Shadow And The Heart

by DR-Fluffy

Chapter 7: Field Trip and Ancient Riddles

On top of a hill overlooking Ponyville, a stallion stopped with his wagon in tow. He was a grayish brown pegasus with a black and purple mix mane. His back hooves were bound to makeshift wheels that allowed him to walk, but those had never slowed him down, it did, however, make flying a rather awkward affair. His name was Stellar Eclipse, and relaxing on the wagon seat behind him was his partner, Cheese Sandwich. The two of them had been business partners for a few years now. Cheese would put on shows, be they just birthday parties or more extravagant events, and Stellar would hock his wares to anyone looking for a souvenir.

“Looks like we’re finally back,” said Cheese.

“Yep, don’t take this the wrong way, Cheese, but I hope it’s a good long while before I see you again.”

Cheese gave a hardy laugh and smacked the seat next to him. “Oh, Stellar, maybe you should put on the show and I should do the selling because you are a riot.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Stellar began the slow trip down the hill. “Guess I’ll see you next month.”

***

Shade Cloud set at her kitchen table as she sketched out a design, humming a tune. She wasn’t sure where she heard the song but it had been stuck in her head since she woke up that morning. She didn’t look up at the sound of clopping on the hardwood floor that marked her mother’s entrance into the kitchen.

Fluttershy stepped over to her daughter and nuzzled her, Shade Cloud awkwardly tried to scoot away until Fluttershy broke the hug. “Good morning, sweetie. What are you drawing?”

“Our guest,” said Shade. She had yet to add any color or fine details, but the basic shape of a draconequus was complete.

Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed at the picture before her. “Please tell me that doesn’t mean Discord is free?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

“Are you trying to imply that you don’t want to see me?” It took both of them a moment to realize where the voice was coming from as the sketched draconequus began to move around on the page. “I came straight here once I broke free to see my dearest of friends.”

Fluttershy was normally a very soft spoken mare who rarely raised her voice to anyone, so Shade was rather surprised at her sharp tone. “Friends?” Fluttershy yelled. “You weren’t thinking of your friends when you took over Equestria again!”

Discord let out a puff of air, which appeared as drawn lines moving across the page. With a snap of his claw, he vanished and reappeared a moment later standing over them. “To be fair I was thinking about you, I was just thinking about causing chaos more, and really isn’t that what’s most important here?” At Fluttershy’s continuous glare a light bulb clicked on over Discords head. “I know, why don’t we have tea like the old days.”

With a snap, the room was engulfed in white light. When it faded Fluttershy found herself sitting in her living room across from Discord. Shade Cloud was seated on a stool wearing a pink bow and dress that Fluttershy would dress her in when she was a foal, but now only seem to put her in a foul mood. Sitting in the center of the group was a table with a pot of tea and a plate of cookies. Discord was sipping at his drink happily. “So, Fluttershy, how was your day?”

Fluttershy ignored the question and asked one of her own, “What happened to you being reformed?”

“Oh, I am reformed. That’s why we are having tea.”

“Then why did you suddenly betray everyone who put their trust in you?”

Discord tossed a cookie into the air. A snake-like tongue shot out of his mouth and wrapped around the snack before pulling it back behind his teeth. “The answer is rather simple,” he said as he chewed. “It was Tuesday.”

Fluttershy blinked. “What?”

Discord grabbed the side of his chest and opened it like a cabinet as he reached inside and took out a calendar before flipping to that month. Each day was marked with one task, most were marked with “chaos,” while others said, “visit Fluttershy.” On a particular Tuesday however, it was marked with “take over Equestria.”

“Are you really expecting us to just take you back in until what, you get bored or something?”

“…Yes,” Discord said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Fluttershy rose from her seat and stomped to the front door. She opened it and looked to Discord. “I’m sorry, Discord, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Until you have earned my trust again, I don’t think you should come over.”

Discord stood and held out the plate of snacks, “But we still have cookies left.”

Fluttershy jerked her nose up and pointed out of the house. With his head slumped over and his tail dragging behind him he walked out. She had just closed the door and stepped a few feet away when a knocking stopped her. She gave a huff and swung around to open the door. “Discord I thought I told you…” Fluttershy stopped mid-rant when she saw the wheelchair-bound pegasus standing at the door. “Stellar!” Fluttershy threw her arms around him and practically drug him inside.

