With Twilight coming back from her trance-like state, the group was relieved that she was still okay.
But the words that she said right after were more than confusing.
"We need to find...the Tree of Harmony!" She said determinedly.
"The tree of what now?" Rainbow Dash asked confused.
Twilight briefly explained what she gathered. "I still don't know what's happened to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, but I think I know why the Everfree Forest is acting this way. Something's happened to the Tree of Harmony," she said.
"And...what is this Tree of Harmony?" Star Twinkle asked.
Twilight explained further. "It's where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements. I think it's in danger."
Despite not fully knowing the whole story, Applejack walked towards Twilight with the determination to find and save this tree. Twilight had some kind of idea where it was and of course, it was the most dangerous place that they could think of, right now. "I think it's in... there," Twilight said as she pointed towards the Everfree Forest.
Whatever this Tree of Harmony was or how it was connected to everything that happened to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the group had to stop it, even if it meant to go into the Everfree Forest. The whole group stood in front of the entrance of the Everfree Forest with a familiar feeling in their mind.
"Seems like only yesterday we were heading into these woods to find the Elements of Harmony," Rarity said, referring to the last Summer Sun Celebration.
"Seems like only yesterday I was foolish enough to think I should go after them on my own," Twilight said as she was leading the way.
"Seems like only yesterday I was all alone..." Star Twinkle thought, putting a frown on his face for a second.
"I don't know what we're going to face in there. But whatever it is, I know we need to face it together," Twilight said determined, which was followed by her friends cheering in agreement.
The group wandered through the forest for a little while without getting in any trouble so far. This moment of safety gave Star Twinkle the opportunity to think about what Discord said before. About how his Element of Harmony is not supposed to be there. This caused him to look down on his necklace. He didn't want to worry about it but Discord's words were now stuck in his head. He instantly regretted to ask Discord instead of just dealing with his current situation and accepting it. He just had to ask away and make himself feel bothered again.
Twilight noticed how Star Twinkle was caught in his thought and got a little worried. "Is something the matter?" She asked.
Star Twinkle didn't want to bother her with his thoughts and quickly changed the subject. "I'm a little worried about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,"
Luckily, Twilight didn't seem to suspect anything. "Yeah, me too," she replied with a worried expression on her face. "But I am certain that this "Tree of Harmony" will help us finding them," she said as she continued to lead the way into the forest. This made Star Twinkle wonder why exactly Twilight knew about this Tree of Harmony and what she saw. As soon as he asked what she saw, Twilight explained. "First, I saw how Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, one thousand years ago. I saw how Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to send her to the moon. After that, I came back to you all," she explained.
"Okay..." Star Twinkle replied, not sure what to make out of this. "And then you took another sip and saw something else, right?" He guessed.
Twilight nodded. "The second time, I saw Princess Celestia and Luna when they went up against Discord after he took over Equestria. They used the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone. After that, I saw where they got the Elements of Harmony from," she then looked up to her crown. "The crystals inside of my crown and your necklaces were inside of this tree. Princess Celestia explained that the tree possesses a powerful magic that controls and contains the growth of the Everfree Forest. I'm sure if we make sure that the tree is alright, everything will stop again,"
"I hope so..." Star Twinkle replied with still some doubts in his mind. Knowing how Twilight came to the conclusion of how to stop the vines, the clouds and the whole day and night thing were good but with Discord's words still stuck in his head, only one thing kept up his attention. He had to make sure about one thing and Twilight could help him to confirm this so. So he just asked away.
"You said that you saw how the Elements of Harmony were used to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord, right?" He asked, causing Twilight to nod in response, even though she was not completely sure where Star Twinkle was going with that. "How many Elements were there, each time?" He finally asked.
Twilight seemed a little confused but she answered truthfully. "There were six, each time," she simply replied.
This only confirmed what Star Twinkle was fearing. "I...see..." he replied with a slight frown on his face. Of course, there were only six elements, that's what the book about the Elements of Harmony said. There were six Elements of Harmony, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter and another Element which remained a mystery.
