//------------------------------// // 5 - My Home // Story: Child of the Tree // by GStarshine //------------------------------// "Excuse me?" Celestia asked, standing in alarm. "The Everfree Forest, ma'am. It's attacking!" the guard gasped out, "Reports say that large vines are coming from the forest and destroying the outskirts of Ponyville! Any attempt to destroy them have been unsuccessful. The creatures have been acting out as well, the timberwolves and manticores seem to have all left the forest! We fear the larger beasts will soon follow." "Has anypony been hurt?" Cadence asked worriedly. "Only if they attempt to engage the creatures, ma'am." the guard reported, "Some say that they seem to be...searching for something." Celestia and Luna immediately looked to the bed where the newest alicorn still lay prone. "Celestia," Luna began softly, "You don't think?" "Yes," the solar alicorn answered without hesitation, "It would appear so." "What?" Twilight Velvet demanded, hovering over her long-lost daughter, "What is it?" "Lady Velvet, your daughter was extremely comfortable in the Everfree Forest when we found her. She also appeared very possessive and protective of it." Celestia explained, "Even when Luna put her to sleep, the forest reached for her. It is likely that she is what the creatures are searching for." The room was silent for several moments as that sunk in before the guard cleared his throat, "What are your orders, your highnesses? The soldiers that have already headed out are planning to kill the creatures if they can't be contained." On the infirmary bed; deep purple eyes, now rimmed in platinum, shot open. "Tally!" Luna exclaimed, jumping forward as her friend sat up quickly, almost hitting Twilight Velvet on the chin in the process. "Twilight." her mother breathed in awe. The youngest alicorn's eyes focused on the guard at the door as she climbed unsteadily from the bed, "You will not harm my forest or any of its inhabitants!" she all but growled, the guard shrunk down toward the ground fearfully. "Of course they shan't harm them, Tally," Luna assured, pressing into her friend's side and trying to edge her back toward the bed, "Lay back down. You should not be up so soon." "No, Luna. My forest, my home is in danger. Creatures under my protection about to be killed." Tally denied, walking further from the bed stubbornly. Celestia stepped into her path with her wing blocking Tally, "I understand Tally, we can get you there. Just sit back down and we will have a chariot brought to bring you there. You are in no condition to-" Another guard burst into the room, "More news from Ponyville! A weather pony attempted to use lightning to sever a vine! The Everfree Forest is now on fire!" Tally reared back, her wings flaring as her eyes lit with anger. She ducked under Celestia's wing and darted out into the hall without another word. Luna ran after her, calling her name; Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Shinning Armor followed, calling a very different name for the same pony. That was enough to get Celestia and Cadence to follow suit, galloping after the crowd of ponies in a very unprincesslike manner. Far ahead, Tally Reed was galloping frantically through the unfamiliar place she had woken up in. If what had awoken her wasn't the biggest clue, the shiny flat surfaces and the arching ceilings in unnatural colors would have told her that she wasn't in her beloved home. The trouble was that she wasn't sure just how far she was from the forest, but she certainly wasn't going to waste time by stopping to ask, her forest was on fire and everyone inside was in danger! Ponies were shouting behind her, she only recognized one voice but she didn't have time to stop and speak with her new friend. She came to a wide, sweeping set of stairs and lept up them, hoping going up would lead her out. An excellent idea, until a pink shield suddenly formed around her. Tally skidded to a halt just before she slammed into the bubble, her ears flicking back in annoyance as she glared at the shield. She forced her magic down into her back legs, just like Rockhoof had taught her, and spun to buck at the shield with all her might. The shield cracked but held, Tally spared a brief moment to admire the strength of the shield before simply diving into the mirror dimension and diving back out a moment later once she had run out of the shield. Shouts of disbelief followed her but Tally just rolled her eyes, she didn't have time to play endurance games right now. Her frantic run continued as she searched for any way out. She didn't want to do a short range teleport, mostly because she didn't wish to accidentally teleport into the middle of what appeared to be some type of rock. Unfortunately, this meant running blind and, even more unfortunately, that meant running into other ponies. A group of seven armored ponies who took note of the ponies chasing after her and seemed to think it would be a good idea to point spears at her, blocking her path. Tally clenched her jaw and tuned her magic into the Harmonic Plane before shaping it to her will. A silver-barked tree broke from the marble flooring beneath her passing hooves and lashed out at the seven ponies with its branches. Two were slammed unforgivingly into a wall, three more were hoisted into the air to hang harmlessly from the tree's branches. Tally lept at the sixth, knocking away the spear and kicking the stallion in his chest, sending him stumbling into the seventh. She landed gracefully and continued on like nothing had happened. A glimpse of the sky had her making a sudden turn and galloping harder toward an open door and fresh air. The shouting from behind her continued but she ignored it. She did flick an ear in amusement when she heard an unfamiliar voice call frantically, "She's heading toward a balcony! She can't possibly know how to use her wings yet!" 