Whirlwind delivered a powerful kick to changeling's chest, causing the creature to wince and stumble back straight into shards of ice Winter had sent zooming towards it. The changeling dove to avoid the attack and got a face full of dirt, escaping with a few cuts on its back legs. Following this, another changeling shot up way into the sky, but instead of retreating the changeling darted back down with the newfound speed from the height. It made its way to the ground with a devilish grin, aiming for Whirlwind. Winter called out to her friend, but she was too busy to hear Winter's shout.

With the changeling fast approaching, Winter bit down on her lip, and charged toward her friend, her horn sparking with magic as she continued to try to warn Whirlwind. Whirlwind took out her attackers in front of her, and must have heard the whistling of wind since she turned her face skyward. Her ears lowered, and the pegasus couldn't process it fast enough to react. Instead of seeing the changeling cross in front of her face, she saw a light blue horn from the corner of her eye before the rest of her vision was filled with a clear substance, streaked with white. Stunned, Whirlwind looked to her left to see Winter Frost with her horn still sparking with magic.

"W-what just happened?!" Whirlwind asked with widened eyes.

"I made an ice structure to stop it from hitting you." Said Winter with a heavy sigh. "Luckily I was able to get to you just in time."

Whirlwind fluttered off the ground to see a changeling passed out cold on the ice. The ice was shattered and tiny pieces of ice were under and around the changeling's body. Thanking Winter for the save, Whirlwind and Winter were able to work together and take care of another changeling. But then there was a terrified scream, and the two turned to see Flora Blossom - who had previously just been avoiding attacks - on the ground with the remaining three changelings surrounding her. Two had her front legs pinned to the ground while the third began covering her with a green slime while she wiggled and tried to free herself. She screamed again and Whirlwind and Winter began running over to her.

Whirlwind streaked over to the changeling covering Flora Blossom in slime, and hit the creature with her front hooves as she flew. The two were about to handle the changeling holding her down when long, leafy tree branches wrapped themselves around the middle of both changelings and ripped them away from Flora Blossom. She got up and glared at them before the branches released them and retracted back into the trees as the creatures fell to the ground. The three changelings picked themselves off the ground, grabbed their defeated associates, and flew off, shouting to each other about finding "an easier meal."

"Flora, that was amazing!" Winter exclaimed. "Um... c-can I call you that?"

"I usually only let close friends call me that... " She trailed off before smiling. "But after all we've already been through together, you can call me whatever you like. I certainly can call you both trustworthy."

...  

"Okay, so let me get this straight, there are six of us who all have elemental powers?" Tidal Wave said slowly.

"Yeah, and we all are tied to a physical element with the same magic is our own." Blaze explained.

"According to Winter Frost-" 

"Winter Frost?"

"You'll, uh, meet her later. Anyways, she knows Princess Twilight and said that she had been studying about these elements."

Geode nodded and added onto Blaze's comment, " And they're known to be super powerful. They're the real deal. I've seen the book were this information comes from, and the thing has got to be some kind of ancient text."

Blaze and Geode continued to fill in Tidal Wave on what they knew about the Elements of Wilderness. Throughout the entire thing he continued to look at them seriously. He hardly interrupted for the rest of the explanation and kept nodding as he tried his best to keep up with what was being said. Once he thought he understood, he grabbed his dark blue saddle bags and fastened the blue green strap after putting it on. Even though they had just endured a train ride, Geode and Blaze made it a point to get themselves and Tidal Wave on the next train back to Ponyville. Blaze still complained on the way back, but thankfully he was quieter and Tidal Wave helped Geode reason with the annoyed unicorn.

...

Meanwhile in the Castle of Friendship Twilight Sparkle had finished up sending a letter to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, as well as another to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Ponies were starting to disappear in Ponyville, and in a small town, that's certainly concerning. This paired with disappearances in Canterlot made the Princesses and Shining Armor as suspicious as they were worried. This had their foes names written all over it.

But Spike didn't know of these events. All that he knew was that he was back in the library for the umpteenth time today. Twilight had been going in and out all day and had requested his help several times. At this point her mane was messy at the ends and stress was taking it's toll. Ink, parchment, and quills littered her workspace as the stack of books on her desk seemed to grow each time he had entered.

"Twilight, that's the fifth letter I sent today! What's going on?" Spike asked, burping out an extra little flame.

Twilight looked away and sighed before saying, "Ponies are starting to go missing all over Equestria. I've been talking to the princesses about it so we can discuss a course of action."

"Really?!" Spike shouted, astonished. "B-but that means Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, or even King Sombra had been taking them!"

"That's what we think too... I'm not just going to stand by while this is happening. I have to meet with my friends and the princesses in the morning, but when I get back, I'm going to check on Winter's progress."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I... I don't know, Spike." She sighed again and shook her head. "But I've got to do something. Even if that means talking to her about the elements. I don't know if she knows about the missing ponies, but with the severity of it all, I wouldn't be surprised if word got out."

"Maybe things are going well with her. What if she already found the bearers of the last two elements?"

"If she has, then the next thing she has to do is find the elements. I just hope everypony is prepared for their encounter with Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra and Tirek..."