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My Little Pony - Retrieving The Elements

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Twilight Sparkle and Applejack made their way back to the library, where Prince Starlight and Swift Justice were waiting for them. Prince Starlight was practising his magic carefully, anxious not to lose any ground when they were so close in implementing the plan. Swift Justice had picked up one of Twilight Sparkle's Daring Do books and was reading it. Spike was dusting the shelves and humming to himself.

"We're back!" Twilight Sparkle called out as she and Applejack came through the door. "Let me introduce you to Applejack, one of my friends and the Element of Honesty. Applejack, the mare is Swift Justice; she's the mayor of Trottingham. The stallion is Prince Starlight, and he's Cadance's cousin."

After the introductions were made, and all the ponies had smiled and returned greetings, Twilight Sparkle decided to get down to the plan in earnest.

"What Applejack and I have decided," Twilight Sparkle began, "Is that we, along with Star, will go to the palace straight away. Since it's a good time of day, in other words, early morning when one impostor will be going to sleep and the other just waking up, it's a good time to try and get inside the palace. We don't want to take everypony on this mission as too many ponies would attract attention, so Swift will remain here with Spike in case any other ponies show up. Swift, if the other Elements come to the library, could you please brief them on where Applejack, Star and I are, and tell them to wait for us?"
"I could do that," Swift Justice replied. "It makes perfect sense to me, and I don't mind staying behind. I agree with you, Twilight; too many ponies would compromise the secrecy of the mission."

"We ought to head out now," Applejack said. "There's a train going to Canterlot soon. We should take saddlebags to carry the Elements when we get them, too. We can't just take them out in the open. Ponies would ask questions, and if we're not careful, it could get back to the impostors at the palace. We don't want to warn them that we're working to defeat them or Avarice might do something worse."

"I have a perfect set of saddlebags," Twilight Sparkle replied, with a smile. "I mainly use them for packing my books in, and they'll do perfectly for transporting the Elements."
Prince Starlight levitated a set for himself, as well as first of all settling a set of saddlebags on to Applejack's back. She grinned at him. "Thank you. Looks as though you're working at your magic," she said.

"I'm trying to practice, just as Twilight said," Prince Starlight explained. "I only hope that it'll be enough, when the time comes for us to confront Avarice."

"I'm sure it will be," reassured Twilight Sparkle as she arranged her own saddlebags. "I have complete faith in you. Now, everypony ready?"

"Ready when you are, hun," Applejack said. Prince Starlight nodded. He was more than ready for them to get going, as he knew that the mission was not only very dangerous, but was also extremely important. Only with the Elements of Harmony did they stand a chance of defeating Avarice.

Soon, the trio of ponies had set out on the mission. Applejack led the way to Ponyville's small train station. Just as the ponies arrived, the train to Canterlot was pulling into the station. Prince Starlight bought the tickets, and the small group boarded the waiting train. There were no other ponies on board the train, although some had gotten out at Ponyville Station. The train journey seemed longer than normal to Twilight Sparkle, who had a tendency to worry herself over things. Applejack did her best to calm her friend down during the journey, as panic would help nopony. Prince Starlight looked out of the window and thought about everything that had happened so far, but especially his budding romance with Swift Justice. He hoped that the mission would run smoothly, so that he could return to Trottingham with Swift Justice and after that, perhaps, he would have a little surprise for her.

Eventually, the train arrived at Canterlot Station. Prince Starlight looked about him with interest as he stepped off the train. He hadn't been to Canterlot for ages, though he did try to visit at least twice a year as his parents still lived there. His father was a royal guard who mainly did his guard duty in the palace library. His mother ran a jewellery shop, which was very successful. But the very normality of the scene preyed upon Prince Starlight. Everything was just how it should be, and that was wrong when an usurper was in residence at the palace. Just then, Prince Starlight heard a heavy sigh beside him, and looked round. It was Twilight Sparkle, and she looked very despondent.
"It's just so sad how normal everything looks here," Twilight Sparkle commented, frowning as she looked about her.

"That's just what I was thinking," Prince Starlight replied, darkly. "Remember how everything was messed up when Discord was here? Everypony knew then that something was wrong and that we had an enemy amongst us. But now... it's the same situation, but everything seems so normal that it's like we're just imagining things. But we're not, and that is what's so scary."

"I remember," Applejack put in, coming to stand next to the pair. "And it was hellish. But we stopped Discord, and we're gonna stop Avarice, too!"

"Well said, Applejack," Twilight Sparkle said, looking warmly at her friend. "Let's do this."

The trio walked towards the palace. Prince Starlight had the glimmerings of an idea as to how they could get inside the grounds without too much hassle.

"Is your brother on duty today?" Prince Starlight asked Twilight Sparkle, referring to her brother Shining Armour, who was the Captain of the royal guards who patrolled the perimeter of the palace grounds.

"If so, maybe he could buzz us in. That way, we can double back and cut round to the back part easily, without attracting any unwelcome attention."

