//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: The Tree Of Harmony // Story: Equestrian Vacation // by Dragonboy111 //------------------------------// "So, uh, what do we do once we find this tree?" Rainbow Dash asked. The group trudged deeper into the Everfree Forest. The further they went, the thicker the foliage grew, which (hopefully) meant they were getting closer to the source. Where that place was would hopefully be the Tree of Harmony or the origin of the plants. Either way, the Elements would be unleashed to their fullest extent to save Equestria. Once Harry figures out how they worked, of course. "We blast whatever thing is there, and then we get back to Ponyville," Harry replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Speaking of blasting, how does this thing work?" He pointed at Twilight's crown. "Not sure," Applejack admitted. "Whenever we use these things Twilight has most of the control. So long as we stay true to ourselves and our friendship it just seems to work." "It is distinct from my own magic, maybe that'll help?" Rarity noted. "Hey, Harry, do you think a unicorn has to be the one to use it?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Why're you asking me? I got this thing ten minutes ago," Harry remarked. Fluttershy flew next to Harry. "I'm certain you'll do great. We got it right on the first try, and we didn't know anything about the Elements." Harry thanked her for the reassurance. The group wandered deeper still, hoping to find something— anything— that might give them a clue. But they came up with nothing. The only thing they found was a winding path that led to a decaying old castle. Harry remembered Twilight's story about the Castle of the Two Sisters hidden deep in the Everfree Forest. "Anypony else starting to think this is a lost cause?" Rainbow Dash drawled. "We're almost at Celestia and Luna's old castle. Maybe whatever Twilight saw when she took that crazy potion wasn't real. Maybe there is no Tree of Harmony. Maybe—" Applejack looked over the edge of the cliff. "Maybe it's right down there." She pointed to something deep in the ravine. The vines seemed to have come out of a cave within the ravine. A weak cyan glow emanated from the cave. Rainbow Dash gasped. "It can't be!" "How are we supposed to get to it?" Rarity asked, gesturing at the faraway ground. Several crashing noises came from the group's left. Pinkie Pie was tumbling down an ancient set of stairs. "Whoa! Oof! Ugh! Take the stairs, silly!" She giggled. "You heard her, we're taking the stairs," Harry said. The six friends walked into the ravine to inspect the source of the vines. There, in the cavern that the plants came from, lay a beautiful tree. Shimmering in crystalline beauty, there was no doubt this was the Tree of Harmony. But its light was dim and vines curled around it like weeds. "The Tree of Harmony, we found it," Harry said. "I think it's dying!" Fluttershy exclaimed, noting the tree's condition. Applejack charged forward. "So let's save it already!" She grabbed onto one of the vines and pulled as hard as she could. But the plant didn't budge and Applejack was sent flying and landed on her butt. "Nice try," Rainbow commented. She flew at the plants in a flying high kick, but the plant had other ideas and sent her spiraling with a swing of its vines. "Whoa! Oof!" "Valiant efforts on both your parts, but the tree remains in jeopardy," Rarity said. "And I suppose you've got a better idea?" Applejack countered. "We try the Elements," Harry decided. "We've got nothing else in our arsenal. Circle up, we're taking this thing down." Five mares and their Elements formed a circle with Harry. The stallion closed his eyes and focused on the crown and his friends; the magic in it seemed to be growing stronger. The group was suddenly lifted into the air. Their Elements glowed and released their magical energies. A rainbow emerged from each Element, connecting in a line that spiraled up to the Element of Magic. When the connection was made, Harry winced as serious vertigo and a small portion of pain manifested behind his eyes. It felt like every fiber was overflowing with energy, it hurt. Harry opened his eyes and looked at his friends, who were looking past him at the tree. He focused on the vines around the tree. Get rid of the vines, get rid of the vines, get rid of the vines, Harry pleaded. A flickering beam of rainbow light blasted out of the Elements. The magic washed over the Tree of Harmony, pulling at the vines. With one final push, the plants were shredded off. With their task completed the Elements became inert, and everypony drifted to the ground. The plants no longer covered the tree. "We did it!" Fluttershy cheered. Harry sighed as they were lowered to the ground, his headache still present. He removed the Element of magic from his head. "I guess that was—" Harry fell silent as he doubled over in pain as soon as he touched the ground. The dull throbbing turned into a spike of pain that lanced through his skull, right over his scar. Twilight's crown fell from his hoof, bouncing away. Applejack held Harry back from collapsing. "Harry, what happened?!" Pinkie Pie tapped Applejack on the shoulder. "Uh, don't look now, but—" "The tree!" Rarity cried. Harry looked up to see the plants grow back over the Tree of Harmony. All their work was undone in mere moments as the tree's light faded again. The Elements had removed the vines, but it couldn't stop them from coming back. "Our Elements didn't do a thing!" Rainbow Dash huffed. "Then we hit it again," Harry decided. He shook his head and walked to the crown. The headache vanished