//------------------------------// // The Elements of Harmony // Story: The Sirens and the Vampire // by Merotik //------------------------------// "I need to finish my story. The faster I explain, the faster I can tell you what my solution to all of this is." said Draco. Sonata gasped. "You know how to fix this!?" "I might, but I don't know just yet. Allow me to finish my story, then I can explain". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Draco shifted into position, as the Rattlesnake member entered the tent. The moment he entered, Draco leapt forward while turning, came close to the ground in front of him, then bucked upwards into his crotch. While the Rattlesnake member fell to the ground screaming. Draco rushed out of the tent and sprinted away from the campsite. Three of the members chased after him (hammer pony included), the other two stayed behind to help the injured member. The hammer pony was cursing Draco as he chased him. The two unicorns beside him blasted their spells at Draco. Draco evaded each shot. He returned a few of his own spells, not even bothering to aim. He fired mostly to make sure the Rattlesnakes continued following him. He knew he couldn't get a proper shot with how fast he was running. Suddenly, something caught him by surprise from the right. Two of the Rattlesnake members were pegasus. Pegasus being the fastest of the three races were not only able to pass their fellow members and catch up to Draco. One of them swooped in, grabbed Draco, and flew into the air with Draco struggling in his legs. As they ascended into the air, Draco thrashed about. He made failed attempts to kick and punch at the pegasus. He fired random spells in attempt to hit the pegasus. Sadly when your a unicorn, you can't exactly hit something that's not in front of you. "Over here!" shouted the second pegasus, appearing out of nowhere. The pegasus threw Draco towards the second pegasus. When he caught Draco, he spun him around, increasing the speed that Draco would be traveling. Once he had spun fast enough, he threw Draco higher into the air. Draco ascended for another twenty seven feet until the first pegasus appeared above. The first pegasus bucked him in the gut, abruptly halting his body from ascending and causing his body to fall back down. While falling, both pegasus swirled around him, taking turns hitting Draco. The first would punch his face, the next would buck his spine. Each blow, one after another. So much was happening, it disorientated Draco. He felt the force of gravity as his body fell back to Equiis. He felt the pegasus attacking him, taking turns dealing as much damage as they could. His eyes saw spinning colors as the two pegasus flew around him at incredible speed, hitting him at the same time. He heard the mocking cheers, coming from the Rattlesnake members below. 'Their . . . mocking me?' thought Draco. "Hit him again!" "Right in the jaw! That's how you do it!" "This unicorns pathetic! Look at him!" "I really wanted to use my hammer". "Forget the hammer! Leave the pegasus to do it! Show him! Show him what happens when you mess with the Rattlesnakes!" These were the shouts coming from the ground, it infuriated Draco. 'No pony insults Draco Santino Jack!' thought Draco. The three equines were falling close to the surface. A thirty feet gap between them. 'Enough' thought Draco. The first pegasus swung Draco by the tail towards the second pegasus. The second bucked him in eyes, making Draco flip in mid-air. 'Enough!' Draco internally shouted. His horn began to glow a bright blue, with electrical sparks flying at random. The pegasus taking no notice continued to attack Draco. The first grabbed Draco, causing him to stop falling. He grabbed Draco by the mane, and hung him in position for his partner to dive down and attack. He was making Draco a target. "This is what happens when you mess with the Rattlesnakes!" the pegasus shouted. He looked up to his partner and shouted, "do it!" The second pegasus nodded and dove down, aiming towards Draco. He was about to ram his hind hoofs into Draco, until everything stopped. Upon closer observation, everything hadn't stopped, everything had slowed down. Draco's magic had caused this. Suddenly, a large blue light with electrical sparks shined off Draco. He looked to the pegasus who was going to attack him, pure rage in his eyes. The light grew, expanding too large and bright for anyone to see clearly. From within the center of the light, the Rattlesnakes heard Draco shout, "ENOUGH!!!!" The Rattlesnakes from the ground heard an explosion. The force off the explosion caused the Rattlesnakes to fall to the ground. The ground was shaking, and they heard screaming. When