Out of Your Elements

by Kagemoon

Gathering of the Storm: Part 1

It was well into the afternoon when all the Elements of Harmony were able to meet in the library. Normally there would have been friendly banter between the orange earth pony Applejack and the rainbow maned pegasus Rainbow Dash. The white unicorn Rarity and her butter colored friend Fluttershy would be softly speaking about the latest fashion trends or how the latter’s animal friends were doing. All the while Pinkie Pie, the cotton candy colored earth pony would be hopping around the room spouting something nonsensical. That would have been a normal day. That day each mare had bags under her eyes as they stared intently at Twilight Sparkle.

“Are you sure you didn’t mess up a spell or something egghead?” Rainbow asked breaking the silence.

Rarity shot her friend a sharp look. “Rainbow Dash, I don’t think this is a time to be accusing Twilight of another magical accident. She would have come out and said something in her letter if that was the case, no? Now tell us Twilight darling, what was that horrid dream I had last night?”

“Did everyone else have a nightmare last night?” Twilight asked first. Each mare nodded an affirmative, with Fluttershy hiding behind her pink mane as she did. Twilight went on to share her dream. The fire, the other elements, Discord, and the princesses dying. When she had finished Applejack cut in.

“Sounds an awful lot like my dream, cept it wasn’t Celestia and Luna Discord hurt, it was ma brother and sister.”

“My sister was in peril as well. Could this mean those we feel are closest to us were replaced in each dream? “Rarity ventured.

“Well, it was Scootaloo in my dream,” Rainbow answered.

“Angel and Luna were in mine,” Fluttershy announced, embarrassed that the Princess of the Night was a shared figure between her and Twilight.

They all looked at Pinkie who was sobbing as her hair slowly straightened from its normal perm. “Everypony I know was there,” she whispered. “Except for you girls. The Cakes, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, even my family back home. They were all crying and asking me to help them,” the pink pony burst into tears, a waterfall flowing from the corners of her eyes. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew to her side to comfort her.

Twilight nodded sagely, her heart going out to the Element of Laughter. “Then it’s pretty much official, this is either a spell, or a prophecy. When Luna gets here tonight we’ll be able to find out which. Until then we can only hope that whatever we’re being warned of is far off.”

Rarity stared intently at the table top. “I hope you’re right darling.”

.....

The Everfree Forest was only the second most dangerous place Nightshade had ever been. The northern Dragon Tooth Mountains were a very close first. Living trees, dangerous animals, and Luna knew what kinds of poisonous plants made the Everfree the opposite of a tourist destination. For the umpteenth time that day the blood red unicorn used his magic to clear a bushel of vines from his path as he followed the animal trail toward his destination.

“Yes let’s just follow the voice in your head, Shade. That’s always a good idea. You know, not only crazy people hear voices. I’m sure you’re still completely sane,” he joked with himself. The last few days had been a whirlwind of absurdity. He had slept little since the strange creature that had invaded his dream promising riches and power.

Into the Everfree my little pony. You skills are needed to build a beautiful world. A world free of prissiness and ego. Of status and structure. Your paradise.

Nightshade chalked the first dream up to too much hard cider. But the same voice spoke the same words a second night, and a third. On the forth night Nightshade relented and made plans to head for the famous forest. Still the voice
never stopped. Always promising things, but it seemed to get giddier the closer he got to the forest.

A day into the Everfree the voice had finally ceased leaving Nightshade to find his way to whatever he was being led to by only a vague feeling he was going the right way. His magical reserves were dangerously low. Despite is knowledge of battle spells the waves of timber wolves and two manitcores had drained him. The sound of running water ahead was as beautiful as any melody. The sound of two ponies arguing up ahead much less so.

“I’m telling you Flim, this bridge is way too old for us to cross.”

“Now listen here Flam, if the bridge has lasted all this time it’ll surly hold us. We simply need to cross one at a time.”

