Once she had passed out, Leaf Mane was taken to the hospital wing by Golden Paladin, where they were reunited then with the other Generals. Twilight and Blue went to there also, concerned about what could be happening with Leaf Mane. Mirror Coat examined her carefully and, when he finished, Golden Paladin asked him:
"That's what I think it is?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Mirror Coat replied him.
"But what's that you're thinking about?" Blue asked.
"Yeah, what's up with Leaf Mane?" Twilight asked, noting how her light was becoming weaker.
"Leaf Mane’s power is being drained slowly" Mirror Coat answered. "And the only way for this to be happening is that her matrix is currently being attacked."
On hearing this, Melody, Purple Smoke and Heartbeat soon hold their breaths.
"That's bad, right?" Blue asked.
"More than bad, Your Highness" Melody answered.
"It's terrible" Purple Smoke said.
"A complete disaster" Heartbeat added. "Something that can unbalance everything."
"Each of us, Generals, has our magic obtained from a particular source from which flows the magic that the Lord of Order gives us" Golden Paladin explained. "Its appearance differs from General to General and only its respective owner knows its location, but all have the same purpose: to give us our magic. They are our matrices."
Twilight, understanding Golden Paladin’s explanation, realized:
"So if something happens to one of these matrices, the magic of the General whom it is linked will... disappear?"
"Basically" Golden Paladin said.
"Although this statement is not so linear, because the Lord of Order is able to use his magic to sustain the loss of a matrix, but it is certain that things will not be the same if that happen" Mirror Coat added.
"If this is true, then it means that her matrix is being attacked right now" Blue said. "We must act now."
"Yes, but..." Melody started.
"We don’t know where Leaf Mane’s matrix is" Purple Smoke said. "Only she knows."
"We have no alternative but to wait for her to wake up and trust us the location of her matrix" Golden Paladin said.
In the cave where Leaf Mane’s matrix was, Arbor said:
"Don’t worry, fellow tree. You shalt not die. Besides being against my principles, I need your magic continue to flow so that our fellow plants can grow and dominate this world once more."
A throne made of roots grew from the ground and Arbor sat on it.
"It's time to purge this world from the ponies’ domination" he said.
Its roots shone with a black gloss and rooted on the ground. When he did this, vegetation began to grow rapidly and spread out in locations where it was deforested.
At Fluttershy’s cottage, she and Thunder Night were having a moment of relaxation on the couch when several knocks at the door were heard.
"But what can it be?" Fluttershy asked, as she stood up.
"I don’t know" Thunder Night replied.
Fluttershy went to the door and opened it. Barely made it, several animals entered in her house, almost completely filling the space so that Thunder Night had to take off. The animals seemed terrified.
"But what's up with them?" Thunder Night asked, while landing next to Fluttershy.
"I don’t know" she said, as she tried to figure out what their animal friends were trying to say. "But it looks like something scared them immensely."
"It must be something really big to scare up a bear" Thunder Night commented, referring to Fluttershy’s bear friend.
"Friends, please calm down" Fluttershy said to her animal friends. “Please, tell me, what is it that has caused you all such distress?
Her bear friend pointed to the exterior, with a terrified look.
“Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing you need to really worry about” Fluttershy said.
She and Thunder Night went to outside and were speechless when they faced with thorny and black roots leaving the Everfree Forest and beginning to spread. Without thinking twice, Fluttershy closed the door in panic and said:
“Oh, no, you were right. You should be worried! Very, very worried!”
"Calm down, Fluttershy" Thunder Night said, embracing his fiancée. "Everything is going to be all right... I hope."
But things were not going well at all. The same black and thorny roots were showing up all over Ponyville. In Sweet Apple Acres, they appeared in the fields, which forced the entire Apple family (including Cherry Blossom) trying to get rid of them, tearing them in the bud. But the task was proving to be quite complicated, because it seemed that for every one that they took off, more appeared.
“Come on, y'all!” Applejack exclaimed, while trying to take out a root. “Put yer backs into it!”
