Chapter 4: the adventure begins

(Or: the first element)

Before the sun rose that next morning, Static, Spike, and the six mares had already gathered at the edge of Ponyville, each carried their own back filled with

various supplies. "Soo… any idea where we're supposed to begin? Or are we just winging it?" asked Rainbow Dash, she was answered by Twilight Sparkle who

pulled out a map from one of her bags, "Well I studied the book last night, and I learned that each pony that was chosen each came from four different

regions of Equestria. When they were chosen, a temple was built for each element in those regions, and that was where they resided, so I figured the best

place to start would be there. I put together this map with my best estimates of where to search for these temples, it will be hard, however, since the temples

were enchanted to where only an Elemental Equine could find them". "Well, we have our Elemental Equine right here! So how hard can it be? His little

medallion thingy is supposed to go all glowy when we're near right?" asked the always upbeat Pinkie Pie. Twilight nodded and replied, "Yes, but it will only

lead us when we get near", "Well then what in tarnation are we awaitin' for? Let's get this show on tha road already!" said Applejack, "So Twi', wheres our first

stop?". Twilight opened the map and looked. On the map were four highlighted regions, "Well, the closest region we can head to is Boulder Canyon, it was

believed the canyon itself was carved from the earth Elemental Equine when they built the temple". Applejack's eyes lit up when she said this, "Well shoot,

that's not far from Appleloosa! We can get to town by this evenin' an' be lookin for that temple by t'morrow!". The rest of the group smiled and nodded as they

agreed, "Well then it's settled" said Twilight Sparkle, "Our first stop, Appleloosa!"…

The train ride to Appleloosa was long and quiet, save for the small chatter amongst the other passengers. Static gazed out among the passing desert, seeing

the cacti as they passed by. Rainbow Dash was asleep, she had fallen asleep when they first left since she wasn't quite used to getting up as early as she did,

the rattling of the train disturbed her sleep slightly as she groaned and moved around. Static, who was next to her looked at her with tenderness in his eyes.

Beautiful even when she sleeps, he thought, he wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders and held her close to him, she stopped fidgeting and sighed, a smile

spread across her face as she snuggled closer to him. The warmth of his girlfriend and the gentle shaking of the train car soon made him doze off to an easy

rest…

Static woke to a hoof gently shaking him, he opened his eyes to see Rainbow Dash looking at him, "About time you woke up" she said laughing, "Come on, the

train just pulled into Appleloosa and Applejack's cousin is giving us all a place to stay for the night". Static stood up and stretched, looking out at the setting

sun as he stepped off the train and into the frontier town of Appleloosa. Everywhere he looked, ponies were dressed from head to hoof in country attire, mares

wore western hats of differing colors and most wore their manes in ponytails. Their hooves were adorned with boots of varying designs as well. The stallions

wore ten gallon hats and many had vests with a neckerchief tied around their necks. As he joined the rest of the group, a yellow furred stallion with a caramel

colored mane and an apple cutie mark approached them. He wore a brown colored vest and a same colored hat, he wore a large smile as he came closer,

"Well howdy do cousin Applejack! Its mighty good ta see yall again! Ah just wish it wasn't on such short notice ah coulda' been a little more prepared!".

Applejack smiled and went up to hug her cousin and replied, "Well shoot Braeburn, ah didn't even know ah'd be here till just this mornin'! We're all mighty

thankful yall could take us in for the night though". Braeburn said it was the least he could do since the six had helped them with their dispute against the

bison tribe the last time they were there, his eyes passed over the other ponies until they stopped at Static, the pioneer pony walked up to him and vigorously

shook his fore hoof, surprising Static with the sudden and enthusiastic hospitality. "An' you must be the Elemental Equine Static! Ah tell ya what, you an' the

other six've been the talk of the town! Stories of how yall beat that shadow an' whatnot! Ah say it's a pleasure ta finl'y meet ya! The name is Braeburn and let

me be the first ta welcome you to AAAAPLELOOOSA!". The stallion finally released Static's fore leg as he reared up to happily shout the name of his town,

