//------------------------------// // Uprooted // Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S9 // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// In the town of Ponyville, everything seemed normal. No evil roots and vines attempting to take the place over, no dark crystals sticking out of the ground. The place seemed perfect, but was also completely and utterly deserted...except for Ace the jakhowl, who was zooming through the town on a motorcycle-like vehicle that had blue lights in place of wheels and a rocket on the back. "YAHOOOOO!" He cheered as he did several midair loop-the-loops on the bike. "Hahaa!" However, the fun wouldn't last forever. In that moment, the rocket sputtered out, all power now gone. "Huh?" He looked down at the dashboard, "Out of gas?" The bike began to fall at this, Ace letting out a scream, the young jakhowl barely managing to leap off his bike before it slammed into the earth. An explosion came next, Ace hitting the dirt, rolling a good ten feet before coming to a stop. He moaned as he picked himself up, holding his head as he stood. "Ow..." "HELP!" yelled a voice, making him spin around to see Mira...a whole bunch of Miras, who were marching through the town, carrying one of them, "But I'm the real one!" She cried, trying to escape as they held her. "Mira!" Ace quickly formed a Bone Breaker and charged, using it to pole vault over the Mira clones so he could grab the real one. He pulled her away, both landing as the clones turned to glare at them. "Run!" Ace exclaimed, the pair rushing down a street as the clones chased after them. And as this happened, they cut a corner, evading the clones' sight before Mira pulled Ace into a gap between two houses. The clones passed them at this, both sighing in relief. "What the heck is going on?" Ace whispered, Mira shrugging back. They stepped out onto the street a second later, only to notice Rainbow flying above them in her Wonderbolts uniform. "Wait!" They then heard, making them turn to see Silverstream calling out to the pegasus. "I don't have my uniform!" She looked ready to fly after Rainbow, only for Ocellus to suddenly show up. The changeling was dressed in a graduation gown and cap while looking absolutely terrified. "Silverstream!" She cried as Ace and Mira ran up to them. "Somehow, I missed a class all year, and the final is today! If I don't pass, I can't graduate!" The others would have said something, but another scream rang out, all glancing up as they saw Yona falling, "Looks like she's gonna fall into sugar street!" Ace gasped. "What?!" Mira yelped, "Ponyville doesn't have a street called-" She stopped when she saw part of the town had turned into something Pinkie would make at Heartswarming. Houses made of biscuits and bridges that were chocolate bars, along with a giant kettle filling a massive teacup with chocolate milk. They ran as fast as they could, but they couldn't reach Yona in time, only for the yak to suddenly stop several inches off the crumb covered ground. She stopped screaming when she noticed this, opening her eyes and seeing she was okay before falling the last few inches. "Whoa..." Ocellus stated as they reached her. "That was weird." They all nodded before Silverstream pointed at something, "And that's even weirder." They turned to see a choco-bar bridge leading to a chocolate milk filling teacup, where they saw Smolder. The young dragon was dressed in a blue dress and tiara, with tons of makeup on her face. She was drinking from a teacup and sighed at whatever she was drinking...only for her happy demeanor to vanish as she saw the group. "What the-" She quickly threw away the cup and tiara and pulled off the dress. "Uh, this isn't mine!" She threw the dress away and wiped off the make-up. "Yeah...right." Ace chuckled, only to hear Gallus let out a scream, all turning to see a large box that had a slowly closing door. When they looked through the door, they saw the griffin was trapped inside the box and clearly terrified he was gonna be trapped inside. "Make it stop!" He screamed, "Make it stop!" He started hyperventilating, but Ace used his Bone Breaker to wedge the door open while Silverstream reached in and pulled him out. Once he was sure he wasn't going to get trapped, he sighed in relief. That is, till they saw Sandbar to their right, the young earth pony staring up a giant glass case full of pony sized cupcakes, a look of horror on his face. "Are you okay?" Mira asked, only for a bright pink light to catch their attention. The eight lined up at this as the pink light took shape and transformed into a familiar appearance. Twilight Sparkle, a sparkly version of her. She stared at them and nodded. "Good. You have all answered my summons." "Wait..." Silverstream tilted her head, "You mean this isn't my dream?" "Friends must be dreaming together!" Yona cheered. "More like a nightmare!" Gallus added as Mira glanced around for any sign of Luna. "I know, right?" Sandbar looked up at the skyscraper-sized cupcake holder. "How do I pick just one? They all look so good!" The others frowned, unable to believe he was worrying about that while they had had to face horrible visions. "That's your version of a bad dream?" Smolder yelped. "You have been way too sheltered," Ace groaned. Ocellus then turned to the twinkling alicorn. "But