//------------------------------//
// Prologue: Call to Action 
// Story: Over the Mountain 
// by Boltstrike58 
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	Sunburst groaned as he finished going through the mail. Yet another letter from his mother. Of course. Even after heading down to the village to resolve his relationship with her, she just couldn't help herself. At least she wasn't insisting he spend more time trying to get on Princess Twilight's good side anymore. After Sunburst became Vice Principal at the School of Friendship, Stellar Flare had backed off on trying to advance her son's career. However, she still wrote with great frequency, just to "check in." He tried to keep up, but sometimes, she sent another letter before he even finished responding to one. He loved her to death, but it was obnoxious.

Sunburst levitated up the letter, popping the seal with his magic. But before he could grab the actual letter, a stream of words began to emanate from within the envelope at a very high volume, forcing the unicorn to slam his hooves over his ears. His magical grip on the letter released, dropping it to the ground.

	"SUNBURST WHY DO YOU NEVER MAKE TIME FOR ME I NEVER SEE YOU ANYMORE WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM SON WHY DO I DO ALL THIS WORK WHEN YOU NEVER-"

Frantically, Sunburst tried to slam the envelope shut with his magic, but the screaming was so loud it actually pushed the seal open every time he tried. Desperate, he slammed one hoof down on the top of the letter, muffling the sound a bit, but it was still pretty loud. Just as he was beginning to lose hope, he heard another voice come from behind him.

	"ENOUGH!" 

A blindingly bright burst of magic came from behind Sunburst, causing the offending letter to fly out from under his hoof. However, the screaming from within the envelop had stopped, and the letter, to Sunburst's great relief, twisted up into a paper knot, and popped, sending scraps of paper flying in all directions. The unicorn released his breath, having realized exactly what was going on. Of course this was just a bad dream. He turned around to face his savior.

	"Thanks, Prin-er, Luna, I mean, I—" Sunburst cut himself off at the sight that awaited him. Facing him was not Equestria's resident ruler of the dream realm (and former diarch of Equestria), but a familiar purple figure. She looked a bit different, though. Her entire body was surrounded in a white aura, and white dots like stars were sprinkled across every visible surface. In addition, it looked like her body was slightly transparent."Twilight? Since when did you learn to dream walk?"

"I am not Twilight Sparkle," replied the glowing alicorn. "I am the embodiment of the Tree of Harmony." She gestured to herself. "I merely take this form for the sake of convenience."

Sunburst's mind shot back to when Smolder, Sandbar, and the others had told him about their dreams in which they'd been contacted by the Tree, not long after it'd been destroyed. It didn't seem like such a stretch to assume he was simply having a similar experience. Either that, or his brain was being really creative in his sleep.

"But how are you here?" he asked. "The Tree was destroyed. Come to think of it, how'd you contact those kids in their dreams after you were destroyed?"

"Only my physical vessel was destroyed," said the spirit. "Harmony, true Harmony, can never be destroyed. If even the smallest portion of Equestria keeps Harmony in their hearts, part of me will live on."

"Okay," Sunburst finally managed to respond, "but that begs an obvious question: Why are you here? Why come to me?"

"There is a crisis coming that only you are capable of solving," replied the Twilight avatar, "and without my physical form, the Cutie Map no longer functions. You must undertake this quest."

"W-wait a minute!" Sunburst tried to interrupt her. "Not that I don't wanna go on a friendship quest or anything, but I'm a vice principal now, and I've got responsibilities, and—"

But the form of Twilight ignored him and continued to speak. "You must go to Griffonstone. There is a plan amongst the griffons. A plan to use the legacy of King Grimm to cause terrible things to occur. You must prevent this."

"What?!" exclaimed Sunburst. "But why me?! I don't understand—"

"Good luck to you." With her last word, the Twilight avatar was consumed with white light, and exploded in a massive burst of pure magic. Sunburst had to shut his eyes to keep from being blinded—

—and promptly bolted up in his own bed, sweat running down his horn. The unicorn glanced around, trying to gather his surroundings, as he took fast, shallow breaths, afraid he was freaking out again.

Sunburst's breathing slowed down as he took everything in. He was in his own room in Ponyville, which looked untouched. Nothing had been disturbed. He relaxed back into his pillow, calm and secure, knowing that everything was safe.

Then he remembered the dream.  

"Uh-oh," Sunburst muttered to himself.