'Wings?' the side of her brain not panicking thought curiously. A quick analysis of herself revealed that she did indeed now have two extra appendages. 'The ascension worked. I will need to reassess later.' In the meantime, Tally reached the balcony and threw herself off of it without even slowing. She heard a scream behind her as she fell but she just closed her eyes and summoned her dragon projection, calling it to swoop under her and carry her into the air. She winced at the harsh light of the sun bore down on her, making her eyes water even though they were closed, she steadfastly ignored her discomfort. Instead, she focused on the tugging in her chest that she knew would lead home and pushed the dragon toward it as she held on tight. Steps behind her, Luna launched herself off of the balcony as well, snapping her wings open and flying after her. Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Shining Armor skidded to a stop at the railing and watched in shock and awe as their lost family member conjured the enormous magic dragon that was flying her off into the sunset. Velvet let out a yelp as Celestia passed them, leaping from the balcony as dramatically as her sister had and shooting off after them. "Get ready guys!" Cadence called out from behind them. Shining Armor began to turn with a, "Get ready for wh-ahhh!" he cut off with a scream as he and his parents were picked up in Cadence's magic before the Princess of Love also lept from the balcony. Cadence looked over at them with a grin as she flew, with them in her magic right next to her, "Figured you'd like a ride." she giggled. Velvet sighed, "Thank you Cadence." "Of course Velvet. This is a family thing." Cadence responded. Despite the situation, Shining Armor couldn't help but send his marefriend a sappy smile. Celestia and Luna were flying side by side, still several wing lengths behind Tally but gaining. "She's pretty fast." Celestia huffed through her nose. Luna glanced over at her sister with a raised eyebrow, "Fast? Sister, we used to race lightning bolts for fun." she took in Celestia's slightly reddening face and her heaving chest, "Don't tell us all you have done these last thousand years is eat cake and lay about." Celestia glanced down and Luna laughed, "No wonder your ax strikes were slower than we remembered!" "Let's just catch up with Tally," Celestia said, beating her wings faster. "Just tell me if you need a push dearest sister!" Luna laughed, flying past Celestia with no real effort. When Celestia and Luna flanked Tally it was to discover that she had her eyes closed. "Tally?" Luna called hesitantly, "Are you alright?" The newest Alicorn blinked her eyes open and looked over at Luna with a small smile, "I'm following my instincts home." her gaze moved to the ground below them and to the familiar tree line that filled the far edge of her sight, "I've never been so far from the forest." she said, vulnerable when she saw all the space between her and her home. "I apologize Tally." Celestia said, "I did not know the forest would react this way. Once you passed out I thought only of bringing you to a doctor with knowledge of alicorns." Tally didn't look at her but gave a curt nod, her eyes not leaving the forest. "Tally, what are you planning?" Luna asked, "You are still not completely recovered from your magical expenditure! We are surprised you can even maintain your dragon." The new alicorn looked to her friend, "Emotion can be channeled into pure, strong magic. It's often the cause of flares when unicorns are young and die off as the pony matures. If you know how to do it past the instinctual then you can continue on even after you've used your stores." she faced front again, "As for the forest, my presence will calm it to manageable but I will need to reestablish the seeds to rebalance things completely." "The Elements disappeared when the Pillars powered your ascension," Celestia noted. Tally snorted and opened her mouth to reply but was quickly interrupted by the distinct roar of a manticore. Instantly, Tally's dragon dove straight down, Celestia and Luna following seconds later. Tally lept from her dragon momens before it hit the ground and let it dissipate as Celestia and Luna landed with her. They were in front of a barn where a manticore had managed to get inside and be trapped there by two earth ponies, a large red stallion