Out of Your Elements

by Kagemoon

Gathering of the Storm: Part 2

Wonderlust pulled his cloak over his head, making sure his wings weren’t too hindered by the heavy fabric. A storm was passing through the Everfree drenching everything causing the trees and shrubs to bow to the weight of another power. Though he could have chosen to fly above the storm clouds he hated flying despite being a pegasus, not because he was afraid of heights but because the higher one went the more insignificant things looked. While grounded buildings were large and imposing, they housed families and business, from the sky they were dots, toys, nothing worth even considering.

“Just like life,” the fall-leaf orange pegasus mumbled as the water tumbled down his hood. His life as an artist had started like a flight. The lower his was in popularity the more he loved hit, but as the nobles and rich ponies in Canterlot took a liking to his work the commissions can in and his vision had to change to suit other’s needs.

No I want more green, there’s too much blue.

I’m much more muscular than that, change it.

Could you make her flank bigger, I like em like that.

This gallery is much too sad, you should paint more flowers and pretty things.

His foot landed heavily in a puddle. The voice had promised to cease the critics. He could create anything he wanted, in any medium. Sad, angry, dark, jagged. No one would complain. He smiled as the rain increased in tempo, Wanderlust loved rain because it was the one type of weather that forced Equestria to feel down.

A rustle in some nearby bushes turned his head. A warm red glow illumined a thick shrub just off the mucky trail. He stepped closer and separated the leaves with a wing and gasped at the sighted. Two full grown phoenixes huddled together from the rain. Beautiful, sad. They regarded him his weary eyes, he noticed the way their wings hung at their sides showed they had flown quiet a distance and were most likely exhausted.

“Problems?” he asked slowly, wondering if rumors of the birds being just as sentient as ponies were true. One with longer pink pompoms on its head marked it as a female reached under her wing and pulled out what appeared to be an eggshell fragment. Wonderlust took it in hoof and regarded it closely. “What? Are you looking for a chick?” he asked

The male stepped to a closer branch and started to pantomime their journey. From what Wanderlust could gather from the birds frantic movements some sort of creatures had attacked their nest, while most of their hatchling had survived one had been left behind. The female started bawling when the male started the next part. As the new family had initially escaped they ran into a rainstorm, the newborn chicks had been so frightened by the thunder and lightning they had combusted themselves on instinct, but with the rain and winds their ashes had be despoiled preventing them from ever being reformed. The male, pointed at the egg shell and put its wings together in a prayer-like motion. They hoped their orphaned chick was still safe.

Wanderlust bent down and nuzzled the still crying female. “You left a defenseless hatchling in the same woods you fled from. Do you really think it still lives? Even if it survived the day if it’s anywhere around here then it most likely died the same way the rest of your clutch did?”

The females eyes went wide. She hugged the eggshell too her cheek. Suddenly the glow around her increased. It brightened so much Wanderlust had to shield his eyes with his free wing. In a brilliant white and orange flash the bush they had been hiding in was burnt to cinders even in the stiff downpour. The male hung it head as it watched as the ashes that had been its mate mixed with the mud of Everfree Forest’s floor. He mimicked the female’s glow and with possibly an even brighter display, burst into flames and melted into the muck.

“Beautiful,” Wonderlust thought.

.....

“Come on Garble, a white winged dragon begged. “The hunters are almost here, if they catch us we’ll be taken to the dragon council or worse, turned into leather.

The target of his pleading was a house sized red dragon with a scrunched up nose. He sat on top of a pile of gold and gems about his size as he looked down on the teenaged dragons below him. Garble was the only one who had the foresight to start his own horde at such a young age, while the others ate away their power. He was the only won who benefited from his greed growth.

“Shut up, I’m the alpha here. If you whelps can’t even fight off a few little ponies then maybe I shouldn’t even consider you dragons.”

A fat green dragon with a humongous tail stepped forward. “But they have spears, Garble, and unicorns. You’re the only one who can do anything to stop them from arresting us.”

Garble munched on a ruby, lamenting even the smallest drain in his power. “Pathetic, you’re all pathetic. Fine lets go to the funnel shaped chamber and I’ll fry them all.” He slid down the treasure mountain landing in the group of four other dragons. “Then we’ll raid the village outside these woods. Think about it, an army of dragons torching a town. That’ll show those stupid horse we’re better than them.”