why did you bring us here, Headmare Twilight?" "I don't think that's Twilight," Mira chimed in. "You are correct," Twilight nodded, "I am merely the messenger. You all must hurry. The Tree of Harmony needs you." Before any of them could say anything, she stomped her hoof onto the ground. This unleashed seven differently colored lines, which flew out and struck each. Ace and Mira shared a line and before they could ask what was going on, everything went white. Mira gasped as she sat up, glancing around to see she was back in her new room at Aurarora. She shook her head at this, only for her door to slam open as Ace ran in, "Mira!" She turned to him, "Did you just have a dream about the Tree of Harmony?!" "I did," Mira nodded, "And I don't think it was a dream." Before she could say anything else, Springer walked into the room looking half asleep. "What the heck are you two doing up so early?" "Springer!" Mira jumped up, "Is the new Rune Gate ready?!" Springer blinked at her, "Uh...yeah. Why?" "Can you please activate it for us? We need to get to Ponyville! The Tree of Harmony needs us!" Springer tilted his head at this, only to let out a long yawn, "Its too early for this. Follow me." The next day... In the School of Friendship, Spike the Pyro Dragon was using his Mystic Dragon Magic to clean. Each of his fingers was letting out a stream of fire, each forming its own fiery claw on the end. The claws had a broom or cloth, which he was using to clean the floors, windows and walls. Once he was sure the job was done, he put the cleaning instruments over in the corner and looked down at the floor. A smirk was on his lips as he could see his own reflection in it. "Lookin' good." He gave himself a wink, only for a flash of purple to suddenly appear in front of him. "Spike! I have horrible news!" Twilight yelled as she appeared as the purple light faded. "What's wrong?" He backpedaled, "Is the Crystal Empire under attack again?!" "What?!" Twilight shook her head, "no!" It was then that Spike saw a box floating behind her, the alicorn holding it up and pulling out a bunch of orange pens. "We only have twenty highlighters! And they're all orange! How will everyone color-code their notes?!" She shoved one of the highlighters into his face, knocking him down. Spike couldn't help but smile at seeing a usual bout of Twilight-ing. "I'm pretty sure you're the only one that does that." "Still..." Twilight put them back and started marching through the halls. "Twenty isn't enough for the new school year!" Spike flew in front of her at this, "We got plenty of time to order more. The friendship students won't be back until-" He stopped when the doors of the school flew open, revealing Ace, Mira, Gallus, Silverstream, Yona, Smolder, Ocellus and Sandbar. "Uh...now?" Yona tripped over the stairs at this, starting to roll down the hall and almost knocked Spike over until he flew over her. "You okay?" Mira asked the yak, who gave a hoof's up. "Well, this is a surprise." Twilight put the box down, "Why are you all here so early?" Her eyes went wide as she pulled out some papers, "Did I send out the wrong back-to-school date?!" Smolder shook her head, "Oh, we're not here for school." The pair raised an eyebrow at this. "Yeah," Sandbar stepped up, "We're back 'cause the Tree of Harmony called us here." Their confusion then turned to shock, Twilight gasping as she turned to Spike while Gallus looked smug. "Don't feel bad it didn't reach out to you. We kinda have a special connection with it after last year." They expected Twilight to tell them to get to the tree, only for her to say, "But the Tree couldn't have called you! It's gone! Shroudheart destroyed it!" "Oh no!" Ocellus gasped, the others doing the same, Ace full-on fainting as the changeling added, "Who's Shroudheart?" Spike let out a long sigh at this, "He's an evil pegasus villain who uses shadow magic. Don't worry about it, its a super long story." The dragon turned to the Twilight, "You know, maybe next time you should ease in with those truth bombs." "W-w-what about the Elements of Harmony?" Sandbar asked, Twilight shaking her head. "Those are gone, too." "Wait," Spike scratched his head, "Sandbar, you live in Ponyville. Weren't you here when Shroudheart took over the town and turned everypony into mindless slaves?" "What?!" Mira yelped, Ace fainting again after just getting up. "When the heck did this all happen? The three of us move away and our hometown gets conquered?!" "We dealt with it," Spike responded, "Well...Twilight and the others did. And again, Sandbar, how did you not know about this?" "I just got back from vacation," Sandbar replied, "So I guess I wasn't around for that." Spike nodded back, only for Ocellus to raise her hoof, "But if the tree is gone, doesn't that mean the Everfree Forest will take over Equestria?!" "We've got that part under control," Spike added, "And Shroudheart won't be coming back, so...some good news, right?" The eight shared glances, only for Silverstream to ask, "Can we see the tree ourselves? Or what's left of it?" Twilight nodded back, "As long as you promise to stick together. The Castle of the Two Sisters isn't the safest place, as you may remember." "Yona not scared of puckwudgies anymore!" The young yak exclaimed, "Friends save whole school from evil