My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro, The Hub and of course Lauren Faust who seems to have gone out of her way to make a show about pastel colored ponies with names like "Twilight Sparkle" completely awesome. This story is just for fun and no profit shall be made so please above mentioned people don't sue me. You're not gonna get much. Any OCs that pop up in this fic belong to me and can be used with permission. Please don't steal from me. Now with that out of the way, on with the show.
The Elements of Discord
Chapter 4: Collecting The Elements
Applejack let out a frustrated sigh as she and Rarity continued to make their way through Ponyville. They had scoured half of the town after their meeting with Twilight to see if any other pony had seen the dark clouds or the unicorn and two earth ponies they were looking for, but so far they had turned up...
"Nothing!" Applejack growled in annoyance. "An hour or so of searchin' and we ain't turned up diddlysquat! All we got are vague statements from ponies who might have seen those clouds or the three we're lookin' for. I mean it can't be that hard to find these things, can it?"
"Well, apparently it is that hard to find them as we haven't found them yet," Rarity reminded her.
The orange earth pony glared over at the white unicorn.
"That question was re...hor...reator...re..um...uh.." she staggered to find the right word.
"Rhetorical?" the unicorn offered helpfully.
"Yeah that! Which means don't answer it cause I was talkin' mostly ta mahself."
"Fine, fine do whatever you like," Rarity said with a wave of her hoof then looked down at it and frowned. "But I do hope we find something soon. All this walking around is simply destroying my freshly done manicure."
Applejack rolled her green eyes and shook her head at her friend's backward priorities.
"Ya know, ya wouldn't have to worry about that stuff if you didn't get those prissy little manicures all the time," she noted.
Rarity let out a genuine gasp of horror at that idea.
"And walk around with dirty, mud caked, cracked hooves?" she shrieked. "Never! I can't even begin to imagine what that's like!"
The other pony just shrugged. "Feels fine to me."
Rarity shuddered in disgust of the thought again then gave her friend a pleading look.
"Please let me take you to the spa! Just once? Please? Pretty, pretty please with gumdrops on top?" she asked in her sweetest voice as she tilted her head closer to Applejack's.
She became a bit flustered not only by Rarity's close proximity to her but more importantly what the unicorn was asking of her. She had to find a way out of this situation. There was no way she was going to set one hoof in that prissy little place. It was bad enough she had to go there to reverse the effects of the Poison Joke plant. She did not want to go back there again. She needed something or somepony she could use an excuse to change the subject.
"Hey guys, watcha doin'?" Pinkie Pie's voice suddenly called out.
Applejack smiled brightly as she saw the pink earth pony bouncing up to them as joyfully as ever. She quickly rushed to meet her which caught Rarity by surprised and caused her to tip over from the awkward angle she was left standing in. She groaned as she picked herself off the ground and rubbed her now aching head with a hoof.
"Hey Pinkie Pie," Applejack said with a bit of a nervous laugh. "What brings you out here?"
"Oh you know just going around town, talking to ponies, enjoying the day, planning my next big greatest party ever, the usual," Pinkie said offhandedly. "What are you gals doing?"
"We're actually looking for some ponies in particular," the other earth pony mentioned.
"Yes, you wouldn't have happened to see any new unicorns in town would you?" Rarity asked. "Perhaps with two big, mean looking earth ponies with her?"
"Hmmm..." Pinkie mused as she rubbed her chin in thought. After a moment she shook her head. "Nope! Can't say I have! And I would have noticed someone too cause I know all the ponies in Ponyville!"
"We know sugar cube, we know," Applejack reassured her. "How about any strange black clouds?"
"Oh yeah! I've seen those all over! And all the Pegasi trying to clear them out of the air! They're al like 'vroom'! 'Whoosh'! 'Get out of here you stupid clouds'! It's really kind funny to watch," she giggled excitedly.
"Yes I'm sure it is darling but we need to know if you've seen anything else suspicious perhaps?" Rarity prompted.
Pinkie's face scrunched up in thought again.
"Hmmm...well I-" she started but then suddenly stopped as her tail swished around erratically for a second. "Oh, my tail twitched."
The three stood and stared at each other with wide eyes in stalk terror at the implications of that statement.
"Twitchy tail?" Applejack repeated in a hushed voice. "Run!"
