Chapter 14
Leafwind walked down the path with her friends when Diamond Tiara stepped out.
"What's she doing here," Scootaloo demanded.
"I think the better question is what you think you're doing hanging around with my new best friend." the others glanced over at Leafwind. "I thought you wanted to be cool and not hang around these blank flanks."
"Maybe so, but I'd rather be a loser than be your friend," Leafwind said. "They're my real friends." Diamond Tiara glared at her furiously, Leafwind matching her gaze as a cage made from the grass and branches started to grow around her before trapping her. Leafwind turned back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, her head hung low. "Sorry about the whole Diamond Tiara thing. Are we still friends?"
"No," Scootaloo said, Leafwind almost on the verge of tears. "We're best friends." Leafwind beamed. "Anypony who does something like that to Diamond Tiara more than deserves to be our friend."
"I've never had a best friend before," Leafwind said.
"Well, now you got three," Apple Bloom said, the four trotting off and leaving Diamond Tiara in the cage.
"How'd you do that anyway," Sweetie Bell asked, looking back at the tree cage.
"It's probably when I found out I was a Nature Trossel," Leafwind explained, looking down at her cutie mark. "I've seen my mom do all sorts of stuff like that. I just remembered one of the simpler tricks." her three friends were throwing out questions left and right, Leafwind answering as many as she could get to as they walked through town.
Frostburn followed Twilight to Fluttershy's house, eager to get to know the Pegasus a bit more. Zephyroak and Stonebolt were off with Rainbow Dash, Leafwind was playing with her new friends, and Infernalo had decided to help Applejack around the farm while Big Macintosh was gone. Steelmind didn't really say much, which arose both suspicion and excitement from her; the last time he was this secretive he'd made that beautiful statue.
"What's Fluttershy like, Twilight," Frostburn asked. "Is she nice?"
"The nicest," the unicorn said. "I'm sure you'll like her." Frostburn started bouncing excitedly. "Do you always do that?" the Ice Trossel nodded.
"Whenever I'm happy, excited, or both," Frostburn explained. Twilight chuckled a bit to herself, seeing as how Frostburn and Pinkie Pie had gotten along so well at the party. She knocked on the door and the yellow Pegasus opened it. She glanced over at Frostburn, who waved excitedly.
"Hi, I'm Frostburn," she said. "Remember? From Pinkie's party?"
"Oh yes," she said. "I heard about what your brother did." Frostburn cocked her head to one side. "How he defended those foals from a manticore. T-that was so brave." she looked away distantly, trying to figure out a way to quickly change the subject when Frostburn noticed Angel and flew after him.
"This is the cutest little bunny I've ever seen," she said, hugging him close.
"Well," Fluttershy said, snapping back. "That's why I called you here." Frostburn dropped the small white rabbit, gasping for air and muttering things angrily.
"Anything to help out one of Twilight's friends," she said eagerly.
Steelmind walked into the library, finding the door unlocked. He looked around and saw the massive shelves upon shelves of mysterious and unfamiliar books.
"Paragon has been more than kind to me," he muttered. He looked down at the books Infernalo had laid out for himself, small notes scrawled and posted around the table. His further investigation was heeded when he heard a sound approaching him and then the pained sounds of his would-be attacker. He turned to see it was only a small dragon, not much larger than Leafwind and decided to stop his mental assault on it. "Sorry. I thought you were a threat. The door was open, I noticed the books, we just got off on the wrong hoof here."
"Ya think," Spike asked, his mind still recovering. "Just who are you anyway?"
"Steelmind. I think you might know my girlfriend Frostburn?"
"G-girlfriend," Spike asked, a bit broken, but quickly remembered what was happening. "What are you doing here? What did you do to me?"
"I didn't actually do anything to you, dragon," he said. "Thought Trossels don't believe in physical combat except as a last resort. It was a strong mental attack used to incapacitate you had you been a threat. It's lucky you weren't or you would've been in far, far more severe pain than just a headache."
"Don't call me 'dragon,'" Spike said. "My name's Spike." Steelmind still didn't look up. He looked down at the letter from Lord Xanatos and scanned through it. Spike looked at his reaction. "What?"
"This is not good," Steelmind said, now halfway through the document.
"What's not good," Spike asked.
"How is that possible," he asked nopony in particular. "That's wonderful."
"What is," Spike demanded. Steelmind glanced up from the scroll, readjusting his glasses.
"Lord Xanatos of Seldreinia has discovered the whereabouts of the Sixth Elements in order to defeat the Cursed Trossels," he said.
"I have absolutely no idea what you just said," Spike admitted. Steelmind looked down at one of the notes and read it aloud.
"'The final and most important Element is carried by all, but can only be found greatest in one,'" the Thought Trossel read. "Well, thanks a lot, Infernalo. Think you could be a little more helpful?" Spike grunted in exhaustion, giving up asking any further questions.
Lord Xanatos paced in front of the long line of Trossels they had collected from several locations, thanks to his sister's powers. He questioned the inclusion of the younger ponies, but it was also a possibility that the reincarnation of one of the Sixth Elements could've very well not fully aged. He looked down at a young indigo colt with a dark green ratty mane and big mahogany brown eyes. His cutie mark-a question mark inside a megaphone-indicated he was from both Metal and Sound descent. The colt looked up at the Duke.
"You're a Thought Trossel, are you not," he asked. The colt nodded.
"My name's Cornelius," he said. "And you're Lord Xanatos, Duke of Seldreinia and older brother to the current Omni Trossel Queen Paragontal. I know all kinds of things."
"That's a very, very good thing," the duke assured him. Queen Paragontal entered, looking uncomfortably around at all the ponies bowing down to her. "There you are, sister. See if you can sense anything in them to determine if we've found the Sixth Elements. They've already corrupted the Zebras."
"Xan," she said, a very worried look on her face. "I-I don't think that they'll be of any help to us. What about the boy?" she turned to Cornelius, who smiled up at her. He wasn't bowing or hailing her as some kind of goddess. The innocence and wonder in his large brown eyes was just out of meeting her-Paragontal, something she'd give anything to have everypony see her as again. She focused her energy into the crowd, searching for any kind of familiar aura that she could latch onto and pinpoint, but found nothing. She did, however, find traces of what she was looking for emitting from the indigo Thought Trossel colt in front of her. "Cornelius may be of some help in finding them. As for the rest of you, you aren't what we were looking for and I can only give my deepest, most sincere apologies." the other Trossels left, Paragontal stopping four young, and exceedingly powerful, Thought Trossels.
"Why do they stay," Cornelius asked.
"Thought Trossels strong enough, as these four, can foresee events of the future," Xanatos explained. "If we'd used Time Trossels, then it would only complicate matters." Paragontal turned back to the colt again.
"You have traces of the same aura that the original Sixth Elements had," she said. "Why is that?" Cornelius shrugged.
"It would most likely have to be that the boy had interacted with the Sixth Elements in their current, reincarnated bodies, your highness," one of the Trossels inquired.
"Well," Cornelius said thoughtfully. "I guess my brother Steelmind could be a Sixth Element and all, but I don't know where he is." Paragontal thought back to Princess Celestia stating that her student in Ponyville had written a letter stating that she'd come in contact with Trossels.
"How far is it to Ponyville," she asked her brother. He looked at a map on the wall, and mentally made a course.
"If we leave now, we should get there an hour before the corruption reaches it." The six Trossels flew off, Cornelius sitting on Paragontal's back.