the bright light was gone, and the shaking and screaming had stopped, the Rattlesnakes lifted themselves from the ground and gasped at what they saw in front of them. There stood Draco, and two unconscious pegasus laying on the ground near him. Draco's eyes were glowing, a bright aura surrounded his body, the very force of his energy appeared to be breaking down the ground beneath him. His right cheek was swollen, his nose was bleeding, both eyes bruised (the right one had blood covering it), his left foreleg was broken, five broken ribs (although not apparent), had minor internal bleeding in his spleen (also not apparent), and a dripping cut on his forehead. He was panting, not from pain, but from rage. Pure, unadulterated, rage. Despite his injuries, Draco used his magic to approach the hammer pony at lightning speed. The hammer pony didn't even have a second to process what had happened. Draco was close to the hammer pony, his glowing horn being half an inch away from his forehead. "You really shouldn't have pished me off". "W-what!? But! You! How-" the hammer pony stuttered. Draco raised his hoof to his mouth. "Shhh, quiet". The hammer pony sealed his mouth. Draco smiled sinisterly. "Much better. That was quite the beating your pals just gave me. Now I see why most ponies wouldn't dare to mess with you. Problem is doe, I'm not most ponies. I'm Draco Santino Jack, and you don't buck with Draco Santino Jack! You dig?" He nodded, appearing , for the first time, legitimately afraid. Draco's sinister smile widen. "Good to see we're at an understanding. I also hope you'll understand why I'm gonna have to kick all four of ya ashes now". A unicorn Rattlesnake laughed. "And what are you possibly going to do?" 'He doesn't seem very intimidated by me, lets fix that' Draco thought to himself. He placed a hoof onto the hammer pony's shoulder and looked to the unicorn who spoke. "If your two sleeping pals over there wasn't a good enough example, then maybe I need to show you one more". Draco looked back to the hammer pony, "and it looks like your my special guinea pig of the day!" "W-what are you gonna do?" asked the hammer pony. "I'm glad you asked. Since you pished me off I'm going to royally ditch slap all your pals. But not you. Your holding a hammer bigger then my entire body, but your too scared too use it. Out of the six of you, your the biggest ditch of them all! So I'm gonna do to you with what I do to all my ditches. I'm gonna shove my horn up your ash, and I'm gonna blow my load all over your insides" said Draco. " . . . W-wha-" "No homo" There was a flash of light, preventing the other Rattlesnakes to seeing what was happening. There was a movement of hoofs, a squishing noise, a scream, followed by a loud zapping noise. The screamers voice went high pitch, making it louder and screechy. Like a little filly having just seen a ghost. Suddenly, there was a second scream, finished off with an explosion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starswirl was waiting at the bottom of the mountain near the campsite. He shifted uncomfortably, waiting for "that blasted buffoon" as Starswirl was currently calling him, to send a signal indicating that it was safe to retrieve the hostages. 'You better not get any of the hostages hurt or worse kid! If any pony gets hurt because of your stupid antics, it had better be you!' thought Starswirl. Suddenly, Starswirl heard somepony scream in the distance, then an explosion. " . . . . I DIDN'T MEAN IT LITERALLY! YOU BLASTED BAFFOON!!!" shouted Starswirl, as he quickly made haste to the hostages. It only took seconds for the hostages to recognize Starswirl. "Oh my Celestia! Its Starswirl the Bearded!" said one of the hostages. "Thank Celestia! We're saved!" said another. The eldest hostage approached Starswirl. "Thank you for coming to save us Starswirl. Might I ask, what ever happened to that immature lad from earlier?" "Him? He's fine . . . I think". 'Just hold on tight kid' thought Starswirl. Using his magic, Starswirl placed his horn to the cage lock and unlocked it from the door. Once the hostages were freed, Starswirl pointed and instructed the direction that they needed to travel to get to safety. Then, Starswirl tried to leave, before the elder hostage stopped him. "Wait! You aren't coming with us?" Starswirl shook his head. "I've got to go get my partner. We'll catch up to you". The elder hostage nodded and watched Starswirl run off into the distance. 