after a long moment. I can deal with this later. "We don't have any other options." "But what about you?" asked Fluttershy. "Yeah, I don't like the looks of what happened to ya," Applejack said. "I'm fine," Harry insisted. "It's probably the plants affecting my magic." "But you are the only one afflicted with pain," Rarity remarked. "And Twilight's magic was affected the least." "I thought Celestia fixed that there scar?" Applejack said. Harry sighed. "It's something different... I'm not sure, maybe the plants are messing with my magic specifically. Maybe the Element thinks I'm more like sunset than Twilight believes. But what I do know is the sooner we get rid of these plants, the better." Harry put the crown on his head, and the pain returned to what it was before. "Yeah, round two!" Pinkie Pie shouted. The Elements fired up again just like the first time. The beam of Harmony magic shredded the plants and reinvigorated the tree. However, as soon as the Elements stopped, the plants regrew, just as aggressive as before. "Argh!" Harry shouted. He lifted the crown up but nearly collapsed as the pain flared up. "This isn't working. We need a better idea." "I'm more concerned about you," Applejack said. She moved the crown away from Harry's grasp. "I'm telling ya this ain't normal. The Elements of Harmony shouldn't be causing you pain. I don't know if this is a good idea." "I know who would know what to do. But we sent her home," Fluttershy said. "It was your idea, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash accused. "We all agreed it was the best thing, Rainbow Dash! We were trying to protect her," Applejack countered. The argument was cut off when somebody literally fell into the ravine. Spike tumbled down the stairs in a heap, covered head to toe in scrapes. Everypony rushed to him; Applejack lifted his body off the ground. Spike opened his eyes. "Twilight! Trouble! Help!" he gasped before falling unconscious. Everypony looked at each other. Harry felt his blood run cold. Twilight was in trouble, and they had sent her away. Harry grabbed the Element of Magic and ran into the forest, everypony else right behind him. They ran as fast as they could to find Twilight. They barged through the foliage, desperately looking for any sign of the princess. The group spread around the area, looking for anything that could lead to Twilight. "Anypony found her?!" Harry shouted. "I heard something!" Fluttershy gasped. She pointed to another bush. Surely enough, there was some sound from the other side. It sounded like a mix of growling and leaking gas. Harry and the rest barged through the bushes. The first thing that was noticed was an unconscious Twilight. The second detail was the several very aggressive-looking plants, spraying some gas on the Princess and scowling menacingly. Anger flooded everypony in the group. Applejack threw together a makeshift lasso before Harry could even blink and strangled one of the plants. With that plant tied up, Applejack spit out her rope. "Listen here, ya rabid rhododendrons! You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" One plant roared as it closed in. Harry returned with a scowl and incinerated it with a blast from the sunfire spell. He was getting fond of that spell. Everypony charged forward to get rid of the plants. Harry chose the direct route: He teleported next to Twilight, summoning a strong wave of magic to form a powerful barrier. "Back off!" Harry shouted and flung the barrier outward in a blinding mix of turquoise and magenta. The plants were blasted away from Twilight and several were destroyed on contact. Wild blasts of magic erupted from his horn, striking many of the plants and turning them to ash. The others moped up the remaining plants, tangling them up in heaps. With that problem taken care of, everypony gathered around Twilight, who was regaining consciousness from the plants' gases. Harry lent her a hoof to get up. Twilight said nothing as she took his hoof to stabilize herself. Harry breathed a sigh of relief; Twilight was okay, she was safe. "I sure am glad you came looking for us," Applejack said. "Not as glad as I am that you found me," Twilight replied. "We shouldn't have sent you away," Harry said. "We were wrong. I'm sorry." Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Yeah. Equestria may need its princess..." "But we need our friend," Fluttershy finished. "So let's go save that tree already," Pinkie Pie announced, bouncing away. Harry turned to Twilight. "But first, there's something I need to do." Harry plucked the crown from his head, ignoring the migraine. "This belongs to you." Harry placed the crown on her head. Twilight smiled reassuringly at Harry. "Thanks, Harry. It was a bit unfair to ask you to carry in my steed." Harry just shrugged. "It's your Element and crown, it's only fitting." Internally, however, Harry felt conflicted about giving up the crown. He knew it was strong enough to defeat someone like Voldemort easily; it had done so before. But the crown wasn't his, he would find another way to get the power needed to fight Voldemort. For now, they had to lead Twilight down to the Tree of Harmony so she could figure this out. Twilight looked up at the tree, confused. "So, what's going on with it? Did the Elements not work?" Harry held up a wavy hoof. "Yes and no. As you can see, the Tree of Harmony is covered by these plants. The Element of Magic didn't work like we thought." "What happened?" asked Twilight. "Well—" "It's causing Harry pain," Applejack said. "That shouldn't be happening," Twilight said, looking very concerned at Harry. "Well, yes," agreed Harry. "Anyways, the plants kept regrowing no matter how many times we hit them with the Elements." Twilight realized Harry was deflecting and chose to address that later. When this is over, we'll talk. Twilight flew up closer to the tree and almost got snagged in the process. She inspected the vines and tree closely, then quoted what Celestia had said in the past. "Even without these Elements, the Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic. As long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain all that grows here." Twilight flew down to the rest of the group, a plan already formed. "I know how we can save the tree. We have to give it the Elements of Harmony." Everypony reacted with shock. Rainbow Dash flew up to Twilight. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, heh. How are we supposed to protect Equestria?" "How are we meant to rein Discord in if we can't use the Elements to turn him back to stone?" Rarity said. "Twilight... the Elements of Harmony... they're what keep us connected no matter what," Applejack pleaded. "The fate of Equestria is at stake!" Harry countered. "Unless somepony has a better idea, this is the only option." "Of course it makes sense to you. These things are what brought us together. You wouldn't get it," Rainbow Dash said. "Excuse you!?" Harry yelled. Twilight watched as he marched up so he was face-to-face with the blue pegasus. "They're a bunch of magic rocks! Those Elements on your girls' necks saved my life. They may not work for me, but they mean just as much!" Twilight grabbed the two in her magic and pulled them apart. Keeping them pinned with her magic, Twilight dropped down in between them. "Both of you, stop it! We shouldn't be fighting like this. Applejack's right. The Elements of Harmony did bring us together. But Harry's also right. It isn't the Elements that will keep us connected; it's our friendship. And it's more important and more powerful than any magic. My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken." "Sorry, Twi," Rainbow said. "Sorry," Harry said. "It's fine. There's no time to lose. Everypony ready?" Twilight asked. "Ready!" Came their instant reply. Twilight grabbed the six Elements and floated them around her. They formed a ring of light as they orbited around the alicorn. However, as Twilight got closer the vines tried to grapple her. The plants held her aloft in the air, far away from the tree. "Twilight! Rainbow, help her!" Harry shouted from the ground. A high kick from the speedster severed the vines. Twilight pushed the Elements forward to insert themselves into the Tree of Harmony. The last Element to go in was her own Element of Magic. The branches and trunk folded in around the Elements so they would stay in their rightful place. The tree glowed as the magic of the Elements rushed through it. In a flash of light, the plants ensnaring the Tree of Harmony were torn asunder. A wave of rainbow energy engulfed the cavern and spread beyond, incinerating the plants like a firework fuse. All that remained were two tightly bound bundles of vines. A wave of magic unraveled them from top to bottom, revealing the two alicorns everypony feared were gone for good. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walked forward from their former prison. Twilight rushed to give her teacher a hug, tears leaking from her eyes. Twilight had been so worried about the Princess. She wasn't ready to lead Equestria yet! Equestria would be utterly lost without the leadership of its two greatest leaders. She felt Celestia reach a foreleg around her to return the embrace. "We know how difficult it must have been for you to give up the Elements. It took great courage to relinquish them," Celestia said. Before Twilight could respond the Tree of Harmony glowed. Magic from each Element flowed down the trunk, illuminating both of the cutie marks on the tree. The colors flowed down to one of the roots, which sprouted a large flower. It opened to reveal a locked crystalline chess with six keyholes. The three princesses walked closer to inspect it. A chest? Twilight wondered. "What's inside it? How am I supposed to open it?" Twilight asked. "Six locks, six keys," Princess Luna noted. "Six Elements," Harry added. "It cannot be a coincidence. I do not know where the keys are, but—" Celestia trailed off, looking up at the tree again. Twilight follows her mentor's eyes. A dimmer second bead of light traversed the tree's length. It rushed along the roots and vanished underground. After a long moment, a tree limb sprouted out of the ground, right beneath Harry. The glowing wood latched onto Harry's right foreleg. "Harry!" Twilight shouted. Harry watched the three princesses inspect the chest. He too was confused when Celestia stopped talking to look at the tree. And like Twilight, he watched in confusion and wonder as the tree glowed again. The glowing wood latched onto Harry's right foreleg, surprising the young stallion. Harry heard Twilight shout his name. "Hey! Let go!" Harry yelled at the tree. The branch did nothing but glow a little brighter. Harry gasped as his migraine returned. A series of bizarre images flashed in his eyes, like the afterimage of a bright light. The incomplete cutie mark from the Crystal Empire was the first, six white stars with a blank space in the center. a hazier image flashed in the center of the stars. The missing piece! Harry realized. But, try as he might, he couldn't get the image to stick in his head, leaving nothing but a strange sense of familiarity and emptiness behind. Next, a triangle, then a circle, and finally a line. These three swapped places