With practiced stealth, Nightshade hunkered into a nearby bush and peeked into the clearing. The voices belonged to two similar looking yellow unicorns wearing what looked like carnival vests and ties. Peering past them he saw the bridge in question. It looked like a century old rope bridge with several rotting planks and a fraying suspension rope. The unicorns continued arguing.

“What if only one of us is able to get across, dear brother of mine?” the mustached one asked the other.

“That’s what this other rope we brought is for. One crosses, we throw the rope over the gap, then the other crosses,” the clean shaven one retorted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Neither of us have the power to levitate a rope that far, Flim,” Flam reminded the younger of the twins.

“But we have to cross Flam. I need sleep. The voice. It won’t stop.”

“You’re better than them, my little pony,” the now all too familiar voice whispered in Nightshade’s head.

“Shut up,” Night thought back at the voice. Its laugh faded as if walking deeper into a cave.

“Look Flim. Once we cross this bridge we’ll get that power the voice is talking about, then we’ll get pay back those hick farmers and their friends for running us out of town.”

“And making us lose all our bits,” the other growled. “Stupid little filly,” he cursed the off yellow filly with the big red bow.

“Right. The things I plan on doing to that orange little cowgirl are illegal even in Griffhalla, but before we can get back at them we need to cross this ravine.”

Nightshade chose this time to exit his hiding place. “Then I believe we can help each other. I overheard you two talking about a voice in your dreams, then I believe we share a condition and a goal.”

“You’ve heard it too?” the twins asked in unison.

Nightshade’s nod was grim. “Yep. Just like you I’m interested in this power. So I believe this plan will work, one of you cross the bridge, without the spare rope. If the bridge holds I’ll cross with it with the rope, I have enough power to toss it across the canyon. Then the other one crosses. Simple, easy, safe.

The twins huddled together and started whispering, looking over their shoulders at Nightshade every few seconds. Nightshade conjured a simple listening spell.

“…if he wants the power for himself?”

“Look at him Flam, he’s cut up, tired, and more importantly outnumbered.”

“I get what you’re saying Flim, together, even in our state we can’t fail. Besides, this rube might be useful later after all.” They turned around with false smiles gracing their faces. “Very well my friend. We accept your proposal. Flim will cross the bridge first since his levitation magic is lightly stronger than mine.”

Nightshade nodded and watched the moustache twin tentatively stepped on the first plank of the old bridge. His crossing was agonizingly slow, but with only a few stumbles and a single broken board he was able to make it across. Nightshade followed suit, his steps lighter and less shaky than the previous stallion, but he was careful to stress test every board. Even being careful he was able to cross in a third of the time.

“Hey the bridge is a lot sturdier than we thought, go ahead and cross. Just watch out for every third plank,” Nightshade called back to Flam.

“Are you sure? My brother seemed to have some trouble.”

“He just broke a one, the rest will hold.”

Flim looked to his brother who nodded, if a bit slowly with some trepidation on his face. Flim mimicked his brother’s slow movements. Some boards creaked and groaned but every one held until the clean shaven twin was three boards away. With a smile he stepped on the final board just before the cliff’s edge. A loud dry crack split the air and Flim vanished from sight with a mareish shriek.

Flam ran to the edge just in time to see his brother’s body smash against the ground into nothing but a red stain. “FLIM!” he cried.

Nightshade stepped behind the grieving Flam. “Guess I should have warned him about that one,” he said stoically. With a gentle push on Flam’s hindquarters the elder pony tumbled over the brink. Flam’s screams mirrored his brother’s, as did his splat. Nightshade didn’t bother looking to see the display, he simply continued toward his goal, the gravelly voice laughing in his mind.

.....

“What do you mean I cannot pass,” a storm cloud grey earth pony demanded of the royal purple sea serpent in front of him.

“As I said, this river is my territory and no one can cross it without some sort of tribute,” the effeminate serpent announced.

The pony ground his teeth. “Listen lizard, I’m crossing your little creek and there’s nothing you can do about it. Now slither away”

The serpent laughed and leaned down to meet the pony face to face, his orange and purple mismatched mustache tickling the pony’s side. “Or what?” he sneered.

