//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine - The Return of the King // Story: The Evolution of Harmony // by Thornwing //------------------------------// It wasn’t long before Twilight and her team found themselves deep in the tangle of roots and brambles, approaching the spot where she calculated they would find the King. Without a path to follow, they had to rely on Rainbow Dash flying above the tree canopy to guide their way. Twilight used her magic to clear the growth ahead, blasting fallen limbs as needed. She raced against an unknown clock, determined to reach King Brightwing as quickly as possible. With the containment of the Spell of Harmony broken, the Smooze could strike at any moment and nothing would be worse than being stuck without the pony who knew the spell that could save them. From up above, the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash filtered through the branches. “Just a little further, everypony. I think I see the fallout up ahead. Ahhh…” Rainbow Dash ducked. A magic beam narrowly missed striking her square in the muzzle. Her rainbow colored mane received a new stripe of brown with the smell of singed hair to go with it. “Hey, no fair. Pick on somepony your own size!” Dash quickly darted down through the thick tree branches below and reunited with the rest of the group. “This dude doesn’t seem too happy to see us. Better expect heavy resistance.” Twilight’s determined gaze met her stare. “That’s what I was afraid of. Everypony stick close to me. If he tries to blast us again, I can use my shield to protect us.” The ponies huddled in tight as they made their final approach toward the crash site. Twilight used her magic and blasted away the last barrier between them and the fallen Alicorn King. She could clearly make him out now—his black tree cutie mark plainly visible at close range. Brightwing called out to them in a strained, tortured voice. “Stay back! Come no further!” He shuddered and his eyes glowed red. His voice changed. A deeper, raspy sound was heard. “I serve the Smooze. We shall destroy you all!” The ponies took a step back, unsure what to make of this new development. “What in tarnation?” Applejack scratched her head. “What do we do now?” “This is worse than I thought. He’s almost totally infected by the Smooze. There’s purple goo all over his hooves. Look!” Twilight pointed over toward the Alicorn lying in the tangle of roots beneath a twisted tree. He lay on his side, broken and bleeding from his fall. The aftermath of the altercation in the sky had taken quite a toll. The girls stood watching the King writhe in pain, convulsing under the vacillating influence of the Smooze. It was obvious that one of his wings was broken; the humerus bone lay exposed against his flank. In the tangle below, at least one leg, and possibly two, was broken as well. He struggled to right himself, failing to gain purchase of the ground with his slick hooves and mangled legs. His eyes cleared and his voice slipped back into its previous tone. “Stay back, my little ponies! I do not wish you harm. Run! Save yourselves!” Twilight called back to him. “King Brightwing, is that you? We’ve come to help!” The King continued to struggle, clearly fighting a dangerous battle within as well as without. Twilight watched his coat color randomly shift between a greyish white and a brownish black. His mane and tail phased between a regal gold and pond slime green. The colors would fade and reappear as different parts of him struggled to maintain control. Brightwing’s eyes flared red once more and the strange voice returned. “You have already lost, little ponies. The Smooze cannot be stopped. Prepare yourselves for destruction.” A maniacal laugh followed. The ponies all looked at one another, clearly at a loss for what to do next. “Come on, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash urged. “We have to do something.” “I don’t know, Rainbow,” Twilight replied. “If we get too close, we may become infected by the Smooze as well. We need a plan.” She weighed the limited options. A direct approach would be dangerous; the wounded pony could attack at any moment. She couldn’t just blast him again, seeing as she might hurt him even more than she already had. She already felt terrible for having shot him out of the sky. Time was running out and she had to act soon. The King’s voice cleared and he shouted his warning once more. “My inner light dims. Save yourselves! I am lost!” A small trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Twilight continued to debate her prior actions. When she blasted him with her Alicorn magic, it was to save her friends. It had to be done. What if she had fatally wounded the King before being able to help free him from the influence of the Smooze? She would never be able to forgive herself. What else could she do? Running through her options again, she finally settled on an answer. “Light!” Twilight