with a short orange mane and an orange mare with a blonde mane tucked beneath a stetson. They were holding the barn doors shut as the manticore raged inside, throwing its body against the door. "Let it out!" Tally shouted, running toward the doors and pressing her ear against it worriedly, the manticore let out another roar at the sound of her voice, pressing against the door in one solid weight. "Now why would ah do somethin' like that?!" the orange mare snapped, "This critter has been rampagin' through ma apple trees! That's not even mentionin' the timberwolves sniffin' around the cows!" Tally looked over at the mare next to her, "They're looking for me. I'll make them leave your farm." The farmer looked Tally dead in the eye, still leaning into the door to keep it closed, before nodding, "Ah believe ya. Just let me and ma brother get outta yer way before opening the doors huh?" "Deal," Tally said before spinning and planting her front hooves while bracing the barn door with her back hooves, "I've got it. You can get out of the way now." "Ya sure?" the mare asked, "Ah don't know much about alicorns but you look mighty tiny to be holdin' it back like that." Tally grinned at her, "I may look small but Rockhoof wouldn't consider me trained until I could buck a boulder in half. This is nothing." The mare's eyebrows shot up, "The legend, Rockhoof? How in tarnation did he train you in anythin'?" "Long story." "Ah'd like ta hear it sometime." Tally blew her bangs out of her eyes, "Let me put my forest back to rights and I'll tell you all about it." "Ah'll hold ya to that." the mare said, "Big Mac! Run back in three, two, one!" both earth ponies ran back to stand near Celestia, Luna, and Cadence who had landed with her passengers while Tally had been talking. Tally held strong as the door surged again, once she was sure everyone was back, she bucked the weight away from the door long enough to move and let the doors swing open. The manticore roared again as soon as it was fully revealed. It was a large yellow male with a black mane and red wing membranes, it's tail was black with a red stinger. Its eyes landed on Tally just as she opened her hooves and smiled up at it, "Roary!" the manticore lunged at her, pinning her to the ground and licking at her mane as he began to purr. "Roary?" Luna snickered, even as those around her just stared, slack-jawed. Tally looked over at her friend as Roary started to nuzzle into her, "I was five when I came across his mother and his littermates. It seemed like a perfectly good name at the time." "She was playing with manticore cubs at five." Twilight Velvet said faintly, her knees starting to wobble. Tally stood up and looked at Roary, "Go home. I am coming to put everything in order. Take your littermates with you." she ordered the huge cat, it nuzzled her again before flying off. "Well ah'll be." the orange mare hummed, watching the cat fly off. "Nice to meet you!" Tally called as she took off galloping again, this time in the direction Roary was flying. "Don't forget to get them timberwolves!" the farmer called after the alicorn. "Got it!" "This is starting to become a thing isn't it." Night Light huffed as he and the rest of the Canterlot group galloped off after Tally. "Well, at least we know she's healthy and active dad!" Shining laughed. "And 'tis like a grand adventure!" Luna exclaimed, running ahead of the group. Tally let out a whistle as she passed a field full of cows, almost immediately she was answered by howls and the rattling of twigs. Luna had just managed to make it to Tally's side when they were surrounded by three excited, yipping timberwolves. Luna faltered for a split second before Tally giggled and nipped a leaf off of the ear of one. "Good boys!" Tally called, the timberwolves barked and rattled in response, Luna laughed brightly when she saw tails wagging and ear perked up happily like they were nothing more than wooden puppies. The group ran through the tiny town of Ponyville, more timberwolves joining them as they went, until the reached the far end of town where the edge of the forest was lashing out. Already, several buildings were run through or being slowly crushed by reaching and wrapping black vines twice as large as any normal pony. Thankfully though, several pegasi were using rain clouds to put out the fire, they didn't want the fire to spread to the town and the entire forest on fire would not have helped anypony. Tally Reed skidded to a stop, her rump almost brushing the ground as her back legs bent under the sudden deceleration. "Back home!" she ordered the timberwolves, "Now!" they swarmed past her and into the forest as Tally moved to one of the largest vines and brushed against it gently, halting its movements. Some of the smaller vines retreated from Ponyville completely and moved to lovingly wrap around Tally's back hooves, she didn't pay them any mind as she ran her hoof soothingly over the larger vine. The Ponyville residents and the pegasi who had been combatting the intrusion watched on with fear and awe. “We have never seen vines like these.” Luna noted, studying the vine before her