pegasus!" Spike turned to Twilight, "She does have a point." Twilight giggled at this as the others cheered. The Everfree Forest might have been too much for them before, but it wouldn't stop them from making sure their friend was safe. Their trip into the Everfree Forest wasn't an easy task as they quickly left. With the tree gone, the forest's foliage was a lot more grabby, but it couldn't pass Starswirl's magical border and escape to attack the town. Several times, roots and vines tried to grab them. But with everyone working together, they all managed to make it to the castle of the two sisters. "There it is," Sandbar sighed before looking down into the cavern below. "So the Tree of Harmony is...was, down there." They all found the steps and headed down while Ace looked up at the castle. "I get this place is a historical sight and all, but you'd think somepony would try and fix it up by now." Mira nodded. "A while back, I heard somepony talking about turning the place into their own private home. They also said something about having a skull or something up on the top of it." They all went wide-eyed at this, only to reach the bottom of the ravine and the cave leading to it. Heading inside, they were all horrified to see what little remained of the tree. "How could this happen?!" Gallus commented. The jakhowls ran over and picked up pieces of the crystal, hoping maybe to sense something within it. But there was nothing. "It's really gone," Ace added. Ocellus stepped up to the rubble, "If only we hadn't gone home for summer break. Maybe we could've saved the Tree." "I doubt it," Mira sighed, "Twilight and her friends couldn't save the tree, and their connection to it was even stronger than ours." Smolder growled. "I wish that Shroudheart was still around so we could teach him a lesson!" "That not bring back Tree," Yona added, "Or Elements of Harmony." They all looked down, only for Silverstream to let out a gasp. "Wait!" She flew over to the rock pile. "We all saw and heard the Tree in our dream, right? How could it talk to us if it was really gone?" They all shared a glance at this, Ace humming, "Hey, you're right." "Maybe the tree's spirit managed to save itself somehow," Mira continued, "It was able to project itself through its roots, so maybe it made some kind of backup of itself before Shroudheart could destroy it." Silverstream nodded. "And maybe if we close our eyes and think really strong friendship thoughts, the Tree will get better!" "Eh," Smolder smirked, "I've heard worse suggestions." They all moved closer to the tree and grasped paws, claws, and hooves, the lot sitting down and closing their eyes. Each of them thought about the tree, hoping and praying that it would come back. Any moment now, they expected to sense something, or see a light. Heck, even hearing it growing back would have been enough. "Is it working?" Sandbar asked in a whisper, the group opening their eyes and seeing the tree was still in ruin. "No," Yona sighed as Ace huffed. "Alright, who wasn't wishing hard enough?" Mira flicked his ear as Ocellus sighed. "I guess the Tree really is gone." "Then we need to do something to honor it!" Gallus chimed in. "Ah, good idea, Gallus!" Smolder added. "Hey," Sandbar stood up, "Maybe that's why the Tree called us! It must've used the last of its magic to make sure we'd come here and keep its memory alive!" "It did say it needed us," Ocellus continued, only for a voice to call out to them. "OCELLUS!" She let out an 'eep!', accidently turning into a boulder. Ace laughed at this, "That might be the cutest rock ever." Mira rolled her eyes as Twilight and Thorax flew into the cave. "There you are!" The changeling king glared at her, "The hive has been worried sick! Why did you leave without telling us? The last time you and your friends did that, it almost brought our kingdoms to war!" The rock's eyes shrank before turning back into Ocellus. "Uh, sorry Thorax! It was an emergency!" "Well, next time, ask before you run off." Thorax turned to leave, "Now, come on. Let's go home." But as he walked away, Smolder flew up in front of him. "Wait!" She exclaimed, "She can't leave! We have a...dragon quest!" "But she's not a dragon," Thorax stated before looking back and seeing Ocellus had transformed into one. "You know what I mean!" Yona stepped up next, "This quest for all Yona friends! Need to help Tree!" "And it might take a while," Sandbar added. Silverstream then turned to the Princess of Friendship. "Can we stay, Headmare Twilight?" "We promise we'll be good," Ace told her before she and Mira gave her their puppy-dog eyes, Twilight rolling her eyes at that. "Well, as long as you get permission from your kingdoms, I suppose it's all right." Gallus appeared beside her, holding up a bunch of papers. "You want that permission in triplicate, or is one enough?" The others turned to him with wide eyes, "What? I like to be prepared." Ace and Mira had rune gated back to Aurarora and told Springer everything that had happened. The jakhowl leader was a little upset Flash hadn't thought to mention what had happened, but with everything that had been going on, he understood that it probably slipped their mind. The youngsters asked if they could go back to Ponyville to help, with Springer nodding, but only if they could get permission from