Something was wrong.
Fluttershy’s mind reeled as the Flash played before her eyes. It was completely different from any Flash she had experienced before. Everything was distorted and foggy, and a dull rumble filled her ears. The image was unstable, constantly flickering and shattering as if it were the broken reflection in a shattering mirror. Words and voices completely detached from the vision echoed in her ears like haunting whispers, and a fittingly cold chill flooded her senses, despite her lack of a physical body to feel with.
The fractured kaleidoscope of imagery finally settled on a birds-eye view of Ponyville. The buildings were smothered by the vines, much like they were back in the current world. However, the vines were far less aggressive than they had been when she encountered them. They were still spreading, yes, but at a much-reduced speed, and seemed to be more passive. They would occasionally grab at a passing pony, but it didn’t take much for the victim to break free and continue their frightened retreat.
The view distorted again before reforming in a different location. Fluttershy watched through the eyes of her past self with trepidation and hope for some answers. She was standing with the rest of her friends in the middle of a street that was mercifully clear of the vines, for the most part. Even Discord was present, the Draconequus lounging lazily on one of the thicker vines. A bag of popcorn was clutched in his claws and a pair of two-toned paper glasses perched on his muzzle.
In front of herself and her friends, Twilight Sparkle was standing with her eyes wide open and glowing with white light. She was utterly unresponsive to the world around her, save for the occasional twitch of her ear or intake of breath.
Fluttershy, if she had been in possession of lungs, would have gasped as the image suddenly cracked and shattered again, being replaced by a view of the Everfree Forest. She was being pulled into the trees at breakneck speeds, deeper and deeper. The dual lights of the divided sky were soon obscured by the forest canopy, leaving Fluttershy in darkness as her eyes raced through the trunks. In mere moments, she broke through a wall of trees and the castle of the two sisters came into view in the distance, also ensnared by the spreading vines.
“I still don’t know what’s happened to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna…” Twilight Sparkle’s voice echoed distantly in her ears, a misty reflection of the alicorn in question hovering before Fluttershy’s eyes for a brief instant before vanishing like a warm breath on a wintery night. “But I think I know why the Everfree Forest is acting this way…”
Her view dipped down into the great chasm that surrounded the castle, and blue light suddenly erupted from directly ahead of Fluttershy. She wanted to cry out and screw her eyes shut because it was so bright, but she was forced to watch. Steadily, that pristine, comforting light took on a dull, sickly hue. It slowly began to grow faint, and against that dying radiance, she saw it.
A great tree made of blue crystal that shimmered and sparkled with majestic radiance. Its branches were jagged and pointed but nonetheless beautiful. At the end of five of its branches were empty impressions that looked like they could house evenly-cut gemstones. Along the front of the trunk, starting from the bottom and working their way up, was a series of etched symbols. There was a sun, a moon and, finally, a large starburst that dominated the core that all of the branches reached out from.
“Something’s happened to the Tree of Harmony,” Twilight’s voice continued, reverberating and distorting unevenly and making Fluttershy feel sick to her stomach. The voice continued. “It’s where Celestia and Luna found the Elements. I think it’s in danger.”
As if to prove her point, the aggressive vines that Fluttershy had encountered before emerged from the light, tightly wrapping around the trunk and branches of the tree and tightening like constrictor snakes. Cracks began to form along the surface of the trunk as the pressure increased, and a sound like crumbling boulders and crunching glass filled Fluttershy’s ears more and more.
“Even without these Elements,” the voice of Celestia rang out. “The Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic. As long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain all that grows here.”
The vines gave a mighty tug, and the Tree shattered into thousands of pieces. The sickly light that had surrounded it immediately went dark, leaving Fluttershy engulfed in shadows.
Somewhere in the back of her skull, a quiet voice whispered. She couldn’t make out the words, but the meaning was nonetheless clear.
Something was calling for help.
A bassy boom filled Fluttershy’s ears, and the vision shattered.
Twilight hadn’t taken her eyes off of Fluttershy since Rainbow departed into the basement. The timid pegasus had remained completely motionless the whole time, occasionally taking in a shuddering breath before letting it back out again with a barely-audible whimper.
“What is she seeing in there?” Twilight thought to herself anxiously. She reached out and gingerly ran her hoof down the back of Fluttershy’s head in a comforting pat before glancing around the room to all of her other friends.
Most of them had gathered together around her, waiting patiently for Fluttershy to awake. Rainbow was still down in the basement, however. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were huddled together under Rarity’s forelegs, whispering quietly to each other and trying their best to take comfort in the presence of so many adults.
“Is she still out of it?” Rainbow’s voice called from the basement door, drawing Twilight’s attention. Her eyes locked onto the ornate blue chest that the pegasus had balanced on her back, and her mind briefly wandered to the day that Celestia brought Discord to Ponyville.