'Hold on Draco! I'm coming!' thought Starswirl. After traveling a couple minutes, Starswirl saw a pony, beating another pony to a pulp. Starswirl instinctively rushed in and pushed the pony off the other. He was about to attack, until he heard the pony's voice. "Ugh! Celestia jam it old man! What did you do that for!?!" "What! Draco!?" Starswirl turned to the pony on the ground and saw that he was being beaten to a pulp by Draco, not the other way around as Starswirl had initially thought. "You . . . your okay?" "Ya, well, more or less" said Draco, as he slowly lifted himself to his hoofs. Starswirl sighed with relief. "That's good, for a second there I thought that- BY CELESTIA'S SUNNY SIDE FLANK!!!" Starswirl had just realize the six bodies that were laying around them. One of them caught his attention the most. "DRACO!!! Is that Rattlesnake members flank INSIDE OUT!?!" Starswirl roared. "Uh . . . well . . . its not exactly . . . outside in, if that makes sense . . . heh, heh, heh" Draco chuckled weakly. " . . . . Well Draco, I'm certainly glad those Rattlesnakes didn't kill you" said Starswirl, calmly. "Oh! Really?" asked Draco. Starswirl nodded, "indeed. For if those Rattlesnakes had killed you, I wouldn't have had the chance to THROTTLE YOU MYSELF!!!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I would like to congratulate you two on your success. And I would like to give you my personal thanks for rescuing those hostages. Although you may be so keen on celebration, might I suggest a quick check up at the castle infirmary . . . especially for you Draco?" said Princess Celestia. "N-No, its fine your highness. This is nothing but scratches, not even a flesh wound" said Draco, weakly. Draco and Starswirl had arrived back to Canterlot castle to report the success of their mission. Draco and Starswirl were bowing in front of the princess in her throne room. Starswirl seemed in good shape, the complete opposite could be said about Draco. His injuries had double after Starswirl had finished with him. His entire face was swollen to the point where he could hardly see out of one of his eyes. His right shoulder was dislocated, his tail was ripped off, several teeth were missing, a small chunk of his ear was ripped, and his nose was smashed. And those were just the visible injuries. "Besides, I heal quickly. I should be fine after a good nights sleep" said Draco. "I see . . . well in any case I do hope you are more carful next time Draco. For next time, you may not be lucky enough to come out alive" said Celestia. "I'll be sure to remember that" said Draco. "Just like how you remembered how many members we were up against" said Starswirl sarcastically. "Heh, heh- OW! It hurts to laugh" Celestia chuckled, "you two best be off. I have some work that needs to be done, and I have a feeling you two have your own plans for the evening". "Rightaroony princess!" said Draco. He gave her a salute and marched away. Starswirl sighed and gave the princess a final bow. "I apologize for his rudeness your highness". Celestia smiled, "Think nothing of it Starswirl, not everypony is as mature as you and I. Some enjoy the life of immature antics and freedom to do as they please. Its best not to intervene, unless you have to". "Indeed so, yet he acts like a child in the body of a grown stallion" said Starswirl. "That's just the way some ponies enjoy living. Not everypony can be as sophisticated as you are Starswirl". "Yes, well. As true as that may be I still feel that Draco's antics are still very . . . inappropriate for a stallion of his age. Tell me, have you ever thought about having children, your highness?" "Oh, I can't say I have. Why?" asked Celestia. "Because I feel that if you had children, they'll be more mature then Draco the second they are born. Anyways I must be off, farewell your highness" said Starswirl. "Goodbye Starswirl" said Celestia. As soon as Starswirl left, Celestia thought to herself. 'Children . . . raising a family would be rather nice. But I have far to much on my hoofs right now, that'll never happen . . . but, perhaps . . . maybe someday . . ." Five minutes later and down the hall. Draco was humming to himself as he was thinking about where he should go to flirt when he heard a voice call from behind. "Hey kid, slow down will you?" Draco groaned, "what do you want Starswirl? Can't you see that I'm- GAH!" Starswirl had walked up to Draco, grabbed him by the neck, and forced him against the wall. "Listen good you stupid welsh! I did not train in magic my whole life for some kid to come along and think that he's the toughest pony around just because his special talent is fighting magic! I use my magic to help serve, protect, and discover! Magic is supposed to be an art, an unknown abyss, waiting to be discovered and explored and teach us things that we have yet to learn! But you come along and treat magic like its your own personal plaything! You think