She did WHAT?
"Could you run that one by me one more time, I don't think I heard you correctly."
Magic sighed, "You heard me correctly, Laughter, she just banned comedy in Equestria."
Laughter stared at Magic, trying to discern any sort of features that would signify a joke, but alas, Laughter couldn't find anything, "Honesty? They... they have to be lying, right? This is a joke?"
Honesty shook it's head, "If it were, they'd be breaking Equestrian law." Laughter visibly dimmed.
Kindness wrapped it's aura around Laughter, "Now, now, I'm sure this is all one big misunderstanding. Celestia wouldn't ban such a thing, would she?"
Loyalty hovered above Kindness, "Well of course she would! She's mourning her sister being banished for a thousand years! I'm sure if one of you were to disappear we would be mourning!"
Magic glanced quizzically at Loyalty, "I would understand if she were to mourn in her own way, but banning comedy in all of Equestria? That seems a bit much, don't you think?"
"Well, I guess, but she IS the ruler, so I wouldn't-"
"Because we put her in that position! She's cutting off one of the six core elements of harmony! Do you not see how detrimental that could be?!"
"BE QUIET EVERYELEMENT!" All the elements went quiet at the voice of Honesty. "Look, while Laughter is important in the ways of harmony, not everycreature can laugh all the time. There's got to be some periods of time where you have sadness."
Magic groaned, "You're right, Honesty. But where does that leave us? We can't just sit here doing nothing! Without Laughter, we can't really do much."
Generosity spoke up, "Well, we could give her time to come to her senses."
"What do you propose?"
"Well, since she's mourning her sister being on the moon, why not give her until Luna returns? If she still refuses harmony, then we shall take our business permanently to another kingdom."
Magic thought this over for a moment before Loyalty spoke up, "I don't like this plan. That still doesn't answer what we should do in the meantime?"
Generosity dimmed slightly, "Well, you're probably not going to like this very much, but I was thinking we could wait in the Griffon kingdom."
Loyalty turned a few shades redder than normal, "WHAT? You want us to ABANDON Equestria?! Hell no! Fuck that!"
"No, no, no! We're not abandoning it, we're just giving her time to rest! Celestia is too emotionally vulnerable to use our powers wisely, so we should head somewhere else and help out others who could need it! The Griffons especially seem like they could need it and I've even found a vessel for us!"
"That's just trading one kingdom for another! You realize how long a thousand years is, right? Ten one hundreds! We're going to leave for that long! That's absurd!"
Laughter spoke up once more, "No, I think Generosity is right. Clearly I'm not wanted right now in Equestria, but maybe the Griffon kingdom will be more receptive."
"So it's settled?" Magic addressed the elements, "We're going to go through with this plan?"
Honesty shook it's head, "Let's put it to a vote. It only seems the most fair after all." Everyone else agreed with that statement and Magic conjured up small pieces of paper and handed them out to the other elements. After a few moments, all but one element had turned in their paper.
"Let's see... One for leaving... one for staying... two for leaving... two for staying... We're missing one. Who hasn't turned in one?" Kindness held up their paper, showing it to be completely blank.
"I just don't know. On one hand, it wouldn't be very nice to just leave Equestria, even temporarily."
Loyalty laughed, "I knew it! They're on our side!"
Kindness gave Loyalty a stern expression, "I wasn't finished. On the other hand, Celestia needs some time to herself and I feel like it is my duty to offer the Griffons some kindness as well."
Magic looked towards Kindness, "Well, you have the final say. It's two to two. What do you want to do?"
"Um..."
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"Useless... pile of rocks. Faust..." A griffon named Grover was staying at a rock farm, owned and operated by his extended family for a few months due to his house being burned down by anarchists the week prior. He wasn't exactly happy with the living arrangements, but it was better than sleeping outside, even though sometimes Grover didn't think so.
"Can't believe I have to do work in order to stay here. That's just ridiculous, I'm family! Family should stick together! Not like I was gonna be here long anyways." Currently, Grover was mining out some rocks to be processed by the rest of the family to be sold later on at the Rocket. As he was mining, however, his pickaxe hit some sort of metal fixture and made a "thunk" noise.
"What was that?" Grover started chipping away at the rock he was swinging at until a shiny, golden object peeked it's way through the dull, grey rocks. "The hell? I don't recall there being gold on this farm." Grover grabbed the gold object, but when he did, he could feel the object pulsating with a feeling of contentment. "This is weird. What... is this thing?"
As Grover turned to head back to the house, he began to hear voices, "So, you're the one who found us? We have something wonderful that we would like to share with your kind."
Grover blinked and looked at the object, no, the idol, "Uh, what? 'My kind'? What's that supposed to mean?"
"We want to help you Griffons grow and prosper, and you, Grover, shall be the vessel in which we help you."
"Well that doesn't sound creepy at all. Us Griffons are just fine, thank you very much."
"On the contrary, how many Griffons do you know die from muggings or arson every day?"
"Quite a bit, but that's just the way of life."
"But it doesn't have to be. We can help you change that and make your kind great."
Grover considered his options. On one hand, this was a talking idol that says it can help the Griffons. On the other hand, it could betray him and do... whatever creepy idols do. Ah, to hell with it.
"Sure. Let's see how much you can help us."