Withering
After that little event, the ponies of Ponyville were slightly on edge but things quickly returned to relative normality (aside from Twilight scanning every inch of Ponyville of course). The Harvest Festival went off without a hitch, followed by winter. There was a little drama with Rainbow and Tank as the pegasus still wasn't used to the idea of Tank hibernating, but otherwise, nothing had changed for Ponyville. From my point of view, however, everything had changed. The Spirit Tree was in trouble, that much I knew. Question was, exactly how bad could things get?
In the game, when the Spirit Tree was dying the entire forest began to perish. While that was most definitely bad, I began to wonder if such a thing could spread to the rest of the world. In addition, I didn't know where the tree was in the first place. The fact that the ponies didn't know what was going on with those lights was a pretty big indication that they'd never even heard of the Spirit Tree. Of course, the fact that they didn't know what I was is also a big indicator but point was, I needed to get my hands on a map to try and figure out where I was going.
It wasn't until we were visiting Twilight that I got a hold of a map and that's when I learned two things. First, Equus is woefully under explored. Seriously, the pony's map of the known world consists of just Equestria and the edges of the outlying countries. Clearly, ponies don't venture very far from Equestria. And secondly, my best bet for finding the Spirit Tree lay in this area marked, Mysterious South with the Undiscovered West a close second. Not only were they unexplored areas, but they were also close enough to Ponyville that a strong, continuous breeze could blow something like, say a 'leaf' from point A to point B.
Anyways, now that I had a general idea of where to go, now came the next step. Training. In between when the lights shut off and Fluttershy returning, I reached the conclusion that even if I left now there wasn't much I could do as I was. Not only did I not know where I was going and would find myself lost, I was also underprepared. This was still a relatively new-ish body and my knowledge of the game would only take me so far. I resolved to get myself into fighting shape while also giving me a chance to grow up physically. Thankfully I seemed to be aging in animal years and by Hearthswarming I was fully grown. Still small, but I felt relatively confident that I was ready to return to the forest. All I had to do was wait until winter ended. I was certainly in no condition to be traveling in the dead of winter.
You see ever since the lights in the sky incident, I had been feeling this hollow emptiness in the pit of my stomach that just grew worse and worse every day. It sapped my strength and gradually I became more lethargic and unsteady. It was easy to hide at first, but gradually it got harder and harder and pretty soon Fluttershy noticed something was wrong. Of course, since she recognized the symptoms of malnutrition, her solution was extra portions of food which did help lessen the hunger I felt. But I knew it was just a stopgap measure and shortly afterward, I would be feeling the dizziness and fatigue again.
Then spring came, bringing with it the answer to my question. A few days after Winter Wrap Up, Applejack noticed that her trees weren't budding. The Apples tried every trick in the book to get them to bud, but nothing worked and ultimately she ended up going to Twilight for assistance. The alicorn then cast a spell to coax the trees into budding and it worked...For about a day. By the next day, the buds were withered and dead.
By this point, it became clear that there was cause for concern as the problem wasn't isolated to the apple trees. The seeds that had been planted earlier weren't growing and plants were dying no matter what anypony did. Even the grass was dying. Of course when Twilight couldn't think of anything so she sent a letter to Celestia asking for advice. Unfortunately, the Solar alicorn had none to give, only more bad news. As it turns out, Ponyville wasn't the only town affected.
The princesses had been getting reports from all towns all over about the same problem. Towns like Baltimare, Manehatten, Van Hoover, Fillydelphia, Appaloosa, even the Crystal Empire and Griffinstone were losing their crops in the same manner. If things continued as they were, Equus would face a famine of unprecedented proportions. And where was I in this situation? Curled up in my bed feeling too weak to get up much less travel. By now the emptiness was painful to the point where I felt like it was ripping at me with huge serrated claws. It was obvious I wasn't getting anywhere in my own power so the best I could do was wait and hope that I could somehow point the Mane Six in the direction I needed to go.
✴✴✴✴✴✴✴
Fluttershy galloped through the Everfree, a mare on a mission. Even here, life was dying she noted as dead leaves fluttered down to the ground like snow but she shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind. She had more important things to worry about at this moment. She had been noticing that Light wasn't her usual energetic self for a while now and had been doing everything within her power to help, yet nothing she did helped. Instead, she was getting worse and worse.
Then this morning when she didn't come down for breakfast, the pegasus decided that enough was enough so she packed Light into a basket that she used to transport animals and dashed into the Everfree. There was only one pony she could think of that could help a creature that she was unfamiliar with. Fluttershy hopped over a fallen log and breathed a sigh of relief when Zecora's hut came into view. She then ran up and 'banged' on the door frantically. When she stopped knocking, the door swung open and she came face to face with the zebra she was looking for.
