Chapter 80: Missing
“Hey Silver. Have you seen Hailey?”
Silversong raised an eyebrow as she looked up from her breakfast. That morning, she had been dogpiled by her friends, and by much of the rest of the school as well- every single one intent upon asking her how she survived Voldemort’s spell. She was already tired of telling people that she hadn’t.
So now, she looked up to see who was asking.
The girl was unfamiliar. Her gently wavy dark blue hair was set over her shoulder so it cascaded down over her chest, completely hiding the patch that indicated which House she belonged to.
“Nope, pretty sure she’s still in bed or something,” she muttered, before scowling at her bacon. Something didn’t feel quite right. “Why?”
The girl shrugged. “I need to talk to her,” she told her calmly. “Then the Room of Requirement is misbehaving, and she’s the only one that understands it well enough to fix it.”
“The Room of Requirement?” Silver asked in alarm.
The girl blinked, taken aback. “Uh- Yeah. It’s not letting us enter it to use the floo, but we are able to leave it.” She rubbed her chin. “And the ceiling is missing when you Floo inside.”
“Great,” Silver sighed, putting her hands on her face. “Parvati? Did you happen to hear her coming up to bed last night?”
Parvati Patil, sitting two spaces away from her, looked up in mild surprise. “Huh? Um, who?”
“Hailey.”
Parvati scowled, rubbing her chin. “Nope, I don’t think so. Why?”
Silver looked back at the strange girl. “Because last night, she said she had some work to do in the Room of Requirement before she went to bed.”
There were a few seconds of silence.
“Oh My,” the girl muttered. “Um…” She glanced around, now looking distinctly nervous. “Where’s Bonbon?”
“Bonbon?” Silver asked. “Good question.”
The girl sighed. “Thanks,” she muttered, and trotted off.
Hermione replaced her about two seconds later, sitting next to Silver and reaching for some food. “Sorry about that,” she muttered, then looked at Silver. “You okay?”
She looked up. “Yeah… I think. Why?”
Hermione sighed. “Last night, you said Hailey said she had work to do in the Room of Requirement, right?”
Silver nodded. “Yes?”
She scowled, piling food onto her plate as quickly as she could. “Just had an emergency meeting,” she told her. “Hailey’s missing, and the Room of Requirement isn’t working properly.” She sighed. “Half of the team has been looking for her for the last six hours, and now the whole team is. Eat quickly, please, you can help too.”
Bonbon sighed as she trotted up to the passage connecting to the Room of Requirement. “How’s it coming?” she asked. Silversong, Hermione, Morning Sun, Lyra, and Pinkie Pie were all sitting in a circle on the floor, in front of where the Room should be. It was about sixteen hours after Hailey had gone missing
Morning answered without looking up. “Not very well,” she said. “There’s something powerful rampaging its way around in the Room of Requirement. It doesn’t seem to be doing further damage, so we’re crafting a spell to make sense of it.” She sighed. “Judging by how much Hailey has done for us with the Room, she’d probably be able to make this spell in five minutes, or even skip it entirely, but nooo.”
Bonbon sighed. “Well, we’ve already confirmed she’s nowhere else in the Castle,” she informed them, then resisted the urge to offer her help. She knew what was going on; she was the single most powerful Seer that either world had ever seen, after all. She’d known this would happen since before the Tournament had even begun… and hadn’t told anyone, not even Celestia. Nobody was in danger, but it was an event that Hailey probably wouldn’t want made public. It was also something Hailey likely would have acted to prevent had she known it was coming, inadvertently causing a much less favorable chain of events in the process. “Dinner will be in an hour and a half or so,” she informed them, and continued on her way.
“Hey Sis!”
Parvati looked up, from where she was lying on the surface of the lake as if it were a mattress. She wasn’t very good at analysis, and hadn’t learned much of Hermione’s magic principles, so she had left fixing the Room of Requirement and recovering Hailey to those that actually knew how to do it.
Her sister… was a different story. Padma had studied those principles with gusto, and as a Ravenclaw, was also very good at analysis- but she’d apparently figured she’d have better luck somewhere else, and had continued the odd research she’d started before.
“Yes?” she asked.
Padma trotted across the surface of the water, then sank up to her waist and leaned on the surface. “I-!” she began, and broke off, before taking a deep breath. “I need your help.” The way she spoke made it sound hard to admit.
Parvati rotated herself upright as well, so they were eye-to-eye. “You need my help?” she asked. “Did someone challenge you to an underwater race or something?”
Padma let out a small chuckle. “No, nothing like that. I… I think I know where Hailey is, but I’m-!” She paused. “I’m too scared to look.”