their training instructor, Mirage. The female jakhowl had been teaching them both everything they should have been taught since hatching. Since moving to Aurarora, the pair had been through an intensive training regiment to get them back up to speed, and now Mirage wanted them to prove that training had actually been of use. As such, the pair were matched up against two other young jakhowls. If they could win the spar, they would be allowed to go. The four bowed to one another before charging, none using their aura at the moment. Instead, they threw kicks and punches at one another. Mira's style proved to be rather defensive, blocking and avoiding her opponent's attacks until she had an opening, dodging a few blows in her match before thrusting an arm forward and slamming it into the pink jakhowl's chest. The jakhowl was sent off balance, Mira then swinging her arms around to form an Aura Blast before firing it. It slammed into the jakhowl, knocking her out of the arena. For Ace, he used a more wild style of fighting. He attempted to overwhelm his opponent with speed, throwing fast but precise strikes. The purple jakhowl managed to dodge the attacks and caught Ace's wrist, twisting it and attempting to throw Ace out of the ring, only for Ace to twist himself back around and land just inside of the ring, then force them to spin around until his opponent had his back to the edge. The opponent let go at this, trying to punch Ace, but the blue jakhowl did a backflip to slam his foot into the purple one's chin, the blow knocking him back as Ace formed an Aura Blast and launched it. The sphere slammed into the opponent, blasting him out of bounds. Ace and Mira both bowed to their opponents at this, then to Mirage, who nodded with pride. She turned to Springer and nodded, the jakhowl leader smiling as he signed their permission slips. When Ace and Mira returned to Ponyville, they found the rest of their friends had also returned with their permission slips signed. Twilight happily accepted them and even teleported the group back to the Castle of the Two Sisters. The only one of the group who wasn't with them was Sandbar, who didn't needed a permission slip since he lived in Ponyville. When they arrived at the ravine, Sandbar ran out of the cave with a smile of his face. "Hey, you're back! Great!" They all nodded as they started moving back into the cave. "Since I live locally, I figured I'd do a little cleaning up while you were gone. Give us a head start, you know?" But when they arrived in the cave, they saw just how much of a clean-up Sandbar had done. "Sandbar," Gallus glared at him, "Where's the Tree?" The Tree of Harmony was completely gone. There wasn't a single piece of the destroyed structure left, causing the cave to look a lot more empty. "I got rid of it," Sandbar replied, "To make room for a memorial." "You did this?!" Smolder screamed. "Uh, yeah. That's what you all were thinking, right?" Sandbar smirked, only for Smolder to slap her face. "That's not what we were thinking!" Ace cried. "Couldn't you have waited for us to get back before making any plans?" Mira added, Sandbar scratching the back of his hoof sheepishly. "How can we remember the Tree if it's totally gone?!" Ocellus exclaimed. "Oh, it's not gone." Sandbar responded. "Great!" Ace cheered, "Where'd you put it? Maybe we can bring it back and put it exactly how it was before." But Sandbar didn't answer him, instead moving over to where a small stick was growing out of the ground. "Look! I planted a new tree." He smiled at the sapling, then up at them, only to see nothing but glares, "What?" "Sandbar..." Ocellus grumbled, "You know that's not the same tree, right?" "But it's a symbol, y'know?" Yona moved over to him. "Pony heart in right place." "That doesn't matter!" Gallus chimed in, gesturing to the place. "This cave was supposed to stay exactly the same so that future creatures could come visit and experience the memory of the Tree!" Sandbar looked down in shame. "Sorry everyone. I thought I was helping." "We get that," Mira nodded, "But working together is one of the core parts of Harmony. And to work together, we need to all be on the same page. Which means being open with our ideas." Sandbar sighed as Smolder looked down at the tiny tree he had planted. "The Tree of Harmony is a huge part of Equestrian history. If we're gonna honor it, we need to do better than that." The others nodded. "Yeah!" Silverstream leapt into the air, "Like with lots of artwork that represents the symbolism and deep emotions of the Tree!" "No!" Gallus countered, "It should be a museum with all the Tree's history and artifacts." Smolder smirked as she leapt onto one of the rocks. "Or a really big and imposing monument, so everyone knows how powerful the Tree was!" Mira shook her head, "No, you're forgetting what the tree did for us. It helped us. Showed us the truth and shared its wisdom when we needed to be shown the truth." "Yeah," Ace nodded, "That has to be why the tree called us here. Because it wanted us to take its place and become the new wisdom givers." "But we don't have any wisdom to share," Ocellus pointed out, "The tree was ancient and had years of experience to help us with. We don't have that." She moved over to one of the rocks and started pilling pebbles onto one another. "I