The black vines from the Everfree Forest were already nearing Canterlot. Large groups of ponies could be seen fleeing Ponyville and heading towards Canterlot, unaware that the great city would soon meet the same fate.
"This looks ten times worse than it did last time it happened!" Rainbow Dash gasped.
"I know! And without the Tree of Harmony we might not be able to stop it this time." Twilight replied.
"Maybe if we got it at the roots?" Flash suggested.
"There's got to be thousands of vines. We'd be at it for too long. It's growing too fast and if we don't act quick Equestria is going to turn into an overgrown nightmare!" Twilight said. She began to descend from the sky when she saw Everfree Castle below her. Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and Flash followed.
The grotto which used to be the home of the Tree of Harmony was the literal root of all the vines. Where the Tree of Harmony used to stand was a hole. A huge vine about as tall and much thicker than the Tree of Harmony had sprouted up from the hole. About a dozen vines branched out from at, and more vines branched out from those vines and so on.
"This could be easier than we thought." Twilight said. "If all the vines are coming from one root, all we have to do is take the center out and they'll all be gone!"
"Scootaloo, fly back to Ponyville and help any ponies that are still there to get out!" Rainbow Dash ordered her recruit.
"Yes, ma'am!" The orange pegasus saluted before flying out of the cave and back to Ponyville.
"So how are we going to get rid of this gigantic thing?" Flash asked.
"Really big bottle of weed whacker?" Rainbow suggested.
"I think I know a spell we can use." Twilight answered. "It'll vaporize this thing right down to the roots."
"Well then let's do it." Flash lit his horn.
Twilight lit her horn too. The two alicorns shot a magical beam at the center vine, which instantly began to disintegrate, along with the branches upon branches of vines coming out of it.
"It's working!" Twilight said. She increased the power of her spell to speed the job up a little bit. The vines began to vaporize even faster. It wasn't long until they were all gone and Equestria was saved once again!
"Uuuugh..." The trio heard a groan behind them and turned around to find Luna on the ground, dazed and confused.
"Princess Luna!" Twilight ran over to the blue alicorn and helped her up. "How did you get here? Was it the vines?"
"I can't believe she still calls Luna a princess." Rainbow whispered to Flash. "She lost her title the day you two became King and Queen."
"Force of habit?" Flash shrugged.
"I'm fine, Queen Twilight, really." Luna stood up. She looked almost like any other pony without her necklace, shoes or crown, which she relinquished the day her title as Princess was lost. She was skeptical about Celestia handing over such responsibility to such a young pair of ponies, but so far, Luna had no reason to doubt Twilight and Flash.
It was then that Scootaloo returned to the cave.
"The vines have been cleared and ponies are starting to return to Ponyville, though they seem a little ticked about what's happened." The orange pegasus informed everyone.
"Not that anypony could blame them." Twilight chuckled. "I'd be annoyed too."
"No, I mean really ticked off. I'm pretty sure I heard somepony cursing you Twilight."
"Oh..." Twilight's smile turned to a frown. "We should get back to Canterlot. Cadence and Shining Armor are probably taking complaints as we speak." The three alicorns soared off into the sky, followed by Rainbow and Scootaloo.
"I assure you, Queen Twilight was not trying to destroy Ponyville. That was her home and her closest friends live there." Cadence answered a reporter on the steps of Canterlot Castle. The large group of reporters turned and hurried over to the King and Queen as they landed in the castle courtyard.
"Queen Twilight!" One reporter said to her. "Is it true that you were responsible for the black vines attack in Ponyville and areas surrounding the town?"
"Yes." Twilight sighed. "When I ordered the Tree of Harmony to be uprooted a few years ago, I completely forgot about the consequences. I hope that after a while, Equestria can forgive me for this mistake."
"Hey! Give her highness some space!" Rainbow yelled as she landed behind the two alicorns. "We'll have somepony around to answer all your questions soon. Until then, the King and Queen need time to rest. They just saved all of our flanks y'know!"