“She sure is,” Pinkie replied, her ears lowering. “Whatever she’s seeing, it must be pretty long.”
“And intense,” Applejack added, adjusting her hat and patting Fluttershy on the back herself. “Poor thing keeps’ mumblin’ and mutterin’ to herself. Ah dunno… but somethin’ feels wrong ‘bout this.”
“I’m sure the dear is fine,” Rarity added, although the anxious tugs she kept giving her mane did not help make her point. “It’s probably just her own stress over the situation…”
Twilight frowned and turned to Rarity. “The way you’re all talking about this makes me think this isn’t how flashes are usually supposed to look from the outside,” she noted, her brow scrunching up in thought. “I’ve never seen one happen from the outside, though, so I wouldn’t know…”
Rainbow hummed as she came over. “Well, there isn’t usually much whimpering involved,” she recounted before setting the chest down on the coffee table and prying it open.
Twilight, curious about the Elements, leaned over to get a good look. A collection of five necklaces and one crown met her gaze, each one made of sparkling gold with ornate patterns embossed into the surface. Decorating each one was a unique gem, each shaped like the cutie mark of one of the mares present. She saw her own starburst at the top of the crown, and her throat tightened.
In all of the chaos, she had forgotten that she was apparently the centerpiece of the Elements. The Element made when all the others came together. Magic. Her eyes quickly darted between all of them before settling on Rainbow just as she pulled out the necklace with the red lightning bolt gem.
“Okay, everypony get your Elements,” Rainbow said simply, affixing her necklace around her neck. “And for the love of Celestia, don’t lose it.”
“Usin’ yer mom as an expression, huh?” Applejack remarked with a coy smile as she retrieved her own. “Heh, force of habit?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Hey, she didn’t even know she was an expression until I blurted it out in front of her one time.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “She didn’t?”
Rainbow’s shrug grew. “She’s got a lot going on. Some things slip under her radar, ya know?”
Before any further discussion could be had, Fluttershy’s eyes flew open alongside a loud gasp. All eyes flew to her, and Twilight and Rainbow quickly moved to catch her when they saw her falling forward.
“Woah, there!” Rainbow yelped before helping Fluttershy sit back up. “You okay?”
“What did you see?” Scootaloo asked, departed the protection of Rarity’s legs. “Did you see what to do? Or where to go? Or something?!”
Fluttershy didn’t reply to any of the questions right away. Her eyes darted back and forth, and her chest rose and fell with every heave of breath she took.
Sweetie was quick to drag Scootaloo back by her tail. “Hey, don’t get on her case!” She chastised with a frown. “She’s clearly really rattled! Just give her some space.”
Scootaloo harrumphed, her forelegs crossing over her chest, but she nonetheless did not approach Fluttershy again.
A few more seconds came and went before Fluttershy finally started to calm down, her breath easing back to a normal pace. Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” she called gently.
Fluttershy nodded shakily, placing her own hoof over Twilight’s and squeezing in an attempt to ground herself. “Yes… I think so,” she eventually replied, taking another deep breath.
“What’d you see?” Pinkie asked eagerly, leaning forward with an expectant grin.
“Did you find out whose butt we need to kick?” Rainbow narrowed down in a quieter voice.
Fluttershy took another deep breath before looking down at the floor. “I, um… I don’t know for sure…” she stammered out, her free hoof wandering up to the side of her head. “I… It was so… different this time.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Different how?”
“It was all… broken,” Fluttershy replied, shuddering. “I wasn’t seeing one thing specifically, but a whole bunch of things… I saw us, and Discord, and... the vines, they were acting differently. They were… almost passive. And… there was this weird blue tree made of crystals. I…”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when Fluttershy suddenly looked right at her.
“I heard Twilight say that it was the Tree of Harmony and that something had happened to it.”
“Woah woah woah,” Rainbow interrupted, lifting a hoof. “There’s a tree of harmony? Since when?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know. But I saw it getting attacked by those vine things, and… and I saw it shattering…” she shuddered again, her body shrinking reflexively. “I think we need to save it.”
“And how in the hoof are we supposed to do that?” Applejack asked, her brow furrowing. “We dunno where to even start lookin’ fer the darned thing.”
“Um, actually,” Fluttershy began to correct, part of her mane falling in front of her face. “I think it’s in the Everfree Forest. Near the castle…”
Twilight’s blood ran cold. “W-wait, so, if you’re right, we need to travel inside the Everfree Forest?!” she asked, aghast. That meant wandering into the heart of where those vines were coming from. And considering how incredibly aggressive they were… a chill ran down her spine, the image of those vines strangling and pounding her and her friends into the dirt filled her mind.