But it seemed that they were becoming increasingly stronger and longer.
"Eeyup" said Big Mac, preparing to boot a root, just for it suddenly to hide under the ground. "Nnope."
It appeared again in another place and when Big Mac tried to pull it up again, it returned to disappear, only to reappear elsewhere, with the big red stallion saying 'Eeyup' and 'Nnope'.
The roots developed in such a way that even the farmhouse began to be surrounded by them.
"Applejack, I think this is not working" Cherry Blossom said, trying to use his magic to boot the roots, and with the small Jonagold on her back.
“We ain't never seen this kind of trouble with weeds bafor” Applejack said to her, now looking closely one of the roots. “Now that Ah think about it, Ah've never seen these kinds of weeds at all! Have y'all?”
“Nnope” Big Mac answered, while one of the roots hit him from behind.
“Where tha heck are these things comin' from?” Applejack answered.
Having noticed how the roots were spreading, Rainbow Dash began using her speed and kicks to try to knock them down.
"Take this!" She said, as she hit the roots. "And more of this! And this!"
But then one ended up grabbing a hoof of hers and soon more follow it and they bind Rainbow Dash altogether.
"Oh, no."
At Carousel Boutique, Rarity was pinching the curtains when she saw the roots.
"Shadow Claw, come see this" she said.
He arrived there and asked:
"What is it, dear?"
"Don’t you think there are strange plants starting growing a little too fast?" Rarity asked.
Also seeing the roots, Shadow Claw became amazed.
"What the hell..." he began.
"Well, of course the earth ponies can handle this" Rarity said, starting to move away from the window. "Come, let's have a cup of tea."
A little apprehensive, Shadow Claw also turned from the window.
What they didn’t know was that the roots that appeared around the boutique started having flowers that opened and released a strange, bright pollen.
Rarity brought the tea service to the table with her magic and then the pollen came in and went straight to her horn. They merged with her magic aura and when Rarity lifted the teapot to pour tea into the cups, the tea simply began to float in the air strangely, much to the Rarity and Shadow Claw’s amazement. The teapot also began to move wildly and they followed it and saw it entering in the dress room and begin to pour tea on Rarity’s creations, something that shocked her.
“What in the name of calming chamomile is going on?!” she asked.
“I don’t know” Shadow Claw said. “But this is very strange.”
Then the teapot began to pursue and squirting tea on Rarity's cat, Opalescence, which began to run away as fast as she could.
“Opalescence, darling, I'm so sorry! I promise I am not doing this on purpose!”
Rarity spent the hoof by the tongue and then passed it by the horn, stopping the flow of the magic. The teapot, no longer surrounded by the magical aura, crashed on the floor, stopping the persecution.
“It wasn't me, I swear!” Rarity told to her cat.
But Opal simply growled at her and walked away with a haughty air.
"Okay, that was weird" Shadow Claw said.
“And I think I know who did this” Rarity said, turning then to the top floor. “Sweetie Belle! If this is some sort of prank you and your little Crusader friends are pulling, I find very little humor in it!”
Then Sweetie Belle appeared floating upside down from the stairs coming with her magic also as uncontrolled as Rarity’s, saying:
“Rarity, Shadow Claw, you have to help me! I think something's wrong with my horn!”
She then fell to the ground, but then Rarity’s magic activated itself and began to pull a curtain and make it start chasing Sweetie Belle who start fleeing and screaming. Rarity couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
"I have to stop this!" Said Rarity as she tried to hold her magic.
Sweetie Belle was trying to escape as fast as possible, but it looked like the curtain was going to catch her. When this was about to happen, Shadow Claw ran the fastest he could and managed to catch the little filly and put her on his back.
"Thank you, Shadow Claw" Sweetie Belle thanked.
"Don’t thank me yet" he said, seeing that the curtain was still animated by Rarity’s magic. "This is not over."
He then started running to the exit of boutique and Rarity went with them.
All this made the Light Kingdom alarm sound.