Even though this was probably not the best time to think about it, Star Twinkle did try to make sense about this by recollecting everything he knew this far.
"Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, and Laughter...those elements were represented by Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. This much I know. Discord didn't say anything about their elements but he said that I have every single element except the new one inside of me. That means I have at least those five elements inside of me?" He puzzled together. He just put aside how that was even possible and lined up some more information. "Discord said, the new one was the Element of Magic...Twilight's element. So I don't have the Element of Magic inside of me? And what does he mean with that my element is not supposed to exist?"
As Star Twinkle continued to walk right next to Twilight, she began to look over to him. He was not sure for how long she was staring at him but he just pretended that he didn't see that and kept his head forward.
But Twilight was not just pretending she didn't realize that. "I know that look on your face..." She said worriedly. "What is on your mind?"
One of the disadvantages of having close friends like that was that it became really difficult hiding something from them. Still, Star Twinkle didn't want to bother her any further and just changed the subject again. "Let's better hurry. The princesses might be in danger..." he said as he walked a little faster, leaving Twilight behind a little.
"Alright..." Twilight quietly said. She knew that Star Twinkle was not telling her what was really on his mind.
The group continued their way through the Everfree Forest. They soon came across a swamp which was a little hard for every non-flying pony to cross. Luckily, there were some stones where they could jump across. Twilight was the first one to jump on them. She began to shake a little and was about to fall in the swamp. But before it came to that, the stones where Twilight was standing on began to lift her up. Those were no stones. She was standing on the tail of one of the inhabitants of the forest who quickly threw her off and towards the group.
"A Cragadile!" Rarity said in shock of this creature. "Run for your lives!" She added, causing the group to run and accidentally split up in the process.
Star Twinkle was able to get out of the way and so did his other friends. All except one. Twilight was on her own with Spike beside her and the Cragadile, unfortunately, went after her, causing her to back down against a tree. She tried to use her wings to fly away but in her panic, she was not able to flap them properly and was stuck on the ground.
With Twilight separated from the others, Star Twinkle had to act quickly to help her. He grabbed one of the vines that conveniently laid on the ground next to him and threw it like a lasso, at the tail of the Cragadile. Still, he alone was not strong enough to pull it away from Twilight. Luckily, the rest of his friends saw what he was up to and soon joined him. With their combined strength, the group managed to stop the Cragadile to reach Twilight. Applejack took the opportunity and grabbed another vine and formed a lasso. This time it was used to close its mouth. Shortly after, Twilight helped out with her magic and used some more vines to tie up the Cragadile's legs to some trees, keeping it in place and unable to hurt anypony.
The group was safe again and relieved that this was over. Star Twinkle walked up to Twilight. "Are you alright?" He asked in his concern.
"I'm fine," Twilight replied. "I just can't seem to get these new wings to do what I want them to do when I want them to do it," she added while she looked over to her wings, blaming them for getting her in this situation.
"Aw, you'll figure it out eventually," Rainbow Dash assured.
Star Twinkle couldn't agree more with that. If even he was able to get used to flying, then Twilight would have no problem at all, sooner or later. Still, she was not too excited to hear this. ""Eventually" isn't soon enough," she said, clearly referring to how Princess Celestia and Luna were probably in danger right now.
The group continued their way through the forest again. As they followed Twilight, Star Twinkle couldn't help but notice how some of the girls got worried the further they walked into the forest. It was until Applejack spoke up that he realized why that was the case.
"You have been having an awful lot of trouble with those things. And, well, who knows what else is gonna to come after us? You know, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Twilight to go back to Ponyville and let us look for the Tree of Harmony without her," she said, making sure to say the last sentence as fast as possible.
"What? Why?" Twilight replied confused and a little angry at the same time.
"For starters, you just about got eaten by a Cragadilly," Applejack pointed out.
"We all did. He wasn't after just me," Twilight said, again a little angrily.
"Sure, but... well, the rest of us aren't princesses," Applejack said.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Twilight asked.
