Force Barrier was a simple spell. It could stop anything non-magical from passing through it (unless it was gold, but all of my spells are weak to that). It was a good spell, one I had made myself. It saved me before I could fly or self levitate and it helped me kick plot when I needed it to. Unfortunately, there's a huge catch; I'm not strong enough to cast many spells at the same time. I could summon many Circles and use spells at the same time, but that was because Circles used my willpower instead of my magic. They were still magical and were still weak to gold, but they originated from somewhere else within me. Two spells at once was my limit, maybe three at a big push.

Whenever I needed to have more defense, I would loose my offense. I could put up a Force Barrier, but then all I had was Kinetic Circles to attack (which I would have to drop the Force Barrier to use effectively). If I had some way to be shielded by an Arcane Circle I could attack completely fine while defending much easier. That is what I had been working on for the last week-or-so; a new Circle. Today, I was doing the final test to see how quickly I could summon it.

Watcher and I were in the throne room, standing at opposite ends. He was aiming a crossbow at me (with iron bolts), ready to fire. The test was simple, Watcher was a good shot and if I failed then things would be painful.

"Are you sure about this?" Watcher shouted across the room, "we could do some less risky tests!"

"I'm sure!" I shouted back, "fire when you're ready!"

"Okay then!" He fired straight away, taking me a little off guard. I focused my will, charged it with magic and summoned the experimental Shield Circle. The crossbow bolt hit the Circle and crushed itself under its own pressure, falling to the ground. Perfect success! Watcher trotted over to me to see what had happened to the bolt. "Holy shit, its completely bucking destroyed!" I grinned.

"The Shield Circle is a complete success!"

"Seems like a pretty good replacement over that other spell."

"Force Barrier? Yeah, it really is. I'm still gonna miss using Force Barrier though."

"Well, that's fair enough. You made it yourself, didn't you?"

"Yeah, along with Majistamp. I didn't really use Majistamp. I've got Kinetic Circles now anyway, it's not gonna be too useful anymore."

"Oh well, you're way more powerful now. Oh shit, what time is it? I've gotta get back to work before Shining Ass lets in more terrorists. See you later, Cloud."

"See you, Watcher." He walked off. Now what? I've got nothing else to do again. Have we asked Luna for sex today? Yeah. I'm out of ideas then. I guess I'll go bug Celestia for a while.

"Hey, Celestia!" I yelled as I burst through her chamber doors, "I'm bored again!" Celestia looked up from a scroll she had been reading, rubbing her temples when she saw me.

"Cloud," she replied, "this has been every bucking day since you came back. I don't have anything you can do, I'm busy with my royal duties, I don't have time to tell you what I've discovered about you now and I wont until the Grand Galloping Gala, my sister doesn't want to sleep with you, you're still not allowed to kill Blueblood nor the nobles. For the last time: Leave me alone, I am busy."

"Geez, you don't have to be so dickish about it. I was only gonna ask what ponies do for fun," I paused for a second. "What do ponies normally do for fun?"

"I don't know, Cloud, I'm not a normal pony!"

"Alright! Alright! Calm down! I'm going!"

I'd decided to go shopping for general items to pass the time, especially considering all I owned was a hat, a tent and a bit of rope (two of which used to be sticks and rocks). So far I had bought a pair of saddle-bags matching my mane and coat colour (with my cutie mark emblazoned onto the sides), a tie that was the same colour as my mane, a belt designed for holding potions and a few books to try to keep myself entertained.

I was walking back to the castle when I suddenly heard some screams from behind me. I turned around to see a brown coated, earth pony stallion running in my direction holding a fancy bag of some kind in his mouth. Behind him, a teal coated mare was freaking out.

"Stop him!" She cried out, "he has my purse! Please! Somepony help me!" I rolled my eyes and grabbed the stallion with telekinesis, holding him still in the air. I yanked the bag out of the stallion's mouth as he started to panic.

"H-Hey!" He shouted at me, "put me down!"

"Sir," I said with a bored tone, "stop being annoying and wait for the police or royal guard or whatever to arrive before you make the situation worse for yourself than it already is."

"No! We need this! Please! I'll make it worth it for you, just let me go!"