As the voices to the group faded a pair of pink eyes peeked from an ignored chest wedged in the side of the treasure horde. Making sure there were no stragglers a bright yellow colored earth pony jumped out of his hiding place. Gold Saucer admired his latest score. He had heard of the dragon raiders days before and with careful planning had been able to secrete himself among an impossible to resist target for the dragons.

He giggled as wondered if is old friend Daring would have been able to come up with such a plan. He started shifting through the poor lizards spoils of war. Ignoring the simple coins, he started piling the biggest gems, gold statues, expensive fabrics, and strange artifacts in the very chest he had arrived in.

“Do hurry Gold Saucer, All that will weigh you down and you have a schedule to keep. You know what, buck that, I hate schedules. So… ordered. Anyway, if you hurry up I promise you’ll have more treasure than any dragon. The Vaults of Canterlot palace won’t be able to hold your wealth. Then you’ll be respected."

The voice was right. This dragon tiny horde was pitiful compared to what he was being offered. Gold Saucer started to close the lid if the chest when a glint among the glitter caught his eye. He dug around the middle of the treasure pile and uncovered a string on hoof sized gems each different than the one before it. Smiling he pulled, the ten gem string became a twenty gem string. He kept pulling and the rope of precious stones seemed endless. He pulled on the jewelry for a full minute before seeing the end, adorned with an amethyst the size of his head.

A frantic search around the pile located another treasure chest. Gold Saucer fed the gem rope into the new chest and with great effort was able to get it closed. With one chest fastened to his back and the other being dragged by his tail the earth pony headed down the cavern in the opposite direction he had heard the dragons go.

As Garble and his gang fought with the group of spear wielding ponies he was an engine of destruction. His tail sent them flying, his fire had roasted a couple of the annoying unicorns. The remnants were cowering against the cave wall when Garble felt an empty feeling fill his soul. It was as if he had lost all that mattered to him. He grabbed his chest as he started to shrink, from the size of a house, to that of a carriage, to hardly bigger than his pony opponents. His friends, seeing their advantage lost fled from the battlefield leaving the much weaken red dragon alone with the sadistically smiling dragon hunters advancing on him.

.....

Sangre Mavros knew he was nearing the end of his quest. He could see scatterings of millennia old cobble stones sticking out of the dirt along the trail. He swore he could almost see the ruined spire of his aunt’s old palace. As he stopped to appreciate the view the hoof steps that had dogged him since he had left his self-imposed exile from his families white stone in Canterlot.

“Brother,” he called without turning around.

“How dare you disobey me Sangre,” an annoying pompous voice whinnied. “You know you are not allowed to leave the house much less the city. I am the eldest and the head of the family. You will do as I say. Now get back to the city and prepare to be locked in your room for this impertinence.”

The light blue unicorn finally turned to gaze upon his elder brother, Blue Blood, and all his noble glory, along with his regiment of guards. “I told you before. I’m being called here, brother. Somepony finally recognizes my talents.”

“Your abominable power you mean. I am the only thing between you a pedestal in the Canterlot gardens. Now, allow these nice stallions to truss you up and we can get out of the Celestia cursed forest.”

“I thought curses weren’t real,” Sangre countered with a wry smile.

Blue Blood huffed. With a nod to his guards they lit up their horns with magic. “Are you going to obey me or not?”

“He wants to keep you from your reward, student. Show him the power no pony in all of Equestia is worthy of.”

Sangre nodded to the unseen supporter. His own horn lit with a black nebulous aura. With his special power he found the remains of the Nightmare War victims from one-thousand years before. Just as the lead guard prepared to fire a simple knockout spell a skeletal hoof wrapped around his legs. The scene repeated itself with the rest of the contingent as their magic was disrupted as bony animated skeletons erupted from the ground.

A single guard was able to remain calm enough to fire a concussive blast, blowing two of the skeletons to pieces. He turned to help his fellows only to hear a rattling behind where his foes had fallen. The bones of the two undead constructions and fused into one monstrosity as it advanced on the fear stricken guard.

While the soldiers fought, Sangre Mavros advanced on the petrified Blue Blood. “I’m sorry, but need to do this. I will show everpony my abilities are worthy of being called magic, not abominations,” the last word tasted like venom in his mouth. His horn flared up again as he aimed at Blue Blood.

