Twilight was humming a merry tune as she reorganized the shelves in her library. Ever since she got her new castle, reorganizing the books had been harder. But Twilight loved a good challenge. Carefully picking books off a nearby cart, she lined each of them up in their corresponding empty spots and set them down carefully. She was busy with the nonfiction section. Meanwhile, Spike was perched on a ladder nearby, carefully placing each book in its slot while also maintaining his balance. Twilight had placed her final book down and slid it in and sighed.
“There! All organized! How are you doing, Spike?” Twilight turned to look at the young drake, who was currently lining himself up with an empty slot. His cart was empty, but he carried the last three books in his small talons.
“Almost… there…” Spike had a look of utmost concentration as he finally lined himself up perfectly. Now, he slowly approached. “Come… on…”
Without warning, Twilight and Spike felt a wave of immense magic course through their bodies. It caused them to lose their balance and Spike tumbled down the ladder, having all three books fall on him.
“What the heck!? I was this close!” Spike held out an arm from under the books, getting his claws as close as possible without them touching.
“What… was that?” Twilight tried to light her horn, but it seemed like she wasn’t able to focus her magic on her horn. She ruffled her wings in nervousness. What if Tirek somehow escaped Tartarus? What if he already got to Celestia and Luna!? What if-
Another pulse of magic covered her entire body with pins and needles. Her fur stood on end as she shakily stood. No, that can’t be Tirek. He specializes in absorbing magic and releasing it destructively. Obviously, it wasn’t destructive. Not even the books on the shelves rattled when the magic pulsed like that.
Again. There it was again. It feels similar somehow. Like it was her magic. Another. That’s when she realized. That was the magic of the elements! Spike was lifting the books off of his body when another pulse caused him to flinch and make the books fall on him yet again.
“Spike, I’m going out!” Twilight called while running out of the library. A muffled ‘Okay!’ was heard behind her, so she kept running through the crystal corridors. When Twilight reached the entrance to her castle, she opened the crystal doors with her magic…
…only to run into Rainbow Dash.
“OOMPH!” They both said as they tumbled to the floor. Rainbow was the first to recover, with Twilight right behind her. Twilight looked at Rainbow and noticed the fear in her eyes.
“Twilight! Do you feel-” Another pulse. “THAT!?” Rainbow pointed her hooves all around her while her eyes frantically looked at Twilight.
“Yes, I do. And I believe that I know what is causing it.” Twilight stated.
“You do!? Oh, I am SO glad that you’re an egghead!” Rainbow pushed herself into Twilight’s face, pressing her nose against Twilight’s. “So, what is it?”
“Well, I was going to get-” Twilight was cut off by multiple hoofsteps outside her castle. Looking around Rainbow, who turned to see as well, she saw the rest of her friends running down the dirt path to Twilight’s castle.
“Twilight! Rainbow! Ah am so happy to see y’all!” Applejack stopped next to the right of Rainbow. To Rainbow’s left, a timid yellow mare put on the parking brake and looked similarly frightened to Rainbow.
“Whatever that is… it’s scaring all of the critters!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “And it feels so… familiar…” Fluttershy hid behind her mane as Rarity pulled up beside her. Unlike the others, she was angry.
“Whatever dreadful thing is doing all of this… this MAGIC nonsense, caused me to tear an order for a noble!” Twilight liked to believe that steam was coming out of the ivory unicorn’s ears. All the way to the right, Pinkie appeared next to Applejack, twitching like she was having an epileptic seizure.
“Twitchy tail, creaky knees, curly fright, itchy nose!” Pinkie was neither afraid nor angry, she just looked happy to be here. “Something very interesting is happening!” Pinkie started bouncing up and down, only to stop when another magic pulse caused them all to flinch. Fluttershy hit the deck, Applejack hid her face behind her hat, Rarity fainted, Pinkie just stopped midair, and Rainbow just flinched big time. Being the only magic scholar here, Twilight just shuddered.
“So Twilight, do ya know what the hay is happenin’?” Applejack asked, pulling her hat back atop her head. All of her friends awaited an answer.
“Yes, I have a pretty good idea about what is happening, or at least, where it is coming from.” Twilight stepped past her friends, who parted to let her through. She stepped outside her castle and into the fresh air. When her friends followed, the doors closed automatically, causing everypony to flinch except for Twilight.
