Harmony was Mistaken

by Daaberlicious

The Big Oopsie

One thousand years, The Spirit of Harmony emanated.

Yes, it is more accurate, in fact, to say that The Spirit of Harmony emanated rather than spoke. Harmony did not have a voice, nor did he have a body. He was a force, but a strong enough force to have a being about him as well. An individuality, so to speak.

Harmony rested within The Tree of Harmony, as usual- And the tree he rested within sat where it had been rooted for the last thousand years.

More than a thousand years, in fact, as Harmony would state moments later.

More than a thousand years, in fact- Such a vast expanse of time to sit and think, to ponder my purpose and understand it, to discover the true extent of my power as a being born from the almighty force of companionship- True companion to love- an even stronger force which is a lover of companionship-

Harmony stopped to take in an easy, slow, relaxing breath. Despite the considerably pondering nature of the fact that a being without lungs and with no need for them would breathe at all, it's understandable that one thousand plus years of planning leading to failure would need at least one deep breath.

Harmony resumed emanating, even though the words would go unheard by any intelligent soul at the moment.

...And to calculate everything out to the tiniest minutia of detail.

Harmony did not lose his cool. Ever. He could not have been what he is if he were not capable of representing his composite elements perfectly.

...One does not think of everything even with a thousand years to do so, I suppose. Harmony channeled honesty, but to some extent also generosity with this statement, as he knew in the back of his metaphorical head that he REALLY should have seen this coming.

It is time that I review what went wrong.

'~*~'

As Twilight saw her friends ascend the staircase of the ancient castle of The Two Sisters, a tiny spark appeared in her eyes, and a beautiful realization hit her.

She boldly turned to face Nightmare Moon with a new confidence she hadn't had any moment before in this skirmish and PREPARED. A HEROIC. SPEECH.

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here."

Nightmare Moon was taken aback by the bold statement, but then, curiously, had decided it made quite a bit of sense. Was this the moment? Harmony thought.

A cold, cleverly cast grin slipped onto the fanged teeth of the princess of darkness. "Indeed they are, Twilight Sparkle. Humor me, how so?"

It was Twilight's turn to be surprised, but not for long. She had a heroic speech to finish, and if the villain was going to let her make it, then all the better!

"Uh, okay then." She cleared her throat a little awkwardly to get back into the mood, then got her heroic stance back into position and her confident smile.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!"

"Ooh! A pause for dramatic effect! Is this going to be a theme? Also I'll admit that the definition of honesty is flexible enough to allow that." Nightmare Moon was showing an odd understanding of the situation.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness!"

"She is a little sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter!"

"I wouldn't always recommend that course of action, but I am indeed seeing the spirit of laughter in her."

Twilight was loosing resolve.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity."

"It was indeed noble! Hours of tail work down the drain! Also, are uneven mustaches in style lately, or is it just me?"

"And Rainbow Dash, who could not... leave her friends... for her own stuff... represents... loyalty?"

"Aaaaaand, ended with a lame finish," Rainbow rudely quipped.

Applejack threw Rainbow Dash dirty look.

"What? She screwed up my part! That is so lame!"

"Zip yer hole, RD. Somethin's fishy." Applejack chided.

At that moment, Nightmare Moon seemed even more looming and huge somehow, and was starting to more than scare Twilight.

"'Fishy' indeed! But Twilight! What about the sixth element? Surely it has to be here somewhere!"

Twilight was trying to come up with what she had on her mental script. It wasn't working. "I- I-"

"You what?"

"I got the sixth element when I discovered how happy I was to see my friends! There was a spark in that- Metaphorical maybe- maybe more than that- but it burned fiercely in me- in us all, and got us the element of magic!"

Silence. Nightmare Moon was letting it sink in.

Fluttershy fidgeted. She usually did in uncomfortable social situations, but this was even more of a fidget than her normal fidgeting.

