Chapter 5.3: Solstice
Twilight had never seen this trail through the Everfree before—as a matter of fact, she was positive it didn’t exist. But considering everything else around them, a road that shouldn’t be there was the least of her worries.
The forest had very little in common with the one she knew. Most of the trees towered overhead, as tall as some castles and wider across at their trunks than ten ponies standing in a line. Their leaves spread wide overhead, and their bark was dark red.
“Rarity told me I shouldn’t make any promises I can’t keep,” she said. “But I’m really just here to get the plant. I think I’ve given up trying to understand everywhere I end up. But it…” She hesitated. “I think for once this might answer more questions about you than it raises. The Pinkie sense… that’s connected to this, isn’t it? The way you always seem to get your hooves on things right when you need them…”
Pinkie nodded. “I might not have shared everything about my cutie mark story with you before. But now that you’re here…” She gestured with a hoof up at the forest. “You can see where I ended up.”
Twilight nodded. “So you’re not… thousands of years old, part of the ancient history of Equestria?”
“The Spring Queen is,” Pinkie answered. “And the world before that, and the one before that. We’ve always had seasons here, and always the same ones. But the ones who wear the crowns are different. Their interpretations are different. Some winters are peaceful and relaxed, while some springs drown whole cities in rain, making rivers burst their banks and drowning every field.”
Twilight swallowed, unable to meet her eyes. “Equestria runs its own seasons, don’t we? Pegasus ponies, and earth pony magic, and even unicorn spells in some parts. Though Celestia does the real work by angling the sun right, controlling the amount of light the planet gets. Everypony else is really just picking up a few extra pieces.”
Pinkie shrugged. “Lots of ponies let their friends help with what’s important. Ponies are better at keeping promises than some of the ones who came before.”
Twilight heard something then, a howling in the trees not far away. It wasn’t wolves, or even timberwolves. It sounded too intelligent for that, enough that it could hate more than just feel hungry. “What the hay is that?”
“Who.” Pinkie nudged her forward with one leg. “Don’t stop. They can’t hurt me, but you’re a stranger. They’ll be waiting for you when you leave the garden.”
Twilight shuddered, then hurried forward to keep up. “Are we in the Everfree? Or is this some other world?”
“Yes,” Pinkie said unhelpfully. “That’s why you had to go to the Everfree to call me. Here ponies don’t control. The seasons and the weather and the animals all do what they wish. Anyplace like it, our worlds still touch. We have old treaties, signed a long time before I was born, requiring Equestria to respect these places, not to try and conquer them. That’s why Celestia allows somewhere so dangerous to exist so close to her ponies. We need recruits, and ponies need to remember where their power comes from. Or else they’ll be found unworthy of the trust they’ve been given, and it will be taken away.”
Twilight didn’t argue, though it didn’t sound right to her. From everything she knew, pony magical abilities were innate, imbued from birth. Only powerful dark magic could take it away, even temporarily.
But this wasn’t her treaty to break, just like the one Celestia had made with the seaponies. If her mentor thought the world should keep working this way, all she could do was try and understand it.
At least the path seemed to be leading somewhere. Not just deeper into the unfamiliar trees, but towards a place.
It was wrong to call it a castle—there were no fortifications, no stone towers. The structure looked to be built from living wood, a little like the library she lived in. But while her home still looked basically like a tree, this palace only had passing resemblance to one. It was at least three stories, with wide windows of mostly opaque glass and vines growing slowly around the outside, like a tree being strangled by mistletoe.
Somehow night had already come to the place, and light shone from inside its windows. There were even more in the expansive courtyard behind it, filled with white stone statues and many figures engrossed in quiet conversation.
No, it isn’t night. That’s shade. The canopy of trees had grown so large above them that the entire mansion and the land around it was in perpetual shadow. But that didn’t make it dark, because many of the plants provided their own light. Glowing yellow and green blossoms surrounded the house in carefully trimmed flowerbeds that sparkled like stars.
“It’s always a shame to give up this place,” Pinkie said, voice wistful and distant. “Until next year. But come on… we can go through the party!” She yanked Twilight by the hoof, dodging between flowerbeds and towards the rear courtyard.
“How did…” Twilight didn’t resist, letting Pinkie yank her along. At this point, she might as well just accept it. “How did you end up ruling a season, Pinkie?”
