Chapter 8
The Everfree Forest was rather peaceful that night. The only sounds that could be heard were the noisy crickets chirping and night owls screeching. The sounds of snapping tree branches and loud footsteps interrupted this ambience. Out of the forest, on the edge of the cliff right before the Everfree Palace ruins, came the mysterious red beast that had terrorized Ponyville earlier. He stopped in his tracks and looked towards the palace to see a bright blue and pink crystalized structure popping out from inside the ruins. This was undoubtedly the Tree of Harmony.
“There it is.” he said.
The beast leaped over the small canyon and onto the bushy ground before the front entrance. He walked up the steps into the entrance and looked up at the tree. It was large and impressive, but he wasted no time in making sport of this sacred monument the Equestrians cared deeply for.
“Down with this pathetic shrine! FOR THE HORDE!!!”
He rushed forward and rammed into the front end of the Tree with his horn. He continued to swing his head around, shattering the pillars and the balcony just above the lower door, causing some crystal shards to fall down to ground.
“STOOOOOP!!!” called several voices behind him.
The beast turned around to see Flurry Heart, Spike, and the six teachers rushing in to stop him.
“That’s our Tree! Leave it alone!” Smolder snarled.
“Foolish creatures! Your precious tree will be shattered whether you like it or not!” the beast replied.
“Just what do you want with the Tree anyway, monster?!” Gallus demanded.
“That is none of your business!” the beast replied.
“Well we not going to let you take Tree away from us!” Yona barked. “Tree is important to ponies and other creatures in Equestria! You want Tree? You get past us first!”
The beast growled and then ran towards them. Spike and the teachers all ran to meet him and began to attack, while Flurry flew away behind a rock to remain safe and think of some way to help. Spike and Smolder leaped in the air and blew fire down on the beast. He closed his eyes and allowed the fire to rain down, but it did no good. His armor was so thick; he could barely feel the heat. While his eyes were closed, the other students had their chance to attack. Silverstream carried a huge rock and then dropped it on top of his head. It crumbled into several pieces, but did little damage. Behind the beast, Gallus and Smolder began to yank hard on his tail and started to drag him. He began to lose control but quickly began to swing his tail back and forth and sent them flying into a nearby wall. Suddenly, he was lifted high in the air by a rock that appeared out of nowhere underneath his belly. He looked under to see it had beady, blue eyes. Ocellus had transformed into a rock right underneath him.
“Changeling, your skills are pathetic! You should have remained loyal to the Queen, then you may have some worth!” he said as he stood up on top of her and began to stomp with his front legs.
Ocellus closed her eyes and winced at the damage that was being done to her. In this form, her body temporarily possessed the sturdiness of a rock, but just as a rock can easily crumble, this caused her a lot of pain. She could no longer take it and transformed back into her true form as the beast began to fall down on top of her. Luckily, Sandbar dove in and pushed her out of the way and they both just barely missed being crushed by him. Spike landed on top of the beast and began stomping hard on his head while blowing fire at him. The beast finally had had enough and spun around, firing small green energy pellets in all directions out of his horn. They all dodged the blasts and hid behind rocks.
“He’s too strong!” Sandbar called to Gallus.
“Yeah, we can’t just keep doing the same thing to him!” Ocellus added.
“Ocellus is right! How do we stop this thing…or protect the Tree for that matter?” cried Silverstream.
“Yona have idea!” said Yona as she ran out to meet the beast. She put her head down and angled it so her horns would fit right around the beast’s larger horn. The brave yak pushed as hard as she possibly could against him. She made sure to do this while she was close to the front entrance of the old ruins. He finally gathered himself up and pushed even harder. Yona’s cloven hooves scuffed against the rocky ground and caused dust to kick up in the air. Finally the beast pushed her out of the entrance and she tumbled down the stairs.
“AGH!! UGH! OW! OOOF!” she grunted as she landed on the ground with a thud.
The beast snorted out of his nostrils and turned around, only to find he had fallen for Yona’s trap. Everyone else except Ocellus was now between him and the Tree. The beast looked above to see a giant, monstrous insect carrying Yona over him. The insect placed her back with the others and then transformed into Ocellus. Everyone made a battle ready stance to get ready for anything. With Yona’s strength and everyone else’s abilities combined, they still hoped to defeat this monster.
“You are all very resourceful…” The beast said. “…but I have great power you fools have yet to see!”
“Bring it, ya big bully!” Smolder taunted.
“We could do this all night!” Sandbar added.