think we should turn this cave into a place for creatures to reflect on the Tree's true gift: The Elements of Harmony." "Boring," Smolder rolled her eyes. "I like my idea better," Silverstream chimed in. "What's more perfect than another tree?!" Sandbar asked. "We need to protect the wisdom," Mira claimed with Ace nodding. "What would Headmare Twilight want?" Ocellus added, only for Gallus to turn to the last member of their group. "Yona! You've been awfully quiet. Which idea do you like best?" They all turned to the yak, only to see her shake her heads, "Yona like when friends not argue. M-Maybe friends listen to each other and...make plan together?" The others looked at one another, then shook their heads. "Naaaah." With that, they walked off to try and do their own thing. And as they did this, Yona moaned. And so it was that each of the friends took a part of the cave and tried to do their own thing. Sandbar claimed the area he had planted the tree, while Ace and Mira claimed the deepest, darkest area of the cave. Ace, Mira, Smolder, Gallus and Silverstream went off to gather what they believed they would need, while Ocellus got to work on her own thing. Meanwhile, Yona grabbed some paper she had taken out of her bag and got to work on something of her own. She was completely focused on her own work, she barely noticed when everyone except Smolder returned with a bunch of things. It wasn't until she heard Gallus calling out that she finally looked up. "Step right up!" She looked up to see the entire cave entrance had been decorated with images of the tree, cardboard cutouts of Twilight and Starswirl, and anything else you'd see in a gift shop. "Walk this way! Welcome to the one, the only, magical Tree of Harmony Museum!" Gallus was standing behind a podium as two ponies stepped up to the cave and looked it over. "Come, see the birthplace of the Tree!" He flew over to an image of the tree. "Grown from the tears of a basilisk and tended day and night by pony magicians! This is truly one of the wonders of Equestria!" The ponies looked impressed by this, only for Yona and Sandbar to walk up to him. "Uh...Gallus? None of that is actually true." "So?" Gallus asked, "Honoring the Tree means giving it a story that creatures will care about." "It already has a great story!" Sandbar yelled. "Yeah, but mine makes more sense." "Whatever," Sandbar turned to walk away. "Can you just keep it down? My sapling doesn't like the noise." "Good!" Gallus exclaimed, "It doesn't belong in the Tree's memorial anyway." He turned back to the tourists, "And if you think this is great, just wait until you see the mystical Cave of Harmony!" "Ooo," both looked impressed as the griffon lead them into the cave. When they did, they noticed the back of the cave had a bunch of curtains and glittered covering it. "What's that?" They rushed over to it before Gallus could stop them. "Wait!" he yelped, "That's...not part of the tour!" They stepped up to the curtains, as they slowly moved open to reveal something they would see in Madam Pinkie's fortune telling tent. A small round table was in the middle, with Ace and Mira sitting behind it on pillows. "Welcome!" Ace cheered, "To the cave of wisdom!" "I thought this was the cave of harmony?" One of the mare's asked as they sat down in front of the pair. "Have you come seeking answers to the questions and problems of your life?" Mira chimed in, "We were chosen by the Tree of Harmony to help ponies in need." The mares looked impressed by this. "Please, tell us what troubles you?" "Um?" The mares looked at one another before glancing back, "Well, I've been trying to decide where my career should go. I was offered the chance to study under a great teacher, but it would mean leaving my home for a couple of years. What should I do?" Ace and Mira looked like they were about to answer, but stopped themselves and shared a look. "One moment," Mira asked before the pair turned away from them. The ponies tried to listen, as the jakhowls seemed to argue about going or staying, only for Gallus to fly in. "Don't listen to them. They have no idea what they're talking about." He pulled them away and shut the curtain right as the pair turned back to the duo. "You should-" Ace stopped as he saw that the ponies were gone, making them both sigh as they heard more movement outside. The two pulled on some cords, allowing the curtains to open and show Silverstream painting parts of the cave. "What is she doing?" Mira asked as Silverstream looked over her creation and hummed. "Needs more loyalty." She picked up a bucket and emptied it onto the ground, yellow paint flying all over the place. Yona had walked into the room, almost getting splashed by it. "Careful, Yona! It's not dry yet." Yona and the jakhowls glanced around, seeing a bunch of multi-colored swirls and shapes adorning the walls and floor. "What hippogriff painting?" "This isn't painting," Ace commented, "Painting usually have melting clocks and ponies screaming." Silverstream rolled her eyes, "It's the Tree, silly!" "Huh," Mira added, "I know I only ever saw pictures of it...but I'm pretty sure the tree was more...tree shaped." Silverstream flew up and pointed at one of the paintings. "See? These are the emotions its loss made me feel." She flew over to another painting, "Dancing with the