“Just tell us already!” Rainbow nervously trotted in place while Twilight calmly walked down the path toward Ponyville.
“Well, one thing is certain. When the magic pulse happens, what do you feel?” As if to demonstrate, another magic pulse flooded them. Twilight turned to face her friends.
“Oh! Oh! I know! I feel all funny inside, just like when we use the elements!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and down excitedly.
“Well, I do feel a bit like when we use the elements.” Rarity puffed her hair.
“For a lack of words… I feel more… kind?” Fluttershy pawed at the ground.
“Well, Ah just feel some strange magic. It does feel mighty similar to when we use the elements, but that could just be me.” Applejack stated her opinion.
“All I know is that I don’t like it! It does kind of feel like my element, but what if it’s some strange monster!? We’ll have to beat its flank!” Reinvigorated, Rainbow flew into the air and began to shadowbox the… air.
“Well, with all of your opinions, what do you think is happening?” Twilight awaited their answer.
Her friends all paused and sank into deep thought. After a few moments, Applejack spoke up.
“Ah’m stumped.” Applejack plainly said.
“Oh, silly Applejack! If we all know it has to do with our elements, then that means the magic is coming from our elements! In the Tree of Harmony!” Cue confetti. Pinkie hopped up and down once again, not stopping for the magic pulse this time.
“Pinkie is correct. From what I can feel so far, this magic is originating from within the Everfree. With 99% certainty, this magic is coming from the Tree of Harmony.” Twilight turned back down the path and began to walk again. Noticing that they are needed, they fell in line beside Twilight.
“If we’re going on another adventure, count me in!” Rainbow boldly proclaimed. The rest of her friends cheered in acceptance.
“All right girls! We’re going to journey into the Everfree Forest, and find out what is wrong with our elements!” All at once, they clapped hooves and ran down the dirt path, straight to the Everfree Forest.
As they approached the Everfree Forest, they immediately noticed that something was off. Usually, the Everfree gave off an eerie and foreboding feeling that made ponies turn back in terror. Now, however, that feeling was absent, diminished by the periodic pulses of magic. The frequency had dropped, now being one pulse every minute. It was strange entering the Everfree Forest without the ever-present feeling of dread looming over their shoulders.
“I don’t know if I like this Everfree more or not.” Fluttershy shakily said.
“Well, all ponies are afraid of change. We know it’s not natural for something like this to change. I am nervous too.” Twilight stated without looking back. She didn’t want her friends to see her apprehension. What if it really was Tirek? What if he came back to destroy the Tree? What if the Plundervines are back? What if the-
Her train of thought was rudely interrupted by a large manticore barreling straight toward them. All of them shrieked and dove for cover, all except Rarity, who was frozen. They all thought that it was over for Rarity when the manticore finally reached her. Instead of gobbling her up, however, it jumped straight over her and continued running. Let’s face it, they weren’t surprised when Rarity fainted.
They all breathed a collective sigh of relief as Twilight woke Rarity back up.
“What the hay just happened!?” Rainbow finally blurted as they got back on track.
“I-I don’t know. Maybe the animals can feel the magic as well, but maybe it’s affecting them differently.” Twilight thought.
“...well, all of the critters back at home were afraid as well. Maybe it’s the same for the Everfree critters…” Fluttershy responded.
“That might be it.” There were many more instances of animals running away from the magic pulses, including a hoard of cockatrices. About three-quarters of the way there, they spotted a familiar face sitting next to the path.
“Zecora!” Twilight ran up to the zebra and was about to give her a hug. However, she stopped when she noticed Zecora mumbling incoherent words under her breath, her eyes half-lidded and glazed over. She had her large cloak over most of her body, obscuring anything that could be on her.
“Woah, that’s freaky.” Rainbow Dash poked Zecora, making Twilight slap her hoof away. Zecora, however, did not react in the slightest.
“...is she alright?” Fluttershy nervously asked.
“She looks like she has gone crazy.” Applejack honestly said.
“I think this is a Zebrican ritual. It would be unwise of us to interrupt.” Twilight turned away, the still-woozy Rarity trailing just behind her. Her friends nodded, giving Zecora a parting glance as they continued down the path.
When they reached the ravine where the Tree resided, they expected anything. Well, they thought they did. Down inside the ravine, coming out of the cave, were long and thick crystal tendrils. When the magic pulsed again, the vines grew, slowly climbing the walls of the ravine.