Shade Cloud quickly stripped off the pink dress and bow and ran to her father, joining in with a hug. “It’s so good to see you two. I almost want to leave so I can do it again,” said Stellar.

Fluttershy pulled back to give him room to breathe. “How was your trip?” she asked. But before Stellar could get an answer Shade Cloud piped up.

“Dad, Mom is being completely unfair. She’s forcing me to go to this awful school, and won't let me take my sketch pad out of the house!”

“Sweetie, your father just got back, don’t start on him yet,” Fluttershy chastised. “And if you want to take your sketchpad out with you, all you need to do is make friends.”

“I don’t want to make friends with those ponies!” Shade cried back.

“Then make friends with other ponies! You are too young to not have friends.” Fluttershy shot Stellar a look for him to help. Stellar wasn’t completely out of the loop, he had been getting regular messages from Fluttershy during his time away.

“Now there’s no reason Shade Cloud can’t take her sketchpad with her and still make friends.” Said Stellar.

“Don’t make me the bad guy!” said Fluttershy.

“I’m not making you the bad guy!”

Shade Cloud gave a huff in frustration. “So you’re siding with her!”

“That’s not what I said,” Stellar tried to explain but Shade was already stomping off.

“I need to get ready for school.”

When Shade Cloud was out of sight, Fluttershy turned on him. “Is it so much to ask that you support me in my decisions, Stellar. I don’t want to play the bad guy. I would love nothing more than for Shade Cloud to run into my hooves when I come home, but that can’t happen.”

“I, um…”

Fluttershy didn’t bother staying to listen. Discord had put her into a foul mood as it was, so she chose to leave before she said something bad. Stellar just stood in the living room for a moment, alone. “So glad to be home,” he muttered.

***

Flurry Heart stood in a line with her other classmates, just past the entranceway of the Friendship Castle. They were weighed down with saddlebags of school supplies for this impromptu field trip, not that they knew where they were going. She, much like the others, hadn’t been given much of a notice about this trip, but by the way Twilight had been snickering and giving little hints all of yesterday, they knew something was going on.

“Is everyone ready for a field trip?!” Starlight called. Livewire gave a predictable shout of excitement, but everyone else was staying quiet. Flurry herself was choosing to withhold any form of “excitement” until she knew exactly where they were going. However, Starlight had other ideas. “Let me rephrase that, who wants to go back into class and study history?”

“Field trip!” Everyone shouted, even managing to cover up Ballpoint’s mumbles of disappointment.

“Excellent, so glad everyone is excited. Now once Twilight gets…”

“I’m here!” Called Twilight as she emerged from the library, her own saddlebags full to bursting with books. On her back was Magma, holding on to the saddlebags straps with a happy smile on his face. Spike followed close after with more books in hand. She walked over to stand by Starlight side. “Are they excited?” Twilight smiled.

“I think they are.” Starlight smiled wider.

Witherleaf groaned as she said, “They're doing that thing again.” It was at times like this that Flurry could see what Witherleaf meant by a cult, and she found it no less unsettling.

“Where are we going?” Asked Ballpoint with a raised hoof.

Twilight happily answered, “To the Castle Of The Two Sisters, deep in the Everfree forest.

Livewire looked like she lost a few shades of color. “T-the Everfree, full of timberwolves, manticore, and ursa majors.”

“Oh my,” Flurry interrupted. “That does sound troubling.”

“Don’t worry, Livewire, they only attack if they can sense your fear… or was it if they don’t sense your fear?” She shrugged. “You’ll figure it out.”

Flurry rolled her eyes, still unsure why Livewire let Witherleaf get to her so much, perhaps she would ask that… maybe. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to sit through one of her rambling stories.

“Let’s not waste daylight everyone,” Twilight pointed with a wing. “To the Everfree!”

“Ride!” Magma cried from atop Twilight.

The walk through the Everfree was relatively uneventful. Livewire kept jumping at every noise while Twilight explained the history of the castle, prior to the Lunar War. As the group moved farther into the forest Twilight’s lecture was cut short when Witherleaf spotted a patch of blue flowers on the edge of the trail. “Hey, Mom, check it out, Poison Joke,” she called and drew the attention of the group.

“Well don’t touch it,”

“Really, I was only going to eat one,” Witherleaf said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Twilight turned with a look that could only rightfully be called a ‘mom glare,’ which sent shivers down the back of anyone foolish enough to look. “I mean, yes ma'am.”