curiously. The vines came in a myriad of different thicknesses but they were all black with blue thorns. “Starswirl had not either.” Tally said, nuzzling the larger vine gently, “We named them Chaos Whips. They are very chaotic plants.” The large vine started to retreat, brushing up against Tally and emitting an eerie humming sound. “But since I first kept them from overrunning the forest they have worked well as extra protection for the forest.” Luna raised an eyebrow at the plant's strange behavior. "Tally!" Celestia called out as she and the rest of the Canterlot group finally caught up with her and Luna. Tally looked up from inspecting the vine, "If you know of a way to summon the Elements again I know of five mares here in Ponyville who represent the lesser Elements well enough to carry them!" The youngest alicorn frowned, "Lesser Elements? Each Seed has it's own importance in the fabric of Harmony." "She did not mean it like that, my friend," Luna said. "Luna's right. I apologize." Celestia admitted, warily watching the gathering vines that were slowly thickening around Tally's hooves and creeping up around her back. "I simply thought Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, and Generosity where slightly less than Magic since Magic interwove and connected them. I meant no offense." Tally's brow furrowed and she opened her mouth only to close it quickly again with a slightly distressed noise, "That is what you thought the building blocks of Harmony were?" she asked finally, with an edge of exasperation. "Excuse me?" Celestia asked, her head jerking back at Tally's tone. "I suppose it is not wrong." Tally allowed as she lit her horn, "However, it is an extremely narrow view of Harmony." The Elements appeared around her, cradled in her magic. "Or certainly much more narrow than Strength," she sent the orange gem out to her right and a ghostly image of Rockhoof appeared behind the gem, "Hope," the blue gem flew next to the orange and Somnambula appeared behind it, "Healing," the light pink gem took a spot on Tally's immediate right and Meadowbrook appeared, "Bravery," the red gem floated out to her left and Flash Magnus appeared, "Beauty," the purple gem slid into line and Mistmane appeared behind it, "and Sorcery." The deeper pink star gem took a spot directly to Tally's left and Starswirl appeared; hat, cloak, and all. All six of the ghostly Pillars had appeared with their eyes closed but their stances proud. Now, as the last of the Elements settled into the line, they all opened their eyes while their gems began to glow. The silver that had appeared on Tally’s coat, mane, and feathers during her change to an alicorn shimmered with them and the vines that had been wrapping around Tally contracted in response to the light; fully wrapping around the mare and blocking her from sight just moments before the vines jerked back toward the rest of the forest. "Twilight!" Velvet called out, lunging toward the forest only to be stopped by Luna. "Be at peace young Velvet." the moon alicorn soothed as the Pillars whirled around and charged at the forest, their gems spilling light out ahead of them. "Those six have protected and raised your foal thus far. Trust that they will keep her safe now as well." Mere moments after Luna said this, a silver column of light shot into the sky a little ways into the forest with a loud thuum! of sound. The column stopped growing once it stood nearly a mile above the treetops and a blinding rainbow shockwave broke from its base with enough force to push back all of the trees around it. When the light reached the edges of the Everfree forest, the onlookers were forced to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded. As the light began to fade and the force behind the blast started to diminish, everypony felt a sense of peace and happiness rain down on them, calming any remaining panic and soothing away fear. Celestia and Luna were the first ones able to open their eyes and, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last two days, were shocked at what they saw. The Everfree Forest looked healthier and fuller than before, the trees having grown taller and the undergrowth growing thick enough to hide all manner of creatures. However, yards from where they were standing, there was a wide path cleared through the trees that was lined with a thick layer of tiny silver flowers. The forest stopped at these flowers, not a single leaf, vine, or branch was seen overhanging the shimmering buds. At the far end of the path, almost half a mile away, was the most noticeable change. At the end of the path stood a truely massive tree. Its thick trunk was a light blue that held an iridescent shimmer in places. A thick spread of sapphire blue leaves arced slightly over the Everfree's treeline before merging with the darker leaves of the rest of the Everfree's trees. It was hard to see from this distance but there appeared to be a wide staircase leading up from the new path to a set of pink double doors. "What in Equestria?" Velvet breathed as the rest of the observers finally began to open their eyes and take in the changes. "Come!" Luna