“Are those… the Plundervines?” Rarity asked, squinting her eyes.
“No, we know what the Plundervines looked like.” Twilight pointed at the tendrils again, noting their crystalline exterior and overall smooth nature. “Those aren’t Plundervines. If anything, they look to be part of the Tree of Harmony.”
“...but, the Tree of Harmony hasn’t moved for years. The Tree isn’t bad… is it?” Fluttershy looked back down the ravine, watching the crystal vines as they slowly grew up the walls of the ravine.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Twilight got closer to her friends and cast a teleportation spell, or she tried. Her horn flickered to life momentarily before the magic faded uselessly. “Ugh, fine, we’ll take the stairs.” As they approached the stairs, Rainbow Dash snickered and flew down to the bottom of the ravine, blowing a raspberry. Twilight rolled her eyes and began down the stairs, followed closely by her friends. Fluttershy had not flown down alongside Rainbow. Really shows how roles can change.
When they reached the bottom, Rainbow was laying on a rock nearby and waved at them. Twilight heard a grumble from behind her, probably coming from Rarity. Regardless, the six friends walked closer and closer to the cave, noticing that the magic pulses had gotten much stronger as they had gotten closer. Unlike the Plundervines, these crystal vines made no move to attack them. In fact, they moved out of the way for the group to travel inside the cave.
Fluttershy muttered a ‘thank you’ and bowed to the crystal vines. When they entered the cave, they saw the Tree in all of its glory. They all gasped.
“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity breathed.
“Talk about a growth spurt, amirite?” Rainbow looked back and forth and grunted when nopony replied.
“How? How did it grow so… large?” Twilight took a step forward, marveling at the Tree’s increased size. It was already large before, maybe 20 feet tall, but now it used up the extra space in the cavern to grow even larger. The top of the tree was digging into the ceiling, making it crack and groan. Even now, it was growing larger. The branches seemed to warp and change, and new branched had begun to sprout. It looked a bit more like a normal tree. Every time it pulsed, white magic streaked across its crystalline exterior and down into the vines, no, roots.
“Wait, where are the elements?” Pinkie suddenly asked. Upon hearing Pinkie’s claim, her friends and Twilight scoured the Tree with their eyes and all came to the same question.
“Where are the Elements!?”
Meanwhile, in Canterlot…
“Were you right, Sister? Is that magic really coming from the tree?” A regal blue alicorn asked, staring out over the balcony. In the distance, the Everfree sprawled for countless miles.
“Yes, Luna, I am sure of it. I once wielded the Elements, I should know its magic by heart.” A taller and more regal alabaster alicorn replied, her tone motherly and calm.
“Do you know what is happening? Sure, the Tree was around 1000 years ago, but it hasn’t changed much since then.” Luna narrowed her eyes as a brief flash of white came from the center of the forest. “Celestia, what was that?”
“I see. It seems that the Tree has determined that we need it.” Celestia stood and turned away from the balcony, walking into a big bedroom with purple walls.
“Need it? Tia, what are you talking about?” Luna turned her head to follow Celestia into the room. The bedsheets were covered with suns, matching Celestia’s cutie mark perfectly.
“The Tree of Harmony is large as it is now, but know that it is not at its full size, not even close.” Celestia’s long horn was wrapped with a warm yellow glow as a false section of the wall was removed. Inside was a small brown box, sealed with a heavy yellow rune.
“More secrets to be kept from me?” Luna looked less than pleased, but curious nonetheless as Celestia pulled out the box.
“I never meant this to be a secret, but things were better left not known. However, I cannot keep it a secret any longer.” Celestia brought her horn to the rune and it shattered instantly. Without wasting any time, the lid of the box was wrapped in the same yellow glow and removed. When the lid was removed, Luna gasped as her eyes widened.
“Sister… how long…?” Luna looked betrayed. A rhythmic white pulse came from within the box, pulsing once a minute. Celestia lowered her gaze.
“Dare I say an extra? We needed only six, but when it gave one more, it was not connected to the others.” Celestia’s horn glowed again, wrapping whatever was in the box.
“Is this… truly…?” Luna placed a forehoof to her mouth as the item was removed from the box.
“Yes. This is…” The item was a white gem, seemingly carved to be shaped like the moon. “The Element of Forgiveness.”
