Update on first Chapter and a deleted Scene

Still working on the first chapter - work has been slow, especially since it is sometimes hard to decide between things to keep and to remove completely, because they do not fit into the "flow". I hope I made the right decision with the last thing I changed.

Still, the scene I deleted contained a nice theory. I don't want to remove it completely, so I will just post it here:

“Oh, half a year. Celestia told me to keep quiet and not to write things down, but I had to. My mind was full of theories about the origins of Cutie Marks, on how the Tree is connected to everypony this way. It also explains the Map and our Cutie Marks reacting to it.” She smiled broadly as she rattled down her monologue. “Though it kept me also thinking on what would happen, if the Tree of Harmony died. Would we all lose our Cutie Marks then? Would we keep them and only new born foals would never get one? Maybe some other mechanic would become the root for this magic? And what should we do if it happened? There are so many questions!”

Luna closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Twilight was still a child, and very excitable about all prospects magic. Especially on a topic that hasn’t been researched too deeply. And right now she stood on the verge of discovering something great.

“Calm yourself”, Luna interjected. “The Tree is not dying. As long as it has the Elements of Harmony, it will continue to strive.”

“But it was close to dying already.”

“Which took thousands of years and Discord playing his cards for all that time. This will not happen anytime soon. Trust me.”

Twilight looked in Luna’s eyes and nodded after a long moment of silence. She probably was deliberating with herself.
“I do not know the nature of the spell that was cast, I only know that it was very, very powerful. It is even beyond Discord’s power to undo.” She looked at Twilight, staring at her. “Empowered by all your friends you were even able to access the power of the tree and defeat discord, who had everypony’s and Discords magic.” As Twilight looked up, she let out a deep breath and continued. “The Tree must not be subjected to any experiments, to anything that would alter its magic even to the slightest. That much power could render Equestria into a total wasteland …”

Twilight gasped. A plethora of emotions played over her muzzle until she finally nodded. “I promise that I won’t touch the Tree or encourage anypony to do so”, she said, closed her eyes and crossed her heart with her right forehoof.
Luna nodded at the promise and allowed herself a smile. It was probably her curiosity that led to Celestia telling her in secret.