Harmony Returns to Equestria Once Again

by PioneerofImagination

Generosity

Not too long after leaving Las Pegasus, the trio made their way to an abandoned rock farm. They decided to stay for a little while to get some rest and search for a few supplies.

"It just doesn't make any sense," Apple Core said. "How the heck does a rock farm even work? Ah mean," Apple Core asked. "Ah just have so many questions. How do they even make money?"

"What do you mean?" Cryme asked.

"Well ah grew up on an apple farm, there it's kind of ah no brainer, we sell apples and stuff you make with apples. What the heck would they sell, rocks? Why would anypony want to buy a rock?"

"Pet rocks?" Miracle answered.

"You gotta be kidding," Apple Core said.

"Actually I think he's onto something," Cryme said. "That pony I told you I met who had a thing for rocks, well actually it was more like a passion, had a pet rock named Boulder. I always assumed that was some sort of joke."

"Find any food Miracle?" Apple Core asked.

"Aside from the ones covered in moss, not much. We really should have asked some of the ponies in Las Pegasus for some more supplies."

"Well maybe the next element will also be around a large populated area and we can get a ton to eat there," Cryme said.

“Well until getting there, we should rest," Miracle said. "Besides I have a feeling after what happened in Las Pegasus the shadow ponies will be on the hunt for us."

"They did look kind of mad as they were forced entirely out of Las Pegasus," Cryme said.

"Ah don’t like this place, but at least it’s a good place to hide. Who would look for us here?" Apple Core said. After that they went to the bedrooms to settle down.

"Wow, cool! Bunk Beds!" Miracle said when he saw them. "I call top bunk!"

"Wait ah wanted-" Apple Core tried to say but Miracle teleported to the top bunk before he could finish.

"Sorry I can't hear you, I'm asleep," Miracle said, laying down and pretending to snore. Apple Core wanted to be a little mad at Miracle, but he rather enjoyed the playful rivalry.

"I'll get ya next time," Apple Core said with a smirk.

***

When they woke up the sun was up and the trio felt like they had slept for a whole week, and for all they knew, they had.

"I know we just woke up, but are you ready to hit the road?" Miracle asked after putting canned food he found in the carriage.

"Fine with me," Apple Core. "The sooner the better if you ask me."

"I don't like to complain or insult or criticize, but I'm not too fond of this place either. Little too few plants for my tastes," Cryme rambled. The trio then entered the carriage and as it left Miracle got out the crystal he got from Sweetie Belle.

“What did you get that out for?” Cryme asked.

“Ever since I did what I did in Las Pegasus I’ve been trying to figure out just how I did what I did.”

“I was kind of wondering that too,” Cryme said. “But I hardly know anything about magic or spells so I can’t help.”

“Ah wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Apple Core said. “If you figured out how to use it once, you can do it again.” Before long the trio spotted a rather large town. They decided to stop to look for food. When they arrived they saw that it was a ghost town, much like Las Pegasus, but much more in ruin. Hardly anything standing leaving little to no place for a pony to hide.

"Wow, the shadow ponies sure tore this place up," Apple Core said.

"Yeah, they never seem to get tired of doing that," Cryme said as he couldn't help but think of his old home. Miracle made his way over to the outskirts of the town. The others followed him and saw an entire orchard of apple trees.

"Wow," Apple Core said, amazed. "Those are apple trees. What ah wouldn't give for a nice juicy apple right about now."

"Well maybe we can find a few, let's go check it out," Miracle said.

"Hey Miracle I'll race you!" Apple Core said before running down the orchard. Miracle was hot on his tail. Cryme decided to take the short cut by flying and met them down by the trees.

"Beat yah," Cryme said when the colts came down neck and neck.

"Ah no fair you used your wings," Apple Core said. "Ah had him eating mah dust."

"HA! In your dreams!"

"Well either way, that race worked up an appetite. So now ah really hope ah find some fresh apples."

"I found them," Cryme said.

"Really?" Miracle asked. "Where?"

"All over, the town may be deserted, but these trees have been taken care of quite well."

"Are you sure Cryme?"

"Trust me Miracle, I know my plants."

"So is this place abandoned or not?" Apple Core asked.

"Yes and no," a voice said from behind the group. They turned around and to their surprise saw a large orange female buffalo. "Greetings, my name is Little Strongheart," she said as she picked half a dozen apples. "Would you like some apples?"

"You're darn tootin!" Apple Core said as he ate 3 of them as quick as a flash to the surprise of the others. "What?" Apple Core asked when he turned to his friends. "Ah told y’all ah was hungry."

"Could I have something to eat too please?" Miracle asked.

"Certainly," Little Strongheart answered. "But before that please allow me to take you to Chief Thunderhooves." The trio then made their way out of the orchard into the desert where the buffalo roamed. There they were treated to not only apples, but apple pie and some mushy stuff in a bowl that Miracle found quite delicious.

"Wow this is good, seriously Apple Core you got to try this mushy stuff," Miracle said as he started licking the bowl for the tiny remains.

"No thanks, I'm saving the room I have left for more apple pie," Apple Core replied. Cryme helped himself to a few other apple based foods as Chief Thunderhooves approached them.

"Chief Thunderhooves I presume," Miracle said.

"Yes, which brings the question, what are you ponies doing way out here?" Chief Thunderhooves asked. Miracle then showed the chief the 3 Elements of Harmony before putting them back in his saddle bag.

"My friends and I are looking for the Elements of Harmony. Powerful magical artifacts that can defeat Witchcraft so harmony can return to Equestria once again.” Hearing Miracle's answer caused quite a bit of muttering among the buffalo.

"I see. You have chosen quite the tall order. Do you really think you can accomplish something so massive?"

"Somepony has to stop all this suffering. I lived in a small village all my life, always being told never to leave because of the shadow ponies. When I finally left I saw and heard about the damage they’ve done, the damage Witchcraft did. I hate Witchcraft and I haven't even met the guy, that says quite a lot.”

“He’s actually quite gifted,” Cryme said. “He defeated an entire army of shadow ponies all by himself.” Hearing that quite shocked the buffalo who couldn’t believe their ears.

“It’s true, ah was there when it happened,” Apple Core.

