A Human, A Pony Princess, and a Mistake
Chapter 4: Discord's Folly
“How did I let Celestia talk me into this?” Tom complained.
“Because you’re pretending to be me and I’d do just about anything for Princess Celestia,” Twilight remarked.
“Quit your bellyaching, it’s not going to be that bad,” Rainbow assured Tom.
The object of this conversation was an aerial performance Celestia had planned on getting Twilight to do for the Summer Sun Celebration. Tom had gleaned that it was one part Summer Solstice and two parts Nightmare Moon’s defeat. Since he was now piloting Twilight’s body this meant the responsibility fell to him to make sure Equestria’s newest princess didn’t make a complete fool of herself before the entire populace.
“Y’all could be doin’ worse. S’far as I can see ya just need to not land where anypony can see ya,” Applejack encouraged.
“Flying from point A to point B is one thing. Aerial acrobatics is a whole other story!” Tom snapped.
“Sounds like somebody is afraid,” Pinkie taunted.
“I’m not five, Pinkie, nor am I Marty McFly. Calling me chicken isn’t enough to get a rise out of me,” Tom said coolly.
“Nuts! I was sure that would work!” Pinkie frowned to herself.
“Look, Tom, you’re getting inside your own head, psyching yourself out. Just relax and everything will be fine,” Rainbow assured with her usual self-confidence.
“Easy for you to say, you’ve always had wings,” Tom grumbled.
“Really, darling, we’re your friends, would we steer you wrong?” Rarity asked.
“Not intentionally,” Tom said impudently. Rarity shot him a look.
“I believe in you,” Fluttershy opined softly.
“Well, that does it. If Fluttershy believes in me, there must be something to this insanity,” Tom acceded.
“We knew you’d come around eventually,” Rarity smiled, “It’s just a shame we won’t be here to see it. If only Mayor Mare didn’t need us in Ponyville so desperately.”
“I’ll be sure to let you sign my cast afterwards,” Tom snarked.
“That’s my bones you’re so flippantly talking about breaking!” Twilight protested.
“And you won’t feel a thing, so your complaining rights are revoked,” Tom declared.
Before the conversation could continue, a clock tower began to chime the hour.
“Oh my, is it that time already?” Fluttershy said.
“Looks like we’d better get goin’” Applejack remarked. Tom, Twilight, and Spike followed the other Element Bearers to the train station for a final farewell.
“See you all soon, and don’t be strangers,” Tom bid. Before Tom could realize what was about to happen, he was wrapped up in a group hug.
“We could never ever be strangers! We’re bestest of friends!” Pinkie assured him.
“We’ll see you all again in a few days,” Fluttershy reminded.
“I know, but I’ll still miss you, especially on the Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight said sadly. Tom passed the message along.
“Don’t you worry about it! Your auntie Pinkie Pie will take lots and lots of pictures and tell you everything so it’ll be just like the three of you were really there with us!” Pinkie promised.
“We both appreciate it,” Tom replied. The warning whistle for the train blew and final goodbyes were said before the other Bearers boarded the train and departed. Once they were out of sight, Tom let out a hearty sigh.
“Well, time to face Twilight’s adoring public.”
“Come on, dude, it can’t be that bad,” Spike said.
“You can’t address me like that,” Tom reminded Spike, “I’m Twilight, Princess of Friendship and Rainbow Lasers.”
“I don’t remember being dubbed Princess of Rainbow Lasers,” Twilight snarked.
“Trust me, it’s in there. You should always read the fine print. Now, no more distractions, let’s go,” Tom said.
Tom didn’t have to fake the embarrassment during the walk from the train station back to the castle. Ponies taking note and bowing to him, some of which Twilight recognized. Both pony and human feared the face they were forced to share would ignite from how heavy the blushing was.
“You know, we’re far enough ahead of schedule that we could have gone with them. The Celebration isn’t for a couple of days,” Spike pointed out once they had arrived back at Twilight’s Tower.
“To what end? We’d just be dragging out the goodbyes and they have their own duties to attend to. We’d just get underfoot. Also, as Twilight is fond of reminding me, anything could go wrong between today and the Celebration, doubly so if we should visit Ponyville. Her current favorite doomsday scenario is the train exploding in marvelous fashion while on the way back to Canterlot,” Tom replied.
“Really? That’s a bit excessive, even for you, Twilight,” Spike chided.
“I know, but I can’t help it!” Twilight whined.
“Sounds like somepony could use a bit of a break,” Celestia remarked as she entered the door to Twilight’s Tower.
“Afternoon, Princess,” Tom greeted.