"Fluttershy, this is quite a surprise. What brings you to my humble abode?" Zecora asked.
"I need your help!" Fluttershy blurted out. "One of my little friends is dying and I can't stop it!"
Zecora nodded and invited her in and then shut the door. "Tell me, my friend, what kind of symptoms is your little creature exhibiting?"
"Mostly weakness and fatigue with some dizziness and weight loss," Fluttershy answered. "All signs of malnutrition but that's what I don't understand. She's been eating right, I've even seen her eat and she seems to be okay for a short time, but she's still getting worse. I've tried giving her extra portions and even extra feeding times, but she's not improving at all and I don't know what to do since this is a new creature I've never seen before. For all, I know this could be normal, but I doubt it."
Zecora listened calmly and once Fluttershy was done with her rant, spoke. "May I see the patient so that I can conduct an examination?" She asked.
Fluttershy nodded and unstrapped her basket then set it down as Zecora cleared a place on the table. The pegasus then reached into her basket and pulled her little friend out and placed her on the designated area of the table. The moment Zecora laid eyes on her, however, she gasped.
"A Lightkin." She breathed. Suddenly the symptoms made sense to her and she began rummaging around her shelves searching for something while Fluttershy stood there in shock and confusion.
"A what?" She asked.
"A Lightkin." Zecora clarified as she pushed bottles and jars around. "It is what my people call this little one's species. Where is it, I know I saw it somewhere around here." The last part she mumbled to herself but Fluttershy was too excited to notice.
"So you know all about Light's species?" She asked.
"I would not say I know everything about them, but I do know enough to know what is wrong with her. Aha! Found it!" Fluttershy jumped at the sudden exclamation as Zecora held up a small bottle with glowing white liquid victoriously.
"What's that?" Fluttershy asked.
"Light water. From the Spirit Tree itself." Fluttershy looked at her in confusion while Light stirred weakly.
"What's the Spirit Tree?" The pegasus asked.
"All in good time my friend. For now, help me get the little one to drink this." Zecora said gently as she pulled the stopper off the bottle. Fluttershy nodded and helped prop Light up as Zecora held the bottle up to help her drink. When the liquid was all gone, Light sat up on her own and Fluttershy sighed in relief.
"Thank you Zecora." She thanked the zebra as she hugged her. "Thank you so much for curing Light."
Zecora, however, shook her head and shrugged the pegasus off of her. "Regretfully I have not saved her. Merely prolonged the inevitable."
Fluttershy wilted then perked up again slightly. "Well, what about that water? Can't you just give her more?"
Zecora shook her head. "Light Water is very rare, especially in recent times, and that was my only bottle. And even if I had much more of it, it would not cure what ails this little one."
Fluttershy looked down at the ground forlornly until she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and looked up into the gentle black and white eyes of Light. She gave the little Lightkin a small smile then turned to Zecora.
"Is there a cure?" She asked and to her delight, Zecora nodded.
"There is, but before I tell you I believe this is something that Princess Twilight and the others need to hear as well." She said. "Gather your friends and I shall meet you at the castle. And bring the little one with you."
✴✴✴✴✴✴✴
"And she didn't tell you why?" Twilight asked her friend and Fluttershy shook her head as she sat on her throne stroking Light. The small creature let out purrs and trills of delight as the gentle hoof ran over her back.
"No, she just said that she'd meet us here and explain." The quiet pegasus said softly.
"Hmm, but it's still really interesting how she knew what Light was." Starlight said thoughtfully. "She called her a Lightkin, right?"
"Well as far as a species name goes, it's certainly original." Rarity threw in her two bits.
"And it sounds mystical. Wooooooooo." Pinkie said in a slightly spooky voice as she waved her hooves. Since Fluttershy had come to Twilight, the group was almost entirely gathered. All they were waiting for was Rainbow, Applejack, and Zecora herself. At that moment, the doors were thrown open and Dash flew in with AJ on her hooves.
"I got AJ, now somepony please tell me what's going on?" Rainbow demanded as she settled into her throne.
"Ah have to agree with Dash here." Applejack said with a nod. "Y'all know my family is having a hard enough time as it is without you dragging me away."
"I assure you both, you will get your answers as soon as Zecora gets here," Twilight assured the newcomers. At that moment, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. A hush of anticipation fell over the room.
"That must be her," Fluttershy whispered. Her friends didn't respond aside from the small nod. A few minutes later, Spike and Zecora entered the room with Spike taking a moment to shut the door behind them before joining the others on his own throne. It didn't even take ten seconds for Rainbow to start demanding answers
"Alright Z, what's this about." The prismatic pegasus started. "There's an important meeting at Town Hall and I'm missing it."