The reporters began to back off, and the group entered the castle.
"So what do we do?" Flash asked his wife. "Bring the Tree of Harmony back to the Everfree?"
"No, there's no need for that. We destroyed the root of that central vine. They shouldn't be coming back." Twilight answered.
"I think we should station some guards down there for a while, just in case they do come back and we can get an early warning before the vines reach Ponyville." Rainbow suggested.
"Good idea, Rainbow." Flash said. "Station a group of guards outside the grotto and tell them to report anything strange that might be happening."
"Yes, your majesty!" Rainbow flew off to the barracks to find a group of guards to send over.
"Alright, y'all! If'n ya got any questions about what's happened today, direct 'em over here to me." Applejack, former Element of Honesty and the Royal Public Relations Pony, announced to the waiting reporters outside the castle.
One of the reporters spoke.
"Newsworthy, of The Canterlot Times" The reporter introduced herself. "Queen Twilight previously confirmed that she was responsible for the attack of the vines, but has she done it on purpose?"
"You've got t'be kiddin' me." Applejack facehoofed. "Queen Twilight has told me that she is responsible for what's happened, but she most certainly did not do it on purpose!" The earth pony stomped her hoof on the ground for emphasis.
Newsworthy wrote down an answer on her notebook, before sitting back down. Another reporter stood up.
"Typewriter, of The Cloudsdale Gazette." The pegasus introduced himself. "If I understand correctly, this entire mess was caused by a mistake Her Highness made?"
"Exactly." Applejack said. "The Queen had forgotten of the deadly consequences of uprooting the Tree of Harmony from the Everfree Forest, an' t'be honest, I think she's feelin' right upset about it."
"So, obviously, Queen Twilight is planning on returning the Tree of Harmony to the Everfree Forest, yes?" Typewriter asked again.
"Well.... no." Applejack answered. This caused the entire group of reporters to start murmuring and whispering to one another.
"Now hold on just a minute!" Applejack said, everypony quietened down. "Twilight has told me that the Tree of Harmony will not be returned to the Everfree Forest, because she is almost certain this won't happen again. Captain Rainbow Dash has also informed me that she's stationing a group of guards permanently at the grotto where the tree used t'be, so that if it does happen again, Canterlot'll get an early warning so it can be taken care of before it gets out of hoof. King Flash Sentry has informed me that if it does happen again, the Tree of Harmony will definitely be returned to the Everfree. Are there any other questions?"
The reporters began murmuring again to each other, then they all began to stand up.
"Thank y'all kindly for coming out so we could set this all straight. If'n ya got any more questions later, I'll be down at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville."
"Are you alright?" Flash asked Twilight, who was lying in bed, a few hours later. "Nopony's seen you since you told Applejack what to tell the reporters, and that was hours ago."
Twilight turned to face her husband. "I just feel so ashamed that because of one little mistake I made, I almost put all of Equestria in jeopardy."
"It's ok." Flash sat down on the bed beside Twilight. "Everypony makes mistakes, even the most important of ponies. Just yesterday I almost told Cadence and Shining Armor about the baby, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but if you had let that slip, it wouldn't put all of Equestria in danger, would it?" Twilight frowned.
"Well, no, but it was just an example." Flash sighed. "Look, I'm sure this will all blow over by tomorrow."
"You think so?" Twilight asked.
"I know so." Flash kissed Twilight on the forehead, he took off his armor and robe and got into the bed beside Twilight."
"Good night, Twily."
"Good night, Flashie."
"Your highnesses!" Flash and Twilight were awoken the next morning by a knock on their bedroom door.
"Ugh." Twilight climbed out of bed. "Who is it?"
"It's Scootaloo, Captain Rainbow Dash asked me to bring this to you."
Twilight opened the door to find Scootaloo holding a newspaper under one of her wings. Twilight levitated it over to her and read the headline.
Queen Twilight's Big Mistake!
Twilight fainted.