The wind spat a leaf against the window, making Rarity jump back in surprise. A quiet snicker from behind her set her back on track, going though various shelves and drawers for whatever she may need for the afternoon. It was going to be quite breezy today, so she had to find a way to keep her mane down. Perhaps more than one way, to play it safe.

"Rarity, we're not goin' to the moon and back. Why're you packin' seventy pounds of -" she heard the shuffling of a duffel bag behind her "- hairspray?"

"Just an added precaution, darling, in case the hat and band don't work."

"Right." She heard a sigh and the creak of the old wooden bench as Applejack leaned back against it. From down the hall, moving slowly up the corridor, were two hushed voices spattered with giggles. Rarity recognized them only as they passed the door.

"There they go," Applejack said, as though on cue. Rarity glanced behind her, but the pair were already gone. "After less than an hour, Twilight's back to - normal."

Rarity couldn't help but notice the pause. She'd grown up on soap operas, after all, and she knew a pause, no matter how short, usually meant something. She wanted to keep her mouth shut, because it certainly wasn't a big deal, but she had an odd feeling resting in the back of her mind that perhaps Applejack had that implacable thought she had. "It's... odd, isn't it?"

"Well..."

"I don't mean odd as in because they're our friends or - anything, but, odd because..." she trailed off, looking down into the trunk full of extra clothes she brought should she need them. "It's polarizing? That's not the right word for it. I'm not very eloquent when it comes to these kinds of things, I suppose," she added, more under her breath.

"Ah guess."

There was a note of silence, so Rarity moved aside a dress even though there wasn't really anything underneath she needed; nervous habit, at best. "It's divisive."

"... Ah guess."

"I mean, I'd like to be friends with all of them, right?" She turned towards Applejack, leaning at a slant on the box as she closed it. "But the roles that they've brought out as this has developed is... making it difficult to connect, I suppose."

"Ah suppose," Applejack agreed quietly. "Ah'd like it to work out for 'em all, but at the same time..." she trailed off. "That's not what ah meant. Forget it."

At this, she rose and left, and Rarity quickly stuffed the remaining accessories into the duffel bag, deciding in a moment to try to catch up with her, but then a second wind of thought came along, and the magic zipping up the bag dissolved. Maybe it wasn't worth talking about. It wasn't that serious, it was just... uncomfortable. That was it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken to Rainbow Dash. Or Fluttershy. Outside of the one picnic, of course. How she hoped she would get to plan the wedding.

She looked down at the bag and let out a small sigh before trotting to the front gates to join the outgoing group.

The air began to annoy Dash. She'd resigned as much as she could to her higher morals, wanting to help Twilight who was likely under the most duress in the group, and wanting to keep their setup from falling apart. She wasn't walking alongside Fluttershy, and it felt odd. And that feeling odd made her feel odder; why? Can't she walk apart from her marefriend for five minutes? They lived apart, even, for one. It was stupid. And the wind made it worse.

The path was broad, but rocky and uneven, and the Princesses themselves were leading them all up to the 'Sun's Summit' where they could contain the power or something whatever magic. Thin alpine covered both sides of the upwards slope, but it did nothing to help the wind.

She and Rarity had been having some kind of light conversation about weather and her employment in it, and she'd been trying not to think about all the little stupid things bothering her. And so far, she was doing alright. In fact, some talking from Rarity was kind of helpful, in a weird way.

Then the little abrasive thoughts came in one by one, and she wasn't even paying attention. She let one slip. "Rarity, do you think different? Of me?"

She paused, as Rarity did, because of this very out-of-place, out-of-context question. Dash didn't really feel embarrassed about it, for some reason. In any other situation, she would have made a joke out of it or something, but instead, to her common sense's surprise, she simply looked away, and looked back, as though expecting an answer.

Rarity shook her head, breaking eye contact. "No, of course not, darling."

Dash didn't respond. She hadn't meant to ask in the first place. "So... so in all, I'm the district manager. But it's not as high up as it sounds."

"Really?"

And the conversation went on.