A frightening smirk crossed the pony’s lips. “Or this,” he said as he bit down on the orange side of the lizard’s facial hairs and pulled. His smirk deepened when he heard a satisfying rip and saw blood pour from the plucked hairs. The sea serpent howled and tried to rear up to his full height, but the pony had stepped on the other side of the mustache, pinning the creature closer to the ground.

“Why?” the serpent pleaded.

“Because,” the pony sneered and ripped the purple whiskers free of the serpent’s scales. Blood flowed from the wound, and over the pony who licked it up greedily.

The sea serpent rose out of the water, towering over his abuser. As blood dripped from under his nose he roared angrily and dove straight for the pony, bearing his foot long teeth. The smile never left the equines lips as he dodged the attack. The lizard slammed into the ground, not a second later the earth pony’s hoof slammed into his eye, rupturing it. The lizard tried to scream but found his tongue under heavy pressure. With his remaining eye he saw the pony hugging his tongue with a sadistic smile and glazed over eyes. The last thing the serpent felt was the musculature of his tongue separating from the bottom of his mouth as he passed out from shock.

The pony saw so much more. She saw the tongue come free of its fleshy threads. He watched as the stump sailed over his shoulder as he suplexed it to the ground. He laughed as the beast fell forward unconscious.

“Aw, done already,” he stepped onto his opponents neck and with a maniacal laugh stomped down as hard as he could revealing in the snapping of the spine. “There, now we’re through.”

A laugh not his own filled the space between his ears. “Well done Arthus. You are a credit to your element.”

“Whatever. How much farther do I have to walk?” he asked the voice.

“Oh, not much farther. Better hurry it much more fun when everypony shows up at the same time. So do me a favor a trot a bit.”

Arthus huffed, but for some reason quickened his pace.

.....

Three blue streaks colored the skies toward Everfree Forest. Wonderbolts, Equestria’s premiere stunt teams, athletes, and military unit. Surprise, Silver Lining, and Masquerade patrolled the edges of the chaotic woods before landing just shy of its border.

“Why can’t we just fly to the Castle of the Two Sisters?” the blond maned Surprise asked her superior.

The older officer pointed at the free flowing clouds above the treetops. “No pony knows what happens if we hit one of those clouds. They aren’t made in Cloudsdale and don’t have any signs of what types they are. We could accidentally fly through a stratus packed with lightning.”

“I kinda agree with Surprise, sir. If we’re careful we could avoid a lot of the forest’s dangers and make much better time to the ruins,” Masquerade countered.

“Look rookies. I say it’s safer going through the forest so we’re going through the forest. If three Wonderbolts can’t conquer a few animals, then we don’t deserve these uniforms,” Silver Lining bellowed tapping on his flight goggles, which he had yet to raise like his subordinates. He started down the trail, grumbling about youngsters.

“Wow, he’s really grumpy today,” Masquerade whispered to his friend.

“Yeah. I think he just wants to go through the forest to just show up Rainbow Dash,” Surprise whispered back as they began to follow the officer.

“Wait, the mare who won the Best Young Fliers completion. The one who’s done the Sonic Rainboom like a bazillion times. Why are we going through the forest if he want to show her up?” the mint green stallion gawked.

The white mare shushed him. “Quiet he’ll hear you. Look only three pegasai have broken the Lt’s speed records: Captain Spitfire, Captain Soarin, and Rainbow Dash who isn’t even a Wonderbolt. Since he saw her do the Sonic Rainboom he’s done everything he can to outdo her, and if he couldn’t do that he’s tried to hamper her career. He’s the main reason she hasn’t gotten an invite yet. I bet we’re going through the forest because she has. And it’s just the three of us and not the six elements.”

“That’s a bit shallow.”

“Catch up Rookies,” Silver Lining called from around a bend in the trail.

“Lieutenant, we’re not rookies. Surprise and I have been on the main squad for three years.”