The three then bolted off in separate directions. A moment later a large crate came crashing down on right the spot they once stood. High above in the few clouds that were actually scheduled for the day, a grey coated, blond maned Pegasus had her hooves of her mouth as she stared down at the shattered crate and broken couch in embarrassed horror. Her uneven golden eyes then looked towards the crimson coated Pegasus next to her for support.
"I can't believe I dropped another crate! The boss is gonna fire me for sure!" she wailed.
"Hey don't worry we'll just say it slipped out of our hooves. I mean we're both supposed to carry it, right?" the other Pegasus reassured.
"Yeah," the grey one sniffled. "I guess so."
"All right now, who done dropped one of Boxxy Brown's crates?" the deep, and angry, voice of the duo's boss came from the other side of the delivery truck.
"She did it!" the crimson Pegasus cried out quickly, point an accusing hoof to her wide-eyed co-worker. "It was all her fault! Derpy Hooves strikes again!"
"Don't call me that!" 'Derpy' shouted back in annoyance.
"Ditzy Doo!" Boxxy snarled.
"See, that's my name!" Ditzy stated proudly before she turned to see the brown coated Pegasus glaring angrily at her. She then hung her head in shame. "Oh...right..."
"What have I told you about dropping all of Boxxy Brown's stuff? These Pegasi are paying good money to have their stuff to be moved safely and in one piece!" he scolded her.
"I know Boxxy, I know and I'm doing my best," she defended herself. "I just have some depth perception problems."
"Fool I told you to get corrective lenses!"
"But I'd look stupid in them!" Ditzy moaned.
"Like she doesn't look stupid now," the crimson Pegasus snickered to one of her other coworkers.
"Hey leave her alone!" the yellow coated, aqua maned pony snapped then flew over to get in between Ditzy and Boxxy. "I'll help her unload the rest of the stuff, okay Boxxy? We'll be very careful this time, right Ditzy?"
"Totally, 100% careful!" Ditzy replied with a bit of a salute.
The brown coated Pegasus reached up to scratch his head under his black cap as he stared at the two in consideration. He knew they didn't quite have a spotless record of not dropping things either but they did work well together and they needed to get this job done soon.
"All right fine, you can work with her Raindrop just make sure neither of you two drop anything else. You got that?" he snapped.
"Yes sir!" they both snapped back before they went back to unloading the truck.
"And you Crimson Streak," Boxxy continued, pointing to the crimson colored Pegasus and more specifically her flame winged Cutie Mark. "That Cutie Mark of yours says you're supposed to be fast, so you better start showing Boxxy that speed or you'll be kicked out of here all too fast!"
"I hear ya, I hear ya," she muttered before she flew into the truck and picked up a box.
She waited until he flew away to check on something inside the large cloud mansion before she started to do a rather crass imitation of him.
"Show Boxxy that speed or I'll kick you out," she mumbled bitterly. "Least I don't talk about myself in the third pony like some weirdo. What's up with ponies who do that anyway? Think they're important or something? Well, one day I'll show them how important I can be!"
Just as she was about to enter the house again, the box she was holding suddenly flew violently out of her hooves. So much so that it caused her to spin around in the air a few times. She finally spread her wings out wide to catch enough of the air currents to slow herself down and correct her hovering. She shook her head clear then look around in confusion.
"What the hay just happened?" she asked herself.
She then noticed the box she had been holding was gone and started to look around the immediate area for it, hoping she hadn't dropped yet another one of the boxes. Not that she cared that much if she kept her job or not, she just didn't want to get yelled at again. When she looked towards the ground her yellow eyes narrowed as she saw the package slowly floating down to the ground towards three ponies.
"Hey! Give that back!" she shouted before she flew down after the box.
She chased it all the way down to the ground where the three ponies stood and now she could make them out as a female, blue coated unicorn and two male earth ponies, one grey and the other purple with a wild green mane. She could also tell it was the unicorn pulling the box towards them with her magic. Crimson Streak snarled as she lunged forward and grabbed the box with both hooves.
"I said give it back!" she growled.
"As you wish," the unicorn remarked flippantly and released the box from her magical hold.
Unfortunately, Crimson had been pulling it with all her might so the unexpected release caused her to once again flip around in the air but this time she landed rather harshly belly side down on the ground yet was still able to hold the package above her head.
"Ow," she whimpered.
She then set the box on the ground so she could pull herself up and glare at the annoying unicorn.