“And a good afternoon to you as well, Tom,” Celestia returned. Twilight prompted Tom to bow, but all he gave was a tilt of the head, much to her frustration.
“So what brings you?” Tom asked.
“I wanted to thank all of you and Twilight for your hard work. Thanks to you, I may finally be able to enjoy a Summer Sun Celebration,” Celestia replied.
“What?” Twilight and Tom were equally confused.
“For my subjects, the Summer Sun Celebration was primarily a celebration of my defeat of Nightmare Moon, my sister Luna,” Celestia explained, “Every year it was a reminder of what I’d done to her. Now, I hope to enjoy it with her.”
A memory of one of Twilight’s past escapades came to the forefront of Tom’s mind.
“I can’t imagine Nightmare Night ranks among your favorite holidays either,” He remarked.
“Yes and no,” Celestia admitted, “On the one hoof, Nightmare Night was all about demonizing what Luna had become. On the other, it created a chasm between the reality of her fall and the fiction of the old mare’s tale. Given the choice between real life monster and foal-hood boogey mare, I saw the latter as preferable.”
“Er, letter for Princess Twilight,” A nervous looking Pegasus stallion chose that time to come flying in. Tom grasped it in a telekinetic field and thanked him before he departed.
“May I?” Tom asked.
“Of course,” Celestia said and that was all the permission he needed to open it up. Confetti and streamers exploded out of the envelope, “Letter from Ponyville?”
“What could have possibly given that away?” Tom drawled, a smile threatening to break out.
“I shall leave you to it then,” With that, Celestia departed. However, as she made her way back to her own quarters, she didn’t see a single black vine creep its way towards her until it was too late.
The next day, Tom awoke to a very odd sight. The sun and moon were both hanging proudly in the sky, the sun occupying the left half and the moon on the right half.
“Twilight, was there an eclipse today?” Tom asked.
“No, there wasn’t. I think something’s very wrong,” Twilight answered.
“Well, I think when Artemis and Apollo are trying to tango like that, ‘very wrong’ may be an understatement,” Tom snarked.
“Do you think one of the Princesses got sick or something?” Spike wondered.
“Let’s go see,” Tom said and so they went in hunt of the Princesses. Unfortunately, their hunt was sidetracked by the civilians massing at the palace for answers.
“Princess Twilight will know what’s going on!” One of the crowd exclaimed and suddenly Tom found himself besieged by ponies. Fortunately the Royal Guard showed up soon after to perform crowd control and inform Tom, Twilight, and Spike of the current situation.
“Princesses Luna and Celestia have gone missing!” The guard who had fetched them out of the crowd informed them.
“Were there any ransom notes in either of their rooms?” Tom asked.
“No, Princess. We haven’t turned up anything of the sort. Both just vanished without a trace. We can’t even find any signs of a struggled,” The guard reported, “We await your command, Princess Twilight.”
“I saw Princess Celestia myself late yesterday afternoon. Establish a search grid spanning Canterlot to Ponyville. Those are the only two settled zones in a hundred miles. If they aren’t somewhere in that area, we can only assume their kidnappers were numerous enough and skilled enough to form a teleport chain, in which case they could be anywhere on Equus. Let’s hope that isn’t the case.”
“Yes, ma’am!” The guard saluted and went off to deliver the orders.
“I couldn’t have done it better myself,” Twilight said, “Actually, I probably would have panicked, so, better than me, actually.”
“You’ve led the Bearers for a year now, I don’t think you’d crack under pressure like that,” Tom remarked. Before Twilight could reply, the doors burst open, admitting a different guard.
“News from Ponyville!” He shouted, “The Everfree Forest appears to be, well, invading!”
“Our friends!” Twilight exclaimed, “Get the Element of Magic and let’s go!”
Tom bolted as fast as he could to Twilight’s Tower to collect the crown with the Element in it. Once he had placed it on his head, he pulled Spike onto his back and, using everything Rainbow had taught him, made full speed for Ponyville.
“What the hell is wrong with these clouds?!” Tom shouted as he approached Ponyville. All across the sky were black clouds with spines poking out. They also seemed to move however they pleased as Tom had to suddenly dodge out of the way more than once, leaving Spike a bit motion sick.
“I don’t know, but can you take it easy?! I think I’m gonna be sick…” Spike groaned.
“If you puke on me, you’ll never hear the end of it!” Tom threatened. Fortunately, a few moments later they spotted Golden Oaks Library. Wary of one of his spectacular crash landings, he instead teleported inside, which seemed like a good idea in his head, but in practice he forgot that teleportation carries over momentum. The result was Spike and Tom pancaked on the wall of the library.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” Rarity exclaimed as Tom and Spike peeled themselves off the wall.
