobbler tilted her head.

"Princess Celestia told Luna to find the Queen of the Hippos. Since they're both turned to stone... I guess we have to do it."

"Oh! I've heard that hippos are actually quite graceful for their size," Photo Finish interjected before added, "but they're also quite hungry."

"Hungry?"

"Hippos?"

Starlight and Trixie felt the spotlight shine upon them, causing them to blush and giggle in embarrassment before muttering their respective apologies. On the other hoof, Sunset rubbed her chin and reached a realization complemented by a soft gasp. "Twilight.... I think Princess Celestia meant...the Queen of the Hippogriffs."

Oh! Hippogriffs! Why didn't I think of that? All of a sudden, Twilight broke into a giggling fit and began to pace around...

"Oh my goodness! Hippogriffs! This means that there are more species outside of Equestria that we are unaware of! This also means that an opportunity has been provided to study these new species and expand my research even further! Girls... Onward to the Badlands!"

...much to the concern of her new allies. Sunset in particular forced an awkward smile that seemed to onboard with everything she said, but in reality was one that seemed to be freaked out with her brief loss of sanity. Maybe it's because of the loss of her friends and family at the hands of this Changeling Queen and subsequently that Storm King...

Twilight seemed to agree, for she had come to terms with what she said. A few uneasy chuckles later, she regained her composure and seriousness again. "I understand you're scared, and nopony else has to go. But I have to find this queen. She might be our only hope."

A moment of tense silence followed soon after. Everybody exchanged glances of uncertainty, from Trixie and Starlight to Apple Cobbler and Photo Finish. The only one who didn't exchange glances with anybody in the circle was Sunset, who had already made her decision before she stepped forward.

"I'm in. I have nothing left. No friends, no family, nothing to call home anymore. If I die... Well, I might as well be doing something badass."

Trixie found herself sniffling with pride, "Trixie thinks that speech was beautiful." Starlight rolled her eyes and patted her shoulder before stepping forward as well.

"I'm in too, yay. Seriously though, you're gonna need all the help you can get."

"That, and Trixie thinks you're not getting all the glory," the magician commented not too subtly. "We're in this together."

"We got your back," Apple Cobbler nodded.

"I'm ready to save the world..." Photo Finish again interjected, "...and look good while doing it."

"We're all behind you, Twilight," Sunset spoke up. "I just hope it means we're practically unstoppable as of this moment."

Twilight chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Me too, Sunset. Me too..." As they took off in the southern direction, playing a niche little game of 'I Spy' along the way, Lightning Dust watched from a distance with a frown worn on her face. Queen of the Hippogriffs, hmm? I suppose this Commander Tempest Shadow must learn of this... She turned to leave, but stopped herself before she got far. ...but what if I don't want to? I wish to seek revenge on those damn Elements of Harmony starting with precious Twilight Sparkle and finishing with poor Rainbow Dash. All by myself. She continued to walk ahead, but stopped herself again for she had come to a decision. Maybe I don't have to...

Lightning Dust smirked under her breath...as she stepped over the only surviving Changeling of the now deceased horde that had ambushed her earlier.

Author's Note:

Chapter 4 Summary: Twilight and the others decide to locate the Queen of the Hippogriffs themselves while Lightning Dust decides a plan of her own. Oh, and she's pretty much psychotic at this point. (That changeling horde who attacked her during the Canterlot Seige? They ain't coming back.)

The chapter title "A Counteance More In Sorrow Than In Danger" is a play on the phrase "A counteance more in sorrow than in anger", alluding to Twilight and Lightning Dust's respective decisions to take action.

Comments

[Zeprto678]

Maybe some romance could develop between Twilight and one of the girls? Just a suggestion.

[Nighlocktheawesome00]

We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship~
Zooming through the sky~
Albert Einstein~

[Tali_The_Lamia]

Of course Lighting Dust decides to be a _b*tch and work for Tempest.

[Coolmathgamer124]

Could you add a bit of creativity to it cause all you did was take an episode and the MLP movie and just changed a small bit. I'd like to see some thing that is original.