Witch listens to Twilight describing their sojourn to a local friend with half an ear through the throbbing haze fogging her mind as she devotes most of her focus to the strong brew wafting up from her tea cup.
“Thankfully, the HMS Nightstrider was in dock at Half-Flank and the captain was more than happy to take us and the airship back to Equestria since his last civilian transport somehow left port without notifying him, and we took the train here from San Fransiscolt, but there wasn’t really anything extraordinary about that part, other than helping the engineers repair the Cirrus.”
“That, Miss Twilight, is quite the adventure. I daresay even Yearling’s Daring Do would be envious!” her guest responds as he puts away his pen and notebook. Twilight smiles, quickly hiding her snicker behind her hoof as she looks over at Witch.
“Excuse me one moment, Prose…” Twilight says, rising from her chair and crossing the floor to the small dining area she’d set up on the Golden Oak Library’s main floor. “Witchy? You okay?” she asks, her worry clear in her tone, eyes, and creased brow.
Witch winces, her friend’s voice nearly deafening to her ears, though she logically knows that Twilight never yells such questions. “Jus’ a headache, Twy…” she mutters, grimacing as the effort of swallowing a sip of tea causes another lance of pain to spike through her head.
“Witchy… didn’t the Librarian tell you to make sure you took that medicine every day so you wouldn’t get any headaches -”
“It doesn’ cure all headaches, Twy…” Witch snaps, looking up sharply and immediately regretting the motion as she sways unsteadily in her seat. She looks back down at her tea cup, but the damage is already done, and her headache is less a fog and now more a tempest between her ears.
“And that just means you forgot to take it when you got up today…” the princess retorts sharply. “Spike! I need a green vial from Witch’s room, now!”
Witch would’ve snapped at Twilight again, but all that comes out is an unintelligible groan as her vision grays and darkens. On the edge of her senses, she feels somepony holding her in her chair, and then cool glass presses against her lower lip. Her jaw goes slack at the pressure, and a bitter fluid floods her mouth. Swallowing on reflex, she vaguely remembers the astringent taste, and is mutely relieved as the flavor of butterbur and feverfew is closely associated with cessation of pain in the subconscious part of her brain.
Distantly, she feels herself being lifted and several jolts of movement, but the potency of the willow bark in the Librarian’s brew numbs her to the sensations. The jostling stops and she’s set down among soft blankets.
“Thank you so much for your help, Prose.” Twilight’s voice floats in through Witch’s ears as the world begins gradually brightening and bleeding color back in.
“It’s no trouble at all, Miss Twilight… I had no idea that concussions had such long-lasting effects…”
“I’ll make a list later, if you like…” Witch grumbles from the bed. She slowly cracks her eyes open and starts to push herself into a sitting position, but a gentle hoof at her shoulder stops her.
“How about you just take it easy for a moment and tell me?” suggests the stranger as he regards Witch with kindly and concerned blue eyes over the rims of his brown glasses. While she’d not paid close attention before due to the headache-induced fog, she thinks his voice is very suited to storytelling, and smiles slightly at the gray pegasus as she relaxes, gingerly shifting on the bed to get comfortable.
“Most symptoms fade over the course of one to six weeks. I’m sure you know the basic physical symptoms, but there’s also the potential for memory loss, difficulty concentrating, to say nothing of the emotional effects of any traumatic injury; depression, anxiety, mood-swings…” Witch explains calmly, her professional demeanor taking over. “Then there’s the potential for Post Concussive Syndrome, which means the headaches and mood-swings can persist, as well as a danger for fainting spells…”
“Which is why she needs to keep taking her medicine…” Twilight adds from the doorway, a steaming cup of tea floating before her.
Witch flinches at the admonishment, smiling sheepishly. “The Librarian sped my recovery significantly using herbal potions, but he remained concerned about the severity and how my magic would react, so he sent me with all the vials he had made, along with the recipes for them. It won’t be difficult to make it, especially since my father is an apothecary in Canterlot, and my brother can get anything my dad can’t.”
Prose chuckles appreciatively. “No doubt he’d find a way to make an adventure of it… Of course, I expect Miss Yearling would be going with him…”
“After what I went through with them? She’d better be!” Witch replies without really thinking before her mind derails, suddenly catching all the meaning of his statement. “Wait… You know my brother?”
“Miss Yearling? You mean A.K. Yearling? As in the author of the Daring Do novels?! Your brother is friends with her?!” Twilight exclaims, practically leaping towards Witch. She gets her hooves on Witch’s shoulders before she realizes that shaking her friend would be a very bad idea.
