Shattering Ascendance: Book 1--Quest for the Tree of Life

by Myrlin

Chapter 4

Author's Note:

Hello!! Sorry for the delay a lot has happened over the last few months. I got a job, then left it for another job and the weeks of training left me mentally drained. But I really do love this story and I want to see it to the end. Don't forget to check me out on Tumblr for art or if you want to ask me questions about the story there!

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This time Twilight was conscious of the spell taking place and could feel the warp of time and space wrap around them, it was like a torrent, the center of a storm. Staying grounded was hard but the warmth of Sunsets horn against her own kept her from losing herself to it. Knowing that the princesses would become alicorns relatively soon she willed the spell to subside not wanting to miss the important moment and waste valuable time.

From a gale to a breeze the magic waned but did not stop. Twilight shifted away from Sunset and looked out through the veil of magic surrounding them. Time outside of the bubble moved silently but fast, they saw the rebuilding of the village after the storm. Ponies working together fixing structures and returning life back to normal. There was Celestia and Luna, lumber strapped to their backs as their aunt Sunflower pulled a cart of rocks and wood. It was evident on their faces they were tired but smiles were on the fillies faces as they tried to stay positive.

Almost to herself, Twilight spoke “We need to go further.” and before the scene changed she saw all three share a silent laugh.

Again the magic whipped up to a frenzy and a different view was before them. Looking around for a moment Twilight could tell they were still in the home village and the sun was descending behind the hills dying everything the color of fire. Before her Twilight could see a slightly older Celestia and Luna sitting with their heads together. A quick glance at their blank flanks and she could tell it was still too early in the timeline. As she began to will the spell forward Twilight felt a tap to her shoulder from Sunset. Looking to her side she saw her friends face once again saddened as Sunset silently pointed with her hoof back to the pair. Quizzically she looked back over to them and for a moment didn’t understand what else she was to look at.

“There. At their feet Twilight.”

Immediately her ears swiveled back as fresh sadness washed over her. Before the two fillies was a large rock and at its base a fresh cut sunflower.

No. Now the sisters were all alone.
So young.
They didn’t deserve this!

Twilight felt cold anger as warm tears welled up in her eyes. No. I have to stay on task. She looked away and squeezed her eyes forcefully to hold back the tears.

Vocal cords tight Twilight managed to speak “Further. We must go further.”

The magical wind gusted and the pair found themselves in a meadow within a dense forest. Night had just fallen and a deep dusk surrounded them. There walking out from the trees the older pair of sisters emerged each burdened with packs as if they were ready to travel for a long time, or maybe they had been.

Celestia was taller her pink hair long and flowing, broad-chested from what must have been a hard life, different from the little filly they had last witnessed. Luna brushed past her sister to enter the clearing first. She was still evidently younger, barely a head below her older sister, lanky with adolescent growth. But she too had wiry muscles budding beneath her midnight coat.

Twilight could see Luna look back to say something but within the magic bubble, all was silent. She felt a nudge from Sunset and with a shared look, Twilight ended the spell and the sounds of the forest washed over them.

“This will be a good spot to make camp, don't you agree Tia?”

“Yeah, as good as we’re going to find before night falls completely.”

“You start a fire, I’ll go check if there's any fresh water nearby! Our suppli--”

Luna’s sentence was cut short by the sound of shifting earth and a yell that pierced the night. Twilight watched in horror as the ground beneath Luna gave way as she, faster than a blink of the eye was gone. Swallowed by the sinkhole hidden in the tall grass. Luna’s name echoed through the sky and for a moment Twilight couldn’t tell whose voice that was screaming.

It was Celestia, it was Sunset, and it was her own.

Celestia’s long legs brought her to where her sister last was, only moments before Sunset and herself. Without hesitation the older sister bucked her travel gear and went down the hole after her beloved little sister.

It was all happening so fast Twilight was at a loss what to do as she stared dumbly at the gaping maw of dirt in front of her. She could fly through a storm, walk across Equestria if she had too, but...

