Trials of A Princess

by Rose Quill

14 The Tree of Harmony

“This is a most unusual tale you tell,” Luna said. “And many parts seem fantastic compared to what I know to be true.”

“It is a bit far-fetched if you ask me.” Cadance snipped. “It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had some ponies come in with some sob story looking for help.”

I had quickly decided that I didn’t like this Cadance. She was too snotty, too full of herself.

In other words, she was a lot like myself when I was Celestia’s student and I didn’t much like the reminder.

“In those cases, they didn’t come in with a nearly identical twin of a well-known magus, Cadance.” Luna gazed down at us with eyes that were out of place on such a familiar face. Too much pain lingered there.

“I can assure you that our story is true,” Twilight hurriedly squeaked. “And I’m sure there’s a way to confirm that. There are spells that could do it.”

“There are several, in fact,” Luna said. “But I am not well versed in them.”

“I am, however,” a voice said from behind us.

Turning, I had to double-take. It was Twilight, but not any of the ones I knew. She was clad in a deep blue robe, a thick grimoire hung from a chain at her side. I saw anklets on her forelegs with twisting runes engraved into them. A necklace with a glowing bead of crystal sat upon her breast and a wide ring sat on her horn, also thickly engraved. I wasn’t familiar with all the runic magic systems, but I could recognize the runic representations of fire, lightning, and wind. Even with the items dormant, I could sense the power swirling around her.

“You made it here swiftly, Archmage.” Luna greeted lazily.

“I did lay a circle during my last visit, Your Majesty,” the Archmage replied. “It’s a simple thing to go between two of my circles.”

That snapped Twilight out of her surprise. “You mean you laid two transitive locales and can use them as foci for long-range teleportation? Oh, you have to show me how you did that. Was it magic laid or physical? What did you use?”

The Archmage tilted her head, looking eerily like my friend. “It was a physical set, made of orichalcum and silver.”

“Isn’t orichalcum incredibly rare, though?” Twilight asked.

“The Crystal Empire has a mine where it can be found. It’s still rarer than electrum, but not scarce.”

Luna cleared her throat and both Twilights shrank. The Archmage chuckled nervously, rubbing at the back of her neck. It moved the robe enough for me to spy her cutie mark, a six-pointed star backed by swirling lines of crackling lightning. I wondered for a moment what must have happened to give her a mark like that.

“Right, the spell.” Her horn lit up and swirling runes appeared under both Twilight and my hooves. They slowly rose around us before flaring green and vanishing.

“No illusion magic, nor geas or compulsions. They are who they say they are.” The Archmage brought her book around in front of her to consult it briefly. “I am concerned about the forbearance spell laid on them though.”

“Forbearance?” I asked. “What forbearance?”

“Something is blocking a significant portion of your magic,” The other Twilight flipped through pages before glancing up at Luna. “If my calculations are correct, they hold nearly as much as yourself, Your Majesty. Alicorn levels of mana draw.”

“Ridiculous,” Cadance said. “There are no other Alicorns.”

“Things are not as they seem here, my niece,” Luna said, looking at us curiously. After a moment, she turned to the other mare on the dias.

“Fluttershy, please inform the guard that I will be canceling night court. I want to find out as much as I can and help these two along their way.”

“At once, Your Majesty.”

I was going to protest the disruption of her routine when a soft chiming came from the robed Twilight. I turned in time to see her press a hoof to her necklace and a wavy image of a white Unicorn with a spikey, multicolored mane and a decidedly punkish look appeared.

“I hope you’ll be home in time for dinner, Twilight?”

I sighed as I heard the cultured voice.

“Of course, Rarity,” my friends’ double said. “Just a quick consult, in and out.”

“Ok then. See you soon, Tiger.” Her image flickered and vanished.

“Tiger?” I asked, a smirk forming on my face.

An embarrassed giggle was the only response.

“Can you remove the forbearance?” Luna asked.

The Archmage thought for a moment. “I’d have to double-check, but I may have to tap a line to have the power needed.”

“No need to do that, Your Eminence,” Luna said. “I’ll take them to the Tree and trace the lines myself. Besides, you appear to have prior plans.”

“What lines are you referring to?” Twilight asked.

“Ley lines,” Luna replied. “They let us draw more power from the earth than we normally can channel.”

They might as well have laid out a thick, rare book in front of my friend.

