//------------------------------// // 50. Dive Into The Heart Part 4: The Light Of Harmony // Story: Spider in Equestria // by DarkSpider //------------------------------// Stepping out of the giant ring, the duo looked around the new area they found themselves in. Similarly to when Dark first appeared, all around them was complete darkness, except for the large cave entrance in front of them. Looking around, they didn’t see anything else in the darkness or near the cave. "So where are we now?" Dark asked. "Looks like a cave," Venom stated. Dark deadpanned. "Oh really?" Venom shrugged. "Ask a stupid question." After looking around for a few moments, he said, "You know, it was pretty interesting what you said to Shard." "What do you mean?" Venom raised an eyebrow. "You said you won't be killing anyone and yet I clearly recall you threatening to strangle someone with his own intestines a few days ago." Dark glared at the symbiote. "Hey, you and I both know that was just to scare the bastard away from Rainbow and Bri." Venom chuckled. "Calm down. I'm just messing with you." Dark sighed. "Whatever. Let's get this ove-" Suddenly behind the two of them, a bright red door appeared from the ground. A bright light was emitting from the door, and shined even brighter once it was opened. Stepping out of the red door was Rainbow Dash, looking shocked at seeing the two of them. Before anyone could say anything, the door behind her disappeared. Rainbow groaned. "Another one? Seriously? Fine." She gripped a sword in her hand that was identical to Dark's and lunged at him, with him narrowly dodging her before blocking an attack with his own sword. "Rainbow! What the heck are you doing?" Dark shouted before jumping back. The next moment, black tendrils wrapped Rainbow up by her torso and lifted her up. Following the tendrils, she saw Venom with tendrils sticking out of his back. "Hey, let me go!" Venom shook his head. "No. Not until you calm down." "I already did that damn trial. Why do I need to fight another one?" Dark blinked. "Wait, trial? So you've been going through this insanity too?" Venom hummed before looking at Rainbow. "Calm down Rainbow. That's really Dark. Not some fake that you had to face or anything." "And why should I believe that?" She asked, no longer hostile but suspicious. Dark sighed. "Well I've been going through some trials too. Had to fight a Mega-Lucario, 3 bad guys I never even met, and 2 other people I never met." He then pinched the bridge of his nose. "This whole experience has been a major headache. And that knight guy gave me an even bigger one…" Rainbow started calming down after that and Venom set her down gently. She then took a step closer to Dark. "Tito?" Dark nodded. "Yeah Dash, it's me. Nice to know I'm not the only one who went through this hell." Rainbow then let out a sigh of relief before looking at Venom and pointed at him with her thumb. "And who's he?" "That's Venom." Rainbow's eyes widened in shock but before she can say anything, a bright flash of light cut them all off. Turning towards the light they saw a new door appear, a bright red one similar to the one that brought Rainbow there. The door creaked open, allowing for a familiar lavender alicorn to step through, Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw them, looking around she gave them each a confused look. Twilight tilted her head. "Dark? Rainbow?" Dark nodded. "Yeah, it's us Twi." He then noticed that in her hand was the staff from the beginning. "So you too, huh?" Rainbow asked. "So what did you go through?" Twilight shrugged. "Went through a maze, did some puzzles, answered some questions, and had a magic duel with Princess Celestia." She then rubbed her temples. "That last one was truly difficult…" She then looked at her two friends. "What about you guys?" "Like I told Dash, I fought a strong pokemon and 5 people I never even met. And answered a few questions myself." Rainbow sighed. "I fought some pegasus with fire powers, ran into evil version of you and the others, and fought an evil version of Tito. That last one was...pretty difficult…" Dark shrugged. "Well you clearly passed if you're here." Just like all of the other times, another door appeared with a blinding flash of light. Similarly to others, the red door opened allowing the cat-like mobian to step through. "And that's all 4 of you," Venom stated. "Tito?" Elizabeth asked. Dark nodded again. "Yes, it's really me Eli. And this is the real Twilight and Rainbow. And that's Venom. Don't ask how he looks like that, I don't really know." Elizabeth blinked before standing up straight. "Well okay then." She then saw the shield in Venom's arm. "Huh. I see we got the same idea," she said before pulling out a matching shield. "So two swords, two shields, and one