“--itght. --ilight. Twilight!” Sunsets next to her bringing her back to the moment and Twilight looked up from the ground to her friends bright bright teal eyes. “Twilight we need to go down! Hurry!” And before Twilight can respond shes down the hole, a squeak of a scream echoing as she too disappeared.

“W-wait! I’m coming!” Although Twilight had a spiritual form in this world descending into the dark sinkhole was still anxiety-inducing. But pushing past the illogical fear rising in her throat she too made her way below.

It was not the snaking tunnel she expected but a sheer drop, a weak point in the soil that had given way. Almost a second too late, she remembered to snap her wings open easing her descent. A vast cavern spread below her and with one beat, then two, she made it to the stony ground next to sunset who was just getting to her feet.

“Sunset! Are you ok?!” she looked uninjured but still Twilight worried.

Brushing the dust from her coat Sunset laughed giving her a lopsided grin. “Geez Twilight did you forget we’re not physical here? Though wings would have made the ride a lot more enjoyable. I’m fine Twi.”

“I-I know that...but still I was worried about you! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Well if that didn’t give you one, that will.” There was a chuckle in her friends' voice as she raised a hoof and pointed before them. “Is that what I think it is?”

Following her direction Twilight turned and felt her jaw go slack. There at the back of the cave, the Tree of Harmony shone, bouncing light off of the crystals embedded in the rock face, pale white flowers dotting vines surrounding it shone like stars. At the base of the towering tree she could see the form of the two sisters awestruck at the sight.

“We have to get over there! Hurry Twilight!” And for the second time in minutes Sunset rushed ahead leaving her behind. Moments later they were both close enough to the sister to hear them speak.

“--at do you think it is?”

“I don’t know Luna. I’ve never read it. In all the magical books we’ve discovered. Nothing like this.”

Luna took another limping step forward, and bathed in the light of the Tree Twilight can see both of them are hurt from the fall. Scratches and dirt mar both of their coats, Luna with a broken foreleg, and Celestia a deep gash to her head. Blood dripping slowly down her face dyeing her white fur red.

“D-do you think this is the key to what we were looking for? A way to defeat Him?”

Celestia didn’t answer but with shaking legs walked closer to the tree. “S-sister?” Luna followed behind. One step, two step, three, and a flash of blistering white light filled the room. Instinctively she shut her eyes from painful light and the hair on Twilight neck raised as she felt magic crash over the room in a wave. Stars still clouding her vision she cracked open her eyes to finally see what had occurred.

In the air the sisters floated radiating the same brilliant magical light that shone brightly, encasing them in cocoons of starlight. Before them glowing on the tree two blazing sigils shone, one in the shape of a sun, the other a crescent moon. Twilight’s eyes watered from the too too bright light that grew blinding until it exploded in a shower of magical motes of light that floated through the air.

Still glowing Celestia and Luna drifted like feathers to the ground the sun and moon still aglow on the Tree behind them. No longer were the two sisters as they were, sharp spiraling horns adorned their brows, magnificent wings caught the air for the first time, feathers fluttering as they descended. No longer earth ponies but--

“Alicorns! Twilight this is how they did it! How they-they-!” Sunset cut herself off with a squeal as she pranced in place the excitement too much to physically bare.

Dumbly Twilight nodded her mind racing a mile a second. The Tree of Harmony made them alicorns. But why didn’t it make her and her friends' alicorns when they used the Elements? How did the Elements correlate to the Tree, to the Princesses? How does this conn--

Twilights spiral of thoughts was halted as she felt Sunsets flank pressed against hers. Shocked at the sudden physical contact she felt herself flinch before she snapped to look at her friend all too close. Her expression gentle Sunset inched closer laying her horn against Twilights own, her coat rippled as her racing thoughts calmed. Celestia used to do this too when her own mind became too much and the little filly Twilight would become frozen.

With a nudge Twilight returned the pressure pushing her horn against Sunsets, she felt a shaky breath escape and stepped back. For the shortest of seconds she locked eyes with the unicorn before embarrassment forced her to look away a fierce blush rising to her cheeks.