"It was about time" Purple Smoke said. "You know, Heartbeat, you should tune that alarm of yours."
"At least it works" she replied. "The same can not be said about your creations."
That made Melody to laugh, which earned her a harsh look from Purple Smoke.
"What?" she asked. “It was funny."
"Stop you three" Golden Paladin told them. "The situation is serious."
"The villain who should be causing trouble must be the one that attacked Leaf Mane’s matrix" Blue said.
"Mirror Coat, which is the source of the disturbance?" Twilight asked.
He then invoked one of his mirrors and showed Twilight what was happening in Ponyville.
"Oh no!" Twilight exclaimed.
"It seems that Everfree Forest is... invading" Blue noted.
"Wait, is this possible?" Purple Smoke asked. "I thought plants were dying, not growing uncontrollably."
"I don’t know" Golden Paladin said. "Only Leaf Mane know the properties of her matrix."
Then Leaf Mane began to wake up, to the great relief of all.
"What... is happening?" She asked. "Why do I feel... so weak?"
"Leaf Mane, your matrix is being attacked" Mirror Coat said. "Your power and light are getting weakened because of that."
"What?" Leaf Mane asked, didn’t want to believe. "No... It can’t be."
"I think it is" Heartbeat said, pointing to the image Mirror Coat invoked.
"But if my matrix is being attacked... the plants should be dying" Leaf Mane said.
"Unless someone is controlling them somehow" Twilight said.
"So that means that we are dealing with a villain who can control plants just like Leaf Mane?" Blue asked. "Is there a villain like that?"
Leaf Mane didn’t need much thought to know with whom they were dealing with.
"Arbor..." she said.
"Arbor?" the other repeated.
"Who is Arbor?" Twilight and Blue asked simultaneously.
"The King of Trees, one of the prisoners of the solitary" Golden Paladin said. "He was defeated by Leaf Mane."
"Is this means that we are dealing with one of the top villains?" Twilight asked. "Perfect. It didn’t pass so much time since we defeated the Sirens."
"But the point is that Arbor is not even a real villain" Heartbeat said. "Why did the Lord of Chaos decide to use him?"
"He's not a real villain?" Blue repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
"Let’s just say Arbor is more an extreme environmentalist than a villain" Purple Smoke said. "He thinks that plants should rule the world and, therefore, tried to take over Equestria with his plants."
"He's just misunderstood" Leaf Mane said, trying to reunite the forces she still had. "He just wants to protect... his subjects. But his vision was blurred and this made him take extreme decisions. He began to threaten innocent ponies and wouldn’t stop. I had no choice... but to defeat him and... hold him in the solitary."
"And that's what we will do" Golden Paladin said. "We will arrest him and as soon as possible. If his influence over plants spreads, we may be witnessing the end of Equestria. But of course, for this, Leaf Mane, you must tell us where your matrix is."
Leaf Mane didn’t answer that question immeatly. The information Golden Paladin was asking was sacred. But she knew that was the only way to stop Arbor’s madness, so she nodded and said:
"My matrix is in the heart of Everfree Forest, near the Castle of the Two Sisters."
"Really?" Twilight asked her, amazed. "But I have been there a few times and..."
"It is fairly well protected" Leaf Mane said. "The forest itself protects the matrix, that why it's so wild and untamed."
"We will have to act quickly" Golden Paladin said. "Generals, come with me to face Arbor. Princess, I cannot let you come with us but can’t stop you from help your friends. You can go to Ponyville to help them with anything they need."
"Thank you, Golden Paladin" Twilight thanked. "You bet I will help them."
"And I'll go with you" Blue said. "I can not allow you to face something like this by yoursel."
Twilight smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, saying:
"That's why I love you."
That made Blue smile and blush slightly.
In Ponyville, things were worse. More and more roots appeared in an uncontrolled manner. Rarity and Shadow Claw, having taken Sweetie Belle to her and Rarity’s parents’ home, advanced through the village towards the town hall with Rarity saying:
“Something very strange is going on, and…”
She stopped when she came across with a root growing right before her eyes and beginning to bind her hoof. Shadow Claw acted immediately, giving it a strong kick that took it off from the ground and freed Rarity.