"What kind of meeting?" Fluttershy asked curiously.
"If I knew that then I wouldn't be so anxious to get there," Dash said grumpily. "All I know is that the Mayor had some important matter to discuss with the weather team but since I couldn't make it I had to send Thunderlane and Bloosomforth in my stead."
"She probably wants to talk to you about your water." Twilight suggested and the other ponies gave their friend their full attention as she began to explain. "Earlier this week, Lyra came to me about a stream leading into Ponyville that had taken on an odd purple hue. I investigated the stream in question and discovered that the water undrinkable and possibly even poisonous in high enough quantities. Even worse, as I was investigating I found that it was spreading to other streams and even a well."
The other ponies and dragon looked disturbed at this development and Rainbow frowned and cursed as she slumped in her seat. "Darnit, as if we didn't already have enough issues, now our water is undrinkable! We're going to have to ration our water until we somehow find a solution or at least figure out what's going on."
"And it is exactly that solution that I wish to discuss. it is the reason why I requested this gathering." Zecora inserted, bringing everyone's attention to her so fast a couple almost got whiplash. Once the sentence settled, however, Fluttershy frowned in confusion.
"Wait, I thought you were going to tell me how I can cure Light." She in bewilderment and the zebra nodded.
"Indeed I did. That is because the cure for your little friend and the solution to our current problem are one and the same." Zecora answered the pegasus. "But first there are a few things I need to explain in order for you to understand. To understand the answer, you must first understand the question."
And with that, Zecora pulled out a hoofull of green powder and blew it, filling the air with a green mist. "The first thing you must understand is the spirits." She said as forms took shape. "Spirits are beings that exist anywhere and everywhere. They are varied and come in many forms. Some have bodies and forms, other areas incorporeal as the wind or a dream. Some can be benevolent and others are malevolent. Windigoes, for example, is just one type of spirit." The ponies ducked as the forms of windigoes and other frightening forms swooped over them.
"And among these various spirits are two types we call light and dark spirits." As she said this, the mist abruptly changed colors. On one side it was white while the other side was black. "Light spirits, or Lightkin as my people know they are spirits of light." In the white mist, very familiar forms emerged and began frolicking in the air. "And on the other side of the spectrum, the are Shadow Owls, powerful creatures of darkness."
From within the black mists, dark-colored owls with orange eyes formed and took flight. As the gathered ponies watched, the owls flew over the Lightkin. But instead of attacking the smaller, brighter creatures, the larger creatures ignored the Lightkin. As the two groups intermingled, the mist began to mesh together, remaining separate but still tangled and mixed together.
"Not much is known about these two parties even by my own people, but what we do know for sure is that the Lightkin draw strength and life from the Spirit Tree, a powerful force of Light which maintained the balance of Light and Dark." As the zebra spoke, a tree emerged from the white mist standing tall and beautiful.
"Okay, and how exactly is this connected to our problem?" Rainbow asked impatiently as she fidgeted in her seat.
"It is very much connected to this crisis because the Spirit Tree has vanished," Zecora said and the mist tree vanished. "The forces of Light and Dark are held in a very delicate balance and when that balance has been severely disrupted, the consequences are dire. Without the Spirit Tree, the Light isn't as strong as it should be and life begins to die."
As she spoke, the darkness swelled and began to consume the light. Tiny Lightkin tried to flee the encroaching dark, only to be swallowed by the shadows. Fluttershy winced and trembled as each Lightkin was snatched up and Light sent Zecora a look that clearly said 'over dramatic much'? Zecora either didn't notice or didn't care because she continued.
"Initially I wasn't sure what had happened or was happening to the tree as it had simply vanished suddenly, but when Fluttershy brought this little one to me, the condition of the tree became clear to me." She said as she stroked Light's head gently. "As I said before, Lightkin draw strength and nourishment from the tree. If this little one is dying, then the tree is also dying. I wouldn't be surprised if she is the last of her kind."
Fluttershy gave a cry as she pulled Light from her place on the table and cradled her in her hooves. As the others sat there processing this new information, Twilight had as usual been taking notes on what was a fascinating subject.
"Now let me see if I've got this right. This Spirit Tree is a very important part of keeping the balance and because it's dying, everything else is dying as well?" The purple alicorn recapped and Zecora nodded.
"Indeed and unless the tree is saved, I doubt our troubles will end." She said grimly.
"Well then what are we waitin' fer, let's go save a tree! Again." Applejack declared as she stood up from her.
"Yay, I get to throw another tree saving party!" Pinkie cheered as she also leaped from her seat.
