Twilight and Starlight were silent as they came down the ravine. Even though their bodies were smoldering on the cliff above them, Cookie Cutter and his friends lingered in the back of their minds, never truly gone.
Misguided and tragic as he was, he was still a servant of Solaris. How many others across Equestria had been distorted like he had? Other disconcerting news had been uncovered as well. New Black Blades that harmed the soul… where did he get his hooves on those? Why had Solaris decided to bless a few ponies with his secret power? The keys were all there, but the locks were missing.
As the teacher and student entered the cave where the Tree resided, they noticed two things: a cause and effect.
The cause was a distorted white shield of flickering energy surrounding the tree, snapping out with gaseous power on the occasion. A loud buzzing filled the echoey cavern, emanating from the tree itself. The effect of this was that the party had halted at the mouth of the cave, unsure whether to advance.
“What is this?” Starlight asked, coming beside Pinkie. “Why is the tree acting like this?”
“Beats me,” Rainbow conceded, folding her arms as she hovered a few feet above the rest.
The tree was as shiny and reflective as ever, forever crystallized as a reminder of the Creation. The Elements, hanging from the branches like fruit, glittered alluringly. But there was an ivory, angry net dancing around the tree, and scorch marks were scattered around the roof and walls of the cavern as well. Danger and anger hung in the air like a bad smell.
“I never saw the tree act like this before,” Fluttershy wondered as the blazing white energy zapped against the floor, leaving a long burn mark.
“If the tree could do this, why didn’t it do so against the Plundervines?” Rarity brought up, rubbing her chin.
Twilight squinted at the tree. Her eyes rested upon the six-pointed star in the center. There was something about it…
“I’m going to take a wild guess… and say the tree is overprotective,” Firestorm slowly hypothesized.
“Good point,” Starlight admitted quickly. “Remember what the servants said? They tried to take the Elements off the tree itself. What if…”
Applejack bent down, hefted a boulder the size of a buckball in her hoof, and threw it at the tree’s base. As it sailed in the air, a white string of pure magic shot out and blew it to smithereens with a bang, showering the ground with smoking pebbles.
“Overprotective, all right,” Tempest muttered.
“What will the tree allow to get close?” Freedom Fighter asked, toying with the energy staves at his hips.
“I’m sure the tree wouldn’t trust ponies again,” Rarity said, pounding her hoof on the ground. “Not after those guys, at least.”
“Hold on,” Spike interjected, holding up a finger. “You mean the Tree of Harmony has a consciousness?”
“When did it develop?” Fluttershy asked, blinking in surprise.
“What if it was always there?” Pinkie suspiciously presented, an overly-conspiratory look contorted on her face.
“We didn’t see any evidence that it was conscious before,” Twilight moved in, putting herself between the dangerous tree and her friends. “Or if this is just a curse the servants of Solaris put on it to ensure no one would get near it. The real problem is, how are we going to get close enough to retrieve our Elements?”
“Elements?” Noble clarified, inclining his head to observe the glowing blue jewel in the crosspiece above his head. He hummed. “Elements…”
“What are you thinking?” Fluttershy asked him.
“I’ll tell you,” Firestorm interrupted. “We three boys have to get close enough to it because we’re the only ones who have Elements of Harmony, which the tree is protecting.”
“By boys, you mean not me, I’m assuming,” Spike grumbled.
“You sure?” Starlight asked the dark orange pegasus. “What if you get vaporized?”
“I, uh, I’m pretty sure we won’t,” Firestorm said, scratching his bushy mane. “I mean, our Elements don’t harm us, right? And the power of the tree’s protection has to come from the Elements, right?”
“He has a point,” Pinkie said.
All heads swiveled to her.
Pinkie shrugged, contorting her face once again into a bemused look. “Whaaat? It explains how the Tree was defenseless until we put them back.”
Twilight smacked her forehead. Of course!
“So what you’re saying is, we send the Guardians ahead with the Elements so the tree knows we’re friends?” Rainbow summed up for Pinkie.
“Nooo.” Pinkie waved her statement aside. “We all go together as friends!”
“That’s kind of a big risk.”
