//------------------------------// // Twilight's Test Pt. 3: Twilight's Triumph and Return // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Twilight didn't know what she was supposed to find in the tomb, but what she had found, unsurprisingly, was a friend. Or at least, a new potential ally, which was good enough for her. The pony known as War led Twilight to the exit of the strange, dark catacomb. It felt like hours since the two had begun talking and by the end, Twilight had learned much, including a terrible, terrible truth, one which had been kept from them all from the very beginning... the truth of Rice, his son and the princesses. "I'm... I don't know what to say," Twilight said. "If you do not believe me, you may ask them," War said. "I can see the conflict in any heart, for therein lies the roots of war." "No, no, I believe you," she said. She turned back to him. "And if what you say is really true... well, we could use your help." The fiery stallion raised an eyebrow. "Truly? You know what my powers bring, Twilight Sparkle. I would engulf every heart upon your world in the fires of war, set passions ablaze until not was left but-" "Ashes, yes, I get the idea," Twilight said. "And you called me a broken record." "You do talk about friendship a lot." "My point is- about war, not about friendship, my point about war is that... well, some battles have to be fought. Some wars, too," Twilight said, almost questioning herself. Almost. "This an important fight. We have to win this battle for the future of Equestria. For all our futures." War cracked an approximation of a smile. The stallion was a column of flames that seemed to be on fire themselves. The fire on War produced no smoke, no light of its own and no heat. It simply burned. And burned. And burned. Yet... that wasn't entirely true. As in everything, there were flaws. While War's bodily flames didn't appear to be anything sort of natural, there were still elements of humanity in them. The occasional ember crackled, the pulse of warmth was carried in the air and just the tiniest scent of burning incense could be detected. Equestria's magic was not flawless magic, and while that and the power of the Fausticorn had given life to the incorporeal, it had also humanized it. Through that, it became something more, something it could not have been otherwise. Perhaps that was the Faust's greatest gift; in delivering humanity, she had allowed them all to do the impossible. And Twilight seized on that. "You said your sisters were purified. They became something good. That can happen to you." "I...," he trailed off. His eyes flickered to the floor. "...Okay." "Okay? That's it?" "I'm the embodiment of war. I don't make halfhearted decisions." He turned away from her. "I'll join you when the time is right. For me to be unleashed now would only doom your world twice over. If you truly think... that there's a place for me," he looked back at her. In that, the briefest of moments, his irises appeared and she saw his eyes for the first time. "I'll be there when you need me." "Okay..." Twilight said, unsure but grateful. The cold grew around her as he departed. "Thank you." "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle." The fiery pony continued back into the tomb and vanished. And then, just as Twilight turned around, she heard his voice in her head. "There's something up ahead for you, a vision of sorts." "What kind of vision?" "I don't know. This tomb was meant to test the rulers of the new Equestria, to see if they could tame the elements. Only the royal family has ever set hoof here." "Wait... royal family like Blueblood? Or..." "He is not of the Royal Family. Only the ponies that carry the blood of the Fausticorn herself have come through here." Those words echoed in Twilight's mind. "So... wait," she looked down at her own hooves. And then up at her wings. And even her mane. "Does that mean..." "Go now, Twilight Sparkle. Your friends are waiting for you. Together, you may be able to save your family." "My family," Twilight repeated. The first thing that came to mind was her mom, dad and Shining and Cadence. She'd just visited her parents before she went on vacation. But as she kept thinking about that word, about 'family', the picture kept growing in her mind. Spike, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and all her friends, then Dan, Chrys, Fluffle Puff, Marksaline, it kept growing. So many she shared a bond with, so many had an impact in her life. "My family," she said again, more resolved. Yes, and she was going to get them all back, no matter what. Vice Grip was going to pay. A fire began burning in her once again, a fact possibly attributed to her new friend and Dan. Wherever he was, she had to find him- no doubt he would be proud of her if he saw her right now. She picked up the pace, trotting down the long corridor of the tomb. Finally, she reached a door, which looked oddly similar to the one she and Spike had seen in the Crystal Empire. She did not hesitate; with a deep breath, she gripped it surely with her magic, pulled it into her hoof and opened it. "Oh... my," she whispered to herself. In front of her stood a tree on a hill. The tree glowed brilliantly as if it was covered in gems. The sky above didn't seem to have many stars as the jewels that gleamed on the tree, and that fact actually gnawed at Twilight as she