“Uh… Twy?” Witch hesitates briefly, smiling sheepishly. “Remember what I said about my brother’s marefriend? And how they’re like Daring Do traveling with an herbal specialist?”
“Your brother’s marefriend is A.K. Yearling?!” Twilight responds, her wings excitedly flapping of their own accord and sending her upwards. “Yipe!” she shouts, realizing how close her head had gotten to the ceiling, and slowly hovering back down.
“It took ‘em long enough too…” Prose adds, smirking. “They’d been dancing around each other since they started working together… Saddle Arabia was simply the last straw.”
“So wait… How’d you meet Leaf?” Witch asks.
“He comes in with Yearling every so often to spin me a yarn,” Prose responds, shrugging. “Don’t tell him, but I keep copies of his tales in a binder on my desk… They’re not really fit for publishing, but they make for an amusing read…”
Witch makes a slight huff of amusement. “Too much exaggeration, right?” she suggests, and Prose nods, smiling. “Unsurprising…”
“Mind… Blown…” Twilight stammers, sitting in the doorway. “A.K. Yearling is Daring Do, and dating my friend’s brother…”
“Twily… You need to get your mind not-blown so we can figure out where to go to find this Tree of Harmony…” Witch says, then sighs heavily. “And we need a good idea before we go in there if forgetting my medicine for a couple hours puts me in this state…”
“If I may?” Prose starts tentatively. “Miss Twilight, you said the Tree of Harmony is where the Elements of Harmony came from, yes?” Gaining a nod from the princess, the pegasus continues quickly. “It would stand to reason that this Tree would be near where you found the Elements in the first place… I believe you found the elements at the Castle of the Two Sisters, did you not?”
“True…” Twilight responds slowly, pensive as she moves to sit next to Prose. “There was an orrery that was clearly where they were stored after Celestia and Luna found them.”
“That… Actually makes sense… At the very least, the castle should have some sort of clue for where to look; records from before Luna was banished…” Witch comments thoughtfully, nodding. She turns a smile on Prose. “Thank you very much,” she adds.
“Oh, it was no trouble at all. I look forward to hearing the rest of this story,” Prose replies, waving his hoof dismissively. “I think my helpfulness may be at an end, so I’ll leave you two to your planning. Miss Twilight, Miss Witch.” He nods his head to both mares in turn before departing.
Witch makes to get out of her bed after Prose’s hoofsteps start down the stairs, immediately making Twilight press her back down with a hoof at her shoulder. “And just where do you think you’re going right now, missy?!” Twilight demands.
“Twily,” Witch groans, “I’m better now, promise!”
“Nope… Not buying it. We’re waiting until tomorrow.”
“I bet the Castle of the Two Sisters has a library full of books that haven’t been touched in a thousand years…” Witch taunts, and Twilight winces, her resolve weakening.
The pair have a long staring match; Witch pleading with her eyes while Twilight glares at her, unwilling to give an inch. Finally, Twilight’s resolve breaks and she sighs gustily. “Fine. We’ll go… but only if I’m sure you’re feeling up to it, and after we get something more than tea in you.”
“Fair enough,” Witch concedes, trying and failing to keep the triumph out of her eyes.
“I don’t believe this…” Witch comments in quiet amazement, looking up from another book and setting it in a pile with three other tomes. This stack is set apart a little from the rest of the books she’s sorting through by subject.
“Me neither… I found Luna and Celestia’s journal from when they were building this place,” Twilight agrees, looking up from her own book. “What don’t you believe, Witchy?”
“I’ve found four books with bookplates in them…” Grabbing the top book from the separated pile in her magic, she levitates it over to Twilight. “You’ll need to see it to believe it…”
Twilight easily takes over levitating the book, setting aside the Celestial Sisters’ journal for the moment to flip open the cover of Witch’s book. Etched in delicate old script on glittering silver, she reads aloud, “From the Library of Queen Amore… of the Crystal Empire?!” Her voice cracks on the upnote, eyes wide as saucers as she looks over at Witch who simply nods and levitates the three other books so Twilight could see them.
“Fourth one I’ve found,” Witch confirms. “That’s not even the craziest part. Take a look at the titles!” she adds, sending the books over to Twilight.