your so special just because you can handle yourself in a fight, well your not! Your just a stupid, naïve, immature, little brat who doesn't know his proper place in this world! I will use my magic to protect others by any means necessary. And if you endanger anypony, and I mean anypony at all with your barbaric nature! Then I won't take a second to bring you down". Starswirl released Draco. Draco fell to the ground, coughing and holding onto his neck. Starswirl was so mad he didn't realize, he was strangling Draco the entire time. Starswirl looked down to Draco, pure rage in his eyes. "Your not special Draco, you never were, and you never will be. Perhaps that's why you have no friends. They can see how stupid you are. Then again, that would also explain why you have no family". Starswirl began walking away, not without leaving one last comment. "They were as stupid as you". Draco laid there, even after Starswirl had left, he continued to lay in the middle of a hallway. The words that Starswirl had said, it all sank deep into Draco. All the pain that he had suffered tonight. All the damage he had received from the Rattlesnakes, none of it could compare the words he had received from Equestria's most powerful unicorn. Yes he had no friends, but he didn't mind. He had lived his entire life alone anyway. No friends, no family, he had always been an orphan. He had never even met his parents let alone even have the chance to form a bond with them. And no pony would ever talk to him after they found out that his special talent was fighting magic. They we're scared of him. Scared that he was going to attack them. All because of his special talent, and the cutie mark he had received. He didn't care, he shouldn't care, yet he didn't know why it hurt so much. Draco laid there for what felt like hours, until a stranger approached him. "Excuse me, Draco is it? Are you all right?" Draco slowly lifted his head and saw a brown stallion with orange hair and eyes looking down at him with an expression of worry. He wore a orange red tunic and pointed cap, silver gauntlets with blue sleeves on his fore hoofs, brown boots with metal guard plates on his hind legs, and had a sword and shield holstered on his back. His cutie mark was a crystal looking seed with a two separate colors splitting it (left said cyan blue, right side pink), the seed appeared to be placed underground, and a crystal looking tree was coming out of the ground. Draco sighed, "what do you want Buttonamous?" "Oh! You know who I am?" asked Buttonamous. "Who hasn't heard about you? You saved the Crystal Empire from that King Sombra guy". "Well not exactly. I helped save ponies who had lived in the Crystal Empire, but I don't think we actually saved the empire itself. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna did the heavy lifting when it came to actually getting rid of King Sombra. Of course, that was before Princess Luna was banished . . . and the entire empire disappeared" said Buttonamous. "Oh please, you and those two friends of yours stayed to fight while everypony else ran in panic!" "There were still quite a lot of ponies who stayed to fight Draco. Sure we did a lot of the work but we're no more special then the others who stayed to help. Like this one mare for instance. Sacrificed herself to save over a thousand ponies! Ponies who could have actually died! Poor girl, I wished I could have gotten to know her better. Well, I got to know her when she came to back to life, but that's different". Draco gave Buttonamous a confused expression. Buttonamous seeing this responded, "oh, well, she was a phoenix pony". Draco's expression didn't change. "You've never- oh that's right! Phoenix ponies don't reveal themselves to other countries so no pony knows about them! Well this may sound farfetched, but believe it or not. Phoenix ponies can die, burn to ash, then bring themselves back to life! Just like a phoenix would! As crazy as it sounds, its true! The mare who sacrificed herself burned and came back to life, I saw it with my own eyes! Sad part is though is that when a phoenix pony comes back to life their not the same as they once were. They come back to life as a whole new pony, looks, personality and all. Poor girl, I really do feel bad for her and her companions. Now what was her name . . . ah! That's right! Phoenix Sprite!" "I honestly have no idea what your talking about" said Draco. "Oh don't worry about it. Just reflecting on old memories. My point is though is that yes, I did play a very big part in that war. But I wasn't the only one who was there, I had lots of help. Speaking of help, I couldn't help but noticed that you seem a bit down. Are you alright?" Draco