“You need me to keep you company, then,” she observed. “Sure. Where do you need me?”
“Um… It’s more of, well…” She paused. “I should probably show you what I discovered first.”
“You discovered something?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” Then she raised one hand to offer her. “Can I show you?”
She accepted it. “Sure.”
“Okay,” Padma answered, then closed her eyes to concentrate.
A second later, the world seemed to almost implode in on them- then, quite suddenly, they were both underwater.
“What the-?” Parvati asked, looking around. “Is this the ocean?”
Padma smiled, opening her eyes. “No, but it might as well be. This, Parvati, is the Water Elemental Plane.”
She looked around. “Elemental Plane?” she asked, slowly.
She nodded. “Yes. This is where we get our swimming and water control abilities from.” She sighed. “It’s an infinite, three-dimensional expanse of water. And I checked, this water is also compressed to about thirty times its normal volume as well, despite being incompressible. That kind of pressure results in instant death or destruction to anything that isn’t a water elemental.”
She glanced down. “Our clothes are fine,” she observed.
“They are protected by our powers,” Padma explained instantly. “Just like how the water around us is protected by the power of the Elemental Plane. It’s the same way a phoenix-born’s clothing becomes fireproof when they put it on.”
“So… How do we draw power from here…?”
“Through the Magic Elemental Plane. I’d take you there, but it’s stupidly turbulent right now and the magic density is so high it’ll rip any shield we try to cast to smithereens. Hailey’s shields would probably stand up to it- except she’s a magic elemental, she wouldn’t need a shield. The same way we can’t be hurt by water.” She sighed. “Overall, it gets… complicated. Elemental magic relies on a particularly rare Equestrian facet to manifest, hence why we weren’t elementals- or at least didn’t exhibit the properties of such- before our Papa Tangoes.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Rare?”
She nodded. “Yes. My estimate is that one out of every quarter million or so Equestrians have it, after Celestia helped me survey half of Equestria last week. Er, Princess Celestia, sorry. You’d swear she wasn’t a thousand years old- she really enjoyed getting the Royal Guard well and truly lost, and even getting mugged once, while disguised. Not that either of us were carrying anything of value, thanks to hammerspace, nevermind that very few muggers will stay standing when the Princess of the Sun unveils herself right in front of them.” She sighed, and put a hand to her forehead. “Yeah, I know, that sounds so much like something Hailey would say, but…” She shrugged. “Speaking of Hailey, she helped me survey a selection of densely-populated cities around the planet on the morning of the Third Task, and not a single person had it, wizard and muggle alike.”
Parvati tilted her head. “So if nobody has it over here, and it’s incredibly rare in Equestria… why do we both have it? Or, I assume we do.”
Padma nodded. “We do. We have it because when Hermione Granger designed the Papa Tango, she based it on Pinkie Pie and Princess Twilight Sparkle- both of whom are magic elementals.”
She blinked. “You mean everyone that has gone through the Papa Tango has it.”
She nodded. “Yes. It’s a native part of the Papa Tango- which she’s recently expanded to also confer British magical abilities as well, meaning it’ll also work on regular equestrians and muggles alike. And of course, since that facet also allows even non-elementals to tap into the Elemental Planes just a little bit, it also means someone with the Elemental Link, I call it, is about five times as powerful as they might have been otherwise.” She sighed. “I estimate about half of all entities, Equestrians, wizards, and muggles alike, are attuned to one of the Elemental Planes- and so, if they have or acquire the Elemental Link, they will become elementals.”
“Ahh.” She nodded. “Alright.”
“Anyways. For someone- or somepony- that is elementally attuned, as we are, having the Elemental Link results in a much larger boost to our wellsprings- about twice that of someone that isn’t attuned, since we’ve got a powerful link to our Elemental Plane and can draw not just elemental power but regular magical power from it as well. As a result, I’m one of the top ten most powerful unicorns to have ever set hoof in Canterlot Castle, despite knowing next to nothing about magic. Or, well, unicorn magic. Celestia even promised me a place at CSGU once I graduate Hogwarts, if I want it.”
“So why are our abilities so different? Unless you can teleport through water, of course.”
She smiled. “No, I can’t. That’s because even elemental magic needs a path- so it flows through our Equestrian magic facilities. It behaves very differently from normal magic, but Equestrian facilities happen to work with it too.” She shrugged. “As a result, the three Tribes get different elemental powers, on top of the ubiquitous ones. We can both swim real fast, we can both see long-distance underwater, we’re both immortal when submerged, and we can both make it rain by getting too distressed. However, I can’t treat water like a warp gate like you can, and you can’t create water nearly as fast as I can- that’s the tribal differences. Though it’s technically not creating water, it’s venting some of this water into the mortal plane.