“And everything we did until now wasn’t?” Starlight asked of Rainbow. “This is the penultimate step to our downfall of Solaris. And you want to-”
“What? No, I don’t!” Rainbow protested, waving her arms. “I just don’t want things to screw up when we’re so close to the end!”
“Friendship is all or nothing,” Twilight told everyone. “We all go, or the Tree will see them as enemies who stole the Elements.”
“I’m down for it!” Pinkie volunteered.
“I see no reason why it won’t work,” Rarity conceded.
A round of head-nodding and affirmed agreement went around everyone.
Noble Blade drew his sword in an explosion of blue light from the Element of Honor that discolored the rocks on the black cave wall. Firestorm uncovered the necklace under his ragged patches, and the orange light of the Element of Courage joined Noble’s color. Freedom Fighter peeled away the armor on his left shoulder, exposing the round, golden oval of the Element of Sacrifice. Their glow was stronger than usual, finally in the midst of their lost comrades.
The ten ponies meant to bear the Elements, with the Guardians in front, took a few steps into the massive cavity.
“I think we should stand back,” Spike advised Tempest, motioning for her to step away.
Tempest gave the dragon a narrow look.
“Didn’t you listen?” Spike demanded, pointing at Twilight. “The only ones allowed near the tree are the bearers of Harmony!”
Tempest sniffed. “What I heard was friendship is all or nothing. We all go in, or none of us do.”
Spike looked like he had been punched. Tempest, rolling her eyes, obliged and stepped back to the mouth of the cave.
Twilight, however, overheard all of this, and with a flick of her ear, felt shame creep into her step.
The three Guardians were holding their prizes aloft for the tree to see. The deep rumble and moan of the power around the tree was echoing off the walls, adding an additional spooky feeling to their already nerve-wracking circumstances. Every step was heavy and shaky, as if the sheer reverence of the tree's presence was enough to send every pony to their knees.
“Th-this is the first time I’ve been scared by the Tree of Harmony,” Fluttershy whispered to no one in particular.
“Ta be fair, you’re scared of a lot of things, Fluttershy,” Applejack pointed out, but numbly, and with her eyes locked straight ahead.
“I’m not scared of this!” Rainbow maintained, keeping her composure up. “The tree is our friend! It won’t hurt us!”
An especially loud and indignant rumble shook the air in the cave, and a few pebbles and dust dislodged from the ceiling.
Rainbow cast her eyes about. “...I could be wrong.”
“Let it know we’re friends,” Twilight cautioned everyone as the net of power came closer and closer. “We don’t want it to get mad.”
“How do you piss off a tree?” Freedom Fighter wondered, making sure to expose his shoulder to the front at all times.
“The same way you piss off everyone else,” Firestorm answered. “I’m the resident expert on the subject.”
“You shouldn’t have studied for this particular test, then,” Noble gently chided him, holding his angry blue sword high in the air.
“I’m just a genius,” Firestorm defended. “I don’t need to study techniques to annoy ponies. Like how I’m the strongest out of everyone here, and I don’t even exercise. I can’t help it.”
“Oh, woe is thee,” Noble bemoaned, rolling his eyes. “A true burden thou dost carry.”
“Like how you’re the most hygenic one here, and you don’t even bathe?” Rarity asked with a shrewd tone.
“See? She gets it!”
“You sure you’re the strongest?” Fluttershy asked the burlesque pegasus, fluttering closer to his side. “Even with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Noble Blade, Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie, and Freedom Fighter here?”
Firestorm let out a loud cough that echoed. “Why, uh, of course!”
“You’re strong too, you know,” Rarity pointed out to Fluttershy. “Anyone of lesser spirit would have caved in by now at this stage!”
“You’re strong too,” Pinkie pointed out to Rarity. “Being a prisoner of Blueblood must have been really stinky.”
Rarity, with a blush, wrinkled her nose. “In more ways than one.”
“Almost makes you want to be around me, huh?” Firestorm asked.
Rarity, smiling slightly, let out a scoff. “I’ll have to think hard about that one.”