Applejack found herself chewing on the brim of her stetson and COULDN'T STOP. Where this nervous tic came from and why it showed up now, she didn't know.

Rarity looked to her tail and back again, worry and concern alight on her features.

Pinkie seemed to need a reboot.

Rainbow fidgeted. This was not normal for her like it was for Fluttershy, but it was a pretty fidgety fidget regardless.

Twilight swallowed. She did not turn her gaze from Nightmare Moon. She would not.

"I'll say what we're all thinking." Nightmare Moon began. She brought her face in close to Twilight and her voice down to a low whisper. It almost came out like a hiss- "They're fake."

"Wh-what?" Twilight... Sort of responded. At this point, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and she was perfectly fine with not talking, thank you very much.

The Princess of Darkness then summoned all the hamminess she could muster for the situation, making sure she chewed the scenery nice and thoroughly-

"THEY'RE FAAAAAAAAAAKE!" Her voice boomed in all-caps, almost rattling out the teeth of the ponies present.

Nightmare Moon continued uncontested. "THE SHATTERED ELEMENTS YOU SEE BEFORE YOU WERE NOTHING BUT SHATTERED ROCKS! I HAD A THOUSAND YEARS TO PREPARE! DID YOU THINK I WOULD BE SO FOALISH AS TO FORGET THE MIGHT OF THAT WHICH HAD BANISHED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?"

Shocked silence responded her.

"I have many MORE centuries of understanding than you could EVER COMPREHEND! Believe me, my little ponies, THE ELEMENTS were the FIRST THING I thought to remove!"

The same cold, cast smile crept back on the mare's face as she continued. "It is true- I had presumed the elements would stay broken once smashed, but harmony is such an incredible force that even shattering the real elements didn't stick- They came back together in five minutes."

She began circling the six friends in a predatory fashion. "Quiet, Fluttershy," She scolded- Fluttershy was about to speak but barely knew it herself.

"This is not the good news that you or anypony of you think it might be- Baring their destruction, I had a plan B. I took the elements and scattered them all across Equestria and even beyond. In my haste, even I do not know where I put them, so you cannot force the information out of me, Rainbow Dash." Rainbow was thinking it, but didn't know she was.

More circling. Pinkie was getting dizzy watching her.

"It honestly is a shame though, isn't it? I'm certain you all enjoyed yourselves on the wild goose-chase I sent you on."

AJ spat out her hat and put it back on her head quickly, hoping nopony saw her chewing on it.

"It wasn't that fun," Rainbow countered Nightmare Moon.

"Oh come on, nopony enjoyed my singing?" Pinkie complained.

"Well, that was pretty fun, but I could have done without the rest."

Twilight nodded. "I didn't exactly like falling off a cliff."

Fluttershy was extra quiet. You could tell she was upset by the manticore's pain having now been revealed to be needless cruelty.

Rarity scowled at Nightmare Moon. She was upset that her perfectly good act of generosity might not have been needed if the alicorn hadn't decided to string them along.

Rainbow, however, was seething. "And I could have stopped so much trouble just by turning back around and leaving! I didn't even NEED to tie the bridge! I don't even know why you'd play 'evil dark flying team' with me if you had already won!"

As the ponies in Harmony's acute and vast memory suddenly were hit with the full force of what they were told, Harmony realized his mistake.

Luna never developed all the pride I presumed she would. She only focused on righting a perceived wrong, not on the glory she imagined she would receive! Such a small difference, negligible, but it changes everything! Harmony emanated to himself. She had more heart to her than what she was expected to, making eternal night... Somehow more important to her.

Back to the mane six- Five of the six members of the elements of harmony looked at Dash with horror, while Rainbow Dash gave Nightmare Moon a similar one.

The tension was thick. The implications horrible. Nightmare Moon shouldn't have been that smart, should she? But the proof was in the pudding. The broken rocks stayed broken, and it had been five minutes. No magical auras, no shiny rainbows, no princess Luna, just Nightmare Moon and eternal night as the clock struck 8:00 AM in Ponyville.

