Harmony's Peril

The Everfree forest had lost its sense of danger over time. As Twilight trekked through the foliage, she remembered how Rainbow had played up the terror factor of the forest, stating that "everypony who ever went in, never came out". As time passed, Twilight had learned that was far from the case, with Zecora even living secluded and alone within the woods. However everypony still made a point to avoid the place, as you never knew when a pack of timberwolves would get hungry, or even an Ursa Major would decide to go for a walk outside its cave. Now however, the forest just looked sad.

Trees sagged, a black substance eating away at their bark. They oozed a nasty looking sap that Pinkie Pie tasted and immediately spit out, claiming it wasn't sweet at all. Meanwhile the greenery around them had turned to a rotten brown, with more of the black substance dripping from it. Luckily for Twilight and the others, the black stuff didn't seem to affect them, at least on contact. Twilight did note that there were no animals around at all, and hypothesized that they were either hiding, sick or worse.

"Hey Twi?" Applejack asked behind Twilight.

"Yes?" Twilight responded.

"You know what ya said about connections n' all... didn't ya say that the Tree of Harmony was connected to the elements, and the elements were connected to... well us?"

"Hey that's right!" Rainbow inspected everypony except Starlight, Zecora and Spike. "Nothing seems wrong with any of us though."

"I don't know, this is all new to me too. The black liquid from the plants isn't affecting us so far, but something might happen if we don't deal with this immediately." Twilight reasoned.

"Do not fear, for the tree we seek is quite near." Zecora pushed aside some of the rotting greenery to reveal a cliff. Beneath it was a small cove that shined with bright light. Twilight new that they had indeed reached the Tree of Harmony. Everypony carefully made their way down the cliff face, the non-pegasi using vines and other plants to support themselves. Soon they were all standing in front of the secluded grove of the Tree of Harmony. They briefly shielded their eyes against the bright light and trotted toward the tree.

Twilight had tried to prepare herself for what she would see, but still found herself shocked. The tree looked horrible, to say the least. Dark veins snaked around the tree, and it's branches looked decrepit with age. Many of the hanging orbs that normally glowed with light were cracked open and dull, a vile liquid dripping from their interior. The symbols of the sun and moon were barely visible as the bark was patchy and darkened around them. The rest of the grove fared no better, with the many flowers and grasses around the tree looking rotted and black. A musty smell hung around the place, making Twilight's eyes water.

"Eugh!" Pinkie said again.

"Oh my gosh..." tears welled up in Fluttershy's eyes. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity and Spike looked away, unsure what to make of the tree. Zecora looked down sadly and hoofed the ground.

"This is the Tree of Harmony?" Starlight said uncertainly.

Twilight suddenly remembered her student had never seen the tree before. "This isn't what it normally looks like."

"I gathered." Starlight said as she went to inspect the tree. She did a full circle around it and returned back to the group. "Hey I think everypony should see this... there was something behind the tree." They all trotted over to the sick tree to see what Starlight meant. There were more black veins and nasty puss... but they all seemed to lead to one centerpoint.

"Are those ... hoofmarks?" Rarity asked.

"Cloven hoofmarks. Somepony burned three cloven hoofmarks into the tree and it looks like all the black veins originate from them." Twilight said dryly. "And look at the branches. Whoever did this also took the elements!"

"No wonder we weren't affected then! If the Tree ain't connected to the elements, then it ain't connected to us. And without the elements... the tree is weaker!" Applejack reasoned.

"Making it more susceptible to whatever this black stuff is." Rarity completed. "But not just anyone could remove the Elements of Harmony. They'd have to be pretty powerful."

"It took Princess Celestia and Luna to do it last time." Spike recalled.

"It be clear what happened here. Someone poisoned our tree so dear." Zecora said.

Twilight nodded. "She's right. Someone poisoned the Tree of Harmony... and I think I have a theory who."