huffed. "Do I look alright to you?" "No, not really. Getting lectured by a unicorn like Starswirl can be quite frightening. Well, for you maybe, but for me its nothing". "Oh gee, thanks. I feel SO much better!" growled Draco. "I'm sorry. But to me, it seems like you could use a friend" said Buttonamous. "Pfft! Friend? I don't need friends! Booze and hot mares, now that's what I need!" said Draco. There was a pause, before Buttonamous spoke. "Draco, would you mind if I showed you something?" "Like what?" "Something I'm technically not allowed to show you" said Buttonamous. ""Then why would you show me?" asked Draco. Buttonamous leaned in close to Draco's ear and whispered, "because I want to". After a short minute of thinking, Draco sighed and reluctantly lifted himself from the ground. He followed Buttonamous to the lower parts of the castle and into the basement. The castle basement was made mostly of stone and brick. They used this part of the castle mostly for storage. Whether it be magical or non-magical items. As Draco followed Buttonamous, he noticed a door slightly opened. Curious, Draco looked inside and saw a tall purple mirror. Buttonamous creped behind Draco and saw what he was looking at. "Ah, it seems you have discovered the portal mirror" said Buttonamous. "Portal mirror?" asked Draco. Buttonamous nodded. "Its said that this mirror is actually a portal to another world. But the portal can only open every three and a half years. Its also said that this world is a complete opposite of ours. Animals don't talk, nature controls itself, and there is no magic!" Draco stared in awe at the mirror. "A-are you serious?" Buttonamous gave Draco a serious expression, before a burst into laughter. "No I'm not serious! Are you kidding! A world without magic? Ya! Like that'll ever exist! That's just an ordinary mirror that was placed down here for storage. Like it'll ever become a portal to another world! HA!" Buttonamous turned away from the mirror and continued down through the basement. "Ha, ha, very funny" said Draco as he followed Buttonamous. The two walked on until they were at the deepest part of the basement. Buttonamous led Draco inside a dark room filled with books and scrolls. Buttonamous brought Draco to a table and placed a large book in front of him. Buttonamous blew the dust off the book, then opened to a random page. He flipped through several pages until he stopped at a page showing a picture of a large crystal tree inside a cave. "You brought me down here just to show me a picture of a tree?" asked Draco. Buttonamous smiled. "That's not an ordinary tree Draco. That is the Tree of Harmony!" "Tree of Harmony?" Draco asked with a confused look. Buttonamous nodded. "This tree possess one of the strongest magic to ever exist within our world. Its magic is actually what helps keeps this world connected. Magically, and physically". "Physically?" asked Draco. Buttonamous flipped to a different page. The page he had flipped to showed a picture of three ponies. One was a brown stallion that looked completely identical to Buttonamous, sword, shield, tunic and all. Next to him was a white pegasus with blue hair and freckles. He wore a hooded cloak, brown chest guard, and had a bow and quiver holstered on his back. The third was a unicorn. She wore a purple cape, a gold jeweled head band, and had a red staff with a blue crystal ball attached holstered onto her back. The three ponies were in the same cave as the tree. Except in this picture, the tree wasn't there. The three ponies appeared to be digging something into the ground. Buttonamous took a deep breath before explaining. "A long time ago, thousands of years after Lauren Faust had created our planet, Equiis. The world had become unstable and was on the verge of destruction. All four races of ponies did there best to keep this planet alive. Alicorns, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Yet nothing-" "Wait hold up! Four races? There's only three" said Draco. "Not back during this time period. Back then, there were plenty of alicorns as there were with unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies" explained Buttonamous. "So why are there only two now?" asked Draco. There was a short pause before Buttonamous spoke. "They died. All of them died, except for two". "How did they die?" asked Draco. "That's a story for another time, for now, let me focus on this one". Draco nodded. "As I was saying. All four races of ponies did there best to keep this planet alive. Alicorns, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Yet nothing they did worked. There magic just wasn't strong enough. However, one day three ponies were taken to a hidden place within