Giggles were rising among the group. And the tree must have noticed this. Far before the range of the rock Applejack had thrown, the energy field had stopped pulsing and throbbing so hard. The deep rumble had turned into an upturned sound, akin to a questioning groan.
The change made the group go silent as the levity of the situation returned. Twilight once again felt shivers go up her legs.
Three pure white tendrils extended from the net around the tree and prodded forward curiously. The three Guardians held up their respective Elements even higher.
The other ponies moved out of the way as the white, sparking energy streams shot right at the exposed Elements. Each one struck the center of each Element with a deep, crackling boom, shaking the ponies holding them. Freedom Fighter in particular locked up in place as the power coiled around the stone in his metal arm.
A joyous, bell-like ring emanated throughout the cavern, and the white net evaporated around the tree. The three tendrils, however, remained attached to the tree and to the Elements. All three of them were grimacing and groaning as a fraction of the power of the tree coursed into them.
Around the edges of the other Elements, a light blue glow surrounded their outlines. They began to shake in place violently, as if excited to jump out at last. The insides of the crystallized Tree glowed so white, it looked brighter than the noonday sun in the dark cavern. Blinking hard, everyone covered their eyes with a free hoof, unable to witness the full glory of the Tree of Harmony.
The bell-like toll was reaching a crescendo as well. More dust and rock fell from the shaking ceiling, and large boulders cracked from the walls and crashed down in avalanches of shrapnel. Everypony's ears were ringing and numb, making them cringe at every pulse in the noise.
Finally, the sound reached its peak, and after the tone went so high that the ponies couldn't hear it, an explosion of pale blue light erupted from the tree, and six multicolored comets with glittering tails shot out, screeching like meteors. They flew in circles in the air like loose fireworks before locking onto their targets and shooting right at their respective ones.
Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity each had something colorful crash into their chests and swirl around their necks with magic, making them stumble back. Twilight was hit in the forehead, stunning her momentarily. Her vision went blurry, which was already disfigured by the bright light of the tree.
Twilight blinked hard while looking down. Black spots were at the edges of her vision, but they were diminishing as the light from the tree died. Something heavy was atop her head.
"I think… it worked," came Starlight's faraway voice.
Twilight, after blinking a few more times to clear away the pressure in her ear, asked, "What?"
"It worked," Starlight repeated. "The Elements, you know?"
Twilight patted the top of her head. It had a golden crown atop her brow, with a smooth, cut gem in the exact center.
Oohs and aahs came to her attention, and Twilight looked around to her friends. Sure enough, around each of their necks were golden necklaces, with the gems in the shape of their cutie marks.
The Elements of Harmony were theirs once again, for the last time.
Tempest Shadow couldn't explain it. She had seen plenty of magical phenomena as a result of her servitude with the Storm King, but this took the cake. As they had descended into the cavern, she felt a sense of looming dread, like her new… friends… were about to lose their lives. The threatening magic shield was proof enough of that.
Then the Tree's power took effect. To Tempest, it looked like the power of the three Elements was being channeled into the Tree of Harmony, and that power released the others in spiraling meteors. It was a pyrotechnic display of flashy power on the highest scale. Tempest felt like she was standing in the presence of divine power.
Then she felt disappointed that she wasn't a part of it.
As the ponies preened about admiring their jewelry, Tempest saw a projection erupt from the illuminated trunk of the tree and alight gently on the stone floor like a ghost.
Tempest's throat closed up. She had to warn them!
But they noticed without her help. The ten ponies in the cave screamed and scrambled back from the projection, their Elements glowing and the Guardian's weapons being drawn.
But Tempest got a closer look at it. The projection was pale grey, and the pony had a long, flowing beard like a puffy cloud on a clear day. Elegant blue robes with the constellations draped across his back, and a tall hat with bells on the trim was atop his head.
Twilight noticed this too, and took an inhale of breath so hard, Tempest could hear it from the mouth of the cave. "St-t-t-Star Swirl?!"
Tempest's mouth was agape. The legendary master? Why was the tree showing them him?
"Hold on a second!" exclaimed Starlight Glimmer.
"What are you doing here?" Pinkie's high, squeaky voice asked. "You died!"