"Now hold on a moment," Rarity called before the two earthponies could go galloping out of the castle. "Do you even know where you're going? Admittedly we didn't know exactly where the Tree of Harmony was when we set out to look for it, but we at least knew where to look. Do we even have any idea where to look for the Spirit Tree?" The unicorn then cast a glance towards Zecora and to her dismay, the zebra shook her head.
"Unfortunately my people do not know the location of the Spirit Forest." The zebra said. "And I haven't been able to contact the spirits since the Tree went dark."
"Contact the spirits?" Twilight questioned with a look of curiosity.
"Indeed. Among my people, there are individuals who are capable of speaking with the spirits and even tapping into the power of the spirit realm. We know them as shamans and shamanesses." Zecora paused for a beat before finishing. "I am a shamaness."
"Ooohhh, cool!" Pinkie cooed as she bounced over to the zebra. "So does that mean that you can do cool stuff like talking to the dead?"
"Sometimes if someone wished to contact a loved one I can reach out to their spirit," Zecora explained. "And if they wish to, I can draw them to the earthly plain for a short time, just long enough for both to gain some measure of closure."
"Interesting, so is it some sort of spell or ritual? And do you use any sorts of items or-"
"Priorities Twi!" Rainbow Dash interrupted the alicorn's questions with a small snort. "I think the slow death of the world is a little higher on the to-do list."
Twilight gave out a huff but she still nodded. "You're right, this can wait. But I'd still like to know more about your people's magic when I'm able to."
"And I have no problems with sharing." Zecora agreed. "But that still leaves the issue of knowing where to go to find the tree."
"True. And if your people haven't found it, I don't we'll be able to find it that easily." Twilight mused then with a blaze of her horn, she activated the table's map and began scanning it as though looking for someplace where a spirit tree could be.
"I'll bet Light could point us in the right direction." Pinkie suggested. "I mean she came from the Spirit Forest right, so she might know the way home."
"Pinkie, Light wasn't born in this forest, she was 'born' in Fluttershy's backyard remember?" Twilight said, her gaze not leaving the table. "How could she be able to lead us to somewhere she's never been?"
"It sounds plausible to me." Fluttershy finally spoke up, the Lightkin in question still cradled in her arms. "There are a number animals with homing instincts that are able to find their way back to areas they haven't been to in years. Mostly breeding grounds to mate and, in the cases of most fish, lay their eggs. Admittedly Light isn't an animal and she wasn't born in the Spirit Forest, but she might have a slight inkling of where to go. Maybe even some sort of spirit homing instinct. But either way, I think its worth a shot, don't you think?"
Twilight paused her examination of the map to turn to her friend and the Lightkin in her lap with a thoughtful look. "Hmm. Oh, why not." The alicorn conceded. "At the very least she might have some theories that could help narrow down our search."
Fluttershy nodded and placed Light on the table. Light glanced around the table as though to gain her bearings before indicating two possible areas where the Tree could be.
What a stroke of luck, almost bordering on Deus Ex Machina. When Fluttershy took me to Zecora's, I didn't expect the zebra to know about my kind or the Spirit Tree. The background she gave on the Spirit Tree and its role in this Equestria was also very helpful and that Light Water of her's did wonders. I've felt much better than I have in ages. After that, all I had to do was point out where I thought the forest might be. In the end, it was decided that we would start with the Mysterious South as the Undiscovered west was least partly mapped and there was a train line that extended that far so at least looking in that area would be fairly quick.
As I questioned the wisdom in having a train line extend to an area that ponies didn't know about, the Mane Six were deciding who was going. Obviously Twilight and her friends were coming with the addition of Zecora for her expertise. Spike and Starlight were left in charge of the castle while we were gone and Fluttershy managed to convince Cheerilee to look after her animals while she was gone. With all that squared away and their bags packed (Twilight made sure that Rarity only brought a backpack with necessities much to the unicorn's chagrin), the group met up at the train station and boarded a train to the Mysterious South.
As we followed the train to the end of the line, Twilight unsurprisingly started asking Zecora questions about spirits and her magic. I, however, was more focused on the passing scenery and as we went over the Macintosh Hills, I began to get a strange feeling. Sort of like a small tugging sensation that just got stronger as we went. When we went past the Badlands, I realized what I was feeling was an indication that we were getting closer and once we got off the train I took off with Fluttershy and the others at my heels.
Following the tugging sensation in my chest, I navigated through the small forest I'd run into until I came to a tall thick wall of branches and brambles with a door just small enough for a Lightkin fixed into it. As I stared up at the almost impassible wall, the rest of group caught up with me and paused as well. As Fluttershy scooped me up into her arms, Twilight examined the door.