The alicorn, having had her fill of the tense silence (and having very much enjoyed it), decided to make her exit- But not without one last thing to seal the despair.

"Yes, I have already won- And you will not find the elements, and you will not find me. You will only find darkness underneath my stars."

And with a puff of stardust, Nightmare Moon was gone.

'~*~'

Harmony could almost view no further into his memory. There were not enough words to describe the aching sensation he felt when it had first occurred, but he had to continue viewing. Reviewing everything was important before he made his next choice- both the hope and the despair.

It still hurt.

He took another deep breath- Again, confusing as to its need, but understandable- and steeled himself for the vivid sensation of what came next.

'~*~'

Nopony likes seeing Fluttershy cry.

Fluttershy was sobbing- Literally bawling as tears poured down her face and muzzle and condensed below her chin, only to drip off and form in an ever increasing puddle on the stone of the old castle. Her body heaved up and down with each heavy breath as she cried and cried and kept on crying- Certain that she would never see the sun again.

Every little twitch of her tail and ears only made the scene worse as she transcended her natural beauty into something like a grieving angel. It felt wrong and unearthly to watch.

It would have been hard enough to witness if it weren't for the fact that Twilight was sharing this sorrow with her- She did not look beautiful at all when crying this hard, but this ugly kind of grief was just as difficult to look at- Her emotion made use of every last corner and muscle in her face, contorting it into a tapestry of pain.

The pegasus and unicorn currently sobbing inconsolably had each other wrapped in a hug in a vain attempt to comfort the other. Twilight found a mantra that seemed to help, but she wasn't sure-

"I'm sorry princess- I'm so sorry princess- I'm so sorry-"

Thankfully, Fluttershy found one for the both of them that was helping, slowly but surely-

"We'll be okay." For every one of Twilight's "I'm sorry"s, she responded with "We'll be okay."

But The worst part about the scene was that the other four were letting empathetic tears trickle down their own faces, even though different things were on their minds.

How will our crop grow in this? Applejack thought. She didn't often cry like this for somepony else's troubles even if were bad enough. It just never happened even if she wanted to. But eternal night affected her too, just like anypony else.

Will anypony ever be happy without sun? Thought Pinkie, gazing quietly on the sobbing pair.

Will I ever be happy without sun? Will I ever feel generous again? Thought Rarity. Her makeup was surely suffering, but it went unnoticed.

I'll never be able to fly in this darkness... Thought Rainbow Dash, who was not crying, and would refuse to admit it despite evidence.

But most of all, the four not actively sobbing wanted the two that were to stop.

Especially Fluttershy.

And fittingly, a nice distraction showed up to pull them out of it in the form of Princess Celestia. All ponies pulled themselves together to give a bow, even Twilight, who felt as if she failed her and was going to do everything then that she could to make it right.

Princess Celestia did not look as regal and beautiful as she usually did. A tired expression showed on her face, the slight bags only dimming her deeply apologetic eyes a little. Some scuffs here and there soiled her lovely coat and reduced the luster of her regalia, and the usually well preened and graceful feathers of her wings were a little disheveled. About the only thing that looked the same was her majestic alicorn horn, but it was very hard to tarnish the beauty of something as hard as a horn.

After a bit of awkward staring between the seven, Twilight finally managed to speak up. "I'm sorry princess-"

"You have nothing to apologize for, Twilight. If anything, I must apologize to you-"

She then noticed the condition of the mane six, fur ruffled and tear streaked as they were.

"You all look quite simply awful," She said pityingly.

Rainbow Dash pulled herself together the rest of the way. "You're not looking much better yourself, Princess," She noted with a smirk, eager to find a distraction from all that crying.

Seriously. There was just way too much of it right then.

"Perhaps we'll just say the lock on my cell was difficult to pick," The princess responded gracefully. She then turned back to Twilight, but addressed the group as a whole.