pondered it. But it was only a fleeting thought before it was gone, and she beheld another sight. Two ponies, a mare and a stallion, approached the tree. Their bodies glowed as brightly as the tree itself- the mare in a vibrant swirl of purple, blue and pink and the stallion in a radiant orange, red and yellow. They seemed young-looking, and were apparently a couple, if Twilight had to guess. Twilight wasn't sure if she was watching an actual event unfolding or the representation of something. If she had to guess, she'd choose the latter, but something about it felt like she was being shown these things this way for a reason. The orange stallion was a pegasus and the purple mare was a unicorn. A group of seeds loosened from the tree behind them and glowed. Suddenly, the scene changed. The two figures planted the first seed in a new location, a planet devoid of life. They tended to it with care and it slowly began to sprout. The land began to bloom into life around them. Above them, a large glowing light appeared in the sky. The two looked at it longingly for a moment, and held each other, before they faded away and the vision changed again. The second seed was planted on a desert world with sparse vegetation. The two ponies worked hard to care for the seed, and it nearly withered away. But after a long time, they were successful, and the desert world, too began to bloom with life. Castles sprang up in the background. The glowing ball of light that appeared behind them was further away now but still there. The two watched it before the stallion figure pulled them away, and they flew off again together. A third seed was planted on a hostile world filled with beasts. The fourth took purchase surrounded by a massive storm. The two ponies clung to each other while protecting the sprout until it too, finally grew and the storm subsided. The two ponies frolicked and played as the trees around the galaxy grew and evolved. Each one was a bit different, but all had the same markings on it, the old symbol for Harmony that Twilight had seen in the books. The five Elements and the sixth Element of Harmony in the center, these were Trees of Harmony, Twilight thought. These two ponies were planting them on other planets to give them their own harmony. The trees were not the only things that grew. The two figures themselves changed. Their colors became more solid, their forms larger, they were growing up. They changed from a pegasus and a unicorn into two alicorns. Through it all, they seemed to stay together. It was then Twilight realized what she was being shown a vision of: the king and queen of Equestria, Celestia and Luna's parents. The small circle of light that the pair had pined for diminished with each passing world. Eventually, it became one of the blanket of stars that scoured the night sky. The two ponies no longer looked back, they looked forward. More seeds began to circle them, but they were not the same seeds of harmony, but new seeds entirely. Something all too sinister was happening to them. Massive roots began to encircle planets. Petals of some sort of giant flower began to consume entire stars and then burn brightly with their light. The colossal flowers spat jets of light from their petals that incinerated planets, while their roots tangled through solar systems. Entire worlds began being dragged by glowing vines. Dozens of alien species looked up in horror as their stars disappeared, their planets became ensnared and their homes destroyed. Glowing roots shackled their hands, feet, wings, tentacles and other appendages. The entire galaxy became ensnared by the glowing trees, and the roots continued growing, spreading out, searching, hungry for more. The tiny light that was Equestria was small now and surrounded by a vast and haunting forest. It was somewhat how Ponyville was cradled by the Everfree Forest, only much larger and far more dangerous. Finally, the scene returned to the original Tree of Harmony. It was now in a dark cave, hidden from the stars. Was it also hidden from the king and queen, then? A cloaked figure that could have been Dan, could have been Vice Grip, even could have been the Director approached the tree. They took a single seed from the tree and it glowed red in their metallic hands, as red as a Sword Spell. Twilight woke up. Her heart was racing, she gulped each breath down to fill her lungs. "Hey hey, calm down," someone told her. "And try to keep your voice down, too." "Where-where am I?" She looked around. She was in a hospital bed. There was a window near her, but it seemed to have some sort of mesh screen over it that she couldn't see out of. The curtain in front of her pulled back. A blue donkey mare put a tray with water and a piece of some kind of what Twilight assumed was food on a nightstand next to her. "You're in the infirmary. You must've been responsive if they moved you here- you were in a coma when they first found you." "I was in a coma?" Twilight repeated. She felt her head, her horn, then the rest of her, inspecting herself for damage. She seemed to be okay, no worse for wear. "Yes, for about three months. And try to keep your voice down, sweetie. There's a riot in progress going on around here." "A riot?" Twilight asked, not keeping her voice down. "Where are we?" "I told you already- you're in the infirmary." "The infirmary of what?!" "The Bursavis Prison Complex."