“Thank you, dear” she thanked, turning back to concentrate in what she was saying. “I for one would appreciate an explanation!”
Rainbow Dash appeared, having been released from the roots that bound her, saying:
"All I know is that these roots appeared out of nowhere and began to cause all this."
“’though Ah don’t know what all these crazy plants are, Ah know where they are comin’ from” Applejack said, arriving while trying to take out some of the roots. “They're comin' from tha Everfree Forest! And try as we might, us Earth ponies can't do anythin' to get rid of 'em!
A large root appeared and Pinkie Pie appeared slipping on it and the landing nearby.
“Don't suppose ya know any magic that might stop 'em from spreadin'?” Applejack asked to Rarity.
“Alas, this whole raging forest situation seems to have left my horn on the fritz!” Rarity answered.
“She’s right” Shadow Claw said. “It seems this plants are affecting also unicorn magic.”
“We have to figure out something!” Fluttershy said, arriving with Thunder Night. “I don't know how much more of this Ponyville can take!
A root grabbed one of her hooves, something that frightened her tremendously and took Thunder Night to act and cut the root, freeing Fluttershy, who exclaimed:
“I don't know how much more I can take!”
"Calm down, Fluttershy, deep breath" Thunder Night told her Night, trying to reassure her.
"Hey, don’t you think this is another attempt from that Chaos idiot, do you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
So all eyes focused on Shadow Claw who said:
"Hey, just because I worked for him, that does not mean I know what he is thinking. Although this seems something of him, I don’t know any villain able to control plants in this way. This is something that is unique only to the General of Nature."
“It doesn’t matter who is behind of this” Applejack said. “Tha forest is expandin' and judgin' by how fast it's movin', it doesn't seem content just takin' over Ponyville... I reckon before long, it'll cover half of Equestria!”
Then a portal appeared and Twilight and Blue arrived.
"Hello, friends" she greeted.
"Twilight!" Everypony exclaimed. "Blue!"
They went all to them with Twilight’s embracing her strongly.
"I'm glad you came!" Rarity said, when they finished the hug. "Things are quite complicated here."
"I think that does not even describe it" Rainbow Dash said. "These things are covering all Ponyville!"
"I think they are fun" Pinkie Pie said, who started jumping on top of a root as if it were a trampoline.
She then noticed the look of everypony and said:
"Hey, you can’t blame me for trying to see the positive side of things."
"This has nothing positive in this" Twilight said.
"Do ya know who is causin’ all this commotion?" Applejack asked.
"You bet" Blue said. "It's one of the envoys of the Lord of Chaos."
"Yes, but I do not remember seeing any villain in Tartarus able to control plants" Shadow Claw said.
"That's because he was locked in the solitary" Twilight replied. "That's why you don’t know him."
"Wait, we're dealing with another super villain?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don’t know if it's the right way to describe him" Twilight said.
She and Blue then explained the situation to everypony.
"Oh, goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "That's horrible. Poor Leaf Mane."
"So if we cannot save this matrix, Leaf Mane will lose her magic and Nature will die?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not completely, because the Lord of Order can use his magic to offset the loss of the matrix, but this would tip the balance of power in favor of the Lord of Chaos" Twilight said.
"An’ this Arbor, it is he who is causin’ all this?" Applejack asked.
"He thinks he's just saving his trees" Twilight said.
"But that's no excuse for this" Rainbow Dash answered.
“I dunno if you've noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just a teeny-tiny bit out of control” Pinkie Pie said.
Then her tail began to shake. It was her Pinkie sense warning her. And so she looked up in time to a large root that came suddenly and eventually hit on Applejack that was thrown to the ground.
"But even now you were saying that these things were funny" Rainbow Dash said.
"Oh, Dashie, don’t be silly" Pinkie Pie said. "Who do you think can find those ugly herbs fun. Neither I think they are."