"I must apologize to you all because I did not foresee this. I must confess, Twilight, that I had already known you were one of the bearers of the elements from the moment you had first expressed your extraordinary talent, which is why I sent you off in the pursuit of friends when you informed me of the prophesy of my sister's return."

"Say what now?!" Applejack looked floored. Of course save for Twilight- of whom had read all of the prophesy unlike the others, so did the other ponies.

"That ruthless ruffian is your sister?!" Rarity's eyes practically bugged out.

"Did she always do that? Stop the sun from rising?" Rainbow merely asked curiously.

Celestia only let out a knowing smile, hinting at a touch of delight on how she had spilled the secret. "We will have plenty of time to discuss it, but I'm not yet finished. If you would kindly?"

All the other ponies simply went silent, but Fluttershy, ever ridiculously polite to a fault, gave a little bow. "Certainly princess. I'd love to hear the rest." You could almost hear her soft smile in her voice.

Celestia rolled her eyes- She was feeling rather un-princessy at the time and would rather have had all of them simply be quiet without the theatrics.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to annoy you." Fluttershy showed the "to a fault" point of her politeness.

Celestia cocked an eyebrow at her. Fluttershy took the hint and quieted down with a blush.

"Where was I...? Oh, yes. It does seem that you have not only found five friends to call your own, but in them the rest of the bearers as well. I even understood that Luna would know where to look for the elements, but what I did not foresee was that she would know when to look for them."

"So..." Twilight queried. She wasn't certain why Celestia called her sister "Luna", but that was just another question for later.

"The Elements of Harmony were the first thing she considered after her escape. You six could never have stopped her- But your efforts were not without use."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, ever the inquisitive student. The rest listened with deep interest.

"If Luna had never put those obstacles in your path, would you have ever forged your friendship?"

Something clicked in Twilight's head. "...Hoisted by her own petard!"

Rainbow cocked her head. "What's that mean?"

"By sticking around to try to break us apart, she only brought us together! We wouldn't have ever become friends if we didn't face her tricks! But... What about the Elements? How are we ever going to find them before Equestria freezes under eternal night?"

The other five exploded into a frenzy of panic, running around, fluttering about and waving wildy- Twilight was unsure why they had never considered the implications of lacking the sun's heat.

"Mah farm! We're never gonna grow enough ta feed us!"

"DARK AND COLD?! MY WINGS WILL FREEZE OFF BEFORE I CAN EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO FLY IN THE DARK!!"

"There's gonna be so much snow! Stores will close! Schools will close! EVERYTHING WILL CLOSE! WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BECOME SNOW PONIES AND EAT ICE THE REST OF OUR LIVES!"

"Fluttershy, dear! Please don't start crying again!"

"No s-s-sun? N-no s-s-summer? I c-c-c-can't ta-a-a-ake it!"

This went on for a while. Priceless artifacts of a thousand years in age were carelessly broken, halls not tread for equally long were stripped of their mystery, and local populations of sleeping fauna were disturbed very much.

And then Celestia's voice boomed out.

"Quiet, please," Celestia requested politely, despite the sheer decibel count of her words. As she had spoken, her body glowed with a fearsome corona as huge swaths of fire sprung out of the ground and the earth below her quaked.

Everypony quieted down- It was kind of hard not to after that.

"That, my little ponies, was the Royal Canterlot Voice. If you did speak with Luna, then you may or may not have experienced it from her, but know that I make a habit of avoiding its use whenever I can. Now, as for the cold, it would certainly be worth consideration as an issue if it weren't quite simply not true.

The pegasi control the weather in Equestria- clouds, rain, snow, lightning, and by extension the temperatures necessary to make all those things happen. Not only is the weather under our control, the seasons are similarly prepared and executed. The sun and moon help things along, but we can certainly make due for something as temporary as eternal night."

Twilight looked at Celestia like she grew a second head. "'Temporary as eternal'... What?"