staff, huh?" Venom asked. He then frowned. "Okay, I know why Dark picked the sword, because he has a couple years of experience, but why did you three pick your respective items?" Elizabeth hummed. "Well I'm not so good with a sword yet and when I heard that staff is the item of a mystic, I turned it down. But with the shield, it felt right." She then shrugged. "Besides, the power of a guardian sounds about right for a knight." After that, Twilight looked at her staff. "As for me, it was like I was drawn to it. Plus I definitely don't know how to use a sword and shields are more Shining Armor's thing than mine." After that, Dark looked at Rainbow, who shrugged. "I got used to using a sword thanks to practising with you so I figured it was the best choice." Dark nodded before looking around. "Well with that out of the way, what do we do now?" "Well there's only one clear way to go," Venom said before pointing to the cave. Rainbow shrugged. "Well come on then." With that said, she flared up her wings and flew in with the others following her. As the group made their way inside the cave, they immediately began to notice all of the crystal growths around the cave, a large formation of rocks stood parallel to each other as they led deeper into the cave. “Doesn’t this place seem familiar?” Twilight asked, turning towards Rainbow Dash, who could only nod as she narrowed her eyes to scan the area.   Finally reaching the end of the cave, everyone couldn’t help but gape at the giant, jagged, crystal tree that stood at the end of the cave, the formation of rocks made a semi-circle around the tree. On the middle of the tree was a six pointed star shaped gem, similar to Twilight’s cutie mark, with similar gems all around the ends of the branches, each of the gems showing a cutie mark similar to the elements. "What is that?" Eli asked. "And why does it have your marks on it?" She said, looking at Rainbow and Twilight. "That, Elizabeth, is the Tree Of Harmony," Venom explained. "And the reason for that is because they, as well as the other four, embody the Elements Of Harmony," he said, gesturing to each of the gems on the branches. "But why are we here?" Rainbow asked. As if to answer her question, a bright light shone from the tree, the light eventually began to fade as someone stepped out of the light. The pony that stepped out of the light looked exactly like Twilight, the only difference was that she was semi-transparent, and her body sparkled in the light the tree gave off. The Twilight copy slowly turned towards each of them and smiled. “That was because of me.” The copy said, her voice carrying an echo. Dark groaned. "Another copy of someone? Really?" Twilight gave a slight glare to Dark before looking at her shining double. "Who are you?" "And why do you look like Twilight?" Rainbow said. “I am the Tree of Harmony, and as Twilight Sparkle embodies the Element of Magic, I have chosen her form to be the most fitting to take.” The copy answered, her expression never changing. Everyone blinked at that before Venom said, "Wait, so all those theories of the Tree being sapient are true?" Dark shrugged. "Looks like it. At least for us." "Wait, what theories?" Twilight asked. Dark waved his hand dismissively. "Just some theories I heard back on Earth, not important." Elizabeth then looked at the Tree. "So miss...Tree…you said you're the reason we're here? Why is that?" “The reason why you are all here is because of a foreign Light and Darkness that have intruded in our world. The light seeking to arm you to better defend yourselves, and the Darkness seeking to devour everything in this world.” The Tree’s avatar spoke, her smile dropping into a frown. “Seeing as how the light sought to help, I decided to intervene on your dreams, in order to test the four of you to see if you were truly capable of combating the darkness.” She explained to them, her expression serious. “Had I not intervene you would’ve simply chosen your boon, and combat a small amount of those creatures of darkness until you were given the Keyblade. I did not think this was enough to see if you can combat this new threat.” She turned towards Dark. “And while one of you may already have a Keyblade, I felt the need to test him as well, in case he wasn’t ready to wield such a weapon.” "Wait, so you hijacked our dreams and had us go through these trials?" Rainbow asked, getting a little mad. She nodded. “I did what I felt was necessary. While you are one of the Elements, that doesn’t mean you are automatically worthy of the Keyblade. Such a weapon can be dangerous in the wrong hands or in the hands of someone unworthy.” "Kairi seems to think they're worthy," Venom commented. "And if they weren't, they wouldn't have been able to hold her Keyblade in the first place." “It’s