"What's the big idea?" she demanded.
"Just wanted to make sure I got your attention is all," the unicorn replied back. "Crimson Streak."
The stunned Pegasus blinked in confusion. "How do you know my name?"
"Oh, I know all about you," the other pony smirked as she started to walk around the flier. "Like I know that despite the fact that you won the flying competition in your class at Cloudsdale, you were later disqualified when it turned out that the water the other contestants drink had been poisoned oh so slightly. Not enough to do them any lasting harm just enough to make sure they weren't are their best when it came time for the competition."
"Hey, no one ever proved that was me!" Crimson said in her own defense. "Which made the whole disqualification thing a load of horse nuggets!"
"Oh come now," the unicorn practically purred as she leaned closer to the Pegasus, "you and I both know that's not true."
There was tense awkwardness between them as they just stared at each other for several seconds before the unicorn finally flipped her silver mane out of her eye and walked back over to her two companions, leaving Crimson Streak slightly befuddled.
"Okay so you know that about me but who the hay are you?" she demanded.
"I'm Dark Sky," the unicorn replied the pointed to the grey earth pony on her right, "he's Sledge."
"Hi," Sledge greeted softly.
"And that's Hammer," Dark Sky finished, pointing to the purple pony.
"How ya doin'?" Hammer asked with an enthusiastic wave.
Unsure of what else to do, Crimson just waved back lightly then focused her attention on the unicorn again.
"Okay then Dark Sky, what exactly do you want with me?" she asked a bit bitterly.
"Simple. I want you to join us," the midnight blue pony revealed.
"And why would I want to do that?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I can offer you much more than a minimum wage job that you hate," Dark Sky revealed.
"Really? And how can you do that?"
"Sorry, can't tell you unless you decide to join us."
"Riiiiight," the Pegasus nodded unconvinced. "Like I'm gonna believe that!"
Dark Sky shrugged. "Suit yourself. Come on boys, she's obviously not interested."
With that the three turned and began to slowly walk away. While Sledge and Hammer just traded looks of confusion, Dark Sky had a strangely satisfied smirk on her face. A smirk that grew wider when she heard Crimson Streak call out,
"Wait!"
The all three paused and she took a moment to replace the smirk with a questioning look before she turned her head back to the Pegasus.
"Yes?" she asked innocently.
"I'll go with you," Crimson Streak said as she started to fly over to them.
"But what about your job here?" Dark Sky asked, pointing to the forgotten package.
"Eh I didn't really like it anyway. My boss was a jerk," she waved off.
"Excellent," the unicorn mused. "Well, then pull in close and we'll be on our way."
The Pegasus raised an eyebrow even as she landed and walked closer to Dark Sky, as did Sledge and Hammer.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To get the others of course."
"What others?"
"Oh...you'll see," Dark Sky answered cryptically and before anymore could be said they all vanished with a bright flash.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
When they reappeared, the first thing Crimson Streak felt was a very powerful dizziness wash over her. She stumbled around for a bit as she tried to keep her balance, eventually finding a wall she could lean against. She shook her head to clear try to clear it, her reddish-orange bangs sweeping over her face. She pushed them back with a hoof then looked over the rest of the party she had joined who didn't look much better.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Sledge muttered as he looked like he was about to throw up.
"I'll get easier in time," Dark Sky reassured him, her breath sounding a bit labored. "I just need to get used to the spell.
"I think it's kinda fun!" Hammer remarked just before he tipped over.
"So where in Equestria are we?" Crimson Streak asked as she looked around at the dark walls around here. "Looks like some kind of mine or something."
"That's exactly what it is," Dark Sky clarified and began walking forward. "To be more specific the old mines of the Diamond Dogs."
"Wait, I've heard of them," Sledge spoke up as he followed behind her. "They're supposed to be pretty vicious gem hunters. Why would they just go an abandon a mine like this?"
"Don't know, don't care," the unicorn scoffed with a shake of her head. "All I know is that this is where we'll find the next Element."
"'Element'?" Crimson repeated then leaned over to whispered to Hammer, "What is she talking about?"
"I dunno, I'm barely paying attention to the boring stuff. I'm just waiting for the chance to get my hooves dirty," he explained.
"Uh huh," she nodded uncertainly.