The situation began to get a little more uncomfortable but Applejack explained further. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are gone. If something happened to you, I-I just don't think Equestria can risk losing another princess,"
"Applejack does make a valid point," Rarity agreed. "Even if we manage to save the Tree of Harmony, it won't necessarily mean Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will return. Equestria will need somepony to lead in their absence,"
Twilight felt more and more offended by this. "But the Tree of Harmony! I'm the only one who has seen it and knows what it looks like," she pointed out.
Rainbow Dash answered that question. "Huge tree, cutie marks on the trunk, probably being attacked by something hideously awful? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll know it when we see it," she boldly explained.
Twilight was at the loss of words for a moment. "What is wrong with you all?" She said, being hurt to hear those words by her friends. She then looked over to Star Twinkle for a last attempt to talk everypony out of this idea. "Star Twinkle, say something! Tell them that what they are saying is wrong!"
Star Twinkle looked over to Twilight. Just when she expected him to say something to support her, his face began to show that what he was about to say wasn't easy for him. "Actually...I think I have to side with the others on this one."
"What?" Twilight replied shocked.
Star Twinkle explained. "It's like Rarity said. We might find the Tree of Harmony but there is no guarantee that we will find the Princesses as well. And if something happened to you then Equestria would be short of one more Princess. Just imagine what happens if other ponies will know about that," he explained.
Tears began to come out of Twilight's eyes. She was sad and disappointed by how her friends thought about this situation. "All of you feel this way? Feel like I shouldn't be here?"
There was a short silence after those words were said. Everypony knew that this was not easy, especially for Twilight.
"It is probably for the best," Fluttershy then said.
Star Twinkle tried to make Twilight understand. "We are just worried about you, Twilight, please try to understand..."
But Twilight didn't reply. She just walked past the group with a frown on her face and her head looking down in sadness. But as she stood right next to him, she whispered some last words to him. "You promised..." she simply said before she walked past him and the rest of her friends, leaving the forest for good.
It took some time until Star Twinkle realized what she meant with that but as soon as he figured it out, he felt bad. It was the promise that he gave her at her coronation. He promised that he would not treat her any different even after becoming a princess. But even after realizing that, he still didn't regret his decision. He wanted her and Equestria to be safe and that just happened to be the best thing to do now. Whether it was the best or not, now it was done and Twilight left the group so the only thing left to do was going further into the forest.
"Let's go..." Star Twinkle said, leading the way into the forest.
A little later...
The mood of the group was really low after Twilight left. Everypony still stood by this decision but at the same time, they felt bad for Twilight and how they had to leave her out of this.
Fluttershy was the first one to actually question their decision. "We...did the right thing, right?" She asked a little nervously.
"Of course, it was!" Rainbow Dash replied.
"Yes, Fluttershy," Rarity said. "I'm sure Twilight understands what we needed to do after we deal with this tree."
"I hope you are right..." Star Twinkle said with some regret in his voice.
The group continued their way through the forest.
There was no sign of this Tree of Harmony that Twilight spoke of. There were black vines as much as the eye could see but there was no tree. Wandering through the forest without any sign of it slowly got to some of the ponies.
"Anypony else starting to think this is a lost cause?" Rainbow Dash said, tired of walking through the forest without finding any clue of the Tree of Harmony so far. "We're almost at Celestia and Luna's old castle. Maybe whatever Twilight saw when she took that crazy potion wasn't real. Maybe there is no Tree of Harmony. Maybe–"
"Maybe it's right down there," Applejack interrupted as she pointed towards a gorge with a cave in one of the sides of it. The vines seemed to come out of this particular cave.
"A cave with dozens of vines coming out of it?" Star Twinkle said. "Yeah...definitely suspicious,"
"How are we supposed to get to it?" Rarity asked.
But before anypony could come up with an idea, some painful noises came from Pinkie Pie. The group wondered what that was about and turned around to see what that was about. As it turns out, Pinkie Pie accidentally found a way down to the gorge by falling down some stairs that conveniently led to the bottom of it. Being Pinkie Pie, of course, this little fall didn't seem to hurt her one bit. "Take the stairs, silly!" She said casually as if the last five seconds didn't even happen.