a dark forest. Upon entering the forest, they discovered Lauren Faust herself. She told them that the only way to save the planet from destruction was to plant a tree. A tree that could control all of the creatures magic who lives on this planet, and use it to keep the world alive! So the three ponies embarked on a quest to plant these seeds given to them, and save the world! In short, they succeeded. They planted the tree, and just like Lauren Faust had said, the tree used the magic of everypony alive to keep the planet alive! However, the tree couldn't just used any old magic to keep the planet alive. Being a unicorn yourself you should know that this world possesses all kinds of magic. But this magic, this magic was special. Do you know what kind of magic the tree used?" Draco shook his head. Buttonamous smiled, "Friendship. The Tree of Harmony used the magic of friendship to keep this world alive. None of us would be here today if those brave ponies had never planted that tree". "So, this Tree of Harmony. It uses friendship to keep the world connected. Not just magically, but physically?" asked Draco. "Yes, isn't that what I just told you?" Draco shook his head, "but that just makes no sense! Friendship isn't magic! Its just a thing that ponies form with one another so that there not lonely- what are you laughing at?" Buttonamous wiped a tear from his eye as he chuckled. "Draco, no offense, but your not really a "ponies pony" are you? Friendship isn't just so ponies aren't lonely Draco. Friendship is so much more then that! The words that describe what pure friendship is, I can't tell you, because no such words exist! Friendship is such a powerful thing! It can do wonders to the world! There's just no way to describe it. If you wanted me to, the best I could say is this: Friendship, is magic!" "I- I still don't-" Buttonamous placed a gentle hoof onto Draco's shoulder. "Your a smart unicorn Draco. Seventeen years old and your already more advance then most other unicorns! You know so many different forms of magic, however, I think its about time you learned a new magic". "Hmm? Which one?" asked Draco. "Have you not been listening to me the whole time! I think its about time you learned the magic of friendship!" "But, where would I even start?" asked Draco. "Oh lucky for you, that's an easy one". Buttonamous flipped to another page. This page showed a picture of the same three ponies, only this time they were standing in front of a castle. All three of them hugging, and smiling. "Make some friends". Draco looked at the picture for a few minutes, thinking about what Buttonamous was saying. Slowly he said, "why are you showing me this?" "Well, because you look like a stallion who doesn't know who he is. You have your cutie mark, your special talent, yet you still seem so . . . lost". "I have no id-" "Draco, I know exactly what you are. Your a pony who flirts with mares day and night. You drink during the day and you party during the night. You make yourself feel as if you have the best life in the world. You talk to others as if your better, and you fight, because you try to convince yourself that you really are. But your not, Draco. In truth, your a lonely pony. No family, no friends, everyponies afraid to come near you. Deep down, your in pain. So what do you do, you distract yourself from the pain. Your drinking, flirting, and partying, are all distractions from your grim reality. However, you've realized this. So to convince yourself that there not distractions, you try to convince yourself that your better then everypony else. You fight, train, and mock others just to prove to yourself that these distractions are just who you are. But your not that, Draco. Flirting, swearing, drinking, that's not the real you. The real you is hidden away, deep inside yourself. You've hidden the real you away, because you do not like the dark reality around you. You act like you don't need friends but in truth you do! You really do need friends Draco. Starswirl said that your not special, well you know what? I think that the smartest and most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, is wrong". Draco's eyes widened at Buttonamous's last words. Tears slowly formed as these words sank in. "I believe that you have so much potential. Yet you don't see it, because even you don't believe that your special. You try to distract yourself, making yourself think your happy, but deep down, you not. You've been depressed for so long, and I think its about time you did something about it. And if you ask me, the first step to fixing this is simple. Make some friends, that's all you need to do. Make some friends, that way you can learn the magic of