Chapter 4: Right?
After a quick explanation, Twilight and the others looked at me in a new light.
“So what you’re saying…” the white-coated mare called ‘Rarity’ began.
“Is that this here Tree…” the orange-coated earth pony continued.
*GASP* “Was made by you?!” Pinkie finished bombastically.
I chuckled. “It was mainly by accident,” I admitted. “Why? Is it important?”
The rest of the ponies looked at each other in puzzlement. Twilight gave me a quizzical look. “You mean,” she stated. “You don’t know?”
I stared at her, uncomprehending. “Don’t know what?”
“What the Tree of Harmony does,” she stated. She glanced back at Celestia.
Celestia cleared her throat. “While I’m not entirely sure which point on the timeline you’ve actually come from, I’m fairly sure you haven’t been made aware of the true impact your Tree has caused on the fate of Equestria itself.
“The Tree of Harmony is one of the most powerfully magical sites in all of Equestria, it is the focal point of all Harmony magic and the Tree is often thought to maintain balance and peace in Equestria.”
I sat down on the soft earth.
“Woah,” I said quietly. “That’s deep.” With a snap I conjured up a chocolate milkshake and took a sip out of it. Ah, that’s the stuff. Discord happily joined me on the grass, summoning his own milkshake too. I knew the magically conjured milkshake wouldn’t really sustain me but the taste was something I craved.
Twilight was suddenly in front of me. Her eyes had turned all sparkly, which was disturbing. “I have so many questions!” she exclaimed laying down in front of me. Celestia and Luna came to sit around the impromptu circle we made in front of the Tree.
I shrugged. “I have some time before I should fix the temporal spell and get back.” I leaned back, propping myself up with my arms. “Fire away,” I said airily.
Twilight cleared her throat and summoned a quill and parchment. Just as she was about to say something, I darted out and touched her horn. Yelping, Twilight leaped back, shooting me a dirty glare.
“Wha– What was that for?!” she cried shrilly. I stared at my fingers. “You’re a powerful unicorn,” I commented. “Very good mastery of basic and advanced spells.” I rubbed my thumb and forefinger together, feeling the texture of her magic. I looked at her in mild surprise. “You weren’t lying when you said you’ve been studying magic for the majority of your life. Very impressive.”
At that Twilight blushed, but she recovered fairly quickly. “How could you tell?!” she half demanded, half asked. I looked at Celestia in mild surprise.
“Didn’t you teach your student multi-focal spell casting?” I queried the white alicorn off to the side. Celestia looked like she bit into a lemon. “I didn’t think it was necessary,” she said, sharing a glance with Discord. He just shrugged. “We didn’t have the best experience with multi-focal spell casting.”
“What?” I said, perplexed. “It’s the very basics of foundational magic! Everypony should know!” Twilight nodded at this. I’m glad we agreed on some things. I glanced at Luna.
“Judge me not!” she said quickly. “I was trapped on the moon for the better part of the millennia.” She hastily clamped a hoof over her muzzle.
“Oh pony feathers,” she swore, her voice muffled by her furry hoof. I raised an eyebrow.
“What’s this about being trapped on the moon?”
“Nothing!” Celestia, Luna and Discord all shouted at once. They glanced at each other uneasily.
Pinkie bounded up and decided to be helpful.
“Oooh! Pick me, I know!” I noticed that out the corner of my eye that Celestia, Luna and Discord were waving their arms frantically in an attempt to stem the pink party pony.
“Yes, Pinkie?” I gestured for her to continue.
“Weeeeeelll it all started mmmph…!” a golden glow wrapped around the mare’s mouth.
I crossed my arms again. “We’ll talk about this later,” I said and the three siblings relaxed. I returned my attention to Twilight.
“Now about multi-focal spell casting. Want to learn from the two best spell casters since ancient Equestria?”
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After chatting a while with an intense Q and A with Twilight, most of the ponies that had followed Twilight begged off to leave. A couple had businesses to run, one had a party to plan and the other needed a nap. Fluttershy also excused herself to tend to the menagerie of animal friends dependent at her small cottage. I was left with Twilight, the Princesses and Discord.
“So,” I spoke up in the ensuing silence. “What’s Luna been up to on the moon?”
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Celestia finally found a half-decent excuse to get around telling me what actually happened to Luna by saying it was a major world event and I shouldn’t pay it any heed. I rolled my eyes but I let it go when I suddenly had a thought.
“Is there a Cadance alive right now?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
For a while there was a confused silence and I felt my heart drop in free fall for a moment, until Celestia replied.
“How do you know Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” she queried, a faint tone of suspicion creeping into her voice.
I quickly explained the situation.
Everypony’s reaction ranged from puzzlement, to surprise and everything in between. I scratched the back of my neck.
“Even though I know she wouldn’t remember me, I have this urge to see her and make sure she’s alright,” I explained awkwardly. Celestia and Luna nodded in sympathy and Discord was summoning random dolls of the Princesses and playing around with them. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he sheepishly dismissed them.
Twilight made a grunting noise that sounded something like disapproval.
“I don’t know,” she said, peering at me through slitted eyes. “What are you up to?”
Celestia leaned in and whispered into my ear.
“She’s a little protective of her sister-in-law,” she explained and my eyes widened.
“Small world,” I said wryly, shrugging.
“You’ve heard my reasons,” I said getting up. “If you don’t want me to see her, well I’ll respect that.”
Twilight’s mouth twisted as she thought about it. “All right,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “But if you’re up to something…”
I rolled my eyes and threw up my hands. “Yes,” I muttered sarcastically. “I’m up to something, because clearly my two sisters and my brother vouching for me isn’t enough?”
Twilight sighed. “I suppose you have a point.” But she still poked me in the side with a hoof. “Still,” she warned. “No funny business.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I grated snapping my fingers.