Despite her growing doubts she continued to follow the other three ponies as they walked down the mine shaft, evenly spaced lamps providing enough light for them to see. As they walked further into the mine they could hear a soft rumbling in the distance. The fear of a cave in quickly left their minds when they realized it didn't sound like rocks tumbling and instead sounded more like...cheering. It grew louder and louder until they finally reached an open area of the mind where dozens of earth ponies sat in a large circle around a domed cage in the middle of the impromptu arena. Although none of them could see just yet, there were two ponies inside the cage knocking the hay out of each other.
"What is this place?" Sledge practically had to yell over the crowd's cheering and clapping.
"What the mines became!" Dark Sky answered. "A secret club where earth ponies come to test themselves in the cage in some rather brutal fights."
"I like it!" Hammer shouted happily.
"You would," Sledge muttered softly enough to not be heard.
"So why are we here?" Crimson asked as she flew over the group so she could see past the crowd.
"For the one in the cage!" Dark Sky remarked.
"Which one?"
The unicorn pushed her way through the crowd so she could accurately point out the fighter she was interested into the Pegasus who followed close behind her.
"Her!" she clarified.
Crimson looked into the cage again at the specific pony Dark Sky had pointed out and was a bit surprised to see a rather slender looking mare beating up a stallion nearly twice her size. She had a black coat with a dark red man and tail that nearly match Crimson's in color. Her eyes were a blood red color and shined with an almost untamed fury as she launched her hind legs at the stallion's face again. Her front legs were bound in white tape and the reason for that become abundantly clear when she turned around, stood up and started beating him mercilessly them. They also happened to match her Cutie Mark which was a pair of taped up hooves raised and ready to fight. From what Crimson could see that summed up this pony pretty well.
The mare in question let out an almost primal yell as she delivered another blow to the stallion's cheek which caused him to bounce off the cage's far left wall then fall to the ground in a heap. The arena grew deathly quite as the judge pony walked over to the side of the cage to see if the fallen stallion was still alive. After a quick poke elicited a small, pained groan the judge decided he was in fact alive.
"He's alive!" he announced to the audience. "And unconscious so the winner is once again Stampede!"
The crowd broke into another thunderous round of cheering and applause as Stampede stood on her hind legs again to raise her taped up forelegs above her head and let out a victory scream. She then went back to all fours so she could walk out of the cage where she was gently toweled off by some of the crew members who gave her all encouraging words.
"That was a great match Stampede! You really knocked that guy around," one of them remarked eagerly.
"Well that's what's gonna keep happening if they keep sending me all these wimps," she scoffed then walked over to the trough of water and took a few refreshing sips before she dunked her head in.
Once the throbbing in her head died down she pulled it out of the water and let her short, scruffy mane stick to her head as cooling, calming water continued to run down her face. Though this ritual never really did anything to sooth her anger, it did help her clear her mind after every fight so she could enter the cage fresh again. Unfortunately, this time her semi meditation was interrupted when four odd ponies walked up to her. Or at least two of them were odd for this place.
"Hey! No unicorns or Pegasi!" she growled at them. "This is for earth ponies only!"
"Oh trust me, I have no intention of fighting," Dark Sky waved off. "In fact, I've come here to make you an offer to get you out of this deary place where your talents are clearly being wasted."
Stampede studied her for a moment. "What kind of deal?"
"I asked the same thing but she's kind cryptic about it," Crimson spoke up.
"Wasn't talking to you, you feathered freak so zip it!" she snarled.
The Pegasus reeled back in shock of the overly aggressive tone but quickly sank to the ground and moved back behind Sledge a bit.
"Didn't want to talk to the psycho anyway," she mumbled under her breath.
"Don't pay any attention to her, she's still learning how everything works," Dark Sky advised the black pony.
"And how does everything work in this little group of yours?" Stampede pressed. "I mean, what exactly are you talking about here?"
"I'm talking about getting into the biggest, toughest fights of your life. Fights with real importance to them."
"Would I get to beat up on any Pegasi or unicorns during these fights?" she asked with an almost maniacal glee in her eyes.
That question seemed to catch Dark Sky off guard and even made her a bit nervous but she made sure it didn't show through.
"Actually if everything goes as I think it will there will be a time when you'll have to fight a unicorn or a Pegasus. Probably a couple of them."
"Hah! I'm in!" Stampede agreed. A bit too eagerly for the unicorn's taste.