representations of Elements of Harmony!" She looked back at them, only to see looks of confusion, "Maybe I should label it." As she said that, something appeared above them to block out the light before a sudden splash of water flew down and drenched the hippogriff. "Oops!" They looked up to see a giant bug creature, which they realized was Ocellus, carrying a giant stone fountain. "Sorry!" Silverstream then looked down, only to gasp in horror when she saw the water had gotten onto her mural. Now all the colours were blending together into one murky color. "Oh, no!" Silverstream tried to pull the colors away from one another, "Brown isn't an Element of Harmony!" Ace laughed at this, "Clearly you haven't seen Flash after taco night." As he said that, Ocellus continued to struggle carrying the water filled fountain, only for Yona to help catch the bottom of it before it fell. "Thanks Yona! This fountain is heavier than I thought." Yona nodded as they carried the fountain over to another area of the cave, where Yona heard a bunch of windchimes. And as they put the fountain down, Yona saw the chimes were hanging from the ceilings while a bunch of other stuff was littered around this area. Some bamboo plants, cushions, a table and a sandpit with a rake next to it. Ocellus turned back to normal, flying over to one of the cushions where she sat down in a meditative pose. "It's for creatures to look at as they honor the Tree's memory in quiet thought and contemplation." Ace and Mira joined Yona in looking confused as Ocellus smiled at them. "I got some help and guidance from the counselor at our feelings forum back home." She started pushing the three toward the seats, clearly wanting them to meditate with her. "Only positive energy will bloom here." "Wait!" Gallus yelped, the others seeing the pony tourists run away. "You can't go yet!" "Yeah!" Ace called out, "We still have to give you our wisdom!" But the pair either didn't hear or didn't listen, as they seemed to run away while Smolder arrived, carrying something. It was a giant rock, which had been carved to look like the Tree of Harmony. "Hey!" Gallus exclaimed, "You can't bring that hunk of junk into my museum!" "It's not for your museum," Smolder replied as she flew the rock inside. "It's for my tree memorial." She flew until she felt something grab the rock and stop her, the dragon looking back and seeing Gallus holding onto one end of the tree. "So leave it outside!" He pulled, but Smolder just pulled back. "It belongs in here!" She growled, the two pulling the rock back and forth until Smolder lost her grip, the griffon doing the same. The rock instantly fell and smashed into Ocellus' fountain, causing water to splash everywhere to wash away Silverstream's paint and Ocellus' garden. The rock broke in half, the round trunk part rolling further into the cave...straight toward Sandbar. The earth pony had put on a pair of noise cancelling headphones, the pony having no idea a large rock was rolling toward him. Yona gasped as she ran up and grabbed Sandbar, pulling him out of the way as the rock trampled his tree, only to keep going until it crashed into Ace and Mira's wisdom room, the pair screaming in horror as the curtains fell down and the table was flattened. "Uh oh," Gallus gulped as they saw what had just happened. Everypony's idea to honor the tree was destroyed, the paint mixed into a murky brown mess, the garden destroyed, the two trees flattened and the wisdom room had been demolished. "What did you do!?" Silverstream cried. Ocellus moved over to what remained of her garden, holding up a broken piece of the fountain. "My meditation garden is ruined!" She turned to the others, "Why couldn't you've been more careful?!" "Yeah!" Ace growled, "Now where are the ponies gonna come when they need our wisdom!" "What wisdom?" Smolder replied as Gallus growled. "This never would have happened if you had all just listened to me!" "And made the Tree some kind of roadside attraction?!" Sandbar yelped, "Uh, no thanks!" He hugged his destroyed tree branch as Silverstream hyperventilated into a paper bag. "Headmare Twilight is gonna be so mad when she sees what you guys did to the Cave of Harmony!" "Yeah," Mira crossed her arms, "Like some rainbow art project was better?" "Not cool!" Sandbar yelled as Silverstream glared at them all. "It's impressionism!" Ocellus glared back, "I'm just glad the Tree isn't here to see this!" "Yeah!" Ace exclaimed, "Glad it didn't see your stupid meditation garden!" "Like your idea was any better!" Sandbar screamed. "This is all your fault!" Smolder growled as Gallus looked away. "I give up!" "QUIET!" Yona screeched, stomping her hooves on the ground and making the whole cave shake. This made them all turn to her, the yak glaring at each one, "Friends doing this the wrong way! All remembering Tree of Harmony for what Tree was, not what Tree is!" "You mean 'gone'?" Smolder asked. "No!" Yona strongly stated, "Yona mean even though Tree not here here," she pointed at the cave before then pointing at her heart. "Tree here. In hearts. Tree made friendship even closer." She then held up the papers she had been carrying all this time, unfurling it to show an image of the tree along with the eight of them. The sight of the drawing touched each, all going wide-eyed as Ocellus