Author's Notes:

Have I mentioned how much I loathe touchscreens and the inability to shift click and drag to format? Because I would like to, at excruciating length.

Another chapter, and more ulcers for me as I count down the weeks till the NBN decides to be a responsible governmental department/disaster.

Bah, sleep is for the weak. EDIT, then sleep!

“So … hey.”

“Yeah … hey.”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash gave each other guilty looks, bearing matching boxes of cakes from the Sugarcube Corner bakery on their backs, while Spitfire looked on with bemusement.

“Seriously. Just go in, tell Rarity you’ve got enough cakes for her and her bodyguards, apologise, get a move on.” The Wonderbolt smirked as the two Bearers gave her chagrined looks. “Just because you both came up with the same plan doesn’t mean one of you has to go home empty-hooved. I’m sure Rarity will be estatic to know two of her friends have come over to make sure she’s okay.”

“Maybe, but I put her in a full body cast. She might start throwing a hissy fit if I just walk in…” Rainbow Dash mumbled, shifting awkwardly on her three hooves, her wings spreading out to hold the box of cakes in place. “And we kinda caused a scene at the Cake’s bakery, so I’m a bit on edge.”

“Uh … what kind of scene? When I went in, Mr Cake had had to go have a lie-down, and my mane is still wet where Mrs Cake and I hugged it out and she said something about you accusing the Royal Guards of trying go steal something from you? Wi-fi, wires, waifs, something like that?”

Rainbow went pale and began spluttering, while Spitfire just raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth from the clueless Princess to the terrified Pegasus and said “… Oh. Oooooooh. I get it now. Dayum, rookie, you got your work cut out for you.”

“I ah … plead the fifth. How about I give Rares my cakes as an apology for the Rainbow Rib-Buster, and you give her the cakes as treats for her guards?” Stammering only slightly, Rainbow gave a pleading look to Spitfire, then a big, toothy grin to Twilight.

“That will work out … I think. Besides, I also need to get Moonbeam and the Night Guard ready to get Rarity prepped and ready for an emergency flight to Canterlot.” The purple Alicorn blinked at her friend’s antics, and then again at the Wonderbolt Captain’s snickering, before shaking her head, as if to say ‘no’ to herself. “Speaking of which … you’ve got nothing on for the next few days, right?”

“Uh … nothing I can’t fob off to somebody else, no. What, we got more Bearer Duties to deal with?” Now looking decidedly less nervous as the conversation drifted to more serious, and less personal, directions, Rainbow leaned in close to whisper to Twilight as Spitfire knocked on the front door of Rarity’s Boutique. “Seriously, is this okay? I mean, you were saying Rarity had been really messed up by her Element. What if us walking in sets her off again? Or makes whatever Generosity did to her worse?”

“Actually, I’ll explain fully once we’re inside and I can drop a privacy shield over the top of us all, but for now, Rarity should be safe from anything Generosity has planned.” Twilight whispered back as the door cracked open, and the yellow eye of a Thestral peered out, flicking over Spitfire, then Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“My apologies, but I must ask that you wait for a moment, Moonbeam and Lady Rarity are engaged in some delicate matters at the moment and cannot be disturbed.” The Thestral said solemnly, wincing slightly as Twilight gave him a puzzled look. “They are discussing … private matters right now.”

“Is this about Rarity getting shaved bald by Nurse Redheart?” Twilight whispered back, and the Night Guard’s ears flattened in dismay as Rainbow Dash and Spitfire both fought back laughter.

“Please, do not say that out loud. We Thestrals have a very keen sense of hearing, and my comrades and I would appreciate not being driven up the walls by Lady Rarity’s whining again.” The Thestral’s voice took on a note of pleading as he opened the door and ushered them in. “I believe that Lady Rarity will not be too upset if you were to wait in her display room? One of my comrades has already gone upstairs to notify Moonbeam of your arrival, and I suspect that the paparazzi will soon be drawn to two Bearers and a Wonderbolt standing out in the open like bees to honey.”

It felt strangely nostalgic to walk into Rarity’s display room, to sit down and admire the many dresses and suits, some elegant and simple, others so loaded with ornamental frills and gem-encrusted decorations it was a testament to Rarity’s skill as a tailor and designer that the garments didn’t shred themselves under their own weight.

How many times have I sat here and shared gossip from Canterlot with Rarity and Fluttershy? Long afternoons of laughter and tea and soft conversation? Twilight sighed and ran a hoof down the sleeve of an elegant off-white silk dress festooned with lime-green and pale-gold silk ribbons. Will we ever have those times again? Or has my Ascension, and these infernal Elements, destroyed that part of our lives?

