It was still and quiet within the cave that housed the Tree of Harmony. Celestia was glad for this, especially as it had been a lot of trouble to clear a brief span of time in her schedule to come and visit it. She could only use the excuse of “Official State Secrets” so many times with Kibitz after all. Still, what little time she had gave her the chance to once more examine the Tree with somepony whom she trusted.
Soft hoofsteps heralded another’s arrival, and she turned to face them with a smile. “I hear you had a busy time last night.”
Luna held her head proudly and remarked, “I was not busy, dear sister. I was engaged.” A smile formed upon her muzzle as she added, “In matters most pleasant and long overdue.”
Celestia smiled in return. “It’s about time. It feels like we’ve been waiting for that to happen for years.” She turned to the Chest and noted, “I only hope that we don’t wait years for this to be resolved. I’ve faith that Twilight is up to the task, but still, there’s so much that we don’t know.” A sad look crossed her face. “Luna, do you remember the first time we saw the Tree of Harmony?”
“Clearly. It was shortly after we were crowned, on the land that would one day become the city of Canterlot. We toured Equestria, escorted by Star Swirl the Bearded as he began teaching us in magic, and sought a place to build our home. When we came upon the Tree, it seemed logical to build our castle nearby.” She narrowed her eyes and realized, “It was smaller then.”
“Indeed. It had grown to this size by the time Star Swirl directed us to it as a possible means of defeating Discord. He never explained how or why either, only that the Tree would give us what we needed.” She turned to her sister and asked, “Do you think I took after him too much?”
“Oh, heavens no, Sister. Star Swirl never purposefully left others in the dark when he could have simply given them the information they needed before sending them on their way, or kept secrets for the sake of keeping secrets.”
Celestia frowned at her sibling’s sarcastic tone. “He never gave us the answers, Luna. We had to figure them out for ourselves.”
“No, but he did give us the information we needed, explained how to apply that information, and then made certain that we understood that which we learned under safe conditions. It doesn’t matter if the fate of Equestria is at stake, Celie, that’s no excuse for tossing your student to the wolves with nothing but sheer faith.” Luna leaned in and added, “Even if it has worked a few times, it won’t work forever.”
The elder sister bowed her head. “I know. And I’ve been trying, Luna, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before history repeats, and Twilight lashes out at me as Sunset did. It’s no wonder the Elements were beyond our use after I used them against you.” She sighed. “I don’t know who was more disappointed in me after that. Myself, or Star Swirl.”
“He never stopped talking to you, Celie. That’s hardly a bad sign.”
“Still, he vanished without explanation within years of that incident. I haven’t been able to justify entering his old rooms at Canterlot since. For all I know, the books within have been torn apart by squirrels or something, and all his knowledge was lost.” She looked back up at the tree and asked aloud, “Wherever he went, is he aware of what we’ve done? What would his thoughts be?”
“He’d be stubbornly opposed to Spike even setting foot in Canterlot. That much is certain. How he felt about other things, I’ve no clue, but he’d probably be horrified by the modern era.” A sympathetic look crossed her face as she admitted, “I know that I was at first.” She shook her head. “In any case, we can agree that this mystery is frustrating. The longer one lasts, the less likely it is to be resolved to satisfaction.” She looked to her sister and noted, “Though I suspect that you have a theory. Knowing you, however, you’re keeping it close to your chest, lest you find yourself wrong.”
“It’s less fear of being wrong and more trying to avoid getting my hopes up.” Celestia steeled herself and noted, “Still, it does me no good to keep this theory to myself. Excluding you caused far too much trouble, and solved none.” She looked to her sister and offered, “Luna, when the Tree granted us the Elements, there were six.”
“Yes, three for each of us two. Five of the six would be foundations for a strong bond and create the sixth, the magic of friendship itself.”
“Yet they were not enough to prevent so many things from going wrong over the years, prominent among them the loss of you for a millennium.” Celestia looked to the core of the Tree and the Element of Magic in particular. “And for all that time, I hoped that I would find those able to carry them before your return. I thought Sunset was my last chance until Twilight came along.”