“Yeah, well when I was your age I was ten times faster and more agile than you two slugs. If it were up to me, you’d have been sent back to flight school.”

“If it were up to him he’d be the only Wonderbolt,” Surprise whispered to Masquerade who stifled a laugh. “It’s true. He never has anything good to say about anyone, even the captains. He says Soarin is only on the squad because of his dad and Spitfire is only there because she’s pretty.”

“That she is,” Masquerade said with a sly smirk. Surprise elbowed him in the chest. After selling the injury he nuzzled her neck. “But you’re beautiful.”

“Not on a mission flyboy,” she giggled.

A guttural growl snapped the lovers back to reality. Blocking their path was a pack of timber wolves, lupines made of living wood. “LT,” Masquerade shouted. Wondering where the officer had gone.

“Up, you fools. Fly,” a voice shouted from above them. On instinct the two pegusai bolted into the air just as the creatures pounced, barely missing Masquerade’s hooves and slicing a gash in Surprise’s suit just centimeters from her skin.

From their vantage point in the air the pegasai watched as the timber wolves snapped and growled at their missed prey. “Still wanna stay grounded Lieutenant?” Surprise joked as she examined the cut in her uniform.

Silver Lining cursed under his breath. “We’ll fly just below the tree tops. Triforce formation, maybe if you two are at wings length you’ll pay a-bucking-ttention to what’s in front of you.”

The two younger ponies blushed and followed their leader through the air. They were only minutes into the flight when the clouds above them thickened into a canopy of blackish-grey. Seconds later they were drenched in a torrent of ice cold rain.

Surprise scanned the ground desperately searching for shelter. A hole in the side of a sinkhole caught her eye. “There,” she pointed a hoof.

Silver Lining nodded and led them toward the cave. Their suits had kept their coats dry, but their manes dripped into puddles beneath them as one by one they shook themselves off.

“Now what LT?” Masquerade asked.

“We bunker down and hope this storm passes as quickly as it formed.”

A loud grumble made Surprise shiver. “Great thunder too.”

“Um… Prize, I didn’t see any lightning,” Masquerade pointed out. Another grumble, this time noticeably behind them. The three Wonderbolts peered around the corner of the cave wall. Each stifling a gasp at what they saw. A cavern, large as any of their stadiums they had performed at, filled with only three things. Two Ursa Minors and a single gigantic Ursa major.

“We need to get out of here. Buck the storm,” Surprise hissed as quietly as she was able to manage. She was about to turn back when suddenly Silver Lining tumbled down the rocky slope, bumping into one of the Ursa minors when he reached the bottom. The star furred bear stood, and roared at the intrusion. It swiped at the disoriented Wonderbolt sending him flying into the back wall, blood spewing from his mouth.

“Lieutenant!” Surprise screamed. “We have to save him Mask,” she turned to her lover who was not where she thought he’d be. Instead of standing by her shoulder he was zipping toward the exit, cutting stalactites from the caves ceiling as he flew. The falling spikes planted themselves into the stone floor sealing the exit. With tears in her eyes the white mare turned just time to be enveloped in the purple paw of the Ursa major.

Soaring above the trees Masquerade allowed the rain to wash against his face. He knew he should be crying, but he felt nothing but relief to be out of the cave and in the sky. A whisper behind him spun him around where he saw the spires of the old palace through the rain. Pushing his goggles back over his eyes he sped toward where the voice was directing him.

Comments

[Inferno demon Dash]

Damn, great chapter, to bad Flim and Flam did not join Arthus but hey, it's whatever....wonder who he is, and what's up with the three Wonderbolts? This is getting strange but in a very good way...hmmmmm......hoping to see more my friend, wonder what will happen next, and I like the new villain but honestly hoping that he is not the main villain (I really HATE main villain) I'll be awaiting ore...can't wait to see the Dark Elements. Got to love Discord, also...was wondering if the CMC could be in this as well, maybe even Derpy and Dinky?

[ArkounieB3]

Great chapter, I can't wait until the next!