“Though because of that I imagine they’re on the lookout for us,” Miracle said. “And we still have a long way to go, I think the next element might be way up north.”

"I see, you were wise to come to the remains of Appleloosa then, the shadow ponies wouldn't think to look for those they wish to destroy at a place they already destroyed. To find what you seek while avoiding the watchful eyes of the shadow ponies, follow the train tracks on the outskirts of Appleloosa. There you can follow them through Dodge Junction into Hayseed Swamp. The swamp will have a trail that will lead you right through it and bring you that much closer to what you seek, with the shadow ponies being none the wiser."

"Wow, just like that?" Miracle asked.

"Just like that," Chief Thunderhooves replied.

"Sweet! Thanks," Miracle said as he jumped up with excitement.

***

After getting a little more to eat the buffalo led the group to the train tracks and saw them off on their journey to return harmony to a land that truly needed it.

"Chief Thunderhooves," Little Strongheart said. "Why were you quick to show them where to go? They could be heading to real danger."

"I know," the chief answered. "But there's just something about that colt. What he said and the passion behind it. I think that colt was born under a special star. Besides," the chief continued as he looked up to the sky. "I've been seeing the winds of change slowly blowing, perhaps that colt can make them into a mighty storm."

"Hey Apple Core," Miracle said as he looked at the map in the carriage.

"Yeah."

"We're pretty close to Ponyville, if you want, we could stop there real quick and resupply. You could even see your family, I bet they'd be really happy to see you."

"They would, but no thanks," Apple Core replied.

"No?" Miracle said. "I thought you'd welcome a chance to see your home and family again."

"Ah would love to see them again," Apple Core said. "But if ah did they'd probably force me to stay in Ponyville, that would make leaving again even harder."

"I guess he was a point," Cryme said. "But if you have a counterpoint I'm sure it's good too."

"No, I understand," Miracle said. Soon the carriage made its way to Dodge Junction. Which also hardly had anything left standing. "Another town wiped off the map from the shadow ponies," Miracle Maker said after a sigh.

"And not a drop or a crump to be found," Apple Core said. "Let's just head into the swamp, this place is depressing.”

"I think that's a great idea," Cryme said. "I always feel much better when I'm surrounded by nature, the desert doesn't do much for me." The trio made their way into the swamp as the sun was setting and came across an abandoned village within the bayou.

"You gotta be kidding me," Miracle said as he looked around the village for any sign of life. But aside from some flash bees Miracle had no luck. After that he decided to look at the map and use the spell to figure out where to go next. "Okay so going by the map and the spell the next element will either be in Baltimare, Fillydelphia, or Manehatten."

"Uh Miracle," Cryme said. "Before we head out can we stay here for a little bit? That way we can rest up and we'll be ready to search all 3 of those areas. Also, I really really want to stay here for a little longer."

"I'll have to ask Apple Core but I guess we could use a break, we are going from one end of Equestria to the other."

"Oh thanks Miracle," Cryme said as he couldn't help but literally jump for joy. "I'm gonna go watch plants grow."

"Are, are you kidding?" Miracle asked.

"No, of course not," Cryme said as he walked off. Miracle then went to find Apple Core who was okay with the idea of staying there the night.

"If we wait until day it'll be easier to go wherever we need to," Apple Core added.

"True, I really owe Moondancer for making that carriage for me. I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she's as fine as apple pie," Apple Core said as he approached his friend. "Be honest, you wanted to go back to Ponyville too, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Miracle answered. "I've only known them for a little bit, but I really care about them. I only had my Uncle Blueblood to raise me, I never really had a family, or a big one anyway. Do you think the way I feel about them is similar to members of my own family?"

"Ah think that's more than ah safe bet, when you first came to the farm it felt like you were part of the family already."

"Thank you," Miracle said as he pulled Apple Core into a hug that he more than happily returned.

"No problem, listen I'm gonna explore this place ah little bit. You wanna come?"

"No thanks, I'm gonna turn in."

"All right then, goodnight," Apple Core said before he walked off to explore.

Miracle found a bed that hadn't yet been too torn up by the passage of time and settled in. While the bed was still intact, the house was another story. Half of it was gone and it had a rather large hole on the ceiling, but that allowed him to look out into the night sky.

"Twilight Sparkle, are you watching over me right now?" Miracle said to himself as he looked out into the stars. "This is turning out to be quite the adventure, but it's only half over and the toughest challenges might still be ahead. But no matter what I won't fail, I'll get all the elements and use them to bring harmony back. I'm going to be just like you, Twilight Sparkle."

***

Morning came once again and the group headed to Baltimare. "Yet another place nearly wiped off the map," Miracle said as they entered the city.

"Ah know," Apple Core agreed. "Ah can't believe all the ruin and destruction we've seen."

"I know," Cryme also agreed. "This is just getting depressing." Apple Core and Miracle stood back a bit expecting rivers of tears, but nothing happened. "What?" Cryme asked when he noticed his friends were backing up for some reason. Before long the trio headed for Fillydelphia after finding nothing.

"You know, the funny thing is, well not funny ha ha but strange funny," Cryme said. "I always wanted to visit this place someday, I guess today was the someday that I thought for the longest time would never come."

"Why did you want to visit here?" Apple Core asked.

"Fillydelphia had a community of dragons that actually lived right next to the ponies," Cryme answered.

"Wow, that's actually really cool," Miracle said. "Fun fact, Twilight Sparkle had a pet dragon. Well he wasn't really a pet he was a, well I'm not quite sure."

"I always wanted to see how the 2 races got along so well. I wasn't all that curious but I was still a little curious. It's kind of like seeing how a rose and violet would grow right next to each other in a pot. Sheesh I'm actually missing the Undiscovered West. Is that weird?"

"Well you were there for a long time," Miracle answered. "It's hard to leave someplace that you called home for so long," Miracle suddenly paused. "Or all your life."

"Miracle," Cryme said as he approached Miracle putting his hoof on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Miracle said as he raised his head. "I'm just homesick."

"I really know how that feels," Cryme answered as he pulled the young unicorn into a hug and Apple Core jumped right in. Miracle was still feeling rather bad, but Apple Core and Cryme helped melt away some of the sorrow.