Still, I'm going to need her, so it's best this goes smoothly, Dark Sky thought.
"Just one thing," the earth pony spoke up again.
"What's that?"
She seemed to ignore the question and walked right up to Hammer, glaring daggers at him.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" she snapped.
"What? Me? Staring? Noooo!" the larger earth pony tried to play innocent.
"Don't feed me that manure. I spotted you staring at me the second you walked in here!"
"I thought you were fighting," Hammer said nervously.
"I'm good at multitasking," she sneered. "So what's your deal, huh? Wanna fight?"
"No! Well...maybe. I just...kinda...um..."
"What?"
"I kinda like mares who would kick my flank," he revealed quietly, turning his head away.
The three gals of the group all stared at him in disbelief while Sledge gave a weary shake of his head.
"Trust me, it's sadly very true," he said with a slight sigh.
"Really?" Stampede asked with coy smirk.
Hammer merely nodded to which the smaller earth pony just chuckled then quickly spun around and planted her left hind hoof on square on his right cheek, knocking him off his feet. She laughed louder and winked at him before she moved back over to Dark Sky. Sledge looked down at his fallen friend in concern.
"You okay buddy?" he asked.
"I think I'm in love," Hammer said groggily.
"You need help," Sledge sighed with a roll of his blue eyes.
He helped his rather hopeless friend up then walked over to where Dark Sky stood with the rest of the slowly expanding group.
"So what do we do now?" Stampede asked the unicorn.
"Go find the next member of our little clique of course," Dark Sky replied with a slight smirk.
"Good thing you picked me then cause I know the quickest way back to the surface," the dark pony said proudly.
"Actually so do I."
Stampede looked a little confused at the remark until she noticed Dark Sky's horn beginning to glow. A slight sense of panic started to over take her and she tried to step away from the others but found herself unable to move any farther.
"Hey now wait a minute! I didn't agree to-" she started but her protest was cut off as they flashed out of existence.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
"-this!" Stampede finished once they reappeared on the side of a mountain.
She then stumbled around from the disorientation of being suddenly displaced and nearly fell off the side of rather high cliff. She was able to keep her balance well enough to throw her weight to the other side and land on the jagged ground below her. She laid there for several seconds as she waited for the world to stop spinning.
"I hate magic!" she barked bitterly.
"It's not my favorite thing right now either," Crimson groaned as she steadied herself against a tree.
"I thought you said this was going to get easier," Sledge grumbled to Dark Sky as his own head started to clear.
"It will, but I keeping having to adjust for every new pony," she spat as she leaned against the ground in exhaustion.
Her haggard state didn't escape his notice.
"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, crouching down towards her.
"Just...give me a second," she told him.
He nodded then went to see how the others were doing. They all seemed to be suffering from the momentary dizziness of teleportation, but thankfully the effects passed rather quickly. When they were able to take in their surrounding more closely the saw that they were not only on a mountain side but they were right at the mouth of a fairly large cave. A fact that made Hammer start to shiver in fear.
"Th-that's a cave," he whimpered, pointing to the darkened entrance with a trembling hoof.
"Gee, did you figure that out all but yourself or did you need help?" Stampede mocked.
"I know what a cave is!" he snapped back. "I also know what lives in caves! Dragons! Big, scary, eat ponies in one bite dragons! I'm not messing around with that!"
"I'm with Hammer on this one," Crimson quickly agreed. "I don't care what you're promising it's not worth going up against a dragon over."
"That's good because there isn't a dragon in here," Dark Sky reassure them with a bit of annoyance. "It's where we'll find the next pony we need."
"Are...are you sure?" Hammer asked hopefully.
"Yes I'm sure! Now let's go!"
With that Dark Sky, Sledge and Stampede all started to walk into the cave but stopped when they realized neither Hammer or Crimson Streak were following them. They looked back to find the two still standing nervously outside at the entrance. Dark Sky let out a frustrated sigh then started to light up her horn so she could use her magic to force the two inside, but she was stopped by a raise hoof from Stampede.
"Let me handle this," she offered.
The unicorn gave her an odd look but then shrugged and nodded for her to proceed. The earth pony nodded back then walked over to the two frightened ponies.
"Alright listen up you twits, you can either come in here where there may or may not be a dragon or you could stay out here and deal with me. And you know I'm here," she threatened.