The six ponies went down the stairs and walked towards the cave. After entering it, the first thing they saw was actually something that resembled a tree. It was covered in vines and in the middle of it, there was something that resembled Twilight's Cutie Mark. There were also branches with some holes in them. This must have been where the Elements of Harmony were inside.
"I guess this is it..." Star Twinkle figured.
"I think it's dying!" Fluttershy said after she took a closer look at the tree herself. The vines, that surrounded the tree were probably absorbing or sealing away the magic inside of it, meaning that they had to remove them somehow.
And that is exactly what they did.
Applejack was the first one. She tried to pull the vines out of the tree but it was useless and it almost looked like as if the vines slapped her away after her unsuccessful attempt. After that, Rainbow Dash attempted to give it a try. She resorted to brute force and charged at the tree at full speed but before she even got remotely close, she has whipped away from the vines as well.
"Valiant efforts on both your parts, but the tree remains in jeopardy," Rarity said after watching both Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's failed attempts.
"And I suppose you've got a better idea?" Applejack asked as Fluttershy helped her up on her hooves again. Rarity didn't reply since she indeed had no plan herself. "That's what I thought," Applejack said, once she was aware of that.
"I know who would know what to do," Fluttershy pointed out before she lowered her head with a frown on her face. "But we sent her home."
"Yeah! Good job Applejack!" Rainbow Dash said, fully blaming Applejack for this situation.
"Me?" Applejack replied offended.
"It was your idea!" Rainbow Dash said as she walked up closer to Applejack, looking directly into her eyes angrily.
"We all agreed it was the best thing, Rainbow Dash! We were tryin' to protect her," Applejack returned with an angry expression on her face as well.
While, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy felt like not interrupting this fight, Star Twinkle was rather annoyed by this. "Hey! Girls! We don't have time for this right now!" He exclaimed.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked back at Star Twinkle, the latter of them getting closer to him now. "Hey! You agreed with this decision too, Star Twinkle!" She pointed out as she poked his chest.
"Yes! But I wish I wouldn't have!" He exclaimed, causing Rainbow Dash to back away a little in confusion. After that sentence, Star Twinkle took a huge breath to calm himself down again before he explained what was on his mind. "Listen...we were wrong. We shouldn't have sent Twilight away. We all wanted to protect her but...if we would have stayed together then we could have protected her as well. I mean...now she is all alone. She might be as helpless as we are now..." he explained as he looked down to the ground, frustrated. This frustration quickly jumped over to the others as well. They knew that they messed up and that they are in need of help. Help from Twilight. Star Twinkle began to walk towards the stairs. "I'm gonna get Twilight," he said as he walked past the girls before he turned his head back to them. "You are welcome to join me," he added with a smile on his face.
The girls smiled as and walked towards the stairs as well, ready to bring Twilight with them this time. However, before they could climb them up, just like before, some painful noises caught their attention coming from the top of the stairs. It was Spike, who came falling down the stairs. Star Twinkle managed to catch him on his back before the little dragon would have dropped on the ground. The girls rushed towards Star Twinkle and tried to make sure if Spike was okay and why he followed them.
Spike only managed to say a few words before he fell unconscious due to his exhaustion but those words were enough to get all of them worried.
"Twilight! Trouble! Help!"
There was no time to think. All of them just nodded and lowered their eyebrows in determination. "Let's go!" Star Twinkle said, leading the way.
The six ponies ran as fast as they could through the forest, keeping their eyes out for Twilight. It was not until long till they found her. She was laying on the ground surrounded by some plants that sprayed some kind of gas at her. From the looks of it, she was not hurt but she wasn't moving. The plants realized that as well and took the opportunity to attack her. Luckily, Applejack used one vine as a lasso to tie up the plants.
"Listen here, you rabid rhododendrons! You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" Applejack said determinedly.