"Thank you, I first planned to go out and find the Elements of Harmony all on my own. But I'm really glad that I have ponies to join me along the way."

"No problem, Miracle ah got yer back no matter what," Apple Core said.

"I feel the same," Cryme said. "I really wanted to join you 2. Maybe I was just looking for an excuse to finally leave, but you and Apple Core, I know we haven't known each other long, but you guys are like family to me."

"Wow, that means a lot Cryme." Miracle then returned the hug causing more of the sorrow to be washed away.

"Ah actually feel the same way about both of y’all."

"It's no problem, just how I feel inside. And I've always been really good with my feelings, I mean when it isn't anger, or some form of malice, which I don't think I've ever felt, but I imagine it's a lot like anger.”

“All right, enough of this,” Miracle said, breaking the hug. “We have an element to find.”

"Yeah and ah guardian to pound!" Apple Core said as he stomped the ground pretending it was the head of a guardian.

"Though what are the odds that we can convince the next guardian to just hoof it over peacefully?"

"Judging from the way the previous guardians behaved, slim," Miracle answered.

"Rats," Cryme said as he kicked the ground, but then placed the dirt back where it was. After that they looked around but once again the spell continued to point in the same direction, north. So the trio headed for Manehatten.

"All right, Manehatten, here we come!" Apple Core said. "We've hit a lot of dead ends, but it's going to be there for sure."

"Unless it's even further north and out in the wilderness somewhere," Cryme said. "Not that I'm trying to be negative or anything, but that's a possibility." As he said that Miracle thought perhaps the next element would be in his village somewhere. His old home wasn't all that far away from Manehatten and he thought that it would be nice to see his uncle again. But alas the arrow finally turned pointing towards the other way, to the large city of Manehatten.

So Miracle's reunion with his uncle would have to wait.

***

"Wow the city of Manehatten," Cryme said as they entered the city. "This place had quite the reputation in the good old days. I always wanted to visit here too."

"I've heard about this place too," Apple Core said as he recalled his family mentioning it here and there. "Ah just hope that this place isn't like the others."

"Yeah," Miracle agreed. "Though if there's no ponies here, then nopony is gonna get mad if I pick up what's left of the buildings and throw them at the guardian.”

"You could probably also throw this carriage at him for a really mean punch," Cryme said.

"I suppose, but we kind of need the carriage," Miracle said.

"Yeah that's true," Cryme agreed. As they made it further into the city they spotted numerous ponies who were quite shocked to see a carriage moving on its own.

Then the trio was surprised when several of the wheels were blasted off by a spell forcing Miracle to do a rather uncomfortable stop to prevent a crash.

"Come out of that ghost carriage thing you shadow ponies!" A pony from outside yelled.

"Wait," another pony called out. "We don't know that there are shadow ponies inside that thing."

"Oh please," the first pony said. "What else could be in there?" Miracle then decided to kick open the door and jumped out rather shocking the ponies around the carriage.

"Does that answer your question?" Miracle asked rather boldly. "So far this is the least friendly place we've been to." After that Apple Core and Cryme came out of the carriage as well.

"So I know I've been in the wild for almost a decade but, is attacking a carriage out of nowhere a new form of greeting or something?" Cryme asked.

"More like they're sending a request for us to kick some flank," Apple Core said as he stomped his front legs ready for a fight. Several of the unicorns panicked and fired spells straight at the trio, but Miracle summoned a barrier that blocked the spells easily.

"My turn," Miracle said as he lowered the barrier and fired a barrage of counterattack spells, each one taking down the unicorns that attacked. Earth ponies and pegasi attacked next, but Apple Core gave anypony that got too close a nice hard buck. Cryme simply flew away from the ones that went after him, and they were so focused on him; none of them saw Miracle or Apple Core coming their way. Before long the trio had dealt with all the attacking ponies.

"Well looks like we took care of these guys," Apple Core said after the defeated ponies were piled up on top of one another. "These guys were hardly even ah warm up."

"How the tartarus could this have happened," one of the ponies said as he looked at Apple Core, who was the one that beat him. "You're so young, how did you get so strong?"

"Ah grew up on ah farm," Apple Core answered.

"What's all the noise going on?" A pony asked in an accent the trio didn’t recognize.

"My oh me oh my. It seems we have some new faces here, My name is Picture Perfect."

"Do you want to fight too?!" Apple Core asked as he bent down as if he was ready to pounce. Doing this rather shocked Picture Perfect, as well as Cryme and Miracle. It seemed Apple Core had a bit more aggression to get out of his system.

"Uh, certainly not. Why in the wide world of Equestria would you think that I-" Picture Perfect stopped all of a sudden when he saw the ponies that Apple Core and Miracle had beaten up and let out a huff. "Let me guess you were walking minding your own business and this lot attacked you out of nowhere."

"You got most of it down," Miracle answered. "They attacked and broke our carriage.”

"Well listen, I think I can help repair that carriage of yours. Why don't you take it back to my place? Of course that's going to be a little trouble getting something so big all the way to-" Miracle cut the unicorn off when he lifted the entire carriage all by himself with just his magic.

"Okay that's impressive," one of the unicorns he defeated said.

"Yes, it most certainly is," Picture Perfect said.

***

After dropping off the carriage Miracle had to sit down because it was quite the haul that he did all at once. Picture Perfect who saw this invited him in to lay on his couch. "Thank you for inviting us in," Miracle said while breathing rather heavily.

"It's no problem, though you could have paced yourself," Picture Perfect replied.

"Yeah," Miracle said. "I guess I wanted the carriage to get fixed as soon as possible. By the way something I forgot to ask this earlier, why is your voice different?"

"Yeah I kind of wondered about that," Cryme said. "You have some sort of accent like Apple Core, but it's not like his, it's more, I don't know what."

"I was born in Trottingham, it’s located in the Griffish Isles east of Equestria," Picture Perfect answered as he approached the couch that Miracle was on and offered him a cold soda. "It's not too far away from here actually, just across the sea."

"Thank you," Miracle said. He drank the soda and could feel his energy slowly returning, he liked the flavor too. "This is delicious."

"It's no problem my dear colt, and you're welcome," Picture Perfect answered. "I myself don't care much for the flavor but the colors are wonder and blend together. Like putting a rainbow in my fridge."