Flurry Heart took a closer look at the flowers, yet maintained a careful distance. Though it may have only been the color, the sight of the stubby little flowers brought memories to her mind of her own blue flowers and the promise they represented. It brought forth memories of a friend she had not seen in so very long.

“As nice as flowers are, can we get going?” Jazmin wined, a tired grimace on her face. “This saddle bag is heavy, it’s too hot, and my hooves are getting dirty.”

Before Twilight could move to speak, Witherleaf eagerly spoke up. “Wait, can we take some with us?”

“And what exactly do you need Poison Joke for?”

Witherleaf’s ears fell against her head, indecision on how to answer was clear on her face. “That’s… not important,” Flurry had a good idea why she wanted the plants, and suddenly hoped she wasn’t putting that in her Root Weed. However, Flurry let that fear pass as strange side effects from something like that would have made themselves apparent by now.

“If it’s not important then you don’t need them.” Without another word, Twilight turned and began to lead the group away. “Now I believe I was talking about the first summer sun celebration, or as it was referred to back then…”

The group emerged from the forest on the edge of a canyon that cut the forest in two for a mile wide in both directions. On the other side of a rickety rope bridge was the ancient Castle of The Two Sisters; it’s high walls, green from moss and age, stood in defiance of time, more a testament of its architect than any magic that may have been cast on it.

“Please tell me we are not going to be walking over that?” Asked Jazmin. She stepped forward and placed her hoof on the first wooden plank, only to jump back at a dangerous sounding crack.

“Yes, I suppose it’s seen better days. Starlight, mind giving me a hoof?” Starlight and Twilight both stepped up to the bridge, magic already building in their horns. “How are your transmutation spells?”

“I guess we will find out.” Both mares release their magic and let the energy flow over the bridge. Broken planks repaired themselves, only to merge with the planks next to them and form one solid walkway. The tattered rope, that had yet to snap after all of these years, transmuted into a silver liquid that just as quickly hardened into steel rods to hold the bridge in place. With a shaking of the ground, bright green plant roots broke free from the canyon wall and rose up to support the new weight of the bridge.

When the spell had died down, Twilight turned to Jazmin to ask, “Better?” With an open mouth, she nodded. “Then let’s get going, we need to be back home before nightfall.”

The castle door groaned an ear aching sound as Spike pushed them open for the others to enter. Dust covered everything in the entryway, and bits of the stonewalls had broken away and added yet more filth to the ground, leaving the wall with a pockmarked look. The group moved forward through the open room and out to a narrow hallway until they came upon a room with two empty seats, each one with a banner hung over it, one with a moon and the other a sun.

“Everyone,” Twilight said as she turned to face the group. “Welcome to the Castle of the Two Sisters.” Twilight took a moment to breathe in the stale air and look around the place, nearly falling apart yet so full of history. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back here.”

“I would say before you had Witherleaf,” added Spike. He took off the bag from his back and began to unpack, setting the books down on the throne steps, however, the kid's eyes were all drawn to an embroidered box that Spike took out last, which anyone would recognize as the box that carried the Elements of Harmony.

Witherleaf knocked away lose stones on the floor with an unimpressed look. “Yeah, quite the… history here.”

“I know it may not seem like much, but it was here that my friends and I, your mothers, became the bearers of the Elements. So before Starlight begins her lesson, I would like for all of you to try and become attuned with the Elements once more.”

“This worked out so well last time, Witherleaf interrupted. “I can’t believe we haven’t done this sooner.”

“And that is why Starlight, Spike, and I will be supervising all of you.” With a look, Spike opened the embroidered box and set the stone elements down on the steps leading to the twin thrones.

Flurry wondered if perhaps she could sit out this exercise, seeing as there was seven of them but only six elements, and mayhaps she could have if not for the idiotic boys of her class.

Ballpoint and Golden Apple both rushed forward with a cry of, “I call the Element of Magic!”

Golden used his larger size to push Ballpoint out of the way so he could be first, only to wince as his back hoof was pulled out from under him. Twilight watched on with a look of pure amazement. They each sabotaged each other in turn to prevent their rival from traveling the last five feet, but unable to travel the last few feet themselves.

“Enough!” Twilight said with an exhausted tone. With a burst of magic, the boys were separated with a blue aura holding them in the air.