“Let’s see… ‘A Guide to the Care and Cultivation of Crystal Trees’? ‘Blessings of Order: The Gift of Life’? ‘Blessings of Order: Strength Through Adversity’? ‘Crystal Iron and Its Applications’? Good grief, are all of these relating to Equus?!” Twilight exclaims, looking over at Witch
“I took a look at the language too… It’s in some old version of Equestrian, but there are words in Equusese…” Witch responds, and Twilight flips a few pages into the book Witch had first sent over to her.
Twilight makes a thoughtful noise as her eyes scan the pages open before her. “Crystal trees can… live well? Thrive, maybe? ‘Crystal Trees can thrive in any’... land weather? Probably means climate… ‘as long as proper attention is given.’ Context is officially our friend here, Witchy…” Twilight says, looking up at the last.
“I’m going to take the books about crystal iron and the crystal trees, and see if Luna will let me keep them. My brother might lose his mind over the crystal tree book…” Witch says, taking the four tomes back up in her magic and levitating them back to a neat pile next to her. “Have you seen any with the same book plate?” she asks.
Twilight laughs nervously, blushing in embarrassment. “Sorry… I got distracted reading the diary…”
Witch shrugs, waving a hoof at Twilight. “Don’t worry about it, Twy. It doesn’t really matter anyways… Those books came from the Crystal Empire, which means that should probably be our next trip… I’m sure Princess Cadance and your brother wouldn’t mind putting up with us,” she suggests, smiling at her friend.
“I’m sure they wouldn’t…” Twilight agrees before sighing and flipping the pages of the journal back to the front. “We need to find the Tree first, though… And if we don’t find something soon, we’re going back to the Library for the night.”
“But Twilight,” Witch protests, as she gets up to peruse the shelves once more. “I brought my medicine, and this is hardly less comfortable than the temple was!”
“And what did you plan to do about food?” Twilight asks, raising an eyebrow even though she doesn’t look up from the diary.
As if on cue, a slight rumbling echoes through the dilapidated library, as though the castle itself were hungry at the mention of food. Twilight’s head snaps up at the sound, her eyes instantly fixing on Witch who had frozen in place, her magic surrounding three old books; one with a faded blue cover, the other a pale violet, and the last a dusty orchid.
“Witchy?” Twilight queries, closing the diary and leaving it on the table to join her friend. “What did you do?”
“Twy… You need to see these titles…” Witch responds, not looking away nor even moving beyond speaking. Twilight comes up alongside Witch and then squints to read the titles. The violet book at one end is titled Blessings of Order: The Power of Love. In the middle, with the faded blue cover, the title reads Blessings of Order: Dauntless Hope. Lastly, the dusty orchid book’s title makes her jaw drop.
“Sweet… Celestia… ‘Blessings of Order: The Magic of Compassion’?!”
“Wait, Twilight!” Witch cries as Twilight’s magic pushes her own away from the last book and pulls the book down from the shelf. As soon as the book comes down, the castle rumbles again, stronger than before and toppling a few of their book piles. Witch flinches as dust and fine rubble falls from the ceiling, and Twilight hunches her shoulders, ducking her head.
“Oops?” Twilight laughs sheepishly, blushing.
Witch sighs, both relieved and resigned. She casts a quick glance back at her bags and the small pile of books she’d set aside. “Did the diary say if there were secret tunnels in this place?” she asks.
“There are… but they seemed to be mostly prankish in nature,” Twilight answers, a nervous tremor to her voice.
“Well… It seems rather suspicious that three books that are definitely from Equus relating to the Princesses are causing what seems to be a secret passage opening…” Witch says slowly. “We should gather up our things and be ready to go if it causes more instabilities in the structure…” she adds, her magic fading from around the two remaining books as she steps back slowly.
“Not a bad plan,” Twilight agrees, nodding as she too retreats. After a brief scuffle of packing up their supplies, and taking the few books they’d already found that were of interest, they return to the shelf with the two books.
Not bothering to discuss the situation more, Witch levitates the remaining Blessings of Order books from the shelf. A great shaking of the whole room follows quickly upon their removal, and the shelf swings back into a tunnelled stairway going down. Twilight and Witch share a hesitant look at each other before steeling themselves and heading down the stairs.
Their horns light their way as they descend into the depths of the castle, silence hanging heavy in the air. Even their hoofsteps seem muffled by the oppressive and ancient aura.
“How far down does this thing go?” Witch asks in quiet awe after they’d been heading downwards in the spiralling tunnel for what felt like several floors.
“We should be below the castle by now…” Twilight responds, her tone equally hushed.
As the stairs begin heading in a straight line instead of a spiral, the stairs start leveling out as well, more like narrow terraces instead of stairs. “Well this is promising…” Witch comments with a wry glance to Twilight beside her.