This was enough to courage the others to step in as well. The first thing they did was keeping the plants away from Twilight who laid on the ground defenselessly.
"Go and protect Twilight!" Applejack said towards Star Twinkle. "We take care of those things!" She added before she went to another plant.
Star Twinkle ran towards Twilight and made sure to protect her from anything that was about to attack her. The girls did a good job keeping them away from the two and Star Twinkle kept his eyes open too. Eventually, one plant decided to attack him in order to get to Twilight.
"Please, let this work now!" Star Twinkle thought before he stood ready for the attack. The plant charged right at him and Star Twinkle responded by transforming into a Unicorn and quickly shooting at the plant and knocking it out. Star Twinkle immediately transformed back and realized that he got exhausted by just that. Those vines seemed to have weakened his magic in some way just like how they weakened Rarity's magic.
Luckily, the girls took care of every single plant by tying them all together. The girls then met up with Star Twinkle who was next to Twilight. "Is she alright?" Fluttershy asked in her worry.
Star Twinkle wanted to respond but Twilight seemed to wake up again. She opened her eyes and seemed to be relieved to see her friends next to her. Star Twinkle helped her back on her hooves.
"You came back looking for us? Even after what we've done?" Star Twinkle said though he would have rather said: What he had done.
Twilight showed some regrets. "I came here because I was angry and I felt like as if you didn't need me as a friend since I became a princess..."
Those words struck everypony deep in their heart. Especially, Star Twinkle who quickly wanted to talk her out of this nonsense. "Don't be ridiculous, Twilight. Of course, you are still our friend! You being a princess is something that comes after that," he explained before he rubbed his neck in his realization. "I guess, that's something that I should have figured out sooner...I'm sorry," he added, indirectly apologizing for breaking his promise before. Twilight was happy to hear that and smiled.
"Yes, especially since we're simply lost without you," Rarity admitted.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added. "Equestria may need its princess..."
"... But we need our friend," Fluttershy finished.
The group began to hug Twilight and forgot that there was still something to take care of. Luckily Pinkie Pie reminded everypony. "And now, let's save the tree!" She said excitedly.
After that, the group went back to the Tree of Harmony again. Now with Twilight on their side.
Since nopony knew what to do with it or how to save it, they asked Twilight if she had an idea.
First, she was flying towards it, to the area where her Cutie Mark was on to be exact. As soon as she got too close, however, she was attacked by some vines. She was grabbed by them for a second but she managed to free herself. After that, she landed next to the others and shared an idea.
"I know how we can save the tree. We have to give it the Elements of Harmony," she simply said with a serious expression on her face.
Needless to say, the others were heavily surprised by this idea.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, heh. How are we supposed to protect Equestria?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
"How are we meant to rein Discord in if we can't use the Elements to turn him back to stone?" Rarity added confused.
Applejack walked towards. "Twilight... The Elements of Harmony... They're what keep us connected no matter what,"
Twilight understood what her friends were worried about but she was also certain about her decision. "You're right about one thing, Applejack. The Elements of Harmony did bring us together. But it isn't the Elements that will keep us connected. It's our friendship. And it's more important and more powerful than any magic. My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken,"
While Star Twinkle didn't know how to respond to this decision, he was also sure about one thing. He walked up to Twilight and asked one more question. "You think giving up our elements will save the tree?" To that, Twilight only nodded. Star Twinkle only nodded in response to that as well. "Then that's settled," he replied, fully believing in Twilight.
"There's no time to lose. Everypony ready?" Twilight asked.
"Ready!" Everypony replied in unison.