By the time they'd reached the top, they'd gotten to talking about wind, and Dash was glad they didn't have to discuss it because it was blowing her mane in her face now and really starting to tick her off. She looked over at Rarity, and over at Fluttershy, who wasn't talking with anypony, and before either Princess could begin talking, made her way over to her and pressed her wing gently up against hers. It made her feel better. "Hey, Shy," she whispered.

"Hey, Dash."

There were a group of guards on either side of them, who were laughing and joking as they approached but snapped to stiff attention when they saw the Princesses. On their left were two boxes, one that she recognized as the container for the Elements, and one that she'd never seen before, huge and constructed of dark grey wood, a magic circle imprinted on its front.

"Alright," Princess Celestia said, turning around, her authoritative voice ringing out above the others although she kept her volume down. "You've likely already taken notice, but we've brought something other than the Elements, in the larger box. Twilight, you may know what it is."

"Is it a malentro?" came Twilight's voice in a rather hushed response.

"It is," the Princess replied, and nodded. "These are beings of magical energy that we've been able to keep under control with tight magical bonds. However, the Elements of Harmony are among the few ways to hold them once they're free from the protection of the magical circle. When free," she added, "they will not rest or stop moving until each source of magic in the world is drained. These are your instructions.

"First, you have to focus on the antagonist during the test. It may be the only driving force for the activation of the Elements. Second, you have to focus on your friendship, and not on your significant other. That's where this exercise may get a bit... touchy. But you should be able to complete it, if I know you half as well as I think I do. Please," she finished, stepping aside with her sister, "retrieve your Elements and form your position."

Dash looked over at Twilight, who was staring down into the horizon, the remnants of the lightheartedness she'd recently had all but missing. They were silent in their task, until all were lined up in a small half-circle with Twilight heading. "Ready, Princess," Twilight called out with a small voice.

The guards brought the box over, and set it a few yard in front of the group, on a flatter piece of land, and cleared the area; then, as the wind died down suddenly, the Princess' gold magic flowed over the lid of the box, breaking it from its hinges.

For a moment, Dash didn't see anything inside - until she moved her eyes, and in the track of motion she saw a disturbance, huge, black, shimmering, vaguely pony-shaped, and gone instantly. She moved her eyes again, over and over the creature, and took a step back. She heard a cry from her left first, from Rarity. As the wind picked up again with a violent blow, she tried to shout over it. "What does it do, Twilight?!"

"Just form!" Twilight shouted back, and Dash felt that bright, staticky link again, like a bolt of electricity running through her chest, heating up the Element's heavy gold plate. It was always an experience, being lifted up by magic, but it helped her focus. She looked down at the creature, shimmering and apparently writhing but still in place, unaware apparently of the vast, blinding light of magic that was encircling the group and beginning to rise above it. She remembered the feelings from last time and tried to replicate them.

She took a quick glance over at her friends, thoughts about them rushing through her head. Applejack thoughtful funny sympathetic Rarity helpful courteous gracious Twilight clever brave ready Pinkie happy funny diligent Fluttershy

Her mind sputtered to a halt for a moment. The Elements hadn't begun yet. They were still in the air, and the creature below was beginning to move slowly towards the Princesses, who were far off to the end of the clearing. She glanced over at Twilight, who was also looking at the Princesses with tears in her eyes for one reason or another. She closed her eyes tightly as the sound of magic surging began to grow around her. Fluttershy - kind loving wise

With the familiar boom, the rainbow soared into the air and landed on the creature with a loud, twisted screech. Suddenly, there was a fizzle that she'd never heard before, like a short-circuit. Dash felt the weight of gravity all at once and immediately reached out to grab the closest pony, Applejack, and support her fall. Most of the Bearers fell to the loamy, rocky earth below with a thud, but she was able to catch Applejack and remain in the air.

Dash looked down and around. Rarity was on her side, breathing heavily, and Applejack, in her forelegs, seemed unconscious, but her eyes flickered open quickly with a shuddering intake of breath. A gasp from Fluttershy prompted her to look behind her, where she saw a hollow, hole-ridden shell of what looked ponylike, at least from this distance, steaming lightly.