“Sweet ground, sweet ground!” Spike chanted as he kissed the floor.
“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen,” Tom grumbled, “My flying isn’t that bad. It’s just the landings…”
“Your landings deserve a spot on the Whinness Book of World Records,” Spike snarked.
“I don’t know if either of you have noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just the teeny tiniest bit out of control!” Pinkie exclaimed. Just then her tail started twitching, so she ducked. A split second later a large black vine burst through a window and slammed into Rarity.
“Would you happen to know anything about what’s going on, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’ve never seen anything like these vines before,” Twilight admitted, which Tom relayed.
“The good news doesn’t stop there. The reason the sky is split between Night and Day is because Luna and Celestia have both vanished without a trace,” Tom revealed to the other Element Bearers. He felt the group gasp was warranted; it was some really bad news, after all. Fortunately, the Elements of Harmony had remained untouched in the mess and so each Bearer donned their respective Element.
“Got any idea where we need to point these bad boys at?” AJ asked. As it turned out, Twilight did have a suspicion, so the Bearers gathered outside. Twilight fed Tom the spellform, which he then channeled through the Element of Magic, which caused the other Elements to activate. When all was said and done, a being Tom had never seen before in a tub was summoned.
“Find you’ve got the music in you~” The being was singing before he noticed he had an audience.
“Now, Twilight, you know Princess Celestia said you were to give me a heads up before you summon me with that little spell she gave you,” The being chastised.
“Umm, Hi,” Was all Tom could think of saying while Twilight was snarling something about Discord.
“Hold on a moment,” Discord muttered, “What’s this? Twilight’s body is under new management?”
“You know, your voice sounds really familiar, but I can’t seem to place it,” Tom said by way of answering. Discord then snapped his fingers and a Starfleet uniform appeared on him.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” He demurred. Meanwhile Tom’s eyes threatened to engulf the rest of his head.
“Now I suppose the real question is, are you Q or is Q you? Or are you both John de Lancie?” Tom mused and Discord allowed himself a chuckle.
“I do believe we’ll get along just fine, now then, introducing one’s self is something friends do, correct? Well then, I am Discord, Lord of Chaos!” Fireworks forming Discord’s name appeared in the air.
“My name is Tom Williams,” Tom introduced himself to the draconequus, “Now that that is taken care of, would you happen to know what’s going on around here? Twilight seems to think you might, if the way she wants to place all the world’s ills at your feet is any indication.”
“I do not!” Twilight protested, “He’s not responsible for…quesadillas…”
“You’re not helping your case, Twilight,” Tom quipped.
“Well, as much as this place is better for the renovations, I’m afraid I can’t take credit,” Discord said as he started painting the landscape, “I’m reformed, after all.”
“Yeah, right! This has your cloven hooves all over it!” Rainbow barked.
“Excuse me, but I only have one cloven hoof,” Discord corrected, as said limb detached itself to give Rainbow a swift kick in the rear.
“Well, if you didn’t do it, would you at least happen to know of a way to put things back to normal?” Tom asked.
“What kind of draconequus do you take me for? Chaos is my thing,” Discord said before pulling a deck of cards from nowhere and showing Tom a joker that had his face on it, “Putting things back to ‘normal’ would go against my mission statement.” The joker said.
“Fair enough,” Tom acceded. A thought struck him. “Could you at least put things in a chaotic state that we can handle on our own?” Discord looked at Tom with a measuring gaze.
“You ask good questions. Not at all like the Purple Book Horse. She’s so wrapped up in her own checklists I’m afraid they might choke her one of these days,” Discord mused.
“Is that a threat?” Rainbow snarled.
“Merely an observation, really, you need to learn not to take things so personally,” Discord drawled. Before Rainbow could make a rebuttal, a lone Zebra pulling a cart made her way out of the Everfree.
“Zecora!” The group exclaimed and rushed to see if their friend needed any assistance. She was carrying what seemed to be all her worldly possessions with her.
“From the Everfree, I’ve had to flee. It has grown too wild, even for me,” Zecora rhymed.
“And here I was hoping she’d at least have some idea what was going on with these plants,” Twilight sighed.
“So just to be clear, ya’ll have no idea what’s up with these consarned weeds?” Applejack asked.
“I’m afraid it’s a mystery to me as well, but I may have something that could help, when combined with a spell. I dare not use it myself, the results would be tragic. It only responds to Alicorn magic.” Zecora then pulled out a flask of purple liquid.