Twilight then removed the gems inside of the necklaces of the others, as well as the one inside of her crown. She levitated them above her head and prepared herself to give them back to the tree. While she did that, Star Twinkle looked over the tree. Something was off. He didn't think about it before and neither did he realize it until now. "Wait...there are only six branches...and we have six elements..." he wondered.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, after he saw how the vines of the tree attacked Twilight. They were about to grab the elements but Twilight managed to keep them away from them even after they grabbed her too. The vines slowly engulfed Twilight but she managed to let the elements fly towards the tree so that they could return to their original place. Soon five Elements were back in their place and only Twilight's and Star Twinkle's were left. Twilight's element was flying towards the center area of the tree and was inserted of it shortly after. Now only Star Twinkle's element was flying around the tree. However, Twilight was completely caught by the vines and was not able to hold it up with her magic any longer. Nopony seemed to notice that because they were looking at Twilight so it was up to Star Twinkle to grab his element. He transformed into a Unicorn and caught his element. He then looked at the tree with his element levitating over his head but he had no idea where to put it. "There is no place left! Where does my element belong to? Where?"
But then suddenly, a bright light came from the Tree of Harmony. A light that was strong enough to remove all the vines surrounding it. The tree of Harmony was active again, without the need of Star Twinkle's element. "What?" He wondered as he looked up to the tree. In his surprise, he didn't even hear the noises coming from his star-shaped Element of Harmony gem that he kept levitating in front of him. As soon as he heard the noises coming from it he was surprised again by what he saw on his element.
Cracks.
"What?" He repeated after this sight. Cracks were starting to cover his entire element. More and more were soon completely covering it until...
...it shattered right in front of him.
There was surprise and even shock on Star Twinkle's face. He just watched how his Elements of Harmony was shattered before his own eyes. Nopony seemed to even notice that, except him. They were all distracted by the light that came from the Tree of Harmony. Whatever just happened, Star Twinkle was the only one who witnessed it.
The light eventually dimmed down a little and there were only two piles of vines left in front of the tree. Soon, those two piles vanished as well and revealed both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
Star Twinkle, who was still standing right next to the tree was walking towards Twilight and the others who stood a little further away from it, smiling after seeing both princesses safe. Twilight was the first one to walk straight to them, hugging both of them.
"We know how difficult it must have been for you to give up the Elements. It took great courage to relinquish them." Princess Celestia said, seemingly aware of what happened while they were trapped in the vines.
Of course, Star Twinkle was happy that they were safe but at the same time, he was asking himself if the two princesses knew what happened to his element. But then again, now was probably not the best time to ask that. Star Twinkle just ignored it and walked up to the three but something seemed to be different with Twilight. She suddenly walked away from the princesses and approached the Tree of Harmony. Star Twinkle noticed that the center area of the tree, the one with Twilight's element inside, began to glow again. This glow revealed two more symbols under it, one was a sun and the other the moon. A rainbow colored light went through those two symbols and shortly after, a plant began to grow out in front of the tree. It was about the size of Twilight, who was walking up to it, in order to inspect it.
But as soon as Twilight touched it, the plant opened her leaves and revealed a box. The box had six locks for six keys on the side. "What's inside it? How am I supposed to open it?" Twilight asked towards Princess Celestia and Luna.
Both of them were not sure about it either. They noticed the locks as well and figured that one would need six keys.
But Princess Celestia was not too worried. "do not know where they are. But I do know that it is a mystery you will not be solving alone," she said. She was obviously hinting at the rest of her friends.
Princess Celestia even looked over to Star Twinkle who tried his hardest to not look worried at all. Helping Twilight to retrieve those keys was out of question for him. But one thing puzzled him. One thing that was probably not considered big or even important but he couldn't help but think about it.
"Why are there only six locks?"
A little later, outside of the Everfree Forest...
With all the vines gone, the group had a pretty safe trip through the Everfree Forest. They made it out without any harm. Strangely enough, once they got outside, things became weird again.
The group was welcomed by confetti and banners with their faces on it. Discord was celebrating their return. "Bravo, bravo! How ever did you save the day this time?" He asked, though as usual, it was a little unclear if he was being sarcastic about the situation or not. "Let me guess...blast the beastie with your magic necklaces, I presume? Where are those little trinkets of yours? You know, the ones you use to send me back to my extremely uncomfortable stone prison?" He asked once he noticed that nopony was wearing the Elements of Harmony anymore.