That made Rainbow Dash lead the hoof to the face.
"Sometimes our intentions are mixed with the darkness that Chaos Lord implants within us and that blurs our reason" Shadow Claw said. "I know that from my own experience. Maybe that's what's happening with Arbor."
"Well, whatever, Golden Paladin and the others are dealing with him" Blue said.
"Blue is right" Twilight said. "Of course they will be able to catch Arbor. We just have to ensure that these roots do not spread. "
"I think it is too late" a voice said.
They turned and all saw Discord appearing, holding a couple of hand luggage and spiky thorns in some parts of his body.
"Discord" Fluttershy said, going to him. "But what happened to you?"
"It seems you've been dealing with a thorny problem" Rainbow Dash said, in her cynical tone.
"Ah, ah, ah, very funny, Rainbow Dash" Discord said, taking one of the thorns that he had. "But I could say the same about you."
He then used the thorn to hold his hand luggage to one of the roots that was nearby.
"Whatcha doin’ here, Discord?" Applejack asked. "Ah thought ya lik’d more to be in Haysead Swamps as a place where ya can have fun at ease."
"And I liked until recently when the trees there simply kicked me out" Discord replied. "Something that I didn’t know that was possible, given that they have no feet."
"Wait, you said it was too late" Blue said. "What do you mean by that?"
"Apparently I was right about the fact you being a little slow, Blue Sword" Discord said. "I think I was quite explicit. It seems that your beloved vegetable friends are already progressing enough to beings that were not supposed to move."
He then appeared some distance with an increased size and taking pictures to Ponyville infected with the roots, saying:
“Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love what these things have done with the place.”
He reappeared again beside them with the normal size and said:
"But it happens that several places have the same thorny problem than you."
He appeared behind Rainbow Dash and said in her ear:
"You see, Rainbow Dash, this is how a pun must be used."
Discord reappeared in the place where he was and Thunder Night asked:
"Where?"
"Well, let me see" Discord said, by displaying a map of Equestria that was floating in the air and beginning to mark the locations with the thorns that he still had on his body. "We have Tall Tale, Dodge City, Baltimare, and of course, Hollow Shades."
"What?" Thunder Night asked. "My home too?"
"It makes sense" Twilight said. "These are places that are surrounded by a large concentration of vegetation."
"You see how a good friend I am?" Discord asked. "When I heard about these terrible incidents happening, my conscience told me then that I should come to tell you everything."
"Wait, you have a conscience?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Of course I have" Discord replied, making appear a small cage where there was a cricket inside. "You see? I keep him fed and everything else."
He made the cage disappear and then asked:
"It's not like I am getting into matters that are not mine, but can you tell me what's going on here? I'm all ears."
And he made cat ears appear in his head.
"Actually, have you ever heard about Arbor?" Twilight asked.
"What, the idiot who is fanatical about plants?" Discord asked. "The one who wants to destroy the pony society and conquer every single piece of land with his small friends with leaves?"
"Yes" Twilight replied.
"I've never heard about him" Discord answered.
That made Twilight roll her eyes and say:
"Discord!"
"Calm down, I was just kidding" Discord saind. "Don’t you like a good joke?"
But seeing the serious air of the ponies, he said:
"Look, the only thing I know is that he didn’t like when ponies began to cut down trees to build their small towns. He lost it and tried to conquer everything, but he was defeated by Leaf Mane and then... "
And he make prison clothes appear on him, as well a ball and chain tied to one of his feet.
"Life imprisonment in the solitary of Tartarus."
He returned to normal and said:
"It's not that we were great friends, after all he's no big fan of the Lord of Chaos or any of his servants."
"Okay, okay, can you at least help us to control things around here?" Twilight asked. "We have to keep things under control, while Golden Paladin and the others deal with Arbor."
"Well, I don’t know" Discord replied. "Allow me to consult my personal adviser."
He made the cage with cricket reappear and then put his ear to the cage, as he said:
"Well... I see... Okay..."