"So Trottingham is on an isle?" Apple Core asked. "What's an isle?"

"It's kind of like an island, I haven't been home in so long. I wonder if it's okay."

"Well if it's not so far away why don't you just go visit?" Cryme asked.

"Several ponies have tried, but whenever somepony tries to go there they get attacked by the Umbrum."

"The what?" Miracle asked as he sat up feeling better.

"The shadow ponies," Picture Perfect answered. After Picture Perfect answered that there was a knock at his door cutting him off from going into further detail. "Come in," Picture Perfect said and suddenly a red blur bursted into the house.

"I thought that might have been you," Picture Perfect said.

"Did you get it all ready?" The young pegasus asked.

"No hello High Red? Honestly you're 14 isn't it about time that you grew some manners?"

"I'm in a hurry. Can you please just hoof it over." Picture Perfect let out a huff then lifted a small basket filled with supplies and floated it over to High Red. High Red then took the basket and flew off before the others could even say anything.

"Who was that?" Apple Core asked.

"That was High Red, he's sort of the delivery colt around here. Always going back and forth, getting ponies the things they need so they'll be ready for when the Umbrum come back."

"What do you mean?" Cryme asked.

"Oh that's right you're new here. Manehatten struggles to stay active and aware because the Umbrum are on the offensive quite a bit. I was first brought here on my sixth birthday, it was only to be for a little while but then Witchcraft took over Equestria. The shadow ponies started running free all over the place. Manehatten however, has stood its ground ever since that day and the Umbrum don't like that one bit."

"Wow, that's amazing," Miracle said.

"Yes it is, oh my, in all the excitement I didn't ask any of you your names. I'm so sorry."

"It's all right, I'm Miracle Maker and this is Apple Core and Cryme A. River."

"Howdy."

"Please to make your acquaintance."

"I feel the same. Anywho, Manehatten has stood its ground ever since Witchcraft took over. Ponies from all over came here for safety. I imagine that's why you 3 came here as well."

"Not quite," Miracle answered as he stood up from the couch. "We're-" Miracle was cut off when a loud cough came from the upstairs of Picture Perfect's house.

"Oh dear, sounds like he needs help, and my medicine. Listen, you're more than welcome to stay here in the guest rooms on your left. You're probably exhausted from your trip and after that I'll get my tools and help you repair your carriage. Which has an incredible design by the way." Picture Perfect then grabbed a few things with his horn floating them up in the air and went upstairs making the items follow him.

"Uh okay," Miracle said.

"I actually am rather tired," Cryme said. "I mean not as tired as you Miracle but still rather tired." The 3 then headed to where Picture said the guest rooms would be. Much like the rock farm the trio found bunk beds one on each side of the room.

"All right bunk beds!" Apple Core said and before Miracle could do anything Apple Core jumped right onto the top bunk and got comfy right away.

"That's some lightning fast reflexes right there," Miracle said after laughing a bit. His way of congratulating Apple Core for his victory.

"It's really amazing how you 2 can find happiness in such dark times over such little things," Cryme said to Miracle as well as to Apple Core. He was pretty sure he was still awake.

"Wow Cryme that was rather deep," Miracle said, rather heartwarmed. "Thank you."

"Oh it's no problem, just speaking my mind. A habit I developed a long time ago."

***

After getting some rest Picture Perfect led Miracle, Cryme, and Apple Core on the project to repair the damages done to the carriage in the garage. "Wow, I thought it would take a while to get this done, but I think we can finish this in no time," Miracle said as he was working on one corner of the carriage while the others had the other corners covered.

"Yeah, I usually get stuff finished in no time at all," Picture Perfect said. "My talents are in clothing and putting great colors together to make something beautiful, but my overall talent is putting things together in general."

"Well that's lucky for us," Apple Core said.

"Thank you again for allowing us to stay in your guest room," Cryme said.

"It's quite alright, but you don't have to keep thanking me. You've already done it 10 times."

"Oh, I lost count after 5."

"Well either way we should hurry up and finish this carriage of yours," Picture Perfect said as he finished repairing his corner and made it over to Miracle's corner. "I'm expecting company."

"Who?"

"High Red, he says he just comes here for the supplies, but I can tell that he likes to come for the company as well."

"Was he born in Manehatten or Trottingham like you, probably Manehatten because he doesn't really have an accent like you?"

"Actually Cryme, we aren't really sure," Picture answered. "One day I found him wandering around the street and helped him out. I don't think he ever really had a home, so many ponies here are suffering in one way or another. I want to help them out, it's hard work for just 1 pony, but I do what I can.

"Well at least y’all help each other, kind of like ah big family," Apple Core said. But saying that made quite the somber aura appear around Picture Perfect.

"At first it was like that, all of Manehatten united to fight against the Umbrum. But as the attacks on Manehatten came more and more, little by little the morale faded away."

“Doesn’t Manehatten have a crystal to help keep the shadow ponies away?” Cryme asked.

“Yeah, but it broke.”

"What do you mean?" Miracle asked.

"One day it just stopped working and it just made things worse. So many ponies became so obsessed with making sure the Umbrum never got in, that it became more or less the only thing that they cared about. Some always try to stay on the lookout, rarely pausing to eat or sleep. Others like the ones you ran into get so gung ho and tense that they attack anything out of the ordinary. Ponies here used to be so close, but the constant need to keep the Umbrum away has divided us and stopped the entire city from having the great unity that it had."

Unity? Miracle thought as he looked into his bag and stared at the crystal for a bit.

"Wow, that's really sad."

"I agree with Party Cannon-" Miracle then stopped out of sheer shock. "Party Cannon?!"

"Hi Miracle."

"What are you doing here?!"

"And what are you doing in my house?" Picture Perfect asked.

"But could you answer Miracle’s question first, I'm more curious about that, because it's a lot harder to figure out," Cryme said.

"Well after the whole thing with the guardian and the shadow ponies I wanted to join you on your adventure. So I went home to get a few of my things but by the time I came back, you were gone."

"So wait did ya follow us all the way from Las Pegasus to here?" Apple Core asked.

"What?" Picture Perfect asked.

"It wasn't easy," Party Cannon answered. "I lost your trail somewhere in the desert, but luckily these nice buffaloes told me where you were going. So I followed the train tracks and here I am."