It wasn’t just flowers this way either, as they got closer Twilight could see that there were guards in attendance too. Earth ponies by the look of them, though they were so big that even Celestia would’ve seemed a little scrawny by comparison. And… was she hallucinating, or were their coats more like stone than fur?
“I’ve been waiting ages to bring one of you here with me,” Pinkie said, unhelpfully. “Wondered if I should send somepony an invitation. Maybe Fluttershy, she seems like she’d enjoy it.”
Twilight bit back her frustration as they passed the massive guards, and saw their heavy stone clubs. Like Pinkie they had green things growing on them, though instead of their manes both of these stallions had moss thick on their backs, broken with a few tiny mushrooms.
Compared to some of the places Twilight had seen so far, this Faewyld didn’t seem so bad.
Through to the courtyard proper, and Twilight could finally see the party in progress. She slowed to a stop, her leg yanking free of Pinkie’s as she continued on, and for a moment she was completely overwhelmed by her senses.
Hanging lanterns overhead filled the courtyard with a swirl of greens and blues and yellows so vibrant that her eyes seemed to lose focus. A band of creatures hidden in shadow played off in one corner, using instruments she had no names for to fill the courtyard with an energetic, swinging beat. But most impressive of all were the tables of food.
Compared to the buffet spread here, the Grand Galloping Gala might as well be offering fast food. There were vegetable platters with arrangements from all over the word, flowers and fresh bread. Exotic food too, with fish of various kinds commonly eaten by griffons and occasionally by pegasus ponies. There was an entire table of dessert, where a few familiar dishes were on one end and little chocolate turtles seemed to swim in a sugary lake.
“Hey,” Pinkie called from in front of her, snapping her hooves together. “Twilight, you still with me?”
She blinked, then shook her head to clear it. “O-oh, yeah. What’s going… right. We’re here for a plant or something, right?”
“A plant or something,” Pinkie repeated. “Let’s… maybe not stay here. I guess it can be pretty overwhelming the first time.”
The party’s guests were just as overwhelming as the celebration itself. There were dozens of creatures here, dressed in paper-thin dresses of flame, or bits of ice strung together by beads of dew. Most of those here had growing things somewhere on their bodies, but not all. Many were ponies, but some were not. Griffons and minotaurs and stranger beings that dressed in thick clothing and kept their faces obscured.
Wherever Pinkie took them, creatures bowed respectfully to them. A few made polite conversation with her for a moment, or asked her for something. But Pinkie just nodded back towards Twilight and kept moving towards the rear of the garden.
Until someone stopped them. He was not a pony, though Twilight couldn’t have said exactly what he was. He walked like a dragon, and wore white robes and a turban on his head. His face was wrapped completely in strips of white cloth, so that only the piercing blue eyes within were visible. And like Pinkie, he had a crown.
A steel band, resting on little thunderclouds that flew above him, occasionally rumbling and flashing within but never striking out.
“Spring, is today the best time to bring guests? The solstice has already begun.”
Pinkie looked up, and nodded politely to him. Despite their difference in size and apparent age, she didn’t bow or prostrate herself. She met his eyes like she wasn’t afraid.
“Thunder,” she answered. “I’ll be returning to the celebration soon. This guest has called by right of contact with the mortal world. It’s still my duty to help her.”
“For a few hours,” the tall figure answered, laughter in his voice. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of an Alicorn in my court. If she overstays her welcome, I’ll make sure she’s comfortable. For the terms of her exile, at any rate.”
Twilight summoned a defensive spell by reflex—a shield, probably. Her horn glowed slightly, until the figure finally turned. His eyes widened. “As adorable as I remember. Be on your way then, Spring. We will speak again on your return.” He walked back towards the party, much smoother and more gracefully than any dragon.
“I don’t like him,” Twilight muttered, as soon as he was out of earshot. “Why would he threaten me? I only saw the treaty once, but… it looked like it’s important for both sides. Why would he want to take me hostage?”
“He wouldn’t be breaking the treaty,” Pinkie said, taking her leg again and hurrying her past the band, then out of the courtyard and into an expansive garden. It was easily twice as large as anything at Canterlot only she didn’t recognize anything growing here. “You can stay until sunrise, that’s the treaty. If you overstay, then we can keep you a year and a day. I wouldn’t keep you here… but the offense would be committed tomorrow, technically. Which means you’d be Thunder’s to punish.”
