Chapter 2 - The Tree of Harmony gets all its ideas from Disney movies
“Darn it, Twilight!” Sunset said angrily, as she brushed the snow off herself and shifted her saddlebags back into place. “I told you I could walk.”
Twilight gave an apologetic grin. “Sorry, sometimes I get a little too caught up in an idea. But, why didn’t you just free yourself with magic?”
“I-It’s been years Twilight. I can’t use my magic yet.”
Twilight stopped and turned to her, concerned. “That’s weird. You were able to use it the last time you were here.”
Sunset shrugged. “The adrenaline of stealing a national treasure must’ve let me power through temporarily. Right now, everything feels… off.”
“…Well, if you’d like, we could get some practice in.” Twilight offered.
Sunset had one eye closed as she finished brushing the remaining snow from her mane. “Never mind. So, what is it you literally dragged me here to see?”
Twilight clapped her hooves. “Oh! You’re going to love it. But first, can you give me your bags?”
“Uh...sure?”
Sunset removed her bags and gave them to Twilight; who took them in her magic, put the Dazzlings’ gem shards back in, and teleported them away with a flash of light.
“Okay! Now follow me.” Twilight turned and led Sunset down a hall.
“I still can’t believe this is all yours, Twilight,” Sunset said, impressed.
“Thanks, but honestly, I still miss the Golden Oak Library. It was my home when I first moved to Ponyville and, it was so comfortable.” Twilight stopped. “The lighting was never wrong. It felt warm all the time. Every room was filled with the smell of books.” Twilight’s gaze fell to the floor. “After it was destroyed by Tirek, I felt I had lost a piece of myself. My first night here, I cried myself to sleep. Even though this was my castle, it felt too big, too cold, and too empty.” Twilight’s eyes started to mist.
Sunset hesitated. Then, she reached out, put her hoof around Twilight, and pulled her into a hug. Twilight closed her eyes and leaned into Sunset for a minute, just letting herself be held.
“Do you still feel that way about this place?” Sunset asked.
They broke apart and Twilight looked more at ease. She smiled and shook her head. “No. I may not have found a use for all the rooms yet, but I’ve been able to fill the castle with enough memories to make it feel like a home.” She gestured down the hall and they continued on.
Around the bend, the hallway came to an abrupt end. On the wall before them was an architectural sculpture. A Twilight made of marble emerged from the wall. She was slightly larger than her real-life counterpart, dressed in formal princess garb, and wore the Element of Magic on her head. She was rearing up happily and had her wings outstretched. On the wall behind her, were depictions of the other five element bearers. They were in similar poses and wore their own Elements. Making up the backdrop of the sculpture was a massive crystalline growth in the shape of a tree.
“That’s the Tree of Harmony.” Twilight indicated, in response to the confused look on Sunset’s face. “It was the source of the Elements and it grew this castle.”
“It’s a beautiful sculpture, Twilight,” Sunset admitted, as she admired it.
“It’s not just beautiful. It’s got a secret.” Twilight whispered to Sunset, with barely contained excitement. “Her leg is a lever!” Twilight squeed and shoved Sunset forward. “Go on! Pull the lever, Sunset!”
Sunset reached out and pulled the lever down.
* CLANK *
“WRONG LEEEEEVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEERRR-”
* SPLASH *
Sunset turned quickly and saw that a section of the floor behind her was actually a trapdoor. When she had pulled the lever, it had dropped Twilight into the darkness below. Sunset released the lever and the trapdoor to snapped back into place.
A moment later, the purple pony princess teleported back into the hall, soaking wet and looking very annoyed. “Why did the tree even make that lever!?” With a burst of magic, Twilight was dry. She stomped up to the statue and pulled the other leg.
Sunset felt a rush of air as she was flung-forward into the darkness. She landed on something smooth, cool, and sloped. Before her eyes could finish adjusting, she lost her grip and started to slide uncontrollably into the unknown. Just as Sunset began to panic, she heard the sound of Twilight’s delighted laughter coming from behind her.