"Well that's quite a riveting tale," Picture Perfect said, who like the others were quite surprised by Party's answer. "So that just leaves the question of what are you doing in my house?"

"I let him in," High Red answered as he came into the garage.

"Yeah your son let me in," Party Cannon added which nearly made High Red drop his jaw to the floor.

"I AM NOT, HE'S NOT, WE AREN'T RELATED!" High Red screamed to hide his embarrassment. After that Party Cannon and High Red helped with the last few repairs to the carriage, the former because he wanted to help and the latter because he's always ready to help Picture Perfect.

"So you lot came all the way from Las Pegasus?" High Red asked after they finished repairing the cart.

"Yes," Picture added, completely understanding how High Red feels. "Manehatten must have gotten quite the reputation for you to come all the way from the other side of Equestria."

"Actually that wasn't the reason why we came here," Miracle answered to the surprise of Picture Perfect and High Red. Miracle then got into his saddle bag and showed them the Elements of Harmony he had.

"My gosh, such gorgeous craftsmanship," Picture said amazed. "What are these?"

"Elements of Harmony," Apple Core answered, once again surprising the others.

"No way," High Red said. "They were destroyed by Witchcraft when he took over Equestria. Right?"

"You came here because there's another element here as well," Picture Perfect said, putting the pieces together.

"Yes," Cryme answered. "And when we get it we'll be that much closer to bringing back harmony."

"Bringing back harmony?" High Red repeated. He was a young colt at the age of 14, he never knew what a great land Equestria was before the shadow ponies. Now he learned a part of the solution had been right under his muzzle the whole time.

It was quite the shock to say the least.

***

Not too long after that the 6 ponies made their way to the next Element of Harmony. Picture Perfect came along because he wanted to see if the element here was as beautiful as the others. High Red came along because he knew just about every shortcut in Manehatten and could get them to where they wanted as fast as possible. "Judging by your spell Miracle, the Element of Harmony should be somewhere around the statue just outside of Manehatten,” Picture said. “All though it might be rather difficult."

"How come?" Apple Core asked.

"The ponies near there are so gung ho, they make the ones who attacked this carriage look laid back," Picture answered.

"That might be a problem," Apple Core said.

"Don't worry," High Red said as he was flying just outside the carriage. "The ponies there know me quite well. They shouldn't attack as long as I'm around."

"Well if not we can show them a thing or 2," Apple Core said ready for a fight.

"Yeah like all of my party cannons," Party Cannon added.

"Right," Apple Core said, deciding to let that go as the group made it to the edge of Manehatten. Miracle then used his magic to lift the whole carriage and carry it to the island which caught the attention of quite a few ponies. When there Miracle let out a huff.

"Something tells me I'm gonna be using a lot of magic today," Miracle said once again having no idea how right he was.

"Your magic is really impressive," Picture Perfect said. "Especially for somepony so young, I'm impressed Miracle."

"Thanks, but I'm not so young I'm gonna be 17 real soon." The group then exited the carriage and located the element at the front of the statue.

"Well this was too easy," High Red said.

"Trust me it's not," Cryme said and almost as if on cue a centaur appeared. "Yeah, there it is."

"I am Greed, the guardian of the Element of Generosity, I must admit that-" Greed was cut off when Apple Core made his way over to him and bucked him right in the chin. Making him flip over as a result.

"Yeah! That's what you get!"

"What the? Apple Core what are you doing?" Miracle asked.

"Kicking Flank!" He answered with gusto.

"I like this stallion," High Red said as he flew in and gave Greed a few painful hits from his forelegs as he was trying to stand back up.

"Well if it means getting the element faster, fine with me," Miracle said. "Gang way!" Apple Core and High Red then cleared the way and Miracle shot a powerful beam of magic straight at Greed. But Greed opened his mouth and managed to shallow the whole thing and somehow grew. "What the?!"

"How did he do that?" Party Cannon asked.

"My my," Greed said as he managed to get back up and admired his new muscles. Apple Core tried to attack but Greed used a back punch and knocked him to the ground. "Quite a power boost from just 1 attack, you have power for one so young."

"That again? Seriously I'm not that young," Miracle said, kind of offended this time.

"I see, then perhaps I'm just better at taking magic from you ponies. Speaking of which." Greed then faced Apple Core but before he could take his magic, Miracle teleported Apple Core to his side.

"Thanks," Apple Core said as he got up.

“No problem.”

"But what do we do about this guy?" High Red asked.

"He's somehow able to absorb magic," Picture Perfect said. "Fighting him is going to be a problem."

"Not if we all stick together," Miracle said.

"Right," Party Cannon said as he figured out Miracle's plan. "If he tries to take the magic from one of us, the others can stop him."

"Right!" Miracle said. The others got together ready to fight when suddenly a dozen other ponies from the mainland arrived on the island.

"What in Equestria are you doing here?" One of the ponies asked. "You're making a racket."

"He's right," another pony said. "If you don't stop, the shadow ponies might hear you."

"Can we talk about this later we're in the middle of-"

"Don't you talk back to your elders young colt," another pony interrupted, annoying Miracle as that was getting real old. "Now whatever's going on, knock it off. We're on the lookout for the shadow ponies and we don't need any reason for them to come here more than usual."

"Yeah we push ourselves to our limit unicorn, pegasi, and earth ponies alike to make sure we're always at our prime in case of a fight," a third pony said.

"Prime you say?" Greed asked and before the ponies that arrived could turn Greed stole all their magic. They all fell to the ground and Greed's size increased dramatically.

"Oh that is so not good," Party Cannon said.

"Now that's more like it," Greed said as he walked over to the water to admire himself a little bit. "From the look of things I've absorbed enough magic to grow into my "third form" as he put it."

"He?" Cryme asked.

"Now, where were we?" Greed then fired a blast from between his horns but Miracle was able to block it with a shield that covered his entire group.

"You'll have to do better than that," Miracle said.

"Don't worry I will." Greed then fired another beam and this time a few cracks appeared on the barrier, but it was still able to endure.

"That is truly some impressive magic you have, I can't wait to gobble it all up."

"What does it taste like?" Party Cannon asked.