“By the same difference, Sunset and Angelina are both fire elementals- or phoenix-born, if you prefer. We can visit the fire elemental plane if you want, but it’ll kill us very quickly, and my shields won’t last more than a minute or so. Both of them can set themselves on fire, are fireproof, and will rejuvenate by Phoenix Fire if killed- yet only Angelina can travel by Phoenix Fire, and only Sunset can throw it around wherever she likes. As you may be able to guess, Angelina is a pegasus, like you, and Sunset a unicorn. Sunset is also one of the top ten most powerful unicorns to visit Canterlot Castle, but that’s beside the point.”
“What about the Etrahs?” Parvati asked.
She shrugged. “No idea. Haven’t seen any. I’m pretty sure Ariel is an Air elemental, but since she’s still stuck in her astral form, she can’t use her elemental powers, so Merlin only knows what they are- aside from flight, presumably, but she’s already a pegasus. Fleur Delacour is an earth elemental, so she can presumably swim through stone the same way we swim through water, but we don’t actually know what her powers are. That’s another elemental plane we can visit- the Earth Elemental Plane is riddled with interestingly-shaped caves and ravines, in the absence of both water and gravity, so there’s plenty of space- though we have to bring our own air.”
“If… Then how do you know our abilities?”
She shrugged. “Because I’m attuned to the Water Elemental Plane as well, I can easily view the substrate of the Plane- and source of our powers- and calculate what the effects will be. I can’t do that for any of the other planes- even the two we can visit, however briefly.”
“I take it we can’t visit the Air elemental plane?”
“No, we can’t. Really high pressure, just like here, and far too high of oxygen concentration- we’d suffocate from intense oxygen poisoning basically the moment we got there, and, uhh…” She sighed. “Anyways. I asked you to come with me because I think I know where Hailey is, right?”
She nodded. “Yes?”
“Well…” She sighed. “There’s a sixth Elemental Plane. We can’t enter it, in part because matter does not and cannot exist there- but we can, theoretically at least, look at it. When I used a micro-wormhole to shoot a scanning spell into it earlier, it picked up a signature that looked similar to Hailey’s- but even in the scant three seconds I had that tiny thing open at arms’ length, the feedback nearly killed me.”
“Feedback?”
She nodded. “Not technically- rather, it’s filled to bursting with a form of energy I haven’t been able to capture, inspect, or anything- I expect it is to magic like magic is to us, or worse, something that even magic can’t touch. It certainly treated all my efforts to affect it with disdain, though it didn’t have any qualms about ravaging my body.
“Fortunately, it rapidly dissipates back into that sixth Elemental Plane, so we don’t have to worry about it sticking around to keep doing damage.” She took a deep breath, and let it out. “I did a few experiments earlier, and figured out how far it will flow from the gateway- but at that distance, I can’t hold the gate open for more than a few seconds, so…” She sighed. “Nevermind I can’t control enough magic to make a decent-sized one anyways.”
“You mean, you need my help using magic?”
“Well… Yes. The thing is, if we build the spell between us rather than within one of us, we can activate a spell many thousands of times more powerful than either of us could handle. On top of that, if we draw on the power of the Elemental Plane around us to power it, even a pegasus like yourself should be able to manipulate it like a unicorn.”
“Alright.” She took a deep breath, and let it out. “You should know that I know less about this kind of thing than you do, so…”
Padma nodded. “I’m aware. You can cast the- what did Hailey call it?” She paused. “I forget. The ‘protego’ charm, right?”
“Protego?” Parvati scowled. “I think it was something about multipurpose shield charm or whatever. But yes?”
“Your part in this will be exactly that, just without a wand. And if you mess up, it’s no big deal- there’ll be a big bang, and it might sting- but since we’re doing this in the Water Elemental Plane, we’re both pretty close to as invulnerable as Hailey, so neither of us will be hurt and we can try again right away.”
“Ahh,” she muttered, nodding slowly. “Um, before we start, does this sixth plane have a name?”
Padma sighed, looking uncomfortable. “Um… Yes,” she capitulated. “So does the energy from it. I’d rather not, er…”
She raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” she asked sternly.
She sighed. “It’s…” She rubbed the side of her head. “Oh, alright. It’s the divine plane, the source of a god or goddess’ power. Divine energy can be used to manipulate magic, so I’m hoping the same is true in reverse.”
“Oh Merlin,” Parvati said, leaning back in the water and rubbing her forehead. “You’re going to turn yourself into a goddess.”