Reassured that everything was alright, Sunset let herself go as they dipped, rose, spun, twirled, and were tossed about. Her eyes finished adjusting to the dark and she was finally able to make out what they were on. By the sun! This has to be the biggest slide I’ve ever seen!
Now that she could brace properly for the curves, Sunset truly began to enjoy herself. She loved the feeling of the cool air rushing through her mane, and her own laughter soon matched Twilight’s as they were sent careening through the darkness while the slide sped them deeper and deeper below the castle.
“SUNSET! C’MERE!” With a tug of magic, Sunset was pulled backward into Twilight; who wrapped her forelegs securely around her middle. “HOLD ON!” Twilight cried, as the slide abruptly evened out.
They shot forward across what, at first, felt like an even surface. Then, Sunset noticed that the slide had actually dropped them on the rim of a massive funnel. Twilight kept a tight hold on Sunset and continued to squee with delight as they were pulled down toward the center, in ever-tightening orbits. Finally, they crossed the event horizon and fell into the hole; Sunset shut her eyes and screamed.
* BOOF *
They hadn’t fallen far before they landed in something and, finally, came to a stop. Sunset felt Twilight release her and heard the sound of plastic shuffling, along with her friend's still-euphoric giggles. “Sunset, we’re here. Come on, stand up.”
Sunset opened her eyes and found that she was immersed in an assortment of spherical primary colors. Blindly, she reached toward the voice and caught Twilight’s outstretched leg. With a tug, Sunset broke the surface of the ball pit they had landed in. “Well? What did you think?” Twilight asked brightly.
Sunset was a little shaken up, but she also couldn’t deny the smile on her face. “That was INCREDIBLE! Slides are so much more fun when you don’t have to race a penguin to the bottom! But please… a little warning next time, Twilight. I…I’m just going to lie down for a moment.” She collapsed on her side, in a splash of balls.
Twilight giggled. She took hold of the fire-maned mare and pulled her to shore. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened to me the first time I found that slide.”
Soon, Sunset was able to stand back up. When she did, she saw that her saddlebags were waiting for her in front of the ball pit. “So, where are we? The castle’s laundry room?” She asked, looking around.
They were in a small room. The floor and walls were the same crystal as the rest of the castle. The ball pit they had dropped into was located on one end of the room and on the opposite end, was a large round door.
The door was steel, ran nearly floor to ceiling, and took up a good chunk of the wall it was on. Sunset felt there was little doubt as to its purpose. The door practically screamed, ‘This is a vault’.
“THIS!” Twilight declared proudly, “is my vault! In it, I store the most dangerous things I come across! It’s made of dragon steel, is lined with enchantments, and is absolutely impervious to forced entry! Princess Celestia herself couldn’t get in without the combination.” Twilight turned around, entered the 10-digit combination, and spun the handle. Slowly, the door swung forward to admit the two of them.
The main door opened onto a landing that allowed a view of the vault’s chamber. It had a tiled floor and was fully furnished with tables, chairs, desks, lots of shelves, counters, and various alcoves. Light filtered into the room through massive crystals that hung from the ceiling and a number of sconces that lined the walls. Particularly tall shelves were set up along the walls or arranged to create partitions in each of the 4 corners of the vault. The room was impressively big and most of the shelves still sat empty. Clearly, it was going take Twilight awhile to fill this place up.
Sunset was both impressed and amused. Even Twilight’s vault manages to look like a library. “Twilight, this is really cool and all, but I’m pretty sure Starswirl turned a whole cavern in Canterlot’s mountain into one giant lockup for dangerous things. Why not just store what you find, there?”
Twilight’s face tightened, as though she were struggling to say something uncomfortable. “I know, but… well… Princess Celestia is very busy and she… doesn’t always have time to make sure dangerous artifacts, relics, and charms are safely contained.”
Sunset gave Twilight a wry smile. “Twilight it’s me. You can just say she’s not good at keeping track of things.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “Well, since you bring it up. Spike just found the Tome of Vision in the Castle of the Two Sisters. She just left it there, sitting in the library!!”