“Well, that’s convenient, ‘cause we’ve got one Alicorn right here!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Princess Twilight, you can turn the potion from purple to white, then maybe you will find out why the sky is torn between day and night.
“I’m not exactly thrilled about quaffing strange liquids, but if you say it’ll help, Zecora, I trust you,” Tom said warily.
“As much as I wish it were not true, anything but Dark Magic will turn the potion from purple to blue,” Zecora warned.
“Thus rendering it worthless, I presume. Ok,” Tom sighed.
“Are you sure about this, Tom? I know I’ve cast Dark Magic before and I didn’t feel clean for weeks. There’s no telling what it could do to you!” Twilight protested, but by way of answering, Tom charged up the spell and turned the potion from purple to white. Zecora gave an encouraging smile as Tom picked up the flask in his magic and chugged the potion. Tom stopped drinking after about half the potion for a breath of air.
“So, do I need to drink the whole thing or-” His question was cut off by the potion activating.
“Uh, where are we?” Twilight asked as she looked around.
“I’d like to know that too,” Twilight’s head snapped to the side, realizing she had control just as she spotted a human male standing next to her.
“Tom, is that you?!” She squawked.
“Yeah, it would seem so,” Tom shrugged.
“This is amazing! You’re you again and I’ve got my body back!” Twilight cheered.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. What’s one of the things Dark Magic is best at?” Tom asked Twilight.
“Illusion- oh, this is all in our head…” Twilight deflated.
“Hey, don’t look so down. You’ll make me think you don’t like sharing headspace with me,” Tom teased to try and lighten the mood. Twilight offered him a weak smile.
“I can safely say there’s no one I’d rather be stuck with, even if you are a lunatic sometimes,” Tom snorted with amusement, but before the two could continue their conversation-
“Not another step!” The commanding voice of Princess Luna burst across the room as she stepped out from behind the thrones in the room.
“Well, this outta be good,” Tom quipped.
“Didst thou really think We’d sit idly by whilst they all basked in thy precious light?” Luna spat, looking past where Twilight and Tom were standing. The two looked in the direction of her gaze and spotted Princess Celestia. Luna climbed up into the balcony to continue her tirade.
“There canst only be one Princess in Equestria and that Princess SHALL BE ME!” With that declaration, Luna slammed down her forelegs and shattered the balcony and the window directly behind it. Sunlight poured into the room, before Luna raised the moon to cover the sun.
Suddenly the shadows grew longer and darker than even the sudden nightfall could explain and Luna started to clutch at her head as if griped by a terribly headache. Directly thereafter, she started thrashing about like she was in the throes of a seizure.
“No… stop…” Luna moaned piteously.
“LUNA!” Twilight shouted in concern, but Tom placed a hand on her shoulder.
“This is a vision of the past, I’m guessing. You can’t help what’s already happened,” Tom said softly.
“Next time we see Luna, we’re giving her a hug, royal decorum be hanged,” Twilight decided.
“Your wish is my command, O Princess,” Tom teased as Luna was engulfed in the shadows, signifying when Nightmare Moon took over. The Nightmare laughed madly over her new conquest and as if testing out her new power, shot laser beams all over the place, causing some of the roof to come crashing down. Tom and Twilight got out of the way instinctually. Celestia stepped forward.
“Luna, thou must lower thy moon, it is thine duty! I shall not fight you!” Celestia declared.
“Luna? Nay, I am Nightmare Moon! I have but one Royal Duty now, to destroy you!" Nightmare Moon attacked, but Celestia dodged and flew out of the hole in the roof. Nightmare Moon and Twilight followed on wing. After a moment of consideration, Tom was able to follow as well.
“I thought you didn’t fly?” Twilight asked as she kept one eye on the battling sisters.
“It’s in our head, anything goes,” Tom shrugged. After a few minutes of Nightmare Moon chasing after Celestia, one of her bolts of magic struck true, and Celestia fell back into the throne room.
“I know it’s in the past, but I don’t like watching Luna being forced to hurt Celestia…” Twilight said sadly.
“At least we can take comfort in that we know how this story ends. Celestia rallies the Elements, sticks Nightmare and Luna on the moon for a thousand years, and then you and the rest of the Bearers came along and freed Luna,” Tom pointed out. Twilight took a steadying breath.
“You’re right. I can take comfort in that. Although, I’d be feeling a whole lot better if I knew how this was related to Celestia’s and Luna’s vanishing in the present,” Twilight complained.
“Well, let’s just watch. Maybe a clue will present itself. Or maybe we’re on a wild goose chase,” Tom shrugged. Twilight stole another glance at her unconscious mentor.