Twilight’s response, whatever it may have been, is forgotten as they come out into a large cave bathed in silvery light. Neither mare had seen a crystal tree beyond the smaller illustrations from the Life’s Temple library, and their jaws drop the grand scale of the crystal tree before them, with five primary branches forking from the central trunk, each with a flower trailing crystalline vines.
“It looks almost like a weeping willow…” Witch says in astonishment as they slowly approach the ancient tree.
A subtle rumble ripples through the cavern, and the vines shiver with the quaking. “Come closer, young Princesses of Hope… and Compassion. You have sought us out for answers. Answers we can give… If… you are ready for them.” The words reverberate through the cave, softly spoken in perfect unison by a large chorus of voices as though whispered near an ear. Jerking in surprise, Witch and Twilight look to each other, as though seeking confirmation that the other had heard as well.
As they near the crystal tree, images etched in the crystalline bark come into focus. On the trunk of the tree where all the branches fork is a large six-pointed star, reminiscent of Twilight’s cutie mark. Below the star is a sun with a spiral in its center circle, and below that, a crescent moon. Peering closer at the vines, Witch’s eyes widen as she sees the sigils of the five princesses on each leaf.
“What do you think, Witchy?” Twilight asks, a nervous tremor in her voice. Witch turns to look at her companion, uncertainty clear in her face and eyes.
“Fear not, young Hope, young Compassion. Your quest has taken you this far, long past the point of returning. Take heart, for the path ahead is clear, if you can find the courage to set your hooves upon it.” Again, the tree quivers as the disembodied words echo around them, the crystal leaves making a soft chiming as they rustle.
Witch looks back at the tree, and squares her shoulders. “The Tree, if that’s what’s speaking, is right… We’ve come too far to shy away now…” she says, and steps closer to the crystal tree. The bark reflects her face back at her, though she almost sees glimpses of other eyes, other ponies in the mirror-like surface. “C’mon Twy… I’m not doing this alone…” she adds, looking over her shoulder at the alicorn, still hesitating a few steps back.
Sighing heavily, Twilight joins Witch at the tree. “On three then?” she suggests, raising a hoof and letting it hover inches from the polished surface.
Witch nods, and starts the count; “One…” She raises her hoof as well. “Two…” Twilight braces herself, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. “THREE!”
Their hooves connect with the crystal bark with a soft clink and…
She looks around, smaller legs bearing the bracelets she knew well, as she enters a chamber with five thrones, only one of which was vacant. The four ponies occupying the thrones smile welcomingly at her. One, an earth pony, glows white, bright like the sun and giving her the feeling of a rich field ready for planting. Another earth pony, wearing heavy armor, glows green, radiating strength. An aged unicorn holding a book glows with indigo light, eyes partially magnified by thick glass lenses perched on her nose, warm kindness shining from her eyes. Lastly, a pegasus closer to her own age glows with a pale purple light that makes her feel loved despite being so far from the family she’d left behind.
“Welcome, Princess of Hope.”
~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~
Looking at her fellow princess, Witch sees two ponies, one seemingly overlapping the other. Beneath the visage of Twilight Sparkle, Witch catches sight of a pale indigo coat, deep magenta and forest green mane, and pink eyes, more solid than Twilight’s image. She knows somehow that the old unicorn had passed, and that this new pegasus was her replacement. “Compassion!” she greets happily, extending a wing over her friend. “I just finished that book you loaned me! Want to talk about it over tea?”
~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~
Her steps feel heavy as she walks, partly from age, but mostly from the crippling weight of her burden. Alone… The last Princess, the only Princess to remain pure against the corruption of the Chaotic Vices… The last ruler of an empire that had fallen to ruin. She had been a Princess and only called Hope for so long, she’d forgotten the name her parents had given her. She doesn’t even remember what they looked like, their names, her siblings or if she had any… Utterly and completely alone…
The pain of it threatens to overwhelm her, bringing her to her knees as she reaches the edge of a small village. She looks at it in confused amazement; the village bears no marks of the fall of the Equusese Virtues… Too far out, on the edge of the empire, to be noticed or affected by the corruption that had claimed the rest of the towns.
“Are you alright?” asks a small unicorn mare, barely more than a filly. Over the yellow coat, sky blue-streaked pale green mane, and adoring blue eyes, Witch sees a young version of Princess Cadence. She nods with a slight smile to the unicorn. Her attention is drawn by the hum she feels coming from the pack on her back. Her bracers glow with blue light, drawing the items from the bag. The book appears dormant, but the Crystal Heart glows with violet light that reaches out to the filly. Witch’s smile grows broader.