He made the cage disappear again and said:
"Okay, I'll help you."
And he made a gardener suit appear along with a pair of pruning shears and said:
"Let the gardening begin!"
And he started cutting some roots.
"I don’t understand why we still stand him" Blue said to Twilight.
"Neither do I" she replied.
Arbor was sitting on his throne when he felt something approaching. He drew a smile and said:
"I wondered when you would appear."
And then Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat, Purple Smoke, Melody and Heartbeat appeared.
"Enough, Arbor" Golden Paladin said. "You've proved your point. Now, calls back the roots."
"As if that were to happen" Arbor replied.
"I don’t understand how can you do this" Golden Paladin said. "How can you attack Leaf Mane’s matrix? You know what happens if it is destroyed."
"That is why I’m keeping it alive" Arbor said, gesturing to the silver tree that was some distance behind him. "With the matrix weakened, Leaf Mane’s power is also weakened, which gives me complete control over the plants again."
"Arbor, you are not a villain like the others" Golden Paladin said. "Your heart doesn’t belong to the Lord of Chaos. Please stop this."
"Your diplomatic skills will not convince me to change my mind, General of Peace" Arbor said. "I've been centuries to convince me to move forward with this. Furthermore, I do not understand why you are on the side of the ponies. You are not ponies, after all... at least, true ones. You are not even from this world. Why are you helping them?"
"Because it is our duty" Golden Paladin answered.
"Well, I think we are all following our duty" said Arbor. "You toward the ponies and me towards my vegetable companions. Let’s see what duty will prevail... mine or yours."
There was a pause and then Arbor said:
"By the way, Mirror Coat, if you think your sneak attacks will work, you're sorely wrong."
Then roots emerged and were up to a certain point hidden behind Arbor and then they lifted Mirror Coat, the real Mirror Coat, which tried to break free, but in vain. The Mirror Coat that was with the other Generals was an illusion that crumbled into mirror pieces when the original was caught.
"Mirror Coat!" Golden Paladin called.
Then Mirror Coat was arrested by the roots from the neck down and the roots began to glow, doing the same with General Knowledge that started moaning in pain. It seemed they were sucking his energy to let him weak.
"Attack!" Golden Paladin exclaimed to the other Generals.
Melody and Purple Smoke prepared to execute Golden Paladin’s order, but Arbor was faster (or was waiting for something like that). Roots appeared out of nowhere and started attacking the General of Talent and the General of Music. The roots who attacked Purple Smoke, bound him and began to absorb his energy so quickly that he didn’t have time to change to his smoke form and those who attacked Melody managed to prevent her from use her voice and then subdued her too.
Seeing that only remained he and Heartbeat and seeing that it was only a matter of time for Arbor also take them, Golden Paladin realized that they were unable to defeat him at the time.
"Golden!" Heartbeat exclaimed.
He looked where she was pointing and saw the cave entrance was being sealed with vines. They were going to be stuck, if they did nothing. But then he realized they would not get there in time to leave before the vines had closed the cave... at least he wouldn’t. Turning to Heartbeat, he told her:
"Go away, Heartbeat."
"But..." she began.
"Go!" Golden Paladin ordered. "It's an order! You have to get Princess Twilight and her friends. The Elements of Harmony are our best weapon now. Go!"
Heartbeat didn’t know what to say or what to do. She could not let Golden Paladin and the others.
"What are you waiting for?!" Golden Paladin asked. "The exit is closing. Go!"
Then, when she found herself, she was using her immense speed to get out of the cave, few seconds before they close the cave.
"I see that you have wasted an opportunity to escape" Arbor said to Golden Paladin while his roots approached the General of Peace. "What stupid you were."
"It was not stupid and you know that quite well" Golden Paladin said, while the roots were beginning to bind his hooves.
"It doesn’t matter what you use against me, it will not work" Arbor said, while the roots continued to bind Golden Paladin and to rise him up.
"That's what we'll see" he replied.
And then the roots began to suck Golden Paladin’s energy, being also managed to subdue him.