“Indeed, I think that even she has acknowledged that she was not the intended bearer.”
“And yet…” Celestia took on an enigmatic smile as she reasoned aloud, “perhaps Sunset’s contact with the Element of Magic brought about something we didn’t see at first glance. Something missing from the original formula.”
“A seventh Element of Harmony?” Luna offered. “What could be missing? Honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity and loyalty are all equal parts of a strong friendship.”
“Yes, but think. We were as close as they, and we were divided because something was lacking. Something that Twilight and her friends have sometimes failed to use. Something that only came to me through many years of reflection and consideration.” Celestia’s eyes twinkled as she added, “Something that Sunset has, for good and for ill.”
“Which helped her to defeat the Nightmare.” Luna’s expression brightened. “If this supposition is true, Celie, then…”
The elder alicorn laughed. “Then I think someone’s inflicted us with that old kirin curse. We live in interesting times.”
The younger smirked. “As if we did not already live in such times.” She sighed and noted, “Still, harmony alone is not enough. I think, at times, we’ve forgotten something of equal import, something which produces harmony if meted properly, but is not an Element itself. We both know of victims of injustice, Celie. There are so many, even a few due to our actions, and we need to answer for them.” She tilted her head and noted, “I’m not saying I wish to be banished to the moon again or anything, but…”
“No, you’re right.” Celestia stood up. “And we’ll face them as they come.”
-
Another world away, it was a crisp Saturday morning in February as Sunset stepped out of the building which housed her apartment. The air was cool and the sun was barely peeking out from behind the clouds above, but there was no wind to bite at her exposed skin. Still, she pulled her jacket in close before slipping on her earbuds and starting up the MP3 player tucked into her pocket. She grinned as she recognized the song, and then went on her way.
The last month had been smooth sailing for her and her friends. Applejack confirmed that she’d regained the use of her magic the night after Rainbow Dash had found hers once more and reunited with her mother. The rest of the girls followed shortly thereafter as Dash assembled her band for the upcoming Musical Showcase, with Fluttershy being the next much to everyone’s surprise. Sunset hadn’t been there to see it for herself, but Rarity had thankfully recorded her ponying up on her cell phone, and filled in the rest without any hesitation and much glowing praise for her animal-loving friend’s ways with small creatures and hypnotic talent with a tambourine.
Sunset, for her part, playfully teased Rarity about how she’d quickly warmed to the mass of hamsters, only for them to quickly go out of control as she attempted to dress them. To her credit, the fashionista took it in stride.
Pinkie was the next one. Due to her excess energy and her tendency towards percussion with anything and everything available to her, the party girl soon found herself recruited into the band as a drummer. Sunset chuckled at the memory of her first drum session’s aftermath and the sight of Pinkie ponied up with her tongue sticking out of one corner of her mouth like a deranged Muppet.
Rarity had been the last to find her place in the band, though not for lack of trying. Somehow, she’d managed to acquire a grand piano, though it proved to be more trouble than it was worth to transport – no wheels. Rarity briefly resorted to having the Diamond Dog boys carry her about upon it like a palanquin before she was convinced to go with a more portable instrument, a keytar. Much to her surprise, she took to it like a duck to water.
All of this hadn’t been lost on the rest of the school, however, particularly with Sparkler and Rose. They chose to tell them part of the truth, rather than all of it – no mention was made of Sunset’s origins, but they had the full particulars of the night of the Fall Formal. Much to Sunset’s relief, they hadn’t changed their opinion of her at all, and were happy to continue hanging out with their friends.
The rest of the student body, meanwhile, was slowly starting to shift in its views towards her. Vinyl, of course, flashed her a smile whenever the two crossed paths, though Octavia remained coldly polite. As for the rest, there were still many who looked upon her with scorn, with Trixie chief among them, but a few had begun to view her with shame and guilt, and her coworkers at Zecora’s shop were actually being more social than before. Perhaps word had spread about what she’d said to those who’d mobbed her shortly before Winter Break, and other students had gained some sympathy for her over the Anon-A-Miss incident. Perhaps they’d felt an odd sense of gratitude for her role in Leading Rose’s expulsion from the school; the boy wasn’t feared or hated like she was, but he was universally considered obnoxious. Either way, it was a change that she enjoyed, however small.