“No… But I believe I shall be soon, little Love.”
~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~
“We don’t have to do this, Love… We can retreat back to the City. The Crystal Heart can maintain the protection-”
“No, Nana… We can’t… We need to face her now! If we don’t defeat her, then what about Fear, or Hate, or Death? What happens if any or all of them join Envy? Even the Crystal Sanctuary won’t hold against more than one of them!”
Witch’s heart feels heavy in her chest as the young Love, grown now to a young mare, argues in favor of confrontation. Her eyes flick away, towards an approaching aura of orange light. In the middle of it, she sees her old friend, Compassion… But no… she wasn’t Compassion anymore. She had fallen into Chaos and Vice like the other four Princesses. The mare that approaches her and ‘Love’ only wore her old friend’s body.
“Love… If you face her, you could fall to Chaos and become corrupted… or worse!”
“I know…” Little Love gives her an encouraging smile, even as her whole body glows with determination. “But I have you with me, Nana Hope. I won’t fall.”
~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~
“We’re safe now, Little Love… We’re back at the palace,” she says, gently sliding her unicorn friend onto the floor and nearly collapsing herself from exhaustion. No! She mustn’t! Little Love needed her help. Straining, she turns her attention to the young mare, brutally beaten with many cuts and bruises marring her pale coat and her blood pouring from a deep wound at her ribs.
“Did… Did I do well, Nana Hope?” Love asks, her breathing labored and raspy. Witch cringes, touching Love’s cheek with her hoof gently as she tries to stop the bleeding.
“Yes, Little Love… You did so well…” she replies, her voice choked as she realizes there was nothing she could do to save her student and friend. “I’m so very proud of you…” she adds, tears beginning to fall down her face.
“Don’t ever give up… Nana…”
The blue eyes dim, life gone, and Witch releases a mournful wail of despair until she collapses next to her fallen companion, her sobs as quiet as her lament had been deafening.
~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~
She feels it in her bones, that age would no longer be beaten by the power of her virtue. She stares out the window at the thriving city outside the palace, crystalline homes and buildings glittering in the light of the setting sun. She looks down at her journal, rereading the last entry before she closes the book and leaves it on her desk. She crosses to the seat in the window, and from under the cushions, she retrieves a plain wooden box. Sitting wearily, she sets the box next to her on the seat padding. Gathering what remains of her strength, she casts one last glance out at the city she’d helped build with Little Love.
A single tear falls to the couch, and she sighs using her relic-granted magic for the last time to remove the bracers from her legs. Midair, they shrink to small cuff-like bracelets that fit neatly within the open box.
Her vision dims and she uses her last moments to hide the box back in its secret compartment. “Little Love… At last, I see you again…”
As Witch returns to herself, she staggers away from the tree, blinking the tears from her eyes. She struggles to come to terms with the visions she’d seen of an entire lifetime not her own, and all the accompanying emotions.
“No!” Witch jumps at the loud denial, whirling to see Twilight in a state of high distress. Like Witch, she has streams of tears coursing down her face, but differed in that Twilight’s eyes flare with disbelief. Witch barely has time to take in the sight before Twilight turns and runs from the cave, the clatter of her hooves resounding through the cavernous space and sounding almost like a stampede instead of one alicorn.
Witch turns to follow, but finds the hoof that had been touching the tree trapped with a snare of crystalline vine. In vain, she struggles to free herself.
“Young Hope… We need to speak with you a moment longer…” Witch’s head snaps back to look at the tree, the rest of her body freezing. The moment she stops, ice blue light flares, illuminating the crescent moon etched into the trunk. The glow then blazes a line down the trunk to a root near Witch’s back hooves. She squints at the spot as the light coalesces and blooms into another flower. The petals quickly unfurl, peeling away from a gem radiating a soothing white-blue aura.
“To restore your domain, plant this seed at the Heart of Hope,” the Tree of Harmony says as the light from all but the seed fades back into the tree. The vine releases Witch’s hoof then, and the glacial blue halo of her magic surrounds her horn and bracelets before encompassing the seed, levitating the crystal into her bag.
Witch hesitates briefly, glancing anxiously back towards the tunnel, before returning her attention back to the Tree of Harmony. She makes a short, uncertain noise before she says, “Thank you,” and then takes off at a sprint after Twilight.