"What?" Greed asked, confused.

"What does magic taste like?" Party Cannon rephrased.

"You know I was actually kind of wondering about that too," Cryme said.

"Well, it's not, it doesn't, I'm eating raw energy it doesn't have a flavor."

"Oh I was kind of thinking maybe it tasted like chocolate, so that way you get bigger and stronger and it tastes good too."

"Well it doesn't, do you mind I'm in the middle of something here?"

"Well it's not like I'm stopping you," Party Cannon replied.

"No I suppose not, and I doubt you can stop me from doing this." Greed then used his magic to break off the head of the statue and forced it down. Miracle thought quickly and blasted the head breaking it into pieces and catching them in midair. "Impressive, but now you won't be able to stop me from taking your-" Greed was cut off when Miracle forced all the other pieces to come together hitting Greed at the same time all over. The impact of which caused him to fall.

"Nice work Miracle!" Apple Core said proud of his friend. Greed then suddenly stood up engulfed with rage.

"Now I'm mad!"

"Hi mad, I'm Party Cannon." Greed then fired at Party Cannon who dodged it. Greed then tried to blast the others but they managed to avoid his blasts as well, the other ponies who got their magic taken however, could barely move. So Miracle's group had to get them out of the way.

This isn't going to work, Miracle thought to himself while carrying several ponies with his magic. We can't fight Greed with all these ponies who can't even stand. We gotta do something. Miracle then ran around some more trying to think of a way for him to defeat Greed, until suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Miracle?" Apple Core said who noticed his friend stopping. Then suddenly he and all the others were surrounded by Miracle's magic and were pulled towards him.

"We'll call this a draw Greed, but next time you're going down," Miracle said after bringing everypony around him.

"What?" Greed asked then suddenly Miracle teleported everypony away.

***

Miracle teleported everypony off of the island and put the ponies that lost their magic in the carriage thanks to a shrink spell. Miracle then got the carriage to head off to hopefully find a place where the ponies who lost their magic could recover. Picture and Party entered the carriage and sat inside the carriage to make sure the dozen ponies were all right, or at least as all right as they could be. Cryme and High Red flew above opposite sides of the carriage while Apple Core and Miracle Maker rode on the top of the carriage.

"Are you okay?" Apple Core asked as he noticed that Miracle was rather out of breath.

"I'm fine, I just need a minute."

"You did have to do quite a lot," Apple Core said as he looked back at the island. "We never had to run away from a guardian before."

"Yeah. But once we drop off these ponies, we're gonna put a plan in action to stop that centaur."

"Now that's what ah like to hear." Soon the group got the dozen ponies to a rather large hospital Picture said was nearby where Miracle undid the shrink spell.

"Thank you," one of the ponies said as he became his regular size again.

"No problem," Miracle said as he and the others were helping them into the hospital.

"I have to say," a female earth pony said. "You're really talented for one so young." Hearing that made Miracle close his eyes and huff out of frustration.

Let it go, Miracle, you have enough on your plate already.

"Okay so explain it all to me again," a doctor said when the dozen ponies were all brought in.

"Miracle is trying to find the Elements of Harmony to bring back harmony but they each have a guardian and the one here has the power to steal magic right out of ponies and he did that to these ponies resulting in him becoming bigger and stronger and Miracle decided we should get all of them out of danger before we defeat the guardian so we brought them all here," Party Cannon explained.

"Ri-ght," the doctor said. "I'll just see what I can do." As the doctor looked over all of his new patients Miracle tried to put a plan into action.

"Okay so we're going to need a definite strategy before we go back to fighting Greed."

"I have a, well it's not a strategy but it's an idea," Cryme said. "Why don't we just go to the next guardian?"

"What?" Miracle asked, confused. "We can't just leave, we still need to get the-" Cryme stopped Miracle mid-sentence when he showed a purple gem.

"I grabbed it when Greed wasn't looking." Cryme was then surprised as Party Cannon wrapped around him.

"Way to go Cryme!"

Oh thank you Party Cannon, it was no problem. But now I'm having a little trouble breathing." Hearing that Party Cannon let go of Cryme. "Thank you."

"But putting that aside," Picture Perfect said. "That centaur could still be quite the problem, especially if he eats more magic."

"But he said he was the guardian of that," High Red said. "Maybe taking it away from him destroys the guardians somehow." Suddenly the very ground started to shake and just as they put the pieces together a large red arm broke the front doors of the hospital.

"Pretty clever, managing to take the element from under my nose," Greed said. "But Witchcraft was one step ahead of you, he connected us to the elements. If you take it far away I'll know, no matter where you take it I will always know where it is." Greed then prepared to attack, but thinking quickly Miracle fired a blast of his own that hit Greed who was so caught off guard he fell again. Miracle then grabbed the element and gave it to High Red.

"No time to explain! Fly around Manehatten and meet us back at Picture's house!" High Red nodded his head and flew off just as Greed stood back up.

"You want this element? Come and get it," High Red said while flying off and Greed chased after him as Miracle ran outside.

"Follow me!" Miracle called out and the others did just that, following him into the carriage that would go back to Picture's house.

"So what's the plan?" Party Cannon said.

"What little of a plan I had we just did," Miracle answered. "I'm not sure when High Red is gonna be back so we need to think of a way to defeat Greed as soon as possible."

"If only those other ponies didn't get in the way we would have defeated him by now," Apple Core said.

"True," Picture agreed. "Between you, Red, and Miracle attacking him that might have been enough before, but now we might need to get a couple more ponies to help us out."

"Oh I'm sure we can still take him," Party Cannon said.

"What makes you say that, not that I think you're wrong or anything, I just don't get how you can say that."

"I don't get how I can say that either really Cryme, I just have this feeling when we're together we can do anything."

"Together?" Miracle said as he reached into his saddle bag and got out the crystal Sweetie Belle gave him.

"Is something wrong, Miracle?" Cryme asked.

"I think I may have an idea, but we should think up a couple other backup plans. Any ideas?"

"We could ask him to give up really nicely," Cryme said which resulted in the others staring at him rather strangely. "I'm just spitballing."