“As I was saying! Unlike last time, we will be deciding who gets what element, and seeing as the two of you have such a hard time getting along,” Twilight sat them both down and levitated the Element of Kindness over to them. “You can both work with the element of kindness. I want each of you to pass the element back and forth while saying nice things to each other.”

They both looked down to the artifact and then to each other, neither willing to be the first to give in.

“How about this,” Starlight said as she stepped forward. “If you don’t want to play along, then when we get back to class you can write a ten thousand word essay on the history of this castle.”

Ballpoint smiled like he had just won a prize. “I’m fine with that.”

“Your report will be on Daring Do. I believe one of her books involve this castle.” Ballpoints face quickly fell, and with a deep sigh, he picked up the element and looked begrudgingly at Golden Apple.

“Now for the rest of you,” said Twilight. One by one, she levitated the elements to the remaining kids. Flurry wasn’t sure if there was a specific reason behind how the elements were distributed or if it was just random, but somehow she ended up with the Element of Laughter. She didn’t get the joke.

Jazmin stared at the Element of Loyalty in her hoof as if she just found out it was an out of season fashion accessory. “How exactly do I attune with loyalty?”

“Oh, I’ve got a book for that,” Spike enthusiastically informed. He looked through the pile of books that were stacked on the ground until he found the one he was looking for, 101 Facts About Loyalty, and passed it over to Jazmin, who stared at the book as she gave an extended “thanks.”

“Now for the next hour I want everyone to try and connect with their element, but don’t feel pressured, just see if you can feel a connection with it,” said Twilight. “After that, we’ll move on to touring the castle.”

Flurry Heart moved away from the others as they began to work with their own elements, with the obvious exception of Ballpoint and Golden, who had little choice in the matter. Though few of them seem to take the task very seriously, it was clear for her to see that the others were genuinely trying to activate their elements, be their reason moral obligations, obeying the parental figures in the room, or something Flurry was unaware of. Even the recluse Shade Cloud was participating in her own way, staring at her element of generosity and thinking who knows what, and Livewire was walking around to everyone and saying truthful things with her Element of Honesty. It’s not that she didn’t understand, there was a certain level of pride in knowing that you could be one of the chosen bearers of the elements. However, she just could not see herself in that role.

Flurry Heart took a seat in a window, overlooking what was at one time a garden, but now not even weeds would grow among the fallen rubble and dried dirt. The Element of Laughter dangled from her hoof, it’s pale stone a shadow of its former glory, and somehow she was supposed to connect with the element, yet her mind chose to linger on old wounds.

“You’re doing it wrong,” said Witherleaf. Flurry looked from the window to her cousin who had the Element of Magic resting atop her head. “The first step for the Element of Laughter is to smile.”

“I’m not quite in the smiling mood, I’m afraid. How about you, feeling magical?”

“Mom says it’s technically the magic of friendship, but I’m not so convinced on that.” Witherleaf began to explain with an exaggerated hoof. “I mean sure, it was friendship for my mom, but maybe it will be something different for the next bearer.”

For a moment Flurry’s worries seemed to fade as her curiosity was pinged. “Such as?”

With a hoof to her lips and a thoughtful expression on her face, she answered, “The magic of procrastination.”

“The Princess of Procrastination, I think that title could work for you.”

Witherleaf shrugged. “Too much work. Anyway, enough about me, what has you so down? I know this castle isn’t the most exciting thing ever, but it’s still better than being stuck in class.”

Flurry looked past Witherleaf. Everyone else seemed for too preoccupied to worry about them eavesdropping. Starlight was watching the boys as they begrudgingly said nice things to each other, Twilight and Spike were flipping through books for one thing or another, while Magma ran around between the groups. Still, Flurry motioned Witherleaf closer before whispering.

“I was thinking about Shadow.”

“Shadow?” It was a moment before realization flashed across Witherleaf’s face. “Oh… your stalker.”

Flurry Heart tried to keep the annoyance from her voice. “Yes, the stalker. I… I guess I just miss him. It’s been years since I last saw him and the only reason I know he’s still around are the flowers he sends me, but in truth, I don’t even know if they are from him.”

Witherleaf rubbed her leg with a hoof, almost unsure of what to say. “Have you tried sending him mail?”

“Ignoring the fact that my mother and Aunt Twilight would use it as a chance to track down Shadow, I wouldn’t even know where to send it, or if he would respond.”