Twilight's face lit up. Not just at the idea, but because she always liked to see her brother.  

"I believe so," she replied. "Even if he isn't, some of his friends will recognise me, and let us inside without any bother."

"Let's go to the palace now, then," Applejack said, eager for their mission to properly begin.

The trio set out to walk to the palace of Canterlot, residence of the Royal Sisters. The journey didn't take long, and very soon they were outside the gates. Two of the royal guard stood outside, their spears crossed to bar the entrance. One of the guards was, thankfully, Shining Armour, Twilight Sparkle's brother. When he saw his sister, he smiled and lowered his spear.

"Twilie!" he exclaimed. "How nice to see you!"

"Oh, Shining Armour, thank goodness! Please let us in, it is of utmost importance," Twilight asked.

"How could I say no to my little sister, especially after all you've done for me?" Shining Armour replied, smiling.

Prince Starlight had met Shining Armour briefly, at the wedding. He smiled and greeted him politely.

"Prince Starlight?" Shining Armour said. "Well, this is automatic clearance. I'll just inform Princess Celestia..."

"Oh no, this is a surprise!" Twilight Sparkle lied, giving her brother a wink.

"Ohhh, I see," Shining Armour chuckled, winking back. "Alright, no alerts then." He then let them pass.

Applejack sighed with relief once they were finally within the castle grounds. "Phew," she said. "That was a close one."

"Follow me, everypony," Prince Starlight whispered, indicating which way they were going.
Twilight Sparkle and Applejack both nodded, following Prince Starlight, trusting that he knew the right way to go. The back door to the palace was behind a copse of trees. Nopony was around save for the trio. The back door was locked, but there was no keyhole. Instead, there was a round hole in the centre of the door. No ordinary unicorn horn could fit in that hole; only the horn of a royal alicorn. Prince Starlight bent his head and pushed his horn into the door hole. Immediately, the door opened with a soft click.

"Come on," Prince Starlight whispered to his friends. They all walked inside. The corridor in which they found themselves was deserted and utterly silent, which only added to the eerie atmosphere of the palace. It was as though everypony had deserted it, but the trio knew that there were others inside; the impostors, and most likely, Avarice herself. There was no sound save for the slightly echoing hoof steps of the trio as they made their way down the long corridor. Twilight Sparkle was worried that they'd be caught, that somepony would hear them and come to investigate, but nopony did.

Soon, they reached the throne room, which was empty. This was the first really unusual happening; usually, in the daytime, if Princess Celestia wasn't there, there would at least be a few guards patrolling the place. But the room was completely empty, with nopony around. Prince Starlight walked to the back, as directed by Twilight Sparkle, and opened the door to the room where the Elements were kept in the same way as he'd opened the back door. When the other ponies had entered the throne room behind him, he closed the door carefully, just in case anypony did come into the throne room. They could always leave it at any time, since he could just unlock it again, but an open door would be unusual.

Inside the room, behind the stained glass door, the Elements of Harmony were there, in their jewelled box. Twilight opened the box with her magic and levitated the Elements. She then separated them evenly, then placed two each in the saddlebags that each pony carried.

"So far, so good. We had better go," Prince Starlight began to say, when Applejack shushed him. He listened intently, hearing the same thing that the blonde earth pony had heard; approaching hooves. Two ponies were approaching the throne room. If he, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle stayed silent, they wouldn't be discovered and if this was the usurpers, then they might learn something useful before they left. Prince Starlight pulled the door to the Element room to, but not quite closed, and the trio stood silently behind it, three pairs of ears listening hard.

The hoof steps stopped. A voice spoke, one that was heartbreakingly similar to the voice of Princess Celestia, but the listening ponies knew without a doubt that it was not the Princess they knew and loved.

"So," the voice said. "What sort of plans have you got? How slow are we going to take this?"

"There's no need to worry yourself, Mariposa. We just needed to take things slow at first, just to make sure that nopony was going to cause us any trouble," came Avarice's voice.

"Now though, you can see that a few days have passed, and nothing. So, we can begin our conquest. Do you see that this is the perfect plan? No need for an open coupe; we just sneaked in here and took over quietly. So now, we can implement a few new laws. Such as raising taxes, perhaps. And demanding that everypony work a certain amount of hours a day. Maybe we could even form an army out of our, shall we say, loyal subjects. The sky's the limit now that we rule Equestria."

Twilight Sparkle sneaked a look through the small gap in the door. To her horror, she saw what appeared to be her beloved teacher, Princess Celestia, conversing with a horrible creature that appeared to be half dragon and half pony. Avarice! And the other was quite obviously the impostor who had taken Princess Celestia's shape.

Mariposa chuckled. "Well then," she replied. "Let's start off with one, then we can gradually add more. I hear that there are jewel mines below the surface of the Ponyville fields. Perhaps our loyal subjects could, shall we say, be persuaded to put themselves to work in the mines, to enrich us."