At least the name makes sense. “That party… happens every year?”
“Four times a year,” she answered. “When one season dies and the next is born. And the other monarchs have their own things to celebrate. I like to help, and usually they’re pretty fun. Maybe you’ll come back!”
“Maybe,” she said noncommittally. I didn’t actually promise anything, it’s okay. “You didn’t say how you got here, Pinkie. I’ve met your parents! How’d you go from rock farming to…” She trailed off, glancing weakly over her shoulder towards the distant party. “What do they call you, the Queen of Spring?”
“Last one retired,” she said. “When I found my way here… same day I got my cutie mark…” She looked away, eyes glazing over a little. “Every season has its own rules. But Spring only has one: your desires are your own. The last king was tired of ruling your world, and he wanted to move on. I was here, and… I guess he desired somepony new to spice things up. It was the first time a pony ever had the job, and Spring is a season of firsts. New growth, new births, new relationships. New queen.”
This doesn’t make any sense. But she didn’t argue. Maybe when she made it back to Equestria she could make a little more sense of any of it. Or maybe she’d be happier just forgetting and letting it all turn gray in her memory.
“Maybe you can tell me more about it another time,” she said. “I’ve been trying to learn about all these other worlds. I had no idea we had so many neighbors.”
“None as friendly as we are!” Pinkie said cheerfully. “We’re really on the same side, even if we do things a little different. Fae need stories, and we need a place to order. There’s no dream without a dreamer. No season without a forest.”
At least that much makes sense. “You said you could take me to the garden. Can you take me to the part of the garden with the plant I need?”
Pinkie giggled. “Are you sure you aren’t fae after all?” She leaned in close, squinting at her. “I’ve heard Alicorns can’t be. Alright, come on!” She bounced off, through the carefully manicured garden.
They didn’t have very far to go before they reached their goal, a circle of ancient stone pillars connected with tresses overgrown with vines. A perfect cylinder was cut in the trees far above, which somehow seemed to shift to keep the light streaming down even as the sun moved across the sky.
After all that she’d seen, this was the least of Twilight’s worries. A sign outside the garden proclaimed in Old Ponish, “Life that Waits.”
There was only a single entrance to the inner garden, an archway with many thin strands of green blocking it, so that she couldn’t see inside clearly. But brilliant sunlight shone out through the cracks, almost blinding now that her eyes had adjusted to the gloom.
“I have a warning before you go, Twilight. You should always listen when a fae gives you a warning, because we usually don’t. But you’re my friend, and that means I can be nice.”
“Okay,” Twilight said. “In the last week I’ve turned into a good listener. What can’t I do here? It’s the food, isn’t it? I can’t eat fairy food or else I can’t ever go home.”
“Oh, no.” Pinkie giggled. “You’ll just never enjoy mortal food again if you ever taste ours. That’s not so bad.”
Twilight’s ears flattened. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t sneak any.
“Moly is an herb that has been missing from Equestria for a long time. That isn’t the way it should be. It’s been a part of so many good stories. Maybe yours will be one of those that ponies sing about, long after we’re gone. But that isn’t good enough.”
“Okay.” Twilight tried to look around her, to the inner garden. “So what is?”
Pinkie ignored her question. “When you go in there, you may pick only one growing thing. If you take it with you with the desire to see it returned to life in the world outside, then you will make it safely home. But if you pick it for some other reason… then you won’t find your way back. You will still be here come sunrise, and you’ll be trapped.”
Twilight winced. But she couldn’t imagine any reason for Pinkie to lie to her. It didn’t seem like she even could. Maybe Twilight couldn’t either while she was here. “I planned on using it,” Twilight muttered. “That’s the whole reason I came.”
Pinkie shrugged. “I can’t tell you what to do.” She bounced back a few steps. “That’s my warning! Do what you want with it. Equestria is south from here. No matter what way you walk, walk south. You’ll find your way. You have earth pony magic now, the forest should hear you. Follow it home, and don’t get caught here when it’s Thunder’s turn to rule. Please.”
Before Twilight could argue, she was gone, bouncing behind a large hedgerow. In a few seconds, Twilight was left completely alone.
Well this is just fantastic. She’d found her way here—into a place that shouldn’t even exist, to creatures she thought were stories—and it didn’t matter.
