"I'm afraid there is nothing left for me and it is time for me to roam. The Everfree Forest has always been my home." Zecora declared, and after packing up her things she trotted off. She had no clear destination in mind.
As for Discord, he didn't really seem to care much one way or the other. He hadn't really bothered to listen in on the conversation Shining and his friends had before splitting up, and if he was being honest with himself he didn't care.
Shining decided that the least he could do to make himself useful before leaving for the Crystal Empire, was to check up on his sister. But a quick trip to the Golden Oaks Library simply confirmed what he'd feared, there were no written records of the Tree of Harmony.
"I'm sorry, B.B.B.F.F, but assuming that tree does exist, nopony ever bothered to look for it," Twilight told him. "And Cadence hasn't found anything either."
"Speaking of Cadence, how are things going for her and the Crystal Empire?" Shining asked. "Any progress reports?"
"Actually, there is one that was delivered just a short time ago," Twilight explained, picking up a scroll that she had kept stored in a cabinet beside her bed. "I think it's best if you read it yourself though, it's not pretty."
"Oh no, please tell me it's not what I think it is!" Shining thought, millions of worst case scenarios playing in his mind as he grabbed the scroll with his magic and began to read it:
Shining Armor,
Things are going alright here in the Crystal Empire, the Everfree Forest hasn't been able to even approach the Frozen North, but all contact with the rest of Equestria has been minimal.
I have recently received word from Flash Sentry, and he informs me that the situation in Canterlot is deteriorating fast!
Apparently, Prince Blueblood believes that since he is nobility, he should be leading Equestria in your leave of absence and my inability to leave the Crystal Empire, even though you appointed Flash Sentry to lead in your place.
To make matters worse, it seems that the Everfree Forest is continuing to expand at an alarming rate. Canterlot appears to be the next target of the expanding forest and orders are already being given to start preparing for evacuation to the Crystal Empire!
I'm trying my best to keep the faith for both of us, but it's becoming harder with each passing moment that goes by, as things continue to get worse and worse. I hope that you and your friends are at least working to stop the Everfree in its tracks, if not actively searching for the cause.
No matter what though, I hope you are all together. I know that at times you may doubt yourself, my husband, but time and time again you've shown why ponies look to you for guidance, and what it is that I saw in you.
Even when the going gets tough and things look bleak, you never give up. You have always found a way to save the day when it matters most, whether it be venturing into the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony, or making the decision to have Spike deliver the Crystal Heart to me and save the empire from Sombra's greedy clutches.
This situation may not be like any you've ever faced before, but you've always proven time and time again that you can overcome even the bleakest of odds and lead the way to a shining future. And I hope and pray that you will do the same again.
At the rate this is going, I fear it will take a miracle to save Equestria from falling apart. Both due to the Everfree's invasion, and due to the confusion that Blueblood and Flash Sentry are indirectly contributing to.
Please, you and your friends are Equestria's only hope! Whatever you need to save the day, hurry up and do it soon.
Sincerely,
Princess Cadence
Shining felt his heart sink, he thought he'd been doing the right thing by deciding not to accompany his friends in their search for the Tree of Harmony. After all, he wasn't the chosen one. But had he unintentionally doomed them and all of Equestria, just because of that fact?
"This doesn't make any sense!" Shining muttered to himself, before he dashed out of the library. There was only one being left who could provide anything close to advice, and chances were that being wasn't going to provide a straight answer.
Shining stumbled across Discord in the center of town, somehow using the back of Gummy to file the nails on his paws. He was humming an unfamiliar tune to himself, and thus he didn't seem to notice two random ponies getting tangled up in the thick black vines from the Everfree Forest.
"Help, please!" The ponies cried, as they struggled to no avail to escape their thorny prison.
"Discord!" Shining demanded, attracting the chaos maker's attention. "Don't just stand there, help those ponies out!"
"Oh, oops, don't know how I didn't notice that," Discord replied and snapped his fingers, causing the vines to disappear effortlessly. The two ponies were relieved, but they were also frightened of Discord and so they ran off, much to Discord's displeasure. "You're welcome!" He called, even though he knew the ponies in question wouldn't reply. "Hmph, that's gratitude for you. I save their lives and I don't get any compliments," He complained, then he noticed Shining. "Oh, what a surprise to see you back here already. Why the long face? No luck finding your tree, I assume?"
"He decided the gang was better off without him and they split up," Spike announced. "I would've offered my two bits, but I had to deliver that message to Twilight," Then to Shining he commented. "I still can't believe you're going through with your decision. You must be crazy."
"Takes one to know one," Discord taunted. "But the funny thing is, I agree with you, Spike, as much as it pains me to admit it."
Shining was quite puzzled, Discord had never agreed with Spike or anyone except maybe for Fluttershy. To see him actually stating he agreed with someone on anything was very much a surprise. "What are you talking about?! What was I supposed to do?! I'm not the chosen one, Twilight is!" He protested, stomping his hooves in frustration.
Discord laughed, a smug grin seemed to be quite noticeable on his face. "From what I gathered of you up until you took a sip of that potion, you didn't strike me as the kind of pony who could think that highly, or maybe I should say, that lowly of himself. In a way, it's like you think you're better than everypony else just because you have wings."
Determined not to let Discord get under his skin, Shining immediately protested. "I don't think I'm better than anypony else! If I was I would've tried to prove that destiny was wrong and raced off to fix the tree myself!"