"We can do this the easy way, or you can explode into a bloody puddle. Your choice." The stallion gave me a strange look.

"Wait... No! You're one of those aren't you?!"

"What the buck are you even talking about about?"

"You already know what I'm talking about!" He snarled, "I thought you were one of us but you're just another fool, aren't you?! Sun loving cu-!"

"Okay!" I cut him off, "I'm making you unconscious now before you make me kill you!" I sent out a small stream of sleeping gas from my horn before he could escape or attack, sending into sleep instantly. After returning the bag, I waited for the royal guard to arrive and arrest him. I told them what he said and was met with worried looks. I heard one of them mutter something about 'another one' under their breath.

Afterwards, I headed back to my room to think about what the weird stallion had said. Something about the way he had said that I was 'one of those' gave me a bad feeling.

I headed to the Canterlot jail to figure out what was going on with the weird stallion. First, I went to to head jailer's office to see what the royal guards had already found out. I knocked on the door and was soon invited inside. Just like everywhere else in the jail, the room was made from old, large brick slabs. Everything seemed slightly damp, including the desk that the head jailer, Key Chain (black mane, dark grey coat, earth pony), was sitting behind. He motioned to me to take a seat so I did.

"So," he said dryly, "why would somepony like Cloud Calculation want to come down here?"

"I need to ask you about the prisoner that was taken in today," I replied. Chain snorted.

"You think that you have the authority to ask me questions?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"Oh, you do? And why is that?"

"Beat up Nightmare, saved the world, stopped slavers, defeated buffalo champion, beat up Celestia's prize student, took out ten-or-so terrorists and was offered the position of Captain by Celestia herself."

"An average soldier could do twice as much!"

"Actually, I technically beat Nightmare twice. And the second time was in her own dream realm."

"That's still nothing!"

"Alright let's skip the horseshit, what do I have to do to prove myself to you?"

"There's no way you could be good enough! My best soldier-!"

"For buck's sake, just tell me the best thing your best soldier's done and I'll go top it."

"There's no point, you're so weak that you couldn't even-!"

"Screw this, I'm getting a warrant." I teleported to Celestia's chambers, making Celestia jump.

"Cloud!" She shouted, "knock first, you prick!"

"I need a warrant to question the head jailer."

"Only if you agree to knock in the future!"

"Fine! I'll knock! Gimme a warrant already!" She teleported away for a few seconds before returning with my warrant. "Thanks." I teleported back to Key Chain's office and shoved the paper in his face. "Here's a warrant signed by Celestia, now let me question you!"

"Fine! Question me then, hero-wannabe."

"Finally! Geez!" I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I started, "first of all; what was he after? Was there something specific in the bag, or was he just a petty thief?"

"What was who after?"

"The pony you arrested today!"

"Huh? Oh, right. No, there wasn't anything of importance in the purse."

"Okay, how much money was in there?"

"About one hundred bits." How much pocket change do you need?!

"One of the guards mentioned something about him being 'another one'. What did he mean?" Key Chain closed his eyes and sighed.

"All over Equestria since around when you defeated Nightmare Moon, ponies have gone into a panic. Crime is at an all-time high and everypony is loosing trust in each other."

"Why? Shouldn't they be happy that their Princess has returned and the end of the world was prevented?"

"They're upset because of the Elements of Harmony. For one thousand years since Princess Luna's banishment, there were no major disasters or attacks due to the Elements of Harmony acting as a deterrent to anypony with any kind of negative thoughts. It was one thousand years of serenity.

"Then the Fallen Goddess of Nightmares returned. In a fit of rage she abducted her sister and destroyed the Elements, perfectly setting up the ancient prophecy."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?"

"The explosion of colour will set the destiny of six ponies to wield the ultimate magic, and the final harmony will take the throne to Equestria."

"Final harmony?"

"Yes. The prophecy dictates that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony would be revealed. You see, the Elements are designed to boost the life force of the pony wielding them and use that to deliver judgement. If the entity that was being judged failed its trial, they would be punished in whatever the life force of the pony deemed fit.