***

High Red while young was quite a talented and experienced flier. But no matter how fast he flew or how far Greed never lost sight of him. Red made his way back to Picture’s house and left Greed out in the dust in the process. "Almost did a sonic rainboom," High Red said as he flew off. Having made his way back he saw the others just outside. Red High landed right next to them and gave the Element of Harmony he had back to Miracle. "I believe this belongs to you."

"Thanks," Miracle said as he grabbed the element and put it into his saddle bag. "But it's not mine just yet, I gotta earn it. We gotta earn it."

"I don't suppose he just gave up?" Cryme asked.

"Okay seriously, there's a difference between being optimistic and being delusional," Picture Perfect said.

"I'm sorry. I know we have to fight but I'm just not the fighting type, all this guardian business makes me wish I was, but I'm not. I wish I could help more but I don't, it makes me so sad sometimes." Hearing that Miracle and Apple Core once again expected Cryme's tears to shoot out, only to be once again surprised that he didn't.

"What?" Cryme said once again.

"Well he may not be a fighter by nature, but ya seem to be toughening up a bit," Apple Core said as he laughed and Miracle joined in.

"What's so funny?" Cryme asked.

"Apparently you," Party Cannon answered. After that the ground started to shake again and Greed made his way towards the house.

"So I see you decided to finally stop flying away."

"Uh, is it me or did he get bigger?" Party Cannon asked.

"Oh right, I forgot to say this earlier. As he was chasing me around he stole more magic from other ponies that tried to help, or just got in the way."

"That's all right," Miracle said as he got the crystal out. "If you want to make up for it, touch this and tell me what you love."

"What?"

"Trust me, I love following in the footsteps of the great Twilight Sparkle," Miracle said as the others joined in touching the crystal.

"Ah love working on ma family farm and making delicious apple pie."

"I love plants and the fact that I actually have ponies to talk to again and that we're so close, not to mention-"

"I love laughing and being able to make others laugh. Sorry for interrupting Cryme."

"It's okay I love that you said you were sorry."

"What the heck are these stupid ponies even talking about?" Greed asked so distracted that he didn't notice how the crystal was lighting up.

"I love fashion and putting things together and pretty much everything beautiful." Seeing Picture doing it High Red shrugged and did the same.

"I love flying and being fast and being fast while flying," High Red said and as he finished the crystal glowed even more before it released a magical energy bubble that quickly made contact with Greed and caused him to shrink down quite a bit.

"It worked, he shrunk!" Apple Core said.

"And it gave him a haircut too," Party Cannon said.

"Which honestly is an improvement, that beard was not doing much for him," Picture Perfect said.

"That and he'll be easier to defeat," High Red said.

"Oh right that too."

"I don't know what's going on but let's blast him again," High Red said.

"I don't think so." Greed said as he blasted the ground causing a bit of an explosion and the group to scatter.

"Where's the crystal?" Miracle said as he got up and looked around. But wouldn't have much time as Greed approached them.

"So much for your little plan," Greed said in a rather cocky tone and a smile to match.

"Oh we're not too worried," Miracle said, which made Greed's smile disappear. "What? You thought that risky gambit was our only plan, we made backups." Suddenly Greed was bombarded by party supplies of all things as Party Cannon got out 3 of his namesakes.

"You think you can beat me with useless trinkets?"

"Well if they do manage to beat you then they aren't useless are they?" As Greed was rather stumped by Party's question Cryme placed a rather large cloud around Greed.

"What the? I can't see." Greed was then suddenly blasted by Party's cannons again along with spells from Miracle and Picture and even direct assaults from High Red, who kept flying in and out of the cloud. Apple Core even helped out as he bucked Greed's legs which combined with the spells forced him down yet again.

“Ugh, I am so sick of falling down,” Greed said.

"Nice work Cryme, now try to find the crystal," Miracle said as he cast more spells.

"Will do." As Cryme tried to find the crystal the others kept up their attack, but only until Greed forced the cloud away and the others away as well.

"That actually was a decent plan," Greed said as he approached Miracle. "If I was weaker, it might have worked. But now you're only going to make taking your magic all the more better."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it you foolish colt."

"I wasn't saying sorry to you," Miracle said, who lit up his horn. Before Greed arrived, Miracle placed the carriage on top of a nearby hotel with his magic, he pushed it off and made extra sure it landed right on Greed's head. "I'm sorry Moondancer."

"Wow that had to hurt even him," Picture Perfect said seeing how hard the carriage hit Greed who fell to the ground once again. "It really was a shame though, that carriage had such a wonderful design and attention to detail. Funtional and fashionable." Greed fought the urge to pass out as he tried to get back up but the group with the exception of Cryme continued their attack.

"Miracle I found it," Cryme said with joy as he flew over to Miracle. But before he could reach him Greed forced himself up and pushed the group back with his magic forcing him to drop the crystal. In the confusion Greed trapped the group in bubbles.

"Finally!" Greed said as he made his way over to the bubble Miracle was in. Thinking quickly, Miracle broke the bubble with sheer magical energy alone.

"You're not the only one who can make explosions," Miracle said as he landed on his feet. Miracle then picked up the crystal Cryme dropped but Greed raised the bubbles.

"Good luck using that without your friends. Who by the way were the only reason you've lasted this long."

"I'm not ashamed to ask for help when I need it, especially when it comes to beating up guardians. But you look so beat up, I could probably beat you all by myself now."

"Don't underestimate me colt, I'm more powerful than you could ever hope to be."

"Only because you stole magic from others! And don't call me a colt. I mean seriously I'm getting so sick of that."

"Well too bad because you are, let me guess you want the Elements of Harmony because you want to use them to defeat Witchcraft."

"Yeah, of course."

"He led the attack on Canterlot. The princesses couldn't stop him and they were alicorns. What makes you think you can stop him?"

"Because I promised when I was younger that one day I would bring harmony back because that's what Twilight Sparkle would do. And I'm not giving up after coming this far, especially with all the new friends I made that are counting on me." Suddenly Greed burst into laughter once again not noticing the crystal lighting up.

"You really are a colt," Greed said while still laughing. "You promised?"

"Yes. I PROMISED!" Miracle screamed at the top of his lungs as suddenly the crystal glowed much more than it did last time. Miracle then focused the magic coming from the crystal straight at Greed creating a beam that caused him to shrink much more than last time. He didn't revert back to his original form as he still had some muscle left, but he lost enough magic for the bubbles to touch the ground and pop.