“Th-thank y-you Sunset I was, uh, overwhelmed for a moment there.” Her eyes flicked up and then back down but it was enough that she could see her friend smiling down at her.

“This is overwhelming. But this it's but one piece of the puzzle! We still need to find out how to save them! But we’re one step closer!!” She laughed sweet and light as Twilight heard her trot closer to the tree. Looking up she saw her prance and spin still laughing finally stopping before the Tree its light giving Sunset a molten fiery halo. Her bright blue eyes scrunched as a grin split her face. “Twilight Sparkle are you gonna stare all day or are you gonna follow them?” Sunset glanced to her right as the two non-glowing forms of their one day teachers walked past their ghostly forms towards the exit of the cavern.

But Twilight barely gave them notice, her eyes full of Sunsets form backlit by the magical radiance of the Tree. Sunset gave a small snort laugh and trotted after the alicorns asking aloud ‘When do you think they will get their cutie marks?” with that finally Twilight pulled herself together with a shake and followed.

After making sure the sisters were fine and realizing this timeframe would not yield the answers they were looking for Twilight and Sunset started the spell again, the twin crystals around their necks growing warm.

Like pictures spun by a storm, scene after scene flashed by. Luna and Celestia mid flying practice learning how to use their new wings. A small cottage is built on the cliff's edge above the Tree of Harmony. There inside Celestia struggles to lift a cup with magic and then Luna her own magic weak, shakily raised one, her face beaming with delight.

Twilight sees moments she's only read in old history books; a young Starswirl with his light blue coat and brown much shorter beard greeting the not yet princesses. He shows them more complex spells and teaches them to hone their magic. Then the next she sees a frantic pair of sisters worrying over Starswirl and a group of other unicorns in the middle of the night, all their coats gray the magic burned out of them.

Although in the spell Twilight could not hear anything she knew exactly what was happening and spoke softly narrating the events for Sunset and herself. For generations, unicorns would sacrifice their strongest magic users to raise the sun and moon who over time would become overwhelmed with the effort. His hoof shaking Starswirl pointed to one sister than the other and then finally to the sky, his mouth trembling to speak. He was telling them that as alicorns their magic was so much stronger, maybe they could raise the celestial bodies in the sky without this terrible cost.

Blue magic gathered at Luna’s horn as she lowered the moon sweat beading on her brow as she did so, and a moment later Celestia did the same with the sun, her legs shaking as if she were about to faint from the effort. The sisters shared a weak smile and with surprise looked down to see their flanks aglow, sun and moon cutie marks same as was on the Tree of Harmony now branded their coats.

The last thing Twilight saw was both Princesses restore magic to the fallen unicorns though their coats remained gray from the cost they paid.

Again a flash, now the ledge where a humble cottage once stood and in its stead a grand castle was in its place. It was the Castle of the Two Sister, their original home before the Canterlot Castle was built.

Scene after scene continued. A coronation for the new Princesses, leaders of the pony tribes bowing before them, ponies of all kinds filling the throne room, and a manticore too? Princess Platinum scorned to see her father bowing walks out of the chamber. Twilight could see Celestia and Luna standing awkwardly on the dais and she could empathize, two mares around her age, now charged with being leaders of a new kingdom. She could only imagine the pressure.

Now she saw only Luna walking carefully through the Everfree forest before finding herself in an open flowing grassland. Soon she is encircled by a group of zebra’s wary of the intruder that managed to step through their barrier. Words were exchanged then smiles as they led their new strange friend to the village. It was that night and the zebras were celebrating around a bonfire sharing drinks and food. Off to the side, Luna was sitting nearby with a zebra mare marked with spirals on her coat both talking excitedly to each other. Of what Twilight could only guess.

Time passed on the snippets the images almost blurring together in their speed. The sealing of Discord, his body writhing as the Elements of Harmony turned him to stone sealing him, for now. Celestia and Luna collapsing from the effort. Now Sombra eyes aglow before he is banished by the Sisters not knowing their spell wasn't enough, how he would steal away the Crystal Empire for more than thousand years before Twilight and her friends defeated him a second time.