rapidly until they appeared as one image. This trio was suddenly replaced with the image of a turquoise flame. As fast as this vision arrived, it vanished. Harry blinked rapidly, seeing the tree limb looped around his leg, still glowing. Harry tugged against the branch with all his strength. Eventually, with a mighty snap, the glowing portion of the branch around his leg broke off from the rest of the tree. The part that emerged from the ground retreated back out of sight. The glowing circle on Harry's limb shifted until it formed a circle, and then the light subsided. Twilight walked to Harry, surprise written on her face. A silvery bracelet rested on his foreleg, the same texture as the tree. A turquoise star was the bracelet's only marking. "What happened?!" Twilight demanded, concerned. "I don't— I don't know!" Harry exclaimed, still processing. "I— I think the Tree of Harmony was trying to show me something." Celestia approached Harry and held her hoof out. Harry placed the foreleg with the bracelet on her hoof. The Princess of the Sun looked at the item with a practiced eye. After a long moment, she released Harry's limb. "I have no idea what it is," Celestia said. "What!?" Twilight and Harry shouted. "I have never seen an artifact such as this," Celestia said. "I can only offer my theories. Perhaps the tree has chosen Harry for something, as it did for the rest of us. But what I do know that it is a mystery you will not be solving alone." Chosen? Harry thought. Why would the tree choose me for anything? I'm Harry, just Harry. What makes me special? Harry and Twilight shared a look, a brief message passing between them, mostly confusion. "I'll do my best to solve this," Twilight promised. "You mean we'll do our best," Harry said. Celestia smiled. "I know you two will. Now, I believe we have a country to run. Thank you for all that you've done." In a flash of light, Luna and Celestia vanished. "Well, I suppose we go back home for cleanup," Rarity said after a long moment. "Eyup," Applejack said. The gang walked back through the (comparatively) harmless forest. Harry and Twilight hung back a little. "You had me scared for a moment," Harry confessed to the alicorn. "The Elements didn't work right, and it would've been my fault." "No, you did fine," Twilight said. "Maybe the Element of Magic wasn't your perfect fit, but it was working. We needed a different approach. And you saved me when I came back, that's gotta count for something." "Thanks, Twi," Harry said. At that moment they stepped out of those woods. Confetti and banners shot up from nowhere. Discord appeared and waved a flag with each of their colors. "Bravo, bravo! How ever did you save the day this time?" He mockingly waved his talons. "Blast the beastie with your magic necklaces, I presume?" He vanished and reappeared on Applejack's back with a western cowboy outfit. "Where are those little trinkets of yours? You know, the ones you use to send me back to my extremely uncomfortable stone prison?" "Gone," Applejack said. "Gone? Gone?" A wicked smirk painted Discord's face. Fluttershy flew up to the draconequus' face, stone-faced. "But our friendship remains. And if you want to remain friends, you'll stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking and help us clean up." Discord vanished and reappeared in a maid outfit. "Fine. But I don't do windows." "One thing I don't get. Why did all this happen now?" Applejack asked. Discord shrugged. "I have no idea. Those seeds I planted should have sprouted up ages ago." Everypony stopped in shock. "What did you say?!" Twilight demanded. Discord had the gall to look offended. "Oh, why should I try to explain it when you can see for yourself?" Discord offered up that white potion to Twilight. The alicorn reluctantly took another gulp of the potion. Everybody waited for her to come out of the trance. Eventually, Discord did speak up. "Well, obviously things didn't go according to my original plan. My plunderseeds should have stolen the magic from the Tree of Harmony and captured Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thousands of moons ago. Alas, it seems the tree had enough magic to keep the seeds from growing up big and strong. Until now, that is." Twilight shook off the potion. "You realize this is information we could have used hours ago?!" "And rob you of a valuable lesson about being princess? What kind of friend do you think I am?" Discord countered. "Let's just clean up already, I'm not missing tomorrow's sunrise," Harry said. Discord, you're going to be the death of me, I swear. The rest of the day passed in a great hurry, ponies dashing about to repair the damages inadvertently caused by Discord. However, with the help of that draconequus, Ponyville was ready to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration, although there were a small number of unwelcome "renovations". Ponyville was back to normal before dinner time. This also provided a perfect excuse for Harry and his friends to go to Canterlot to witness Celestia raise the Sun. When the dawn of the day came, all of Canterlot looked eagerly up at Celestia as she stepped forward to take her place next to her younger sister. "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." Everypony watched in awe as, for the first time in a millennium, Princess Luna lowered the moon for all to see. Celestia raised her radiant sun and Twilight Sparkle, protege-turned-princess, dazzled everypony with a magenta star just as the sun appeared. Though very few knew what Equestria lost that day, everypony felt joy in their hearts knowing there was a bright future ahead of them.