“Hopefully not,” Padma answered. “Unless our wellsprings change, even if we can manipulate it with magic, we’ll still be far more limited than actual gods and goddesses, and the only worthwhile use of such manipulation would be to be capable of entering the Divine Plane.” She shrugged. “I’m fairly certain Hailey could enter and protect us in any of the Elemental Planes with impunity, simply because her shields can stand up to the pressure here and in the Air plane, the heat of the Fire plane, and the thaumic density of the Magic plane. The Divine Plane I’m not so sure about, since I don’t know if magic can stop the dangerous divine energy, but that’s where her signature is coming from, so…
“Then of course, I’m taking every precaution possible. My initial experiments were in Ravenclaw Tower or the Lake, but since we’re doing it here, I’ve got all the power I’ll need to shield us and our wellsprings in every way I know, and to contain the divine energy in the first place, if at all possible. On top of that, I’ve estimated the maximum distance it will flow before dissipating back into the Divine Plane… and we will be forming the portal today at least five times that distance away from us, then using magnification and remote scan spells to see through it without exposing ourselves to danger. I’m also going to pause for a few seconds after building up the power we need before releasing the spell, to ensure the Water Elemental Plane isn’t diminished in any way when the portal opens, even though I expect neither us nor the portal will be able to make even a tiny dent in the amount of energy available here, so…” She shrugged. “Still, though. As Hailey likes to say, better safe than sorry.”
Parvati laughed. “Better safe than sorry,” she agreed, then raised an eyebrow. “Hailey likes to say that?”
“Oh yes, she said it a few times when we were out surveying a few cities for my research. When I asked, she pointed out that she’s only invulnerable to physical harm. She’s not immune to making mistakes, political damage of all things, or even emotional pain if one of her friends gets hurt or, Celestia forbid, dies.”
“Celestia?” Parvati asked, raising an eyebrow.
Padma nodded. “Her words, not mine.”
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Glad to hear this amusing story is still ongoing.
I used to wonder why several ex-wizard ponies are OP. This is an answer to everything.
Although I am hesitated to ask... which Elemental does Pinkie is?
MLP/HP Just got D20?
Im gonna have to dig out the Theoretic stuff.
Wow, 30 times the density.
Thats not much less than the impact point of the core of a detonating implosion device.
11629160
... Alright, I'm going to have to re-use your quite to answer your question.
So... Yes. A Magic elemental, an elemental of the element of Magic. Because laughter (and the other Elements of Harmony) aren't that kind of element.
awesome new chapter.
but dang this one is way over my head newton would be proud of this.
It's been a while since this one updated.
Well, that was sudden but welcome update : )
A new chapter!!!
And it's another info dump i skimmed over....
Doesn't matter
Glad you got the bug to write for this.
I was just wondering if we were ever gonna get back to that when I got to this line.
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It's right in that block of text you referenced. Pinkie Pie is a Magic Elemental.
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I thought Pinkie was a Chaos Elemental?
11630017
Maybe she is, I forget. In this chapter though, she was referred to as a Magic elemental. As in the Magic elemental plane that exists alongside Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and now I guess Divine. Chaos would probably be a sub-classification.
On a related note, would it be Magic, or Divine that fills the role of Aether from the ancient Greek idea of the elements?
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That’s a very good question.
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I don’t use Chaos as an element, or even type of being…. Depending on the story, Discord may be:
A) Nothing at all (does not exist),
B) God of Chaos (deities are not restricted to elements or anything in their aspects), or
C) the Avatar of Magic.
As for Pinkie? My headcanon is that she’s a “normal” pony using magic at a lower level. This is still true in this story, her status as a magic elemental is merely the thing that enables her to do that so “instinctively”.
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I don't know if this is relevant to what you said or not, but since the discussion is about the nature of Pinkie's abilities to some degree, I felt it worth mentioning that it's canon that Pinkie has active magic like unicorns do. In the Season 8 finale when all the magic is restored, in the shot where motes of magic enter Twilight and Rarity's horns a similar mote also goes to Pinkie. It just kinda goes into her face. It happens almost the instant the camera view changes from the far-off side view to a close-up frontal group shot of the mane 6, so it's easily missed on a first watch.
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I generally consider basically everything after Twilight got the Castle (except Starlight's scenes and EQG, usually) to be non-canon to my stories... So yeah, that's probably unrelated.
On an unrelated note, Hasbro really likes their magic stealers, don't they?
Ooh, so the twins are helping in the search in their own "let's not tell anyone we're doing this" way. Interesting
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Short summary:
Elemental planes (worlds of water, fire, magic, earth air, and divine) exist, people can be attuned to them through the Papa Tango, and Hailey is in the Divine plane
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I got that much from skimming it
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Ahhhh, ok