Page 1560 — Existential Puzzle
15th Jul 2021, 6:00 AM in Magical Mystery Cure

I'll admit, I was very confused for a while, comparing the two shots of the Elements before and after their color-swapping. Something about Pinkie Pie's Element-color being blue and Rainbow Dash's element-color being red threw me off. I thought they didn't quite match the pony they swapped to somehow, but no, they're all correct.

Twilight Sparkle: I think I'm just lacking information. What about the Elements of Harmony? Did anything happen to the artifacts?
DM: Ah, I'm glad you asked! The jewels of the necklaces have all swapped colors.
Twilight Sparkle: Wait, what?! Let me guess, the colors now correspond to…
DM: The ponies whose Cutie Marks have swapped, yes.
Twilight Sparkle: Can I use Arcana to, I dunno, forensically figure out what happened?
DM: You certainly can. There's telltale signs of chaos magic. Last night, the burst of chaos you expected targeted the Elements. It started with the crown of Magic… and through that, scrambled the necklaces.
Pinkie Pie: Well that's rude!
DM: And it neatly explains why Twilight hasn't been affected by the Cutie Mark randomization!
Twilight Sparkle: Yeah… because I was the conduit. That's comforting.
DM: …Look, it being a bad situation and it being an elegant solution are not mutually exclusive…
Applejack: Didn'tcha use some kinda "memory spell" with the Elements to snap us outta Discord's curses? Think somethin' similar might help here?
Twilight Sparkle: Well… <sigh> I don't know. It's your special talents that have been altered, not your personalities.
DM: …Hmm. You sure you don't want a hint? If this is too much…
Twilight Sparkle: Shhh. I was the conduit… We're connected through our friendship… "A mark of one's destiny, singled out alone, fulfilled"…
DM: Ah. I'll just, uh, leave you to it.