The monster growled at them and they all growled back, but then noticed something brightening behind them. They all looked to see Flurry with her horn glowing rather intensely. Sparkles began to orbit around it. She was building up her energy.
“Flurry? What are you doing?” Ocellus asked.
“Stand back, guys.” said Flurry. “Starswirl taught me this one. If I could just build up enough magic…”
Flurry hovered in the air and her horn continued to glow so bright, the monster was nearly blinded by it. She flew towards the beast and directed her horn at him.
“TAKE THIS!!”
Flurry blasted a huge beam at the beast. He defended himself from the blast with his horn and the energy surrounded it, but rather than causing him any damage, he absorbed the magic instead. Flurry fell to the ground, weary of her overuse of magic and had a hard time getting back up. The monster charged up his horn and then directed the blast back at her.
“FLURRY, NOOOOOO!” Spike screamed as he jumped in front of her.
The blast hit Spike right in his belly but quickly bounced back like a ball being thrown into a stretchy net. The blast was returned to the beast and sent him hurdling into the entrance where he was covered by rocks that fell from the structure. Spike was thrown off to the side where he lay on his back with his eyes spinning around and small stars circling his head.
“SPIKE!!!” Flurry called as she ran to go check on her brave dragon bodyguard. “Spike, are you okay?!”
“Ugggggh. Yeah… just barely. Guess this thing really does come in handy…” he moaned as he patted his large belly that was tainted with a black burn mark.
Flurry looked back at the others. They had worried looks on their faces. They may have caused enough damage to the beast, but Spike was injured and Flurry had used up almost all of her magic she could possibly conjure.
“Stupid, fat dragon.” the beast sneered as he stood back up. “You will not be able to fight any longer. And the rest of you will not survive against me. Now get out of my way!”
“NO!” they all shouted.
“No one’s touching the Tree of Harmony.” Gallus added. “This tree was sent to us for a reason, and we’re going to protect it with all we’ve got!”
“We could really use the rainbow now.” Ocellus said, recalling the time they fought Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow years ago.
“What do we do?” Flurry thought to herself. “This monster is still too strong and it’s just the six of them now. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they’re not the Elements of Harmony…”
“It’s okay, Ocellus.” Silverstream said. “Rainbow or not, we’re the teachers of the School of Friendship, and our teamwork is our best weapon! You hear that, monster!? The odds are against you!!”
The beast growled and got ready to charge them again.
Suddenly, on the ground in front of Flurry, she saw six crystal shards that had fallen from the Tree where the beast had smashed it earlier. They stood up in a vertical position and began to glow. They were white at first but then started to glow blue, green, brown, orange, pink, and aqua. Based on the teachers’ confidence and acknowledgement of their teamwork, Flurry knew right away what was happening.
“Spike, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Flurry asked.
“Huh? Are those…”
“Yes! Yes, that’s them!” Flurry said with a smile on her face. “I was right! They are the Elements!”
The shards floated over towards the teachers and the beast began to look worried.
“Guys, you’re the new Elements of Harmony!” Flurry called to them.
“What?! But they were destroyed!” Gallus said.
“I know. King Sombra may have destroyed the old ones that Twilight and her friends had, but the Elements…the TRUE Elements are never gone. So long as there’s harmony somewhere, so long as there’s evil that needs to be vanquished, they can always come back. In the same way you guys used their power against the Trio, I guess this means they can return in their physical form when needed. Nightmare Moon and Sombra tried to destroy he crystals, but they can always come back. These shards came from the same Tree the old ones did, and now they’ve found their place.”
The shards shone brighter and started to form a golden structure around them that took on the form of a large, regal necklace. They resembled the ones that Twilight and her friends had worn, only this time the shards retained their original shape and the necklaces were all sized according to each wearer and were adorned with symbols that related to them. Gallus’ had large bird wings along the side, Silverstream’s had a bird wing on one side and a fish fin on the other, Yona’s had two large horns, Smolder’s had scales all over it and dragon wings with smaller horns, Ocellus’ had insect wings, and Sandbar’s had a turtle with the shard in the center.
“Flurry, you did it!” Spike said as he got up and dusted off his belly.
“What?! No! NO!! THIS CAN’T BE!!” the beast cried out.
“You clearly underestimated us, monster.” Flurry continued. “Whoever you are, whatever you want, you’re not going to take our Tree that easily! GET HIM, GUYS!”