My apologies for interrupting, Pillar, but please don’t be so down. This is a dark moment in history, especially for the Elements to have two of our number fail their duties so completely, but there will be brighter days in the future. A new voice, this one so soft that Twilight had to stop for a moment and double-check that Fluttershy wasn’t hiding behind the chair, much to Rainbow and Spitfire’s confused amusement, whispered in the back of her mind.

That doesn’t sound like Magic or Honesty, and I doubt Generosity would be so polite, so if I may ... Twilight ‘thought’ at the voice, and was rewarded with a soft giggle.

Of course, Pillar. I am known as Laughter. The soft voice echoed for a moment, and then there was an oddly-faceted crystal of tourmaline floating by her head, two outgrowths of blue-hued crystal on either side of a slightly larger pale yellow crystal … that reminded Twilight uncomfortably of Pinkie Pie’s Cutie Mark. We decided that one of the Elements should remain at your side at all times until the Mother of Stones can deal with both you and poor Rarity, just in case Magic has something planned, or Generosity has truly done something drastic to it’s Bearer.

And I wasn’t informed about this beeeecaaaaaaause … Hoping her frown wasn’t taken the wrong way by the other Ponies in the room, Twilight turned her attention to the gemstone floating in-front of her.

Honesty was quite drained after sealing up Magic’s connection to your Inner Well, and being the dusty old fusser that he is, had to immediately go check up on his little Apples to make sure they were all safe and sound. Laughter explained, then tittered again as Twilight’s ears twitched at the faint sounds of Honesty yelling something incoherently in her mind, although it sounded as if ‘he’ was doing so from a great distance, perhaps even so far away as to be at Sweet Apple Acres. I was waiting till we were inside Rarity’s boutique to reveal myself in case more of those pesky mortals showed up to try and harass you again, and while we’re talking openly, I must ask you leave me with your friend, Rarity. I’ll be doing my best to provide her what comfort I can until the Mother of Stones can see exactly what Generosity did inside her mind, and before you leave, either Loyalty or Kindness will arrive to act as your bodyguard.

“Uh, Twilight, you’re twitching, as in ‘I need a hug or something is going to turn inside-out and blow up’-kind of twitching.” Rainbow said, and when Twilight turned to look, both Pegasi had taken shelter behind a long, low couch and were giving Twilight wary looks, their eyes and upper heads the only parts of them visible over the back of the couch. “And what’s with the gemstone?”

“Oh, right, you two aren’t aware of the delightful little addition to the manure-pie that’s been dropped onto our plates. Rainbow, Spitfire, meet Laughter. The Element of Laughter. Who has been tailing us to make sure that the Rogue Elements of Magic and Generosity haven’t pulled another fast one on us and is apparently needing me to leave it, unsupervised, with Rarity to make sure she doesn’t have another psychotic episode, or worse.” Twilight lifted a fore-hoof up until Laughter’s gemstone form was resting upon the frog of her hoof. “Laughter, you already know Rainbow by now, and the yellow pegasus is Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts and a Royal Agent. Do anything to harm them and I will feed you to Spike.”

“Wait, aren’t the Elements our necklace-thingies?” Rainbow’s head popped up from behind the couch’s back to get a better look at Laughter, while Spitfire’s eyes widened and the Wonderbolt disappeared entirely behind the couch.

“Those are the vessels we inhabit when the Powers of Harmy are required. Otherwise, we remain in our natural forms …” Laughter spoke out loud this time, and it reminded Twilight more of a chorus of adorable kittens mewing than actual words, giving her the almost uncontrollable urge to hug and pet the Element, and it seemed the effect was also felt by Rainbow and Spitfire, the two of them scuttling out from behind the couch to approach Laughter as if on strings. “… Oh, my apologies, I forgot I had that effect when speaking directly to you mortals. Normally, the Elements exist as our mineral forms unless the Bearers need our aid, at which point we immediately return to the Torcs to serve as your connections to the forces of Harmony.”

“What was that?” The purple Princess asked distractedly as Spitfire and Rainbow shook their heads and took a step back from Laughter, a little rattled from being overwhelmed by the urge to be near Element’s true form.