She just nodded. "The Elements of Harmony have not been destroyed. They have not been sealed. They have not been cursed or hexed or even so much as spat upon spitefully. They have only been hidden, and therefore, Luna will never have truly eternal night."

The mane six were feeling quite reassured at this point, but one thing was niggling the backs of their heads. Applejack brought it up first, naturally.

"What about light? Equestria's plants need light to grow, don't they?"

Celestia suddenly put on a big smile. It looked wonderfully strange on her, Twilight decided. "For that, my friends, the Equestrian earth ponies have invented a most creative solution."

All six leaned in.

She almost did a happy dance, right then, right there. She had already done one when first receiving the news, but she was alone at the time. "A colossal sunflower which produces its own light!"

The curious, wonderful news was enough to draw out laughs from the six. It couldn't be real!

Twilight was shaking her head. "You're kidding! You're kidding me!"

Both Rarity and Fluttershy were lost in the idea- One was suddenly inspired, but the both could not wait to see it. Each talked on and on about their fantasies, not hearing anypony else.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie couldn't wait to see it either, and were busy making it known as loudly as possible- One thought it would be awesome, and the other thought it would be fun.

Applejack was the happiest about it, however, shouting at the Equestrian unicorn elite that she told them so, and that earth ponies can pull their weight just fine.

As things calmed down once more, Twilight embraced her mentor- Though Celestia was not expecting it. "Thank you princess. I knew you'd come up with a solution."

"Twilight Sparkle, I could not have come up with something so creative if I had tried."

The unicorn started to feel a little awkward about the premature hug. "You didn't come up with this?"

"Certainly not, Twilight! Nor could I have come up with the method to grow enough for each town, city, landmark and wilds in Equestria. My talent lies in raising the sun and in leadership. I rarely come up with ideas- I just put them where they need to go!"

"Um... Oops." Twilight let out a little nervous giggle and backpedaled to the rest of the group.

"Wait," Rarity said, taking a brief moment to gracefully pull a section of her mane out of her eyes. "We could not have possibly been shrouded in darkness for long enough that the earth ponies could have had time to discover the problem and produce the flowers, could we?"

"Hard work and hard brains, Rarity. That's the earth pony way." Applejack responded with pride.

Celestia corrected the two- "Neither of you are wrong- While I had expected the six of you to ultimately defeat Luna with the Elements, I had prepared for this circumstance the moment I heard of the prophecy from Twilight. I sent a call-to-action to all the finest earth pony scientists and farmers informing them that the sun may soon be wrested from my control.

They had hundreds of years of agricultural study to work from already, but for the solution to come so quickly is certainly a welcome surprise- especially given its nature."

Applejack looked disappointed. She would have really loved to be one of the ponies figuring out those sunflowers.

Alas, as much as she enjoyed it, the ruler of Equestria could not simply sit and chat with her student and get to know her friends. Despite the creative solutions and the willingness of her citizens, times would still be tough until the sun was returned to the sky, and her little ponies needed her to be strong.

"It was most enjoyable getting to meet all of you, dear bearers- But for now I have orders for you."

Celestia, having been laying down with the group of friends, got up to full standing height once again.

"Twilight, I understand that having been through such an ordeal with these five that you would dearly wish to stay with them. If you wish, I will make sure your obligations in Canterlot are handled as you take up home in the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville."

Twilight looked back at her new friends, smiling in disbelief. "Do you really mean it?"

"Have I ever neglected your happiness, my st- OOF!" Celestia was interrupted as Twilight wrapped her in another (but much better timed) hug. The other ponies may have awwed as they hugged.

Releasing the embrace, the princess of the sun continued. "As for every one of you, when you return to Ponyville, let the citizens know that you've tried to fix this, and let them know that you will continue to try as long as there is a way.

If they look to you for strength or guidance, give it. If they look to you for comfort and assurance, give it. Do everything you can for them, but when next you are summoned, drop everything and go, because you are about to become very important to the future of Equestria."