Witherleaf took a seat against the wall and looked sidelong at Flurry. “I’m not trying to get between you and your obsession with the stalker, but have you considered the possibility that he doesn’t feel the same as you? He sends you flowers, sure, but I get sent holiday cards from my uncle in Cloudsdale every year, yet that’s the extent of our relationship.”

It took several long moments for Flurry Heart for to process the words. Could that be it? The reason she had not seen him in years was that he did not want to see her. It made a certain kind of sense. He had avoided capture for years, so it shouldn’t have been too hard for him to see her when she was alone, yet he didn’t. Not once in six years and that realization made her heart sink.

Witherleaf saw the way Flurry’s face fell. “Oh come on, it's not so bad. You know it could always be worse.” Flurry raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you could have gotten the Element of Generosity, like Shade Cloud, and have to deal with Livewire.”

Witherleaf pointed across the room to where the two mares sat, staring each other down. Livewire fumbled with the element around her neck as she tried to speak, “Shade Cloud, sometimes when you say things… it makes me nervous.”

Shade Cloud stared her down with a deadpan expression. She quickly glanced over to Twilight but found little solace there. “If this goes on much longer, I’m going to very generously make you nervous.”

Flurry Heart covered her mouth to hide the grin and to muffle the giggles from escaping. “That’s so mean.”

“Yeah, count your lucky stars on that one,” Witherleaf said with a playful push.

***

Magma was bored. He sat on his haunches and busied himself by tearing out the pages of some dusty tome. The ponies were too busy to give him a ride around and his father wouldn’t give him more tasty gems to eat, so he sat there, slowly ripping the pages into strips and enjoying the sound.

“Magma,” a voice carried on the wind whispered his name, yet as he looked around no one else seemed to have noticed it. He rose to his feet just as he spotted a white mist drifting in from the hallway. “Magma” it called to him. His eyes grew wide with excitement and his legs couldn’t stop from giving chase after the mist, yet the closer he moved towards it the farther the mist retreated into the castle.

***

As the allotted hour Twilight had set aside for the group’s time with the elements came to a close, Flurry was feeling better about her unease with Shadow and her longing to see him, but she wasn’t dwelling on it anymore.

“So bored!” Witherleaf cried with an open mouth yawn.

“Yes, I’m not sure what else I can do to connect with this element.”

“You can try telling jokes,”

Flurry scoffed at the idea as if she would embarrass herself with such poor attempts. “And how is the Magic of Procrastination?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t think I’m procrastinating hard enough, but it’s so much work!”

Spike rushed past them with a clear look of worry on his face. He looked around frantically, overturning every fallen stone, looking behind and under the thrones, until Starlight placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Spike, what’s wrong?”

The commotion had drawn the attention of everyone, who watched on with raised ears.

“Have you seen Magma?”

Now that it was mentioned, Flurry wasn’t sure when the last time she saw the little lizard. She looked over to Witherleaf, who gave only a shrug.

“No, I haven’t,” Starlight finally answered. She turned from Spike and called out. “Has anyone seen Magma?” There was murmuring from the others but no one spoke up.

Twilight quickly joined the other two adults. “Spike, when was the last time you saw him?”

“He was here, I took my eyes off him for a minute—tops— I don’t know where he could have gone.”

“Just take a deep breath and let's think about this,” Twilight said with a soothing tone. “If he’s not in the throne room then he must have wandered into the castle, but he’s small so he couldn’t have gone far.”

“Twilight, this castle is huge, and you know how many secret paths this place has.”

Twilight paced back and forth for a few moments, her wings ruffling in thought. Finally, she stopped with a fast turn and a smile on her face. “I’ve got it!”

Without giving more detail, she cast a spell on the ground. Within a moment, the ground was lit up with glowing hoof prints that marked a crisscross path, going all over the throne room, to the point Flurry couldn’t distinguish one set of prints from another.

“Now we just need to eliminate the pony prints.” Twilight cast another spell, causing all but two sets of dragon footprints to disappear. The first set was larger than the other and led in a straight path to Spike, while the other one was sporadic and ran around the room until trailing out into the hallway. “That way!”

Twilight followed the trail with Spike and Starlight hurrying behind. Everyone else in the room collectively looked at one another and as one rose to give chase; Flurry Heart slipped her Element around her neck before joining.