Static held a smile, even as he rubbed his now sore leg, "Well it's nice to meet you too Braeburn, I've heard a lot about you too, and all about how the girls

helped your town in settling the skirmish with the bison tribe". Braedurn smiled with pride at hearing this, and then began to usher the group into the town

toward the building that they would be staying at. They walked into the building that led into a large living room, two large sofas faced a coffee table, to the

left was a pool table and to the right was a mini bar where Braeburn kept many varieties of drinks. "Alrighty now yall" said Braeburn , "Mares stay in the

rooms on the left side, the gentlecolt and dragon sleep in the rooms on the right, yall can go ahead and get yourself settled and Ah'll get a lil' grub rustled up

for ya". The eight tired travelers happily obliged as they headed down the hallway to the rooms, there were three rooms on the left side of the hallway, so the

six mares split up into twos and shared rooms while Spike and Static took separate rooms on the right. Static removed his saddlebag and fell upon the bed,

relishing in its comfort. He looked out of the window next to the bed, many of the ponies were preparing for the night, closing up shops, bringing their young

ones inside, and turning their lights off for the night. And to think, he thought, a legend could be living right next to them and they never even knew it… Static

sighed, he deeply wished that what they were looking for would be out here, that they weren't on some wild goose chase. He pushed his thoughts aside as he

heard Braeburn call to them that supper was ready, so he got up and left to join the others…

That next morning, the grouped thanked Braeburn for his hospitality and set out for Boulder Canyon. The sun had begun to break the horizon, and off in the

distance, they saw smoke rising. Natural curiosity brought them closer to the source of the smoke, and they soon saw a small group of teepees surrounding a

campfire where a few buffalo Indians could be seen resting near. One of these buffalo was a young female calf, Static heard Rainbow Dash gasp happily as she

called out, "Little Strongheart!", the calf turned to face the group, her look of curiosity turned to that of excitement as she ran to her old friends, "Rainbow

Dash! Pinkie Pie! What are you all doing here?" she exclaimed as she hugged her pony friends. The unexpected visit caught the attention of some of the other

bison, including Chief Thunderhooves who approached them with a kind smile on his face, "Welcome friends, it has been a long time since we had last met" he

said in his usual deep voice. Rainbow Dash and the others greeted the chief warmly, as they did, the chief's eyes as well as few others fell upon Static,

curiosity in their glances, the chief approached Static, his hulking size making him somewhat intimidating even if he wasn't being hostile. "And who is your

friend may I ask?" he said to the mares, "This is Static, he was the one who warned us of and helped us beat the Shadow" said Twilight. Thunderhooves

looked Static over, the eyed Static's medallion hanging around his neck, he lifted a hoof to it so he could examine it closer, his eyes widened and he looked to

Static with an awed expression, "So… it is true, you really are… a Nature Bearer…" the strange name took Static by surprise, he was so used to the term

Elemental Equine, that he never thought of any other name for him. "Huh? Nature Bearer?" said Rainbow Dash, confused as well, "In different cultures, they

have many different names for the same thing, for us, we call Static the Elemental Equine, but many other cultures, such as the buffalo, name it differently"

clarified Twilight to Rainbow Dash. The buffalo looked at Static in awe, and bowed their heads respectfully, somewhat embarrassing him as he look out among

them, "Please, tell us, what bring you all out here? Surely you are from your home" inquired Thunderhooves. "Well, were actually out… looking for the other

Ele-… Nature Bearers, and we believe one of them may be out in Boulder Canyon" said Static, as he did, the buffalo chief's eyes showed something like that of

fear, he then said solemnly, "Boulder Canyon is a very deadly place, many of my bison were lost in there, there is something down there indeed, but he seems

to not want to be disturbed. He guards the canyon like his own home, attacking any innocent being that ventures down there with rockslides. We only see him

fleetingly before he retreats, and even then it is only a dark outline of him, no more". A few of the ponies flinched when they heard the word 'deadly'