The projection managed to look acquiescent. "I did?"
"Who are you really?" Freedom Fighter demanded, brandishing a rather large knife. "Are you the Tree? Are you a trap? An illusion?"
The projection chuckled, walking closer to the dark warrior. "Dear boy, I am no trap or illusion. And the tree is me, and I am the tree."
"You're really…" Fluttershy whispered, taking a hesitant step forward, as if to touch the figure. "... Star Swirl?"
The old sorcerer smiled at Fluttershy for his answer.
“I… can’t believe it’s… really you,” Twilight breathed, taking a few steps of her own until she was right in front of the apparition. “But how…”
“How?” Star Swirl asked, a hint of amusement in his echoey voice. “You of all ponies should know that it is not the how that matters. Rather who, and what, and why.”
Tempest was confused at the statement. What did he mean, Twilight of all ponies? Did he mean the journey they had taken over the past few months? It was what Tempest assumed.
“But what about you?” Rarity emphasized. “You were slain in the human world, and the Staff of Sacanas was shattered!”
“Oh, Huntress,” Star Swirl whispered, shaking his head. “Was the Staff really independent of the Tree of Harmony? Did destroying it mean the destruction of my power?”
So the Staff was destroyed after all. Malice hadn’t been lying. Tempest hissed at the news.
“What?” Rarity wondered. “But… you--”
Rainbow, however, had maneuvered closer to the tree itself, observing it closely, until her outburst drowned out Rarity. “There’s a piece missing from the tree!”
A few of the ponies gathered closer to Rainbow, and a few minutes later, cries of shock rang throughout the cave.
Tempest came to the only logical conclusion. It explained everything. She opened her mouth-
“So let me get this straight! Before you entered the human world a few hundred years ago, you put your magic into the Tree of Harmony and used a piece of the tree with a fraction of your magic to create the Staff of Sacanas, and you’ve been the Tree of Harmony this entire time, keeping your consciousness alive?!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Tempest frowned. Pinkie always seemed like a dimwit, but she came to every conclusion faster than the average pony ever could.
“Yes,” Star Swirl admitted. “And no.” He came over to Pinkie. “Blood of Life, your power to create laughter and hope has kept your friends alive, like blood in every creature, and your head is always quick and strong. But I am not the tree. And the tree is not me. The tree and I… merged. It is the greatest place to store magic, more than anywhere else in Equestria. It would be most accurate to say that the consciousness of the tree is me… but I am not the sum of the tree’s parts.”
Star Swirl’s gaze landed upon Tempest, who froze. What was he going to do? Did he see Tempest as an enemy?
“Come,” he said, motioning with a hoof. “Daughter of Thunder. I would have you included.” Then his eyes came to Spike as well. “You too, Dragon Lord.”
After a nervous moment, Tempest and Spike entered the cave.
Daughter of Thunder? What did that mean? It was a statement of the obvious. What did this pony know about her?! Tempest seethed as she obeyed his order.
When she and Spike were in the midst of the rest of them, Star Swirl nodded at the assembly. “You have come this far. I am so proud of you all for finding these lost memories of the spirit world. I know of your losses and victories. There is but one trial left to face.”
“To test the spirit?” Starlight asked.
“To face the mirror,” Star Swirl corrected, addressing her. “What your purpose is in the scheme of things, Last Hero. Even I cannot see what you must do as the Element of Redemption.”
“I don’t need to know right now,” Starlight affirmed, grinding her hoof into the rock floor. “All I need to know is I need to stop Solaris. Whatever the price may be, I’ll pay it.”
Star Swirl smiled sadly. “You have tremendous faith,” he commended, “but faith alone will not win a war.”
“What else do we need?” Noble Blade asked Star Swirl.
“Information,” Star Swirl answered him. With a chime, his horn ignited into white flame, and he concentrated hard. All around them, shapes and colors distorted and turned pale, and three ghostly figures appeared in their midst, staring up at the branches of the Tree of Harmony, which had white silhouettes of where the Elements once were.
Tempest realized who these ghostly figures were. Their large weapons, their odd coloration--these were the three alicorns.