The teachers all closed their eyes and began to levitate into the air. The light from the Elements shone brighter and brighter and suddenly, a rainbow beam spun around them all and was instantly flung right at the beast just as he tried to run away. It hit him hard like lightning.
“AAAGGGHH! NO!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!”
His carapace began to crack all over and green light shone through the cracks. Finally he burst into a huge explosion and a green column of light shot up into the sky where it eventually dissolved in the stratosphere. The entire ruins were full of nothing but light for a moment, until it returned to normal.
Flurry huddled up next to Spike and he wrapped his arms around her to protect her. They both had their eyes closed, but were still smiling over the imminent victory. They finally opened them as the teachers floated back down to the ground. The entire area where the beast was originally standing was covered in green flames that were slowly dying out. In the center was a smaller black object, covered in smoke. It began to move and grunt in pain. Whatever it was, it sounded like the beast they had just fought, but his voice was not as low and booming. The creature tried to stand up, but stumbled. They could all see bluish, translucent wings and a frill on his head that had the same coloring. His eyes were the same shade of blue as before, only they were much larger and bug-like. There was a sharp horn protruding from his forehead instead of his snout. It was covered in tiny holes, as were his legs. The dust finally began to settle and they all saw him in his true form. The red beast was a changeling all along, though much bigger and taller than the rest. He finally stood up but was panting heavily as he looked around.
“A…a changeling?!” said Gallus as everyone looked in confusion at their enemy.
Ocellus walked forward to the changeling, looking rather confused.
“Sir…what happened to you? Why aren’t you whole like the rest of us?” she asked.
“Because I CHOOSE not to be!” he snarled. “There are still many black changelings left, foolish girl, and we are still loyal to the queen!”
Ocellus backed away to her friends as the evil changeling continued to rant.
“My name is General Scutellum. I lead my people in the absence of Queen Chrysalis, but mark my words: I will avenge her one day! THE HORDE SHALL RISE AGAIN!!”
He turned around and spread out his wings. They buzzed loudly like helicopter blades and he jetted off into the night sky. Ocellus flew high in the air to get one last glimpse of him. She nearly followed him to ask more questions, but it was clear Scutellum was not interested in talking anymore. She looked concerned and sad for him, but was comforted by Smolder and Silverstream who had flown right next to her. They put their arms on her shoulder and she smiled. The three of them returned to the ground to celebrate their victory with the others. The teachers cheered happily and gathered around to examine their new armaments. Flurry and Spike walked over to join them.
“Flurry, look, your bow stopped glowing!” Spike pointed out.
“Oh, it did?” she replied. “That means I’ve completed the quest the map sent me on! Who knew I’d be tasked with finding the Elements of Harmony!?”
“Flurry, you’re amazing!” Silverstream squealed as she hugged the little alicorn filly.
“That was so awesome! I had no idea we’d be chosen to actually wear new versions of the Elements!” Sandbar said, showing off his necklace.
“Yona so pumped! We teachers really kick butt out there!”
“Oh, and look, guys! They even healed the Tree!” Smolder said, pointing to the pillars in the front and the balcony that Scutellum had smashed earlier.
“So that guy was a changeling all along, eh?” Gallus said, looking out into the forest.
“I’m a bit surprised he was. I knew there were some black changelings left out there; I just wasn’t aware they had gotten that powerful. I’ve never seen a changeling drone that big.” Ocellus said.
“Well at least he’s not going to be seeing Queen Chrysalis any time soon.” Sandbar said.
“I wonder why he was acting on his own though and didn’t bring an army.” Gallus said, stroking his lower beak.
“Eh, who knows?” Spike said, shrugging. “The guy probably just wanted to cause some trouble out here and decided to go after the Tree of Harmony.”
“Yeah, but why would he go after the Tree?” Flurry asked.
“The Tree is the last reminder of the Elements of Harmony and it acts as a safe haven for ponies and other creatures all around.” Gallus told her. “That’s why we had this special road made to lead us straight to the ruins. The Everfree Forest isn’t even quite as dangerous anymore now that Ponyvillians actually have a reason to walk through it. I guess this ‘General Scutellum’ just thought he’d take out one of Equestria’s most important landmarks to try and bring down our hope.”
“Well we sure showed him!” Smolder said, pumping her fist in the air as everyone else did the same.
“Impressive work, New Elements.” said a voice behind them.