Applejack didn't like to answer to that, "Gone," she simply said followed by a heavy sigh.
"Gone?" Discord replied positively surprised before he started to realize that he no longer could be imprisoned in stone.
Luckily, Fluttershy was there to remind him how to not try anything. "But our friendship remains. And if you want to remain, friends, you'll stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking and help us clean up," she demanded which literally made Discord feel smaller then ever.
"Fine. But I don't do windows," he replied, giving himself a maid uniform, ready to clean Ponyville.
"One thing I don't get. Why did all this happen now?" Applejack asked which was actually a pretty good question. A question that Star Twinkle would have asked long ago if he wouldn't be so into his thoughts.
"I have no idea," Discord replied. "Those seeds I planted should have sprouted up ages ago," he added casually, fully revealing that this whole mess was his fault.
"What did you say?!" Twilight asked angrily.
Discord seemed to enjoy Twilight's reaction and explained. "Well, obviously things didn't go according to my original plan. My plunderseeds should have stolen the magic from the Tree of Harmony and captured Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thousands of moons ago. Alas, it seems the tree had enough magic to keep the seeds from growing up big and strong. Until now, that is,"
"You realize this is information we could have used hours ago?!" Twilight replied angrily.
But Discord was pretending that this was all so that Twilight would learn a lesson about being a princess. Something told the others that the reason for Twilight coming back. In any case, the danger was dealt with and nopony got hurt so that was reassuring enough to be happy now.
Star Twinkle was really the only one who was overthinking things again. Instead of being happy like everypony else, he just thought about his element again. He hated that. He didn't want to worry about stuff like that anymore. His element of Harmony shattered...that happened...he had to accept that. He couldn't change that, making thinking about it pointless. He just dealt with it. That is all he could do, like always.
Canterlot, at the night of the Summer Sun Celebration...
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight prepared everything for the main event of the day. Many ponies waited in front of the castle, including Star Twinkle and his friends who were waiting for Twilight's big part.
Princess Celestia walked in the middle of the stage and began to speak to her subjects "Citizens of Equestria, it is no longer with a heavy heart but with great joy that I raise the summer sun. For this celebration now represents not the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but the return of my sister, Princess Luna," she said as she turned to her sister.
Ponies cheered and both princesses started their parts. Princess Luna flew up into the sky and lowered the moon. At the same time, Princess Celestia flew up into the air and rose the sun. Both, the sun and moon were now next to each other.
"This is where Twilight's part starts," Rarity whispered.
Twilight then flew up into the air as well but unlike the other princesses who were flying upwards, Twilight flew diagonally between them at full speed. As she flew past them, a giant magic star, in form of her Cutie Mark appeared and covered all of Canterlot. She succeeded at her task, just like her friends predicted.
The partying in Canterlot however was not over, much to Star Twinkle's dislike. Everypony had to stay up really late until the princesses were starting the next day, making him really sleepy at the end of the day. His friends were not staying too long either and went back to Ponyville with him.
Star Twinkle did not do much once was home again, in fact, he quickly went to bed after staying up for that long. It didn't take long until he fell asleep. Once he did, however, he had the same dream he had before.
He woke up in Ponyville and walked out of his house, meeting his friends who were not able to hear or see him at all in the middle of Ponyville. He heard a voice in his head that called out his name, making his head start to hurt. He was then inside of the Castle of the two sisters and was attacked by his friends who used the Elements of Harmony against him. After that, he once again woke up in Ponyville which was set on fire. There were those two ponies in front of him, unconscious with some red magic aura coming out of them and flowing right into him. He heard someone calling his name again, causing his head to hurt again.
In the end, he was awoken by the same words again, that he kept hearing in his dreams.
"You are me...and I am you..."
Star Twinkle woke up in shock and started to breathe heavily. He fully remembered this dream this time. He sat up on his bed and wondered if he was still dreaming. He looked at his hooves and wondered what all of this meant and why he had this dream again.