"Hmm. I could be wrong, but I think this is the place. Nice work Light." The alicorn praised then turned back to the door. Her horn glowed raspberry as she began working the knob on the door until finally, the door was open. Smiling proudly, she turned to the others as gestured to the opening.
"And there we go." She said with a smile. "Now let's get going girls!"
Everypony gave her a skeptical look, silently asking if she was serious. Even Zecora was looking at her funny. Finally, Rarity piped up to point out the flaw in her 'plan'.
"Um, Twilight. Not to sound rude or anything, but-" The unicorn started only to be interrupted by Applejack's blunt words.
"But that doorway ain't big enough for me to even put my head in." The farmpony said with a flat look and Twilight realized her mistake.
Rainbow approached the doorway and stuck a leg in but nothing else could get through. "Yep, we're not getting through." The pegasus concluded and turned to Twilight. "Think you can teleport us in?"
Twilight facehoofed. "Of course, how stupid of me. Everyone one step closer, I'm going to try." Everyone did as they were told and once Twilight was satisfied they were close enough, she activated her horn...only for it to sputter out. She looked up at her horn in confusion and tried again, only to get the same result. She tried several more time, but with every failure, it became increasingly obvious that they weren't going anywhere by magic.
"Uh Twi, what's wrong?" Applejack asked after the fifteenth failure.
"I'm not sure, there's some sort of interference that's negating my teleport." Twilight huffed then turned to Rainbow Dash. "Do you think you could fly us over?"
The pegasus looked up and after some time, she frowned and shook her head. "Not a chance. Canopy's too thick to make it through safely without passengers and that thorn barrier looks pretty high. I'm not sure I could make it over on my own, much less carrying somepony."
"Looks like the only one who can make it in is Light." Pinkie pointed out and the pegasus frowned.
"No way no how. I'm not letting Light go in there on her own!" She declared then turned to Twilight. "Twilight, please tell me you have some sort of spell that can get us in. Like a shrinking spell or something like that. I don't want to let the little guy wander into there without some sort of help."
Twilight frowned. "Even if I were able to, shrinking spells are the most complicated and dangerous spells in Equestria. There are lots of horror stories about improperly executed shrinking spells and since I haven't finished studying it, I'm not comfortable trying it."
"Besides, even if she knew how ta shrink us Ah wouldn't advise it." Applejack added, "Take it from somepony who's been shrunk before, there ain't much you can do where yer the size of a breezie."
Fluttershy perked up at that and I could hear her mutter 'breezie' under her breath. When I looked up at her from my place in the crook of her arm, I could practically see the gears turning in her head.
"There has to be something we can do." Rainbow continued then turned to Zecora. "What about you? Surely you've something that can help."
"Unfortunately no. None of the potions I carry can be of any use and my spirit magic will not be able to penetrate this barrier." The zebra answered. "The basic principle of spirit magic isn't that you are forcing the spirits, rather you are asking permission and based on what I can feel from this barrier, it will not let us in. I've already tried."
"Hmm, that may be why I can't teleport in." Twilight mused. "Every time my magic reached out to the other side, my magic was cut off and the spell was disrupted."
Rainbow Dash looked she was going to ask Pinkie Pie next (probably to see if her reality warping powers would be of any help) when Fluttershy suddenly piped up.
"What if we used that spell we used when the breezies were here?" She suggested and everyone looked at her. For a moment she looked like she was going to fold in on herself at the sudden attention, but she steeled herself and explained.
"Twilight, do you remember that spell you used to turn us into breezies to help Sea Breeze and the others get home?" Fluttershy asked and the unicorn nodded. "Well, what if we used that spell here?"
"And turn ourselves into breezies?" Rainbow asked and Fluttershy shook her head.
"No. We'd turn ourselves into Lightkin." She answered and everyone paused to take that in. Honestly, I thought it was a brilliant idea. If a Lightkin was the only creature that could get in, then why not. Apparently Twilight also thought it was a brilliant idea because after she thought it over, her eyes lit up.
"That's actually brilliant Fluttershy." She said and the pegasus blushed at her praise. "The transmogrification spell is not as complicated as the shrinking spell and all that's needed is a specimen for it to scan." She then pointed to me. "And we have one right here."
Everypony else smiled and nodded at each other. "Why Fluttershy, what a brilliant idea." Rarity cooed.
"Yeah, thanks for coming up with it. I was this close to asking Pinkie Pie for a way in. Pinkie. Pie!" Rainbow exclaimed as she placed her hooves on her fellow pegasi's shoulders and shook her a little bit. There were more words of praise that made Fluttershy blush until Twilight clapped her hooves to get everyone's attention.
