“Spike, we don’t have enough highlighters!” Twilight exclaimed while rushing over to him. Spike rolled his eyes. He really needed to get to the forest because Debbie, Snowy, and Cinnamon were still in the castle.
“You have over a hundred for a school with forty creatures.” Spike stated. Twilight shook her head and held up orange highlighters.
“They’re all orange! How would any creature color code their notes?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“We have time to order more. The new school year doesn’t start for a few more months.” Spike reassured. The front doors burst open revealing Smolder, Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, Silverstream, and Ocellus.
“Well, this is a surprise. Why are you all here so early? Did I send out the wrong back-to-school date?!” Twilight exclaimed in fear. They all shook there heads.
“We’re not here for school.” Smolder stated. Sandbar stepped in.
“We’re here because the Tree of Harmony called us here.” Sandbar said with a smile. Twilight and Spike gasped.
“Don't feel bad it didn't reach out to you. We kinda have a special connection with it after last year.” Gallus said with a smirk. Twilight shook her head.
“But the Tree couldn't have called you. It's gone! Sombra destroyed it!” Twilight exclaimed. The young six gasped in shock.
“What about the Elements of Harmony?” Sandbar asked. Twilight frowned.
“Those are gone too.” She said sadly. Ocellus gave a distressed look.
“But doesn't that mean the Everfree Forest will take over Equestria?!” Ocellus asked, her voice laced with fear.
“Starswirl said that there’s some force protecting the forest but he doesn’t know what, so that all taken care of.” Spike reassured.
“Can we see the Tree ourselves? Or what's left of it?” Silverstream asked.
“As long as you promise to stick together. The Castle of the Two Sisters isn't the safest place, as you may remember.” Twilight reminded them.
“Yona not scared of puckwudgies anymore! Friends save whole school from evil Pegasus!” Yona boasted while stomping her hooves on the floor, cracking it a bit. Twilight chuckled.
“Let’s get going then.” Twilight said as she led them out the door. Spike stayed behind for a few seconds, causing Twilight to turn around.
“Aren’t you coming?” She asked. Spike nodded his head.
“Yeah I’ll catch up with you guys.” He stated before flying back to the castle. He flew into the castle and rushed to his room. To his relief, Cinnamon had fallen asleep and Snowy was rereading the Power Pony comics to Debbie.
“Let go you guys, we’re going to the forest.” Spike said. Debbie got off of his bed and hopped into the cart. Her feathers had come in early and she was fluffy. The teal bow around her neck brought out the color of the diamond on her head. Spike picked Cinnamon up and gently placed her into the cart. Snowy climbed up his leg and laid on his scaly head.
“Remember you two, be quiet.” Spike stated before putting a blanket over both of them. He walked out of his room and headed to the forest.
Spike walked into a bedroom that was in the Castle of the Two Sisters. He took the blanket off of Debbie and Cinnamon.
“You three need to stay here, I don’t want anyone to find you. Twilight is in the forest and it’ll be suspicious to see a baby roc and a manticore kitten all alone. Snowy is in charge.” Spike stated. He placed a few Power Pony comics on the bed before leaving the room. He flew outside of the castle to see Smolder under the bridge, kicking a rock. She was attacking it from different angles.
“What are you doing?” Spike asked. Smolder punched the rock and looked at him.
“Making a memorial statue of the Tree. When creatures see this, they'll be super impressed!” Smolder exclaimed while kicking a large chunk of rock into the air. Spike grinned.
“Oh, I can help!” Spike exclaimed, his tail wagging a bit. He lifted up his hands and let them glow. A few blue and purple flowers bloomed from the rock, making Smolder stare in awe.
“That’s so cool, where did you learn that?” She asked in astonishment. Spike gave a confused look.
“Dragons can’t do this?” He asked in confusion. Smolder shook her head. Spike looked down at the ground for a moment, thinking for a second.
“Then I don’t know where I learn this, it just happened.” Spike said with a shrug of shoulders. Before Smolder could say anything else, there was a white blur and a thud. Snowy laid face first on the hard ground. He got up and dusted himself off.
“You could’ve just climbed down and not risk killing yourself.” Spike stated. Snowy let out a few distressed squeaks and hopped up and down. “I need to go, see you later.” He said as he grabbed Snowy and flew away. Once Smolder was out of earshot, Snowy started to talk.
“I know you left me in charge but Cinnamon and Debbie are so much bigger than me and left the castle and now I can’t find them.” He said in one breath. Spike gave a concerned look.
“It’s not your fault, let’s go find them.” Spike reasurred. Spike flew high in the sky, looking around for anyone. Spike spotted Silverstream pulling a cart filled with various types of paints. Not to far, Debbie looked around in confusion. His eyes widened and he dived down.
“Distract Silverstream!” Spike exclaimed before throwing Snowy. He couldn’t really get hurt from any type of impact. Snowy landed in front of her, causing her to let out a gasp of surprise.