“I am imbued with certain traces of the Powers that tend to invoke, well, laughter and joy amongst the mortals. When I speak directly to mortals, I have the unfortunate tendency to inspire the brains of all third-dimensional life-forms around me to release large amounts of endorphins, which in turn causes them to become extraordinarily happy and focused upon me unless I throttle the energy I am releasing.” Laughter sighed and spun on the surface of Twilight’s soft, spongy frog, turning it’s largest facets towards her. “Poor Honesty makes mortals speak the truth no matter how damaging and become annoying sticklers over the tiniest things if he isn’t careful when out and about amongst your Morals, and the last time Loyalty took a vacation and assumed mortal form amongst Ponykind, let’s just say there was a lot of mortals suddenly decided to get married and a civil war broke out in Prance when Loyalty left to return to it’s duty, a civil war that is still churning along, sadly.”

“Wait, so what does Kindness make Ponies do?” Her curiosity getting the better of her, Rainbow leaned in close to stare at Laughter’s crystal form.

“Imagine an entire metropolis turning out to form a giant hug-pile, just finding their nearest friend or loved one, embracing and cuddling and snuggling until Kindness leaves the area. The poor thing doesn’t have quite as much experience dealing with Mortals as the rest of the Elements, so when it forgot some of your more … uncontrollable impulses happened during spring-time and went out exploring to pass the time until the Dreamer returned to Equis, and found itself buried in the middle of a hug-pile that turned into a hump-pile when the estrus of the mares began to affect the assembled mortals. That would have been, oh, thirty, forty years ago?”

“Wait, you mean to tell us that the time when our parents were all wearing bell-bottom pants, eating ‘special’ mushrooms and screwing everything that moved was all because Fluttershy’s Element went out for a walk during spring and forgot to turn off it’s swagger?” Spitfire managed to spit out, trembling in place and her eyes wide and her pupils narrow.

“Effectively, yes. The poor little gem had no idea that it’s ability would intersect so … interestingly … with the reproductive cycle your species goes through every spring, and Kindness didn’t have the foggiest idea what to do when a few thousand Ponies began … uh, breeding all around it. And on it. And with it. The resulting wave of harmonic energy released as Kindness, uhm, reacted in kind … well, the shockwave spread the effect across most of the continent, causing a few decades of bohemian bucking. We keep teasing Kindness that, thanks to it forgetting what you mortals got up to in spring, it is effectively the reason that the Lover walks this world.”

Twilight had to bite her lip to avoid shouting at the Elemental. It had just mentioned that Cadence, another Alicorn and Twilight’s best friend, before coming to Ponyville at least, had only been conceived because one of the other Elements, despite millennia spent amongst pony-kind, had somehow forgotten that the species descended into a breeding frenzy during the months of spring! And that all the Elements apparently caused bizarre reactions amongst ‘mortals’ if they appeared and did not dampen their own powers.

Every time I think I’ve got my hooves on the truth, something deeper is revealed and I am left struggling to keep my balance. For all everypony keeps talking about Harmony and balance, I’m finding precious little of either these days!

You’re trying to reconcile your mortal preconceptions about how reality works, and the social constructs that the Hope-Bringer created to stop the genocidal rampages of your ancestors with the actual truth of creation. Your confusion is understandable, but please, we are trying to help, stop trying to impose your old, mortal mindset on things and trust us. You are not the first Ascending Immortal we have had to protect during their gestation phase, but you are one of the most powerful, and important, ones we have had under our care. Laughter’s voice whispered in her mind, even as the gemstone danced and rolled across Twilight’s frog as it also answered Rainbow and Spitfire’s questions in an audible manner. You are the Pillar, Twilight Sparkle. In all seriousness, and that is a state of being that I struggle to deal with, we cannot afford to allow the Enemy to interfere with your Ascension. Your role in the Plan is vital, and without your strength of character, your desire to protect your friends and the world they live in, your willingness to forgive and forge new bonds of friendship, if we falter in protecting you during this crucial period, more than just your happiness will be lost.

Well, thank you for that ominous little speech then! Like I wasn’t already on the verge of a panic-attack over Magic and Generosity going rogue and now your mother showing up, now you tell me I’m a vital cog in this grand and infinitely convoluted plan of the Powers! What else? If I stub a hoof, will I cause stars to explode as a side effect?

… I don’t believe so? But let’s try to avoid testing your hypothesis, please?

Twilight whimpered, both physically and mentally, as Laughter’s voice took on a tone of grave concern that seemed completely at odds with the emotions that the Element’s presence generated in her and the other Ponies in the room.

