Maintaining Harmony

by DiabloGuapo

Rendezvous

Princess Candance stood on the balcony of the spire-like castle in the center of the Crystal Empire overlooking the main road. She had been told that the train that her husband was riding had arrived, and she was eagerly awaiting his return. She saw her husband approaching the tower, levitating two figures behind him. The crystal ponies watched with curiosity as their prince returned with two unconscious royal guards from Canterlot.

“Shining Armor, what’s going on?” the pink alicorn asked the white unicorn as he entered the chamber with his two prisoners. He explained to her the Kingdom of Unicornia’s scheme and how they decided to spilt up. He also explained that the two guards were brainwashed into attacking them. Hearing this, Cadance used her magic the release the two from the spell. “King Sombra’s magic, how is this possible?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait until they wake up. Maybe they’ll be able explain more.”

“Where’s Spike?” asked the Crystal Princess. Shining Armor had mentioned that Spike had accompanied him, but the little dragon was now absent. Shining Armor’s face saddened at the memory.

“Cadance,” he began, not knowing how to tell his wife the horrible news. “Spike is dead.” She covered her mouth with her hooves as she gasped. “They blasted him off the train and into the ravine.”

“We have to let the others know,” she said with tears in her eyes. “As soon as we get information from these two, I’ll fly to the others. You can use the Crystal Heart to help power a force field to protect the empire.”

“No, I’ll go,” offered her husband. “I need to be the one to tell Twilight. I’ll use the Crystal Heart’s power to teleport myself to the rendezvous point. You then can use it for the force field.”

She feared for his safety and wanted to disagree with his plan, but she knew he was right. He had to be the one to tell Twilight about Spike’s fate.

Meanwhile, four unicorns where hiding in the alleyways of Canterlot. Twilight Sparkle peeked around the corner as they saw their pursuers run by them. She sighed in relief as they saw that they were safe for the moment. She turned around to face Rarity, Fancypants, and Fleur de Lis.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” she began to explain to the others. “I’ll teleport us to Ponyville. The two of you can stay in the library. Rarity and I will meet up with the others.”

“Thank you,” Fancypants said and Fleur nodded in agreement. Twilight returned the nod and began to concentrate. It would take some effort to transport four ponies to Ponyville from there. Her horn glowed magenta and then they vanished in a flash.

“Are you sure no pony will find us here?” asked Fluttershy nervously as she sat on her friend’s couch.

“Of course, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said confidently as she reclined next to her timid friend. “I told you, no pony would think to look for us here. We’re over the ancient castle. Only a few ponies actually know where that is. The castle is constantly covered in a fog, so my house will blend in with it if somepony decides to fly over it, which they won’t because it’s in the middle of the Everfree Forest. No pony ever comes this far into it, even if they fly over it. Trust me, no one will ever find us.”

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” a voice called from outside as there was a knock on the door, causing the two pegasi fall of the couch with a scream of surprise. Rainbow Dash rushed to the door as Fluttershy hid behind the couch. When the blue pegasus opened the door, she saw Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down on a pogo stick to reach the house’s elevation.

“Darn it, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she watched her pink friend smile and wave at her as she bounced up and down.

Applejack had just finished explaining to the mayor the situation and was now running the streets of Ponyville headed to the forest. She noticed her that friends, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, were headed in the same direction.

“Hey!” she called out to get their attention. “Wait up, y’all!” The two unicorn mares turned to see the orange earth pony running up to them and stopped to let her catch up.

“Applejack, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Rarity said with relief. The friends hugged each other for a moment and then continued to run. “Is Pinkie Pie safe? What happened to the guards?”

“Pinkie’s safe,” explained Applejack. “She’s already headed to the ‘place.’ We were attacked by those two guards. We hogtied them and threw them in the cellar. Ah already explained to the mayor what’s goin’ on.”

“Good, we’ll meet up with the others and come up with a plan,” said Twilight. “I hope they’re okay.”

“Pinkie, you scared us half to death!” yelled Rainbow Dash. The three were now standing the ruins of the castle. “But, I’m glad to hear you and AJ are alright.”

“Wait a moment,” Fluttershy said, noticing that the farmer was missing. “Where is Applejack?”

“Oh, she coming,” explained Pinkie Pie. “She was just warning the mayor about the Kingdom of Unicornia. She’ll be here soon.”

Above them, a brilliant light flashed and Princess Celestia was hovering over the three. She descended to floor as the others bowed.

“Princess! What’s happened? What’s going on in Canterlot? What…” Rainbow Dash’s questions were cut off when the princess held up here hoof to silence her.

“I will explain in a moment,” stated the Princess. “But first, is everpony alright?” Pinkie Pie explained what happened at Sweet Apple Acres and Rainbow Dash told the princess that she and Fluttershy had come straight to the ruins in case something happened. Celestia looked out the window to see the cloud house hidden in the fog and smiled. “Very clever, Rainbow Dash.”

As she looked out the window, she saw Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack approaching. It wasn’t long until all six Elements of Harmony were reunited. They hugged each other and told each other of what has happened to each of them. They then turned towards their princess to hear what has happened to her.

“As you know, the Kingdom of Unicornia has taken Canterlot. They are led by Prince Blueblood, and he wields King Sombra’s magic.” The six were shocked to hear that the spoiled brat was responsible for the attack. They knew he was egocentric, but they had never expected him to be a usurper. They doubted he had the brains for such a complex scheme. “He has placed a sleeping spell on Luna and has taken her hostage. Before I came here, I tried to see if I could free her, but the trap would have activated as soon as I approached it or tried to attack it.”

Listening to the description of the trap, it reminded Twilight Sparkle of the trap that was around the Crystal Heart. She remembered that it was a complex spell that prevented her from being able to escape it by teleporting. “How are we going to save Princess Luna?”

“The spell is complex, but not unbreakable. I could have disarmed it, but her chamber was surrounded by guards that have been brainwashed by Blueblood. If they had spotted me, he would have activated it. I could have tried blasting it. His magic is nowhere near my level, but I fear that the trap would have killed Luna before I broke through it.”

“So what do we do?” asked Applejack. The princess thought for a moment and realized that they had an advantage.

“Applejack, you said that you had two guards in your cellar,” Celestia said to the farm pony.

“Yeah, Ah did,” she confirmed.

“I can alter their memories. We can send them back to Blueblood and have them say that they were successful. That way, he won’t continue to hunt the rest of you down. Maybe, he’ll even ease his guard on the Elements of Harmony.”

“A counter attack and a sneak attack,” summarized Twilight Sparkle. “We’ll have the element of surprise on our side.”

“There’s an Element of Surprise?” asked Pinkie Pie. “I thought there were only six elements.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight continued, “We can sneak back into Canterlot, get the Elements, take down Blueblood, which would free the ponies under his control, and save Princess Luna!”

“I will go to Sweet Apple Acres,” announced Princess Celestia. “Wait here until I return.” In a flash, she was gone.

Comments

[DiabloGuapo]

Sorry for the delay. I was caught up with finals, but now, I'm back!

[DiabloGuapo]

1826238
I couldn't resist.

[Carnation83]

According to Sir Terry Pratchett, my all time favorite writer, there are four elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. But the fifth Element is Surprise.