shouted, now fully sure of her chosen course of action. The rest of the girls stared at her waiting for the rest of the declaration. Pinkie Pie hopped up and down. “Ooh, ooh, me next… uhhh… Lollipops!” The entire group gave her a blank stare in return. “What?” Pinkie lowered her head. “Aren’t we just randomly shouting out the first thing that comes to mind?” “No, Pinkie. We’re trying to help King Brightwing.” Twilight pulled Pinkie in close with the rest of the group. “Oohhhh… Got it!” The stares turned to collective head shaking. “Go on, Twilight,” Applejack urged. “You got an idea?” “Yes, Applejack. As a matter of fact, I do.” Twilight’s smile was about to burst. “Well then, what is it? Does it involve having to get our hooves dirty mucking about with all that awful purple goo?” Rarity flashed a semi-polished hoof in front of her face. “I say we just charge in there and wrestle that thing down.” Rainbow Dash looked ready to bolt. As she tried to slowly back away, Fluttershy struggled with words. “I’m not sure we can help. That Smooze ooze isn’t something I want to mess with again.” “No, girls!” Twilight exclaimed. “The answer is light! We need to use the Rainbow of Light from within us to help heal King Brightwing.” “Yeah! Let’s blast that Smooze thing with our Rainbow Power!” Rainbow Dash surged with excitement. “Rainbow! That’s not what I mean.” Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, trying to keep her enthusiasm contained. “Yes… we need to use our Rainbow Powers, but we need to do it in a way that we don’t hurt King Brightwing. We don’t want to just blast him to bits. We need to recharge his spirit with the light of our friendship. Giving a little bit of ourselves, we can help him overcome the darkness of the Smooze.” “Oh, yeah… right.” Rainbow Dash blushed. Fluttershy submitted to the task, nodding her head with confidence. “Alright, Twilight. He does need our help, and it’s the least we could do after coming all this way.” “Okay girls,” Twilight said, “you all know how this works. Let’s do this! Hooves together!” The girls formed a circle and one by one put a hoof to the middle. A colored beam of light shone from the tip of each pony hoof. As the colors swirled together in the middle of the group, a small rainbow sprouted up. It grew as it began to wrap around them enveloping the group in its glow. They each transformed into their Rainbow Power forms as the small rainbow light continued to swirl around them. Gently they started to lift up and float a few inches off the ground. Twilight’s eyes clouded over as she focused on the energy of the spell they had conjured. She willed the tiny rainbow toward King Brightwing who continued his struggle of mental and physical torment. The rainbow obeyed. It arched across the short distance between the group of ponies and the fallen King. The ponies watched as their magic wrapped about the King, lifting him up into the air. Focusing on the goodness within, they willed the evil of the Smooze to leave while the battered body of the King began to heal from the inside out. The rainbow whirled around him, spinning so fast that the ponies couldn’t tell where it began and where it ended. The sphere it created grew brighter and brighter until it exploded in a burst of sparkling rainbow light. King Brightwing, restored to his former white and gold glory, hovered in the small clearing ahead. The King’s black cutie mark stood out in stark contrast to his milky white flank. He slowly descended and folded back his enormous wings so they rested once again at his side. The King bent his foreleg and deeply bowed his head. “My little ponies, thank you for saving me. I am forever in your debt.” Twilight and her friends gathered in front of the King, still bathed in their rainbow-fied colors. They each bowed in turn, and Twilight spoke. “No, your majesty. It is we who owe you a great debt of gratitude.” Twilight bent a knee and bowed her head low to the ground as their Rainbow Power began to subside. One by one, the colorful highlights faded away as each pony returned to their normal, albeit amazing selves. Brightwing cleared his throat and addressed Twilight directly. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, you are a most amazing pony.” Twilight raised a hoof in surprise. “But your majesty… I… I don’t believe we have ever met. How do you know my name?” The King drew back a big smile and coughed a little as he began to chuckle. “My dear little pony, I know exactly who you are. My dearest Una, who you know as The Tree of Harmony, has told me all about you. You are the smartest, most amazing pony in all of Ponyville. You and your friends have come to the aid of my daughters more times than I can count. For that, and much more, I can never thank you enough.” Twilight’s head felt ready to explode as all the cogs came together and kicked into overdrive. Understanding poured in as she struggled to contain her