Letter 001: This was not on the list.

[draconicmail]

[Hello, viewers, please enjoy this image of an enormous green eye. Apparently some creature (reptilian in nature, judging by the snake-like pupil) is leaning super close to Cambot to peer at his lens. Blink, blink. After a second, he leans away and scratches his head, revealing himself to be a small purple dragon, riding on the back of a purple pony. Just another day on the Satellite of Love.] Uh, hey, Twilight?

[The aforementioned pony seems to have her nose buried in a long scroll of parchment.] So after we go pick up the new quills and parchment, we can stop by Sugarcube Corner and see if we can get some pastries for our next party, and then we'll need to go out to Sweet Apple Acres and help Applejack measure the foundation for that new storage cellar she wants to put in.

[The dragon tugs gently on Twilight's mane to get her attention.] Yeah, okay, but Twilight?

Oh, and Cheerilee wanted to talk to us about coming in and demonstrating some magic for her younger students and she has all those books to return so we might as well pick them up while we're over there, and once we get home we need to reorganize at least the Classics section and possibly Modern Spellcasting as well because someone got into them and messed everything up and nothing's where it should be anymore.

[Tugging gently has been upgraded to tugging not so gently.] Kinda need you to see this...

And the globe needs polishing, and the floor needs to be scrubbed again, and I think our clock might be thirty seconds too fast --

TWILIGHT!! [Finally he gives up and snatches the to-do list away from her.]

What is it, Spi-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIhhhhhhhhhhhhk! [Her eyes go almost as wide as her head as her breath is sucked completely out of her body at what she's seeing.]

Yyyyyyeah. [And Spike just deadpans it:] I think we're lost.


((Double intro post! Expect responses from both Spike and Twilight (sailormagic). \o/))

Comments

[sailormagic]

DISCORD?! He was here?!

[acceptedburden]

Was, being the keyword. He is trapped now in a particularly awful novel and I believe shall stay as such unless someone is foolish enough to read it.

[pointed look.] I take it you have dealt with him in the past and the results were ill? I admit, it was extremely tricky, but we managed.

[sailormagic]

Discord almost destroyed Equestria a few months ago! The Princesses sealed him in stone, but when the power of the Elements passed on to us, the seal was weakened and he was able to get out.

...You're certain he's gone? And that no one can read that book?

[acceptedburden]

[he considers this very seriously]

We were improvising...I cannot say with 100% certainty. But we did our best with the resources we had available.

In this case, I believe all we can do is hope that it does not come to a rematch.

[sailormagic]

[And she sighs at that; it's not what she wants to hear, but she'll accept that they did the best they could.]

Without the Elements of Harmony, I don't know of any other way to defeat him for good. And even then he's only locked away, not gone for good. I suppose we'll just have to cross our hooves and hope.

[acceptedburden]

It is not a desirable situation, but I do not see much choice.

I do not suppose there is a way to recreate these elements you mentioned?

[sailormagic]

No, they're still in Ponyville. They're embodied in jewelry my friends and I wear when we need to use them, and we keep them in a special book at other times.

[acceptedburden]

I see. So they are special items that are unique to your world. I can see why we had particular trouble then.

I would be curious to hear more about them in the future.

[sailormagic]

I wouldn't say items, precisely. More like forces that find it easiest to show themselves in the form of something, I suppose so we can interact with them easier. If the items themselves are destroyed, the force is still there, and it makes new items. [She's seen it happen before.]

I wouldn't mind telling you more; perhaps with more ponies working together on this, we can find some way to replicate them.

[acceptedburden]

So, perhaps it is better to describe them as a conduit through which your elements are channeled? Hmm, although if they can reform on their own that suggests something much more than a simple magic channeling system.

[Yeah, he's very curious because frankly he has never come across something like this before and it is very fascinating to a former magic-student]

[sailormagic]

[Oh you're going to get along swimmingly.]

Perhaps. Of course, we've also been told that we embody the elements, so perhaps the power is inside us and the items are only used as a channeling device. We very rarely have any opportunities to use this power, you see, as there's very few circumstances where it's needed.

[acceptedburden]

Hmmm...then maybe with proper meditation or if there is an extreme need for it, they might manifest themselves through you?

Interesting.

[sailormagic]

It's possible, I suppose - we've never tried that before. But without all six of us together, then the Elements won't come together properly and defeat Discord or any other threat. We have tried that.

[And it went terribly.]

[acceptedburden]

I see.

Well, until it happens again, I believe it is best not to worry about it. Worrying will help no one.

[sailormagic]

[She laughs a bit sheepishly.] Yes... it won't.

[No matter how prone to it she is.]

[acceptedburden]

[offers a smile before adding]

In our discourse, I do not believe I offered my name or an introduction.

I'm Kaldur'ahm, but most just call me Kaldur. I am from Atlantis originally and have been here awhile if you have any questions about anything in particular.

[sailormagic]

And I am Twilight Sparkle, keeper of the Ponyville library and student to Princess Celestia. Thank you for offering to help - I'm sure I'll have questions when I've gotten to look around this place a little more. And if you'd like to hear more about the elements, I'd be happy to tell you.