urged, "We must go find Tally!" Luna, Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Shining Armor took off down the path of silver flowers without hesitation. Cadence looked to the onlookers from Ponyville while Celestia waved over the guards appearing on the scene, "Everypony please remain here while we investigate things. We will bring news of what's happened once we make sure things are safe and we gather the full story. Thank you for your cooperation." The guards set themselves at the beginning of the path as Celestia and Cadence flew after the others. They all arrived at the base of the steps at the same time and climbed up to the pink double doors together. "Look," Cadence noted, pointing above the door frame. Carved elegantly into the tree were the words, 'Victoria Concordia Crescit'. "Victory comes from harmony." Luna translated. "How appropriate." Celestia hummed. "Indeed." Luna chuckled before pushing the double doors open. They came into a wide foyer that seemed to have thick foliage growing up the outer walls and disappearing into the ceiling. Luna could see several of the vines that Tally called Chaos Whips hidden discreetly among the other plants. Purple orbs floated along the ceiling to provide light. In the center of the room was another wide staircase, this one with small ponds filled with lilies on either side of it. The stairs led up to a smaller set of double doors, ones that they all pushed open without hesitation. They stepped through into another large room, this one round. To their left and to their right were elegant archways that lead to spiral staircases that they could almost see through more foliage that kept each protected. Directly in front of them was a third set of double doors; these ones were the same shimmering blue of the tree's outside with Tally's cutie mark carved into the center of the two doors. Pushing open this final obstacle, the group of six ponies found themselves walking into what could only be described as a throne room. The room was a great deal larger than the previous two. It had vaulted ceilings where glowing silver vines hung down to provide the room with a cool, soothing light that almost mimicked the moon. The walls on either side were curved toward the center and were covered in more natural looking foliage. Along the far wall was a long raised dais with seven thrones. The center one looked to be made of light blue crystal, shaped to look like woven branches and had Tally's cutie mark carved into the head of it. Three smaller thrones sat on either side of the largest one, each was made of shimmery white-silver stone and had one of the Elements set into their heads. It was all magnificent really, but what really drew everypony's attention was the alicorn mare in the center of the room. Tally Reed lay curled up in the center of the floor, her eyes closed and her breathing easy. Around her was a pack of timberwolves, all of them pressing close to her and eyeing the intruders warily. "Tally?" Luna called softly, she moved forward slowly as to not startle the timberwolves currently protecting her friend. "Tally are you well?" The Lavender alicorn stretched, sprawling over the timberwovles who took her movements without complaint. "I am well Luna. I am just..." Tally sighed, "I am just resting my eyes." she blew out a long breath, "That was quite a blast." "Indeed it was my friend." Luna hummed gently, making it to the edge of the timberwolf pile were the wolves sniffed her curiously, "You must have used a great amount of magic to create this castle." Tally let out a small whine and her ears drooped, "It's part of S-Starswirl's spell matrix he left in the seeds for this. Pulls directly from the Harmonic plane. Their spell, their design, I simply provided the connection to the plane that the seeds needed for it." Luna gave her friend a sad smile, "Oh Tally. We know you must hurt, but they love you very much. Look at this beautiful castle they designed for you." Tally sniffed and opened her eyes to look blearily at Luna, "Yeah..." she glanced around and a pained smile spread over her face. It cleared a moment later and Tally gave a heavy sigh as she got to her hooves, the timberwolves rattled around her. "Let us go find your bed young Tally," Luna said, "All else can wait until you awake this evening." Tally sighed again and rolled her shoulders, "As much as I would love to do that I have responsibilities, Luna." The night alicorn raised an eyebrow at her friend as the timberwolves shifted to guard her from behind, "Thou hast just raised a castle from nothing after experiencing a magical drain which you suffered directly after ascending. Can these responsibilities not wait?" Tally shook her head as she came to stand next to Luna, "Unfortunately not. After such a large disturbance in the forest, I need to check on everyone within the border to ensure they are safe. Steven, Zecora, the Ursas, the hy..." she trailed off as she finally took in the other five ponies in the room, four of which she didn't know and were staring at her in disbelief. "Apologies. I did not see you there. Did you need something?"