“So… heh. This is the Tree of Harmony?” Bloodrayne was asking, shaking his head in amusement. “I thought there’d be more to it.”
“Hmm. The Elements…” Cookie Cutter mused, taking a step closer to it. “Is there a defense mechanism? Will the Elements attack if we posed a threat?”
“I’ll chop off these branches, no problem,” Renee boasted, drawing her blade and sauntering to the Tree. “We can pry the stones out of them later.”
But before Renee could get within ten feet, the ghostly Elements glowed a sinister black, making the pegasus girl freeze in her tracks.
“Get out of there!” Cookie Cutter screamed, igniting his horn, and Renee was flown back in an orange glow as with a loud blast, a white net of energy shot out of the darkened Elements, knitted together, and surrounded the entire tree, squirming and flowing like water on the ocean.
Bloodrayne cautiously stepped forth as Cookie held the quivering Renee in his arms. The Blessed Black Blade was in his red aura of energy.
“Bloodrayne!” Renee screamed. “You’ll di-”
“Shut up, you stupid hag!” Bloodrayne screamed back as he pressed on, holding out the blade to act as a conductor should any energy attack him. “I’m testing it! Don’t you want these Elements to please Solaris?!”
“Well, excuuuse me for caring about you!” Renee protested.
All of the loose ends of the net shot right at Bloodrayne like seeking missiles, and his blade was the only thing that prevented his death. They flashed as they hit the blade like a barrage, and Bloodrayne, gritting his teeth and groaning, was forced to give ground until he was out of reach. The net’s weapons were flailing about like octopus tentacles, searching for anything else that could be destroyed in its range.
“Well, that’s just great,” Bloodrayne groaned, his sword drooping in his magic grip. “We did what we could. What now? Go back to the Dragonlands?”
“No. We’re not done here until the Elements are incapacitated,” Cookie admonished him. “Whether that means we dismantle the tree or kill the bearers, we won’t go back to the temple yet.”
“Do we know their whereabouts?”
“Renee… They’re bound to come here eventually. These ones, they know about. And when they do, we’ll be waiting for them.”
“What if they die and we end up waiting here forever?” Bloodrayne demanded, all but yelling.
“There’s no way to know until it happens. I won’t be weak and back out of our mission. We’ll bring Solaris glory!”
“We took this mission upon ourselves,” Renee pointed out. “What if Solaris is unhappy with us?”
“He’ll be glad we had the initiative,” Cookie quickly answered. “He’ll reward us with unimaginable power!”
“Even more than Marshal Malice?” Bloodrayne cynically asked. “Tch. I don’t need a God giving me even more power. I’m strong on my own! I trust my own power. I bet Malice couldn’t face me down if I was at 50% of my power!”
“Oh, here we go again,” Firestorm sighed, facehoofing.
“Would Solaris appreciate us bringing them, though?” Renee pressured. “Bringing all those Elements together, plus the one in the temple, would make us a large target out in the open.”
“No big a target than the Tree is, and besides, this way, we have total control of the Elements themselves.”
“Uh, hello?!” Bloodrayne interrupted, gesticulating at the tree’s shield. “Barrier problem here. How do you expect to control any of the Elements with that still around it?”
“I’ll use the bearers to lower the barrier and release the Elements,” Cookie simply explained. “Best case scenario, we have control of all the Elements of Harmony. Worst case scenario, neither side ends up with them… which will be their undoing. This is their greatest and worst weapon. Even if we fail, they won’t have the Element bearers, and Equestria will still fall.”
“...And you have no regrets about that?” Bloodrayne asked.
“I’ve moved on to more important things than Equestria,” Cookie Cutter deadpanned, narrowing his eyes. “My mother deserves that. I aim for celestial glory. If I can but endure a little longer, my soul will be saved by Solaris, and I shall reign among the stars.” He sighed. “Can’t you imagine it? An ordinary pony, once a simple pastry chef, ascended to eternal life. If that doesn’t prove that the ordinary brings about the extraordinary… what does?”