It took several moments for Twilight to realize that another Pony had joined them, a sleek female Thestral with silver eyes, mane and tail, who seemed to be looking at Twilight as if she wasn’t sure if Twilight was going to explode if poked or should be literally thrown out of the boutique. The Alicorn blushed and removed her hoof from underneath Laughter, who remained levitating in the air as it ‘spoke’ to Rainbow and Spitfire, the purple princess turned her full attention, rattled as it was, to the newcomer.

“Sorry for dropping in like this, but we’ve got a situation.” Twilight began, bluntly, and explained as quickly as she could what had occurred, and how urgently all the Bearers were needed in Canterlot, feeling the pit of cold dread in her stomach deepen as Moonbeam’s expression grew increasingly dire as she continued. “So, we need Rarity in Canterlot before the day is over, and we need to make sure she’s not going to get banged up or distressed even further on the trip. Does the Night Guard have any sort of secretive route we can take to Canterlot that avoids the paparazzi and is swift enough to make it on time? From what Luna and Honesty said about the Mother of Stones, this is not an entity we want to keep waiting.”

“Rarity is nearly immobilized in her cast. I doubt we can smuggle her into Canterlot without at least a dozen snoops spotting us, let alone the usual cloud of flying gnats swarming us with their cameras and recording gems. Recently, every time a Royal Chariot enters or leaves Canterlot airspace, you can bet your last bit that the paparazzi will immediate mob them on the slight chance it’s a Royal sneaking out of the capital on some secret business the paparazzi can then spin into whatever story they want.” The Thestral mare sighed and seemed to shrink slightly as she realized just who she was speaking to. “Assuming we even could get all of you crammed into a single chariot, we’d be diverted the instant we entered Canterlot airspace to the civilian air-routes if the air-commander on duty that day hadn’t been pre-warned of our approach, and we don’t actually have any method of getting in contact with the pony in charge, at least not without potentially risking our flight-plan being leaked to the paparazzi anyways.”

“Well … the local Royal Agents said that they had a private telegraph line to Canterlot Command. Why don’t we use that, ask them to give us a small opening in the patrol-routes to slip through into Canterlot, and I can use an Invisibility Sphere spell to mask us from sight while we’re inserting ourselves into the city.” Twilight pointed out, feeling a bit sheepish as Moonbeam and Spitfire gave her dark looks.

“Your spell would be detected miles out …”

“There’s way too many patrols in the air for that to …”

The two Mares glared at each other, before turning back to Twilight with faces set into masks of determination, and something inside Twilight snapped aftering being told ‘you can’t do that’ one time too many.

“I think you’re both forgetting some very important points. One, I am the youngest pony to ever earn the title of Magi in recorded history, and Celestia doesn’t hand out that title lightly. Two, I helped the Royal Magi redesign and reinforce Canterlot’s magical defence matrixes in the aftermath of the Canterlot Invasion just so Shining Armor and Cadence could enjoy their honeymoon, so yes, I know how to bypass the capital’s defence system on the fly, if we have to.”

“Three, my friends and I have kind of saved Equestria about … five times now? Six? If I tell Canterlot Command I’m coming in, and they need to divert a patrol at a specific time on a specific day because there’s an all-powerful deity wanting to have a chat with me and my friends, they’re bloody well going to help me for a change, or I’m going to sit on my plot and refuse to bail them out the next time some ancient, unspeakably powerful evil force that nopony but the Princess knows about crawls out from whatever mud-puddle she stomped it into the last time.” The frustration of everything that had happened over the past month came bubbling out of Twilight like a tide of lava, adding an acidic bite to her words she would ordinarily have been horrified at, and made Moonbeam back up a step, eyes widening and one hoof raised in warding, while Spitfire and Rainbow Dash leaned forwards over their couch-turned-barricade, fascinated by Twilight’s change.

“Four, and finally, I am Twilight mother-bucking Sparkle the Alicorn, and I am sick and tired of having to goose-step around the most revolting group of selfish, hateful, spiteful little Ponies I have ever met, who think invading my privacy and selling slanderous fairy tales about me with every other breath to the brainless idiots of Canterlot is their Faust-given right, so maybe it’s time I started to push back and show them why getting under my skin is a bad idea! Anything, pony or otherwise, that stands between me and getting Rarity the help she needs can kiss it’s plot goodbye, because I will run its ass over if I need to.”