best not to take any chances.” The Tree answered. “Especially not with matters such as these.” "Okay, seriously. How dangerous can this be?" Rainbow asked. "If they're anything like those black bug looking things I fought earlier, then you are seriously worrying about nothing." The Tree frowned, her eyes narrowing at Rainbow. “Those “black bugs” are just the beginning, and I’m sure that they’re the weakest among their group. After all they are used to test others during these dreams.” "She's right Rainbow," Venom said, crossing his arms. "Those things are the lowest level in terms of power regarding Heartless. At least as far as we know." Dark's eyes widened before looking at the Tree. "Wait...you and that person in my second trial said that the darkness is coming if it wasn't already here. That doesn't mean Heartless, does it?" The copy sighed, looking down in dejection. “Unfortunately I am not able to repel the darkness for very long, and seeing as how the initial trial seemed to be trying to prepare you for their arrival, I do believe that those Heartless will be arriving soon.” "Well shit…" Dark muttered. "Uh Tito, how bad is it if this is true?" Eli asked, concerned. "Worst case scenario? The entire world plunges into darkness. And I don't mean like Nightmare Moon planned. I don't know the exact details but I'm pretty sure it's pretty much the world being erased." "WHAT?" The other 3 wielders yelled in shock. Venom looked at the Tree. "Any idea how long we have before they show up?" “I’m doing my best to keep the darkness away, yet I fear that some of it has already slipped past my defenses.” She sighed. “I believe you only have a few days before they start appearing, a week if we’re lucky.” Dark sighed. "Great. Just great. Not only do we have to deal with Hydra, who wants me dead, but Heartless too?" "Don't forget all those villains we fought earlier," Venom said. "Oh right. That. Did you do that too?" Dark asked the Tree. “I did summon copies of individuals, all of them from the most likely future to happen.” The tree answered. “However if you are referring to your second trial then it was your trial giver that summoned those villains, not me. Her illusionary powers allowed her to mimic powerful villains that you are very likely to meet.” "Wait, so I really will meet all those guys?" “Not for certain, they are all from the most likely future.” She said. “Things can change, and depending on your actions or the ones from those around you, it's also likely that you’ll never meet any of these individuals, or perhaps if you do, they will not be as you saw them today.” "Duly noted." "Okay, I have a question," Rainbow said. "Why in Tartarus did you have me go through that last trial?" “I am sorry that you had to go through such distress in your last trial Rainbow Dash.” She apologized, looking at her sadly. “But I did what I felt was necessary. The last trial was meant to test your courage, your will to move forward and see things to the end. I know it seemed harsh, and twisted, but it was the most effective way to test you.” Rainbow simply glared at the avatar and didn't say anything else. Eli then stepped forward. "Okay, so let me get this straight. We all went through some trials because of a sentient tree hijacking our dreams because it wanted to see if we were capable of facing some sort of darkness that is coming and apparently some of us fought people we might meet later on." After a few seconds, she finished with, "Am I missing anything?" The tree smiled lightly. “No, that’s basically it.” "There anything else we should know about?" Dark asked. The Tree hummed. “Well… I do recommend talking with Screwball about that gem she found in Blackwood Forest. It's best if you do it as soon as you can, there are others who are looking for gemstones similar to it.” Dark blinked. "Wait, gem from where?" "Blackwood Forest?" Twilight asked. "That's not far from the hotel you guys were staying in for the convention." Venom nodded. "She probably found that gem while Dark was waiting for the doctor to show up." “Well it is time for you to go now.” The Tree said, catching their attention. “It should be morning by now, and it's time for you all to wake up.” She frowned, and bowed her head. “Before you go, just let me apologize for the trouble I caused you all this night. With the darkness approaching, I felt that it was best to do this rather than take any chances.” Rainbow rolled her eyes while everyone else shrugged. The giant tree in the back suddenly started glowing brightly, blinding everyone in the room. The light from the tree slowly engulfed everyone, sending them back to their bodies. The avatar then flashed disappearing as the area they were in faded away as well. Leaving behind nothing but an endless white void.