Celestia turned and was about to take flight out of the ruin (heaven knows how she would manage in the dark), but Twilight stopped her one last time.

"Princess, why are you calling Nightmare Moon Luna?"

The princess of the sun turned to look at her student, a distant sadness held in her strong, calm expression. "Because, my student, it is her name. Beneath the monster you fought lies a confused and betrayed pony brought to desperate and foalish measures by her sister who could not see the problem. Don't ever forget that."

A single, silent flap and she was gone. The six emotionally rocked friends, worn out and defeated at the moment, slowly made their way home to Ponyville.

'~*~'

Harmony finished reviewing his memory. It had been a week and one day since the occurrence, and it had taken him that long to learn how to put his thoughts to words. He had always thought and considered, but it was far easier to do so with language on his side. He began to emanate to himself once more.

It is as Celestia says. I should have informed her of Luna's plans for the Elements so that she could hide them properly until the correct time. Perhaps in another world she had properly considered it when I could not... But such musing is pointless.

I still have the bearers. From what thoughts I read of her, Applejack was first and foremost concerned for home and all the ponies for which her occupation provided. She made no statements otherwise- Honesty sits within her like a firm rock- unmovable and faithful.

Fluttershy had much to grieve for- few acquaintances, even fewer friends, and the worry that her failure would cause her to be cast out brought her to tears- a worry not completely unfounded. But despite all she had to cry for, her first concern was for her friend, similarly grief-stricken. Kindness radiates from her as warm as the heat of the sun.

Pinkie Pie plays the comedy relief, but it is clearly just as much for others' benefit as it is for hers- no, immensely more. Since discovering her, I have never seen her truly depressed. She adds so much energy and spring to the step of her friends- If this is not the Element of Laughter in her, than I cannot find a better pony.

Rarity, however, is impressive! Her heart hosts a war between her want to get and her want to give, but the generosity within her is so strong that even as she knew the lack of sun would drop confidence, and the confidence drop sales, she worried first about what would become of her ability to give.

And Rainbow Dash, for all her harsh edges and aloof nature, as lazy as she is capable of being, the spirit of loyalty burns inside her like molten gold. She prefers nothing more in the world than to be with and protect her friends- Even so far as throwing out her dreams to do so.

But how Twilight has grown. She still knows so little of friendship, but even so has become the glue to bind the six together. Among them, only three have past connections with each other, but all of them have her in common.

And Twilight has led them beautifully, completing the group just as Magic completes the Elements.

If it were still possible, I would have delighted to remain silent, never speaking, sitting here within the Everfree as an unseen force and a mystery and a puzzle. Harmony laughed to think of the idea.

But it is not. And I will not let my past mistakes become a millstone.

And if things were to be different, then the Tree of Harmony had to also, Harmony resolved.

Using the magic housed within the tree, Harmony fueled its transformation.

No longer would The Tree of Harmony appear as a hidden treasure, but instead a beacon of hope. The ground shook as the mighty crystal broke off like a shell to reveal a young tree- Its leaves were blue, its trunk a darker shade, and from it hung six simple large nuts, each bearing an indentation where an element of harmony would rest.

It looked like a very blue, oddly disproportionate walnut tree. Harmony stopped to take a peak at its housing and couldn't help but chuckle.

It's so tiny and weird! I'm certain the crystallized look it bore previously looked much better than this!

This was true, and this new design was not yet to purpose. It was time to up the ante... Perhaps to the eleventh numerical.

The ground shook once again, but this time, it got stronger. Harmony drew from his full power (of which there was a lot) and put everything into the transformation.

Rainbows flew out from the tree in all directions before converging back on the trunk. The blue discoloration disappeared instantly as the wood snapped, crunched and grew.

Eight feet. Sixteen feet. Thirty two feet. Fifty feet.

It peaked at one hundred feet- A large bush sitting on top of a huge trunk- And a new wave of rainbows spread and converged on the whole tree.