“I suppose that means I’ll never convince you to subscribe to the Daily Equestrian then, Twilight?” A thin voice came from around the corner, but held a great deal of mirth, as Rarity was carried into the room in-between two burly Thestrals, her full-body cast replaced by one that merely covered her torso, hind-quarters and neck. A flowing dressing-gown of royal-purple silk covered most of Rarity, from the base of her neck down to just beyond the start of her hooves, no-doubt an attempt to appear as graceful as possible in the cast and to cover up her missing fur, and Rarity’s face, while gaunt and obviously bearing deep bags under her eyes, seemed to be filled with good-humor.

“Rarity!” Twilight and Rainbow yelled at once, the Alicorn dodging around the cowering Moonbeam and Rainbow hobbling as fast as her three working limbs would accommodate, the two hugging Rarity and causing the pair of Thestral Guards carrying her to grunt at the additional strain.

“Easy, easy! I’m still quite fragile!” Rarity shrieked, but in delight, as Twilight and Rarity wrapped their wings around her. “To be honest, darlings, I was certain I would not be seeing any of you again, what with how things … fell apart.”

“Look, can I go first?” Rainbow asked, nervously stepping back from Rarity and fussing with her mane with her wings, her three working legs twitching. “Rairty, I … look, there’s just no way I can apologise enough for what I did, to you I mean. I made a dumb assumption, and went way too far, and hurt you badly. I know there’s no way that just an apology and some cakes can make up for it, but if you’re willing, I’m ready to do whatever it takes to make this up to you.”

Rarity’s smile only grew as Rainbow babbled through her apology, before the Unicorn’s horn glowed and a pillow pompf’d against Rainbow’s head.

“For something like this, I don’t think apologies alone will make a difference … but if you’re willing to make amends, Rainbow, so am I. I … oh dear, I don’t want to admit it, but it was childishly petty of me to plan to make the Cutie Mark Crusaders so hyperactive as a form of revenge for Applejack subduing me in the library.” For several heartbeats, the room stood still as Rarity took a deep breath and calmed herself before continuing on. “And I should have trusted Twilight, after all we've been through together, and just allowed myself to be teleported out of the library. For those actions, I am indeed sorry as well. I think … I think perhaps if we started again from scratch, that might work better than trying to rebuild the relationship we had, yes?”

“I’m cool with that. I am a hundred and twenty percent cool with that.” Rainbow said, her voice cracking as the Pegasus hobbled forwards and hugged Rarity again, sniffling.

“This is hardly starting afresh, Rainbow.” Rarity chided, but her own eyes were more than a little damp.

“We’ll start fresh in five minutes, okay? I’m just happy you still want to be my friend.” Rainbow retorted, voice still sounding thick and muffled from within the cocoon of wings she’d formed around Rarity’s neck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity sighed and leaned into Rainbow’s wing, the odd fluttering in her heart matched only by the relief as the nervous, sickening knot of tension in her stomach finally gave way.

Not only had Rainbow, arguably the ‘weakest’ friendship that Rarity had in their little circle of friends, immediately apologised, and with such fevour, for her part in the disaster after the Succuponi’s attack, but Twilight had shown up as well and given a heart-felt, if aggressive, little speech about doing all in her power to help Rarity.

I am not abandoned.

Never had four words sounded so sweet to Rarity, even if they were only heard inside her own mind.

Soaking in the luxury of a wing-hug from Rainbow Dash, which the mostly-imobilized Unicorn had to admit felt divine and also gave her ideas on a new trend of feather-lined cloaks and hoods, Rarity peeked out between a gap in those cerulean-blue feathers and smiled softly as she caught sight of Twilight sagging with relief, then wiping a tear away from her eye.

And I appear to have not been the only pony fretting about the loss of our friendships.

“Now, as much as I appreciate the visit, and I truly do, darlings, what was it you were saying about Canterlot, Twilight?”

“Oh … this is going to take some time to properly explain, but I’ll try to give you the cliff-notes.” Twilight sighed, scratching at her temple with a hoof even as that teary smile played across her face. “It seems that both Generosity and Magic have been, to put it lightly, playing fast and loose with their duties as the focal points of the Powers of Harmony. Generosity in particular seems to have been actively trying to cause disharmony, specifically through poisoning your emotions, but Magic appears to have been subverting me as well, although on a more subtle scale, before the other Elements noticed it and severed our connection earlier today.”

“Furthermore, Pinkie’s Element, Laughter, wishes to, erm, serve as your ‘buffer’ in-case Generosity laid any sort of mental traps before it tore itself out of your mind … if you’re willing. The Elements, those that have remained true to their mission at least, are as horrified at the situation as we are.” Twilight looked at her hoof, where an oddly-familiar looking gemstone twirled on the Alicorn’s frog, before the gem took off into the air and flew over to Rarity’s face.