She set Applejack onto her hooves, holding a hoof to her shoulder briefly to make sure she was steady, and darted over to the Princesses. "Did we do it? Did we pass? We got the thing."

Luna looked over at her sister. "We would rather run one or two more tests, to be sure."

"But -" Dash began, "but one was fine! We all did what we were supposed to and the Elements worked, so -" she cut herself off as she looked over at Princess Celestia, who was scowling lightly.

"In a split second, you won't have the time to prepare, as you haven't in the past. We want to catch you at a natural moment, and see how the Elements last then. Very few experiments have been done with these artifacts, Rainbow Dash."

Dash hesitated, but then nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll just..." she trailed off, gliding back.

They were in a sort of group, all around Applejack, who was sitting upright but quite unsteadily. "Ah'm good," she heard her saying from across the clearing. "Ah'm fine, don't worry about me."

Dash touched down lightly next to Fluttershy. "You okay, Shy?" she asked under the others' quiet conversation.

"I - I don't know what happened. It was so odd - I felt really angry for a moment, but then everything went back to normal. I don't know what it was," she continued in a weak voice.

"Sorry," she said after a moment; she couldn't think of any other way on the spot to respond. "Twilight," she began, getting her attention, "the Princesses want one or two more tests."

As if on cue, Princess Celestia showed up nearby. "Unless, that is, something happened that may limit the safety of the experiment. Is there any report?" she asked Twilight.

"N - well, no, I don't think so," she stuttered. "Applejack?"

"Ah'm fine!"

"I think we're good."

The Princess smiled. "We were observing the trails of the primary vector to see..." she began, leading into a bunch of words Dash barely recognized. Twilight was listening, apparently attentively, her eyes still rather puffy and red around the edges.

Dash turned away, back to Shy, who was talking quietly to Pinkie abut the same thing she was talking about to her not more than two or three minutes ago. "... weird, and I can't really explain it. I think I was mad at the Princesses, or one of you, or something - it was really unfocused."

"Yeah, I felt kind of a similar thing, I guess," Pinkie was saying. "More like frustration? Nah. Fear... ish? What was it? It was odd, though, yeah."

Dash sighed and sat down. "... Does the country really need us?"

Fluttershy responded after a short pause. "I'm not sure. They were doing okay on their own, weren't they? For a thousand years?"

"Yeah. It's..." she trailed off. "I don't want to do more tests."

"I heard Twilight say that," Pinkie murmured. "I don't want to, either, actually." She squinted up at the sun. "I just wish magic wasn't so... dumb."

Dash giggled, and it developed into a good-sized laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It kind of is magic's fault."

"Hey," Twilight said, walking over to the group. "I was wondering what we would target for the next test, and the Princess said to give it a few minutes and the malentro would be good as new."

"That's weird. Wait - how can the Elements be one of the only defenses against these things if it heals?"

"Pauses it for a second, I guess?" Her lighthearted expression broke for a second as she looked past Dash to the waxy, pony-like thing, and all four fell silent as the chilling aura of dark magic returned to them, if only briefly. "Hey... being of pure energy and stuff," Twilight said, her voice unsteady. "Anyways, if AJ's feeling up to it, we're ready to go in a second."

Dash looked over at Fluttershy, who looked back for a second, every little fraction of anxiety and unwillingness welling up in her. Those eyes were so familiar - she'd spent her childhood with them, and knew every in and out. And Fluttershy was scared.

She continued staring at the dead grass and chalky rocks beneath her hooves for a few seconds before standing to join the group. It wasn't the malentro's fault that she didn't want to do another. But she couldn't tell anypony the real reason.

When she looked over at Twilight, she became stuck. Just for a quarter of a second. She couldn't bring to mind many memories of the two being just friends. It seemed forever ago that they passed that, and they weren't showing any signs of reverting anytime soon. If anything, Pinkie was learning more about her marefriend every second this test was on. And she wasn't sure she could forget about that when the Elements were on, especially if they were in the middle of a conflict that needed quick decision.

