The New Problem

The figure from the treehouse continued to watch Moonlight Gleam, neither of them speaking or moving. The unicorn eyed the man standing before her, she wasn't sure if she was seeing a ghost or if some shapeshifter had taken his form. Her brow furrowed, she was upset at either possibility for sure, even if the latter wouldn't surprise her all that much. The faded colors and the sparkles on her former master did lend credence to the fact that this was a ghost. She silently cursed herself for using her detect magic spell for the day. The two entities continued to stare at each other, in silence.

"Moonlight Gleam, you have endured great pain and hardship in your life..." the figure started.

The moment her full name was said, she realized that whatever or whoever she was speaking to wasn't Cloud Runner. Her facial features sharpened as she shot a glare at the figure before her, "You're not my master, stop using his appearance," she demanded.

The figure shook its head, "I cannot. To Twilight Sparkle and her friends, I was merely a tree. To their faithful and most brilliant students, I appeared as Twilight Sparkle to them. You see me as your Cloud Runner because it is the person you most trust. This isn't my doing, this is yours," it said.

This took Moonlight by surprise for sure, but it wasn't hard for her to figure out what was happening. "You're the Tree of Harmony," she stated.

The spirit before her nodded, "I am. Many moons ago, I took a different form. King Sombra destroyed me, but Twilight's students were able to put me back together in this new form," it said to her, the voice as gentle as ever.

The unicorn kept hearing the word students, she only knew of one student of Twilight Sparkle. The one unicorn that had taught her how to use her magic in this one world. She was confused to say the least, but she found herself less defensive, knowing that the form of this spirit that was talking to her was her doing and not some trickery. The spirit smiled at her more relaxed posture, but there was still a tenseness in the air. The investigator didn't lower her guard completely.

The spirit motioned towards the unicorn and light wrapped around her. Moonlight felt herself grow as the potion that had been used on her over a week ago had been negated. "You will need this size of yours to handle the upcoming challenge," the spirit stated.

Moonlight didn't move from her position, she was confused by that statement. What did the spirit mean about upcoming challenge she wondered. Was this some kind of threat or was it supposed to mean that she was going to have a test of some kind in the near future. She didn't have any of the answers, only questions. She was alone with the spirit of a tree and she didn't believe that this spirit would give her the answers that she sought.

"I can tell that you do not trust me. I am not affiliated with Sunrise Standing, he is currently seeking to disrupt the harmony of Equestria. Thanks to Twilight Sparkle, the golden age of this world was ushered in. The people of this world have found themselves more together than they have ever had been before. Griffons, Hippogriffs, Sea Ponies, Bat Ponies, Changelings, Kirin, Yaks, Buffalo, Crystal Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, Alicorns. All of these creatures call this world their home and they all live in peace. The one you have been chasing is seeking an ally to help him disrupt this harmony. One dangerous Shadow Pony, a creature who had given his heart to dark magics much like your Sunrise. Now he is a twisted and corrupted version of himself, seeking nothing more than to rule this world," the spirit informed her.

"So you know where he is and can tell me?" the investigator asked.

The spirit shook its head, "If I did, you wouldn't learn the lessons of friendship or harmony. You seek to solve this issue on your own, but if you continue to do so it'll be your downfall. I know that deep down you wish to be a hero, but you alone cannot save this world. You require friends, especially one pony that has been trying to get close to you. Only with them and only by working with them in harmony will you be able to stop the coming threat," the spirit said.

Moonlight walked to a table and looked at the wall across from her. She wasn't sure why she was hearing this. She always worked alone, she always wanted to work alone, now even a tree was refusing to let her go after the person she was trying to capture. She wanted to bring him to justice at all cost.

"I must ask, how did you know that I wasn't your master?" the spirit of the tree asked, a hint of curiosity in its voice.

"He..." Moonlight started as she looked away to hide the pain in her eyes.

She placed a hoof on her chest and let out a heavy sigh. Even four years later, the pain was still weighing her down heavily. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to let go and move on. A thought entered her head, one that she had buried long ago. She looked at her hoof wondering what was the real reason she was pursuing Sunrise so doggedly. If it was really for justice, then would she be working alone? Would she refuse to allow others to help her? These questions flooded through her mind as doubt started to settle in. Was her goal really to protect others, is that why she drove them away? She was no longer sure. Her mind raced as her heartbeat started to quicken.

"I see that you've started to question yourself and your motives. You've pushed everyone away from you since you got here. Are you afraid that Sunrise will try to hurt them or are you afraid that they'll take what you believe is rightfully yours away from you?" the spirit asked.