Sunset held up a hoof. “Hold up, what’s the Tome of Vision?”
“It’s a cursed spellbook that grants a magic user the ability to instantly, and effortlessly, create or reshape anything they see into anything they can imagine.”
Sunset gave a whistle. “Ok, that sounds pretty incredible. So, what’s the catch?”
“The catch is that the user is overwhelmed by vanity and can’t stop reshaping things, even if they want to! Under its influence, a pony went on a redecorating spree that made Ponyville look ridiculous! Spike even ate the book, and that still wasn’t enough to stop it!”
“Wait, Spike ate a book?” Sunset’s voice was filled with laughter.
Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s a long story. He wasn’t even able to digest it. It just made him sick until I magically pulled it out of him. It took me, Cadance, AND Luna the better part of a day to reverse all the damage that thing did in less than an hour! And that’s not even the worst example of something dangerous lying around. Somepony was able to BUY the Alicorn Amulet in a curios shop!”
Sunset cocked her head to the side. “Okay, from your tone, I’m getting that’s bad, but what’s the Alicorn Amulet?”
“It’s similar to the Tome of Vision. Basically, it’s a cursed magical item that vastly increases the natural abilities of whoever puts it on. As you might guess, it also has an unfortunate side-effect for the wearer. They become domineering, consumed by a desire to prove their strength by subjugating those around them.”
“So, it gives the wearer overwhelming power, then it makes them want to use that power against others?”
“Exactly. The mare who bought it was just an average stage pony the first time I met her, but that amulet made her strong enough to take over all of Ponyville. And she was able to just BUY it…with the wages she earned from working on a rock farm!!" Twilight said incredulously.
Sunset took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what I’m more angered by; the fact that something so powerful was apparently available for sale at all, or the fact that it was so stupidly cheap.” Shaking her head, she followed Twilight toward the center of the vault.
The central area was home to a number of items. Some were on shelves, some were on tables, some had their own stands, but all of them were contained inside glass display cases.
Curious to see what Twilight had down here, Sunset took a moment to examine the items they walked past. First, there was a small, golden pony figurine with ruby eyes. On its display case, there was a note. Idol of Bounty - Holding for A.K.Y.
In the next case, sat the chopped and scorched remains of what appeared to be several brooms. Enchanted Brooms - Made by Starlight - Keep in stasis to prevent reformation and endless fetching of water.
The next item was oddly unsettling. It sat in a long, reinforced display case, and was tightly wrapped in linens. From its shape, Sunset could tell it was a shovel. Unlike the previous cases, this one had a more ominous note, which was posted on every side.
WARNING: HIGHLY CURSED OBJECT! DO NOT TOUCH DIRECTLY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
Sunset moved on and found that the next two cases were empty. Their notes read: Alicorn Amulet – Cursed – Fine to touch, but do not wear; Tome of Vision – Cursed – Fine to touch and read, but do not cast the spell within. Sunset lifted her head and called out to Twilight.
“Hey Twilight, aren’t these those things you mentioned? Where’d they go?” She asked, indicating the empty cases.
Twilight turned and brightened up. “Ah, I’ve actually loaned them out to a museum for a special exhibit. It’s being overseen by a pony I know well, so I know they will get the protection they need.”
Sunset gave Twilight a confused look. “It’s… an exhibit on cursed artifacts?”
Twilight giggled. “No. It’s actually an exhibit on the Old Pony Nation from the Tribal-Era. Believe it or not, these items have roots that go back to the founding of Equestria!”
Sunset’s eyes went wide. “That sounds really cool! Where is this museum? Can we go?” She asked Twilight excitedly.
“The museum itself is in the Crystal Empire and is scheduled to open the day after Hearth’s Warming.”
Sunset’s face fell. That was the day she had to go back to school.
“…But,” Twilight added, with a teasing smile, “the exhibit is having an exclusive showing in Canterlot the day after tomorrow. And I may know somepony who has tickets.”
Sunset looked at her, eyes filled with hope. “For real? Can we go?”
“Mmmm-hmmm” Twilight hummed an affirmative.