The artificial youth of the trunk was stripped away as knots and grooves began to form on its surface. The trunk widened until ten ponies linking forelegs could not stand around it, and the nuts disintegrated as the grooves instead resurfaced into ornately carved sockets circling the base of the trunk.

The leaves exploded outward and downward, flitting every empty section with branches and beautiful, rich greens that glowed warmly with their own light. The leaves were big enough to fashion large hats out of and almost felt like they had a soothing subsonic hum to them- The hidden might of the tree manifesting quietly and gently.

No single part of the tree looked breakable, or even so much as touchable by anything that would hurt it. If anyone had never seen it otherwise, it could have been like this forever for all they knew.

But Harmony was not finished. What is a good tree without the roots to support it?

Another section of rainbows- much bigger and prettier this time- shot out and converged below ground. The earth shook like never before as a massive taproot drilled its way almost as deep as the trunk was tall. Other roots spread out from it, pushing aside earth and stone and smaller trees, and even arching over Everfree's river.

The massive roots flattened out to produce roads, safe paths to take to the tree from all the Everfree Forest's noted locations, and even from just outside Ponyville.

Under different circumstances, the Tree of Harmony would never have needed to be this strong. Sans the elements, it would have sat hidden and kept Equestria safe from almost every threat, and when it would have received them once more, the bearers would amplify its might through their very spirits.

But even though the ponies under Harmony's charge could make the weather behave and set the seasons, even though they could bring enough light to grow the plant life and feed themselves, they could not conjure up the same protection the sun had provided from the things that like the dark.

Harmony realized his active role was not only necessary in an uncertain future, it was also necessary to understand the threats and head them off, to inform the bearers and guide them to do what he could not, and to be there to provide hope in a future without the Elements.

He was no longer an observer in a preset destiny. There was no preset destiny. He had to become active, and to do it now.

Harmony began thus: Using his incredible power as an active force, he spoke to the hearts of Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.

Here is your summons, bearers. Drop everything and go.

Nothing seemed to happen.

...Ahem. Harmony emanated into their hearts once more. He was almost certain they didn't hear him the first time.

You know how it is. Sometimes a tugging on the heart gets ignored for whatever reason- A party... Work... A particularly intense game of ping-pong...

Ponies get distracted.

But they really should have been here by now.

Nope, still nothing.

After a couple of seconds, Harmony then realized his bearers would obviously have to walk to get to the tree, that they would be a bit busy reeling from the shock of a tree growing up suddenly in the Everfree forest, and that if a weird, echoing voice spoke into his heart, he'd be a bit scared of it and uncertain about obeying it too.

He resumed musing to himself, and a thought crossed his mind-

They don't even know what the Tree of Harmony is, do they? I love a good introduction!

Harmony began to prepare a speech.

---

From the desk of Fair Paints, a selected artistic rendering of an occurrence in the adventures of the Equestrian heroes Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkamena Dianne Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

I enjoy being privy to these stories, and with permission from Twilight and company, have taken the liberty to publish a selection of the resulting renderings I have found noteworthy.

Capturing the finer points of Applejack's vulnerable expression as she masticated her accessory proved to be quite difficult, especially when she was reluctant to state the occurrence had even happened. I would certainly have not known anything if it weren't for Pinkamena's input.

Author's Note:

I'm back from the dead, everypony! At least, those of you who know about me. Everyone else, disregard the previous.

I'm honestly not sure why the Applejack chewing her hat thing is so funny to me, but it is.

Comments

[Johnny Bravo]

"The hat chewing picture is kind of cute."
-Johnny Bravo

[Daaberlicious]

6445380

I was surprised by how cute it turned out myself.

[Daaberlicious]

6445556
Eh, it happens. Sometimes I don't really read stuff either. I'm currently struggling through First Pony View as it stands. Good story, many, MANY big words. And that's saying something for me!

I do encourage you to give it a bit more of a deeper look later though, if you're willing.