gasped, "That's right!" She pointed at the paper, "We ran away to be together right above this spot! The Castle of the Two Sisters!" Mira nodded, "Kind of like how Twilight and her friends grew stronger when they went there to find the Elements." Sandbar smiled at this, "And later on, the Tree tested us to show us we're stronger as a team!" "It saved us," Ace remembered, "If it hadn't taught us to stay together, we never would have been able to use its power to stop Cozy's mad plan. Our entire world would have been destroyed if it hadn't helped us. " Smolder glanced around the cave, "It did call us all here." The others nodded as Silverstream gasped, "You mean the Tree of Harmony lives on in our friendship?!" That statement made them all go wide-eyed again except for Yona, the yak smiling at this. That is, till Gallus let out a long groan, "Wow. I can't believe we just got schooled by a yak." Yona giggled at this as she rolled up her drawing. "Yaks know things not forever. That's why smash and rebuild." They had to admit that for yaks, that was a pretty insightful world view. Guess when you live in such a hostile place, you get used to things not lasting all that long. "I think we took care of the smashing part," Ocellus added. "Then maybe we should start building," Gallus continued, "Together?" "No doubt," Ace nodded. "That's probably what the tree would have wanted anyway." They all nodded, until Smolder crossed her arms. "Just one problem. We still haven't decided what we should do for the Tree." They realized she was right, but Yona seemed to be thinking of something. And sure enough, she walked away. "Yona have idea." She stepped out of the cave and returned a few moments later, dragging a large wooden cart full of something they didn't think they'd ever see again. "The Tree!" Ocellus gasped, marveling at the crystal chunks inside the wagon. "Where did you find it?!" "Oh, I didn't move it too far." Sandbar chimed in, only to for the others to give him a look that screamed 'seriously'. "It was kinda heavy." "And you're just mentioning this now?" Gallus yelped as Sandbar scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Yona smiled at this, "What important is that Yona bring back branches so friends can rebuild!" Smolder scratched her head. "Rebuild what, exactly?" But Silverstream was the one to answer, raising her arm eagerly. "Ooh-ooh-ooh, I know! Something that represents what the Tree is! The gateway to our friendship!" Yona looked back at the tree's remains, her eyes going wide as she had a thought. "Yes!" She grabbed two pieces of the tree and placed them together in a triangle, the young yak sitting under them as if it were meant to be a shelter. "What ponies call it? Club...home?" "A clubhouse!" Mira cheered, "Like the one the Crusaders have." "A house made from a tree!" Ace added. "A treehouse!" Gallus exclaimed, Ocellus gasping. "That's a great idea!" "I know the Tree would've liked that!" Smolder finished as Yona nodded. They all began to get to work, knowing they would need to fix the cave up before starting their new project. "Help me lift this piece!" Sandbar asked, Yona happy to do so as they pushed the destroyed part of the fountain out of the way. They quickly began to clean the place up, getting rid of everything everypony had brought in to try and honor the tree. They washed away the paint and when they were finished, the treehouse construction began. As they did all this, each had started singing to the music they began to hear in their heads. A song about making something knew out of what was lost, honoring it as they built the construct. Silverstream had drawn up a design that they all looked, whilst the others had gathered a bunch of rope, glue and some other materials they could use. The building slowly came together, the main structure meant to be something similar to Twilight's castle. Silverstream's blueprint showed a tree holding up a square house, but as they brought it together, they found the trunk they had made wasn't strong enough to hold it. As such, they added some supports under each corner of the structure and made it look more like a stilt house. But that was okay, as they started adding a staircase and a nest-like construct at the top for the more avian members of their group. Soon enough, they were running out of crystals so they started adding whatever was left after their previous disastrous attempts. When the basic structure was completed, they started adorning it with things to try and make it look nicer. They found the pieces of the Elements of Harmony, Mira, Ocellus and Silverstream gluing them all back together before attaching them to the building. They also hung some differently colored gems from the window, tied a few flag strings around it and gave it a nice touch of paint here and there. By the time they finished their song, they had also finished their club house. And just by looking at it, they could tell it wasn't gonna be passing any structural safety tests. They had used the tree along with several rocks and branches from the other ideas they had had to create the construct. However, it was still a little small. It barely looked big enough to fit three of them in there, two if one was Yona. And it didn't exactly look pretty. "Well?" Sandbar asked once he added the last