The trail led through the winding halls of the castle and out into the courtyard in a solid unbroken line, as if Magma knew where he was going. They continued until they came to the bridge leading back into the Everfree, but instead of going over the bridge, the trail verged off down a side path in the stone, leading down into the canyon. It was so out of the way that if not for the trail leading the way, Flurry would have never noticed it.

Twilight stopped as she reached the stone steps. She looked to Spike and Starlight with a confused look. “If he went this way you don’t think he went there, do you?”

“I don’t really see where else he could have gone,” said Spike.

“Where did he go?” Ballpoint asked, stepping to the front of the group.

The adults all turned as one with blinking eyes as if they just realized they were followed. “Why didn’t you stay in the throne room?” Twilight asked.

“Why would we stay in the throne room?” Countered Shade Cloud.

“We can worry about them later,” said Starlight.

Twilight nodded. “Everyone, you are to remain here. We will be back as soon as we can.” Twilight turned to step down the path when she stopped to look back once more. “I mean it. Stay here!”

They were well out of sight and the sound of their hooves had long faded, “So we're following?” Asked Witherleaf.

“Of course!” said Golden Apple. Almost everyone nodded along with him, except for Livewire who shook her head frantically.

“Are you crazy! They told us to remain here; you’re going to get in trouble.”

Witherleaf shrugged without much of a care for the timid mare. “Find stay behind. Alone. By yourself.”

“Isn’t this place haunted, at least that’s the rumor I heard,” said Shade Cloud half-heartedly, as if it was just a random thought in her head.

Livewire looked between the two mares, “I-I” she sputtered before finally lowering her head in defeat. “Fine, I’ll go,”

“Then let’s stop wasting time and go before this spell wears off,” said Jazmin. She took lead and step down the narrow path first. Flurry tried to keep her eyes on the steps as she followed and not the drop that awaited any who slipped and fell, wings or not it was an unpleasant idea. There was a stillness in the air as they made the slow walk down the path; the magical trail guided them but it wasn’t difficult to follow. As the group made it to the ground level, they followed the trail to an unremarkable looking cave.

From the slippery slope of a rocky path to a dark dank cave, Flurry stepped in and the others followed after.

The group inched their way through the cave, the light from the outside was the only thing that kept the shadows at bay, yet as they delved deeper the light was slowly replaced with the warm blue glow of something farther in that beckoned them on. “I have a bad feeling about this,” said Livewire, sticking to the back of the group.

“You have a bad feeling about everything,” quipped Shade Cloud.

“That doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

“I’m starting to get a bad feeling as well, where in the world is that light coming from?” Said Ballpoint, much to Flurry’s surprise, yet she realized that unlike Golden he wasn’t putting on an air of bravery.

Flurry was royalty—true royalty— unlike how the title was used in Equestria. She had been taught since a young age that one day many ponies would come to depend on her and that in a crisis she must be the one to help the ponies and not the other way around. Though the current situation was far from a crisis, she still felt the responsibility to step forward and alleviate the fears of the others. With her head held high, she stepped to the front of the group and said, “I’m moving forward. If anyone is too scared than return to the entrance and we will meet up with you once we leave.”

Golden puffed out his chest in a predictable show of bravado. “I’m not scared of anything.”

“I didn’t spend all day hiking through dirt to turn back at the sight of some creepy lights.” Said Jazmin.

With a look into their eyes, it was clear to see that the others felt the same, that is with the exception of Livewire, who looked to be on the verge of bolting for the exit. “Livewire, are you going back?”

Livewire looked to the light of the exit and to the strange light that awaited them onward, the indecision was clear, yet with a deep breath, she gave a shaky resolve. “If the rest of you are going, I’ll go too.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Not really, but I’ll go.”

Having wasted enough time, and not wanting to give Livewire time to think it over, Flurry pressed on with the others sticking close behind. The further into the light they ventured the easier it became to see the crystals embedded into the wall that sparkled in the dark. They followed these crystals like beacons in the night until the group emerged out of the tunnel and found the source of the light.

“Is that what I think it is?” Flurry asked open mouthed.

“That is without a doubt what you think it is,” said Ballpoint, equally stunned.

In the large open chamber, crystals covered the ground in pockets, emitting a soft light, yet it was nothing compared to the crystal tree that stood tall in the center of the chamber. Its branches spread out wide and nearly touched the ceiling; in five of the branches were left empty sockets with a sixth one on the base of the tree. Each socket closely resembled one of the Elements of Harmony the group carried with them, and it left only a single impression on Flurry as to what she was seeing: The Tree of Harmony.