The trio were horrified at what they heard. This was just as they had feared. Clearly, Avarice and the impostors planned to turn Equestria into a dictatorship, full of misery and slavery. They had to be stopped!

"You may choose the first, if you will, Princess," Avarice replied, with an evil laugh.
"Higher taxes sound good to me," Mariposa replied. "Best just to break them in gradually, everypony expects taxes."

The false Princess snickered, the sound of her evil laughter echoing through the empty throne room.

"Just as you like," Avarice replied with a smirk. "Of course, the ponies all love their Princesses, so you and Cicada can not only sustain yourselves, but gain so much power that there will be none to oppose us. Let us get to work immediately."

With that, Avarice walked out of the throne room accompanied by Mariposa, both cackling with wicked glee.

Prince Starlight waited til the sound of hooves had faded to nothing, then, looking horrified, said, "We'd better go, now, but we're definitely coming back just as soon as we make a plan. We just have to stop them, and soon."

"Yes, we must," Twilight Sparkle said, with a shudder. "We all heard what they said. If we wait too long, then the changelings will be too powerful for us to be able to defeat."
Applejack nodded, her face tight with determination. "I oughta have known it was those filthy changelings again," she said. "Sounds like just the thing they'd be into."

Prince Starlight waited til he was sure that they were once again alone, then opened the door wide. He locked it after everypony was out, and the trio hurried down the corridor to the back entrance. After they were all out, and walking back to the palace gate, he allowed himself to relax. They were unlikely to be caught now, though he still wanted them to be out of here and back at the library as soon as was equinely possible. Soon, they were back at the gate where Shining Armour and his colleague were still on guard.

"How'd the surprise go?" Shining Armour asked his sister, pleasantly.

"Oh, it went wonderfully! Princess Celestia had no idea we were coming," Twilight Sparkle half lied, mustering a big grin for her brother. "But you know me, I couldn't stay too long. I have to get back to my studies."

"Of course. You be careful on your way back to Ponyville, Twilie," Shining Armour replied, with a wink.

"Thanks, and see you soon," Twilight Sparkle said, and walked off with Applejack and Prince Starlight, as jauntily as she knew how.

Prince Starlight led the other two ponies back to the station. They had to wait for a train though; there would be one along in a few minutes.

Applejack said in a whisper, "Well, that was sure informative. We know that there's Avarice and somepony called Cicada, as well as that Mariposa who was impersonating Princess Celestia. And that they're planning to cause all sorts of damage to Equestria."

"And they're going to do so subtly to avoid the notice of everypony," Twilight Sparkle whispered back. "By the time they notice, it would be too late."

"Which is why we're going to stop their little game, and now," Prince Starlight replied, with determination.

"We'll head back to the library first," planned Twilight Sparkle. "Then we will get the rest of the girls together. We will make our plans today and work out every last detail. We shouldn't rush things, though the main sticking point is that we don't really know when would be best to make our attack. We can't sneak into the palace again. While it was fairly simple with just the three of us, with all of us it's going to be more difficult."

"I'm sure that the impostors will come out of the palace sooner or later," Prince Starlight replied. "Mariposa said that she wanted to impose higher taxes. They will have to leave the palace to announce that, and we could get them then. Also, it would be the best time to unmask the impostors, while they are standing in front of dozens of ponies."

"I agree with that," Applejack said. "We might have gotten away with it today, but sure as sugar we won't get away with sneaking inside twice in a row. We ought to wait for the right moment."

The train arrived, and all three ponies got inside. Once the train was on its way back to Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle said, "We shouldn't discuss the plan here. Let's wait til we can get everypony together, then we can go over it in full."

"Good idea," Applejack replied. "It's nearly lunchtime, too, and I for one don't think very well on an empty stomach. How's about y'all come over to Sweet Apple Acres for lunch? Swift and Spike can come too."

"I'd love to," Prince Starlight replied.

"So would I," Twilight put in. "I'm really hungry, and you're right that we need to eat first before we set out the plan."

As soon as the trio arrived back in Ponyville, they went to Sweet Apple Acres, collecting Spike and Swift Justice from the library on route. All the ponies felt very serious. Whatever happened, they were fighting back against Avarice, and one thing was certain; that dragon pony wasn't going to know what hit her!
Finally, a new chapter! XD Wow, it's been flipping ages since I last submitted a chapter of my fanfic. O_o Anyway, I know I've said this before, but I'm going to try to submit the last chapters of the fanfic soon, so that I can get on with a new project. I want to finish this fanfic off first, cuz it's tidier. There are only a couple more chapters after this, anyway.

This chapter focuses on the mission to retrieve the Elements of Harmony.

The My Little Ponies and Equestria and everything and everypony contained within belong to Hasbro.

The OC Swift Justice belongs to :iconmagicatmidnight:

The OCs Prince Starlight, Cicada, Mariposa and Avarice belong to me.

Chapter 6 | Chapter 8
© 2014 - 2024 Kaori-Warbird
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