"Alright everypony, gather together. Fluttershy set Light down there." Twilight instructed. Everyone immediately jumped into action, clumping together in preparation for the spell and after setting me down on a root, Fluttershy went to join them. With a blaze of her horn, Twilight activated the spell and before I knew it, I was surrounded by two rings of glyphs. It felt a little strange but not at all uncomfortable. More ticklish than uncomfortable.
I watched as the group shrank down to my size as their fur became snow white and luminescent. Interestingly, they didn't transform into exact copies of me, rather each had certain traits that set them apart from each other. Rarity looked more like a cat with her long silky fur and fluffy tail. Pinkie's fur was as curly and as her mane and tail usually were and her tail was a largish cottony ball like a rabbit while Dash's fur was jagged like lightning bolts with two long tufts that resembled wings and it looked like she had a notch in her ear.
Fluttershy also had longer fur, but hers made her look more demure than elegant like Rarity and her ' second ears' were longer and more antenna like with feathery tufts where her wings had been. Twilight's fur looked a little closer to my own style with some longer feathery tufts where her wings were. Applejack had something similar except she just kept her signature ponytail and Zecora had very pale almost invisible grey highlights in her fur.
Another difference I noticed when the transformation was complete was that while they were glowing, they weren't glowing white like me. Twilight had a magenta glow identical to her Element of Harmony while the others had a similar sort of glow. Fluttershy was pink, Rainbow Dash red, Applejack orange, Rarity purple and Pinkie Pie was blue. Zecora's glow was spring green instead of white as well. For a time, I sat and watched as the group acquainted themselves with their new bodies.
"My horn!" Was Twilight's first reaction when she took complete stock of herself. "My horn is gone! How am I supposed to reverse the spell without it!?"
Almost everyone froze at that and Rarity paused and closed her eyes as if to focus. A moment later she opened them, seemingly satisfied. She turned to Twilight and set her new hand on her friend's shoulder to calm her.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it isn't gone, completely. I can still feel mine so I'm sure it's the same for you." Rarity soothed and Twilight took a calming breath before trying to focus as well.
"You're right, it's still there." She finally sighed in relief, a sentiment that was reflected by the others in the group and they went back to their examinations.
"Wow, this is so cool!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced around, leaving small blue leaves of light like I do. "I feel so much lighter and bouncier than before! Wheeee!"
She then began cartwheeling around as Rainbow examined her 'wings' with disappointment. "Ah rats, my wings!" She said then sighed. "Looks like I'm grounded."
"It's not that bad." I finally piped up, drawing everyone's attention to me. "Lightkin have other ways of getting airborne."
Everyone stared at me until finally Fluttershy broke the silence. "You're talking...and we can understand you." She whispered. I grinned kindly at her.
"So you are," I said then turned to everyone and waved a hand. "Hello everypony and zebra, I'm Ori and it's nice to meet you all officially."
"Hell-" Fluttershy started only to be cut off by Pinkie Pie.
"HOLD ON A SECOND!" She shouted and suddenly she was on my face. "Ori doesn't sound like Light so why did you say I was close when I was guessing?"
"Fun fact, Ori is a name that means 'light' or 'my light'," I said in response and Pinkie Pie looked thoughtful.
"Oohhhhh, I see." She said understandingly. "So technically we were calling you by your name this whole time."
"If you want to see it that way, yeah," I said with a nod and Pinkie finally backed away from my personal space.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Ori." She said with a smile then paused before continuing. "Neat name. Short, but it has a nice ring to it. Ori. Ori. Oooooooooori!" Pinkie Pie then skipped away, playing little word games with my name.
"So Li- I mean Ori, what did you mean when you said 'Lightkin have a way of getting airborne'?" Rainbow Dash asked. "How would you know that?"
"That my friend is a long story that I'll tell you later. But for now-" At this point, I stopped talking and turned to climb up the side of the tree I was on and backflipping over a few heads. "-being ground-bound isn't all bad." I finished with a small self-satisfied smirk at Rainbow's gawking face.
"That was so awesome!" She squeed once she stopped trying to catch flies with her mouth. "How'd you do that?"
"Lot's of practice and training since I was little. But enough about me, don't we have a job to do?" I asked.
"You're right." Twilight agreed and turned to the till then forgotten door. "We should get going if we want to save the tree. After you?" She offered politely and I accepted.
"Thank you very much, Twilight," I said before leading the way in with the seven new Lightkins following behind.
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I want to see fluttershy get called out on being the cause of the planet death.
Ooooooooh this is interesting
nice... partially watched a lets play and the game seems cool
8135422 no. She ain't to blame for that
Don't even try... she did nothing wrong.