The duo stared at her for a few seconds then looked at each other as they remembered what she did in the cage just a few short minutes ago. Their panicked expressions where now solely focused on the thoughts of what she could do to them.
"We'll go!" the both said rather quickly.
"I thought so," Stampede smirked before she turned around and walked back into the cave, Hammer and Crimson following close behind her. She glanced up at Dark Sky as she came back, "Just gotta know how to talk to ponies like them is all."
The midnight blue unicorn just rolled her eyes and shook her head before she took the lead again and lead them further into the cave. Like the mineshaft, there were lamps placed along the walls to provide lighting and proofed that somepony lived there after all. At least Hammer and Crimson hoped it was somepony and not some dragon. Their fears were only magnified when they came upon a very large collection of coins, gems and artifacts at the center of the cave. It was piled high enough that nopony in the group could see over it from where they stood so it was possible that anything was on the other side.
"Are we sure this isn't a dragon? Cause that looks like a dragon's treasure pile!" Hammer remarked, his nervousness from earlier coming back.
"I already told you! There is. No. Dragon!" Dark Sky screamed in bitter annoyance.
"She's right! This isn't a dragon's treasure it's MINE!" a new voice called out angrily.
The assembled ponies all turned their heads in the direction the voice had come from and found another pony standing on top of the pile with a suspicious look on her face. She was a dark orange pony with long black mane and tail and eyes just a brighter orange than her coat that seemed to almost glow in the dim light of the cave. Her Cutie Mark was an open chest with treasure spilling out of it, not unlike the few chests half buried in the pile of coins and gems she was standing on.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my cave? Did you bring me anything good?" the orange earth pony demanded.
"Hi. My name's Dark Sky and in fact I have brought you something," she greeted.
"What is it? Gimme gimme gimme!" the new pony cheered as she slide surprisingly gracefully down the pile to stop just in front of the group. "I want it now!"
"Whoa hold on there!" Dark Sky remarked, waving her front hooves in front of her. "It's not the kind of thing you can get now, but I can guarantee you it'll be worth your while."
The other pony stared at her as if she were crazy.
"You mean I have to work for it?" she shouted in disbelief. "Never mind then. That's too hard. I like to just find things or take them. Or have them given to me."
"Sadly yes, you will have to do some work for this but I can assure you that you're going to love it, Treasure Hunt," Dark Sky revealed with a sly smile.
Treasure Hunt, on the other hoof, looked confused and angry at the casual use of her name.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, staring accusingly at the unicorn. "I never told you my name! That's my name and I don't like you using it!"
She then scoffed and started to climb her giant pile of treasure again. Stampede stared at her for a second before she leaned into whisper into Dark Sky's left ear.
"Are you sure we need this loon?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Dark Sky whispered back with a soft sigh. She then took a few steps forward to try a different approach. "You're right, I'm sorry I used your name so casually. It was just hoping that perhaps we could be...friends?"
"Friends?" Treasure Hunt repeated, seeming to mull the idea over. She then shook her head. "Nope! Don't need friends! Just need my treasure."
"Everypony needs friends," the unicorn remarked with surprising sincerity.
"Why? All friends do are hurt you and try to take your stuff!" she spat back.
"Sometimes..." Dark Sky said softly then shook her head to focus more clearly. "But that's why you should join us. We can help you get more things for your collection."
"More things?" Treasure Hunt asked, suddenly intrigued. "How many more things?"
"More than you can imagine. Including one of the most rare objects in Equestria."
"Oh, I want that! And a castle! I've always wanted a castle! Somewhere I can build a huge collection! Can I have a castle? Please?"
"Umm..." Dark Sky staggered, taken a little aback by the pony's sudden enthusiasm. "Sure."
"Yay!" she cheered, clapping her hooves together. She then suddenly stopped and looked back at her collection. "But what about my stuff right now? I can't leave it here! Somepony might come along and take it! I took this stuff fair and square!"
"Well we can't take it all with us," Dark Sky hesitated.
"And I'm not carrying any more boxes to stuff around. I just quit that job and I'm not going back to it!" Crimson said defiantly
"And even though I just met you, I don't really care for you so don't go asking me for any help," Stampede told her.
"Same goes for us, right Sledge?" Hammer asked his friend.
"For once I'm going to agree with you," Sledge nodded.