They all turned to the Tree to see a bright light shine on the balcony. A few moments later, the light faded out and Princess Twilight Sparkle appeared. She had grown taller in the past eight and a half years and her hair had also grown longer. At this time, she wore a periwinkle set of regalia instead of the golden crown that she was given by Celestia and Luna during her coronation because it was a bit big and she felt she needed to mature further before she could wear such a regal crest. Her tiara resembled the Element of Magic that she wore back when she discovered that she and her friends were to use them to stop Nightmare Moon. She opened her eyes, smiled tenderly and began to graciously fly down to the ground.
“TWILIGHT!” Flurry happily called as she flew in to hug her beloved aunt.
“Flurry Heart! I knew you’d do something amazing when your parents sent you here.” Twilight said.
“Is that why you encouraged them to send me here?” Flurry asked.
“I’ve been seeing that monster in my dreams. I had no idea he was a changeling, but I had a feeling he would do something. I wanted to give you an important test, Flurry. You’re so gifted in your knowledge of the Elements of Harmony; I had a feeling you’d figure out the mystery behind the creature’s true identity and how to beat him. I wasn’t sure it would involve the Elements, but I too have been communing lately with the Spirit of Harmony. It seems the Elements were meant to come back in their physical form, and it’s no surprise they’ve chosen such heroic wielders.”
“Will we ever be required to use them again, Princess?” Gallus asked.
“I’m sure there will be more opportunities, Gallus.” Twilight replied. “The Elements work in rather mysterious ways.”
“What about that changeling?” Ocellus asked. “He said he’s leading in his queen’s absence. I’m sure they won’t be a problem, will they, Twilight?”
“Actually that brings me to some bad news. I regret to inform you all that Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow have all broken free of their stone prison.”
They all gasped loudly at Twilight’s announcement.
“WHAT?!?” Silverstream screamed.
“They’re free now?!” Flurry said.
“Where they go! We find them and take care of them, Princess!” Yona said, angrily.
“There will be no need for that right now, Yona.” Twilight said, putting her hoof in the air. “The time will come one day for us to face them again. For right now, I think the only one we’ll really need to worry about is Chrysalis. She still has her shape-shifting abilities and could regroup with Scutellum and the others. Meanwhile, I’m going to try finding Cozy Glow’s parents and talk with King Scorpan about his brother.”
“This is gonna be one crazy summer.” Spike added. “Those three are gonna to do something pretty big, I’m sure.”
“You’re right, Spike. We all need to be alert, but we should also be ready for them to take a chance at redemption. I’m just glad the Elements are back and we’re all here like this. I’m so proud of all of you!”
Gallus gave Flurry a noogie and the teachers all gathered around her to praise her for the help she gave them. Spike walked over to Twilight and she stood up to hug her number-one assistant.
“Thank you for watching after her, Spike.” she told him.
“Always happy to help.” he replied.
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One thing for sure... Why we never saw Cozy parents at all or if we know if she is a orphan
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I will be shedding some light on that situation in future stories.
Well, now were at the point of the thumbnail. Cool fight!
Aww, Chrysalis wasn't betrayed by all changelings. Very wholesome to see her getting the help and support she needs. I'm sure they will eventually do a great job in helping her!
Didn't expect Twilight's visions from the journal to happen offscreen.
What if Cozy's an orphan?
Quite the fight & the revelation of the Red Beast true identity, had a hard time navigating your DA page to check his bio out again (stupid eclipse!
). For all of his boasting he sure got his sorry carapace handed down to him by the new element bearers! 
Also loved the combo fireball attack by my fave dragon pair!
The part about the Trio breaking free worries me though, wonder how that happened? I believe you said something about some redemption plans for these 3 on your DA page Alex so I'll wait & see how you tackle that, although Chrissy will be a hard sell for me after what she tried to do to Spike at the S9 finale (still miffed at her about that!
)
Looking forward to the next chapter & hopefully more Flurry stories from here on out, till the next one Alex!!!
Wow, so the Red Beast was a Changeling the entire time. That was unexpected. Plus it wasn’t just any Changeling but your OC from Deviantart. Then Twilight drops the Bombshell that the Legion of Doom has escaped. This is going to be one Summer for the history books.
Excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. LOVED seeing Spike and Flurry helping out the Six against the Red Beast/General Scutellum (yeah, I admit that, I too was caught by surprise with that Beast being an unreformed Changeling, but that General must have gotten A LOT of love in order to get the strength to assume a form that size AND come THAT close to beating Spike and the Six). It IS a darn good thing Flurry made the realizations that she did. And that news from Twilight about the trio escaping? Yikes. Yeah, I agree with Spike in that this IS going to be a VERY crazy summer. Considering Equestria is still standing AND thriving eleven-and-a-half years later, it stands to reason that Spike, Flurry and the Six ARE going to succeed in the end one way or another, but we don't know HOW yet (though I DO have a hunch this is probably going to be where Gallus gets the idea to join the Royal Guard).