"Really now? You're so hung up on what you saw in that tree that nopony was even aware existed until now," Discord replied, as he snapped his fingers and gave Shining a royal robe, and a golden scepter modeled after his face. "And think about it. All you did was simply choose to keep your precious princely self out of harm's way, while your friends go and thrust themselves right into it. But I'm sure you'll all be the best of pals again, when they return from their terrifying yet deeply bonding experience that they're probably having without you."
"My friends need to learn to not depend on me to solve all their problems," Shining insisted, throwing away the robe and the scepter. "Just because I'm a prince and captain of the royal guard doesn't mean I have all the answers!"
Discord's response was to sigh. "You just don't get it, do you? I can't believe I have to resort to this kind of stuff just to get you to see sense, I swore I wasn't going to start playing mind games after I became reformed. But I guess some promises were meant to be broken," Then he told Shining. "For a pony who claims he got his cutie mark in protection, you sure don't seem to be paying much attention to the 'protection' part of it. You sent your friends off into that forest filled with dangerous plants and animals when they have no magic of their own to keep them safe. But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, Princess Celestia seemed to prefer that 'sink or swim' method of teaching after she lost her connection to the elements."
Shining growled and clenched his teeth as he snorted. "You leave Princess Celestia out of this! She showed a willingness to intervene when necessary when she rid me of the lingering influences you left in my mind after our last battle! And she was quick to jump into the fray when Queen Chrysalis showed herself at my wedding! She told me herself that the reason she doesn't intervene as often as she could, is because if she did it would prevent her subjects from realizing they could solve the problem themselves! She has always said she would not hesitate to intervene if a situation truly seemed dangerous, and she proved that plenty of times before you were freed from your stone prison!"
"So maybe you have a point there," Discord reluctantly conceded. "But let me ask you a more important question, almighty prince. Did you forget that the Elements of Harmony won't work without all six of them being present at the same time and place? Even if your friends did find that tree and it was meant for your sister to wield the Element of Magic, how do you expect them to save the tree and defeat whatever is holding Princess Celestia and Princess Luna captive, when you are not there to provide the Element of Magic and power the complete set? I thought it was obvious why I tried to break you all apart the way I did, but I suppose you didn't take the lesson to heart."
Shining was about to protest, but then he thought back to when he and his friends had fought Discord when he was just a unicorn. One comment from Discord in particular stood out, the comment the witty spirit had made after Shining had failed to power up the Elements of Harmony and defeat him outside the Golden Oaks Library. "How did you expect to power those elements, when the spark that united you all has been extinguished?" That comment prompted a realization from Shining, almost like a huge flash had gone off in his mind. "What was I thinking?! I never should have agreed to split up the group!" He realized, and immediately turned to Spike. "Come on, Spike! We're going to find our friends and save that tree! Discord is right!"
"Whoa, hold up there!" Spike protested, even as he climbed onto Shining's back. "I'm glad you finally had some sense knocked into that thick skull of yours, but let's not get carried away with giving Discord all the credit for it. He may be reformed, but he's not that reformed. I'm sure he has his own reasons for encouraging you to thrust yourself into danger. Chances are he was just trying to get under your skin."
"Well, it worked!" Shining replied, a familiar sense of bravery creeping into his voice. "Now come on, our friends couldn't have gotten far! If we hurry I think we can catch up to them! Destiny or not they need my element to save the Tree of Harmony!"
Unfortunately, Shining and Spike quickly discovered that finding the Tree of Harmony was a lot harder than they had anticipated. And trying to follow their friends hoofprints only got them so far.
"Are you sure this is the right way, Shining?" Spike asked in an anxious tone of voice. "It feels like we're going in circles."
"This forest was chaotic enough as it was, but now it's even worse," Shining replied. "And unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, we're lost!"
"Great, that's a big help!" Spike sarcastically quipped.
Shining sighed, guilt washing over him like a huge wave. "This is all my fault, I never should've abandoned my friends. I can't believe I was so dumb!"
"We can't just give up!" Spike protested, then he spotted a branch nearby. "Maybe if I get up there, I'll be able to spot 'em and hopefully figure out how to get to them."
"It's worth a shot." Shining replied, and let Spike climb down from his back.
Spike quickly scaled up a massive set of vines and onto the branch. He looked all around, and soon his eyes caught sight of a decaying tree wrapped in the thorny black vines from earlier. And as luck would have it, standing right beneath that tree was a group of five familiar stallions. "Well, what do you know? Our luck is finally turning around!" The dragon commented.
"Can you see them?!" Shining called.
"Yes!" Spike nodded, and turned around as he prepared to tell Shining everything he had seen. But unfortunately, when he did so, Spike also noticed a rather menacing looking plant lurking behind Shining. "Shining, watch out! Behind you!" He shouted.
"What?!" Shining exclaimed, but did as he was told. He turned around just in time for the plant Spike had been trying to warn him about spray some kind of dust on him. Shining coughed and sputtered, whatever he'd been sprayed with was making him feel dizzy and weak. He tried to light up his horn, but it was too late, he was overwhelmed by a series of similar looking plants, all of which quickly sprayed the same kind of dust on him.
Spike gasped! "Shining!" He cried and prepared to unleash his fire breath on the plants.
"Forget about me... go get the others." Shining weakly insisted, barely able to get his command out.
Spike refused to obey, he took a deep breath and set fire to the first plant he could see. But much to his horror, the plant shrugged off the fire as if it were nothing! "Oh man, fire immune plants!" Spike exclaimed, and took off running before the plants could turn their attention to him. "Hang on, Shining, please! Without you, there's no hope left for Equestria, no matter what destiny might think!" He thought, as he rushed towards the location of the decaying tree he'd seen earlier.