“It does seem to be looking that way, doesn’t it?” Rarity said, the somber tone of her voice making it clear she had a very similar realization. “And that means facing those vines up close and personal…”
“What’s the big deal?” Scootaloo suddenly piped up again, drawing all eyes to her. She ventured forward a little more slowly this time. “I mean, you guys have gone into the forest before. Hay, that was the first thing all of you did together. Doing it again shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Rainbow frowned. “Okay, Scoots, much as I appreciate the vote of confidence, I don’t think you’re really grasping a couple things here,” she began sternly. “First off, the Everfree Forest is dangerous. It’s a primal zone, one of the wildest and most dangerous out of all of them. Monsters, aggressive animals, poisonous plants, treacherous terrain. Yeah, we’ve made the trip before, but it’s not something we can just do on a whim.”
“And those vines,” Fluttershy added, quivering at the thought. “They’re dangerous, too…”
“Exactly,” Rainbow agreed before letting out a frustrated sigh. “If they were as passive as they were last time, this wouldn’t be such a big deal. We could just waddle in there and probably be fine. But now…”
“If we go in there unprepared, we’re liable to get squished,” Applejack summarized simply, her expression hardening.
“O-oh…” Scootaloo mumbled, taking a step back and visibly deflating. Twilight’s ears drooped at the sight of the filly’s confidence popping like a sad balloon. She went to reach out to her but ultimately decided against it for the moment.
“Well, what other choice do we have?” Pinkie eventually asked. “If we don't go in there, those vines are just gonna keep ruining everypony's day! We gotta stop them somehow!”
Rainbow let out a quiet huff before nodding. “Yeah… Pinkie’s right. We don’t really have any other options. If this Tree of Harmony thing is in danger, then we can’t afford to waste any time,” she decided before standing upright.
“But wait!” Scootaloo suddenly piped up again, her eyes wide. “You just told me that it’s super dangerous! That you’ll get squished! But now you’re going in anyway?!”
“Got no choice, kiddo,” Applejack told her with a shake of her head. “If’n we stick ‘round here too long tryin’ to think of a better plan, them vines are gonna bust up Ponyville even more, and that tree’s gonna get broken.”
“I am afraid Applejack has the right of it,” Rarity agreed with a sage nod of her head. “We need to act now.”
“B-but,” Sweetie protested, her eyes focusing on her big sister. “What if you get hurt?!”
“That’s a risk I just have to take, dear,” Rarity replied. She smiled and gave Sweetie an affectionate nuzzle. “I couldn’t live with myself if I allowed those brutish plants to harm even a single hair on your head.”
Twilight swallowed another lump in her throat, her heart starting to pound in her chest. “Girls, wait a second. How…” she looked down at her crown in the chest, her anxiety only growing more intense. “How are we going to defend ourselves? And what if I can’t use my Element?”
“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head.
Twilight closed her eyes and put a hoof to her chest. “I just… ever since I woke up with amnesia, I don’t think I’ve really been the same mare that wielded the Element of Magic. All of the life experiences that led me to become that mare are gone. I’m… I’m somepony else now, in a way… and how can we be sure that I can use the Element as I am now?”
A tense silence fell over the room, a few uncertain glances being passed around. In the end, it was Rainbow whose expression hardened before she stepped up to Twilight and looked her right in the eye. Twilight shrank back under that gaze, her ears lowering.
And then Rainbow smiled. “Twilight… you’re not wrong that you’re not quite the same mare you were before,” she began in a tender voice, lifting Twilight’s chin with a hoof. “But I can tell you this. Whether or not you’re exactly the same as the Twilight I grew up with and came to Ponyville with three years ago doesn’t matter. You’re still you. A few small differences aside, you are Twilight Sparkle… and the Elements chose Twilight Sparkle to wield the most powerful one of them all.”
“Rainbow…” Twilight whispered, her heart fluttering in her chest somewhat.
Rainbow then reached down into the chest and pulled out the crown. “You’re worthy, Twilight,” she said before lightly placing the crown on Twilight’s head, resting just behind her horn. It fit perfectly. Rainbow’s smile grew. “I know that for a fact.”
Twilight didn’t say anything, instead reaching up and gently touching her hoof to the crown. It was warm to the touch, and somehow, at that moment, she knew Rainbow was right. A tiny smile spread across her face as she reveled in that relief before she leaned forward to offer the pegasus a hug. “Thank you, Rainbow… I needed to hear that,” she whispered.
Rainbow returned the hug without hesitation. “Of course. Anytime…”
“Aaaww,” Sweetie cooed.
“If they kiss, I’m leavin’,” Scootaloo deadpanned.
Twilight tensed at that remark but was quick to relax. Rainbow, meanwhile, shot Scootaloo a disapproving frown. “Ever hear of timing, Scoots?”
“Have you?” Applejack countered on the filly’s behalf with a raised brow.
“Touche.”
“Twilight did make another fine point, though,” Rarity elaborated with a frown. “How do we defend ourselves from the vines?”