"Now's our chance he's weakened!" Apple Core said who charged right at him and bucked him so hard he flew into the air for a bit and High Red hit him with his forelegs 2 dozen times before he hit the ground. Party Cannon blasted him point blank, Picture used a binding spell to stun him, and Cryme, slapped him.

"Uh take that," Cryme said. Miracle then lifted Greed up in the air until he was right above him but making sure his face was facing away from him.

"You want my magic so bad? HERE HAVE IT!" Miracle screamed once again then blasted Greed point blank with nearly all of the magic he had. He then dropped Greed to the ground who had cracks spreading and was finally back to his original form. "Looks like you finally reached your limit."

"Yes, even I have to admit defeat, I can't even stand up. You may have won now, but your adventure is far from over. Even if you manage to find the other elements, they all have guardians. All ready for a-"

"Way ahead of you," Miracle interrupted as he used what little magic he had left to show the elements he already collected.

"You already have 4, It seems I underestimated you," Greed said as the cracks spread. "Tell you what, since you won I'll reward you with some useful information." Greed then used the last of his energy to point to a mountain range beyond the sea. "When Witchcraft made us into guardians he sealed us within the elements before scattering them. I was the last to be scattered, the guardian you've yet to face is located beyond those mountains, but she's a real handful."

"Well if she's anything like the rest of you, I think we'll manage. I may have started this adventure as a colt, but I'm going to finish it as a stallion." After that Greed disappeared and Miracle sat down to get his energy back.

"Are you okay Miracle?" Cryme asked as he and the others made their way towards him. “Would you like to rest, or a snack, or to rest while having a snack?"

“I’m fine,” he said as he got the elements back in the bag. "Only 2 left to find."

"That was quite an attack," Red said.

"Yeah, I just hope it doesn't attract the shadow ponies like in Las Pegasus," Cryme said.

"We don't have to worry about that," Miracle said. " Because we're gonna throw a party."

***

Picture Perfect led the way to where the crystal for Manehatten was at Miracle’s request, who got to work setting up a party with his secret weapon, Party Cannon. Other ponies noticed in no time and wanted to know what was going on. "Why explain when you can just have fun?" Miracle asked as he made several firework spells that caught ponies attention while Party Cannon passed out some cake and streamers.

"Are you trying to fix the crystal somehow?" High Red asked.

"No, because it’s not broken. Manehattan is broken. The ponies here try so hard to fight off the Umbrum, it stopped them from living their lives. At first I didn't get how I made the crystal work, but I figured it out when I realized I didn't, we made it work."

"We did?"

"Yes we did Party Cannon, our bond with each other, the things we love or value. The crystal reacts to it."

"He's right," Picture said. "Manehattan used to be so close, we can be like that again." Soon the ponies joined in on the party and before they knew it, the crystal lit up like never before. Surrounding all of Manehatten in a protective bubble.

"The bubble is back!" Multiple ponies said who couldn't believe what they were seeing. The ponies were so grateful that they picked up Miracle and tossed him up in the air several times.

"What a mysterious power he has," Cryme said.

"I know that magic is quite something," Party Cannon said.

"No not that, it is impressive though. Miracle, there's something about him that makes you believe in him and support him in whatever way you can."

"Yeah," Picture Perfect said. As the party continued Miracle got to know quite a few of the ponies partying. Including the ones that gave him a not so warm welcome.

"Listen Miracle right? We're sorry for attacking your carriage for no reason, is there something we can do to make it up to you?"

"Well that depends, can you make a boat?"

***

As it turned out the ponies he asked actually were quite good at building things, such as a boat. Picture Perfect as well as the others would help make it too, but for now Miracle was helping gather lumber outside of Manehatten. While they were outside of Manehatten Picture assured the others, mostly Cryme, that they had nothing to worry about.

"Trust me," Picture said. "I've done this more times than I can count. As long as we’re extra sure that the coast is clear we have nothing to worry about."

"And once we have enough wood, we can take to the sea," Apple Core said.

"Speaking of that," Picture Perfect. "Before we left I checked a map of mine and saw that my old home is on the way to those mountains. Do you think it would be okay if I came with you?"

"Okay," Miracle answered.

"I know it's a lot to ask out of nowhere but, did you say okay?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Really really, you helped us so much when we got here. A lift is the least we can give you."

"Oh, thank you," Picture said gratefully.

"I wanna come too," High Red said. "This is something that comes across once in a lifetime, no way I'm gonna miss out."

"The more the merrier," Party Cannon said. "It'll be like a big family road trip."

"Well let's not go that far," Red said.

"If you want to come too, that's fine," Miracle said. "You really helped us out too." As the group got the lumber, Miracle made his way to the edge of the forest and saw an all too familiar village. It was quite tempting to travel all the way down there, but what Apple Core said before coming to Manehatten came to mind. So Miracle found a rather large plank of wood and used his horn to carve a message on it before teleporting it all the way to the village along with something a certain crystal.

***

In the village lived Blueblood, once a prince who spent his days carefree in Canterlot, now a simple parental figure. But ever since Miracle left he lost the one thing he had left that he cared about. "Double Diamond have you seen-"

"No Blueblood, I haven't seen any sign of Miracle Maker, I'm sorry."

"It's, it's, I'm gonna go sit down," Blueblood said as he did just that.

"Poor stallion," Double Diamond said before going to see what he could do about the lanterns around the village. Ponies were starting to panic as the light in them was on the verge of going out.

Blueblood sat down in front of his house and found himself sulking in despair. But just as the despair was really starting to sink in, a plank of wood appeared in front of his house. Blueblood was surprised but what he saw written on it warmed his heart.

Don't worry Uncle Blueblood, I'll be home soon.

Author's Note:

So just so you're all caught up there are 6 members now, you probably saw this coming a new main 6. I thought it might be interesting if they were different ages instead in the same general range like on the show.
High Red-14
Apple Core-16
Miracle Maker-16 (few months or moons older)
Party Cannon-20
Picture Perfect-22
Cryme A. River-24
So how am I doing with the story so far? I'm really passionate about this story and I would appreciate any and all comments.