The flash faded once again, and Shining found himself facing all of his friends, all of whom (except for Discord of course) took notice of the noticeable frown on his face.
"So, what did you manage to find out this time? Anything helpful?" Spike asked, quite concerned about Shining's unhappy look.
"I still couldn't find any leads about what happened to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but I saw something else that I think might explain what's going on," Shining announced. "The reason why the Everfree Forest is acting the way it is, is because something must have happened to the Tree of Harmony."
Everypony was quite confused, and even Spike and Zecora didn't seem to know what Shining was talking about. "Uh, don't hate me for this, but the Tree of what now?" Soarin spoke up, the most puzzled look on his face. "Nopony's ever heard of such a thing."
"Yeah, and you'd think something like that would've been mentioned by Princess Celestia or Princess Luna at some point." Thunderlane added.
"Well, I don't know why we never heard of it until now, but that tree is where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements of Harmony," Shining concluded. "Somehow the tree must have been responsible for keeping the Everfree under control, and now something has happened to it. I think it might be in danger!"
"Uh, we'd love to help, but we have no idea what the tree looks like," Big Macintosh commented. "I don't suppose there's any sort of way you could tell us what it looks like."
"Actually, how about I show you directly?" Shining suggested. "I can't conjur up an exact replica of what I saw, but I think I can give you a rough display with my magic," He proceeded to light up his horn, taking great care to monitor any possible surges of dark magic that might sprout up (using dark magic even a little could sometimes leave its influence in the mind of its user for a few hours). After a great deal of straining, the alicorn was able to display an image that more or less matched what he'd seen in his flashback, to the best of his ability anyway. "There, it looks something like this," He told the others. "Does that help?"
"I suppose it does a little, ain't ever seen a tree like that," Braeburn quipped. "And you think helpin' out that there tree is gonna solve all our problems?"
"Maybe not all of them, but it should at least get the Everfree Forest back under control," Shining commented. "Once that's taken care of, we can resume the search for the princesses, and hopefully something will turn up."
"Guess it's time for us to go find and save this 'Tree of Harmony'," Fancy Pants commented. "Uh... where exactly is that tree, anyway?"
"Well, I think it's in.... there." Shining explained, pointing a hoof towards the entrance to the Everfree Forest.
Fancy Pants gulped. "That's what I was afraid of."
"Me too, I was really hopin' it'd be somethin' else." Big Macintosh nervously added.
Discord, however, wasn't concerned. He simply looked at the forest entrance through a pair of 3-D glasses, while sitting in a lawn chair, and commented. "Ooh-hoo, now this should be interesting! I'm going to need more popcorn!"
"I take it you're not going to help us, are you?" Soarin remarked, eyeing Discord with suspicion.
"Hey, the Everfree Forest is far too chaotic even for my tastes! I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid!" Discord protested. "I have my own well being to think about you know, and just because I'm near indestructible doesn't mean I can't feel pain."
"Coward." Soarin muttered under his breath.
Hoping to change the subject, Thunderlane asked Shining. "So, shall we leave? We'll be right behind you every step of the way, think of it as a trip down memory lane."
"Yeah, it'll be just like the first time we went into that forsaken forest. Except this time you'll willing to accept your help." Fancy Pants added.
But Shining shook his head. "No, you guys are going to go ahead without me. You're going to find the tree, figure out what's wrong with it, and restore the balance needed to keep the Everfree Forest in check."
"Are you crazy?! We ain't just gonna turn our backs on you!" Braeburn demanded. "No way, no how, not happenin'!"
"Braeburn's right, we ain't about to leave our friend behind!" Big Macintosh added quite seriously.
But Shining was insistent, he shook his head once again. "You guys have to get used to doing things without me there to guide you. It seems like every time something goes wrong, you look to me for advice. Well, I got news for you, I'm not this perfect being, I can make mistakes. I never even asked to be your leader."
"Well, you sure do act like it at times. And you've got quite the knack for it." Fancy Pants observed.
"If you're worried about Cadence or Twilight, you needn't be. I can check up on Twilight and I'll find a way to contact you if Cadence finds anything," Spike vowed. "You have my word as a noble dragon."
"It's not that," Shining replied with another shake of his head. "The thing is, you all saw that the symbol carved onto the Tree of Harmony, right?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Soarin asked. "You're not making any sense."
"So, don't you see? It's my sister's cutie mark that's displayed on the tree, not mine!" Shining explained, stomping his hoof in frustration. "That means she was supposed to be the chosen one, the one to unlock the secret of the elements, pull off all those great feats, and become an alicorn. That's why her cutie mark is the same six pointed star as the Element of Magic."
"Well, you have the same star on your shield that makes up your cutie mark," Thunderlane observed. "Doesn't that mean the Tree of Harmony and the Element of Magic are connected to you as well?"
"No, I earned my cutie mark protecting Twily from those bullies, and my cutie mark has always symbolized protection, not magic," Shining glumly replied. "It's just a coincidence that the same six pointed star on my shield would be connected to any of this. Celestia took Twilight in specifically because she knew Twilight was meant to be the chosen one. But thanks to me, that was all changed, and now Equestria is paying the price."
"But Shining-" Braeburn protested.
"-No buts, my decision is final!" Shining interrupted. "I was never meant for any of this, it was all just a big misunderstanding! I never even earned my promotion to Captain like I was supposed to! I'm sorry, but now it's finally clear that my destiny was never meant for any of this! You guys go ahead and save the Tree of Harmony, that's an order!"
"But what about you?" Big Macintosh asked.
"I'll probably go back to the Crystal Empire, maybe even Canterlot," Shining replied. "If Celestia and Luna don't turn up when the Everfree Forest is brought back under control, we'll have to assume they've disappeared forever, and that means Cadence and I will have to take charge of Equestria. At least until I can find a way to give my wings to Twilight, who was meant to have them."
Soarin was about to speak up and utter a protest, but Big Macintosh silenced him. With a reluctant sigh he said to Shining Armor. "Well... if that's really what you wanna do in this situation, I suppose there ain't much we can do to make you change your mind. We managed to function once without your leadership, and somehow we'll find a way to do it again. But you know, I always thought you of all ponies didn't believe in destiny bein' set in stone, especially after you fixed the cutie mark swap. Guess maybe I was wrong."
And with that, Shining watched his friends take off for the Everfree Forest, leaving him alone with Spike, Zecora, and Discord. "It had to be done," He unhappily thought to himself. "Twilight was meant to be the chosen one, not me."