touch of glue, "What do you think?" "It's," Ocellus tilted her head, "Uh...kinda messy..." "Really messy," Ace agreed. "Yeah," Smolder nodded, "Like a bunch of different parts all smushed together." "Oh, it's just like us!" Silverstream hugged Smolder, Sandbar and Mira. "Yeah," the yellow jakhowl smirked, "Who cares if it's pretty? We made it and that means it's great!" Yona nodded as she rolled up her design, "Yona think it perfect!" "Let's give it a try!" Gallus walked up to the stairs, the others following and laughing, only to find it wasn't big enough to fit them all in. But that didn't matter to them. What did matter was the sudden shaking that rocked the entire clubhouse. "Whoa!" Sandbar had to hold onto the window to keep upright, "What's happening?!" Ace and Mira suddenly felt something surging through the crystals. Life. "It looks like magic!" Ocellus gasped as the crystals that made up the clubhouse started growing shards out of it. "Everyone out!!" Smolder screamed, the group running out of the clubhouse as the crystal shards started consuming the entire structure. They ran to the mouth of the cave, then looked back to see the clubhouse they had worked so hard to build was entirely consumed and transformed into a single crystal spike. "What the heck is that?!" Ace yelped, only for the spike to start growing upwards. When it touched the ceiling, it pierced through the rock and caused parts of the place to collapse. They feared the entire cave would collapse in on them, but when the crystal broke through to the surface, the cave suddenly stabilized. The spike had stuck out through the courtyard of the Castle of the Two Sisters, and once it broke through, it start growing and reshaping itself with a mighty blast of light and magic. The eight students had rushed up the ravine and into the castle, only to gasp at the sight in front of them. "Whoa!" A giant crystal building was in front of them, looking like a giant tree with the trunk having a bunch of doors and windows located on it. The top of the trunk had a large domed structure on top, with a staircase leading up to it and pink crystal leaves coming off the branches. Gallus was the one who asked what they were all wondering. "How did that happen?" He got his answer when a bright flash of light appeared in front of the building's entrance. From the light, the sparkling twinkly version of Twilight Sparkle appeared. "Because of you," She replied, "The spirit of the Treehouse would have perished without your selfless deeds and caring. Whenever you seek solace, come here. Your friendship, and the friendship of future generations, will always be safe within these walls." She gave them one final motherly smile before vanishing, the front door opening as she did so. "Wow..." Ace gasped, "That's awesome." Another flash caught their attention and made them spin around, now seeing the real Twilight and Spike appear. "I felt a burst of magic all the way over at the school!" The worried alicorn cried out. "Is everyone okay?" Silverstream nodded, "A little confused, but definitely okay!" It was then that Spike and Twilight noticed the new structure behind them, Twilight letting out a gasp. "Where did this come from?" "We were kinda gonna ask you the same thing," Smolder replied. "It looks like part of the Tree of Harmony," Spike scratched his head, "But how? I thought it was destroyed!" "It was," Ocellus smiled. "But when we used the broken parts to build something new, this happened." Twilight let this information sink in, then smiled as she looked up at the structure. "The Tree has always been good at surprises." She flew up to get a better look. "When Starswirl planted the Tree's seed, he didn't even know what it would grow into. I guess the Tree is still alive, changing and adapting to be whatever Equestria needs." Gallus flew up to her, "A cool place to hang out?" Twilight giggled and flew down. "Something tells me this is more than that. It seems the Elements of Harmony may still be with us in their own way." Spike let out a sigh of relief, "That's actually really reassuring." "You're telling me," Mira added, "Do you think this means the Friendship Map still works? I've been wondering about that ever since I learned what happened." Spike shrugged as Silverstream turned to Twilight, "But why did the Tree need our help to become something new?" "I'm not sure," Twilight responded, "If I had to guess, I'd say your friendship is more powerful than you know." The eight of them smiled at this as Yona spoke up, "Oh, Yona know. Yona just need to remind friends." The others nodded, now more happy than ever that Yona had convinced them to stop their crazy endeavors. "So, who's gonna give us the tour?" Spike asked, with none of the students looking like they wanted to. They hadn't been inside yet after all. Twilight giggled at this, " Why don't we all go in together?" They all nodded and headed inside, laughing in excitement about what might be waiting for them within. The Tree of Harmony might be gone, but this new Treehouse of Harmony more than made up for its loss. Yona was right. Nothing lasts forever, but even if something is lost that didn't mean it couldn't help birth something new. And as long as that understanding was remembered, Equestria would always have something to help it stay strong.