Tempest noticed that Pinkie Pie’s face looked uncomfortably guilty, and was clutching her chest at that particular wording. She was a pastry chef as well. And much as she hated to admit it, Tempest had been ordinary once, too. Tempest found herself empathizing toward Pinkie, and at the same time, toward Cookie.
The white swirls of power dissipated like fog, and the ghostly memories floated away. In a short time, only the apparition of Star Swirl was left.
“So that’s it,” Twilight said simply. She blinked, looking at the ground. “We have to go to the Dragonlands for the final Element.”
“What’ll we do?” Spike asked her, tugging on her tail. “Ember’s the Dragon Lord now, but still, not every dragon likes ponies. How will we have free reign to travel around and search for the temple?”
“We likely won’t,” Applejack told him, plain as ever. “There’s a war goin’ on, see. They’re gonna be super protective of where outsiders can go.”
"I'm sure if we just talk to Ember, she'll allow us to search the Dragonlands for this temple of theirs," Starlight reassured them all. "We're the Elements of Harmony, not tourists. If we let her know that this mission could end the war, she'll definitely let us search. We got help from Novo. Who's to say it won't happen again?"
"The Dragonlands are kinda across the ocean," Rainbow pointed out. "What'll we do, rent a boat? We don't have any money, and we can't exactly dip into the money reserves the Guardians have."
"We'll figure something out," Noble promised her.
“Be warned,” Star Swirl told them all, stepping back to the tree trunk. “For ponies to live in the Dragonlands and survive… it’s turned them into hardened disciples of evil.” His body shone with a brighter light than before. “There isn’t much time before war consumes the land, so get going quickly. Before I return to the tree, listen to me.”
The collection of ponies concentrated on listening to his words.
“You are what I have grown above,” Star Swirl croaked. “I could never hope to use any Element, let alone all of them. And I’m proud of each of you. You are so close to victory. Even those who couldn’t use Elements were the greatest souls to you all.”
Tempest knew it was directed at her and Spike, but also heard a whisper of, “Sunset,” from Twilight’s lips.
“The Sirens,” breathed Firestorm.
“Queen Novo,” Freedom Fighter muttered.
“Skystar,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Flash Sentry,” Noble said under his breath.
“Shining Armor,” Fluttershy contributed.
“Braeburn,” came Applejack’s accent.
And doubtless, there were many more. Tempest was sure of that. Did she fit into that category for some of these ponies?
“Will your efforts be in vain for them?” Star Swirl asked, deathly serious. “Would you say their efforts were wasted to get you where you are now?”
All the ponies shook their heads fervently.
“Then go and bring peace to our land,” Star Swirl proclaimed. “Or this land is fallen indeed.”
“Do you have any last guidance for me?” Starlight asked, almost desperately.
Star Swirl’s gaze was calm. “You must make the final choice. I do not know what the choice is, Last Hero, but it is on your shoulders. The outcome of it will decide the fate of this world.”
“I…” Starlight gasped. “M-me? Alone? Make the choice to save the world? I-I lack learning. I’m not a Goddess. Only they’re capable of making that choice. I’m just… me.”
All of a sudden, Star Swirl’s body, but most notably, his eyes, shone like the power of the noonday sun, making the ponies turn away once more. Warmth flooded the cave. His voice, instead of being weak or frail, turned booming and powerful for the first time.
“Do not be so quick to devalue yourself! Who created you, Starlight Glimmer? Who made the heavens and the earth you stand on? Who set in motion the plan of salvation from Solaris? Who created weak things in order to make them strong? No pony is weak with the power of the Goddess. By small and simple vessels are Her wonders brought about!”
The ordinary brings about the extraordinary. Tempest felt a jolt in her heart upon realizing what Cookie Cutter had hit on.
Star Swirl’s light was going down, but he still retained that unearthly power about him. His back was against the tree now, about to merge back into the tree from whence he came.
“You are Faust’s child, Starlight. And that makes your potential unlimited. Your power comes from Her, but there is also a spark of your own power to make the choice for yourself. Which one will you listen to in the end?” He gave a warm, loving, grandfatherly smile. “Only you know.”
And on that note, he faded back into the tree, and the light was gone.