Then images filled her vision of a story she knew all too well. Nightmare Moon stealing the day and causing an unending night plunging Equestria into darkness. The battle raged inside the once idyllic castle home now crumbling and breaking around them. Celestia was bloody and weeping, trying to bring her beloved sister back while fighting off one magical attack after another. Twilight saw the sadness in her teachers' eyes harden with resolve. The Elements of Harmony spun around her faster and faster before becoming a blazing rainbow surrounding Celestia protecting her from Nightmare Moon’s magical attacks. A tear fell from Celestia’s face as the elemental magic shot forth encapsulating her sister and banishing her to the moon for one thousand years.

No words needed to be spoken between Sunset and herself this was all in the past and nothing so far has shed light on the current issues. Twilight wasn’t sure how long they spent within the magic Starswirl had granted them, but occasionally one of them would pause the spell at a promising time to find more answers but to no avail.

It was odd to see yourself from a third person point of view. She saw herself and her friends defeating and cleansing Nightmare Moon and returning Luna to her sisters' side. Each of them being bestowed an Element of Harmony. But still no answers. What. What if, this was all for naught? Yes, they found how the Princesses ascended but still, she couldn’t see an answer to how to heal them.

She felt a hitch in her throat at the thought of her teachers dying due to her incompetence, there was never a riddle she couldn’t solve so why couldn’t she answer this one!? Twilight wasn’t aware of the curled in posture she had taken as her thoughts darkened until she felt Sunsets foreleg across her back, without looking up her voice cracked “What if we can’t save them Sunset? What if all we’re doing is wasting time. We-we still don’t know why they’re…..dying.” the last word came out as a whisper.

Sunset was quiet, thinking, before she lifted Twilights chin to meet her eye to eye. “Then we need to keep looking. Don’t think of the future Twilight, of all the possibilities.” Sunset brushed back the hair from Twilight’s face and cupped her cheek “Let's take this one step at a time you and I. Together ok?”

With a sniffle and a smile she nodded, but before she could speak up in agreement something caught Sunsets attention, causing her to drop her hoof and slow the magic surrounding them. Twilight too looked up only to see Celestia collapsed on the floor of her chambers. She felt Sunset take hold of the spell to go back before the fall and stop. The bubble surrounding them faded and sounds of the Canterlot castle active beyond the walls filled the room.

Princess Celestia was at her desk filling out one official form or another. Her golden magic enveloping her quill faded as she read over her work with a quick glance, finding it acceptable she floated it and a formidable stack behind her as she left her desk. But after a few paces Twilight could see the wave of weakness wash over the white alicorn, the halo of magic sputtering and then winking out as Celestia fell to the ground her papers falling like petals around her.

Twilight felt her hoof raise as she needed to get closer, to see what exactly was happening, but she was interrupted by the door to Celestia's study opening.

“Sister about this dinner we are having with the Duke must I--Sister! Oh Celestia!”

In a flash Luna was by her sisters' side shaking her and crying out her name. Celestia's long eyelashes fluttered before opening slowly. She seemed almost surprised to find herself on the floor, her sister worrying above her.

“H-help me up w-will you dear Luna?”

Luna supported her with a wing as they walked slowly to the couch in the center of the room, official documents ignored as they crumpled beneath their hooves. Celestia rested heavily catching her breath before sitting up straighter, pale even under her white coat.

“These spells have been happening to us more and more often hasn’t it Lulu?” Celestia’s voice was weak still “You felt the same last month after lowering the moon.”

Luna nodded silently as she placed a hoof against her sisters own as she spoke again “You were the first one to feel this Luna. When was it again?”

“After I was cleansed of Nightmare Moon’s influence. We thought I was just weak from the ordeal but then you felt it months later too.”

“I thought it only random, but over these few years the frequency has been increasing.”

“Sister, I have been thinking on this and I have a theory. These spells always occur weeks or months following the use of the Elements of Harmony, and now even without their use we are growing weaker.”