At the base of the tree, sitting on his haunches was Magma, who stared longingly up at it. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike all stood around him, more interested in the tree than Magma by what they could overhear. “I don’t get it. Why would the tree call Magma here?” Spike said.

“I’m not sure, but there must be a—“Twilight was cut off as Livewire’s voice echoed through the cave.

“This is amazing!”

The three adults turned back to look at the group. “Never mind, I figured it out.”

Livewire received a few annoyed looks for the outburst, but Flurry paid it no mind and stepped forward with the others to the tree. “So this is the Tree of Harmony?” she asked. “Mother has told me stories of it since I was a filly.”

Twilight looked back to the tree as a look of nostalgia came over her. “Yes it is, but as always the reason why it does anything remains a mystery.”

“I wish I had my sketchpad.”

“It’s pretty, but does it do anything?” Jazmin asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, in a way you could say it’s because of this tree that we have so much harmony in Equestria. With its help, we were able to stop some of the most dangerous threats to Equestria, Tirek, Discord, and in a way Chrysalis. Even when Equestria wasn’t in danger it showed us how to bring friendship to all throughout the land.”

“So the Tree of Harmony is the true mastermind behind the cult,” Witherleaf spoke softly, but with the echoes in the cave, it was hard not to overhear. “This explains so much.”

“Yes, well, that was until we stopped receiving friendship quest.”

“Why was that?” Asked Livewire. “Was everyone already friends?”

Twilight gave a shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t know for sure. However, I think that perhaps the Tree knew how busy our lives had become, between our jobs and families it was growing difficult to find time for friendship problems. I do wonder if that was why we lost our connection to the elements.”

Twilight placed her hoof on the roots of the tree as her face became a wash of differing emotions that Flurry couldn’t recognize, but whatever she was thinking no one expected a response from the tree. The radial light from the tree intensified, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. As the light touched each of the gathered ponies, the Elements they wore unlatched themselves from their host and flew towards the tree to hover in front of it. A strangely feminine voice spoke, yet no one was quite sure where it was coming from, “Bearers of my elements, former and future.”

“The tree is speaking,” Flurry said in astonishment. Her ears not wanting to believe a tree could speak, even a magic tree.

“The wheels have turned once more. New bearers are needed to stay the influence of the serpent. Heed thy words and seek my elements. Heed thy words and know thy elements. Heed thy words and become thy elements.”

The cave grew still as the words faded from the air. Few knew what to say fewer still wanted to be the one to speak first, yet Ballpoint was not one of them. He rushed forward and cried out to the Tree. “Tree of Harmony, tell me: Am I the element of magic?”

The light from the tree pulsed twice and the flow of the wind picked up. “You are the Element of Magic, or you are not. The Element of Magic is the strongest of the elements. The Element of Magic is the weakest of the elements. Know these words. Understand these words. And you will know if you are the chosen wielder.”

Confused, yet Ballpoint seemed satisfied by the answer, though Flurry herself wasn’t sure what to make of it. Shade Cloud was the next step forward as she asked about the Element of Kindness. Flurry had to do a double take on that, she could see Shade Cloud with many of the elements, but she had as much of a chance of getting that element as Jazmin did.

Before the tree could answer, Jazmin and Livewire both stepped up to ask about the Elements of generosity and laughter. When the tree spoke again it’s light was dimmer and its voice seemed weaker. “Look to the former bearers for guidance. Seek their wisdom, for they know more then they let on.”

Flurry felt a shiver down her spine as if some unseen eyes were turning on her, and when the tree next spoke she heard it clearly in her mind and not carried on the wind. “Child of the heart and shield, a great burden is placed upon you. One that could shift the wheel yet again. Look to the darkness and you will find answers. Look to those around you and you will find support. Look to the shadow and you will find hope. A hope that will light many fires in the coming days.” The words faded from her mind, words she realized, as she looked around to see everyone still staring at the tree, where for her ears only.

Twilight was staring blankly past the tree muttering softly to herself that sounded like, “It could speak all this time.” Spike snapped his fingers in front of her face and brought her back to reality.

“Twilight, don’t you have something you want to ask?”

Twilight shook her head and refocused her eyes. “Yes, of course.” She answered “Tree of Harmony—“

The radiating light pulsed once and grew dimmer still. “Speaking this way is tiring, draining. I must rest.”