“Greetings, Lady Rarity. My siblings and I apologise profusely for what our former comrade has done, and while we wait for our leader, the Mother of Stones, to make her way to Canterlot, I would like to offer my services, such as they are, to keep you safe until such time as the Mother may evaluate you and provide a solution to the damage that Generosity may have done to you.” The stone’s voice filled Rarity with an almost manic-like sense of adoration, akin to walking into a room full of baby animals all being incredibly adorable all at once and competing for her undivided attention, and as she tried to focus, the immobilized Unicorn noted that her Thestral ‘guards’ were equally entranced, staring at the strange, ‘talking’ gem with almost child-like wonder.

“I’m … not entirely certain I am prepared to share my mind with another being, not after learning that my Element was literally pulling my strings for years.” Rarity said, feeling oddly disappointed in herself for rejecting the Element, like an adult for telling a child it couldn’t have a treat the child had so definitely earned.

“I would not be in your mind, so to speak, but rather if you would wear me on your person, I would be able to monitor your emotional and mental state, and thus make certain that Generosity doesn’t attempt to ‘jump’ back into you. Your connection to Generosity was strong, after all, second only to Magic’s connection to Twilight Sparkle.” The blue-and-yellow tourmaline gemstone explained, rolling it’s facets around to expose it’s largest ones to Rarity’s gaze. It gave her the oddest sensation that the Element was looking directly ‘at’ her. “Think of my presence as closer to the function of a rain-coat, keeping you safe from an external threat, if that clothing analogy works better for you? I will be in contact with only your outermost thoughts and emotions at best, and nothing more.”

Rarity hesitated for a few seconds, before nodding and giving a nervous smile to the gemstone-like Elemental.

“Excellent! I will leave the actual placement of my core to your discretion, and I will keep our communications as short as possible to preserve your mental privacy as much as I am able.” Laughter giggled, and the entire room of Ponies all twitched as they felt the urge to stroke the gem like it was an adorable puppy wiggling excitedly.

“Oh, I think I have a brooch or pendant that I can adjust to suit your … core?” Rarity said, tilting her head from side to side, as much as the neck-brace of her cast would allow, and her eyes widened as the gemstone vibrated before surging forwards to rub itself against her cheek.

“I get to be jewellery? Oh, oh, thank you, thank you! I cannot believe this is … oh my word, this is amazing! Don’t worry if the setting doesn’t fit exactly, I can manipulate the metal to suit whatever design you come up with!” Laughter squealed with delight and began doing rapid loops around Rarity’s head. “I haven’t been this excited since the Vessels took on the form of torcs and a crown! I get to be a piece of jew-elle-ry!”

“Is that … good? I mean, you’d be stuck in a piece of cold metal and worn as an ornament.” Twilight interrupted, staring blankly at the Elemental.

“Good, no, it’s wonderful! Every gemstone dreams of the day they can become a piece of jewellery, to become living art, to be worn and adored, coveted and admired, by all who look upon them. We, the Elements that is, endured being humble stone because it was a necessity of our role as the focal points for the Harmonic Magic that the Princesses would need to wield, but when we became actual jewellery for you delightful Mares, well, it’s a good thing we’re not technically supposed to speak to you Mortals, else you would have been deafened by our delight if we’d broken that rule back then.” Laughter’s orbits around Rarity’s head became more erratic. “I do wish the Hope-Bringer had allowed us to be worn by our Bearers more often, but I understood that our presence would have drawn unnecessary danger upon this village of yours.”

A broad smile spread across Rarity’s face as she took in the odd shape of Laughter’s ‘core’, and dozens of designs, in gold, silver and platinum, flashed through her mind’s eye. The concept of a piece of jewellery that wanted to be worn, that could manipulate itself to change the design at will, opened up a whole slew of options that Rarity had never even dreamed possible outside the realm of whimsy and fantasy.

“Speaking of which, Laughter, can you alter your core’s appearance, or is that set in stone, as it were?”

“Oh, a word-pun! We shall have such fun together on the trip to Canterlot, Lady Rarity!”

And suddenly, Rarity was reminded that this was an entity that could share a mind-space with Pinkie Pie and not be reduced to a gibbering wreck, and began to wonder if her willingness to partner with Laughter was truly as wise as she and the others had originally thought.