"Awwww! Fine! I won't take it all. But I'm taking something!" Treasure Hunt insisted.
"Fine," Darky Sky sighed. "You can take one thing."
"Oh! I know exactly what it is too. My most favorite prized possession."
With the she seemed to bound over the pile of treasure in a single leap. The other six ponies merely looked at each other in confusion and mild annoyance, well more then mild in Stampede's case, as they all waited for her to find whatever it was she was looking for. Seconds later she reappeared with a pair of saddle bags on her flanks as well as an orange colored lantern hanging from her mouth. She beamed proudly as she walked down the pile again to meet them.
"That's you most prized possession?" Stampede scoffed. "A stupid lantern?"
"Yes! It's the first thing I ever got!" Treasure Hunt replied. "In fact I got my Cutie Mark when I got it and since then I've had the desire to get even more and more stuff."
"Yeah, fascinating," the black pony scoffed again with a roll of her red eyes then looked towards Dark Sky. "So can we go already?"
"Yes I think that's for the best," the unicorn agreed then stared to concentrate on the teleportation spell again.
"Wait!" Treasure Hunt suddenly called out.
"What now?" Dark Sky growled.
"I just remembered I do have a way to protect my treasure when I'm not here. Follow me," she instructed.
The unicorn sighed but followed the orange earth pony nonetheless, the others trailing behind her. Not surprisingly they backtracked through the way they had come in until they were at the mouth of the cave again. Once outside, Treasure Hunt placed a hoof on a small rock right next to the entrance and pushed it down. The ground rumbled a bit as a large boulder next to the cave slowly slid over until it covered the mouth completely. The orange pony smiled around the lantern handle in her own mouth.
"There! All safe!" she mumbled.
"Good. Now if we could just-" Dark Sky started again but was caught off by Crimson Streak this time.
"There they are again!" she remarked as she flew upwards towards some black clouds floating just above the group and gave one a tentative poke. "What is with these things anyway? Where are they coming from?"
"Just leave them alone they're not important," the unicorn told her, trying to hide an embarrassed blush.
"Well it's kinda important that the weather's doing stuff on it's own," she remarked.
"Of course a Pegasus would be upset that the weather wasn't doing exactly what it wanted it to," Stampede snarled softly though just loud enough to be heard.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Crimson snarled back, glaring at the irritable pony below.
"Why don't you come down here and I'll show you what it means!"
"Better idea, why don't you come up here?" the red Pegasus taunted back. "Oh wait, that's right, you can't! Haha!"
"ENOUGH!" Dark Sky screamed, surprising all of the group. "Crimson, get down here now! Stampede, shut up and get over here and before you ask yes we're going to teleport again!"
"And just who are we trying to find this time?" Sledge asked, hoping to curtail another argument.
"Somepony who's great and powerful," she purred just before she blink them all away again.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Well once again this chapter got a bit longer than I thought it would 'cause of all the dialogue. I swear sometimes these ponies just won't shut up. But their dialogue is always fun to write so I don't really mind. Just hope it's as much fun to read.
Course in the process of splitting this up I do have to forgo my planned route that moment of doing a chapter with the mane cast and then my OCs and back and fourth as I really want to get the introduction of the Discord ponies out of the way first. So in the next chapter we'll get to meet the last two ponies and finally find out which Elements they are and what Dark Sky's ultimate goal is. Anyone guesses on just what that might be? Probably kinda obvious but still I always like to see if people can guess where my stuff is going. It's fun to see.
Again I have not much else to say here so I won't ramble on too much longer other than to throw down a list of V.A.s for my ponies to try to help you all "hear" them that much more clearly. I've already said who I pictured for Dark Sky, Sledge and Hammer so now it's time for the rest:
Crimson Streak-Kelly Sheridan
Stampede-Cree Summer
Treasure Hunt-Wendee Lee
If you're not sure of the names a quick IMDB search should clear it up. I'd put a few examples up there but I'm never quite sure who's seen what and putting ALL of them up there would probably turn this thing into a 30 page chapter for some of those people. Let's just say they're all very talented actresses and I would love to have any of them speak the lines I've written. Though I know that'll never happen. SIGH.
Still hope you all enjoyed getting to see some of the Elements of Discord and that you'll be back here to see the other two. Even if I did give away who the next one will be rather bluntly. But I just couldn't resist that ending hook.
Til then!