friendship" Draco wiped his eyes and smiled. "Thanks Buttonamous. All doe ah th- I mean, all though I think what your saying is true I am curious. You talk as if you know me, yet we've never talked before". "Ah, well everypony knows who you are. But that's not what your asking. Sure I know your name and why everyponies afraid of you, but the way you feel, the way you act. I know, because I'm an adventurer. And what your going through is common amongst adventures who have suffered sever losses". "Really?" asked Draco. "Yup, I'm one of those adventures. You suffer a loss, so to distract yourself from it you go on more adventures. At first, adventuring was supposed to be a dream, a persuit to happiness. Then something happens to bring you down in the dumps. Whether it be the death of some one close to you, or you failed a quest. Either way, something happens that turns the dream of adventuring into a distraction from your pain. Do you remember that phoenix pony I told you earlier? Phoenix Sprite?" Draco nodded. "Now that mare, that mare right there. Never in all my life had I ever seen an adventurer with as much loss as she was suffering through". "Phoenix Sprite was an adventurer?" asked Draco. "Oh ya, one of the best kinds! So many ponies know about her, I'm actually quite surprised you don't. The only pony of her kind to become an adventurer. Ponies from all over Equestria called her by so many names! The Ever Burning Flame, the Scorching Traveler, the Fiery Punisher, my favorite is the Phoenix Adventurer. Nice and simple, that last one. All and all, she was the first phoenix pony to have ever become an adventurer. However, when your an adventurer, you tend to suffer some loss, its unavoidable. The longer your an adventurer, the more loss you'll suffer. And for Phoenix, well, she's been alive a very long time. Actually, she's still alive now that I think about it. And she's still adventuring. But that just proves my point! If you ever see her she'll act happy and dandy. But nowadays, she just adventures because she's in pain. She needs a distraction. And I don't want that to be you Draco. I don't want you to have to look for distractions, do you understand?" "Ya . . . I guess I do . . . thanks Buttonamous" "No problem Draco". Draco looked back to the book and saw something he had missed. He flipped the page back to the tree and saw five gems encrusted into it. "Hey, what are these?" "Oh, that, those are the Seeds of Harmony". "Seeds of Harmony?" asked Draco. "Yes, you see. At one point the magic of friendship grew too powerful, even for the tree. So, the Tree of Harmony took the excess magic and stored the pure elements of friendship into six seeds". "Six? There's only five in the picture" said Draco. "The sixth is hidden within the trees core" Buttonamous explained. "Oh, so, what are the pure elements?" "The pure elements of friendship. The tree took the friendship of magical and separated it from its base elements. Some forms of magic have base elements. For friendship, it has six. These seeds can actually be separated from the tree and used in case of emergency's. That's actually how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated Discord you know". "Is that so? Can anypony wield these seeds?" asked Draco. Buttonamous shook his head. "You see, each seed can only be used if a pony possess the pure essence of that element. To explain more simply. Each seed represents an element of friendship: honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter, kindness, and magic. Only a pony who represents the full nature of that element, can they truly possess the full power of the seed". "So, because the princess's represents the elements from the seeds of harmony, they can use the seeds full power?" asked Draco. "Mmmm, not exactly. You see, in order to truly wield the full power of the seeds, you need a pony that represents the full element. That means that you would need six ponies. Six, not two. The princess are powerful alicorns. They can wield the seeds, but the seeds aren't even at half their power. There's actually a prophecy about it now that I think about it". "Prophecy? About the seeds?" asked Draco. "Yes, it is said that one day six ponies will have the abilities to actually wield the seeds. That these ponies will become the bearers of the elements of friendship. The Elements of Harmony. And the Elements of Harmony will protect Equestria in its most darkest of times". "You say that like something bad is going to happen" said Draco. "Maybe something will, maybe something won't. Who knows. I've been around long enough to know that this world isn't always safe. And I sure as tarterus can not wait for the day that the