"You can access the ley lines here?" she gasped. "I thought that was only theoretical since nopony has ever managed to prove that they existed beyond stories."

The other Twilight spoke up. "It's still difficult. You have to know where a nexus is and you have to be able to feel the ebb and flow of the earth. I'm only one of five Unicorns that can do it without burning ourselves out. It's thought that it's why the ancient Unicorns could only move the sun or moon a time or two before losing their power. Alicorns such as Her Majesty can access it more naturally without the danger."

“It will be easiest at midnight, so I will make a few preparations and then meet you at the Tree of Harmony.” Luna gave us a final look before withdrawing with Cadance. I was struck again at just how much larger she was than the pony I was used to. She towered over Twilight and I now, but I was used to being almost on eye level with her. It was surreal.

---

We walked through the dimly-lit corridor, following behind the tall form of Luna. Slowly, a soft glow began to permeate from farther ahead. As we entered into a vault of fitted stone, I saw the Tree of Harmony rising from the center of the room, six gems all set into its prominent branches.

“The Elements,” I breathed. “Could they help us—“

“They cannot help anypony,” Luna said sadly. “Their powers cannot be accessed after being used against my sister, unfortunately.”

I trotted around the tree, looking for the branch that held the Element that it had given me, but I didn’t see it. I hopped around a large root and came face to face with the angered maw of Discord. I scrambled back suddenly before realizing it was a statue.

“I see Discord hasn’t been an issue,” I quipped after I recovered from my fright.

“I fear it was his binding that began my sister’s descent into madness,” Luna said as she looked at the statue. “I wish that we were able to save her.”

“When is her banishment over?” Twilight chirped excitedly. “Maybe by then, you can come up with a way to cure her madness!”

Luna looked away, and I knew the truth.

“She’s not banished, is she?” I asked.

“No,” Luna admitted. “I was forced to use the Elements on her. The amount of power they drew burned the evil from her…and much of her life force as well. I will not touch them again. The pain is still too fresh.”

I remembered my time being affected by the Elements, the searing pain, being forced to look at your own flaws and mistakes. How much more would it have hurt had I truly been evil and not just misguided?

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Twilight said.

“It was nearly ten years ago,” Luna whispered, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. “And we have problems to deal with in front of us.” Her horn lit as she settled her hooves. A soft glow began to race up her legs as she leaned forward and touched her horn to the Tree.

I sensed the buildup of mana just moments before my mind exploded.

A sand blown desert town swept beneath me, the dun-colored buildings almost blending in with the surrounding area. Bright canopies fluttered in the breeze as ponies and other creatures milled about the markets. Several ships were moored in a small bay nearby.

A damp swamp flitted by, the trees mired in muddy water and draped with moss. I saw a Unicorn with dreadlocked hair and strange eyes gathering flowers and tucking them into her bag.

Suddenly, I was in a cave, a strange rock formation before me. It almost looked like red crystal, but it had an irregular shape to it. As I looked at it, many sets of eyes appeared, each trailing purple streaks of smoke behind them. Throaty laughter began to fill my mind as I stumbled backward, fear suddenly thick in my throat.

I was back in the chamber of the Tree. Luna and Twilight were looking over at me.

“A vision?” Twilight asked.

I nodded, breathing heavily.

“What did you see?” Luna asked gravely. “When I tapped the ley lines nexus under the tree it felt like you were drawn into the flow of the magic itself.”

“I don’t know.” I took a deep breath. “I saw a town in a desert, I think Saddle Arabia by the looks of it, one of the port towns. Then I was in a swamp, but I didn’t recognize it. And there was a cave, with some sort of rock formation, almost like a crystal. And there were eyes in it, just staring at me.”

“Eyes in a crystal?” Luna asked, with Twilight frowning. “Were they enveloped by purple energy?”

I blinked. “Yes, but how—“

“Umbrum,” Luna growled.

“Could somepony—“

“Like what infected our world’s King Sombra.” Twilight nodded.

“Excuse me!” I said. “Could somepony please tell me what in the name of Harmony is an Umbrum?” But with the mention of Sombra, I had a feeling it wasn’t anything good.

“Bad news,” Twilight said. “Very, very bad news indeed.”

Comments

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Wow, there sure I still a lot to take in from this chapter. I'm not even sure where to start on my thoughts for some of them.