“Where did you come from?” Silverstream asked. Snowy stood up and did a little dance. Silverstream stared in awe.
“Debbie.” Spike whispered. Debbie turned around and flapped her wings happily when she saw him. He held his finger up to his lips. “Be quiet.” He stated as he grabbed her wing. They snuck away as Snowy continued to dance. He stopped dancing when he saw Spike flying a few dozen feet from Silverstream, trying to get his attention. Snowy pretended to tilt an imaginary hat off of his head before running off.
“Did you find Cinnamon?” Snowy asked. Spike shook his head.
“She’s only two days old and can barely walk, she couldn’t have gotten that far.” Spike stated. He looked around. She just learned to open her eyes and could sorta drag herself. “How could Cinnamon leave the castle without you knowing, she can’t walk?” Spike asked. Snowy shrugged his shoulders.
“I was trying to stop Debbie and when I turned around she was gone.” He explained. Spike thought for a moment.
“Maybe Buddy can help, he has a great sense of smell!” Spike exclaimed. They all walked off to go find the Timberwolf caves.
Spike, Debbie, and Snowy entered the caves to see timberwolves doing normal timberwolf things like play fighting and sleeping. Spike spotted Buddy who was laying on the ground. Curled up into his stomach was Cinnamon. He licked her clean as she purred happily.
“You took her?” Spike asked. Buddy looked up and his tail wagged happily. He picked Cinnamon up by the back of her neck and handed her to Spike. “Where are was going to stay
“I guess we can stay in the castle until everyone else leaves the forest.” Spike commented as he pet Cinnamons head. A bright light came from outside, making everything go silent. Spike rushed outside to see a large crystal shooting through the roof of the castle. Worry washed over him.
“You four stay here, I’m going to check that out and if any of you leave you’re all grounded.” Spike said as flew towards the castle.
Spike approached the Castle of the Two Sisters and gasped at what he saw. A giant crystal tree house came through the roof. It was sparkly and beautiful. Twilight stood next to the young six, marveling at the structure.
“Where did this come from?” Twilight asked in disbelief. They all shrugged.
“We were kinda gonna ask you the same thing.” Smolder stated. Spike stared at the tree house.
“It looks like part of the Tree of Harmony. But how? I thought it was destroyed!” He exclaimed.
“It was. But when we used the broken parts to build something new, this happened.” Ocellus explained, gesturing to the building.
“The Tree has always been good at surprises. When Star Swirl planted the Tree's seed, he didn't even know what it would grow into. I guess the Tree is still alive, changing and adapting to be whatever Equestria needs.” Twilight said, her eyes sparkling.
“A cool place to hang out?” Gallus asked. Spikes heart dropped at the sound of that. If they always hung out in the forest, then he wouldn’t be able to help his friends. Yona, Sandbar, and Silverstream were all terrible at lying and wouldn’t be able to keep in that secret.
“Hey Spike, aren’t you coming in?” Smolder asked at the entry of the tree house. He hadn’t realized that he spaced out completely.
“Nah I’m good, I’ll just walk around for a bit.” Spike stated. He started to walk back to the timberwolf cave, his scales drooping.
Spike, Buddy, Snowy, and Debbie walked through the forest. Cinnamon laid in his arms.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to come out here anymore. The new school year is about to come and I’ll have to help around the school. To make things worse a few of the students will be hanging out nearby so if they catch me everything will be ruined.” Spike explained. Buddy let out a whimper and nudged his side. He lightly pet his head. “I wish I could somehow not get caught.” Spike wished. He stopped walking when he was near a hill. He realized he had no idea where he was. There was a lake nearby and a bunch of flowers. He realized he had been following the stream.
The ground in front of them shook. Trees and vines shot out of the ground and coiled around each other. They all stared in awe as the watched the trees and vines come together. The ground stopped shaking and in front of them there was a large house.
“Woah.” Spike marveled. There was a flash of bright light and Twilight stood in front of them. Something was different though. She was almost see through and she was covered in glitter. Spike gasped in realization.
“You’re the Tree if Harmony!” He exclaimed. Smolder had described what she looked like to him. The tree nodded her head.
“I made this house for you. It is here to help you continue your study on the forest and continue helping it. You love the forest deeply and the forest cares for you. As for your friends, I’ll make sure they won’t find out.” She said with a wink. Spike stared in disbelief.
“Thank you.” He said happily. The Tree of Harmony smiled before disappearing.
“She was so pretty!” Snowy exclaimed with a blush. Spike gave a grossed out look.
“She looked just like Twilight.” He commented. Snowy’s face got redder and he nodded his head. Spike looked back at the house, which was blooming with flowers. It was bigger than the common house in Ponyville. He looked at the sun.
“We have a few hours to spare, let’s check this place out.”