Celestia sat silently for a moment digesting what her sister said. “The Elements are fruit from the tree that ascended us to Alicorns...do you think that connection was broken when they bonded with the girls?”

“Yes, I do. Our first warning should have been the release of Discord, the seal created by those very Elements we wielded grew weak enough for him to escape. Every time they are used the ties to the Tree, and us, grow weaker. But that is only my hypothesis dear Sister.”

“And it is a good one. But we should not jump to conclusions. The Elements when used by the girls are so much stronger than we ever harnessed to return them to us will be endangering Equestria from the Darkness that seeks to overcome it.” Celestia gave a small laugh and patted her sister on the shoulder “If a few bouts of weakness is the price we have to pay for peace I will wholeheartedly do so.”

Luna smiled and put her hoof atop her sisters “And I too Sister. I will keep researching this issue so that we can continue to watch this time of peace flourish.”

The sisters began to speak of tea and snacks as the sounds of the room faded beneath the spell. Twilight was having a difficult time processing what she had just heard, as if reading her mind Sunset began to speak.

“So the Tree of Harmony fuels the Princesses magic. The Elements are a source of that magic, and like Luna said, after they began bonding to you guys the connection to the Tree was weakening.”

Twilight nodded numbly as an idea formed in her mind. “Over these past years they felt these symptoms only after an extreme usage of the Elements power.”

“So why didn’t they weaken completely earlier? It's been years now.”

“I agree. But like we said the connection was weak not gone, so when we took too much the Sisters suffered. Then something must of…” Twilight's eyes widened as a revelation dawned on her without thinking Twilight shot to her feet as her wings snapped open “Something severed the bond!”

“What?! What did?”

“We did. I did. The Tree of Harmony was weakening and we returned the Elements to it but it didn’t work as we expected. Yes the Tree became stronger but a flower bloomed and inside it, a magical chest appeared before us. At that time we had no idea what was going on. Later Tierk returned stealing magic and the Princesses hid their magic inside of me, losing their cutie marks in the process. But then the girls were captured, I-I didn’t know what to do so in exchange I gave up all our magic to Tierk for their freedom. Discord helped us find the final key to release the Elements of Harmony. We gained power like we never had before and defeated him. After it was over and all the magic was returned, the Castle of Friendship grew from the combined Elements we wielded. I think that was when that bond was completely severed.”

Sunset opened and closed her mouth a few time as she tried to collect her thoughts “So after that, it was only a matter of time before Celestia and Luna succumbed completely, the Tree with no Elements wasn't able to support them for long.”

Twilight nodded in agreement as she sat on her haunches, her eyes staring blankly ahead before looking to Sunset. “We now know why, but I still can’t, think of how to save them…”

“Me neither Twilight. But we’re not in this alone remember? Let’s go back and see what Starswirl thinks.” As she spoke Sunset wrapped a hoof around her ametrine pendant and locked eyes with her own. Taking in a shuddering breath Twilight did the same and smiled.

“Yeah. Let's go back.”

And with a sharp tug the leather bands around their necks snapped and the spell that was encompassing like a bubble shattered into multi-colored shards of magic leaving darkness to envelop them.

But Twilight wasn't scared even as her consciousness faded, because she wasn’t alone, she could feel Sunset next to her and the warmth of their horns against the other. Until she could feel nothing at all.

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

So the princess's power is linked to Harmony, which is linked to the tree...
As a certain Airbender once said:

Everything is connected...

[RolkFlameraven]

Yeah, this is looking more and more like Sunset and Twi are going to be replacements and the sisters are finally going to be allowed to rest. I could be wrong, but that is what this is pointing towards.

[cosmic flash]

Seems like the other Mane 6 should ascend by the logic presented here.

[PixelatedPerson]

9161595
Eh i hope not, personally I feel like sunset and celestia still have alot to talk about. Plus they are millenia old princesses with that long of experience over the two so it wouldn't be best for them to just leave twi and sunset alone on it.