Might as well see what I can’t have, she thought, rising and making her way through the archway.
If she’d thought the sun was blinding before, she had to lift a leg to cover her eyes for a few seconds, taking a few deep breaths.
It was a beautiful little garden, quite a bit smaller than she’d expected from the outside. A single fountain in the center bubbled with clear water, dribbling down its sides and into four thin troughs in the dirt, irrigating the plants within.
Every species she recognized here, she knew only from books and stories. There was the Everbloom flower, which could protect whoever wore it on their breast from any harm. The fruit of Knowledge, for which Star Swirl had supposedly given all his wealth for only a single bite.
And there in the corner, the unassuming little weed that she’d come for. Its leaves were so black they lacked definition, more like charcoal sketches than an actual plant. White flowers grew around them, speckled with little flecks of gold.
Twilight made her way over, stopping beside the single thick stalk. It was no wonder Pinkie wanted this replanted in Equestria—there were no others. If she took this with her and used it on Sweetie Belle, then it really would be extinct.
So what do I do? How can I answer a question that can’t be answered? They were so close to a cure—a cure she’d fought for just as hard as Rarity at this point. How could she give it up?
There’s a way out of this, somehow. Pinkie’s words had been exact. She couldn’t take it back with her unless she wanted to see it “returned to life in the world outside.” Anything else and she wouldn’t be able to find her way home.
I don’t want it to be extinct, I don’t have to lie about that. It would be amazing to bring an extinct plant back to life. But how could she tell Rarity that her sister wouldn’t get it?
The solution was staring her in the face.
Plants grow. With a little earth pony magic, they can grow quickly. I’ve got lots of friends who could help. I bet Pinkie would. Could she get it back, then keep it away from Rarity long enough to grow the replacement?
It’s part of the deal. She’ll understand that.
Twilight reached down near the base of the herb, then stopped. There were steps to this, steps she had learned while working around the Apple farm. I have to wash the roots, then wrap them in something damp. If they dry out or I physically damage them, the plant will die.
Twilight stepped out of the garden, leaving the Moly exactly where she’d found it growing. There had to be something she could use to hold it around here somewhere. I probably should’ve packed something. But what did a pony pack when they were leaving their world behind for a few hours?
“Well that’s a face I didn’t expect to find here,” said a voice from nearby.
Twilight stopped dead, eyes narrowing as the speaker approached. Not walked so much as floated. She knew him, of course. There was no forgetting Discord. “Shouldn’t you be with Fluttershy?”
“I am,” he answered, holding out one arm in front of her. She could see right through it to the plants on either side. “But if I was there, I’d miss you. The constraints of a single-instance existence are for ponies.”
She backed away from him, watching nervously. She had no illusions about Discord’s intentions. If he was here, it could only be because he planned on causing trouble. “I’m busy,” she said. “You should go to the party. It looks fun.”
“Would that I could,” he said, voice wistful. “But I’ve been very naughty back on Equus. You may’ve seen some of… well, let’s just say they’re very boring when it comes to the rules around here. They don’t want to see me again until… I honestly don’t know. Too long.”
“Smart,” Twilight muttered. “Go bother somepony else. I’m here to save a pony’s life.”
“You’re here to take it away, if we’re getting technical,” Discord said. He drifted past her, still a ghostly echo. But his voice was still clear. The accusation was even clearer. But what he’d said about being trapped was apparently true too, because he hadn’t cast any spells, or done any other terrifying things to her. Maybe he wasn’t here to ruin things for her. “You should think about it—the pony is eager to grow up now, but how do you think she’ll feel about it in sixty years. Do you think she’ll thank you when she’s rotting away?”
How the buck do you know about her? But Twilight didn’t ask. Discord was likely to ask for something in exchange, and that wasn’t the most important thing right now. “I don’t know—”
Somewhere far away, so far that she could only make it out distantly, the music came to a screeching, atonal halt.
Discord raised a claw, clucking his tongue. “Careful with that, Princess. It almost sounded like you were about to lie. I wouldn’t do that here if I were you.”
“I dislike you intensely,” she spat. “And I wish you’d leave me alone.”
The music resumed, a little less energetically than last time. She’d have to hope that it was enough.
“They always hate the ones who give bad news,” Discord said, voice distant and wistful. “But I’m only telling you the truth. Did you even ask her if she wanted your cure? Did you ask Rarity if she asked permission?”