At any rate, VERY definitely looking forward to more of this.
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The epilogue of this story will show the statue after it's been broken and have a big cliffhanger. That happens in the next and final chapter.
Well I'm not saying yet what I have planned with Cozy, but Twilight says she'll be looking for her parents, but she doesn't know who they are or if they are alive yet. She's assuming Cozy
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Wait this story already ending soon?
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THIS story is ending, but it's just the first of many in a series! "Elements Assemble" is the episodic pilot story for the "Flurry Heart's Story" series. The next story is going to be a shorter 1-episode story that will be about Pinkie and Cheese and Flurry meets and befriends Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake in it.
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Thanks! :)
Yeah the Trio breaking free was the big shocking reveal at the end of the first story that will lead into plenty of stories down the road. The next few stories are going to be slice-of-life ones that introduce Flurry to her new friends, but there is one that involves Tirek's return real soon!
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Yeah you have no idea how much I've been itching to reveal that Scutellum IS the Red Beast! XD
So, the Red Beast was actually General Scutellum, huh? Interesting. Looking forward to how he and his fellow renegades will feature in the series!
*giggles excitingly while rubbing hands together*
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We won't be seeing him for quite a while, but the next story he appears in will also be an epic one!
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It definitely sets up for some epicry down the road! :3
I wonder if the Lettuce Twins (the twins that look like the Lutece Twins from "Bioshock Infinite"), Brave Heart (that pony that looks like Link from the "Legend of Zelda" series... who may be Button Mash's father), Ganondorf (who, in this case, is an immortal camel sorcerer who can turn into a piglike beast), the Doctor and his companions (who might be Dinky Hooves, Derpy Hooves, and Tick Tock... the last one is from "Doctor Whooves and Assistant"), the Ponies of the Seven Sins ( https://www.fimfiction.net/story/68313/sin ), Tom (a boulder-turned-pony, thanks to Discord... in fact, he used to be that boulder Discord tricked Rarity into thinking was a diamond in "The Return of Harmony"), and Screwball (Discord's "daughter", who briefly appeared in "The Return of Harmony") might appear?
Perhaps a pair similar to Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth Comstock might appear?
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Eh, some of these sound ok, though I haven't given any thought into them. I do still like the idea of Screwball. not sure how she could be his 'daughter', but it was always a really cute fanon thing.
The red beast of the stained glass in the epilogue has been identified with the G1 villain Lavan. Is this a different red beast or rather do you reject that theory?
Perhaps a version of Katrina & Rep (a Cat and/or Sphinx sorceress who is addicted to Witchweed Potion or wants to keep herself young and beautiful, and her kind-hearted, shapeshifting Lizard boyfriend/henchman), King Charlatan (a penguin warlord with the ability to freeze things), Squirk (a monstrous kraken), Lavan the All-Smelter (a lava demon), Arabus (a living storm cloud), and Crunch the Rock Dog (as he puts it, the "original" Diamond Dog) might make an appearance. Not to mention Ganondorf (the nemesis of Brave Heart [Button Mash's father, an analogue to Link from "Legend of Zelda", and a semi-former member of the group Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon belong to]... anyway, Ganondorf is the nemesis of Brave Heart and is, in this case, a nigh-immortal Camel warlock who can also transform into a creature known as a "Boartusk") might appear.
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Is that official or just a fan theory?
If so, no. I went with my own thing for him much like how they rewrote a lot of the G1 characters that were brought back (ie: Tirek and Scorpan are brothers and Scorpan is not really a human).
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It's not official, we only have the shot without context to go off. I thought Derpibooru tagged it as such at one point and I adopted the idea however that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.
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Cuz I just Googled Lavan and he looks NOTHING like the Red Beast so I have no idea what fans made that connection. XD
Question - How do you imagine your Adult Spike sounding when he talks? Can you compare his voice to a particular cartoon character or voice actor?
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Thanks for asking! I actually made some pictures a while ago saying what actor I would pick for the characters and what character they would sound like. Some of them are actors who are either deceased or too old now so it's just hypothetical, but for Spike I chose Yuri Lowenthal and wanted him to sound kind of like Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann or Spiderman from the PS4 Spiderman game.