The answer rose inside the unicorn's head, she started to realize exactly why she was so persistent. Why she had never given up, why she had never let anyone try to get involved. She told herself and others for years that it was for their protection. Not just the innocents who were uninvolved in all of this, but potential allies as well. She wasn't interested in justice, a dark flame burned within her heart and had been for years. She did her best to ignore it, but she couldn't hide from it anymore, she hated Sunrise for what he had done to her and his father.

Moonlight was shocked by the truth that she couldn't hide from anymore. A shadow of herself, with jet black fur and red eyes materialized in front of her. She backed away from the doppelganger, horrified at it. The shadow merely smiled, "What's wrong, Moonlight? I'm everything you really want. All your true desires. I am the hatred you ignored and tried to justify. I'm your desire for revenge against Sunrise. Why won't you embrace me?" she asked.

The unicorn stomped a hoof down, "I am not like you! I want to help people, I want to ensure that they don't have to live in fear!" she yelled.

Her doppelganger laughed at this notion, "Deep down you want Sunrise to suffer just as much as he has caused you to suffer. The more you try to deny it, the more powerful I will grow. Eventually you won't be able to hide who you really are underneath and you'll give into the darkness that you held repressed for the longest time. You're no better than Sunrise, he's just more honest about who he really is!" she taunted.

Moonlight smiled, she had been given the solution to the puzzle, "I just have to accept it then? Fine then I accept that I want revenge!" she called out.

"NOOOOOOO! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! IF ONLY YOU HADN'T SAID THAT! NOOOOOO!" the doppelganger screamed tauntingly.

The unicorn smirked as this happened and waited for the doppelganger to vanish. She was naturally confused when it didn't. There was an awkward silence between the two for a brief moment. "Why didn—" Moonlight started.

"Because you merely said that you accept who you are and the hatred that you hold in your heart, moron. Jeez, why is it that I'm smarter than you are and I'm literally another part of you," the doppelganger said disappointed.

"So if I can't fight you and I can't lie to you... how do I..." the unicorn thought aloud.

Suddenly an idea popped into her head, she lowered her guard completely and closed her eyes. She retreated into her mind and started to breathe slowly and deeply. She couldn't fight what was effectively her, the two would be evenly matched. She couldn't embrace it, because that would lead her down the path she desperately wanted to avoid. Her choice was simple, she wasn't going to fight it anymore, she wasn't going to deny it anymore. She was going to be honest with herself and others, but in doing so, she would choose to take a new path. A more just and honest path.

The doppelganger attacked her, only to watch as the attack passed through the body of the unicorn who smiled peacefully. "How!? You're an aggressive and stubborn person! You shouldn't have given up your hatred!" she screamed.

"You told me that I have to accept it, but you never told me that I had to embrace it. Yes, I was motivated by revenge. Yes, I wanted Sunrise to suffer as I had done. But I don't have to be that way if I don't have to. This is my life and my path and I want you out of my way," Moonlight boasted.

The doppelganger shrieked in rage and hatred as she tried to attack the unicorn once more, but she vanished before she could. The investigator could still feel the anger and hatred for Sunrise within her, but she knew that could be worked on and slowly let go of. It would take time for her to finally be able to recover from years of this.

"Twilight Sparkle will be pleased by your performance here in this trial. You are ready to leave here when you want to. However, I regret to inform you that the only thing I can do is open up a safe path through the Everfree Forest. It'll be your job to make it back on your own," the spirit informed her.

Moonlight bowed her head to the spirit and smiled genuinely, "Thank you for showing me who I really am underneath and forcing me to come to face what I hadn't wanted to see for a long time," she said.

The spirit smiled and then suddenly frowned, "Sombra has already engaged in his attack on Canterlot. I'm sorry that I cannot do more, but hopefully nothing bad will come of it. If you run, you might be able to get there in time from Ponyville," it said to her.

The unicorn nodded and started to gallop as fast as she could through the safe area that the Tree of Harmony had opened up for her. She noticed that nothing tried to attack her, as if the creatures that made this place their home were being magically repelled. It was a quiet run, but her mind raced with a thousand different questions. She ended up distracted enough to run into a particular lavender alicorn who had a pink unicorn near her.

She hit the ground and stood up quickly. She was short of breath, but she still had to inform her of what was going on. "Princess... King Sombra has... attacked Canterlot!" she said.

Twilight Sparkle nodded solemnly and motioned towards the empty town of Ponyville, not a single soul was around. "I know, he took over everyone in town, including my friends. He wants to see me suffer. I was only able to save Luster from him. I will save our friends in the end," she informed the dark blue unicorn.

Moonlight looked at Luster Dawn and then at the Princess. For once in her life, she honestly wanted to protect something. "I'll come with. The more ponies we have to stand up to the tyrant, the better," she offered.

The two other ponies smiled, they were happy to have a third with them. The three of them started to walk towards their destination of Canterlot, with a single goal in mind. They were going to stop Sombra.