Some things nagged at her, however, among them the fact that she was still keeping secrets here and there. Sparkler and Rose not knowing the full truth bugged her, even if her silence on the matter was necessary. Less necessary for her was the fact that she was still keeping some tidbits from Principal Celestia. Her principal had opened up to her about everything, but there was one detail she’d kept to herself – her message journal. Sunset wasn’t proud of this, but as of yet it hadn’t been important. Hopefully, one day, she’d have a chance to reveal those secrets once and for all.
Beyond that, however, she’d kept in touch with Twilight. Her mentor in the magic of friendship found time to fill her in with what was going on in Equestria even as they worked together on research regarding the portals and the mysterious Chest of Harmony. Sunset, in turn, had kept Twilight in touch with what she knew and found out. Much to her surprise, the princess had been delighted at some of the news, in particular that Sunset had met and befriended the counterpart of one of Twilight’s own classmates from their alma mater. That had raised questions of its own regarding Doctor Turner, but that was a mystery for another day it seemed.
In any case, these were all the last things on Sunset’s mind as she made her way down the street towards Sugar Cube Corner and her steps went from normal to a loose, gleeful dance as she went along and let the music move her. Maybe she’d see her friends, but she was definitely going to snag some donuts. Mrs. Cake made some fantastic donuts.
“Come on down to the grand opening of the Flim Flam Brothers’ Everything Under the Sun Emporium!”
Sunset stopped upon the sidewalk in surprise just a short distance from the door to Sugar Cube Corner at that call, itself loud enough to be heard over the fairly light sounds of her music. As she plucked out her earbuds, she heard a familiar chord from a bass guitar, and made her way as quickly as she could to the source. A short dash over a couple blocks and some additional calls, and she found the source. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Standing a ways down the block in front of a storefront dominated by large signs were her friends and their younger siblings. What really caught her attention about it was that each of them were dressed up in banana costumes, Applejack forced to have her Stetson perched upon the stem, and playing their instruments. The only one who seemed enthusiastic about all of this was Pinkie Pie as she gleefully played out a rapid beat on a snare drum strapped around her waist. The Crusaders, just adding to the absurdity, were shaking banana-themed maracas. People passing by, some among their number other students at CHS, watched on with amusement and took the odd picture or video of the sight with their phones.
Sunset herself wasn’t sure if she should laugh or stand there and gawk at the sight, until Pinkie finally noticed her and gleefully waved. She approached as her brain finally caught up with what she was seeing and asked, “Did all of you guys just get some weird part time job, or what?”
“It’s something like that, darling,” Rarity admitted as she played a few notes upon her instrument. “Though perhaps karma is also finally catching up with us.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t run us over in the process,” Sweetie Belle quipped, leading to gleeful giggles from Pinkie.
It was at this point that Sunset found herself thinking of an old comedy skit that she’d seen once in Equestria, one that Celestia herself had gotten a laugh out of despite it casting the princess in a less than pleasant light. Despite the fact that she hadn’t thought too highly of the skit itself, she couldn’t help but laugh at it along with her teacher and ruler, and the giggles were coming back to her now seeing her friends in front of her. “So, um, were the costumes your idea?”
Rarity glared at her. “What do you think?”
This caused a snort before Sunset asked, “So, I guess…you don’t like…bananas?”
Applejack looked over to her and called out, “There somethin’ we’re missin’ out on?”
Sunset struggled to think of something not funny as she worked to regain control. “It’s a long story, you don’t want to know.” After several seconds and a couple deep breaths, she calmed down. “Sorry. I’ll get out of your hair and…”
And then she felt a familiar vibration from her backpack and heard a familiar buzzing sound from behind her. She moved against a wall and into cover as best she could, then pulled out her message journal as her friends watched. “Sunset? What’s going on? Is it bad news from Twilight?”
“No.” Her eyes quickly scanned over the latest message. “It’s good news.” Sunset looked up to Rarity with joy as she answered, “It’s Sunrunner. They found her.”