"This is so annoying," he said as he laid down again. He carefully remembered everything that happened to him recently. Everything that still bothered him.
"Why does all this stuff happen to me? Why me?" He said as he kept staring at the ceiling.
"I am chosen by an unknown Element of Harmony...
I have every other Element of Harmony inside of me...
I can grow a horn or wings...
I was attacked by a pony in a black armor after Twilight was crowned a princess...
My element was shattered...
I keep having those weird dreams..."
After he listed up everything, he started to stare at the ceiling again. He thought about all the questions over and over again. Soon, he narrowed his eyebrows and clenched his teeth. He began punching his bed. "I hate this..." he simply said before he punched his bed even faster and more intense. "I hate this!" He exclaimed angrily before he sat up again and continued to punch his bed. "Why does all this stuff happen to me!? Why!? Why!?" He said before he grabbed his head in frustration, shaking it wildly like a maniac. "Can someone please give some answers!?" But of course, no one answered.
Star Twinkle slowly calmed down again after this outburst and sat there in silence until he finally had an idea. "I think I know where I can get some answers..." he said quietly and determined.
Later, in front of the Golden Oak Library...
"Zecora's potion?" Twilight asked confused.
"Yes. You still have it, do you? Can I take a sip of it?" He asked a little impatiently.
Twilight realized that Star Twinkle was a little stressed over something. "What do you need it for?"
"This potion lets you see stuff that happened in the past, right? I need to confirm something and for that, I need this potion," he briefly explained.
"Alright, I'll get it for you," she said before she went inside and got the potion. She levitated it over to Star Twinkle and let him take a sip. They both waited for a moment until something happened but there was nothing. Nothing happened.
Star Twinkle grew a little impatient and wondered why he couldn't see anything happening. "It didn't take that long until you saw something, right?"
"No," Twilight replied as she inspected the potion. "Maybe it only works for me because it was created by my magic?" She guessed, even though she was not sure herself.
Star Twinkle sighed heavily. "Great..." he said annoyed before he looked down at the ground.
Even though Twilight had no idea what this was all about, she still wanted to help Star Twinkle. She put a hoof on his shoulder and smiled. "How about I drink it to get some answers for you?" She offered.
"You think that will work?" Star Twinkle asked.
Twilight explained. "Well, I focused my thoughts on Princess Celestia and Luna while I was drinking it so maybe if I think about you, I will see pictures of your past as well?" She guessed.
There was not much that Star Twinkle could say about this. It was better than nothing so he just agreed to that idea. Shortly after, Twilight drank a bit of the potion and waited. It took a while but eventually, her eyes began to glow in this white light again. This must have meant that right now, she was seeing things of the past.
"Now, I just wait...I guess..." Star Twinkle said as he began to wait for Twilight to "come back".
It would be almost scary to see Twilight standing in front of him motionless if he wouldn't have seen it before. There was only one time where Twilight's face changed during all of that. Her face became a little confused and even shocked. Needless to say, it confused Star Twinkle a little and he was wondering what this was about. But he was soon about to get his answer. Twilight was snapping out of her little trance and backed away a little. She seemed to be a little stressed about what she just saw and looked at the ground, exhausted and even a little shocked.
This sudden behavior confused Star Twinkle. She was not even acting like that after seeing the past events of Princess Celestia and Luna. He had to admit that he was a little worried. He reached out his hoof to Twilight. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.
But as soon as Twilight noticed how Star Twinkle's hoof was about to touch her, she slapped it away in a reflex. This sudden action caused Star Twinkle to only open his mouth in confusion. The expression on Twilight's face sent shivers down his back. She looked like as if she was afraid...of him. Star Twinkle tried to approach her once more but she stepped away in fear once more.
"I think...you should leave for now...Star Twinkle," Twilight said before she went inside of her library, closing the door quickly after.
There were no words that could describe how Star Twinkle felt being looked at by Twilight like that. He just stood there in front of the door, more confused than ever before. All he wanted were some answers but now he wished he would never have asked for any of this.
"...Twilight?"