thoughts. New ideas flooded every corner of her brain with a million questions bubbling to the surface. Applejack mumbled, “But that means…” Rarity gasped. “Sweet Celestia….” Rainbow Dash could barely contain herself. “Ohmygoshohmygoshomygoshohmygosh….” Pinkie Pie’s mouth erupted: “SothatmeanstheTreeofHarmonyisreallytheQueenandthattheKingisherewithusandthetreefromtheshrinewasreallythekingandthetreescantalktooneanotherandCelestiaandLunahaveamomandadadanddotheyknowtheyhaveamonanddad?Anddotheyknowthey’realive?AnddotheyknowabouttheSpellofHarmony?Andcanwe….” Once again, the entire group turned and shouted, “Pinkie!” Pinkie chuckled, “Oops, sorry. I must have said that out loud.” Twilight continued with her questions. “I’m afraid I still don’t fully understand, Your Majesty. How did Queen Una and yourself become trees? Why did you transform here in the Shadow Forest with the Queen all the way back home in the Everfree? Is it all linked together?” “We must be quick with the questions,” Brightwing replied. “Suffice it to say, the two forests share a magical bond. Queen Una and I were able to use that bond to communicate and devise a plan that my guards and I put into action. The spell required the complete commitment of all involved—even my beautiful Una. When the time came that we had no other option to save our home from certain destruction, I made the decision to enact the Spell of Harmony. Our Alicorn magic aided us as we bonded with the Earth in a way no pony ever dreamed of. The Queen and I both transformed as the price of solidifying that bond. The magical link we created helped us draw on the strength of the Earth combined with the spirit of the skies. Our magic translated into the spell that successfully contained the corruption of the Smooze. We knew from a very early age that our cutie marks were not particularly random and that something special would come of the tree symbols on our flanks. “My guards and I formed the barrier that kept the Smooze contained. Una, using the Rainbow of Light, provided the grounding force to anchor our resolve. The spell has held for nearly two thousand years. That is… until today.” Twilight shrunk back in shame. “Your Majesty, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I didn’t mean to break the Spell of Harmony.” “Do not trouble yourself, Princess—it was not your doing. The power of the Spell of Harmony waned from the moment the Rainbow of Light was released from Una’s care. Ever since the High Council bestowed the Rainbow Locket on my Queen at our coronation, she guarded its power with her life. Knowing that the time had come for her pass on that gift, she sacrificed that portion of her magic in order to assist you in your defeat of Lord Tirek—yes, I know about that as well. When she did, the anchor that held our spell in place was broken—so too was the bond that we shared to communicate. The Smooze was then able to lay siege to my defenses, and I began to fall further and further under its control. I tried to reach out to Una, and then my daughters. The influence of the Smooze proved far too strong. Even in my dreams I was cut off from the outside world.” “I had a vision! I was shown this valley—the Smooze as well. Luna was here too.” Twilight looked up at King Brightwing. “I think Queen Una helped guide me here all along. It was her voice that spoke to me in the vision. She was the one that revealed Starswirl’s study. I don’t know why it took me so long to put it all together.” “You are a smart one indeed, Princess, but we don’t have much time. The Smooze is awake and it will be here shortly. It is a creature crafted by dark magic, and it feeds on everything that is good in the world, corrupting and twisting all in its path. The monster has grown more powerful through the centuries, far beyond the designs of the Trolls that created it. Feeding on my own magic, I fear it may now be unstoppable. We must prepare. I sense its presence grows near.” Twilight sniffled as she wiped a tear from her eye. “I’m so happy that we found you, Your Majesty. Won’t this be wonderful? When we get back to Canterlot, your daughters will be able to finally meet their father after all these years.” “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Brightwing’s expression turned sour. Twilight looked puzzled. “But, Your Majesty. Why not?” Brightwing avoided the question entirely and quickly changed the topic. “I sorry to have to cut you off, but I fear we have more pressing matters we must attend to. Can you tell me what has become of my friends? I could feel their strength being torn away from me just before I lost control.” “Of course, Your Majesty. We helped free them from their statues. Unfortunately, they were in no condition to travel, so we left them to recover near the shrine while we came in search of you.” Twilight pointed back in the direction of the hilltop. Brightwing nodded. “Please lead the way. There is no time to lose.”