Sunset jumped about with delight. She had always found the Old Pony Nation an interesting topic to read about, but there was so little material on it, that it was practically myth. To think that somepony had gathered together enough information to make an entire exhibit was amazing!
While Sunset pranced about, Twilight walked over and opened an empty case. She tapped Sunset on the shoulder and held out her hooves expectantly.
After a moment, Sunset realized what she was waiting for. She dug around in her saddlebag, pulled out the Dazzlings’ gem shards, and gave them to Twilight.
Twilight took one more look at them, then set them down inside. She pulled out a little card, wrote on it, and placed it in the case with them. Siren Gem Shards – For Study
“I’m really looking forward to studying these,” Twilight said wistfully. “There are so many questions that need answering. ‘How much of the Siren’s magic came from these gems? How much was their own? Could there be an alternative use for them?’ Oh! I can’t wait to get started!” Twilight fluttered into the air with excitement.
A warm feeling filled Sunset, as she watched Twilight gaze at the gems like a foal would an unopened Hearth’s Warming present. “Twilight, if you’d like to go ahead and start studying them, I don’t mind.”
Sunset’s voice snapped Twilight out of her daydream. She shook her head. “No, no. These can wait until after the holidays. It’s not like they’re going anywhere.”
The two of them started heading back toward the vault’s entrance. “Besides, I doubt I could get much useful information from them in their current state. Before anything else, I have to repair them, and… I’m not sure how to go about doing that. I can’t even imagine where to start looking. Ponies haven’t exactly had a chance to study Siren artifacts, let alone fix them.”
She gave a sigh of resignation. “As I said, they’ll be perfectly safe here, until I’m ready for them. Not only is this vault all but impenetrable, it’s also a closely guarded secret of mine.”
“Oh? So, who knows about it?” Sunset asked.
“As of right now? Just you and me,” Twilight whispered gleefully.
Just as they reached the stairs to the landing, Spike casually walked past them carrying a large box. “Hey girls.”
Sunset was surprised, but Twilight looked positively dumbstruck, her mouth frozen in a silent scream. They watched as Spike headed off toward one of the vault’s partitioned corners and disappeared around a shelf.
Sunset looked at Twilight; whose face had turned a few shades darker, and was scrunched up in a maelstrom of anger, disbelief, and confusion.
“SPIKE! WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING IN MY VAULT!?”
Turns out the second half of the first day in Equestria was large enough to be split up into its own halves. 
The -hopefully- final part of the first day should be up Monday or Tuesday.
Thanks for reading. Tell me what you think below. 
Edit: The ominous shovel is a reference to this excellent horror story.
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I can not help laughing whenever i see -that- joke..
Why do we even.....
10152634
It has always been one of my favorites.
I'm glad it brought a smile to your day. Thank you for reading
10152647
It's one of my favourites too. God, why does it work so well here...
Thank you for that.
10152773
I think the type of humor that joke uses just fits perfectly in the mlp universe.
Im glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading.
The refrances in this are really old emporars old Grove tv series and even mario 64 were two I noticed
10153229
I was hoping someone would catch the Mario 64 one. You have excellent taste.
Thanks so much for reading.
What's cursed about the shovel?
10157165
Ah, that shovel is actually a reference to a short horror story on this site I read a while back. I thought the idea was really unique so when I was coming up with example items to put in the vault I decided it would make a good ominous item.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/449639/1/im-digging-a-hole/shes-digging-a-hole
... You made the vault just for that joke, didn't you?
10161665
It has always been one of my favorites.
Hahaha! An Emperor's New Groove reference
Guess who it was, Sunset, and the first two guesses don't count. It's the child-manipulator-and-exploiter's doing; who else would it have been?
Spike is storing his comics in the vault isn't he?
Can't help but notice Twilight omitted who used the cursed objects, Rarity for the Tome and Trixie for the amulet. I mean, I can understand omitting Rarity's name for the tome since they're friends, but, come on, Trixie isn't the greatest in both worlds, at least at this point.
Ok I'll bite what is it and what does it do?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