She opened her mouth to respond—but stopped herself short this time. “No,” she admitted.
“You’ve done some amazing things,” Discord said. “Don’t think I haven’t been watching. Equestria is an interesting place. Its princesses do their best to keep things as boring as they can, but they don’t do the best job.”
Twilight sat back on her haunches, glancing back again towards the herb garden. “She wants her sister cured,” she said. Not breaking a promise. Discord already knew. “She knows best.”
“You say that,” Discord said. “Just do yourself a favor and ask before you make the damn thing, alright? Would be a terrible waste of all that hard work if you made a potion nopony will drink. There are other uses for what you’ve learned.”
He wants something.
“I’m not letting you go,” Twilight snapped, and this time there was no lie in her reflex. “I know what you want for Equestria. What you’d do.”
Discord clutched at his chest with one paw in mock offense. “Me? No. I’m not asking you to do anything, Twilight. Nothing you don’t already want to do. Think about Equestria—all its neat little boxes. So much is there under the surface, everypony oblivious to the world under their hooves. Princess Celestia keeps everyone ignorant. Think of how little you knew. How terrifying it was. She basically lied to you. Everything you’ve learned this last week could be public knowledge. Ponies could be working together with seaponies, or using vampirism more productively. Imagine a world where the best mages and artificers never died, for instance! Imagine what greater monsters are waiting beyond what Fluttershy showed you. What if creatures are coming that Equestria isn’t ready for? Your ignorance will not protect you from annihilation.”
He was making sense, which was probably a good sign to Twilight that she should stop listening. How much of my last week is your fault, Discord? How much influence did you have on all this?
“For now I just want to bring an herb back with me to Equestria, and plant it so it can grow. Can you help me do that?”
“I have no power here,” Discord answered sadly. “But I remember things. Listen carefully…”
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
1,018 users online
2,021,826 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Don't make deals with the Serpent, don't even consider his words. Talking is what he does best.
Looks like all the players are on the field now. I hope this turns into a longer story where Twilight's friends have to work together while using all their weird powers to save Equestria or some such. It would be fun to see them learn of each others secrets.
9695518
Eh, the flow of pacing feels like this story is almost over to me. Doing that as a sequel would be better.
9695527
That would work too.
Yeah, really.
Makes sense. Also, recruits?
I'm sure this Thunder is a nice guy when he is isn't being fae-legalistic. Maybe.
Oh, yeah, duh.
Of course Discord is fae related.
That's not terrible advice.
This on the other hand probably is. Maybe the sea pony introduction would go fine, but I'm not sure Equestria is particularly ready for open vampirism.
9695598 The part about annihilation is demonstrably true however. How many sealed evils in a can has the show had again? Six? Pony ignorance didn't stop any of those, and that's just the ones we've seen. The factory in particular is extremely worrying, because its creators might still be around.
Talking correctly takes practice, practice that I have yet to get.
This story is fun, and it made me ask myself, how do the people of the seasons see new words? Tomorrow, I could talk about words that yesterday I didn't know.
And I said to myself, they see them as what they are. Some just are, like Radio, Google or Cuantum. Like Plant or Rock, just a way to call.
Others aren't alone. Those can be bended. Like Inter Net, or Tele Vision. Do not trust the new words when wielded by a master.
Well, Twilight would still be using the plant to cure Sweetie if she wants it, so Rarity will have to understand. And especially the part where Twilight couldn't make it out if she didn't take it with the intent of bringing it back to life.
Thought about this reality. With so many linked planes and dimensions where time doesn't necessarily follow the same rules, will their inhabitants notice Starlight Glimmer's pending temporal rampage? Will they feel the need to act if they do?
9695527
Definitely a thing to consider.
Isn't that an intriguing statement...
Fae Discord certainly makes sense. I wonder if he's related to the jabberwock.
As for the situation Twilight finds herself in... Yeah, by definition, Sweetie Belle will keep. Rarity's patience may not, but if Twilight can raise the moly to maturity and seeds first, so many more vampires could be cured... assuming they want to. Hopefully Rarity can see the bigger picture; I don't want to know what the Faewyld does to you if your honest intentions become a lie in the execution.
Of course, first she has to ensure that Thunder doesn't make her his little pony.
It seems there is a God's Riddle in this chapter and I am not sure if I can understand its true meaning ...and intention.