“Gee, with an optimist like you around, who needs a Pinkie Pie?” Twilight drawled.
“Your sarcasm is noted, Twilight,” Tom returned as Celestia roused herself. Celestia then summoned the Elements from a hidden compartment under the floor. The white Alicorn pulled all six Elements into an orbit around her and they started spinning with astonishing speed, giving off an almost blinding light.
As Twilight and Tom knew she must, Celestia rose to meet her corrupted sister and successfully banished her to the moon. Once that happened, the vision ended and Tom and Twilight were brought back to the present, where they found everyone staring at them.
“Do I have something on my face?” Tom asked.
“Ah, no, darling, you were just mumbling to yourself, quite a bit actually. We were a little bit worried,” Rarity explained.
“I, for one, found it delightful!” Discord proclaimed from his spot on one of the invading vines, “Sort of a one pony theater, if you will.”
“Thank you, I did study the acting arts, after all,” Tom didn’t know why Twilight and the others had such an issue with Discord. He was a touch abrasive, sure, but otherwise Tom found him delightful. Or maybe that was just his love for De Lancie’s work as Q blinding him.
“Did you see whose plot we need to kick or a way to fix this mess?!” Dash questioned.
“W- I saw a vision of the past, but it didn’t enlighten me on how to deal with the present,” Tom reported. Zecora suggested another swig of the potion.
“Are you sure about this?” Spike asked hesitantly.
“It didn’t hurt me last time, so we might as well try. It’s our only lead,” Tom shrugged and drank down the potion. Before the potion could take effect, Discord popped in with a camera.
“Oh, I do so hope she breaks into a dance routine this time!” He crowed.
Twilight suddenly found herself in a land of checkerboard hills and flying fish. She looked around and saw Luna, Celestia, and Discord, but no Tom.
“Tom? Tom?! Are you here? Can you hear me?!” She got no answer. Panic started to well up inside her. Before it could consumer her, she put her hoof to her chest and did the breathing exercise Cadence taught her.
“Right, watch the vision and hopefully find something out and then once it’s done hopefully Tom and I will be back in my body,” Deciding on that course of action, Twilight watched as Luna and Celestia confronted Discord with the Elements of Harmony. She noted that both Alicorns were in rough shape, with scrapes and bruises littered across their bodies. That was odd to Twilight, as from what Celestia had told her directly after her ascension to Alicornhood herself, Alicorns enjoyed a powerful natural healing ability. Even barring that, Celestia and Luna had to know some healing spells. So what was with the shoddy appearance? Were they trying to get Discord to underestimate them?
Twilight didn’t think that was likely. Discord didn’t take anything seriously, as highlighted when he offered the two Alicorns snacks while laughing like a happy drunk. Even when confronted with the Elements, Discord was treating it like a big joke. He was laughing even as he turned to stone.
Instead of the vision ending there as it had last time, the vision changed to Celestia and Luna walking up to a crystal tree.
“The Tree of Harmony…” Luna whispered in awe.
“The Tree of Harmony?” Twilight repeated. She inspected the Tree and saw Celestia’s, Luna’s, and bizarrely her own Cutie Mark emblazoned upon it. Twilight watched quietly as Celestia and Luna harvested the Elements of Harmony from the Tree, as if they were fruit.
The Elements hovered in the air for a moment, causing Celestia and Luna to grow worried, but soon after Magic, Loyalty, and Honest floated down to Luna, circling her gently as Laughter, Kindness, and Generosity did the same for her sister. The Elements glowed, bathing their new Bearers in a soft light before placing themselves in their saddlebags.
“We may finally be able to defeat Discord and save all of Equuis!” Luna exclaimed happily.
“Let us go, Sister. We must defeat Discord as swiftly as we are able,” Celestia prompted and the vision ended.
“That was…interesting,” Twilight heard her voice say.
“TOM! Where were you?! I was so worried the potion had done something to you!” Twilight felt relief flood her. Tom’s eyes flicked to Zecora.
“I think the potion showed us different visions,” Tom whispered so only Twilight could hear him, “We’ll talk later.”
Twilight took the chance to briefly summarize what she had seen in her visions.
“So, what’d you find out?” Spike asked.
“I still don’t know where the Princesses are, but I have a good idea on how to get a handle on this vine problem. Apparently there’s this thing in the Everfree called the Tree of Harmony, it’s where the Elements originally came from. If something’s happened to it that might explain why the Everfree has suddenly turned wild. Well, more wild than usual.
“How come we’ve never heard of this Tree of Harmony before?” Rainbow asked, “It sounds kinda important.”
“Just another question to ask Luna and Celestia when we find them,” Tom decided.
