THE GARDENER’S PLAN
Things were different. The Elements had been returned to the Tree of Harmony. But what exactly was the tree? Where had it come from? Only five beings alive knew.
The first and second were the royal sisters, Celestia and Luna.
The third was Discord, who had stopped the sun and moon from their daily cycles in order to alert the ponies of the missing sisters.
The fourth was a cloaked creature with an odd way of speaking and a jovial nature befitting the first Bearer of the Element of Laughter.
And the fifth was an ancient creature, an Ent deer, the creator of the Tree of Harmony, Pallenen Lifekeeper.
~~~
Tirek stared from a balcony in his keep. The combined forces of the buffalo, diamond dogs, and changelings were decimating his army of grundles. No matter. The Sagittarius was confident that he remained untouchable in Castle Midnight.
A pounding at the door proved otherwise, and the door soon splintered as a large buffalo bull charged in, followed by an armored pony, an earth pony skeleton in a robe, an earth pony stallion with several unusual devices affixed to his saddle, an Ent deer, and, Tirek noticed, two young alicorn mares.
He opened the Heart of Darkness. Black energy swirled from the bag around his neck. However, six gems surrounded the rag-tag band before him, blasting out a rainbow of light. It overtook the False King, writhing like a serpent and striking. The Heart of Darkness was ripped asunder, and Tirek felt his power fading. Then it was gone. He was no more powerful than any other member of his species. Not to say he was helpless, of course.
With the roar of an angry ape, he charged, horns lowered. He was stopped as a winged form grabbed the horns and wrenched them to the side, pinning him to the floor.
“No more,” growled Scorpan, looking down at his former master and blood brother. “No more.”
~~~
Pallenen, Celestia, Luna, and Scorpan escorted the severely weakened (and smaller) Tirek to the Mirror of Tartarus, the quickest way to the island prison, and shoved him in. word had already been sent to Celestia and Luna’s family, and they would arrive and re-instate a peaceful rule over Equestria once again. Yet Pallenen was troubled.
He had considered much, but had eventually realized one thing: the Elements, while powerful, were unpredictable. He and Surprise had talked about it.
~~~
“Predictable power proves plausible,” the skeleton had said, clicking her jaws.
Pallenen was puzzled. “But how?”
“Time turns, twisting, twirling. Seed sprouts, shooting. Tree takes shape.”
Pallenen put a hoof to his forehead. “I know how trees work, Surprise, but I don’t see how…”
He trailed off as he suddenly had a flash of realization. And even though the skeleton before him had only one facial expression, he could tell Surprise was smiling.
~~~
Starswirl concentrated. It wasn’t every day that the Bearer of the Element of Kindness asked something of him, and this was important.
He had admittedly been surprised by Tirek's hostile takeover, and unfortunately the other Pillars of Light and Hope had been unavailable, three of them off in foreign lands. Yet the six crystal seeds they had created years prior had instead found new bearers to infuse with their magic, creating these "Elements of Harmony". He had done his best to help them, and now he poured his magic into a small crystal, arcane energy making the seed-shaped crystal pulse with harmonic energy. While he did this, Pallenen infused the seed with the energy of the Elements. When it shone like a diamond, the two magic users stopped. It was done. Now for the hard part. Pallenen thanked the magician, and carefully taking the seed, he left. He hoped that the others would understand his decision.
~~~
“If you could just explain this one more time?”
Pallenen sighed. “Hooves, I’ve explained it three times already.”
Doctor Whooves (the First) shook his head. “I know, but I thought either I had misheard you, or you went crazy, because it sounded like you wanted us to GIVE UP THE ELEMENTS!”
Pallenen sighed. “We would know where they were if we ever needed them again. It’s a safety measure….”
Whooves interrupted him. “What kind of safety measure is that!?! How do you know we could get them back!?! What if this ‘Tree of Harmony’ acts like a Pandorica or one of those safes that only opens once every thousand years?”
Pallenen paused.
“I don’t, but unless you know a better way to let the Elements become more stable, this is our only option.”
The Bearer of the Element of Loyalty stood there. Whooves knew Pallenen was right. But still… no, the ent was right.
The Bearers slowly came forward and gave the deer the Elements.
Whooves, the Element of Loyalty.
Surprise, the Element of Laughter.
Fenix, the Element of Generosity.
Ban, the Element of Honesty.
And finally, Celestia and Luna, the Element of Magic.
Pallenen added his own Element of Kindness, and then walked off. He eventually came to a cave near the royal castle. This would do well. He knew that in time, the natural growth of the Everfree would cover the entrance, hiding it perfectly. He had told his friends that the magic he was about to use would hold back the growth of the forest. A necessary lie, but still one that tore at him. He had also kept the location of the tree a secret, leaving only a cryptic message for the two young alicorns, so they could find the Elements themselves.
He took out the seed and planted it. A small crystal poked out. And then it grew, branching out into a crystal tree. He lifted the Elements in his magic, and placed them in the receptacles within the branches and the trunk. They sealed shut.
It was done. However, a serpentine shape had watched. Discord considered what he had seen. Did Tia know? If she didn’t, all the more fun! He may have loved his marefriend to no end, but still, even lovers had to keep their secrets.
~~~
Many years later
Discord’s chaos had been spreading through Equestria for a full year now. He was taking the break-up harshly, letting his powers run rampant in his grief-driven insanity. Celestia looked down at the last message they had received from Pallenen.
Seek the Tree closest to home
Under the soil, where weeds do not grow,
And there you shall find my secret,
For I am the Gardener, and this was my prized possession
Celestia and Luna left to seek the Tree. A last gift from a beloved friend.
And in the forest, Pallenen Lifekeeper, the Gardener, smiled and faded into the leaves
Author's Note
my thanks go to Overlord-Flinx, the creator of the original Bearers of the Elements, for allowing me to use the characters.