Hold on... this plant used to be found only at Grove of Eris? Isn't that the name of the alternate Spirit of Chaos? Does this mean he has something to do with this plant other than made it extinct?
9695473
Ignorance is strength!
9695625
Except when dealing with beings of higher power. I can see Twilight politely telling him to stuff it and leave her the buck alone if he doesn't want war. She knows enough if courtly politics to guess what he wants, and she's not willing to play ball with A REALLY good reason.
And very few things would save him from a rainbow to the face if he tried to make her stay for a year and a day for petty games.
There shouldn’t even be a dilemma here. Rarity shouldn’t need a lot of convincing to wait just a little longer so they can make the vampire cure not extinct anymore.
Uh, Discord, I don't think Sweetie Belle would be super psyched about becoming a vampire.
Hmm. If she takes it for the original reason, she won't be able to leave, and thus the plant won't be brought back anyway, and the cure won't be made. Best course of action: Take it back to plant, and in time, you'll have some for a cure.
9696099
Agreed.
It wouldn't even take THAT much - all she has to say is that getting the herb involved striking a bargain with the fae. Rarity knows that reneging on a deal with the fae is some mix of catastrophic and impossible.
Twilight should probably explain it as the plant being on loan from the courts royal gardens, which carries the implication that they expect it to be returned. That way Rarity won't be tempted to take a cutting from it, since the fae are inventively malicious when it comes to punishment - at best they would arrange for Sweetie Belle to be re-infected, but now with the last source of an ingredient for the cure gone forever and thus no hope for her.
9695920
A rainbow to the face? HA! Hardly! Trapping one of Fluttershy's best friends for a year and a day would deeply upset her. The knowledge that he hurt her would in turn hurt him far more than any punishment they could mete out.
9696219
Wait, weren't we talking about Thunder/The Summer King here? I thought we were. Discord only appeared to help Twilight NOT get stuck/make a decision she'd regret, as far as I'm aware. She might hate him, but I believe he cares at least enough to make sure she doesn't upset Fluttershy by making the wrong decision.
9696251
Ah, sorry, posting while tired.
Well, Discord is already not in good standing with the courts, so I could see him deciding to step in. It would make Fluttershy happy, after all.
Remember, he's not a fae.
I oddly enough didn't get any "anticlimax" feelings in any of the chapters. What I took away from the chapters were less about the adventure or fights and more the lore and the implications that the world is not what it seems to be and bit by bit Twilight has to overcome it. Thus it makes sense why Celestia can be a bit mysterious in her "answers" at times I suppose. Nevertheless I enjoyed what's been put up here so far and have put the story in my tracking. Keep up the good work.
Heres the deal,
she'll slip and slide, on this banana peelwith this logic puzzle!9695865
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/8/87/Nightmare_Knights_issue_1_Princess_Eris.png
Princess Eris from the comics is the Goddess of Luck and Discord's cousin. And she runs an interdimensional casino.
so... anyone suspect that part of the reason Fluttershy doesn't like the faewyld is because discord can't be there to offer protection/companionship? Or she feels they are too exclusionary? Maybe not, but fun to think about!
If she was there, would Discord offering advice hurt her or help I wonder. Will other Fae hold it against twilight that discord spoke to her/she lured him back into their realm?
So she just going to return the plant to the living world. Using it comes as a bonus of returning it. Sounds like a ridiculous rule to me.
9698187
It may be a matter of intention. If Twilight is only bringing the plant back to the world so it can be used to help Sweetie, that isn't enough. She has to want to bring the plant back with the intention of reintroducing it to the Equestrian ecosystem as her first and foremost intention. There's nothing preventing her from then using some of the plant to help Sweetie, but her priorities have to be in a certain order. Essentially, she can't have a mindset that she'll use the plant for Sweetie even if she can't get it to grow in Equestria; the plant's re-establishment has to come first.
Fae rules. Bureaucratic, byzantine, based on old, old concepts, and as hard as iron.
True, Discord, very true.
Yet, will the music continue if you say that knowledge will protect them?
You know as well as I do that both ignorance and knowledge have their own ways of destroying their bearers, and this is no more apparent than when powerful, ancient forces from which legendary takls and myths are spun are involved.
There is a fine line to thread when balancing ignorance and knowledge, one that is far too often a blurry one.