“Uh, that begs the question, how are we gonna get into tha Forest to find that there Tree?” Applejack wondered.
“Discord, would you make us a path through the Forest? It can be as winding and twisting as you like, even with a troubling serpentine suggestion if it suits you. We just need to not be harassed by those vines. Pretty please with hot sauce on top?” Tom asked.
“Wellll…since you asked so nicely I’ll see to it the vines are reasonably distracted. If you run into anything other than the vines, well, that’s just bad luck. I will, however, take you up on that serpentine suggestion.” Discord replied with a hiss before snapping his fingers and slithering away.
“Well, no time like the present. Zecora, you stay here for your own safety. We’ll take care of the Tree,” Tom declared and the eight were off into the Everfree.
“It feels like just yesterday we were all coming in here to find the Elements. Except for Tom, of course,” Rarity mused.
“You mean the time I tried to go after the Elements all alone and you girls stuck with me despite my prickly attitude?” Twilight snarked and Tom repeated.
“It was well worth putting up with your sass to get to the wonderful mare underneath,” Rarity assured her.
“Now, what did the visions show you, Tom?” Twilight asked.
“Not as much as yours did, but apparently Luna and Chrysalis were best friends or something before Luna met The Nightmare,” Tom reported.
“WHAT?!” The whole group shouted.
“That’s not even the worse part. Apparently Celestia told Luna that a plague had wiped out all the Changelings. The heartbreak Luna suffered is what caused The Nightmare to get its claws into Luna in the first place.” Tom continued.
“But that’s- but why-” Twilight was flabbergasted. She couldn’t even properly form a complete sentence. Why would her loving, caring mentor do something like that to her own sister?
“Uh, does Princess Luna know the Changelings and Chrysalis are still alive an’ kickin’?”
“Princess Luna did sleep through the whole invasion and I don’t think I’ve really heard anyone talk about it after Shining Armor and Princess Cadence banished the Changelings with their magic…” Rarity pointed out.
“But why would Celestia do something like that?! If Chrysalis and Luna were friends why did she attack Canterlot? None of this makes any sense!” Twilight fumed.
“Right, there’s no use speculating until we find and ask the Princesses ourselves,” Tom decided. On that troubling note, the group continued on in silence.
Soon their path brought them to a swamp of some kind with stones making a seemingly easy way across. Tom jumped onto the first of the rocks, only for it to turn out to be some kind of rock alligator monster.
“A cragodile! Run for your lives!” Rarity screamed and everyone bolted. It was really just bad luck that saw Twilight, Tom, and Spike pinned against a tree with the monster bearing down on them.
“You wanna eat something? Eat this!” Tom shouted and fired a burst of magic into the creature’s maw. That stunned it just long enough for Tom to get airborne with Spike and zip over its head. The snapping jaws definitely got some tail hairs, which only spurred Twilight and Tom’s adrenaline burst to new heights.
They caught back up with the others, with the cragodile hot on their heels. Fortunately the others hadn’t been idle. They had managed to gather up some of the vines to make lassos and with Applejack’s expert guidance, managed to hogtie the monster.
“That won’t hold this critter fer long, but I reckon we’ll be long gone by the time it gets loose,” Applejack observed. Deciding to put as much distance between them and it, the eight of them beat a hasty retreat.
“Yah know, just ‘cuz we got lucky this time, doesn’t mean the next big monster ain’t gonna take a bite outta ya. Tom, maybe you and Twilight should go back to Ponyville, sit this one out,” Applejack said with concern.
“Why?” Tom asked with a frown.
“Well, Twi is a Princess now an’ everything. With Princess Celestia and Princess Luna missin’ and Cadence ruling the Crystal Empire, Twi’s the only leader Equestria’s got. If somethin’ were to happen to ya’ll there’s no tellin’ what kinda panic there’d be,” Applejack explained herself. Tom could feel Twilight wilting under Applejack’s logic.
“Maybe she’s right, maybe we had better go back to Ponyville.” Twilight said morosely.
“No, and here’s why,” Tom held up a hoof to forestall any arguments, “Firstly, I’ve always been a proponent of leading from the front, but that’s just personal opinion and doesn’t really have any bearing on this. Secondly, you don’t know what you’ll face when you get to the Tree. What if it requires the Elements to defeat? We all need to be there. Thirdly, along that same vein, if you run into a magical problem you’ll need Twilight to deal with it. No offence to Rarity, but she hasn’t spent her whole life studying just about everything Magic.”
“None taken, darling,” Rarity assured. Tom nodded in thanks.