Elements of Harmony reveal themselves". "Why's that?" asked Draco. "Because then maybe this world can finally live in peace. I mean have you seen everything that's happened the past millennium? Discord, King Sombra, Nightmare moon, and whatever other evil forces that have tried to take over Equestria. There are so many bad ponies out there Draco. If only the bad ponies could see that they have no chance what so ever of fulfilling their dastardly deeds, then maybe this country can finally live in harmony. That would be nice, living in harmony. I can imagine it too: living in a brand new era full of peace and harmony. A time where the entire world is safe from anypony evil, and all of those who are evil have been vanquished. The Era of Harmony. That be nice. Maybe then I can finally die and rest in peace". "I didn't hear the last part, what you say?" "Oh don't worry about it" said Buttonamous, waving his hoof. He closed the book and returned it to its shelf. "Oh and can you not tell anypony about what I've told you? Technically I'm not supposed to tell anypony". "Ya sure, but I was wondering. How strong exactly are the seeds of harmony?" asked Draco. "Well the seeds defeated Discord. So that should be a good enough explanation. But remember, the Seeds of Harmony is just that, seeds. Once the bearers of the elements reveal themselves, then they will become more then just seeds. The magic of friendship can truly be spread throughout the country, maybe even the world! And it can defeat any evil foe, and I mean ANYONE! I should know, I wielded them myself" Buttonamous said this before he could stop himself. Draco immediately turned back to Buttonamous, expression filled with excitement. "You wielded the seeds!?!" "Oh darn! Can you keep that a secret, I'm not supposed to tell anypony that either. It just sort of slipped out". Draco nodded. "All in all, once the Seeds of Harmony become the Elements of Harmony, then there is nothing that can stop its magic. Although it does have its consequences for using the seeds for extended periods of time. The seeds need to be returned to the tree every once in a while, or the tree will be at risk of dying". "You seem to know a lot about the Tree of Harmony, how come you know so much if its supposed to be a secret?" asked Draco. "Oh, well. Some have the privilege to obtain this knowledge. As for me . . . lets just say I've had a few . . . close encounters with the tree". "Wait? You've been to the Tree of Harmony?" asked Draco. "Okay, your starting to enter uncharted territory Draco. Sorry, but I'm afraid its time to go back upstairs" said Buttonamous. "Aww, but we got to the good part! Tell me about the tree! And how you used the seeds!" "Sorry, but I made a swear oath to the princess herself not to tell anypony. Although if you like, I can tell you about some of my adventures". "That be awesome!" shouted Draco, hopping up and down like a school filly. He stopped and fixed his composer after he realized what he was doing. "Uh, I mean. Yes, I would like that". Buttonamous smiled and nodded, as he walked to the door. "Hey, can I ask you one more question before we go?" asked Draco. "Sure, what's up?" "I was wondering. Those three ponies in the picture, the ones who planted the Tree of Harmony. Who are they?" "Oh them. There just three friends who helped to save the world. Although they never gave themselves a name, ponies who know of them tend to call them the Spirits of Harmony". "Spirits of Harmony?" asked Draco. "Well, Spirits of Harmony, Gardeners of Friendship, Planters of Peace. You know, all these legendary hero's seem to have lots of names now that I think about it. But I personally like the Spirits of Harmony. That one has a good ring to it". "So the Spirits of Harmony planted the Tree of Harmony, but, what were their names?" asked Draco. "Ah, well. I don't think I'm allowed to tell you that. Sorry". "Jam! All right fine! But I did notice that one of the Spirits actually looked a lot like you. You a fan of him so you dress like him?" asked Draco. Buttonamous laughed, "I guess you can say that. All right, no more questions. Let's get out of this basement already". "Okay, oh and Buttonamous". "Ya?" " . . . Thanks. For making me feel better" said Draco, turning away to hide his blush. "No problem" said Buttonamous, smiling. Draco exited the room, Buttonamous followed behind. "Hey, you think I can call you Button for short? Buttonamous seems a bit to long, don't you think?" asked Draco. "Sure, I don't mind" said Buttonamous. "Hey, and what about Button Mash!" "Why the "Mash" part?" "It has a good ring to it" said Draco. " . . . No". With that, Buttonamous closed the door and head back upstairs with Draco.