Fluttershy let out a small squeak and hid behind Rarity, her ears pinned down to her head, "Oh… deadly… that's just greeaatt!" said Spike sarcastically. Static

looked to the chief, "Even so, I need to know for sure the Nature Bearer is there, it is a matter of great importance". Thunderhooves slowly nodded in

understanding, "Very well, we shall show you to the canyon's entrance but we shall go no farther than there" Static nodded and thanked the buffalo chief and

once again, the group were galloping off again, this time following the buffalo. When they had reached the canyon, the sun was just barely over their heads,

signaling it was almost noon, Thunderhooves looked to the ponies as he said, "This is as far as we go, we wish you a safe journey and a safe return". Static

nodded respectfully at the chief and thanked him, and when Little Strongheart was finished with her goodbyes, the tribe was off again back to their camp. The

eight then looked to the canyons, it was quiet, perhaps too quiet, Fluttershy shuddered and then said, "M-maybe I sh-should stay h-here and… um… keep

watch…" Applejack went over and placed a comforting hoof on the pegasus' shoulder, "C'mon now sugar cube, there aint nothin' ta be afraid of down there,

besides, we'd never let anythin happen to ya, you've got nothin ta worry about". This seemed to calm her down slightly as she looked up and smiled

nervously, she then followed the others as they made their way down the steep incline. As they reached the canyon floor, they immediately had the feeling of

being watched, Static caught himself casting sideways glances at any shadow that passed the corners of his vision. They continued their hike until a deep

rumbling stopped them in their tracks, "Wh-What is th-that?" asked a now terrified Fluttershy, looking frantically left and right for the source of the noice. The

rumbling grew louder and the group scattered as Spike shouted out, "ROCK SLIDE!" and sure enough, a large avalanche of many different sized boulder were

tumbling in their direction. Fluttershy immediately shot into the air, followed by Rainbow Dash carrying Applejack and Spike, and Static carrying Twilight

Sparkle and Rarity, Pinkie Pie climbed up a tall column of stone to get away from the boulders, clinging with all her might. "What do ya think set off the

rockslide?" asked Applejack, watching the boulders roll under them. "I'm not sure, but we should be safe up- LOOK OUT!" she was cut short of her reply as a

large chunk of rock hurtled toward them, followed by more, "Since when can rocks fly?" Shouted Rarity. Static looked to the ground, trying to find the source

of the projectile stones, he dodged a fourth boulder when he saw a figure some distance from them near the wall of the canyon, as he saw the figure, he

noticed the jewel on his medallion begin to glow brightly. At the same time, the rocks stopped assaulting them, Static looked back at the figure and noticed

another light shining as well, the figure seemed to notice the glow and quit his advance on the ponies. Static realized then as he made his way to the ground,

Its him, they made it to solid ground, warily looking around their surroundings. Static's medallion grew brighter as each second passed, and soon hoof steps

could be heard in the distance. In the settling dust, the group saw the outline of a large stallion, as he stepped into view, they could see just how big he was.

He was a good head taller than Static who was the tallest of the group, muscle rippled under his skin as he walked, overall, he was intimidating to watch as he

approached. Static saw a medallion hanging around his neck as well, glowing as brightly as his own, the stallion looked down at his medallion, and then looked

to Static, his expression unreadable. For a while, both stallions seemed to be in a stand-off, until the larger of the two broke the silence as he said, "So… I

finally meet another like me… but why do you decide to come now? And who are these six?". Static thought about what to say before replying, "Well, to be

honest, I never knew there were the other Elemental Equines until just yesterday. As for my reason coming here… the Guardians need to come together once

more… Darkstrike has returned". The large stallion's eyes widened in surprise as he heard this, "So the prophecy is true…" this confused Static, "Uh…

prophecy? What prophecy?". The stallion looked to the group again, then turned away, "Follow me, something tells me there's more you need to learn" "can

we at least get your name?" asked Static as he followed, the stallion stopped for a while, and sighed, he finally gave in and said as he continued walking, "My

name… is Quake, Elemental Equine of earth"…

Sorry this took so long to make! School has seriously been weighing me down lately, plus basketball season has started so that takes up most

of my schedule. Anyway, tell me what you think in the reviews