“Fourthly, Twilight doesn’t know how to move the sun and moon. That means I don’t know how to move the sun and moon. Which means so long as Celestia and Luna are missing, we’re all up a creek without a paddle, regardless of where Twilight and I are. As much as I find Discord to be fun, I wouldn’t trust him to move the sun and moon in the ways they need to be moved. Kinda goes against his mission statement and all that.”
“I… ya’ll bring up some pretty good points,” Applejack acceded.
“Now, Applejack’s points aren’t without merit either,” Rarity pointed out, “Even if we do save the Tree, that doesn’t mean we’ll find Celestia and Luna immediately after. You and Twilight are needed to lead just in case.”
“If I could be in two places at the same time, I’d agree with you one hundred percent. However, from the sound of it, this Tree of Harmony is the only reason why the Everfree hasn’t overrun Equestria a long time ago. If it is that powerful, there’s no telling what else the Tree is responsible for. It might even directly power the Elements. It is too important to let fall, so it takes top priority. I promise you, the instant we save the tree, if we haven’t found Celestia and Luna, I’ll fly top speed back to Canterlot and start ruling while you girls search for them. How does that sound?” Tom asked.
“As long as you have given it due consideration, that’s all I ask,” Rarity replied and the group got back on their way.
“I’m glad you’re here Tom. I probably would’ve folded like a house of cards,” Twilight chuckled sheepishly. Tom shrugged.
“There’s no absolute right answer here. Rarity and Applejack are right to be concerned, just as I am right to think this mission takes priority. Part of being an actor is understanding how your character thinks and feels and conveying that to your audience. That’s why I wanted to become a history teacher in the first place. I saw understanding and conveying the real life thoughts and actions of leaders and heroes and such to be a natural extension of my acting. My point is I’ve come to know a lot of different points of view and I’ve learned that it is exceptionally rare for there ever to be an absolute right answer. If you had gone back to Ponyville at our friend’s request, that would be because it was your right answer. There is no shame in it.”
“Sounds like you’ve been reading too many philosophy books,” Twilight teased.
“Twilight Sparkle accusing someone of reading too much? Will wonders ever cease?” The two shared a chuckle over that.
Eventually the group made it to the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters with no sign of the Tree of Harmony, but Applejack’s sharp eyes caught a glow in the crevice, so they decided to investigate. Sure enough, they found the Tree, but it was covered in black vines and appeared sickly to the point of near death. Fluttershy said as much.
“Well let’s save that Tree!” Applejack cried and both she and Rainbow charged the vines, only to be rebuffed.
“Maybe we should just skip to the part where we blast the vines with the Elements?” Tom suggested.
“Wait! If the Elements were originally part of the Tree, then what good would blasting it do? Especially if the Tree powers the Elements… I think we need to give the Elements back to the Tree,” Twilight suggested. Tom relayed this.
“How are we supposed to protect Equestria without the Elements?!” Dash protested.
“How are we supposed to control Discord if we can’t use the Elements to turn him back into stone?” Rarity pointed out.
“I don’t think healthy friendships are built on threats of petrification,” Tom said dryly. To their credit, the others looked slightly abashed.
“Be that as it may, Discord is too powerful to be left to his own devices,” Rarity replied.
“If Discord is half what his first impression suggests, he will be much happier if you don’t try and control him and happy near omnipotent beings are more likely to play along with mortals than simply play with them, if you catch my drift. He has claimed to be reformed and trying the friendship thing. The least we can do is take him at his word and return the sentiment. Suspicion and distrust will poison friendship and likely lead to Discord turning on you,” Tom said plainly.
“I dunno…” Rainbow still wasn’t entirely sold.
“Just think of him as a recovering alcoholic. He’ll have withdraws and bad days and may even wind up back in the bottle. But if you really want to be his friends, then we should try and help keep him clean, as it were, and forgive him his faults. As it goes back in my world ‘forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven’.” Tom recited.
“All right, I guess that makes sense. You sure are full of good advice sometimes,” Rainbow commented.
“I am a student of history. Those who do not learn from mistakes are doomed to repeat them and Humanity has a lot of mistakes to learn from. Anyway, we should probably do as Twilight suggested and turn these Elements over to the Tree.”
With that, the plan was agreed upon and Tom hovered up into the air, collecting all six Elements to return to the tree. The vines, seeming to sense something was afoot, all attacked Tom and Twilight as one, too many for Tom to slice through with magic.
“I really hope this works!” Tom cried as the vines enveloped him and the Elements returned to their place in the Tree. Just as the vines completely engulfed them, the Tree thrummed with arcane power and a pulse of Harmony Magic spread across the land, destroying the vines in its wake. Even better, Luna and Celestia had been held captive by the vines and were free upon the destruction of the vines.