Had the spell landed it would have simple melted the Prince into a puddle of flesh, but if Blue Blood had any skills in magic he could be proud of it was his shield spells were second only to his brother-in-law Shining Armor. The sickly green glob of sorcery splattered against his white dome barrier. The impact of magic on magic snapped Blue Blood out of his fear induced paralysis. He had one more spell that he had trained to nigh perfection. With a bright flash that blinded those left alive in the area he teleported to the safety outside of the Everfree.

“Always the coward. Aunt Celestia would be ashamed,” Sangre sighed and turned to the survey the remnants of the battle. No guards were left breathing, their bodies pierced by the sharp bones of the risen skeletons. “I suppose I should test to see if rigamortis will affect a newly risen corpse,” he mused. “Later, though,” he thought of the voice and continued down the path.

.....

He was power. Nothing could truly contain him if he didn’t want it. Many years before he had allowed it, he had been convinced of it. Recently they had tried to imprison him a second time, without his consent. His body was encased in stone, a majority of his power imprisoned along with is flesh. But he was a force of nature. An essential part of the world. Within the Everfree he was able to solidify a portion of his will due to the chaos caused by the breaking of harmony a millennia ago.

From his vantage point over the old ruins courtyard he watched as five stallions entered from different directions. He watched as one by one they spotted each other and “smiled” as he saw anger in some eyes, fear in others, neutrality in a couple. As they met by the crumbling remains of what had once been a glorious fountain he decided to start the show.

“Welcome my little stallions,” He boomed in his disembodied voice. “I’m so proud of you all for proving you are worthy of the power you are about to receive.” He manifested himself as best as he could which was a few wisps of mist. He flowed around the bodies of each of the stallions.

“Maaquerade the Wonderbolt. Nightshade the traveling con, Wonderlust the artist, Arthus the killer, Gold Saucer the tomb raider, and Sangre Movros the forgotten prince. Each of you has been shaped by your lives to embody one of the fundamental elements of life. The Elements of Harmony are the shining example of ponydom. Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic. What all ponies work so hard to be in their everyday lives. You six though, you all know what ponies are really like. You have seen what ponies are when they’re away from prying eyes and abandon those Elements.”

With some effort he found a hidden mechanism under the fountain and activated it causing the ancient machinery to grind and whirl, moving the stone foundation aside, revealing a dusty stair case. The wisps of fog shaped itself into a clawed hand and motioned for the stallions to follow it down. With Sangre in the lead, his horn glowing an unsettling black light they entered the darkness without a word.

Down, down, down. The light from the entrance disappeared as they descended. It was a full hour before the stairs stopped, giving way to a large chamber the bore a since of heavy foreboding. Nightshade and Gold Saucer’s fight or flight responses were being suppressed as both ponies knew when the getting was good, and the heavy atmosphere was flipping all the wrong switches. The stayed though, curiosity and wonder being a shared attribute between the two. The other stallions either didn’t notice the strange aura the chamber gave off or ignored it completely.

The sentient fog stopped. Sangre set the light to the ceiling illumination the entire room. It was bear, sparton, expect to a gigantic stone block sitting in the very center.”

“Tia, Tia, Tia, What is with you stand stone. Probably because it so bucking boring,” the voice tisked. He manipulated the mist, filling it with whatever power he could manage and wrapped it around the block. Cracks started to appear instantly. He strained, feeling the pull of his own stone prison far away, but he would not be stopped by another of Tia’s rocks. The hairline fractures turned into deep breaks. With a final push he separated the giant pieces from each other.

The stone slab crumbled revealing six podiums. On each of was a simple dark colored gems. He was almost too tired to manipulate the mist, but not quite. Again he motioned for the ponies to step forward. With each hoof step the blackened gems started to glow. By the time they were at the four of the columns Sangre’s light had been drowned out by the shining of the jewels. The stones started to rise and float in the air, descending toward their new Bearers.

The voice laughed harder than he had in many millennia.

In Ponyville six mares screamed in fear and pain. In Canterlot two princesses wavered in nausea. In the palace gardens a mismatched statue exploded.

Comments

[Kagemoon]

Just a few notes. Yes Gold Saucer is an Final Fantasy VII reference. Number 2: Sangre Movros is Black Blood in Latin/Greek. Three: Um... uh... The answer is yes, whatever the question is.

[Inferno demon Dash]

Damn...this is getting so dark that I can't stop reading it....LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! the stallion Dark Elements ROCK!!!!!!!!! Or Elements of Chaos, either way....bad ass....for some reason I'm hoping on seeing the CMC soon...keep this up my brother!