“Wait! I still have so many things I want to ask you about!”

“Tired. Must rest.” The light from the tree faded until it could no longer keep back the darkness from the cave, it’s light was dull but held still. With what little light left, the group gathered and left the cave.

It was strange, before that moment no one in her class really took the idea of becoming the next Elements of Harmony seriously, but now the energy that swept over the group was electrifying. The entire walk back to the castle the group energetically talked about how they would unlock the elements. Golden Apple and Ballpoint pestered Twilight for advice on the Element of Magic, to which she gave only half-heartedly paying attention.

Flurry let the group slip to the back of her mind, too focused on her own thoughts to care, and the message from the tree. She didn’t understand what it meant or why the tree couldn’t just tell her what it wanted her to know instead of pointless riddles. Was there some kind of rule that said you can’t just have the answer spelled out for you. Whatever the answer, It left her with the feeling of her stomach twisting up.

The group was exhausted by the time they emerged from the Everfree and back into Ponyville, as the sky was fading red with evening lights. Looking to the group behind her, Starlight said, “I think we can call it a day here, If you are not going back to the castle then you are free to leave now, just make sure you head straight home.”

“Yes, Miss Starlight,” said the group as they departed, leaving only Flurry Heart, Witherleaf, and Jazmin behind.

The much smaller group slowly made their way through the empty Ponyville streets to the castle. Spike was looking over a parchment as he walked, occasionally he would glance to Magma sleeping on Twilight’s back. “Twilight, I’ve been going over what the Tree of Harmony said, and I think this wheel is a reference to time, perhaps how the Tree gauges time.”

Twilight nodded at this. “That could be, Wheels have been used to reference time before. The real question is what is this serpent the Tree spoke of?”

“Well, you certainly look like you had a long day.” Everyone stopped as Discord appeared in the sky above them.

“Never mind, I figured it out.” With an expression that said Twilight wasn’t even surprised to see Discord, she added, “Could you have not waited until next week to break out?”

“Twilight, I know what you are thinking, but I can assure you that I’ve turned over a new leaf.” To emphasize his point, Discord moved his hand, like pulling a string, and a halo clicked on over his head. “I have seen the errors of my way and repented… be sure to let Fluttershy know about that; she’s been rather unreasonable all day.”

“I can’t imagine why that would be.”

“So where did everyone go while I was out, a school trip from the looks of it.”

Twilight and Starlight both seemed hesitant to answer, and Flurry wondered if it was due to the Tree of Harmony. However, Witherleaf quickly spoke up, “We went to see the Castle of the Two Sisters, which was kind of boring, but then we saw the Tree of Harmony—“

Discord scoffed in disgust. “Oh her,” he said with far less energy. “I will have you know that whatever she told you is a complete lie.”

Twilight’s ears pinged and she looked on curiously. “You can speak with the Tree of Harmony?”

“Of course not!” Discord was quick to cut down that notion, causing Twilight's ears to fall back against her head, however, Discord wasn’t finished. “Like I would ever speak to that overgrown acorn, four millennia of having to deal with her and she has said nothing but lies, mostly about me, but all lies.”

“Well, Discord, I’ll tell Fluttershy about your… new leaf.”

“Excellent, in the meantime I think I’ll get her a gift. A puppy, no she has a dozen of those. I know, I’ll get her a mongoose… but where to find them.” He snapped his clawed hand and vanished from the sky.

“Should we… do something about him?” Asked Starlight, keeping her eyes on the sky in case of the draconequus showed back up.

Twilight could only give a tired sigh for a moment. “No, the general rule with Discord is to leave him be unless he’s causing mayhem. We’re still repairing the damage to Fillydelphia.”

***

When Flurry Heart entered her room, she unlatched the strap on her saddlebag and let the heavy bag slide off onto the floor, spilling out its contents. She could clean it up in the morning when she had the energy to care. Tired as she was, it was still too early to sleep and dinner would be served soon. She sat at her desk and combed out her mane in front of a large mirror to make herself presentable.

“Hello, Flurry Heart.”

The brush fell from her hoof. The voice that she had heard in her dreams was here, deeper than she remembered but she could never forget that voice. Slowly she turned in her seat to a darkened corner of the room were a gray coated unicorn stood watching her. He was not the colt she remembered but a handsome stallion with a styled back black mane.

“Hello, Shadow.”