“Princesses!” The group cried.
“We know it must have been difficult to relinquish the Elements. You all showed great bravery today,” Celestia complimented them.
“Yeah, well, Twilight and I both have a whole lot of questions for you, Celestia, and I don’t think anyone is gonna be particularly happy by the end of it. However, that can wait until you two put your heavenly bodies back in order,” Celestia looked at Tom curiously and Luna seemed downright baffled.
Before anything else could be done or said, the Tree started to glow and Twilight felt something odd within herself, almost as if a spark had been ignited. Then a flower grew out of the tree and within the flower was a locked box.
“Well, this is unexpected,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Do either of you know what this is?” Tom asked the Princesses.
“No, the Tree still holds a great many mysteries even today. We don’t even know where to begin looking for keys or what could possibly be inside,” Luna admitted, “But, there are six locks and thus six keys. Perhaps a key each for each Bearer, er, former Bearer?”
“I do believe you are right, sister. I trust when the time is right, you will be able to find those keys. For now, Luna and I must sort out the sun and moon and assure our little ponies that we are safe,” Celestia left the cave to do just that, followed by her younger sister.
Tom, Twilight, and the others all walked back to Ponyville unmolested by monsters and were greeted by Discord summoning streamers and balloons and banners in their honor.
“Well done ladies and gentlemen, you are truly a credit to your cause! How did you save the day this time? Blast the monster with those necklaces of yours?” Discord poofed and reappeared as a mini mountain climber, climbing Tom’s horn. “Where are those delightful Elements anyway?”
“I would be deeply surprised if you didn’t have an inkling already, Discord. You must have felt the blast of Harmony Magic from the Tree,” Tom replied.
“Oh, poo, spoil all my fun, why don’t you?” Discord pouted.
“You’ll also be pleased to know I had a chat with the girls and they seem to be more on board with accepting your friendship,” Tom added. Discord’s eyes literally popped out of his head. He picked them up and rubbed them off before replacing them.
“What, really?” He surveyed the pony’s faces.
“Yeah, Tom can be really convincing when he wants to be,” Rainbow said with a shrug.
“He did put things in a light we hadn’t considered before we restored the Elements to the Tree,” Rarity admitted. Discord seemed confused.
“What light would that be? Red? Blue? Maybe plaid?” Spotlights of each color shone on Discord as he listed them.
“The light of you being a recovering addict,” Tom said bluntly. That seemed to stop Discord cold.
“I- I am not an addict!” Discord pouted petulantly.
“Then why didn’t you remove those vines of yours back when you first became reformed?” Tom asked.
“I forgot about them. They were supposed to bloom hundreds of years ago, but- wait, how did you know they were mine?”
“You just told me,” Tom smirked.
“It really wasn’t hard to guess something so suffused in Chaos Magic had something to do with you,” Twilight added.
“Well aren’t you two just so clever,” Discord sulked, “Fine, you win this round. As reward, I’ll even help clean up Ponyville for your precious Summer Sun Celebration or whatever it is.”
“Discord, friendship isn’t about winning rounds,” Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who spoke up, “Even in more competitive friendships like AJ and Dashie, it’s about bringing out the best in each other, not who wins how many times.” Discord seemed to soften a bit.
“Well, if you say it Fluttershy, it must be true. I suppose I still have a lot to learn about this friendship thing,” Discord sighed.
“That’s why we’re gonna be here to help you, silly!” Pinkie exclaimed and got nods and noises of agreement from the others. Discord looked to be genuinely touched.
Several hours later and everyone was in Canterlot, ready for Celestia to raise the sun. Tom and Twilight had decided to postpone their Q&A with Celestia and Luna until after the rising of the sun. Neither particularly wanted to rain on the festivities for the sisters, but both agreed it needed to be done sooner rather than later.
Celestia and Luna walked up onto the dais and Celestia began her speech.
“Citizens of Equestria, it is no longer with a heavy heart, but with great joy that I raise the summer sun. For this celebration now represents, not the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but the return of my sister, Princess Luna!” With that, Luna rose into the air and set the moon beyond the horizon. With that completed, Celestia took to the air as well and the sun was lifted into the sky.
“That’s our que!” Twilight reminded Tom.
“Oh, right,” Tom flared his wings and took off, using a corona of magic to simulate the visual aspects of Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom. The sister princesses touched down and Tom landed on the dais only a split second later, somehow managing to not botch the landing in spectacular fashion, for which he privately congratulated himself.