"The old ruler of these lands; the God of Chaos and Disharmony, was sentenced to endless torment and pain and was turned into a statue to pay for their crimes. Princess Luna, after corrupting into Nightmare Moon, was sentenced to banishment and by her own sister's hoof was sent to the moon. Cold, alone and unable to see her loved ones for ten centuries.

"Legend has it that there will be six ponies that will become the embodiment of each Element's true purpose and power, spreading their harmony across all of Equestria. Ultimate peace would become reality, Celestia could rest after hundreds of years of work, nothing notably bad would ever happen again and we would reach a golden age.

"Roughly ten years ago there was a peculiar incident involving something called a 'sonic rainboom'. A sonic rainboom is like a regular sonic boom which is created when a pegasus somehow manages to fly one thousand, one hundred and ninety five kilometers an hour, AKA the speed of sound. When the sound barrier is broken, there is a loud bang a small shock wave. I'm not sure on the science behind it, I've never understood that sort of thing.

"The point is, there is a big difference between a sonic boom and a sonic rainboom. A sonic rainboom creates a huge shock wave of entirely magical energy. Nopony knows how or why it happens and it has only happened very few times in legend. So you can imagine the surprise when a young filly manages to create one. The appropriately named 'Rainbow Dash' aff-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Rainbitch is the one who performed a rainboom? Seriously!?"

"I take it you've met. As I was saying, Rainbow Dash affected the lives of five other fillies that day by causing their cutie marks to be earned. What did these cutie marks require to be earned? Laughter, kindness, generosity, honesty and magic. At the same time, Rainbow Dash earned her own cutie mark. Her cutie mark depended on her loyalty. All six things that were required for their cutie marks just happen to be the same things that the Elements of Harmony represent. Years later, they all meet up by coincidence and go after the Elements of Harmony.

"The explosion of colour will set the destiny of six ponies to wield the ultimate magic. Exactly as the first half of the prophecy says. Well, except the last little bit of the first half, because they never wielded the ultimate magic. If they had been able to face Nightmare Moon, the Elements would have recognized the bearers and would have been restored to ultimate power. Do you know why they never faced Nightmare Moon? Because when everything seemed like it was going according to plan, a certain turquoise unicorn appeared from nowhere and ruined everything. You caused the prophecy to fail, which prevented the Elements from being restored, which prevents the golden age and deterrent from evil.

"Getting back to what we were originally talking about, Equestrians are in distress due to the Elements of Harmony being destroyed. Not all of them like the idea of Princess Celestia reining for another thousand years, and think that the Elements' destruction is a sign to help the return of the God of Chaos and Disharmony; with them gone, nothing could stand in his way. They created a cult. The Cult of Disharmony. Many of their members steal from others to fuel their ways and help with the return of their God.

"And that is why the pony called you a 'sun lover' and why the guard muttered about another one. Any more questions, hero-wannabe?" I sat in awe of what I had just heard. I stopped the prophecy?

"Wait, if it's a prophecy that was set in stone, how did I interrupt it?"

"That is what the Princess is trying to find out." I sat and thought for a long time. By helping, I doomed us all... Wow, such a good hero... No! Buck you with all the depressing thoughts, me! I can stop the Cult of Disharmony and get the prophecy back on track! I stood up, determined with what I had to do. "Leaving so soon?"

"Thank for the information, Mr Chain. If you'll excuse me, I have a prophecy to repair!" I left the jail and went back to my room to pack. It was time for me to once again go to Ponyville.

Author's Notes:

A quick note on how the current Circles work differently:

The Support Circle acts as a platform that can be used for flight and can boost Cloud's magic. The way it boosts is difficult to describe. It's like putting salt on your tongue to make your mouth water; for a little while your mouth will be moisturized but after it will be drier. It's why he gets so exhausted after fights where he uses them.

The Kinetic Circle lets Cloud charge up a bunch of energy before releasing it all at once as kinetic energy. The more concentration, magic and willpower he puts into one the more powerful it becomes. You could compare it to blowing up a balloon, the more air in means more air will escape afterwards.

The Shield Circle is like a mental block. If it gets hit by something then it damages Clouds willpower rather than physically hurting and damaging him.

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A quick warning now, sometime around January the updates to this story will most likely slow down considerably. Hopefully I can get a lot of this done by then.