8135605
Don't worry both of you. It will be addressed, but not negatively. The idea I had was that she reacted to the situation at had and didn't know the consequences. In the game, Naru knew that the tree was calling for it's lost child. Fluttershy however, didn't. All she knew was that something strange was happening and didn't know if it was dangerous or not and reacted accordingly.
8135422
8135649 Like I said, I'm not great at rhyming and with how much she had to say, I wasn't going to risk it. Maybe that's why we don't see her often in the show
.
8135633 indeed
Yea new chapter and aww they are little Lightkin I wish they wear pictures of the main six as Lightkin can't wait for the next chapter
I knew that you were gonna cut it off at the door!!!!
I KNEW IT!!!!!!
YYYYYAAAAAAAS IIIIISSSSS ALIIIIIIVVVVVEEEE!
8135940 Don't worry, I plan on updating as soon as possible.
8135940 SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WHY!?!?!!? (Insert more drama words here) (lel)
YESSS IT"S ALIVE!
I mean it's alive
sorry
8136214 I LIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!
Guess who said that.
8136451 umm you?
8136461 Are you being serious? It's a movie quote. I'm not sure home well known it is, but I think there's at least on gif based the scene.
8136465 I am never serious but I also never watch movies as games and work take up all of my time
EDIT
My internet activities are limited to fimfiction fanfiction and youtube
8136479 Mushu from Disney's Mulan. You should watch a clip of that scene because I don't think I did it justice.
Good thing the Cutie Map also include Mysterious South in its database.
Making me think the two trees might connect to each other - one balance the Light and Dark, another balance Harmony and Chaos.
i thank she just rhymes to mess with people and nice chapter
8136483 okay sorry i caused you any trouble
8136607 You didn't. It's cool.
So there's just one small glaring plot hole the size of a continent in this chapter, and it's in the form of one small line that completely changes the path of the story that was very poorly thought out, this line right here:
you see you obviously didn't think for more that a second on this because if you did than you wouldn't have used such a stupid line. I mean just by using a hint of logic a spell that changes you're size should be a good bit easier and less dangerous than a spell that changes both you size and SPECIES. I mean if anything the shrinking spell would be a prerequisite for being able to learn the species changing spell, I mean, let me use an analogy:
In D&D the spells go from left 0 to level 9 the higher the level the stronger and more complicated a spell is, in D&D the spell reduce person is a 1st or 2nd level spell, now this shrinking spell is obviously more powerful the reduce person as it makes the target much smaller, so this shrink spell would be about level 4 or 5, which is pretty advanced stuff, no common practitioner of magic would know anything above the 3rd level, you'd actually have to study magic pretty hard to learn something like this. A spell that allows you to change into another species would be a minimum of 7th level, yeah sure there'd be lower level versions but they's only let you turn into things about the same size as yourself. Now a poly-morphing spell that targets not just you or a single target, but a bunch of allies as well, minimum 8th level.
I hope that analogy helped get across what I meant.
This little bit says that the barrier is not just a automatic shield but a semi intelligent spirit that is consciously not letting them enter, why else would Zacora even try to ask it to let them in. if the barrier doesn't want them in as ponies it should be intelligent enough to see that the just artificially made themselves spirits and should still refuse them entry.
The Barrier doesn't seem to care that they're here to help the forest, which is understandable it can't tell for certain that they won't try to harm it further the only one it can fully trust is Ori, it still shouldn't let them in.
there is a way around this plot hole though, a trial, a trial that proves that they are worthy of entering the forest, it's that simple and the plot hole could be erased as then they wouldn't have a reason to change into Lightkin (though if you still wanted to do that you could have it as they're forest to transform into Lightkin while in the forest as it's a place where only spirits can only truly survive or something like that.)
now you'd be hard pressed to find a story that doesn't have a few plot holes, but the suspension of disbelief only really works on hiding them when they're not shot through the main plot. so far this is the only bit of the story that i truly dislike and again that's only because the plot hole is a big one in the middle of the main plot, you got some talent at righting, and though there are a few things that you need to work on. (Like when in dialog you should us the names of the characters to tell who's talking as putting in something like, "The Pegasus" or "the unicorn" adds an unnecessary middle man that can be very confusing if there's more than one of that species in the scene(you did this in the chapter as well,)) you have a good bit of potential and I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapter, good luck and my the stories you spin be a world of wonder.
8136487 An excellent theory.
8136612 Thank you for your comment. No seriously, thank you for your constructive criticism, it is refreshing. Lately I haven't gotten a lot of constructive criticism like this, they've mostly pointed out the flaws they've seen with very little if any encouragement. I like it. When I get too many negative comments, it sort of effects how quickly I can update a story.