“I’d like to know that, too,” Fluttershy agreed, her hooves idly scratching at the bruise on her throat. “I don’t want them to grab me again…”
Rainbow slowly pulled back and looked into Twilight’s eyes, her smile gone. “...We’ll probably have to rely on Twilight for that,” she eventually said.
Twilight’s pupils shrank. “W-what?!”
“You’ve got the most powerful magic out of all of us,” Rainbow pointed out with a nod at her horn. “And I know you studied at least some basic self-defense magic in the last two years. Barriers and beams, right?”
Twilight leaned back, her mind racing. “Well, yes, but… but I’m not good with them!” she protested, a million different ways she might come up short racing through her head. “I’ve never had a chance to actually use them in a practical scenario! I dunno how strong they are! What if the vines break right through? What if I can’t hold it for long? What if I-”
“Twilight!” Rainbow cut her off while giving her a shake. “Calm down! You’re not our only line of defense, you know?”
Twilight blinked. “H-huh?”
Rainbow slowly released her with a nod. “Your magic will be our first line of defense. If your magic fails, then the rest of us can still defend ourselves a little bit. I mean, I threw down with Queen Chrysalis, remember?”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah, but… you lost, didn’t you?”
“Not the point,” Rainbow deflected. “Point is, we’re not utterly defenseless, Twi. You’ll be our first line of defense, and the rest of us can stand ready to fight back if those things get through…”
Twilight didn’t like it… but so far, when had Rainbow ever given her a reason to doubt what she was saying? After a few seconds, Twilight nodded and set her jaw. “Alright… I’ll do my best,” she agreed.
Rainbow smiled. “Good…” she said quietly before turning back to the others. “Okay, get ready to go. Scootaloo, Sweetie, I want you two to head into the basement ad not come out ‘til somepony comes to get you. Got it?”
“Aaaw,” the fillies whined in unison.
“No complaining. Get going,” Rainbow told them sharply. As they dragged themselves away to comply, she turned back to the Rarity. “You still know the spell to send Spike stuff, right Rarity?”
“But of course,” The fashion designer agreed with a sharp nod. “Why?”
Rainbow grinned. “Cause I need you to send him something before we go. Ponyville’s vulnerable right now, so I’m gonna have the Royal Guard send some troops down here to fight off the vines and keep everypony safe.”
Rarity nodded and held her head high. “Very well, I shall not disappoint you!”
“Good,” Rainbow turning to Applejack and Pinkie. “Applejack, Pinkie, pick up anything you think might be helpful. Rope, tools, whatever. Just pick up something to help us out. Make it quick and come back here when you’re ready. I’ll stick here with Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy until you’re back.”
“I’m gonna bring my party cannon!” Pinkie declared before turning and disappearing out the front door in a pink blur. Applejack shook her head in mild exasperation before nodding her head at Rainbow. With that, the farmer too made her exit, leaving the remaining mares to their own devices.
Amid the flurry of activity, Twilight remained where she was, an uneasy expression on her face. As much as she knew that they didn’t exactly have much choice, the idea of heading into the forest like this was still not at all one she had confidence in. She shuddered uncontrollably, her hooves wrapping around her barrel in an effort to stave off the chill of her own dread. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t ready for this kind of pressure. She wasn’t ready for-
A hoof laid itself on her back. Confused, she turned and saw Fluttershy by her side, smiling encouragingly. “You’re going to be fine, Twilight,” she said softly. “I know you will.”
Twilight went to protest the assertion when her mind wandered back to a day some time ago in Canterlot. When at the train station, Fluttershy had offered her similar words of encouragement.
“When I first woke up without my memories, I was so confused, lost, and scared. I had no idea what I was doing. All I could do was let Rainbow Dash lead me and hope that we were as close as she was claiming.”
Her smile faded, replaced with a more somber frown. “But there’s still a lot that I don’t know about myself… and I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know how well I could handle it if we faced some big crisis.”
Fluttershy was quiet for a few moments, tilting her head to one side. Then, with a sigh, she draped a wing over Twilight’s back in a comforting side hug. “Don’t worry, Twilight. You are a wonderful mare, and I just know you’ll do your very best, no matter what,” she whispered in assurance, giving her foalhood friend an affectionate nuzzle.
Twilight smiled and leaned into the gesture gratefully. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”
“My very best…” Twilight thought as the memory drifted back down. After a few moments, she gave a quiet smile and nod before leaning into Fluttershy’s side. “Thanks, Fluttershy… You’ll be fine, too.”
The pegasus hummed and gave her a gentle nuzzle on the head. “You’re welcome, Twilight…”
And they would be fine. No matter how scared she was, Twilight resolved then and there to push on and do what she had to do to save the day and her friends. After everything they had done for her since she had come into this world without her memories, she was not going to let herself turn tail and run away now. They needed her.
And she was not going to fail them.