She walked over to Twilight, who was still talking to Applejack, and almost told her the fleeting thought that crossed her mind ; perhaps it would be best if she did leave the Elements. But something, or a lot of things, made her keep her mouth shut. Finally, she was feeling some of the stress she believed Twilight was feeling. Perhaps not to the most extreme extent, but it was still there.

Suddenly, they heard the gentle crack of what sounded like glass breaking. Princess Celestia turned around to the shell and stepped back. "Alright, everypony, Elements on!"

Pinkie galloped over to where she left her neckpiece on the ground, flung it on as quickly as she could - but missed. She looked around wildly, glancing up at the shifting invisible figure, and a cold sweat took her over. She caught its shape near her back hooves, hurriedly shoved it over her head, and got into position, the fear gripping her again.

She looked over at Twilight, who wasn't calm either, but... something about her just seemed confident. "Ready?!" she yelled as the Elements began to hum.

Pinkie didn't really pay any attention as they rose into the air. The colors and sounds and the suddenly-overwhelming fear squeezed her heart in a vice. She was staring down at the creature, and Princess Celestia, who was nearby, looking quickly between them and it. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced all memory of her and Twilight as well as she could out of her head, focusing on the memories of all of them as a group.

But something was wrong. The memories began shifting, like oil in water, as she began to remember her and Twilight closer together, holding each other, even, before they were together. No. Focus on something else.

She looked down again at the creature, which had begun shifting more quickly and moving, towards the Princess. She heard a shriek - whose it was, she wasn't sure - and the Elements' ray shot into the air once again. She looked up to see a mismatched group of colours, bleeding into one another, before she felt a surge of pain run through her. It was intense pain. Was it me?

Then the ground appeared in front of her and

Twilight bolted upright, vaguely aware of the pain in her head and down her back. She looked to the right, jumping to her hooves, before she saw the blackened form of a pony, its mouth open and revealing charred, needle-like teeth. The Princess was standing there, her horn still glowing faintly. With a sigh, she turned towards Twilight - but was looking past her.

Twilight's head whipped back - the entire group, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, was prostrate on the ground, some with minor bruises or cuts. Rarity's nose was bleeding, Applejack appeared to have lost her colour, and Pinkie was struggling to get up. Dash was on her hooves, wobbling lightly, and staring up at the two of them, a look between confusion and anger on her face.

Meanwhile, the Princesses had trotted over to them, helping them up one by one, while Twilight stood and watched. Pinkie was the first to regain some level of consciousness, and left the group almost immediately, walking over to her, visibly shivering. Twilight's breath became shallow. What happened? How badly did the Elements fail? What did that mean? Questions dug into her one at a time, before Pinkie reached over and hugged her.

She winced as her hooves touched her back, but her breathing returned to normal. Pinkie's chest pressed against hers tightly, but only for a moment; just as Twilight was about to return the embrace, Pinkie pulled away. "Sorry," she said quietly. "Just..." she trailed off and looked away. "I think some of us are hurt. You need to come over to the group -"

"I know - I know, I saw," she replied quickly, trying to keep her voice calm. By the time she got to the center of the group, Applejack was laid out on her side, her coat pale and her breathing shallow. A light grey mark, like someone scribbled something in pen on her side, was slowly becoming clearer on her coat. Rarity was lying next to her, but her eyes were open and she was talking quietly to the Princesses.

"Yes... no... I think I'm okay... difficult to move," she said in a spotty whisper. She heard a crash from behind her, and whipped her head back around again, to see Dash in front of the charred malentro, its head broken and on the ground next to it, in two pieces. Dash reared back and kicked again, until Pinkie trotted over to her and tried to stop her. Voices were raised, Fluttershy was crying over Applejack - perhaps she thinks she's dead - and Twilight was caught in the middle.

She looked up at the Princesses, each of them looking over Rarity and Applejack, trying to help as well as they could. Princess Celestia. The malentro was dead, Applejack was out cold, and all of them - all of her friends, the closest ones she had in the world - were hurt in some way or another. Princess Celestia.

She felt the anger rise.