I tell myself that it's just their opinion and I shouldn't let it effect me so badly, but subconsciously I begin to get a little self conscious and wonder if I'm writing this story right. I even asked a friend of mine to proofread this chapter before I published it because I wasn't sure if my explanation for the Spirit Tree's presence and effect on Equestria was okay.
As for D&D, I'm not very familiar about it. I've heard of it and have even watched some Harmonquest but I'm not all that familiar with it and it's technicalities. And when I try to look it up or role playing games in general, I just get so confused that I give up.
8136702 yeah D&D can be quite confusing, I just used it because the magic system is fairly linear, 0 level spells are pretty much parlor tricks while 9th level spells can complacently change the world and you'r surroundings like with interplanetary teleport and gate (essentially opening a portal to another plane of existence or dimension) I also chose D&D because I'm a giant nerd for it and like playing wizards so I knew the magic system fairly well and tried to describe it fairly well.
Any way good luck righting the your story and have fun doing it.
8136741 thank you
I think there might be a sight online to change word documents to a rhyme.
So i've never played the game, just seen roughly a few picture and drawing of the little beast, and i'm enjoying the story so far.
God i do hope you wont try to crossover with other stories, just so you can keep your story strait (still do as you like you're the author).
There is many unknown for me, and i'm waiting to see how it will end.
8137612 I don't plan on crossing over with other Displaced. Yet. Once this crisis has been solved and Ori has created her token, then I'll be open for crossover.
8136088 its okee!! :3
8136132 IKR?!?
(insert more drama stuff here) 
8137728
There is just so many displaced fics using that kind of chapter as filler, and end up derailled because reasons, it usually start really good, and start to flop after the first crossover, truly a sad thing
8137857 my fav. word is SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
What is yours?
I like how you have not done a crossover yet, (those tend to be overblown and ruin an otherwise decent story), Ori is not the over powered badass, and you got them all to join in with the transmogrification spell! Nicely Done
zecora only mentions spirit tree but at this point and onward you use spirit forest and zecora never mentions a forest
Maybe you should call this story "Ori and the Everfree Forest".
Just a suggestion.
8146825 are you seriously complaining about a comment that was made a couple of months ago? I will not deny that that is how displaced stories start. It's still kind of redundant, don't you think? There are more creative and original ways of doing things.
8137728
Heh, good on you. That's what I did too. I even did a few chapters after the crisis before getting my first (and currently only) crossover chapter out.
First of all, Zecora isn't rhyming? I get that it's hard, but you gotta put work into the story.
Secondly, Zecora never mentions a forest. Only a tree. Yet everyone keeps saying forest.
That's not possible. Ori is a spirit. You can't turn into a spirit unless you die/leave your body.
8136614 I believe the transformation spell only worked because who was being transformed think about it. the mane 6 thanks to the elements and Rainbow Power is deeply connected to the TREE OF HARMONY the tree in charge of the balance between order and chaos in this world, this works for Zecora too because it was twilight who cast the spell and is also shamanesses who thanks to Twilight is now drawing power from the same source as the mane 6 The Tree of Harmony, and for as 8162434 said the Spirit problem likely their true Physical forms are being stored inside the Tree. So instead of Drawing power from the spirit tree like Ori the mane 6 is drawing their power from their elements and in Zecora's case the TREE OF HARMONY itself. SO they ARE Lightkin but only for a very different tree
8162434 This is a fanfiction. Anything can happen.
8190469
Within reason.
This is going to be so awesome!
Please, whatever you do, don't stop.
Also, are you gonna do some drama by having Fluttershy somehow learn that IT'S ALL HER FAULT (because it totally is) despite Ori not wanting her to know or something? I could totally see that happening. You know, because Ori doesnt seem to blame her for what happened and I have no doubt that Fluttershy would blame herself if she discover that particular fact. I can also easily imagine Ori loosing her shit at whoever shared that information with her. Unless she's the one who reveal that information by accident (either to Fluttershy herself (most likely while trying to explain what happened to everyone) or to either RD and/or AJ and them, in a fit of anger, blaming it all on her. In which case, I think AJ is the most likely candidate since because of what is happening her whole familly lost their job and it's not exactly a stretch to imagine them starving to death (especially if she has no way of checking up on them to make sure they're ok) than RD since she's the one I would imagine getting angry and/or frustrated and getting into a rant where she let's that information slip and she'd overhear. I can't really imagine either Twi, Rarity, Pinkie or Zecora blaming her for it whitout something drastic happening)
8246348
?
Me needs more
This is a lot longer than the other chapters.
Calmly awaiting the next chapter
8278667
Working on it.
Have you watched the trailer for Ori and the Blind Forest's sequel?
Oooooohhhhh, I can't wait!!!!!!!!!