The Other Elements (mlp:fim fanfic)

Chapter twelve: Progress

AN: I claim no ownership to the picture above

King Sombra's breathing was heavy as he shot dark beams of bubbling magic over to Lord Tirek who jumped out of the way in the nick of time. A piece of cold cavern wall crumbled then fell. In response, and Tirek roared before firing his own magical beam at Sombra in a flash of orange light. But the king saw this coming, stood calmly where he was, and put up a purple magical shield through which he smirked at Tirek through the transparent material. Tirek narrowed his eyes and charged at his opponent, putting up his knuckles and preparing for a fist to hoof fight - something he knew that Sombra was less experienced in.

To the centaur's surprise, Sombra lowered his shield and returned his action of charging. Tirek smiled and quietly chuckled to himself. He swung his fist up towards Sombra's chin in an uppercut fashion, but his blow merely caught the air where the unicorn should have been. Tirek raised an eyebrow, frowning as he processed what happened. Suddenly a blast hit him in the back, and he growled then spun around to face King Sombra. Tirek fired a quick blast to Sombra, but it was reflected due to his shield he had raised again. Back to offensive strategies, Sombra fired several short blasts of dark magic, the last few hitting Tirek and causing him to fall to the floor.

Not ready to admit defeat yet, Tirek stood up and was about to make his next move when Queen Chrysalis strode in between him and Sombra. She made her way as calmly as ever to where they were battling, in a sort of confident strut.

"Alright." She spoke, gaining both of their attentions, though she wasn't looking at either. "I've seen enough."

"But Queen Chrysalis, I could has avoided that last attack!" Tirek growled, glaring at Sombra and clenching his fist. "King Sombra played dirty!"

The mentioned unicorn merely chuckled coldly, "It's called baiting Tirek. If you can't handle that whatever the Equestrian ponies do will surely end you."

"SOMBRA!" Tirek roared, advancing on him with a look that would drive fear into the heart of any normal pony. "I'm going to kill you for that comment you-"

Silently, Queen Chrysalis made her way over to the enraged Lord Tirek, like a ghost trailing behind the living. She then put a hoof to his chest, stopping him immediately and causing him to calm himself.

"Hush Lord Tirek." Queen Chrysalis commanded in a breathy voice. "It is obvious you are not at your full strength. In time you will be back to your old self."

"Oh, once I am you bet I'm going to use my strength to drive Sombra into the ground!" Tirek shouted, peering around Chrysalis and taking a step towards King Sombra.

"Save it for the Equestrians!" She spat, losing her composure for a brief moment.

The changeling queen took a deep breath through her nose, recollected herself, then looked to each of them before gliding out of the way as she spoke firmly, "Come you two, we must be gather strength before our attack."

"But Queen Chrysalis," Lord Tirek began. "It's daytime! Are you suggesting we continue with our plans in broad daylight?!"

"Yes Tirek, I am."

...

Twilight Sparkle and her five friends trudged through the golden double doors of her castle sluggishly. Each pony had lines of fatigue under their eyes as they made their way into the throne room. A few of them had frazzled manes - one of which being Rarity. The white unicorn wailed about the humidity in the Everfree Forest being 'absolutely dreadful' as they all got seated in their thrones while Applejack reminded her of how she urged her to not fix it up too much before they went out.

"I still can't believe I was right!" Pinkie Pie chattered in a breathy tone, beaming around at her friends.

Twilight breathed out a sigh of relief and plopped down onto her throne, "I'm just glad your hunch was right, Pinkie."

"I still don' get how either, but I guess it worked out in the end." Applejack added. "Twilight, you're positive the elements are gonna go to the bearers once they find 'em?"

"Absolutely." Said Twilight with a nod. "Once I realized that we represented the Elements of Harmony, they came to us and allowed us to use them. The Elements of Wilderness work the very same way."

"So for now..." Fluttershy spoke up. "They're just dormant almost?"

"Yes. Until somepony can, uh, activate them that is. For now they'll stay imbedded in the rock they're in now."

Twilight then pulled a roll of parchment out from her saddle bag and began scribbling quickly. As her quill scratched on the parchment she muttered aloud the notes she wrote. Eventually the alicorn finished after filling up the available space on one side of the parchment with a rough sketch of the Tree of Harmony, including where the Elements of Wilderness resided. Finally she stopped squinting and rolled it back up after she was sure the ink was dry.

"You're seriously still leaving your notes around for Winter to see?" Rainbow Dash inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. After all, I had the knowledge from the reference guide for the Elements of Harmony. So, she needs to know about these elements now too."

"Can't she just read the reference guide?"

"Well," Said Rarity looking to Twilight. "Twilight, are you worried about your knowledge on the subject?"

"Not exactly. I've read the book cover to cover at least twice, maybe even three times." Twilight responded. "But the thing is, Winter hasn't come to me about reading material about all this and this is the only copy of the book!"

Twilight shook her head and let out a sigh before putting on a small smile and saying, "Well, there's no use in fretting over this. On the bright side I guess, we at least know where the elements are located and Blaze will be arriving in Ponyville later today."

...

With saddlebags full of newly bought food items, Blaze made his way through the streets of Canterlot, eager to get home and finish packing for Ponyville. As he walked he double checked his list to make sure he had everything before using his magic to stuff it in his bag. Along the way home he passed by a store whose line was all the way outside. With an eye roll he realized it was a boutique after seeing so many giggling and excited mares just waiting to get inside the store.

It wasn't that he hated that somepony named Rarity had set up shop there, but ever since she had, every time something new was put out he had to deal with the crowd that always seemed to try his patience. So Blaze decided to take his other way around through a couple less populated alleyways. As he trotted along a deserted alley he listened to his hoofsteps echo out in the silence and let out a sigh. Suddenly he heard the sound of somepony else. It seemed a little strange to him, given that there was never anypony around these parts of Canterlot.

He turned around, but found nopony behind him. Furrowing his brows, Blaze felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Who's there?" He called out, narrowing his eyes. "Hello? I said, who's there? Answer me now!"

"NOW!" A voice shrilled from the shadows of a building.

Black, sharp crystals shot out from the shadows, travelling along the ground at a great speed. Before Blaze knew it, his hooves were encased in the crystals, making him unable to move. Heart pounding, he twisted and pulled, trying desperately to get free as they started to creep up his legs.

Breathing heavily, Blaze yelled at the top of his lungs, "Help! Somepony, HELP ME!"

"There will be no help." Said another voice from the shadows. "I'm afraid we can't let you get away."

AN: Happy new year everypony! Hope you enjoyed! I love to see your thoughts and reactions in the comments! See y'all next time!