"It's so nice of you to come and visit" Princess Celestia said to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.
It had been nine months since Cadence got pregnant, so she was due in two months. They had no idea what their baby would look like or if it was a colt or filly. Her husband helped her up the stairs of the main area of the castle. It was getting harder and harder for her to walk.
"We heard the news and came right away" Princess Cadence replied. "We have also been noticing strange goings on in the Crystal Kingdom"
"Have the ponies been acting strangely?"
"Yes"
"In what way?"
"Well for starters; they started picking fights with each other. Then they began lying to each other, hurting each other, laughing at their misery, stealing and abandoning the helpless. We've tried to calm the citizens down, but there's not much we could do"
"Do you two know what's causing this destruction?" Shining Armor asked them.
"Yes. Because the same thing as you described is happening in Canterlot and Ponyville. Something is not in balance with the elements of harmony"
"You mean Twiley and her friends? What could possibly be wrong with them? I thought they were in good hooves"
"I thought so too" Princess Celestia replied as she turned to face the window. "But their friendship is so strong. Even I don't know what could've happened. But I have let them know what is happening via Spike so hopefully they should arrive here soon."
"Princess Celestia!" Rainbow Dash stormed in the castle with Applejack on her back. The others were trying to keep up with her. "We have a major problem!"
"I know. That's why I called you all here via Spike"
The mares looked at her in confusion.
"Spike isn't with us" Rarity replied. "He's with Twilight. We came on our own"
"Where is Twilight?"
"You won't believe it! But we were hanging out with Discord the past couple of days when Twilight gets jealous of us. Mainly because she doesn't get any of the jokes. But because of her jealousy, she destroyed all of the thrones in her castle and banished us out of her castle and Spike is with her!" Pinkie Pie explained in her usual fast paced dialogue.
"Twilight has caused this?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Yep" Rainbow Dash replied. "And also, Applejack isn't feeling too well either. Her cutie mark is fading away"
The princesses and Shining rushed over to the sickly orange pony on top of Rainbow's back. It looked like she was getting worse.
"How did Applejack get this sick?" Princess Cadence asked.
"I don't know. She said she imagined herself falling to her death and it was Twilight's fault" Fluttershy replied.
"That is oddly peculiar"
"That is so true!" Pinkie Pie replied back. "Who would've thought that a work horse who spends all her day farming apples..."
Just then, Fluttershy's vision and hearing began to get blurry.
"...And that's what I think about apples almost every day" Pinkie finished. Fluttershy missed everything she said.
"I'm sorry, but can you speak louder? I can hardly hear you" Fluttershy mentioned.
"IS THIS BETTER?!" Pinkie yelled in Fluttershy's ear with a megaphone.
"That's worse" Fluttershy stuttered. Then, her vision went completely blurry and the scene changed. She was trapped in a cave with the manticore she helped.
"You like animals don't you Fluttershy?" Twilight yelled from outside the cave. "Well go and tame this beast, if you can!" She just laughed as she trapped Fluttershy inside the cave. She didn't know what to do. There wasn't any thorn in it's paw this time. It was just angry. It got closer and closer to the yellow Pegasus. When it was close enough, it stung and scratched her before devouring her.
Reality came into contact with the Pegasus as she fell on top of Pinkie Pie. She was also getting sick but this was worse than Applejack. She felt like she was bleeding intensely. Her cutie mark had started to fade away.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie cried. "Not you too!"
The attention went to Fluttershy who struggled to get up. It hurt to even breathe for her.
"What is happening to everypony?" Rainbow Dash asked, still in shock. "First Applejack, and now Fluttershy. Why is this happening?"
"She's changing" Princess Luna who hadn't said a word before the disaster finally spoke.
"Who? Applejack or Fluttershy?"
"Twilight"
The remaining three members of the elements of harmony gasped in shock.
"Twilight is changing?" Rarity asked. "What into?"
"Evil" Luna replied.
"Is that true?" Rainbow Dash asked. "But why?"
"Because she has been overcome with jealousy" Luna paused. "Like I was"
"Like you were?" Pinkie asked.
"Remember how I became Nightmare Moon? I was jealous of all the attention going to my sister. She was being praised and honored for raising and lowering the sun. And I didn't get any recognition. Everypony slept through my nights. I was overcome with jealousy and greed. And soon the darkness in myself turned me into Nightmare Moon where I was banished to the moon for a thousand years"
"So you turned evil because you were jealous of your sister?" Pinkie asked. Luna nodded.
"But that doesn't explain why Fluttershy and Applejack are sick" Rainbow Dash argued.
"Being jealous is dangerous to an alicorn" Princess Celestia spoke. "You ponies don't realize it because you don't have as much power as we do. But jealousy is very powerful and can consume us. Whilst an ordinary unicorn, Pegasus or earth pony is safe because they have less power. And the reason why your friends are ill is because there is unbalance in the elements of harmony"
"They've been destroyed" Pinkie gulped.
"This is bad" Princess Celestia replied. "Not just for Ponyville but for you girls as well"
"Why?" the three of them asked.
"If the elements of harmony have been destroyed, then the bearers will cease to exist also"
The entire room was silent in shock.
"So you're saying, if we don't fix the elements then Applejack and Fluttershy would...cease to be?" Rainbow asked. "Like die from their sickness?"
"That is correct. And slowly, so will you three"
"So how do we know who's next?" Rarity asked in a scared tone.
"I believe it goes in the order that you girls rediscovered the elements. First Applejack helped Twilight on a cliff, then Fluttershy tamed the manticore..."
"Then Pinkie Pie made the scary faces on the trees go away" Rarity spoke. Turning her head towards Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash did the same. Pinkie looked at them in confusion.
"What?" Pinkie asked, oblivious and scared.
"Pinkie, you're next" Rainbow Dash stuttered, getting a teary tone in her voice.
And they were right. Pinkie Pie imagined the trees in the forest and how scary they were. Twilight pushed her in one and laughed maniacally. Pinkie tried laughing but it didn't work. Soon she was scared to death as well as the tree swallowed her.
Pinkie's heart was beating faster than it did before. So much that she fell unconscious. Now three of the elements of harmony were sick and had faded cutie marks. Rarity and Rainbow Dash panicked.
"How long until all of us feel sick like this?" Rarity asked Princess Celestia.
"Less than 24 Hours. We will help you get Twilight back"
"What about the elements of harmony? will you find a way to bring them back?" Rainbow Dash asked. The princess was silent.
"I don't know. The elements of harmony have always stayed in tact since their creation. I don't know if there's a way to fix them"
"There has to, otherwise we all will die!"
"We will find a way to help all of you" Princess Cadence calmly replied. "But first we need to find who unintentionally caused this threat...Discord"
To be continued...
